Chapter 435: Nothing Is More Frightening Than The Unknown [Part 2]

The sorcerer by Duran’s side also collapsed on the ground. When a soldier checked on his condition, he realized that the sorcerer had fainted.

It was then that Duran’s communication crystal vibrated. There was only one person who could contact him through this very special communication crystal.

The General immediately answered it and heard Vogel’s voice from the other side.

"I used the teleportation crystal and returned here to Stoneguard Fortress," Vogel explained. "The enemy had two powerful individuals on their side who tried to attack me earlier. Fortunately, I sensed their presence beforehand and chose to escape."

Hearing that the Vermillion Bird General was no longer in danger, Duran didn’t hesitate to give the order to retreat. They had come to save one of their generals. Now that his safety was confirmed, they had no more reason to remain here any longer.

"Arghh!"

One of the mages was pierced by an arrow in the chest. Unable to defend himself or cast spells, he was easy pickings for Otto, who now had a good view of their formation after a gust of wind blew the mist away.

"Everyone, retreat!" Duran ordered. "Carry the magic crystals and retreat in an orderly fashion. Support the mages and shield them from further attacks!"

The soldiers who were part of the mages’ teams hurriedly raised their shields in a defensive formation, while their other members carried the mages who could no longer stand or walk on their own.

They slowly made their retreat, but Otto’s arrows were relentless.

He prioritized targeting the mages who were still not protected by the people around them.

One arrow flew after another, passing through the shields. Although the attack power and the momentum of the arrow were halved, it was still enough to kill the mages, who weren’t wearing heavy armor.

Since the Sky Drake was injured, Leone allowed Otto to ride on Arion’s back, ordering him to harass the retreating army.

Duran was still worried about Dominic and his subordinates, who had run after their Gryphons. But he couldn’t prioritize them now.

Given the current situation, he had no choice but to leave them behind, especially since no one knew where he and his men had gone.

’Damn it!’ Duran cursed internally.

He didn’t understand why this was happening.

According to Vogel, their enemies numbered not more than five hundred.

They should have no trouble subjugating such paltry forces when the Britannian Army numbered in the tens of thousands.

And yet, here they were, retreating once more because they had no idea how to deal with the enemy attacking them from a distance they couldn’t reach!

For a brief moment, Duran was tempted to order the cavalry to charge, hoping that they could maybe close the gap between them and that damned Aslan Tribe.

However, such a reckless move carried many risks.

They couldn’t ignore the possibility of the enemy being reinforced by other tribes.

If the high-ranking tribes of the Borderlands were hiding for an ambush, they might even get wiped out.

There was a saying that went, "Nothing is more frightening than the unknown." Faced with something he hadn’t encountered before, the General wanted to approach it cautiously.

But most importantly, Duran was a general that specialized in defensive battles.

He was good at defending, but he didn’t excel at offense as much. It was for this reason that the Vermillion Bird General had accompanied him in this campaign.

Vogel specialized in offensive attacks, tearing through the enemy formation with his disgusting ranged attacks.

However, the Vermillion Bird General was forced to retreat, apparently due to the presence of two powerful beings that could potentially kill or capture him.

Duran took this piece of information seriously.

For now, he prioritized regrouping with Vogel. They had no idea about what their enemies could do, and he was the only general present. He wasn’t confident that he could order a successful offensive against their enemies.

As their forces retreated, his gaze landed on the banner of the Frontera Viscounty.

Duran urged his warhorse to move in that direction so he could give Marco an order.

"Viscount Frontera, take some of your men to where Commander Dominic and his people had gone," Duran ordered. "They are elite members of our army, so their safety must be prioritized at all costs."

The soldiers of the Frontera Viscounty wanted to protest that it was too dangerous for their Viscount to follow behind the Gryphon Battalion.

However, Marco simply raised his hand to hold back his men from voicing their complaints.

"Understood, General," Marco replied before turning to face his men. "First Squad, follow me. The rest, return to the Stoneguard Fortress and wait for my return! This is an order, so follow it well!"

Marco’s subordinates had noticed that the Black Tortoise General seemed to dislike their Lord.

For some reason, they were always tasked with dangerous missions when their sole purpose for coming to this campaign was to serve as part of the logistics team.

None of them were aware that Marco was probably the last person who needed to worry about his safety in this war.

Daedalus had already shown Leone’s people what his father looked like, as well as the banners that the Frontera Viscounty used.

Since it was nearly the same as the banner of the Aslan Tribe, they couldn’t possibly miss it.

With a hundred men following behind him, Marco led his team to the east, where Dominic and his men had chased their Gryphons.

Duran stared long and hard at Marco’s retreating figure before following behind his retreating army.

The shield that protected them was now gone, so Otto’s arrows were flying nonstop, killing as many people as he could.

Meanwhile, the Pteranodon riders had dived down from the sky and started to pick up boulders with their talons.

Now, where did these boulders come from?

They came from none other than Lord Azar, who used his powers to create boulders the size of a small table.

These allowed the Pteranodons to pick up one of them in each of their talons, allowing them to strike twice from the sky.

Astravor had also joined the ranks of the Aerial Attack Squad and unleashed Wind Blades from the sky.

It made sure to use hit-and-run tactics, staying out of the enemy’s range.

The aerial bombardment killed hundreds of soldiers, while injuring hundreds more.

By the time the Britannian Army neared Stoneguard Fortress, countless arrows of light shot out from its ramparts, targeting the Pteranodons that were continuously attacking their retreating army.

"Retreat!" Astravor ordered.

"Retreat!" Brent repeated their Guardian’s order and led the Pteranodon Squad back to where Leone was waiting for their return.

While all of this was happening, Zephira and the Gryphons finally landed, allowing their riders to catch up to them.

Leone had asked Zephira to pass a message to the Commander of the Gryphon Battalion.

But whether they would agree to it or not, he didn’t really care.

Even so, the young chieftain had a feeling that sooner or later, Dominic would have to make a choice.

However, whether that choice would lead them to salvation or damnation, he wouldn’t know until the war reached its conclusion.