Chapter 424 Yes!
The thick black smoke emitted a pungent smell, and among the smoke columns, flames and crawling vines, whistling thrushes chirped sharply.

Amid the ruins and broken tiles, the wrist-thick vines had shrunk to the thickness of a thumb.

Only half of the wheel was left leaning against the roadside. On the roofs on both sides of the long vine wall, mercenaries holding crossbows stood and shot at the running knights.

But with such speed, there was no way they could hit the extraordinary knights. When they got close to them, they were blocked by the long swords. Even if they were hit occasionally, they would just get stuck in the armor.

The arrow merely pierced the skin, causing a few drops of blood to flow out of the capillaries.

The extraordinary knights who were shot by crossbows laughed and put lassoes around the necks of the civilians, dragging them back and forth on the ground.

Under the red eyes of the city guards and mercenaries, innocent women, children and the elderly were rubbed bloody by the floor tiles and then strangled to death by the hemp ropes around their necks.

But they could do nothing. The Kush Black Knights rushed out of the vine wall several times, but each time they not only failed to recapture the civilians, but also lost a lot of people.

Even with this wall of blood-sucking vines, they were still no match for the Kush Black Knights.

The knights guarded most of the passages, and civilians fleeing from various blocks were unable to pass through. They could only continue to hide in their homes or cellars, praying to the Lord for protection.

At the entrance of the north city gate, the purple-red vines were still swaying back and forth, but they were much more wilful than before.

The ability to create a vine wall barrier with a radius of one hundred to eighty meters was mainly due to Catherine's violent magic power.

The enraged witch's almost infinite magic power flowed into the vampire vines along with the blood, resulting in the result of blocking even one of Erad's orders.

Perhaps magic power is infinite, but Catherine's blood is limited. Even with the witch's extraordinary physique, she cannot stop the slipping of life.

At the current rate at which the vampire vines are shrinking, I'm afraid that in half an hour or even a quarter of an hour, this wall that protects everyone will collapse.

The civilians at the north gate raised their heads from time to time and looked at Catherine, whose body was covered with vines as thick as her little fingers. The complex expressions in their eyes were indescribable.

They never imagined that in the end it was this witch who sacrificed herself and saved the lives of most of the civilians in the city.

After two hours of evacuation, nearly 10,000 civilians were evacuated from the entire Rapids City, mostly women, children and young people, led by the core team of Megdi trained by Catherine.

As for those who stayed behind, most of them were middle-aged and elderly. However, after discovering the actions of the citizens of Rapids City, the exit of the north gate was blocked by the guards who rushed over.

Currently, on the city wall of the north gate, the militia and mercenaries of Xiaochi City are still fighting a desperate battle with the guards outside the city.

The 10,000 people who left the city accounted for almost a quarter of the entire Rapid City’s population, and were also the most elite population.

Of the remaining 30,000 people, 10,000 had been robbed and slaughtered by the knights, and 10,000 were hiding at home, praying that the knights would not rob them.

The rest were trapped behind the vampire vines, waiting for death in silence and stillness.

The streets were filled with silent people, holding sticks or stones, standing or sitting quietly.

While wiping the wounds with medicated wine, Carl would often see commotion in the crowd. Someone was hanging himself or cutting his wife and daughter's cheeks with a knife to prevent them from being tortured.

The most youthful girl of fifteen or sixteen years old cried and screamed, tears as big as beans rolled down her cheeks, mixed with a little bit of cuts, and the light red tears fell to the ground.

His father was also crying, but he still gritted his teeth and cut the cheek of the young girl with a knife.

Carl wanted to stop it, but the rotten wound on his calf made it impossible for him to stand up.

Is this the end of Rapid City? he muttered silently.

If we had asked the Savior Army for help earlier, would they have arrived in time?

If they could arrive in time, maybe they could deal with the Imperial Order Company and everyone in the city could be saved.

But now, most of the Kush Black Knights were killed or wounded, and more than half of the 40,000 people in the city were killed or wounded, all because of his momentary arrogance and pride.

Therefore, the position of leader of the team leaving the city was given to Mitternich. It was hard for Karl to say whether he stayed to atone for his sins, but at least his sins should not be borne by Catherine and so many people.

Carl's blurry vision was fixed on his arm which was covered with layers of blood scabs, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

It was not until he faced the Imperial Order Company himself that he realized how powerful these knights were.

The armored defense of the centaurs, the unstoppable charge, the exquisite martial arts, the inexhaustible endurance, and almost no weaknesses except the horses.

These are the top elites in the entire Leia Kingdom. Among the tens of millions of people in the entire Leia Kingdom, there are no more than eight thousand of them.

More than half of them were concentrated in the 42 Imperial Order Companies. How could low-ranking cavalrymen like Karl, who had only served as mercenary knights on the battlefield, be opponents of the Imperial Order Knights?
Of course, the Kush Black Knights were not completely helpless. With their superb archery skills, they were still able to entangle the Imperial Order Company with blood. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Carl had the illusion that he could defeat the Imperial Order Company just like the Salvation Army.

He thought that the imperial edict was not used to the climate and soil in the Thousand River Valley, and he believed that he could win the battle, hoping to gain some respect. However, it turned out that the Kush Black Knights were captured frequently, and he became the one who was defeated.

Thanks to the achievement of conquering Rapid City, the complaints and doubts about the Imperial Order Company after the Battle of Pavia disappeared.

Facts have proved that they could only fight at best. In the real battlefield, they could only learn from the Dunjar Phalanx and use massive infantry to fight against these knights.

Looking at the gradually weakening blood-sucking vines, Carl sniffed and tightened the lance in his hand.

He seemed to be able to look past the vines and into his old rival, Elad, the captain of the Command Company, who was smiling and gazing at them as if he were a deer in a trap.

Elad, who was sitting on the street corner drinking tea, did think so. Although he could force his way in at some cost, he felt that it was already a foregone conclusion, so why bother with the casualties?

The firewood had already been piled up and the kerosene had been poured, and all that was left was to wait for the vines to retreat and the torches to be thrown down.

In this city where all the houses are made of wood and crowded together, a fire can burn down these blocks in the north of the city and the last stubborn elements in them.

So far, the amount of looting and killing they had done was not too great, and Elad was very restrained, for he knew that the final fruits of victory would have to be reaped by Alman.

He had already made the contribution of breaking into the city, so it would be a bit too greedy for him to scramble for the wealth in the city.

With emotion, Elad stretched and stood up, looking at this important trading town.

However, the once prosperous city has become half ruins, the market has been demolished, the shops have been burned down, the houses have been torn into pieces, and the residents have become corpses in the stinking gutters on the street.

It is unknown when it will be rebuilt.

Ellard couldn't help but shake his head. He had no ill will towards Rapid City, it was just that the city was blocking their way.

After resolving the uprising in Rapid City, the next step is to settle accounts with the culprit.

"The Savior Army, the Savior Army." Elad repeated the name unconsciously.

The sky was gradually filled with dark clouds, and the light gradually dimmed. For some reason, he suddenly became uneasy.

He didn't know when the noise from the farmers and soldiers outside the city became louder and louder, and he could even hear it clearly inside the city.

"boom--"

Suddenly, a raging fire broke out on the top of the city wall. Amid the black smoke and flames, there were even soldiers from the church rolling down from the top of the city wall like dumplings.

"What's going on?" Elad put down the tea in his hand and frowned, "Go ask why there is so much noise at the city gate?"

What answered him was not the respectful response from the servants, but the violent flashes of lightning on the city wall, mixed with "bangs" and screams.

Gathered along the long wall of blood-sucking vines, each knight stared at the wall blankly.

What was that lightning just now? Is it going to rain? There was lightning and thunder...

Just as everyone was puzzled, a servant on horseback rushed over as if he was running for his life. He almost rolled off the horse and fell to Elad's feet: "People... people..."

"People? Who?"

"Guards, they're coming from the west, all human, including witches!"

Feeling anxious, Elad grabbed his neck and pulled him over, "Speak clearly!"

The attendant swallowed his saliva and shouted at the top of his voice, "I can see clearly that the people all over the mountains are guards and knights who are going to stop the Salvation Army! Are they running away?"

"Who's running away? Say it again!"

The servant was hissing, his neck was stuck and his eyes were rolled back, so he couldn't repeat it again.

As soon as Ellard loosened his grip, the servant sat down on the ground with a thud, breathing in big gulps of air and coughing violently.

"Our people are running away. I saw Lord Mizam's horse with a peasant in black riding on it!" the attendant cried, "We are defeated."

"Impossible, impossible!" Elad kicked out fiercely, and the man's head immediately turned several times on his neck. "I decree that the Lian Empire is invincible! Absolutely impossible! You deserve to die for confusing the army!"

(End of this chapter)