Chapter 113 Pursuing the Deserter
The archers immediately drew their bowstrings, and a rain of flaming arrows shot straight toward the platform. In the blink of an eye, the enemy camp was engulfed in flames. The fire on the platform lit up the battlefield like daylight, making it impossible for the allied archers to continue climbing up to attack.
At this signal, Friedel and Anne immediately charged forward with their troops. When they saw Metodi on the right side, they couldn't help but feel relieved.
They had the shield-bearing soldiers stand at the front, with the spear-wielding soldiers following behind, while the assassination squad took advantage of the chaos caused by the firelight to infiltrate the camp.
The allied shield formation wasn't arranged in a circle—they had simply erected a wall to block the Soth Empire's army from entering the camp, which meant the rear defenses were weaker.
The infiltrating soldiers used daggers or arrows to strike at the most unguarded positions, immediately breaking through. Anne and the others outside immediately attacked this opening, and they actually tore through the iron-tight defense.
With the shield wall broken, it could no longer hold. The shield bearers who had been standing on their comrades' shoulders fell to the ground one after another. Soth Empire soldiers poured into the camp like a flood, and the sounds of battle shook the sky.
Saslov watched from behind in horror. Having just "escaped" from Friedel's hands and already weakened from imprisonment, it was impossible for him to command this sudden attack now!
Where was Frol?
The person sent to find Frol still hadn't returned, and Saslov despaired that he shouldn't have mocked and driven Frol away—finding him in this chaos was impossible!
Meanwhile, on a small hill nearby, the unfound Frol stood quietly at a high point, with a mysterious figure completely covered by a cloak standing beside him.
"You're here—does that mean everything is arranged?"
The mysterious person spoke with a cold, striking female voice, and from her tone, she seemed very familiar with Frol.
Frol nodded. "Don't worry, Zotfort's soldiers have all received my orders. They know what they need to do."
The mysterious person nodded. "Good."
Frol pressed his lips together. The night wind howled past as he stared at the camp lit up like daylight by the flames. Among the dense crowds on the battlefield, he couldn't tell who was from Zotfort, who from Viller Empire, and who from Soth Empire.
What mattered was: where was Candy?
The original purpose of this battle had always been for Candy. He and his soldiers all knew this and understood they only needed to find this woman, regardless of which attack wave she was assigned to or whether she had been arranged for logistics and couldn't come to the front lines.
As long as Candy appeared in Warlinekza, she definitely couldn't escape.
The gates of the allied camp were thrown open. Friedel and Anne charged in with their troops, Metodi close behind. Following the initial plan, after breaking in and splitting the enemy forces, they scattered according to their groups, dividing into areas to hunt down the fleeing enemy.
The sounds of battle filled the air. Candy, who had originally been recalled by Holden, led the remaining soldiers around to the front. By the time Holden noticed and tried to stop her, she had already fought her way into the northwest corner of the camp.
Different knight orders wore armor with different insignias, so distinguishing between the three knight orders present wasn't difficult. Although Candy wasn't the only female commander on the field, Anne belonged to the Ivy Knights and wore laurel and winter jasmine intertwined on her shoulder, very different from the Dawn Knight Order's sun and laurel. So Candy was quickly spotted by Zotfort's soldiers.
"Is that her?"
"That's her, I remember that face!"
Someone spoke in very low voices, but on the chaotic battlefield, the deliberately lowered voices couldn't reach Candy's ears. She remained unalert, simply fighting enthusiastically with her sword.
The troops ahead seemed frightened by her offensive and turned to run. From their direction, they actually seemed to want to escape through the back gate.
Candy had planned to assassinate Anne, but seeing military achievements about to escape, she abandoned that plan and hurried forward with her troops in pursuit.
A soldier noticed their direction and couldn't help asking loudly, "Commander Candy, if we chase them, we'll enter Viller Empire's territory. This..."
Candy shouted in rebuke, "We're already at war with Viller Empire. So what if we enter their territory? Not to mention our situation already looks close to victory—even if we chase them out, kill them, and come back, we'll still be in time to clean up the battlefield!"
"Besides, they're running toward Else Mountains. At worst, we'll drive them in and kill them all, then take a detour back to Soth Empire territory!"
"Kill! Keep all these military achievements here!"
Hearing this, everyone naturally charged forward with her.
Meanwhile, Anne's group was fighting when Duncan, combining his two swords and swinging them to both sides, directly cut down several nearby enemies. He raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "I think I just heard Candy's voice."
A woman's voice was sharp and high-pitched, easily piercing through the sounds of battle to reach everyone's ears.
Anne had naturally heard it too. Her expression unchanged, her attacks remained as precise as ever, her sword slicing throats as countless enemies fell. She said coldly, "I heard it too."
She had noticed something was wrong long ago. From their previous encounters, Anne understood that Zotfort's people weren't weak or cowardly. They were better at using strategies than Viller Empire's soldiers. Unless they encountered something beyond common sense, they would almost never be scared into running back.
Moreover, this was on a battlefield, and they were facing Candy. They had already clashed with her on the southern battlefield, so they shouldn't be this afraid of her, unless...
Anne understood—their retreat was actually to lure the enemy deeper.
The target was Candy.
Before the battle, Friedel had told her that if she encountered Candy, she should stay away from her no matter what, probably because Zotfort's soldiers had all received orders to capture Candy at any cost.
Although Samira had little combat experience, she wasn't stupid. She sneered, "Those people aren't cowards. Who knows if Candy will make it back from this, but what does it have to do with us?"
She wasn't soft-hearted. Candy had constantly slandered her and her friends with vicious words, so Samira wouldn't save her.
Candy understood this perfectly. After three years fighting Zotfort's forces in the south, she knew their tactics well.
But so what?