Under the Oak Tree



375 Chapter 136

"Prepare for battle!" Elliot bellowed at the young knights breaking out of formation. "The undead could rise at any moment."

The knights promptly drew their swords, vigilantly scanning their surroundings. Maxi clutched her reins and prepared to pull back. In the meantime, she gathered her mana in anticipation of casting a shield.

"There is no cause for alarm," Ruth's calm voice called from within the ranks. "These are the remains of purified ghouls." 

Guiding her horse through the rows of knights, Maxi spotted Ruth crouched on the ground, inspecting the charred corpses. He was using a spirit stone to gauge the mana around the bodies.

Ruth slowly rose to his feet as Maxi approached. "It appears they have been purged with purifying flames," he informed her. "The others must have been here before us."

Maxi's eyes widened. "Th-The Temple Knights were here?"

The paladins were currently traveling northeast with the coalition army. Due to the mana-blocking devices in the north, east, and south of the Lexos Mountains, they were bound to follow the mountain range to Arex before moving down again.

Maxi furrowed her brow, trying to recall the geography of the eastern regions. Even if the Temple Knights had strayed from their path and traveled south, they could not have gotten here before them. 

A deep voice came from above, jolting her from her thoughts. "It's likely the work of paladins tracking the dark mages on the church's orders or the local Temple Guards of the region."

Maxi lifted her head and saw Riftan. Mounted on Talon, he looked down at the ashes through his visor. He shifted his gaze toward the ruined buildings.

"Seeing as the snow hasn't buried the bodies, the battle took place recently," he said, lifting the front of his visor to reveal his eyes. "They are likely on the way to Darund." 

"If that's the case, we need to hurry before they join the undead army," said Ruth.

Riftan nodded in agreement and lowered his visor once more. Maxi quickly mounted her horse and returned to her position.

The army resumed its march, and Maxi rode as fast as she could to keep up with the warhorses. After galloping down the snowy hill, they came upon more destruction. This time, it was a field of trampled dirt, wrecked buildings, and blackened human remains.

Maxi suppressed a gasp. Even at a glance, there were more than thirty bodies scattered on the ground.

No, there are probably more, she thought as she scanned the vast field.

Most of the peasants who lived in the area had been mercilessly slaughtered.

Elliot's hardened expression warned Maxi of the potential for an ambush. "Be prepared to cast a barrier, my lady," he cautioned.

Maxi nodded, gripping the reins tightly. 

They continued galloping until they reached the top of a hill, where the Wedonian cavalry and the Knights of Phil Aaron flanked the Remdragon Knights to form a column of fours. Behind them, mages, soldiers, and clerics formed a barricade around the supply wagons while squires ferried weapons. For a moment, Maxi's eyes trailed the squires' movements amidst the suffocating tension before she led her horse forward. 

A ruined palisade stood on the ravaged farmland ahead. Dense smoke blackened the sky above it, and hordes of monsters swarmed around the walls of the citadel beyond like ants.

Riftan raised his arm and bellowed, "Archers, to position!" 

At the command, a row of longbowmen began to move forward. Once they were in range, they lit their arrows ablaze and loosed them at once. Maxi watched, overwhelmed, as the fiery projectiles arced gracefully through the sky before raining down on the monsters. 

Meanwhile, the cavalry thundered down the hill. Maxi could not tear her eyes away from her husband leading the charge. Fear and tension had her in a vice-grip, cinching tighter as the distance between the Remdragon Knights and the undead army dwindled to a mere thradion(Approximately 130 meters.). She could barely contain the scream that rose in her throat.

The cavalry clashed with the swarm of monsters. The cacophony of clanging metal tore through the air, and monsters went flying into the sky like limp scarecrows. The chaos unfolded so rapidly that Maxi struggled to comprehend it all. 

At the front, Riftan swung his sword with deadly precision, cleaving through the monsters obstructing his path. The fallen creatures met their end beneath Talon's hooves as the massive warhorse trampled their broken bodies. It was like watching a bull crushing a horde of mice under its hooves. 

"It seems they don't require our assistance," Ruth commented, his voice filled with relief as he surveyed the battlefield.

Maxi turned her gaze in the direction he indicated just in time to see the northerners' ferocious charge.

Richard Breston, wielding his massive sword, created an opening through the monster ranks. The northern knights followed, sweeping through like a tidal wave. Iron maces, axes, hammers, and halberds descended on the ghouls' heads with ruthless efficiency. It was less of a battle and more of a massacre. 

A chill ran down Maxi's spine. Though Breston currently followed Riftan's commands, she could not help but wonder when his loyalty might shift. If the Knights of Phil Aaron suddenly turned against them, perhaps they would become the target of the next charge. 

Gnawing her lip, Maxi turned her attention back to the Remdragon Knights. Chaos reigned on the battlefield. Clashing steel, braying horses, and the bellows of the knights mingled with the stench of burning flesh. Some of the men burned the hacked remains to prevent the ghouls from regenerating.

Swallowing an expletive, Maxi anxiously turned to Ruth. "Sh-Should we not do something? Cast a barrier, perhaps, or assist with the offensive?"

"Magic must be used with caution when our forces are engaged in close combat. Recklessly intervening could cause more harm than Ruth suddenly stopped talking to throw up a barrier in front of them.

In the blink of an eye, an enormous skeleton burst from the ground, swinging a hammer made of ice.

Maxi backed away in alarm. Her back broke out into a cold sweat as the monster's glinting weapon slammed down on the shield. Ruth's quick action had saved her from a potentially fatal blow.

"Protect the wagons!" Ruth shouted.

Maxi ran to the queue of wagons, summoning the largest barrier her mana would allow. The Phil Aaron high priests and the mages of the Wedonian army also cast barriers over their respective units' luggage. 

Their actions proved to be hasty. A second later, an army of skeletons scrabbled out of the ground beneath them.

Maxi screamed when a skeletal hand shot out from right under her. Its grotesque fingers latched onto her ankle, and she frantically tried to kick it away. When that was ineffective, she drew her sword and plunged the blade into the ground with all her might. It felt like a miracle when the bones fell apart. 

Maxi shook off the icy fingers clinging to her like caterpillars, then swiftly leaped onto a wagon. Taking down her shield, she was hurrying to summon a new one when eight skeletons rose from the ground and charged straight at her.

She quickly circulated her mana. An incorporeal shield manifested mere seconds before the monsters' ice maces struck. But there was no moment to relax - an ax swooped down on her left. Pressing her back against the wagon's side, she gathered all of her mana.

A shadow suddenly passed overhead, followed by a resounding thump.

Maxi stood in a daze. Riftan had leaped off Talon and crushed the skeletons under an immense, five-kevette(Approximately 150 meters.) shield. As he rose from the pile of bones, he shot Maxi a fierce look through his visor. 

"Why aren't you fortifying your shield?" 

Snapping to her senses, Maxi expanded her shield to cover the wagons. Meanwhile, Riftan ruthlessly hammered the monsters flocking up the hill with his own shield of solid steel. Maxi had never witnessed a more horrifying sight. 

He effortlessly blocked an incoming mace, then cracked the monster's skull in half with a slash of his sword. Pivoting to his right, he swung sideways at the oncoming horde. An air current shot out from his blade like a flash of light, shattering more than ten skeletons into pieces. 

Maxi's jaw dropped when the bones turned black as if scorched by fire. It suddenly occurred to her that she might not know the full extent of her husband's abilities. She had heard all the praises sung about his prowess, but this was the first time she had seen him fight up close.