Chapter 288 - 52: Harvest
Chapter 288: Chapter 52: Harvest
When the shout rang out, the entire Centaur legion began to rout.
At first, it was just a few soldiers on the fringes, but soon even some of the higher-ranking officers joined them.
And what of the legion’s general? He was among the first to flee. It was a joke. ’Whether Castro has run or not is irrelevant. With a huge army suddenly appearing from the rear, even if Castro hadn’t fled, his situation would be grim. If not now, when is a better time to escape?’
"For the kingdom!" Robson ignored the fleeing Centaur Warriors and instead attacked those who chose to remain and fight.
"Ding! You have killed a Tier Three Centaur Warrior and gained 50 experience..."
"Ding! You have killed a Tier Two Centaur Attendant and gained 25 experience..."
Robson excitedly checked his panel.
’Almost there, almost there! Only a few hundred experience points to go.’
"You’re courting death! HAH!" Robson charged left and right. ’I have to admire them. Not only did these remaining soldiers not flee, they actually dare to attack me.’
Unfortunately, once an Extraordinary entered the Golden Tier, they underwent a fundamental transformation. Robson unleashed his Golden Avatar, carving through the Centaur horde as if they weren’t even there.
"Th-this... he’s a demon!"
"The human cavalry behind him are charging!"
While the Centaur Warriors were still reeling from the sight of this man who fought like a descended Celestial God, the main human army in the distance was already closing in.
"Damn it, Castro fled and Vina fled. What are we still doing here?"
"Let’s run for it! If we’re dead, we’ll have nothing!"
It was impossible to say what the final straw was—Robson’s overwhelming Extraordinary power, or the human Cavalry and Knights charging in his wake. In the end, the warriors holding the rearguard for the retreating Centaur legion finally broke. They scattered, fleeing for the rear.
Robson did not give chase. He quietly watched the scene unfold. Human forces from the south and east herded the Centaurs northward. The earth-shaking din of battle cries mingled with the distant, agonized wails of Centaur Warriors.
Now, Robson could confidently say that the tide on the eastern front had completely turned.
They had marched from Feiying Pass, arriving at the battlefield in a day and a night of forced marching. Then they broke through Ancient Dumu Town, the Dwarf Corps, and Wayne Mountain in succession, and now, they had defeated the enemy’s final force.
Of course, there were still many Beastmen remnants on Wisley Path, but they no longer mattered. They were just rabble.
One could say these past few days had been the most nerve-wracking of Lord Robson’s career. There were simply too many variables.
The defenders of Ancient Dumu Town, the Gray Dwarves on the road... ’Of course, having many variables doesn’t mean I was gambling. My, Lord Robson’s, political philosophy is to never take a risk unless absolutely necessary. And even then, I must leave myself an out. In this war, even if I hadn’t been able to break through Ancient Dumu Town, the worst that could have happened was that I would have had to retreat and wait for news from Count Sriphine.’
’The variables were about how much I, Lord Robson, stood to gain. Now, it seems everything is developing in the best possible direction.’
’And that’s not even counting the benefits I, Lord Robson, can squeeze out of the other factions after this victory.’
On his panel alone, after a whole night of bloody battle, Robson had already reached the Golden Eighth Tier.
It was well known that in this world, just reaching the Golden Tier was difficult. Advancing further within the Golden Tier was exponentially harder. A genius like Marquis Oscillate, famous in his youth, was currently only at the Golden Eighth Tier.
The Golden Seventh Tier granted the ability to manifest a Golden Avatar and wield a massive battle aura. The Golden Eighth Tier was another level entirely.
What struck Robson as strange was that the Golden Eighth Tier had some similarities to the two pseudo-Extraordinary Soldiers he had previously guided. Their acupoints could now store and gather battle aura.
The difference was that Robson also had a massive Life Seed inside him—which should now be called a Tree of Life—while the pseudo-Extraordinary Soldiers did not.
Robson was now feeling the benefits of storing battle aura in his acupoints; he could unleash it with every casual move. Of course, this required a powerful internal source of battle aura. The pseudo-Extraordinary Soldiers couldn’t do this. To mobilize their battle aura, they had to force it out of their acupoints, much like a first or second-tier Bronze Knight.
But for Robson, the greatest benefit of reaching the Golden Eighth Tier wasn’t even this. It was the change in his command limit.
It had expanded from eight thousand men to thirteen thousand—a full increase of five thousand!
Robson himself was stunned. ’Even if I can’t fill my own ranks, I can always train troops for others and get paid.’
’It’s a business that can only make quick cash, and I’d have to avoid drawing the attention of the real power players, but quick cash is still cash!’
Besides Robson’s personal power boost, his soldiers also experienced another qualitative leap.
The units that gained the most experience were, once again, the Bow and Crossbowmen of the First Regiment and Robson’s personal Cavalry Team. These two units had truly shone in last night’s battle.
The Cavalry Team’s contribution went without saying. They fought from start to finish. In this war of speed, the most crucial players had been Robson’s Cavalry Team and the Fengman Knight Order.
Even though the Fengman Knight Order had claimed the lion’s share of the experience, the amount his Cavalry Team earned was still substantial.
According to the stats, all of the Tier Four Cavalry in Robson’s Cavalry Team had been promoted. Moreover, over one hundred of his Tier Five Cavalry had advanced to become Tier Six Cavalry.
His force now consisted of nearly three hundred Tier Six Cavalry and over one hundred Tier Five Cavalry. But what surprised Robson the most was that he now had over thirty Tier Seven Frank Cavalry!
’Thirty men might not seem like a lot, but it proves the method works. If one battle can produce over thirty Frank Cavalry, what about two more battles like this?’
Moreover, a Tier Seven soldier only needed to eat a little Magical Beast Meat to gain a battle aura. Even if the aura was weak, it already put them far beyond ordinary men.
Combined with the skill of a Tier Seven cavalryman, they could fight a first or second-tier Bronze Knight to a standstill. That was terrifying!
An Extraordinary Knight, even a common Bronze Knight, took at least a decade to train. This was why an Extraordinary Knight Order was considered the foundation of any great noble house’s power.
And how long had it taken to produce these thirty Tier Seven Frank Border Knights under his command? Two or three months, at most. Of course, this was mainly due to the high intensity of the recent battles. But high-intensity combat plus a bit of Magical Beast Meat in the future... compared to a decade of training, the cost was staggeringly lower!
This basically meant that he, Lord Robson, now had a way to build his own Extraordinary Army—even if they were only pseudo-Extraordinary.
Beyond the Cavalry Team, the First Regiment also held plenty of surprises for Robson, primarily the promotions to Tier Five Frankish Elite Shooters and Tier Six Frankish Border Watchers.
The First Regiment had originally suffered immense losses at the Battle of Thermopylae, and Robson had only recently replenished its ranks with new recruits.
After the last two days of war, the number of Tier Six Soldiers, which had been decimated, was now back up to over five hundred. Many of the Tier Four Soldiers transferred from other units had also been promoted to Tier Five.
Robson’s First Regiment now boasted over five hundred Tier Six Soldiers, over three hundred Tier Five Soldiers, and over one hundred Tier Four Soldiers. Most critically, he now had over fifty Tier Seven Soldiers in total.