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Personnel of the cavalry numbered only eight knights plus their captain. Meanwhile, the group that surrounded them consisted of over twenty individuals. Let's consider it as one versus three. Even I, as someone with no expertise, could tell that this situation was disadvantageous for the knights.

The bridge was about five meters wide – a narrow space for a group battle, especially considering that their horses couldn't move freely there. And they still had to protect the carriage.

"What is your purpose for surrounding us?" one of the knights asked.

All the knights were in ready position. Regular people who happened to be passing by stopped and watched from a safe distance. I didn't know if the knight's question was meant to buy time or simply out of curiosity. After several seconds without any response, the knight repeated his question.

"What do you want?"

This time the question was answered. Not through words, but by the hurling of round objects with lit fuses. Upon reaching the ground, the objects, which I initially thought were grenades, turned out to be smoke bombs. The bridge was instantly shrouded in thick smoke. The group surrounding them then launched an attack.

"The essence of my being, this very soul, doth verily belong to the spirit of the wind. Cast away the perils, protect me in your embrace!"

After those words, which sounded like a prayer, were spoken, a whirlpool of wind emerged from the middle of the bridge. The mist was swept away by the rush of air, disappearing without a trace. This powerful gust was like a double-edged sword, blowing not only the attackers away but also the knights and their horses.

It was magic, undoubtedly. The user was the captain who stood firmly, swinging a sword at the center of the whirlwind. The carriage behind him appeared unharmed. Even the horses were still tied to the carriage. This meant that the whirlwind had originated within a certain radius from the user.

The knights who were thrown off quickly got up and chased after the scattered enemy group. Those who had been thrown to the left side could easily be subdued and captured alive. Meanwhile, on the right side of the bridge, the attackers fought back.

Once again, it was a matter of numbers. Perhaps it was for this reason they dared to challenge. Furthermore, both sides possessed the same type of weaponry. The only difference lay in the plate armor worn by the knights, while the attackers only had lamellar armor and leather vests.

The attackers rushed towards one of the knights. The knight immediately adopted a defensive stance. As the attacker swung his sword, the knight parried it with his blade held horizontally.

It seemed the knight weakened his grip intentionally, Because in doing so, the enemy's sword slipped onto the tip of the Knight's sword and hit the ground instead. The Attacker, who was still bent over, quickly received a hard kick to the abdomen. He fell over, grappling with the pain. However, the Knight was unexpectedly ruthless. He immediately stuck his sword into the Attacker's waist and then kicked him into the middle of the bridge.

"Come on, who's next?" shouted the knight who had just defeated the Attacker.

The other assailants knew they couldn't win one-on-one, so they attacked simultaneously. For some reason, I felt they had forgotten that they were not only facing one knight.

The knights on the right side all joined the attack. Without hesitation, they swung their swords with a wide range of motion. The attackers hit by these strikes were immediately thrown back, their lamellar armor torn apart, splattering blood in all directions.

Fortunately for the attackers who were a bit behind, they avoided the slashes. As a result, they could advance further and successfully overwhelmed one of the knights. A brief skirmish unfolded as one knight faced off against six assailants.

Realizing their combined strength, each group of six targeted one knight. Each knight was strategically lured apart, preventing them from assisting one another.

It seemed that the knights also realized the intentions of the attackers. Therefore, they tried to approach the center of the bridge while struggling to withstand the relentless onslaught. One fell. Another was sprawled on the ground. The number of knights decreased even before they could regroup. The attackers truly seized the opportunity.

The captain, who had been standing still, now began to move. The air of his presence was so thin that even in the fierce battle just now, I almost forgot about him, even though he initially had the most prominent action.

The captain dragged his sword as if he had no need to be wary of the number of enemies. Strangely, fear was not written on the faces of the knights. Instead, they calmly sheathed their swords and slowly retreated.

Six, twelve... fifteen individuals from the opposing group were left to confront Captain alone. Even if Captain was incredibly strong, I'm afraid he'll be overwhelmed by that many opponents at once. It looks like he's going to use magic again. Perhaps his opponents thought the same, prompting them to attack him directly to prevent him from chanting spells.

However, my assumption was incorrect.

Captain appeared to have no intention of using magic. He moved swiftly, knocking down his opponents one by one. His behavior resembled that of a demon more than a knight. Each attacker who approached him seemed to deliberately offer a part of their own body.

Cries and screams filled the air. Severed body parts scattered like litter in a night market. The Captain panted heavily, it would be a lie if he said he wasn't tired. But this was a situation where the side of the knights could not afford to lose. People were watching. The reputation of the knights was at stake.

After taking a deep breath, the Captain once again pursued the attackers. Starting with those closest to him, he targeted an assailant who had turned his back against the bridge's railing. It seemed the Captain intended to push the leather-clad attacker over the edge. However, his attack was interrupted by another assailant from the left, forcing him to swing his sword to parry the blow.

The Leather-Clad Attacker seized this opportunity to swing a horizontal strike at the Captain's neck. Luckily, the Captain's reflexes were sharp enough to allow him to quickly kneel and lower his body. Unfortunately, the strike still hit his sturdy helm, causing it to be dislodged and plunge into the river.

The incident revealed the fact that the Captain was a woman.

In a half-crouched position, the Captain swiftly extended and spun her left leg. The attacker from the left stumbled, his head colliding directly with the bridge's stones. He remained conscious and attempted to stand, despite his skull being cracked. The Captain kicked the wounded man's abdomen, propelling him towards the middle of the bridge. His care was now transferred to the knights on standby.

As if unfamiliar with the concept of rest, the Captain was immediately besieged from all sides. She seemed overwhelmed as two more assailants joined the fray. Three against one. Not coincidentally, all three aimed for her head. It was the only part left unprotected by her iron plating. Although the human skull was reasonably resilient, in reality, even a light impact could cause fatal injuries. Especially if struck by a sharp blade.

The Captain was pushed back towards the center of the bridge, her left arm shielding her head while her right hand fended off attack after attack. Whether by coincidence or not, her actions were accurate, as, unconsciously, the attackers had been herded towards a spot where many knights were on alert.

"Fall back!" shouted one of the attackers who quickly grasped the situation.

The other assailants jerked to a stop and then retreated. However, it was unfortunate for one of them. A metal blade had pierced between his left ribs. The unfortunate man only stared as blood stained his leather garment, which then sprayed through the tear as the sword was pulled back.

Seizing the opportunity amidst the attackers' panic, the Captain darted forward without seeming to concern herself about her head. She ran, lowering her body as she headed for the Leather Vest beside the bridge railing.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Betraying my expectations—and perhaps that of the Leather Vest as well—the Captain dashed past the Leather Vest and lunged at the bridge railing. She bounced back behind the Leather Vest and propelled him with her left foot, causing the Leather Vest to tumble into the river. With her right foot, she kicked another assailant's jaw nearby. In a swift turn, she aimed her sword at another man.

The incident happened so quickly that none of the attackers seized the opportunity to swing their swords as the captain somersaulted through the air.

Out of the initial fifteen attackers, now only six remained. The captain easily brought down another one. Then, as the captain was about to throw her sword at one of the five remaining assailants, all five simultaneously raised their hands.

"Surrender!"

"I surrender too!"

"W-We surrender too!"

A disappointed expression was visible on the captain's face. Perhaps she really wanted to slaughter these thugs. However, she bore the reputation of the Imperial Knights. If the Imperial Knights were to wipe out the enemy entirely, it was possible they would receive negative public opinion.

Upon closer examination, there were very few casualties among the attackers. The rest were either unconscious, missing limbs, or severely wounded. Some were on the brink of death, but they are in a condition where they can still survive despite poor treatment.

Five individuals remained. They discarded their weapons into the river and walked to the center of the bridge with their hands behind their heads. In this game-like world, I momentarily hoped for a twist in the plot. After all, it wouldn't be surprising if these five turned out to have bombs strapped to them as a suicide attempt if the operation failed. Unfortunately, they genuinely raised the white flag without conditions.

By the way, Sophia had been watching the battle restlessly all this time. Not once or twice because her head couldn't stay still, Vladilena and I were pushed until we hit the window frame.

Both of us moved away from the window. Perhaps we were thinking the same thing, that there was no more interesting spectacle to see. Although I was still curious about the reasons behind this attack, I chose to step back and wait for news instead of crowding at the window with Sophia.

The carriage still refused to move. The road conditions didn't seem like they would return to normal anytime soon. Amidst the commotion, Sophia opened the carriage door. She jumped down and ran towards the scene of the incident.