"Dominic, what do we do now?"
On the fortress wall, Assassin Master Allen watched the Knights of the Arevalo Clan rapidly retreating below the breach, a sense of frustration welling up inside him.
Dominic’s eyes glinted. He spoke decisively, "Temporarily abandon the fortress defenses. We’ll give chase. We can’t let them get away!"
The Slime Kingdom’s Demon Legion was already powerful enough. If the Arevalo Knight Order managed to escape and join forces with them, the future threat they posed would grow even greater.
Even if it meant letting the demon tide surge into the fortress, he had to seize this opportunity to end it all for good.
Allen was shocked. ’Have you gone mad?’ "If we abandon the fortress defenses, aren’t we telling all the Knights and soldiers that we don’t care about the threat of the demon tide, that we don’t care about the civilians behind us?!"
The entire purpose of the Garrison Legion was to resist the demon tide and protect the Kingdom’s borders. This was the oath every Knight and soldier took when they joined the legion—a duty they held as their honor.
Abandoning the defense would be tantamount to having them tear up their own beliefs and oaths with their own hands. It would inevitably arouse suspicion and resistance from the Knights under his command, and could even lead to the legion splitting apart.
But Dominic said flatly, "We don’t have time to worry about that. This is the best chance to completely eradicate the Arevalo Clan and deal a heavy blow to the Demon Legion. We cannot let it slip by."
With that, he pushed aside Allen, who was still trying to dissuade him, and strode to the edge of the wall. He raised the Knight’s Sword in his hand, which flowed with a holy light, and declared in a solemn, booming voice to the Knights and soldiers still holding their positions along the various sections of the wall:
"Warriors who fight for glory! The Demon Legion and the traitors are in full retreat! Follow me immediately to pursue the enemy! This is an order, and there is no time to delay!"
His words immediately caused an uproar on the fortress walls.
"But, Captain Dominic, the Golden Grain Plain is right behind us! If we abandon the defenses, the demon tide..."
"For the sake of the Kingdom and the innocent civilians, we can’t leave the wall at a time like this!"
"Captain Dominic..."
Voices of doubt and protest rose and fell in waves.
"Enough!" Dominic cut them off with a cold shout. His expression softened slightly as he explained, "Pursuing the Demon Legion doesn’t mean abandoning the fortress. After the Sixth Legion, militia corps from the major noble families are already on their way."
He pointed behind the fortress. "We will temporarily entrust the task of resisting the demon tide to them. We have a more important mission: to completely annihilate these enemies who threaten the Kingdom!"
His gaze swept over the crowd. "The Third Formation will remain behind to garrison the wall and receive the noble corps that will arrive later. Everyone else, pursue with me immediately! This is a military order!"
"Yes, sir!!" Although most of the soldiers still had their doubts, their long-term military training and instinct to obey orders made them choose to carry out the command after hearing a clear directive.
The situation was urgent and left no time for second-guessing. They hurried down from the walls, searching for any remaining usable horses in the stables, which were being ravaged by demons.
However, not all the Knights blindly obeyed Dominic’s command. Some, who were already suspicious of Dominic and the strange atmosphere within the legion recently, recalled Alice’s previous public accusations against him.
With suspicion blooming in their hearts, they quietly broke away from the group, hiding in the corners of the fortress wall and in its ruined towers.
Within the Garrison Legion, especially among the Knight class, there wasn’t a strict hierarchical relationship. The legion’s organization was relatively loose, and status among Knights was determined more by strength, seniority, and family prestige.
According to the laws of the White Horse Kingdom, Knights were to operate on a principle of equality. They had the right to refuse an order they deemed unreasonable—though this, of course, came with consequences. They would inevitably face a reckoning from Dominic afterward.
These Knights who chose to stay behind no longer trusted Dominic. They decided to secretly remain at the fortress and do everything in their power to stop the demon tide’s advance, relying on the remaining defensive structures and the sporadic reinforcements that would eventually arrive.
Behind them were their homes and their families. They could not retreat a single step!
"Allen, you go on ahead and provide support. I’ll be right behind you." Dominic glanced at the Knight Order regrouping below the wall. He had no time to deal with the disobedient Knights for now.
He took a running leap and jumped straight down from the breach in the wall, which was dozens of meters high.
"BOOM!!!"
His figure plummeted like a meteor, smashing heavily onto the head of a giant Swamp Crocodile trying to clamber over the rubble below.
The Holy Sword pierced the crocodile’s hard skull, emitting a "SZZZZ" sound of purification. The entire giant crocodile collapsed as if struck by a battering ram, its internal organs instantly shattered. Its massive body went limp, and a large pool of blood spread out from beneath it.
Dominic stood up, completely unscathed. He found a terrified warhorse bolting about the ruins, subdued it with brute force, and vaulted onto its back.
Then he merged into the torrent of legion Knights that was gradually assembling, following the trail left by the Sixth Legion’s charge as he galloped in pursuit of the retreating Demon Legion.
’That guy Simo should still be alive, right?’ Allen wondered. His figure flickered a few times on the wall before he vanished into stealth.
He decided to first go and discreetly bring back Simo, whose fate was unknown.
"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!"
Under Dominic’s personal command, more and more Knights joined the Sixth Legion’s charge, and the size of the army gradually swelled.
The infantry following behind alone numbered several thousand, and scattered soldiers continued to pour in from all over the fortress to join them.