The elite warriors of pure Highlanders are called chariot troops because real Highlanders cannot ride horses.
On the Palohya Plateau, where most of the terrain is steep and precipitous, the largest mammal is the large blue sheep weighing 200 kilograms. This herbivore, the main prey of the rock-dwelling dragon on the east coast, has a strong temperament and strong muscles. Even experienced upland hunters have difficulty catching it, let alone taming it for use as a ride.
Different from the mixed residents who were naturalized into the mainstream Laman society at the foot of the mountain and learned to ride for survival needs, the pure highlanders were heavy infantry nearly ten centuries ago, and they are still heavy infantry to this day.
During this period, the Laman Empire transformed into the Padrosi Empire, and their opponents gradually changed from the traditional Lamanite phalanx legions to the mainstream heavy cavalry in the Rigal world today.
Despite the changes in equipment, the Highlanders' army has always been heavy infantry - but this does not mean that they are stupid and legalistic.
There is no best weapon or equipment, only the most suitable for the current environment. Just like the main force of the nomadic people on the Abu Serra steppe is still light cavalry, the highlanders did not follow the mainstream of the world and began to develop heavy cavalry because there was no need to do so.
Maintaining the status quo.
Their domain is forests, peaks and valleys. In these terrains, the elite cavalry of the Padrosi people could not be used. Melee fighters armed with axes and guns and wearing plate armor went forward and used the hooks of pole weapons to hook the trapped knights off their horses and stab them to death, while the long-range Hands use heavy armor-piercing crossbows that need to be cocked with the help of steel hook pedals hung on the belt, which can also pose a sufficient threat to heavily armed knights.
They were clearly infantry, but they swept away the cavalry. Because of this powerful fighting power, the Lamanite society also followed the name of the classical era and named them "Catoria", which means chariot.
On the one hand, this term expresses their combat effectiveness that - under the right circumstances - can defeat the cavalry. On the other hand, it also expresses the subtle sarcasm often used by the Lamanites.
Ridiculing them, these heavy infantry are just like the chariots that have disappeared in the long river of history, they are antiques belonging to the past.
So, what will happen when a hundred-man Highlander chariot force, armed to the teeth, encounters a low-level earth dragon in the forest terrain where they are best at?
We obviously already know the answer.
Screams continued, and Henry and Olaf directed the team to retreat all the way.
Even if it is a genuine classical chariot, it will only end in pieces in the face of this behemoth, let alone these human infantry who rely more on tactics to solve problems.
In the face of absolutely powerful force, strategies and plans seem to be of no use.
The thirty centimeter-long ax gun has a cone-shaped armor-piercing tip that is enough to pierce the weak part of the knight's plate armor and penetrate deep enough to cause enough damage.
But the thinnest part of the earth dragon covered with scale armor has a strength that is almost equivalent to three millimeters of excellent quenched steel armor - this is twice the thickness of the average knight's breastplate, and the steel may also be due to problems with the blacksmith's processing technology. Although there are weak points, the dragon's scales are evenly strong.
The only places that can penetrate are the lower part of the neck, the inner sides of the legs and feet, and the abdomen where scales are lacking. After all, axes and spears are specialized armor-breaking weapons. Unlike the long bows of the Avenella people, they have to pierce the tough but not hard dragons. It was as if the skin was just for fun. Before that, Olaf's men rushed forward with a bloody burst and stabbed him countless times.
The dense holes in the Earth Dragon's chest are proof of their bravery, but unfortunately, so many sacrifices only make it overflow with more black body fluids and make its movements slower.
It was all in vain - at least that's what Olaf thought until that crazy North Henry arrived.
"Okay, the lure is in position, Vant (forward), Foss (retreat)!" Olaf prompted the first half in Laman language and the latter half in Highland language. Henry stopped the horse, and the Highlander The leader was panting, while the sage raised his sword and waved it in circles in the air.
In the white snow, the shining Kramer reflected the sun, and even the Earth Dragon, who was blind in one eye, was attracted to it.
"The flash is a signal." "Everyone is ready." Mira and Minna, who had divided their forces earlier, each led ten long archers to ambush on the hillsides on both sides. The terrain in the Bao Forest was inaccessible all year round and therefore unaffected. Providing great convenience, this pocket-like terrain has bulges on both sides and a small canyon in the middle.
"So you want to use rolling stones? That sounds like a good idea but -" Olaf only said half of what he said. Henry came to contact him after making a plan. Because the situation was urgent, the sage didn't have time to tell the whole story, but The leader of the Highlanders who was forced into a desperate situation had no other choice. He just lured the earth dragon to come here and sacrificed several more of his men on the way. If this guy's plan was just a rolling stone——
"Huh——" The tarpaulin covering the snow was lifted, and Mira cut off the tied hemp rope with a swipe of her long sword.
"What the hell is that? Barrels? You fucking want to use those portable little barrels to smash that dragon to death?!" Olaf was so angry that his beard stood up, but Henry ignored him and just concentrated on it. Staring at the earth dragon whose body was covered with frost, and whose skin and eyes had a gray-black aura of death.
"Longbowman!" Even though it was her first command, Mira was surprisingly calm. She stood on the left side of the team and raised her long sword. Ming Na on the other side also made the same move.
Multiple wooden barrels were still rolling down. Although the hillside was not large, the arc was very steep, adding enough kinetic energy to them. But no matter how fast a barrel that is just that big can accelerate, how can it possibly cause damage to an earth dragon that is more than ten meters long——
"Soak in oil, light the fire -" the Luoan girl and the blond lady said these two words at the same time in clear voices.
"Hoo——!" The arrowhead wrapped in thick linen ignited into a blazing fire.
"Ready -" The two men raised their swords, the barrel was still rolling down, and the earth dragon seemed to finally notice the approaching target.
"Roar——!" It instinctively opened its mouth and bit, and at the same time flicked its tail to the other side.
"Wha—" the long sword fell, and Mira and Ming Na shouted together at the same time.
"put!!"
"Bang!!" The wooden barrel exploded in an instant, spilling viscous golden liquid and white transparent liquid on Earth Dragon's body. At the same time, because a wooden barrel was bitten into pieces, a lot of liquid was still there. Stained all over its head.
If the dragon had any brain, it would regret its instinctive act of self-defense.
"call out--"
But it has no brain, and if it had, it would die quickly in the next few minutes.
The air seemed to be stagnant, and the highlanders who had achieved their goal were running desperately. Henry stared calmly ahead. In this scene, Orff, who was stunned by a series of changes, sniffed his red thighs. Nose, whispered to himself.
"What's in there is——"
"Wine and pine tar?"
"boom!!!"
"Ouch!!"
The earth dragon, which was covered in highly flammable liquid, was hit by twenty fire arrows in an instant. They were unable to penetrate its powerful scales, but they were enough to ignite the supplies attached to them that belonged to their team. .
The precious raw materials for torches and the spirits used to warm up in the ice and snow were all consumed in this way.
But the blazing fire was a symbol of hope in the eyes of the suffering highlanders: "Okay! Well done!" The soldiers stopped and shouted, raising their weapons in the air, and even Olaf shouted. Face looked at Henry excitedly.
"Ouch!!" Even though he could no longer feel the pain, Earth Dragon still twisted subconsciously and wanted to rub the flames off his body. However, under Henry's instructions, the pine oil and spirits were added with resin to increase the viscosity. , burning brightly and adhering extremely tenaciously.
"Roar————!!" The earth dragon turned into a ball of blazing flames, leaving only a black outline but still roaring. Because of the high temperature, its dead body began to twist and twitch. It rolled on the ground, its claws dug away the snow and the soil flew out, looking like it was struggling before death. But unlike Olaf, who was already ready to celebrate his victory, Henry held Kramer with one hand, grabbed the reins, and turned his head again.
"Let them retreat." The sage said concisely, but the leader of the highlanders was stunned for a while before he reacted.
It's a little late now.
"Go to hell, you piece of rubbish - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
The big mouth burning with blazing flames bit a soldier who was about to "die" and wanted to come up and stab him a few times to avenge his companions and vent his anger.
He only had time to let out a brief scream before he passed away earlier than the object of his hatred.
"You're not even dead!" The flames burned the dragon's scales into bright red, and the high-temperature heat wave hit his face even though he was standing several meters away. But the Earth Dragon still climbed up from the ground. The Highlanders' soldiers screamed and retreated back. On the contrary, our Mr. Sage rode his horse and rushed towards the Earth Dragon.
"Hiss--" The war horse under him resisted. It was not a knight's horse after all. As a creature, its instinct made it want to escape from this monster that exuded extremely dangerous aura and high temperature, but the runes on Henry's body once again emitted a slight noise. In the light, he put his hand on the war horse's neck, and surprisingly, it was soothed.
"Hiss - uh uh -" a neighing sound, against the high temperature, the black thermal cloak swayed wildly, and with a flash of silver light, Kramer hit the earth dragon's left forelimb with a straight arc.
"Dang!!" The sword edge and the dragon scales exchanged, making the sound of gold and iron clashing. The two red dragon scales that were chopped off fell to the snow with more broken dragon scales melted by the high temperature. The snow water fell into it, and the black body fluid that overflowed from the forelimbs of Earth Dragon was burned by the fire in an instant.
"Click!" Because he was too close, the entire warm cloak was stained with flames, and the black cloak turned fiery red in an instant. Henry decisively untied the straps and discarded it, and the steel breastplate gleamed.
The earth dragon turned its head, its attention completely focused on this striking little person who had hurt itself.
And that's exactly what Henry is for.
"Roar!!" It let out another dragon roar, and the fire that everyone had ignited with all their strength finally slowly extinguished after several minutes of fierceness and even the temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The dark body was cracked everywhere, and the scales were all burned into bright red. The earth dragon with its tattered skin looked more like a ghost from hell than before.
"Is this Yankee a fucking lunatic?" Olaf held his head and hid in the woods.
And the earth dragon opened its claws.
"Hiss--"
"Dong dong dong dong -" The war horse accelerated its pace crazily, while Earth Dragon, who had experienced such heavy damage, was still walking as fast as he could, swinging his body with embers scattered in the ice and snow, and a burst of thick smoke rising up from behind.
"Roar--" A burst of snow melted away where it ran, and the people in the highlands watched blankly as the sage led it away. The situation changed so fast that they didn't even have enough time to react.
"Wha--" The war horse galloped. Under the sage's skillful command, it passed between trees with ease and was always able to find the shortest route.
"Bang! Ka!" The earth dragon, still smoldering and red, followed closely behind. It knocked over one big snow-covered tree after another, quickly closing the distance.
"Is this crazy Yankee planning to distract him all the way? This can be considered a good thing, but - no! The direction he ran towards is -" Olaf reacted.
"Hey, you guys!" He raised his head and said to Mira and Minna who were looking at Henry's back from the hillock.
"Stop him quickly! That's a dead end over there!"
"There's——"
"A river!" Olaf's Lamantic, full of Highlander accent, echoed on the forest floor.
When he rushed to the river covered with thin ice, Henry turned back and glanced at the huge earth dragon, which was still red and smoking.
"Roar!!" It opened its big mouth, and the sage controlled the war horse to dodge in a standard lateral movement in an instant.
"Roar————!!" Earth Dragon's flying attack fell into the air.
Its twisted and deformed mouth shattered like glass the moment it hit the ice.
Immediately afterwards, the huge body, still carrying extremely high temperature, fell into the water.
Like a tempered steel sword.
It's like a frying pan filled with water.
Like a hot knife cutting through butter.
"Zizzizi——!!" The river water boiled in an instant, the steam rose and exploded, and the earth dragon struggled and rolled in it, and the water splashed and bubbles appeared one after another.
Finally returned to peace.
"Bang!!" The huge claws broke through the ice again and dug into the dry hard mud. The earth dragon stuck out its head, and its dark eyes reflected the figure of the sage, and a trace of it seemed to flash in the blink of an eye. Spirituality.
"Roar——" "Rest in peace——"
"Crack-clang-bang!!"
Eyes, internal organs, skin, muscles, and scales cracked in an instant and exploded all over the ground.
The pale muscles were trembling in front of Henry, and the earth dragon, whose organs had been exploded, could not even roar.
It became difficult to support its huge body and could not move, but it still gave off a terrifying aura that no one could enter.
Noisy footsteps sounded behind him, and Olaf, Miramina and the rest of the group rushed over. At the same time, the remaining ten longbowmen who were ambushing near the river also opened their longbows.
Henry's brief account of his plan before setting off echoed in their minds:
"Dragon is originally a warm-blooded creature. After it turned into a dead spirit, its heart no longer beats, and its body naturally has no warmth at all."
"The dead dragon, which is like an inorganic substance, was instantly covered with coldness after being burned by high temperature."
"The ending will be like weapons and armor that have failed to be tempered. The skin will crack and fall to the ground."
The words that Hengxian spoke calmly a few hours ago were as if they were being verified one by one, but for the Earth Dragon, whose internal organs had been ruptured, the withered muscles were twitching, and the protective scales on his skin were completely gone. , several arrows shot by the longbowmen nailed its claws to the ground, and the sage carried Claymore and walked in front of it.
"Hiss—" Henry held the sword with both hands, raised it on his shoulders, and then took a breath.
"call--"
The moment he breathed out, no one could see his movements clearly, and the sage's angry slash had been completed.
"Crack-bang!!" Because of the impact, the earth dragon's already bone-shattered chin rose up, and then the entire huge dragon head fell heavily to the ground.
"Qiang——" Henry shook off the remaining liquid on the sword with a casual wave, and then turned around.
"" Everyone looked at him in silence.
"What's wrong, so I said, this is my plan, it's not bad." Henry shrugged, while Mira and Minna gave him a roll of the eyes.
The longbowmen looked at each other, and finally understood the reason why the lady gave the leadership to this man.
Olaf's eyes twitched as he looked at the huge dragon head.
Yes, it is scarred; yes, it has also had a lot of flesh burned off; yes, its most important and powerful scales have cracked.
But the keel and cervical vertebrae were bigger than a human head and the muscles were thicker than the waists of three people combined.
This kind of thing can be cut off with one blow?
No matter how much the woodcutter boasts about his strength, it would take him a long time to cut such a thing, and he would also need a sharp ax to hand.
Olaf looked at the big sword in Henry's hand. On the way here, he noticed the dragon scales that were cut in half flatly. Although they had been softened by the high temperature, it was obviously not something that ordinary weapons could do. of.
He looked at his remaining men. They were already in ruins before they encountered the earth dragon.
After being asked for help by blood-related people among the mixed residents at the foot of the mountain, I led this army down originally to give the Lamanite nobles a long-lost show of strength. But I didn't expect that those weak-minded guys only wanted to rob the farmers of their rations. As the team advanced, some people kept leaving the team without permission for women, food and wine. I don't know when only their loyal elite were left.
"No good comes of it when the highlanders come down from the mountains." This saying of the Palohya Plateau has been around for ten centuries, and it still applies to Olaf.
He was scarred and lacking supplies. Although he resisted this terrible winter with his will, he encountered an unexpected enemy.
In comparison, this foreign team is well-supplied and has fewer people than our own——
Allies, yes, allies until the earth dragon dies.
It is much better that someone else dies than one of your own.
The Highlanders were no less accomplished at treachery than the Lamanites. Many people in history have been deceived by their generous character and think that these guys are simple-minded, but they have ignored that after so many years of fighting with the mainstream Lamanite society, they have not been known as the Lamanite poison in terms of culture and politics. eroded by means.
It is natural to obtain what you need for your own survival, and it is even more comfortable to take it from a dead person. As for whether the other party died before or after the materials were taken away, it does not matter at all.
Olaf never minded, and his little calculation was made from the beginning.
But because of this guy, this damn Yankee, this damn Suomir.
These weird guys wielding big swords.
Come on, the subordinates who have been exhausted for a long time now see this scene, and their morale is probably at the bottom.
Olaf had complicated thoughts in his heart, and the moment he raised his head, he saw Henry carrying a big sword and raised his eyebrows at him.
"" The leader of the Highlanders clenched his fists and was so angry that his beard stood up.
'This guy's showy decapitation was indeed -'
He was shaking with anger, but in the end he just sighed.
"Then, let's say goodbye. You all came here for some purpose, so let's say goodbye like this." Not to mention his subordinates, even he himself couldn't bear to rebel after seeing this scene. The leader of the Highlanders said this, and then after a brief farewell, he led a group of infantrymen to turn around and walk in the other direction.
"Huh -" Ming Na patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief: "I thought they would snatch supplies."
As she said this, she glanced back at Henry, and then at the head of the earth dragon that had begun to frost.
"I'm worried that the little girl might say, 'They are so miserable, let's give them some supplies.'" The sage shrugged and said, while the "little girl" in the words turned her head and glared at him fiercely. One glance.
"When did I ever speak in that tone?" Mira kicked Henry, and then continued: "And."
"I also understand the fact that I can't help everyone. The so-called charity of giving some of my supplies to a group of people I meet will only end up making it impossible to save the people I really want to save. "
"Mi——" Mingna was about to say that Mira also knew how to make calm judgments, but Henry interrupted her.
"Aren't you willing to give in?" the sage said lightly, and the blond lady was stunned. Although she had a very close relationship with Mira, she was not as familiar as Henry, who had been with her as a mentor until now. This inner feeling was like that white-haired lady. , just like that girl as pure as snow, her heart has not changed so far.
"Yeah." Mira nodded without hesitation.
"It can't be done, so it must be given up. Such a judgment can be made."
"But I'm not willing to give in."
“I’m not willing to give in, so I have to keep moving forward.”
"To become stronger, we need to be more prepared. Even if it is just a foolish dream, we will one day be able to do it and be able to save everyone."
"It doesn't matter if you can't achieve it quickly, as long as you keep making progress, continuously, and save more people every time than the last time."
"This is enough."
She turned around, her pure eyes sparkling.
"" Ming Na lowered her head, but then she smiled again.
"Ah - what, what's wrong?" She hugged Mira and rubbed her face lovingly while the latter was at a loss, while the long archers of Avenella all looked at this always... The calm, generous, mature and reliable Dame looked at each other due to her sudden strange behavior, not knowing what to do.
"Okay, now that this threat has been dealt with, it's time to move on." Henry reached out and rubbed the two people's heads, then turned and looked at the cold wind howling sky on the other side of the river.
Snow was falling there, and the sky was so gloomy that it looked like it was about to fall.
"What a resemblance." The sage whispered in a low voice.
