At the very last moment when the Ibe Knights reached the left wing's thin line, the First Imperial Guard Corps appeared against the tide at the forefront of the battlefield.

From beginning to end, as the general reserve, the First Imperial Guard Corps had finally arrived on the battlefield.

Several fully armored Long Spear Brigades stood in the front row, wielding the sharpest spears with axes tied at their waists.

The Long Spearmen advanced in columns, like a snake bristling with spikes, burrowing into the enemy ranks, instantly tearing through the formation of the Night Guards.

Two rows of spears thrust wildly, and the front Night Guards fell in unison with the orderly thrusts before they could even react.

The First Imperial Guard Corps surged forward like a mountain torrent, devouring step by step all infantry blocking their path.

They advanced with the tide of blood, sweeping towards the front.

The Holy Gunmen advanced with precise and mechanical shooting, like a rotating conveyor belt, except they delivered spouting blood alongside wails of grief and screams.

Out of the originally charging hundred Ibe Knights, nearly twenty were shot dead even before completing a single rotation.

Under the leader's shouted order to retreat, these Ibe Knights did not move left or right but smoothly wheeled back.

Forty handpicked Holy Gunmen stood behind all Holy Gunmen, carrying ten large artillery guns, awaiting their destined enemies.

Holding Blood Covering Cloud in hand, Horn clad in three-quarter armor, walked in the very center of the lineup.

Beside him, Armand stood tall, holding Pope's Sun Banner high, with his fingers almost embedded in the flagpole.

Under the gaze of almost everyone on the battlefield, the First Imperial Guard Corps firmly and silently blocked the breach on the left wing.

"I told you!" Horn's voice was unnaturally clear on the noisy battlefield, as if not reaching the ears, but the soul, "Live together, die together with you."

"For victory!"

Someone shouted loudly, as if starting a lead, and all the War Monks shouted along.

"For victory!"

"For revenge!"

"For freedom!"

Amidst the cries, the atmosphere of despair gradually changed, with the War Monks who had been retreating continuously stopping in their tracks.

Monks lying on the stretchers behind struggled to stand holding their long spears.

The Military Chaplain picked up a helmet from the ground and put it on his head.

The Defensive Army picked up broken swords and stones from the ground, filling the positions vacated by the War Monks.

The Pope's banner seemed to carry a morale-boosting aura of +5%, making all the War Monks who could see it unusually fierce.

Within three minutes of the First Imperial Guard Corps arriving and plugging the gap, the initially retreating situation suddenly stabilized and even began to push back.

Seeing the Salvation Army not collapsing, the Night Guards instantly teetered on the edge of collapse.

Their only hope lay on the other side with Bo Ao Lie.

"Quick, quick, quick!" The moment Bo Ao Lie saw Horn's banner, he was almost overjoyed to the point of falling off his horse.

"Holy Father, Holy Father, I thank you, I thank you." He raised his hands towards the rain clouds in the sky, took the pendant of the cross, and kissed it repeatedly.

"General, the knights have not fully assembled yet..."

"What are you waiting for, the Squire Knights?" Bo Ao Lie laughed heartily, waving his whip with high spirits, "Imperial Order Company, charge with me!"

64 Imperial Knights, 52 Square Banner Knights, 71 Squire Knights, these were essentially the remaining backbone forces of the Imperial Order Company.

Breaking through those farmers' formations was sufficient.

The last vial of a power-boosting potion was poured into the warhorses' mouths, and the knights could clearly feel the swelling of muscles filled with blood.

"Quick march!"

187 of Leia's top Extraordinary Knights advanced quickly and rhythmically through the rain.

"Run!"

Everything around blurred; shrubs, streams, standing Night Guards, and Armored Soldiers, while the black-clad soldiers ahead became clearer.

"Rush!"

Spears were raised, under the effect of the potion, the Imperial Knights lost all fear, standing tall and raising their lances.

Bullets swarmed like locusts, hitting the knights; some were only injured, some fell from their horses, but their speed did not diminish in the slightest.

For centuries, the glory of knights had been broken by the Church, by merchants, by mercenaries, but they absolutely would not allow it to be broken by the lowest of unclean, the humblest peasants.

"Imperial Order Company's charge, stabilize, stabilize!" Armored Soldiers shouted to the Night Guards on the brink of defeat, "Hold on, just a bit longer."

As those monstrous Imperial Knights charged, Horn too advanced forward.

However, he struggled to be stopped at the third row, disallowed from advancing further.

Through the gaps between heads, he saw the charging Imperial Knights, like a black tide, shaking the earth.

Horn didn't know if it was he who was trembling or the soldiers in the front row.

Who could not tremble?

When a mass weighing tons charges at you at 8 meters per second.

These fully armored Extraordinary War Monks, barely mastering the third level of breathing techniques, who could not be afraid?

The Imperial Knights are bound to come sooner or later; there's no avoiding it.

Horn knew this well; if they didn't defeat these Imperial Knights, they would never achieve victory.

Among all strategies, the most critical tactic is to fight desperately; fight till the end, perish if that's the outcome.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before Horn's eyes, a figure charging toward the 2700 knights.

What he faced back then and what they are facing now are so similar.

"You damn demons—"

Horn's roar, as if capable of scorching the rain clouds, reverberated in everyone's ears.

"If you want the lives of those poor Thousand River Valley People, then come on!"

With his chest puffed out, Horn pointed the Blood Covering Cloud at the Imperial ranks splashing countless mud.

"Come on! Break my spine! Pierce my heart! Sever my head!"

"Before that—"

"Don't you dare take a step forward from here!"

The hoarse shout made Bo Ao Lie feel slightly uncomfortable, as if he had heard similar words somewhere before, but he couldn't remember.

In retrospect, it could only be a similar wail of some defeated soul.

No chance for further recollection, a gleaming double-row spear formation was now before him.

"Saint Master, protect us!"

"Ho—"

The Imperial Knights let out an earth-shattering battle cry, charging straight into the left flank of the Salvation Army formation.

The hard armor collided with spears and infantry plate armor, metal twisted, sparks flew, lances and spears both twisted and exploded.

Amidst flying wood splinters, more than ten War Monks in the front two rows spun through the air like released kites.

In the front row of Imperial Knights, seven or eight knights were immediately thrown back from their mounts, rolling heavily onto the ground.

Those seven or eight Imperial Knights stood up momentarily, while only half of the thrown War Monks could stand again to continue.

After all, they were fully armored low-level Extraordinary, and compared to the repeatedly charging Imperial Knights, these Paladin War Monks still retained considerable stamina.

Yet the flow of steel didn't cease, the metallic flood grated the ground, making a clanging noise, sending another dozen Paladin War Monks flying.

Horn suddenly felt the long spear in his hand burst, causing him to be uncontrollably flung backward.

Reliving the sensation of dissolving into the blue sky, he fell into the embrace of the Varangian Guards.

The mission of the Imperial Knights was to pierce through the formation, advancing toward the position of the final Sun Flag.

They probably never expected that the ordinary War Monk flung away in a second was actually the Pope himself.

Struggling to stand, Horn was left stunned.

Before him was a surge of countless figures and flesh.

Not only the First Imperial Guard Corps, but also the rear recuperating two Black Hat Legions and the Defensive Army crowded forward.

Again and again thrown, again and again reformed, they used hands, feet, and teeth to bite.

The battle line formed of flesh, with numerous Paladin War Monks proactively advancing, only to slightly slow the Imperial Knights' charge.

"For victory!"

The first thing a concussed War Monk did upon awakening was continue charging toward the Imperial.

Exhausted of Holy power, the Holy Gunman drew the weapon sword or battle axe from his waist, initiating melee combat with the Imperial Knights.

Losing all sense of time, whether a few seconds or a lengthy few minutes.

When Bo Ao Lie could clearly see the standard bearer carrying the Sun Flag, he realized though only a few steps away, reaching it was unobtainable.

"Stopped?" His helmet was removed, Bo Ao Lie shook his head with disheveled hair, screamed in questioning, "How could it have stopped?"

At this moment, he astonishingly found only twenty or so remained around him; the rest of the knights had actually detached.

All Imperial Knights were engulfed in confusion.

The Imperial charge was forcibly halted by the blood and flesh of the First Imperial Guard Corps' War Monks.

"Bang bang bang!"

Ten heavy cannons roared simultaneously, the Holy Gunmen operating the cannons slumped weakly at the very instant of leaving the cannon.

The three Imperial Knights entangled with War Monks shuddered.

They lowered their heads, blankly regarding the blood holes pierced through their chests, swaying twice before heavily falling to the ground.

What was this? All Extraordinary Knights' pupils contracted, an ill premonition arose within.

"Woo woo woo—" The sound of horns in the rain seemed so viscous, yet resonated clearly in each ear.

"Salvation Army—" Demon Horn's devilishly tempting voice echoed, the hand-and-a-half sword in his hand emitting a blood-red glow, "Charge with me!"

In the midst of shouts, Horn wielded the Blood Covering Cloud, leading the Varangian Guard's Female Warriors toward the nearest Extraordinary Knight.

The counterattack began.

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