The formation of the Rayfold army resembled an arched bow, with the front protruding outward. Given the overwhelming number of barbarians, the center of the formation needed to be thick and robust to withstand the collision. Boom! Boom! Boom! The central section bore the brunt of the battle, as it was the first to clash with the barbarian warriors. The barbarians, led by their great warriors, were attempting to break through the Rayfold line. With their numerical superiority, they aimed to use brute force to smash through the center. Woroca bellowed incessantly from the rear. “We are stronger and far greater in number! Push through! Encircle them!” The flanks of the Rayfold formation were inevitably less fortified than the thick central section. Thud, thud, thud, thud! Encirclement wasn’t just about surrounding the enemy; it required inflicting enough damage to collapse their defense. To crush the Rayfold army completely, the barbarians needed to break through the flanks of the mid-heavy infantry. While the central warriors pressed heavily on the line, reinforcements charged at the flanks, aiming for a breakthrough. Thud, thud, thud, thud! Amelia, watching the charging barbarians closely, issued her next command. “Hold the flanks. Do not retreat.” The soldiers began to reform their positions. Clank! Clank! Clank! They raised their shields in tight, layered formations, with spears emerging between the gaps in their defense. Their intent was clear: to endure the cavalry charge at all costs. The two forces collided shortly after. Boom! The left and right flanks of the Rayfold army shook violently, slightly pushed back by the impact, but they did not collapse. The barbarians, unlike the kingdom’s knights, lacked full armor for themselves and their mounts. Against such a robust shield wall bristling with spears, they struggled to break through. For the barbarians, who relied heavily on cavalry charges, this was an infuriatingly effective formation. Woroca, watching the scene unfold, shouted in frustration. “Dismount! Fight on foot! We outnumber them greatly! Push through with brute force!” Since the cavalry charge wasn’t succeeding, it was better to dismount and engage in close combat. The long spears made it difficult to approach on horseback. The barbarian warriors drew axes from their waists and charged at the Rayfold soldiers. Dodging the long spears, they closed the gap, swinging their axes and climbing over the shields. The Rayfold soldiers were forced to draw their swords to counter. Clang! Clang! Clang! Both sides clashed fiercely, swinging their weapons with relentless energy. The barbarians sought to break the formation, while the Rayfold soldiers fought to hold their ground. Woroca, seeing the battle unfold in their favor, grinned and shouted. “Yes! Keep pushing! This is it!” The enemy’s traps had been exhausted. They wouldn’t be able to rely on the same weak tricks again. In a contest of sheer strength, their numerical superiority gave them the advantage. If this stalemate continued, the Rayfold soldiers would eventually tire and collapse. Just as the lines seemed locked in place, Amelia issued a new order. “Hold the flanks steady. The center will retreat slowly.” The soldiers began to move in response to her command. The formation, made up of layered ranks, started to shift. The rear ranks stepped back, planting their shields. Thud! The rank ahead of them followed suit, stepping back and planting their shields. Thud! The synchronized movement created a rippling effect, like waves. Even the soldiers engaged in close combat at the front adjusted their movements to match. Thud! The protruding bow-like formation gradually retreated. It appeared as though the Rayfold army was being pushed back. “Hahaha! They’re finally tiring!” “Kill them all!” “Push through!” The barbarians, intoxicated by their bloodlust, surged forward with renewed enthusiasm. They believed they were on the verge of breaking the enemy formation entirely. However, the flanks of the Rayfold army remained firmly in place, maintaining their tight formation. After a while, the bow-like formation of the Rayfold army shifted, with the center sinking further inward. It was then that Woroca’s expression hardened. “No... no way...” The warriors on the front lines were too focused on fighting to notice their surroundings. Their only concern was attacking the enemies directly before them. The reinforcements pouring in from the rear also funneled toward the center, as it was the only available space. Meanwhile, some of the soldiers in the Rayfold center moved to reinforce the flanks. At that moment, Amelia’s cold smile widened as she gave the next command. “Attack.” The formation shifted once more. From the flanks of the Rayfold army, the soldiers turned their bodies and thrust their spears into the enemy ranks. The barbarians had unwittingly charged into a trap and found themselves encircled. Thud! Thud! Thud! “Arghhh!” Caught off guard, the barbarians were struck down by relentless attacks from both sides. With little in the way of defensive equipment, they had no means to protect themselves from the onslaught of spears. Barbarian warriors relied on brute strength and sheer aggression, assuming it would be enough to overcome any opponent. Woroca trembled violently as he realized what had happened. “This... this can’t be...” The traps and tactics used earlier were merely bait to lure them into complacency. The real strategy had only just begun. No army would willingly retreat as the Rayfold soldiers had. The fact that Amelia possessed such a level of strategic prowess was unthinkable. “Attack their flanks! Break through the sides! Hurry! Push the sides!” Woroca’s desperate orders rang out. The barbarians, realizing the danger, threw themselves at the Rayfold flanks in an attempt to break through. However, the Rayfold soldiers stood firm. “Damn it! Why won’t they fall? We outnumber them!” No matter how hard the barbarians struck, the Rayfold formation didn’t falter. Amelia had positioned her most elite troops at the forefront of the flanks. Among them were knights equipped with shields glowing with blue mana. She had boldly stationed the knights at the vanguard to focus purely on defense. Boom! Boom! Boom! Despite their fierce assaults, the barbarians couldn’t penetrate the steadfast Rayfold formation. Most of their strongest warriors had been sent to break through the center, only to be encircled and trapped. Realizing the dire situation, Woroca blew the retreat horn and shouted. “Pull back! Retreat now!” But with so many warriors tangled in the melee, retreating was no easy task. Meanwhile, the Rayfold soldiers continued to tighten their formation, slaughtering the trapped barbarians. At the same time, the mages who had temporarily pulled back resumed their magical bombardment, and the archers unleashed a relentless volley of arrows. Though the priests of the Church of Salvation did their best to shield the warriors, their powers weren’t enough to protect everyone. One by one, the trapped warriors fell. Woroca, witnessing the slaughter, roared in fury. “Damn that woman! How dare she?!” Though he still had plenty of troops left, the bottleneck at the front made it impossible to deploy them all at once. Even if they attempted to flank the Rayfold forces, the heavily armored infantry would still be difficult to overcome. Woroca clenched his fists. “Fall back now!” At his repeated orders, the warriors began to pull back. Even they could sense how precarious their situation had become. Amelia calmly stroked Bastet, who let out a leisurely yawn, as she surveyed the battlefield. “Withdraw the flanks,” she ordered. Her next command set the Rayfold flanks into motion, stepping back in unison to prepare for the next phase of her strategy. Thud! Even as the Rayfold soldiers moved backward, they didn’t forget to thrust their spears toward the barbarians. Stab! Stab! Stab! “Arghhh!” Thud! The entire Rayfold formation began to retreat. Focused on attacking the flanks, the barbarian warriors misinterpreted the reason for the movement. “They’re being pushed back! They’re retreating!” “Finish them off!” “We outnumber them by far!” Even though the formation was pulling back, the Rayfold army suffered no significant losses. As they retreated, they methodically killed the warriors trapped in their midst. In fact, withdrawing reduced their casualties. The barbarian warriors hurried to follow the retreating soldiers. Woroca watched this scene, his mind reeling. “What... what is this?” He couldn’t comprehend it. He couldn’t grasp the enemy’s intentions or why they were retreating. Panicked, he shouted desperately. “Don’t follow them! Retreat! Retreat, you fools!” Without understanding their strategy, continuing to be drawn in would be suicide. One wrong move, and his entire force could be wiped out. The reserve units halted their advance at Woroca’s furious orders. However, the warriors already engaged in combat were not so easily recalled. The barbarians were notoriously difficult to control in battle. Ignorant of the bigger picture, they simply continued chasing the Rayfold forces. “RETREAT!!!” Woroca stormed forward, shouting repeatedly until the warriors began pulling back. But only the warriors attacking the flanks managed to retreat. Those trapped in the center couldn’t escape and continued dying at the hands of the Rayfold soldiers. Still, as the Rayfold flanks moved backward, the encirclement began to loosen, giving the barbarians trapped in the center a chance to breathe. There were too many barbarians for the Rayfold soldiers to eliminate them all at once. They could only kill them steadily as they moved. Woroca frantically urged his warriors. The flanking forces had all retreated. There was no reason to continue fighting since the enemy had loosened the encirclement on their own. “Quickly! Get out of there now!” Now, only the warriors who had pushed deep into the center needed to retreat. Many of them were still alive. If things continued this way, a significant number might escape. Believing this, Woroca clung to hope. But just as he held onto that thought, Amelia spoke again. “Crush them.” Clank! Clank! Clank! Suddenly, the central ranks of the Rayfold army shifted, opening up a wide gap. Now, only the soldiers on the flanks were blocking the barbarian warriors. The barbarians who had been retreating hesitated, confused by the sudden maneuver. It was then that the Rayfold cavalry, which had been waiting at the rear, finally moved. Thud, thud, thud, thud! “Prepare to die, you wretches!” A loud roar erupted as Vulcan, a former bandit wielding a massive club, charged forward, laughing maniacally. Beside him, Conrad, the elegantly armored leader of the Actium Trading Company and one of Amelia’s advisors, held his lance at the ready. The flanking forces of the barbarians had already retreated. The central warriors were just beginning to turn and flee. They were utterly defenseless. The Rayfold cavalry crashed into them. Boom! “Arghhh!” The barbarian warriors couldn’t mount any resistance. The warriors who had pushed into the center were slaughtered. The retreating barbarian forces could only watch helplessly as their comrades were annihilated. Woroca stammered, his voice trembling. “We... we must rescue them...” But his decision to pull back the flanks had allowed the enemy cavalry to strike. Once again, he had fallen into their trap. The center of the Rayfold formation now stood wide open. If he sent in more troops, they could potentially push through. But Woroca hesitated, unable to speak further. Clank! Clank! Clank! The Rayfold flanks stopped their movement and raised their shields once more. Woroca couldn’t bring himself to send in reinforcements. He still didn’t understand the enemy’s formation or strategy. “What is this? Are they planning to hold again? Or is this a bluff? Another trap? What happens if we go in now?” In the chaos of battle, a commander must make swift decisions. But Woroca was paralyzed, unable to decide. He couldn’t discern the enemy’s intentions. Even if there was no deeper meaning behind it, having fallen for their tricks multiple times, Woroca couldn’t stop overthinking. Amelia had completely outmaneuvered him—even his mind was now her battlefield. In the end, the warriors trapped in the center were completely crushed by the Rayfold cavalry. “What... what is this...?” Even then, Woroca failed to issue a single command. The barbarian warriors who had been watching from the flanks looked on with haunted expressions. The battle had been fierce and chaotic, but when they finally regained their senses, they realized they had been thoroughly beaten and forced to retreat. Focused solely on the enemies before them, they had no idea what had hit them. The Rayfold army made no further moves. Severely outnumbered, they had no reason to overextend themselves by advancing. This single battle had resulted in the deaths of nearly 10,000 barbarian warriors. Amelia nodded a few times as she gently stroked Bastet, her feline companion, and gave her next command. “Move to the next location.” Meow. At her order, the Rayfold forces began retreating in an orderly fashion. Their formation remained flawless, without the slightest hint of disarray. Woroca and his warriors could only watch in stunned silence. Especially Woroca, whose mind was in complete turmoil. “Why are they retreating? What’s the point? Weren’t they trying to stop us? Or... are they luring us again?” Once again, he found himself unable to make a decision. All he could do was watch the retreating Rayfold army. As if reading his thoughts, Amelia looked back at the barbarian forces and smirked. “I’ll fight on my terms, at the place I choose, at the time I choose.” That was her way of waging war.