Horten's plan was simple: surely an old man in his forties like Howard couldn't handle both him and Joan, with Joan, of course, being the main combatant. And even if Joan, as a woman, was at a natural disadvantage, he could still call upon his longbowmen to finish the job with a volley of arrows. Then, they would form the remaining knights into a wedge formation, smash through Howard's disorganized army, throw the rebels into chaos, and annihilate them one by one.
With such a linked chain of tactics, Horten was confident he could deal with Howard.
Who would have known that the rebel leader, Howard, had thought of the exact same thing?
He had laid an ambush of Vikings in the Bovenden family mill, just waiting for Horten or Canossa to get close so he could deliver a fatal blow.
Both sides had planned a decapitation strike to mask their own inner weakness, and now, both their plans had been exposed.
In this moment, they had met on a narrow path.
Horten and Joan stood on one side of the bridge, Howard on the other. On both sides, armies numbering over a thousand men in total stood more than a hundred paces away.
In this instant, nearly everyone's eyes were fixed on the two commanders. Although Countess Canossa was on horseback, everyone knew she didn't understand warfare. Horten, through a series of victories, had gradually become a reliable commander in their eyes.
What would they choose?
In this critical moment, the first reaction of Howard—a man skilled in warfare and martial arts—was to turn and run!
He was the Master of the Stables, a position that, on the surface, was about raising horses, but in reality, was about managing the knights of the domain. He was the general. How could anyone who held this position not be a valiant knight of superior strength? How could they not be famous for their might?
And Horten—a man unskilled in martial arts who, despite his tall stature, had never undergone a single day of knightly training—his choice was... to chase after him with all his might!
"Joan, with me!"
The situation on the battlefield was changing in an instant. With both their plans having fallen apart, Horten could only act on instinct.
Joan nodded, drew her sword, and charged forward with him.
The closest enemies, those vicious Vikings, were only a few dozen paces away!
This astonishing turn of events not only shocked the Countess watching from the perimeter but also shook the morale of Howard's rebel coalition, causing their spirits to plummet.
Further away, on the castle wall, old Madi witnessed it all and bitterly regretted sending his second son away all those years ago. "If I'd known Horten was so capable in both letters and arms, I never should have abandoned him..." As the head of the family, old Madi appeared cold and ruthless, but this was a necessary trait for a family's survival.
His daughter-in-law, Amelia, immediately donned her great helm and, brandishing a two-handed greatsword, cried out, "Warriors, with me! We'll flank the rebels and avenge Schneider!" She wasn't thinking about grand strategy; she only wanted to avenge her husband.
In that short distance, Horten, gripping his spear, closed the gap on Howard step by step.
Howard had ultimately miscalculated. He had forgotten that he was wearing armor. With dozens of pounds of weight pressing down on him, how could he possibly outrun the young, long-legged Horten?
The Vikings, shouting and howling, gave chase, throwing their flying axes from a few paces away. Joan gritted her teeth and swung her sword, batting an axe away.
In just a dozen more seconds, the Vikings would catch up and rescue Howard.
Horten tightened his grip on the spear, aimed for Howard's back, and thrust with all his strength!
According to knightly tutorials, one should always hold back a third of one's strength in a spear thrust, but Horten didn't know that. So, as the spearhead with great difficulty and immense force pierced through the rings of Howard's chainmail and dug deep into his flesh, the iron tip got stuck between bone and mail... and broke off!
The spearhead was gone!
Howard spat out a mouthful of blood but turned his head back to laugh. "You brat, you think you can kill someone with a pointless spear?"
Seeing this, Joan 'the Flash' stumbled and fell to her knees.
Failure. They were so close.
Just as the Vikings were about to rush forward, a frantic volley of armor-piercing arrows blocked their path. Greb had bought Horten a few more seconds.
"Who says you can't kill a man with a spear that has no tip?" In this moment of desperation, a flash of absurd inspiration struck Horten, straight out of some half-remembered heroic tale, and he pumped himself up.
Horten once again gathered all his strength and viciously thrust the headless spear shaft at Howard!
His target was the spearhead that was already stuck in Howard's back.
Blood instantly rushed to Howard's pig-like head. He wanted to run, but how could a man be faster than a spear?
The wooden shaft slammed into the embedded spearhead, driving it deeper, plunging it into his internal organs, all the way to his heart.
Puchi!
Blood sprayed forth. Howard looked down in disbelief, realizing he was dead.
"Brother, I've avenged you," Horten spat, then strode forward. He had been killed by the young Horten!
[Level Up! Skill Points Available: +1]
[Enemy General Slain in Battle: Howard]
[Trait Gained: Duelist. Damage to single targets +15%]
[Quest Complete: The Murder of a Brother Cannot Go Unavenged! Reward: One random unit of Elite Cavalry!]
The series of notifications did little to dilute the joy in Horten's heart.
At this moment, the Vikings were still nearby, but with their employer dead, they began to fall back. The rebel army, composed of miscellaneous troops, also began to waver.
The gates of Bovenden castle opened, and a knight wielding a greatsword led soldiers out in a flanking attack, causing the rebel army to finally break and flee in a rout.
Horten immediately waved his spear, calling for his soldiers to pursue. Looking at the chaotic tide of humanity surging forward, he couldn't help but sigh. Man proposes, God disposes. The war in his plans was one of cold, calculating schemes. The real war, however, was one where simply not making a mistake was a victory. They had won in a messy, chaotic fashion.
As his soldiers surged forward, the breathtakingly beautiful Countess rode up to Horten.
"You helped me. I'm starting to believe you truly are the knight sent to me by God."
Horten just smiled. "Does that mean you'll marry me?"
Canossa let out a giggle. But she still shook her head with some regret. "No, the nobles of the duchy, my family, would never allow it. Oh, Horten, grow strong quickly. I'll be waiting for you to come and marry me."
But Horten reached out, took Canossa's hand, and gently kissed it. "This is just some interest before I marry you." He was supremely confident. If he couldn't win Canossa even with the System, he might as well go find a block of tofu to smash his head against.
The setting sun was the color of blood. On the battlefield, countless defeated soldiers awaited the victor's judgment. Most of the rebels fled into the forest. A small number, like Howard's direct vassals, were abandoned and became prisoners of war.
Horten also saw his family. His father, old Madi, and his sister-in-law, Amelia. Unfortunately, his mother, brother, uncle, and distant relatives had all died in the battle.
Seeing Horten approach, their expressions were complicated. Madi didn't quite dare to look his son in the eye, while Amelia was somewhat wary and hostile.
Canossa, hopping excitedly like a young girl, walked up to Horten and said, "Horten, kneel!"
She drew a short sword. This was the moment she would grant him a fiefdom. It meant Horten was officially leaving the Church and returning to his knightly family.
Everyone stared at Horten with envious eyes.
However, there, in the witness of all the knights, Horten refused to kneel.
He stood up straight and said, "No. I refuse."