Chapter 23

The battle against the hyenas continued until midnight.

Baron Sidney stood atop a pile of hyena corpses, the ground beneath his feet awash in blood, yet countless more hyenas continued to surge out of the dense forest.

Baron Sidney's originally pale face was now smeared with fresh blood, and the greatsword in his hand was drenched in it. The white vortex that enveloped his body had become extremely weak, his face pale, and his hands, gripping the greatsword, were trembling slightly.

The heavily armored soldiers behind him were holding on by the last threads of their fighting spirit, already on the verge of collapse.

The entire company of longbowmen had exhausted their arrows and, in this desperate moment, had taken up their longbows to stand alongside the spear wielders, using the bowstrings to strangle the hyenas that charged at them.

The shield wall that had been formed at the beginning no longer existed. The second squad had rotated through three times, and now He Boqiang felt that the Roman sword in his hand was too heavy to lift, each swing requiring immense courage.

A hyena darted out from beneath the pile of corpses, its head slightly raised, and it bit into Baron Sidney's leg, which was protected by greaves.

The struggle caused Baron Sidney to lose his balance, and he tumbled down from the top of the pile of corpses, dragging the hyena with him.

His bodyguards, terrified, rushed to his aid, rescuing him from the sea of hyenas, but three of them were overwhelmed by the tide.

Captain Sam led the second squad, and Suldak was injured, with four bite marks on his left calf, causing him to limp. After applying a few drops of antidote to the wounds and bandaging them, he rejoined the front line.

Baron Sidney's Fourth Battalion, fully staffed with three hundred heavily armored infantrymen, had borrowed a company of about sixty longbowmen from Count Monty Goss. After a night of fierce fighting in the mountain pass, it was roughly estimated that at least forty heavily armored infantrymen had been dragged away by the hyenas, and the remaining soldiers were almost all injured, with over twenty severely wounded.

The pile of hyena corpses was mountainous, but unfortunately, these hyenas were not magical beasts, and their skulls contained no magic cores. Their fur was also worthless, making them essentially valueless.

No one had expected that the hyena pack that appeared at night would number in the thousands. At this moment, Baron Sidney was almost regretting his decision, wishing he could end the battle immediately. The company commanders finally received Baron Sidney's order, and the sixth company commander, who was Sam's direct superior, relayed Baron Sidney's command:

"Everyone, retreat in an orderly manner to the stone wall. Form a defensive line there. As long as we hold out until dawn, these mad hyenas will naturally retreat. Protect the archers."

Suldak glanced at He Boqiang, who immediately understood the meaning in Suldak's eyes. Retreat could easily cause chaos, giving the hyenas an opportunity. They needed to be even more cautious in forming a shield wall and conserve as much strength as possible.

"Kid, stay close to me. Don't fall behind!"

Captain Sam looked deeply at the black boy Jialonnan and whispered to the second squad members.

Garcia with the red socks, the veteran Ian, and others also had serious expressions.

There was no time to rest. After the company commanders' orders were relayed, the plan to retreat to the stone wall on the back of the mountain ridge began. Baron Sidney, leading the most elite combat squad, insisted on staying at the rear, which began to earn He Boqiang's admiration for this noble knight.

The battle formation gradually disintegrated as the group retreated step by step.

The hyenas in the darkness followed without hesitation. Fortunately, the heavily armored infantrymen, clad in metal armor, which was usually cumbersome, now provided a significant advantage. The hyenas struggled to bite through the heavy armor, which offered the Fourth Battalion's soldiers maximum protection.

He Boqiang was now in the middle of the group, retreating toward a cliff on the hillside.

Under Baron Sidney's instructions, the soldiers at the rear took out the limited amount of oil they carried and poured it over the pile of hyena corpses. As they retreated from the pile, they set it on fire, and the flames quickly spread. The hyenas that were not yet dead howled in the flames, and the wall of fire instantly formed a barrier, blocking the hyenas behind.

Baron Sidney, exhausted and covered in blood, with his magic-patterned armor showing signs of damage, walked at the rear.

On the western side of the mountain pass, there was a cliff on the hillside. Baron Sidney led everyone to retreat to the base of the cliff, making it easier to form a defensive shield wall and avoid being attacked from both sides.

After a night of fighting, He Boqiang was also exhausted, but his stamina was rapidly recovering. Suddenly, he felt the stars floating in his spiritual world slowly rotating, and the bright star on his shoulder was releasing warm currents.

Not only that, but the star next to it also began to flicker, as if it was about to be activated.

He Boqiang had no time to focus on the changes in his body. The group quickly passed through a dense forest, with the hyenas still biting at their heels.

Suldak's left leg was injured, and He Boqiang let him lean on his shoulder, supporting half of Suldak's body as they moved forward. However, this caused them to fall behind without realizing it.

When the group reached the stone wall, they encountered little resistance. The hyenas regrouped, and countless red eyes glowed in the dark forest.

The soldiers who arrived first quickly set up a defensive line to support their comrades.

The injured soldiers were placed in tents at the base of the stone wall. The soldiers used dry branches to form a semicircular wall and poured the last of the oil on it. When the wall of fire burned brightly, Baron Sidney led the last group of soldiers back from the hyenas' attack.

The most important thing now was to maintain the fire wall throughout the night. Although there was a dense forest fifty meters in front of the stone wall, it was already occupied by the hyenas. To obtain more wood, they had to search along the stone wall, ensuring the soldiers would not be surrounded by the hyenas.

The first company's soldiers were responsible for guarding the gap in the fire wall, preventing the hyenas from breaking through.

In fact, the hyenas were quite afraid of fire and dared not approach the burning flames.

The soldiers also felled several large trees near the stone wall, quickly chopping them into logs and throwing them into the fire wall.

At this moment, the soldiers who had fought for most of the night finally had a chance to rest.

Baron Sidney took out a palm-sized sheepskin scroll from his pocket and handed it to a guard. Without waiting for instructions, the guard quickly walked to the stone wall, unfolded the scroll, and nailed it to the wall.

Then, to He Boqiang's great surprise, a clear spring of water began to flow from the center of the scroll, trickling down.

The stream was thin but at least as thick as a little finger.

The guard took out a water flask, quickly filled it with water, and brought it to Baron Sidney.

Next, the soldiers from each company lined up in an orderly manner to collect water.

He Boqiang, who had thought they would have to risk going out to find water, was now amazed at the sheepskin scroll on the stone wall.

The black boy Jialonnan took Suldak's water flask and said, "I'll go get some water..."

He quickly ran to the line.