Chapter 433

Chapter 56: Turbulence Part 2

Southeast coast of West Continent.

Countless ships bearing the church’s flag burned and disintegrated, gradually sinking into the sea.

Stunning flames leaped along the Mosley coastline, sweeping across meadows, camps, and villages, turning houses into wooden frames and trees into charred logs. The raging fire expanded recklessly, with thick black smoke almost obscuring the sky.

The once tranquil village no longer existed; everywhere was filled with slaughter. Knights fighting fiercely, people lying in pools of blood, burnt corpses, and frenzied shouts and laughter of heretics.

The daylight was bleak, and the red sun was dim.

Shouts and screams spread from this land entangled in blood and fire.

On a distant hill, Nick Williams had bloodshot eyes. Around him were countless remnants of defeated soldiers. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, his hair was messy, and his armor was stained with blood. Listening to the faint sounds of battle and laughter from afar, he clenched his teeth tightly.

His face looked very bad; his lips were cracked, and his arm was injured. A medical officer in a robe was cleaning his wound, blood trickling down his biceps, but he seemed not to notice.

“Commander! Commander!”

In the scattered chaotic tide of troops, someone shouted loudly, their voice full of sorrow: “There are still many elderly and children in the village who haven’t come out! They haven’t come out! We have over two thousand knights trapped inside! Please give the order!”

“Commander! I am willing to go! I am willing to lead people to rescue them—”

“Give the order!”

The person who spoke walked forward. He appeared to be a strong man in his forties, clad in silver armor, a general covered in blood, half of his face wrapped in bandages. He knelt on one knee, fervently requesting Nick, his emotions agitated.

But Nick ignored him, his face becoming increasingly gloomy.

After a while, he suppressed the surging blood and qi in his heart and, as calmly as possible, gave orders to the kneeling general: “Go blow the horn, then plant the flag, and reorganize the formation. Within half an hour, regardless of how many people are left…”

He paused.

“We are all withdrawing.”

The general raised his head, his eyes wide in disbelief: “Why… Commander… There are fewer than two thousand heretics… We still have nearly ten thousand people… It was just a surprise attack… Why…”

“Execute the order.”

“Commander! You can’t do this! The knights can still fight! They have been holding back their anger! Why… Why did we lose—”

“Why? Are you asking me why!?”

Nick’s eyes were bloodshot, and he suddenly swung his arm, throwing aside the medical officer still bandaging his wound. The young monk stumbled backward, dropping the bandage on the ground. Seeing the wound starting to bleed again, he stood there, at a loss, panic-stricken.

“I want to know why too!”

Nick ignored the monk and, despite the bleeding wound on his arm, he lowered his head, fixing his gaze on the kneeling general, as if venting his anger: “Get up, follow me! Let’s go together and ask, why this well-prepared battle turned out like this!”

This shout made the old wounds on his face, with his uncontrolled expression, look even more ferocious.

Nick hadn’t lost his temper or felt such indignation for a very long time, perhaps years.

Even during the Abyss battle a year ago, when he watched his most elite knights die one by one and souls being devoured, he never lost his composure like he did today.

He abruptly turned around, leading the general and over ten close guards down the hill, stepping through the mixed mud and sand, passing through countless dispirited church knights. Soon, they arrived at a camp on the left.

This side belonged to the Third Knight Order, where Deputy Commander Richard was stationed. When someone saw him coming, they looked wary, seemingly wanting to stop him but dared not. Nick ignored them and walked straight to the central tent that was preparing to evacuate.

Before the tent, two people stood side by side. One wore exquisite armor, and the other seemed to be dressed like a merchant. They stood quietly, clearly waiting for him.

When Nick and his guards approached, the deputy commander in armor tried to salute, but before his hand could rise, Nick charged forward and kicked him in the chest.

“Comman—”

This kick was vicious.

The deputy commander’s mouth had only emitted a sound when he was kicked off his feet, groaning as he flew backward, crashing into a wooden box behind him filled with arrows. With a “clatter,” the arrows spilled out, scattering all over the ground.

Immediately, the atmosphere became tense. Nick’s men faced off against the dozens of knights who seemed to be the deputy commander’s guards. However, under the stern look of the commander, no one dared to make a move.

“Richard. You and your two thousand eight hundred knights abandoned your posts, allowing the heretics to break through the coastal defenses. How many brave knights from the two legions died in vain…” Nick looked at the deputy commander lying on the ground, clutching his chest and groaning, unable to get up for a long time. After a moment, he turned and walked back, drawing his sword with a “clang” from the guard’s waist, “Your actions have brought shame to the Williams family. You are a disgrace to the family. Today, I will kill you. Now, please make your final prayer.”

“Wait… Brother…”

The deputy commander on the ground had a flushed face, his expression pained and panicked. He wanted to speak but couldn’t catch his breath. Seeing Nick holding the sharp sword, about to reach him, the merchant hurriedly stepped forward to block: “Commander, please wait!”

“Be silent!”

“Commander, please listen to me—”

“Herbert! Before I even ask for your responsibility, are you so eager to seek death!”

This merchant named Herbert was from Silgayya, the Deputy Director of Saint George Bank, and the head of the Williams Chamber of Commerce branch in Bertalia City. In this battle against the heretics, he was responsible for most of the army’s logistics. His main duty was to mobilize the vast resources and energy of the bank to organize merchants to transport supplies to the Mosley coast.

The supplies were lost.

Not long ago, the supply train transporting hundreds of tons of grain had vanished due to an unexpected bandit attack in the south of the Republic. The knights’ rations had been steadily reduced since then, and they even resorted to fishing at sea. However, the conditions here were poor, and without dry grass for fuel, most of the fish caught could not be cooked. As a result, more and more knights suffered from diarrhea and illness, significantly reducing their combat effectiveness.

Nick was well aware of these circumstances.

However, he could not use this as an excuse for defeat or desertion.

“The transport route was your arrangement, yet such a major accident occurred! You don’t think about saving your own life, yet you dare to obstruct me from enforcing military law?!”

The merchant’s face turned pale, his lips trembling as he lowered his head, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.

It wasn’t that he feared the anger of this battalion commander, afraid that he might suddenly lose control and kill him, though that was part of it.

More importantly, the enraged man before him, the commander of the third knightly order of the Holy Church, was also the eldest son of Cardinal Saint George, the future leader of the Saint George Bank. Although he was not particularly pleased with this position, the upright and decisive young master of the bank indeed held the power to decide his life, and even the lives of his family.

Whether now or in the future.

The merchant could only watch helplessly as Commander Nick walked toward his cousin, Richard, who was also a member of the Williams family.

It seemed things would not end well…

He thought to himself.

“Com…Commander…”

The younger brother, who served as the deputy commander, finally regained his breath, struggling to get up from the ground, retreating quickly while stepping on arrows scattered everywhere, his face pale. “Cough, cough, bro… let me speak, just let me say one thing! Bro—”

“You don’t call me bro!”

“If I hadn’t done that, everyone would have died here! My food supplies were all gone days ago! The knights have been starving for days, eating anything edible! Many are sick, vomiting while swinging their swords, they have no strength left, I can’t let them die for nothing! They can’t fight anymore! They can’t fight anymore!”

“I haven’t eaten for a day and a night either!”

Nick kicked the deputy commander again, sending him rolling far away. Then, he rose up, refusing to back down, falling to his knees with tears streaming down his face. “Bro… I can’t watch as countless brave knights charge forward only to be slaughtered like animals by those devils! Their dignity trampled upon, their souls defiled! They will die meaninglessly, and it’s because someone…”

“Meaningless?! Do you know that if you hadn’t suddenly withdrawn from the defensive line, we would have won! Do you know what my plans were behind you! Do you know that the Faith Corps is about to arrive! When they come, with overwhelming divine miracles raining down, tell me who will die?!”

Facing his enraged brother, the deputy commander gritted his teeth, raising his head, tears in his eyes, unflinching, and roared back with equal fury, “Then did they come? Did the Faith Corps come? Where are they, bro! Commander! Do you really understand that someone is harming us—”

“Shut up!”

Nick slapped him, nearly knocking the deputy commander off balance. But he immediately straightened his head, his eyes red as if they were about to spill blood, staring at his brother with a heart full of rage, the last shred of rationality completely gone.

“They should have arrived long ago!”

Richard shouted hoarsely, “The Church had already pulled personnel from various churches months ago, sent to Silgaya! They arrived even earlier than us! If they truly wanted to support us, would they wait until now! Not a single ship from the fleet has returned! Was it really a miscalculation of the enemy’s strength by the upper echelons! Stop deceiving yourself—”

“Shut up!”

Another slap followed.

The deputy commander’s hair was disheveled, he knelt on the ground, blood trickling from his mouth.

But he laughed, “Hahaha! Who doesn’t know about our interception of heretics in the West Continent! Who isn’t hoping for our victory! We are the first line of defense against evil invaders! We are heroes! How dare a bunch of bandits attack the supply trains under the Church’s flag, seizing our military provisions!? Are they daring?!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!” Nick kicked Richard to the ground and stepped heavily on his chest, his sharp sword pointing at the unprotected throat. “Richard, you’re spouting nonsense! Daring to undermine morale! I’ll have to kill you here—”

Richard ignored him, his smile spreading across his face, “Only one person wants us to lose here! To die here! Hahaha! Bro! We are isolated and without support—”

“This is my final warning—”

“Bro! You still want to fight those disgusting things! It’s not worth it! That person wants to harm us! He wants to harm us!”

“Richard!!!”

“He even went so far as to let heretics land in the West Continent! Trample this clean and fertile land! All for the sake of our Williams family’s most outstanding descendant, the one most likely to become the next cardinal! Brother Nick, he only wants you dead—”

Whoosh—

The sword flashed, cutting across the throat.

Deputy Commander Richard’s eyes widened in confusion, his hands grabbing at his neck, trying to stop the gushing blood, but to no avail.

His upper body was instantly drenched in blood.

“Gurk…”

Richard stretched out his hand, seemingly reaching for something, but found nothing.

He was going to die…

Realizing this, Richard raised his head, looking at his brother one last time.

He saw his brother drop the sword, tears glistening in his eyes.

People seemed to be gathering around, the scene turning chaotic, voices reaching his ears and quickly fading away. The chaos soon turned into darkness before his eyes.

Richard felt the ground damp and cold.

Bro…

It had been many years since he cried…

In his last moments, this was all he could think of.