"Tonight, take a rest, and tomorrow morning, all armies please depart on time. I, Angxi Desmond, will be waiting for you at the Ten Thousand Demon Rock!" Marquis Angxi said loudly, clearly confident in his role as the newly appointed Knightly Way General.

He held the flag order given by the King, and the arrangement of dividing the army into three paths seemed reasonable—the army numbered over forty thousand, a size too large to gather in one place, which could easily lead to command confusion. Thus, dividing the forces was necessary to leverage Brittania's numerical advantage, so splitting the army was inevitable.

Laine thought carefully and felt that if he were to command such a war, he would certainly split the forces too.

But why were the Winford and Bastogne armies chosen for feint attacks? On the way back, Laine pondered this question, as the armies of these duchies were considered quite strong... Indeed, it was precisely because these two duchies had relatively strong military prowess that Marquis Angxi arranged for them to make feint attacks.

Julius walked alongside Laine, feeling a bit unhappy upon hearing he was assigned to feint attacks: "I think he's guarding against us."

"He is indeed guarding against us," Laine squinted his eyes, "this is not the place to talk..."

"Ah! Hello, Champion of the Lady, Holy Grail Knight Lord Laine." Marquis Angxi approached slowly with a group of knights. Upon seeing Laine, his expression turned peculiar: "Hello!"

"Hello, Marquis," Laine and Julius were stopped, and out of courtesy, Laine greeted Marquis Angxi.

"It's a great honor to have an outstanding Holy Grail Knight like Lord Laine join the knightly war. I hope Lord Laine won't feel aggrieved for being positioned in the right army?" Marquis Angxi greeted Laine with a handshake, a smile plastered across his face.

"Oh, certainly not, on the contrary, I must thank the Marquis for his arrangement. I think it's sensible," Laine suddenly spoke enthusiastically, "The Marquis boasts noble blood and is fully appointed by His Majesty the King, surely ensuring a great victory in this knightly war. As knights serving the Lady, the Marquis need not treat me specially."

Hmm? This Holy Grail Knight is notably perceptive! The young Marquis originally planned to give this newly promoted Holy Grail Knight a little intimidation to establish who the commander of this war truly was. However, given his perceptiveness, many words went unsaid, leading the Marquis to nod with a broad smile: "No need, no need, we are all knights of the Lady, all fighting for Brittania, there's no question of special treatment or arrangements, if there's anything wrong in my approach, I welcome corrections from Lord Laine and Lord Julius, hahaha~"

Receiving praise from the Lake Fairy's Divine Chosen Champion made him somewhat elated, the Marquis simply "encouraged" Laine a few words before proudly walking away.

When Julius and Laine returned together to the Winford camp, Laine shook his head with a wry smile: "I feel this battle will be hard to fight."

"That smugness written all over his face, I don't understand why you flatter him," Julius was also dissatisfied with this commander. As they entered their tents one after the other, the Kingdom Knight's expression turned cold and rigid: "You should have told him that our opponents are powerful and cunning beastmen—the Beast King 'Blood Horn' Maras and the Screaming Shaman 'Heart-Eater' Groz. All the complacent knights have already buried their bones in the forest."

"What can I do?" Laine remarked in a mocking tone: "Do I tell him to be cautious in this battle? Or outright say I'm afraid he can't win? Do I want to duel with him? Or incite a discord between His Majesty and Mr. Francois? I don't want to waste time tangling with him, nor do I wish to fall out with him over this trivial matter."

"He indeed is overly confident, but what can I do?"

Julius sighed too: "Originally the commanding position was to go to Marquis Gabriel de Bastogne, so, do you understand why Marquis Angxi arranged for Bastogne's troops to act with us?"

"I understand now." Laine and Julius shared a wry smile.

Both knights, seasoned from battles, felt a foreboding premonition; Marquis Angxi might be overly confident in this knightly war.

However, considering that the Marquis himself had undergone good military education, they thought maybe they were worrying too much.

Back in the camp, many peasants greeted the two young, handsome knights warmly, especially the Holy Grail Knight Laine, who replied to each one, appearing modest and genial: "Anyway, let's focus on our own duties."

"Right, that's the only choice we have now."

Night fell, the moon high and elliptical hanging in the sky, while Valerim camp was bright with lights. The peasants bustled about, tidying up and preparing for the next day's departure. The knights, abandoning fights and brawls, chose to stay in the camp and rest properly.

Near the woodland sentry posts, many peasant infantry were on guard duty.

The sentries were the lowest class of infantry in the army, with a humble status, tasked not only with fighting but also with various chores. They ate the worst food and did the dirtiest and hardest work.

Two sentries stood whispering atop a watchtower several meters high: "Hey, brother, do you think this knightly war will succeed?"

"Who knows, and even if it does, what's it got to do with us? It's the Master Knights' victory, not ours," the tall one leaned on a crudely made long spear, gazing at the distant forest.

"That's true, I just hope to return home safely, and hopefully get some reward," replied the skinny one.

"I wish for nothing more than a full sack of silver coins for wages, a full one, not one that's already been partly taken, as for sergeants, I don't even dare to think about that," the tall one complained bitterly.

Once, peasants harbored some expectations of being promoted to sergeants, but the tall one, through his personal experience, demonstrated the unreliability of it all. As a peasant from Leonais Duchy, he had participated in numerous wars, yet in these numerous wars, not one peasant was promoted.

The stories filled with glory and hope told by their parents had turned into lies and jokes. Whenever peasants privately discussed the Master Knights' promises, claiming that infantry demonstrating exceptional bravery on the battlefield could be promoted, uproarious laughter ensued.

Master Knights exploit their income; what seemed a decent wage was stripped away with various excuses. Some Master Knights even required peasants to pay for funeral expenses themselves! Because many Master Knights had begun to lack money to equip their children as knights.

Therefore, just keep squeezing these peasants!

In this dark age, only Holy Grail Knights earned the peasants' trust, as these Living Saints never shorted their pay and acknowledged their contributions properly, willing to promote loyal and brave individuals among them, making their lives somewhat better.

When Holy Grail Knights appeared, peasants would immediately be boosted with morale and fight with all their might. A Holy Grail Knight was a spiritual pillar for countless peasants; if they couldn't get a living one, even a dead one sufficed. Some Lords would clad the deceased Holy Grail Knights' bodies and carry them onto the battlefield to inspire peasants' morale, but such remains were extremely rare, and even the Lake Fairy disliked this practice.

"This knightly war lacks a Holy Grail Knight Master!" The tall one sighed.

"Who says there's none! There is! This time, Winford has brought a strong knight. He's not only a Holy Grail Knight but also the Lady of the Lake's Champion!" The skinny man first retorted, but then sighed: "Yet this Master isn't with us."

"Isn't that the same as having none! Fool!" the tall one cursed: "I just hope I can seize more spoils in this war, bring back more things home. Oh, I damn well need to survive first."

"Yeah! Surviving first! Let's talk about the rest later!"

The two sentries, engrossed in idle chatter, failed to notice a crow perched on the watchtower flying away; its eyes were blood-red, emitting an eerie glow.

Flapping its wings, the crow flew into the forest.

"Caw—caw—"

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