The low clouds made the sun look more and more dull, and the light rain fell from the sky, and the gentle breeze carried a biting cold—even in the warmer and warmer summer, the damp and cold smell of the Hantu Highlands still lingered.

Edward, who was riding on a horse, couldn't help but raise his head, towards the lofty mountains hidden in the gray clouds and mist in the distance, the place that seemed to have been forgotten by the sun, the surrounding dense forests and muddy paths, all indescribably weird, and the whining wind seemed to be like a wolf's howl, which lingered in his ears for a long time, so that the black-haired knight couldn't help but narrow his eyes, and subconsciously put his right hand on the hilt of the sword.

It was a savage and inhospitable ancient place in the Midwest of the Vast Lands, the "edge of the world" that no one had really set foot on for thousands of years, and even in the most powerful times of the Kingdom of Turin, there was no trace of it—not even on the most accurate map Edward could find.

Now the whole Banner Legion had been marching on the land for a whole week—led by the cavalry of several surrounding tribes, along a rough and bumpy road through vast expanses of desolate hills and plains, and also getting closer and closer to the southeastern corner, which, according to a few Hanntuans, should have been very close to the Iron Cliff Mountain.

Edward was not wrong - there was indeed a path through which thousands of armies could pass through it, but it was hidden among the mountains. It's incredibly hard to get through.

For the Hantu people, who originally lived between the mountains and rivers, it was not difficult to pass, but for the Banner Legion, it was extremely difficult—the narrow roads and rough ground were extremely severe tests for the baggage wagons. Even had to throw away a lot of bulky equipment. to be able to continue on the march.

In the end. Edward had to have his soldiers carry all their equipment and three days' rations, and the cavalrymen dismounted and led their mounts on foot, loading their belongings on horseback - the heavy ballistas had to be discarded, leaving only a few smaller pieces to be dismantled and loaded into wagons for consignment.

Only in this way could the entire Banner Legion maintain its combat effectiveness while maintaining as fast a march as possible - in order to guard against the possible hordes of beasts and barbarian bandits at night, Edward preferred to set up camp before evening. Instead of choosing to move on.

This may be almost the tradition of the Banner Legion - starting with the sweep of the Green River Valley, the entire Banner Legion marches every day not to reach the goal as quickly as possible, but to find out if there is a suitable place to camp on the road, and to establish a stable enough barracks before the evening.

Green Turn's point about this was also mentioned, and he said "Are your soldiers so afraid of death" or something, but Edward still did not change this tradition, and even deliberately kept it alive.

But in any case, this "legion tradition", which belongs only to the Battle Banner Legion, makes every soldier in the entire legion a very good sapper, and can avoid enemy sneak attacks and beast attacks at night. It allows each soldier to maintain sufficient physical strength and march at full speed in the early morning of the next day.

"This is it. "Before Edward came to his senses. A barbarian cavalryman who was acting as a guide beside him suddenly spoke, the spear in his hand pointing ahead: "If you want to cross the nearby hills from here to the Iron Cliff Mountain, this is the only way. ”

"Is this the only way?" said Repinus, who heard the voice, and followed, "There is no other place to get around here, or a wider road?"

"That's all there is to it. The guide couldn't help but swallow, and then nodded: "In the past, when we went to other tribes to do business, we all passed through this way - there was no other way. ”

"What's wrong?" Seeing his chief centurion frown, Edward asked, "What did you find, or is there something wrong?"

"The road on this side is too narrow for the whole legion to move smoothly, and even if it is difficult to pass through it - more importantly, there are slopes and dense forests on both sides, and there is a river on the opposite side. Repinus nodded silently, and his expression was unusually serious when he pointed to the front: "If someone sneaks up and ambushes in such a place, we may not even have the strength to fight back!"

"W-Who would dare to attack Lord Witwood's army at this time--the surrounding tribes have already surrendered to your lordship!" said the guide on the side, with a somewhat flattering smile on his face, but he hesitated: "Not to mention wild beasts around this forest, not even bigger rabbits!"

"Even so, it's always right to be cautious. Edward looked at his panicked face thoughtfully, and then turned to Repinos on the side: "Send a cavalryman back to report the news, camp tonight, and the rest of the men come with me to take a look." ”

"Understood. Although Liberinus wanted Edward to go back, since the Chief Flag Officer had already spoken, he did not intend to refute anything, grabbed the guide who turned around and wanted to leave, and stared at him viciously: "You go with us - if you dare to deceive Lord Witwood, you will definitely not want to see what happens to you!"

"Never, never!!"

"Hopefully!" Lebinus snorted and let go of his hand, although he had a good relationship with Iska, he still could not trust the barbarians of these lands, especially when they were full of suspicion.

Edward on the side just watched silently and never said anything - he also maintained a considerable degree of suspicion and vigilance, beckoned to Repcinus, and the chief centurion followed Edward with more than forty horsemen.

As Repinus put it, the terrain here is more like a valley, with undulating slopes and dense woods on both sides, which can only be passed by the most central roads, and is extremely muddy, let alone a baggage cart, which is quite a test for a war horse.

But this is why the Hantu people in the east have never had any decent cavalry, and the rugged terrain and muddy mud flats make it difficult to exert the power of the war horse charge, but there are many restrictions, and it is difficult to assemble a large cavalry team to attack the enemy here.

In the event of a surprise attack by the enemy here, even if they were prepared, the Battle Banner Corps in the middle of the marching army would still suffer heavy casualties, and might even be cut off from the center by the enemy, and finally wiped out by a flank attack.

In fact, until now, Lessinus still did not agree with Edward's plan - this kind of long march was so risky that the whole army had been completely cut off from the rear since three days earlier, not to mention the logistics and even had to throw away a lot of precious baggage.

Seeing that the fierce Turineites behind him seemed to have shifted their attention to the dense forest on both sides, the guide, who was so nervous that his heart was about to jump out, quietly took out a horn from his arms and puffed up his chest.

"What are you doing?!" Repinus, who suddenly saw it inadvertently, looked startled and immediately wanted to stop, but it was too late...... The loud and desolate voice echoed throughout the dense forest, as if it were the angry cry of the land!

"Bang!" The crisp sound of the blade unsheathed suddenly sounded, and Edward did not hesitate to pull out the bright star on his waist and throw it vigorously - the gray blade left only an afterimage in mid-air, straight through the guide's back, and the huge inertia carried his stump to the ground, twitching and struggling to crawl on the ground, and was pushed away by Edward.

"Any last words?" the black-haired knight sat on his horse, staring coldly at the angry and terrified cheeks.

"Go, die, damn Turin-!!!" The bloodied barbarian guide struggled to utter the last words, and the blade of his sword was pulled out by Edward.

"Assemble everybody—!" shouted as the blade of Edward's sword swung violently, "We may be in trouble." (To be continued.) )