Ch. 153 The Anglo-Saxon Invasion (3)

The Anglo-Saxons charged out from the woods.

Arrows, throwing axes, and javelins.

Everything descended mercilessly upon the unarmed villagers.

Even after walking for seven or eight hours straight, the people fled frantically in all directions under the threat of death.

“Hold your ground! Hold your ground!” The knight was on his horse, but even he was being buffeted about.

It wasn’t just people; there were livestock too. Whether it was oxen or sheep, these animals had a herd mentality.

Once the people panicked, all the animals panicked as well.

Under these conditions, the Anglo-Saxons charged into the crowd.

And Egde couldn’t even manage to gather his few troops.

The twenty-odd Soldiers were spread too thin.

To protect over three hundred villagers and the massive perimeter formed by countless livestock, the Soldiers had been distributed evenly around the outskirts.

Originally, this was a precautionary measure so that anyone approaching from any direction would be spotted.

But in the face of a sudden ambush, this instead became the greatest obstacle to gathering their strength.

When encountering danger,

whether humans, animals, or even insects without complex thought, all know to move away.

Consequently, the Soldiers at the other end of the line were immediately swallowed up by the fleeing crowd.

How many Anglo-Saxons were there? How was their equipment? Were they strong?

Even Egde, mounted on his horse, could not tell.

“Soldiers! Protect the civilians!” he shouted, but in the chaos, he received no response.

The Anglo-Saxons plunged into the throng, howling as they hacked at the crowded, trampling mass of people.

Whether the Soldier before them was a warrior or not, none could escape their axe blades.

Artoria wanted to jump off the carriage, but a group of people were hunching down and crawling under it, completely blocking the area around the carriage.

The young girl was anxious and frantic.

She leaped forcefully over the crowd blocking the carriage, falling clumsily to the ground and nearly being trampled by a panicked ox.

Mia stood on the carriage, looking down from her high vantage point.

The Anglo-Saxons had already closed in, mixed among the bobbing heads of the villagers; only their rising and falling helmets made them distinguishable.

She knocked down a Raider with a Glintstone Crystal, but the scene was far too chaotic; it was difficult to tell where the enemies were.

“Damn it…” the girl cursed under her breath, drew her longsword, and jumped off the carriage as well.

Then, she realized this was a terrible decision.

Because of her height,

Mia could see even less within the crowd.

Originally, she could still pick out that flash of white in the crowd, but now she could see nothing but terrified people and livestock.

“Wilden! Melina!” she shouted.

She tried her best to stand on her tiptoes, looking around.

*Pfft—*

A Raider charging at her from the crowd was run through from behind by a dagger. Melina appeared by Mia’s side.

However, Mia had also been startled by that Raider.

“Lady Mia!” The taller Melina grabbed Mia and pulled her close to protect her.

Wilden was not yet in sight, but his voice could be heard: “Scatter! Don’t all run in the same direction!”

The shouts of the large and loud-voiced Wilden actually managed to drown out the screams of the people and the war cries of the Anglo-Saxons.

He pushed through the crowd like a farmer parting ripe wheat.

He even nearly tripped over a sheep because he couldn’t see his feet.

“Don’t act rashly,” Wilden said, clearly more experienced, once he had regrouped with the two girls. “Wait for the crowd to thin out a bit.”

“If we do that, it’ll be too late!”

This was a massacre.

Perhaps every second delayed would cost a life.

“Then follow me,” Wilden replied.

He was tall and could see more clearly.

He could spot the Anglo-Saxons from his height.

“Scatter!” Lord Egde was also shouting.

His horse neighed in the crowd as the knight took the lead in charging into the Anglo-Saxons, hacking at the enemy with his longsword.

The sharp sword sliced into the unprotected area between an enemy’s helmet and Chainmail, and the Raider fell.

The horse gave a startled cry as more people approached from the other side. Egde turned and raised his longsword high.

A woman was sitting on the ground, staring in sheer terror at the horse that had knocked her over.

The knight reacted: “Get up quickly and run outside!” he shouted.

A spear thrust toward his waist from the other side.

His armor blocked it, but it made the knight sway.

Another two-handed axe severed the hoof of Egde’s mount.

The horse neighed miserably, collapsing to the ground along with the knight.

“Lord Egde!”

Artoria witnessed that heartbreaking moment.

Without thinking twice, she rushed in that direction.

Kay followed closely behind, and even Merlin held his sword, joining the two.

The three were blocked by Anglo-Saxons.

Most of the enemies ahead were Anglo-Saxons.

The field of vision gradually cleared.

The surviving villagers had finally run a sufficient distance, and Artoria raised her sword with both hands, hacking angrily at the enemy before her.

After the three defeated a small squad of Raiders that had suddenly appeared, Mia arrived late.

“Artoria!” she shouted. “Leave this to me, and go clear out those Anglo-Saxons who are still chasing the villagers!”

By the time most of the villagers had fled from the initial line of contact, the situation was mostly clear.

There were about fifty attacking Anglo-Saxons.

Twice as many as Knight Egde’s soldiers.

Some of those Anglo-Saxons, born for raiding, had stopped their pursuit and were looting the belongings the villagers had left behind.

Right next to the corpses of the slaughtered innocent civilians and the fallen soldiers.

Others, drowned in the desire for slaughter, were chasing the panicked, fleeing villagers.

Among those lying on the ground were survivors.

Now, only Mia had the ability to save them.

“Knight Egde is there!” Artoria shouted to Mia.

Mia saw the horse lying on the ground, on the verge of death.

“I see!”

A golden blade extended from the staff in her right hand.

The Anglo-Saxons noticed the few people going against the flow, and they quickly surrounded them.

They didn’t wait for them to get into position.

“Let’s go!” Mia shouted.

Wilden, at the front, was the first to charge into the crowd. He slashed down at a Raider, who raised his two-handed axe in terror to block. The Royal Army straight sword, comparable to a greatsword used by an ordinary Soldier, instantly snapped the two-handed axe—despite its metal reinforcement on the handle—and continued on to strike the Raider’s head.

The skull was half-opened, and the mixed bodily fluids sprayed onto the people behind. Wood chips and blood splattered together, and the surrounding Raiders watched this scene in horror.