Chapter 92: War Casualties

  At the very end of the battlefield, there was a detachment of the rearguard that had been cut off from the rest. The Byzantine cavalry fought valiantly, but they were surrounded by the Ottomans on all sides, like wild beasts trapped in a pit, their blood drained, their breath exhausted, their strength spent, and finally, as if stuck in the mud!

  One by one, the cavalrymen fell to the ground, their numbers dwindling, despite the officer in charge shouting and brandishing his long spear with a fierce battle cry, sending blood flying everywhere...

  More and more Odins surrounded, the corpses even blocked the direction of advancement around them. The Odins seemed to have made up their minds to devour this fragmented column at all costs. Dense axes and swords stood in front of them like a copper wall and iron wall. Even if the cavalrymen were battered and bleeding, they could not break through even a single gap!

  The last battalion fell, and in an instant, it was chopped into minced meat by countless knives and axes passed around! Fornata had already dismounted, his war horse whining as it fell, one of his legs pierced by a long spear from who-knows-where, dragging a crippled leg, this Byzantine general still looked calm and collected!

  He held a long spear in one hand and a short sword in the other, standing there with his armor having over ten cracks, his whole body covered in blood to the point where the original color of the armor could no longer be seen! Yet he still hadn't fallen!

  The long spear swung out for the last time, and the explosive aura crushed several Odin warriors in front of him. However, the long spear could no longer withstand this force and exploded into pieces! The sword in his hand had already rolled up its blade, with tiny gaps all over the blade.

  Fonata's aura converged, a dazzling light burst forth, transforming into a beam of light that cleaved an Odin warrior in front of him into fragments! Immediately after, he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground...

  A long spear pierced his body, he gritted his teeth and cut off the spear with a single sword, but the sword blade finally broke off. He held the broken spear that had pierced his waist and looked at the Odin warriors around him who were like wolves and tigers.

  This apathetic Byzantine soldier suddenly smiled...

  When he received General Adrick's order, he didn't say a word.

  When he was fighting in the back of the team, he didn't say a word.

  When comrades and subordinates around him fell one by one, he didn't say a word.

  At this moment, he felt that his blood had almost flowed out, and the strength in his body had completely disappeared. At this moment, although there were shouts all around him, he felt quiet enough to hear his own heartbeat!

  A smile flashed across the face of this Byzantine general, and then he suddenly summoned strength from somewhere and pulled out the long spear that had pierced his body with great force! A torrent of hot blood gushed out of the wound, but the long spear in his hand still carried its last sharp energy, stabbing forward fiercely...

  With his last breath, he let out a final loud roar!

  "Advance!! Or die!!!!"

  An axe chopped down from his neck, cutting off the last note of his last sentence, his head soared into the sky, a burst of fresh blood splattered in the air, and then several long spears were inserted into his body...

  The mangled corpse fell to the ground, mingling with hundreds and thousands of other corpses around it, impossible to distinguish from one another...

  More than 600 cavalrymen made a desperate charge outward, but the Otomi warriors clung to them tenaciously and finally an opening was forced.

  More than 600 cavalrymen broke out of the encirclement, but they were still not safe! In front of them was still the large camp of the Oder people!

  The six hundred cavalrymen were no longer able to form a line and rushed towards the main camp in disarray. The main camp had already been breached after two Byzantine attacks, and this breakthrough point was in complete chaos. The six hundred horsemen trampled through the connected camps without encountering too much danger, and there was only sporadic resistance within the camp.

  Xia Ya was now at the back of the formation, his horse finally showing signs of exhaustion, not to mention there was also a wounded Kevin on its back. The Odinian reindeer cavalry were closing in relentlessly, their whistling sounds getting closer and closer!

  At this moment, a beastly roar came from the side, and a group of white-armored bear warriors rushed over! These were not ordinary berserkers, each black bear was taller and more majestic than ordinary berserkers, with bulging muscles that were not bloated, and their armor was also top-grade white steel! The Odin warriors on the bears' backs were also uniform in holding two-meter-long three-edged war spears - the style of this war spear was surprisingly similar to Hasting's!

  These white-armored madmen are running at an astonishing speed! They quickly caught up from the side! Xia Ya, although he urged his war horse to run wildly, but this war horse finally suffered some injuries after a long battle, and its hooves slowed down significantly!

  Soon, a white-armored polar bear rushed over, its massive paws swiping down, and Xia Ya grabbed the fire fork to block it!!

  With a loud crack, the bear's arm was instantly broken, but Xia Ya also shook his whole body! He felt the opponent's powerful and majestic power, and the warrior on the bear's back jumped up and pounced over as soon as the violent bear fell to the ground in pain! The three-edged war spear swept in front of Xia Ya, and Xia Ya made a great effort to block it again!

  Suddenly, a muffled sound was heard, and Xia Ya felt his arm shaking violently! Although the three-edged spear had broken off, the powerful force still made Xia Ya feel a surge of dizziness in his chest! The Odin warrior fell to the ground, letting out a crazy roar...

  Beast Soul Warrior!

  Xia Ya's heart suddenly lit up!

  He was blocked for a moment, and suddenly two more white-armored madmen also entangled him. Xia Ya exerted himself to block two three-edged war spears, but his fire fork was too short after all. He could only protect the front but not the sides. The opponent's long weapon swept horizontally, and he had no choice but to use his body to withstand it!

  Bang! A dull thud, Xia Ya used her shoulder to withstand the impact, and instantly heard the sound of bones cracking, her skin splitting open, and blood gushing out. After taking this hit, Xia Ya's vision went dark for a moment. The fire-tipped spear danced in the air, striking down the enemy's war gun, and finally, fresh blood flowed from her mouth again! The fire-tipped spear, glowing red, chopped off the arm of a Beast Soul warrior. As the severed limb flew through the air, the guy's face showed no pain, his eyes still filled with explosive energy and killing intent, and he charged forward crazily, leaping into the air, attempting to knock Xia Ya off her horse with his body!

  Beast Soul Warrior! Powerful Beast Soul Warrior!!

  Xia Ya was knocked askew, the fire spear pierced through the opponent's head, instantly splitting their skull open. Just then, he stumbled and fell off his horse!

  Rolling on the ground several times, Xia Ya hadn't gotten up yet when he felt the sound of breaking air behind him. He let out a loud roar, his eyes turned crimson red, and a faint red glow emerged from the fire fork, drawing a snow-white thread that cut off everything in its path!!

  Several violent bears were dismembered directly, but the few beast soul warriors fell to the ground and rushed up without hesitation. Xia Ya had already stood up, looking at the pursuing soldiers behind him and the several strong enemies around him, his heart sank to the bottom of the valley...

  At this moment, a horse's neigh was heard, and Kevin, the bald-headed man on his own warhorse, turned around and rushed back. With one hand barely holding onto the reins, he forcibly charged forward with the horse's strength, grabbed Xia Ya's hair, and lifted him up! Xia Ya flipped onto the horseback, a beast soul warrior's spear thrust towards him, he blocked it with his fire fork, then fiercely kicked the horse's belly, knocking away the beast soul warrior in front of him.

  The several beast soul warriors behind him roared in anger, running and chasing, but after all, they didn't have the Violent Bear, their speed was quickly left behind by the horses, getting farther and farther away...

  Xia Ya finally leaped out of the enemy's camp, and as the horse's hooves left the camp, he looked at the empty battlefield in front of him and the distant wall of the fort. Suddenly, a sense of relief and joy surged up in his heart, and he couldn't help but burst into loud laughter. With one hand grasping the reins and the other embracing Guang Tou Nan, he shouted: "We made it! Guang Tou Nan! We're alive!"

  Kevin just hummed a sound, his voice was weak, and his body seemed to be trembling slightly.

  The pursuing soldiers behind were getting closer and closer, but when Xia Ya rushed to the camp gate, a dense wave of arrows blocked the pursuers behind. After Xia Ya's horse rushed into the gate, the gate was heavily closed immediately, and countless wooden materials were piled up at the door, completely blocking the gate!!

  Xia Ya's horse charged forward for dozens of steps before finally stopping, the tortoise on its back was panting heavily, leaning against Kevin's back with his tongue out, laughing wildly: "I didn't die! We're back! Hahaha! Kevin, you owe me another life! Hahahahaha..."

  After laughing for a while, Xia Ya suddenly felt that her arm was wet and sticky. She looked down to see that the arm she had wrapped around Kevin's waist was covered in fresh blood! The blood had completely soaked through her clothes and pants on her thigh, and Kevin's body was leaning limply against hers, as if he couldn't even move.

  A broken spearhead pierced the bald man's waist, right at the edge of his armor's lower hem! Fresh blood had already soaked through the bald man's clothes, shocking to behold!!

  Xia Ya's mind suddenly went blank, he let out a low growl, jumped off the horse and frantically pulled Kevin down.

  The bald man's face was as pale as paper, and his eyes, which used to shine brightly, had lost all their luster. A stream of fresh blood flowed from his waist, staining the ground red, and Kevin lay on the ground, soon covering a large area with blood. Xia Ya's hand gently landed on Kevin's waist, but he didn't dare pull out the gun tip, knowing that as soon as he did, there would be an immediate hemorrhage!

  The bald man gasped weakly, lying there, Xia Ya lifted Kevin's bald head and pressed it against her own thigh, and suddenly a kind of indescribable twisted tearing pain arose in her heart.

  "Kevin! Damn it! You son of a bitch, don't scare me like that! You still owe me a life, you hear me?! Breathe, speak!!"

  The bald man's lips had turned white, the intense pain causing his tough body to convulse in spasms. He struggled to move his lips, but instead raised a finger and pointed at the half-buried gun tip stuck in his waist, forcing out a faint pale smile on his face:

  "Pull, pull... owe you a life... I'm even."

  Xia Ya immediately recalled the scene where he fell off his horse earlier, and this bastard rushed back and charged into the crowd to pull himself out! The turtle suddenly let out a loud roar, shouting loudly, with his spittle spraying onto Kevin's face.

  "Who told you to pay back! Who told you to pay back! Don't be allowed to pay back! You damn well owe me! I don't allow you to pay back now!!"

  Kevin's mouth twitched, he suddenly shook his head, that hint of a smile gradually faded away, then took a deep breath, pointing to his chest: "Brother... help me out... take me back..."

  Before he could even finish speaking, Kevin's eyes glazed over and his mouth released its final burst of hot air.

  The people around had rushed over, but saw Xia Ya holding Kevin in her arms, both sitting on the ground, watching as Kevin's life slipped away. The Byzantine soldiers beside them, however, all stopped in their tracks and stood there, forming a circle around them.

  At this moment, no one comes forward, and no one knows what to say or do.

  Xia Ya sat there, as if he had been stunned silly. He held Kevin tightly and didn't say a word for a long time...

  At this moment, no one dared to disturb Xia Ya, and everyone's eyes were fixed on him.

  It wasn't until a long time had passed that Xia Ya suddenly came back to himself. The expression on his face was frighteningly calm and gloomy.

  He gently opened Kevin's chest armor and pulled out something from his bosom.

  After unfolding... it's a piece of sheepskin, a piece of sheepskin that has already been dyed red with blood!!

  The sheepskin was stained with blood, but beneath the fresh blood were rows of blurry characters. These characters were written in charcoal, and the sheepskin itself was already tattered and covered in scratch marks everywhere.

  Xia Ya knew it was a letter - Kevin's home letter!

  ……

  …………

  "We soldiers don't have much money to buy paper, and paper is easily damaged. So for communication with family, we use sheepskin, writing on it with a charcoal pen; after reading, the words can be scraped off and reused repeatedly."

  "This is a letter from my wife's family, haha! I'm a married man, you know. Her name is Yulia, and let me tell you, she's a pure-blooded Rodrigian woman!"

  "She cooks great steaks, I'll invite you to my place to try her cooking sometime! You're a nice guy, we can be good friends in the future."

  "I owe you one!"

  "Pull, pull... owe you a life... I'm even."

  ……

  Xia Ya carefully folded the sheepskin and tucked it into his bosom, every move he made was very gentle, as if he feared damaging the sheepskin even a little bit.

  Finally, after doing all that, he let go of Kevin's body and stood up. He stood there, his arms starting to tremble, followed by his body. When his whole body was shaking uncontrollably, Xia Ya finally let out a loud roar.

  The roar was filled with infinite sorrow and anger, like a beast wailing in the dark of night.