Pirate leader Sakru walked at the head of the procession, with fifteen warriors of the tribe arranged in a fan shape behind him.
Following the forest path, I stepped into the still-frozen soil, my boots crunching and cracking as they stepped on the ice and gravel.
Sakru suddenly raised his right hand, signaling his troops to stop. He knelt on one knee, half-squatting on the ground, staring at the puddles on the road that had sunk but were not yet frozen, lost in thought.
An arrow suddenly flew from the forest bushes and landed diagonally on a tree trunk less than three meters away from him.
"Enemy attack!"
With a deep roar, the pirates took off their cross-shaped shields from their backs and drew their longswords and axes. They crouched down, lowered their center of gravity, and raised their shields to their chests. The warriors in the rear stepped forward, and the warriors on the flanks spread out to the sides, forming a triangular "shield wall" in just a few seconds.
Huggins slammed his fist into the dirt beneath him and glared angrily behind him.
A minor soldier in the militia stared blankly at the still-vibrating bowstring in his hand, feeling uneasy.
Inexperienced troops, once their tense and chaotic emotions are ignited by one person, are like a drop of ink falling into a glass of water, and the entire team will instantly lose control.
The sound of bowstrings being released echoed through the militia; arrows flew haphazardly towards the pirate formation.
The arrows traced arcs in the air, some colliding with the shield and making irregular clanging sounds, like raindrops falling on an umbrella. But most of them went astray and landed elsewhere.
Half a minute later.
After several volleys of arrows were fired, the only damage left to the pirates were the small holes left on the surface of their shields.
The sixteen pirate warriors were completely unharmed.
The first domino has been toppled.
The second group of believers, wielding halberds, leaped out. Led by their captain, they charged out of the bushes, forming a haphazard "one-line formation," and launched a second attack on the pirates. Meanwhile, seeing the believers and pirates engaged in a melee, the militia, fearing friendly fire, ceased their attack, exchanging bewildered glances, unsure of what to do.
Todd was dumbfounded. This was completely different from the battle he had imagined. He turned to look at Huggins and asked uncertainly, "This doesn't seem to be the tactic we discussed in the war council?"
“I made a mistake.” Huggins raised his longsword and pushed aside the bushes in front of him. “A huge mistake!”
The halberd struck the shield, sending wood chips flying and creating a deafening sound.
These believers, who were inspired by God the Father and voluntarily joined the church to undertake the work of protection, are a group of devout believers, but by no means a group of skilled soldiers.
On the surface, the triangular formation of pirate warriors appeared to be being pushed back by the attacks of the believers.
But the gaps in the shield wall were getting smaller and smaller, the warriors were getting closer and closer, and the pirates' formation was becoming more and more compact; on the other hand, the halberdiers of the Believers, who were blinded by the battle, were scattered and disorderly, and their attacks were getting weaker and weaker.
Saruku braced his left foot against the ground, peering through the gaps to observe the situation outside the shield wall. Suddenly, he roared and slammed his double-edged axe into the shield with all his might.
The fifteen soldiers responded in unison.
Sixteen shields swung upwards and forwards, instantly knocking the nearest members of the believer group to the ground. Then, they were ripped open by the longswords and axes falling from the sky, their bodies and heads severed.
"Hoim!"
Another loud roar.
The shield wall moved forward a meter, followed by another shield bash and slash, splattering limbs and blood once more.
The morale of the believers began to decline; some remained steadfast, while others chose to retreat.
Noticing that the array of halberds in front of him was becoming sparse, the pirate leader raised his huge double-edged axe and with all his might slashed horizontally, splitting an enemy standing in front of him in two at the waist.
The morale of the believers completely collapsed. Everyone dropped their weapons and fled into the depths of the forest. This action prompted the militia to join the fleeing group.
"Orha!"
Sakuru moved his shield to his side, his axe blade pointing straight forward.
The fifteen soldiers wiped the blood from their faces, removed the shield wall, stood in a row, and began their charge.
The roles of attacker and defender were instantly reversed. The attackers from a few minutes ago became the targets of slaughter, and the battlefield was like a hellish inferno, a scene of utter devastation.
Huggins and the Papal Knights stepped forward.
A knight in plate armor lowered the visor from his helmet, raised his heraldic shield in one hand and a one-handed hammer in the other, and faced the pirate. He first used the shield to deflect the pirate's longsword attack, then delivered a powerful front kick, his steel greaves striking the pirate's unprotected knee, causing the pirate to scream and fall to his knees. Next, the knight flipped the hammer and smashed it into the wounded man's jaw, driving the jawbone into his skull. The pirate didn't even utter a sound; he was instantly a corpse.
Upon seeing this, Sakru let out an angry roar, so loud that even Todd, who was a hundred meters away, was startled.
The pirate leader removed his helmet and clothes, revealing a body covered in wounds that glowed with an unusual red hue.
A few seconds later, something happened that astonished everyone.
Saruku's veins throbbed and thickened, his muscles expanded rapidly, and his limbs grew larger. His already imposing figure grew even larger, and the double-edged axe, which had been an enlarged version, seemed to shrink to a normal size in his hands.
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