The knights marched forward from the forest, shields raised, as countless parasitic limbs crawled out from the gaps in their armor, forming armor as strong as steel in front of them.
Seeing this bizarre scene, the enemy troops were briefly stunned before they began to fire their muskets at the insect-armored shields with all their might.
With a crisp impact, cracks of varying sizes began to appear on the outermost layer of the dragonbone armor, but the tyrant's enhanced regenerative abilities allowed these parasites to quickly repair their wounds.
Cumberland peered through the pores in his helmet and gave the order via the Hive: "Threes in a group! Get close to the wounded orcs on the ground and use the dragon bones to cover their retreat from the battlefield."
The knights quickly dispersed, forming small teams of three, each with their own tasks: two were responsible for blocking incoming bullets, while the other began searching for any remaining orcs.
Randall followed the two knights to a spot sixty meters from the bunker, where they found a dying orc behind a broken wooden crate.
Dozens of bullets pierced the orc's body, and blood soaked the area beneath him.
Randall crouched down and carefully examined the orc.
To Randall's relief, the bullet broke the orc's ribs and pierced his thigh, but it did not hit his vital organs—his head and heart.
Randall braced himself against the orc's body with his arms, and using the strength of his waist and abdomen, he lifted the orc's hundreds-of-pounds-heavy body onto his back and laboriously moved step by step toward the forest.
Ackerman, who remained at the edge of the forest, assessed the situation on the battlefield while shouting to the Crusaders, "Tauren, advance! Responsible for covering the knights and the wounded! Elves, flank from both sides and distract the enemy!"
After giving these orders, Ackerman took his supernatural compound longbow from behind his back, climbed to the treetop, and wiped the arrows across his palm, causing the arrowheads to ignite with a pale blue flame.
Then, he nocked an arrow, aimed it at the firing port of the distant bunker, and fired.
The arrow traced a perfect arc through the air, accurately piercing the twenty-centimeter-wide notch in the firing port, triggering an explosion at the notch.
Flames shot out and dust flew everywhere.
Ackerman's attack elicited heart-wrenching screams from the enemy behind the firing ports, and nearly half of the muskets in the bunker fell silent for a short time.
The minotaur Bulville, clad in heavy armor, slowly advanced toward the retreating knight, his powerful hooves pounding the ground.
Upon approaching Randall, Bulville nodded, took the wounded orc from his back, and turned to walk into the forest; the knights returned to the battlefield to continue searching for the next wounded.
Barbara and the elves came to the flank of the battlefield, climbed the dense trees in the forest, and used the terrain and obstacles as cover to throw supernatural attacks such as fire breath, freezing, and sonic booms at the enemy's position.
These supernatural attacks cannot harm the soldiers in the bunker, but they can raise dust and obstruct vision, providing a more favorable situation for our rescue operation.
One wounded orc after another was rescued from the battlefield; but on the other hand, the enemy's attacks became increasingly fierce.
Under the cover of his adjutants, Cumberland used binoculars to look at the enemy camp in the distance, where people were thronging and guns were everywhere.
“Enemy reinforcements have arrived.” Cumberland put down his binoculars and sighed. “It’s time to retreat.”
The adjutant said in surprise, "Sir, there are still some wounded soldiers on the battlefield."
Cumberland stroked his chin and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Hesmond must have already sent troops to advance towards our rear. It won't be long before they surround us. By then, it will be too late to leave."
Patting his dejected adjutant on the shoulder, Cumberland turned around and said, "Remember, our primary mission here is not to rescue people."
"If it's not saving people, then what is it?"
"Make our stance clear."
Five hours later, Cumberland led his troops back to the camp.
Sitting in the commander's tent, the old knight listened to Ackerman's battle report with a calm and composed expression.
"This time, the orcs' reckless attack caused great losses to our army."
"First, there are the losses in military strength. According to statistics, 62 orc soldiers were killed or went missing, plus 229 seriously wounded who are unable to fight in the short term. Together, this is almost half of the total orc force."
"Next came the loss of supplies. In this battle, we lost some combat supplies, including weapons and armor. Fortunately, we recovered all the dragon bones. If these things had fallen into enemy hands, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
“Finally, there’s morale…” Ackerman glanced at Cumberland: “In the past, the Crusaders always thought of themselves as servants of the gods, virtually invincible against mortals. But this time…”
Cumberland gestured to stop Ackerman from speaking, and said, "No need for further words, summon all the shamans and commanders of the Crusader."
"Why summon them?"
Cumberland pointed to a black dragon statue standing in the center of the tent and said calmly, "His Majesty is waiting for our explanation."
Mentioning the Dragon God, Ackerman's forehead broke out in a light sweat: "You mean, he already knows everything?"
Cumberland shook his head and said, "How could I not know? Have you forgotten? Any being that has established a soul link with His Majesty will automatically enter Heaven after death."
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