Chapter 540

【 CAVALRY—CHARGE! 】

They were getting closer and closer.

Jasmine stood at the very front of the players’ formation. As the vast army of orcs bore down upon them, the pounding of her heart grew more intense.

But it wasn’t out of fear—rather, it was excitement.

As a Silver-ranker, Jasmine had naturally been selected to serve as a front-line heavy cavalry member in charge of leading the charge.

This time, she would lead a small squad of heavy cavalry as their vanguard. Alongside fellow heavy cavalry elites like Demacia, she would spearhead a direct assault against the orc formation.

Yes, this would be their first direct charge and that alone marked a stark contrast from the heavy cavalry tactics of earth’s medieval era.

Back in the real world, heavy cavalry were typically clumsy and unwieldy, primarily due to the weight of their armor and the high speeds of their mounts. As a result, they often couldn’t swing their weapons effectively. Their combat strength was limited as well, relying primarily on the shock force of their initial impact. Even then, they required a long running start to build up momentum.

Because of these limitations, traditional heavy cavalry charges on were typically only effective on the first pass since they had to ensure that their impact would actually disrupt the enemy. If not, they risked being bogged down and surrounded.

That’s why, historically, heavy cavalry rarely launched a head-on assault at the start of battle as it made them vulnerable to infantry spear walls.

One encounter with a wall of spears, and they were done for.

Usually, they’d only charge once the enemy formation had fallen into disarray, or when a breach opened in their enemy’s defenses, thereby allowing for a decisive blow that could shattered the defensive line and opened the way for infantry to clean up.

But here in Seigües, which was a land of magic, things were different. Elves were magical beings, and players had access to buffs and enhancements.

With the aid of these magic boosts, even heavily armored cavalry players could achieve levels of mobility and agility far beyond what their counterparts on earth could dream of.

And unlike the orcs who lacked spellcasters, they had no real countermeasures.

Because of this, the players were able to transform their heavy cavalry into humanoid tanks capable of leading the charge head-on.

Turning her head slightly, Jasmine checked the system time and took a deep breath.

She had been looking forward to this kind of large-scale battle for a long time.

The orcs she’d fought in recent days had been too weak which were hardly satisfying. Only that elderly orc priest she faced a while back had given her a proper fight.

Since the quality wasn’t enough, quantity would have to make up for it.

Now, as the vanguard of the player army, directly facing the orc army, she could finally let loose.

After adjusting her ill-fitting silver-gray helmet, Jasmine tightened her grip around her nearly three-meter-long cavalry lance.

This weapon had been crafted by some players using wood from the Elven Forest. Its head was either forged by Dark Dwarves or repurposed from looted equipment. Mage players had also applied temporary hardening enchantments to the shaft to increase its durability.

Her armor was a rare blue-grade upper Iron-rank set—famous in the in-game shop for its high cost-performance ratio and tankiness. According to the system, it was modeled after ancient Elven gear, resembling relics excavated from Rivendell and Florence.

However all of it was expendable gear, meant to be used up without concern.

This setup wasn’t just because the Desert of Death had a strict loot-binding system where gear couldn’t be recovered after death. The players had also learned from earth’s history that only this kind of configuration could bring out the true destructive power of heavy cavalry.

As for her mount, it was no longer the blue dragon she had previously acquired.

She had left the dragon back at the camp as this kind of battlefield was too dangerous for it. While riding it might be fine for raiding and small skirmishes, a juvenile dragon would easily become the target of both orcs and behemoths in a large-scale war like this and would almost certainly be killed.

After all, here in Elven Kingdom, once a magical familiar or dragon partner died, it could not be resurrected.

So like the rest of the heavy cavalry players, Jasmine had swapped her mount for a crypt spider.

It was the most cost-effective magical mount available.

All ten thousand heavy cavalry players were standardized with this setup.

It was a formation refined through experience during the War Underground.

Letting out a soft exhale to calm her nerves, Jasmine turned to her squad and gave instructions:

“Once the charge begins, stay right behind me. Don’t fall out of formation.”

The charge phase wasn’t a time for personal flair.

Therefore, coordination was key.

Even Jasmine, who usually preferred one-on-one duels understood the importance of teamwork in this moment.

Of course, once the melee battle began, it would be a free-for-all.

“Got it, Boss Jasmine! The terror of heavy cavalry lies in a unified charge. Discipline is everything—we get it!”

The other players in the squad laughed.

Jasmine nodded slightly and turned her gaze back ahead.

Moments later, Li Mu, their commander’s voice echoed through the battlefield channel:

“Heavy cavalry units, prepare yourselves! Mage players, cast acceleration spells and wind-element shields! On my count—one, two, three—begin the charge!”

As the command reached her ears, Jasmine’s expression turned serious. She swiftly repositioned her lance forward and braced herself.

The mages embedded within the formation began chanting, casting a barrage of enchantments to empower the charging troops.

A series of glowing auras fell upon her, and Jasmine felt her strength surge.

The background music in the battlefield channel grew deeper and more intense, as if building toward a climactic crescendo.

Then, commander Li Mu’s roar echoed in every player’s ear:

“Cavalry units, ready…”

“One… two… three—”

“Charge!”

As if timed perfectly with the music, the BGM paused for just a beat, then erupted into a powerful new variation.

Hearing the shift in the melody, Jasmine felt her heart leap.

Together with the other heavy cavalry players, she shouted in unison:

“Charge!”

Then, they began their advance.

With her lance in hand, Jasmine raced forward, leading the charge with her fellow Silver-ranked players as ten thousand heavy cavalry players surged into action.

The synchronized clatter of the metal legs of their Crypt spider mounts pierced the sandy ground like thunder rolling across the battlefield.

Even from her position at the front, where she couldn’t see the mass behind her, Jasmine could picture the awe-inspiring sight their making.

The scenery on both sides blurred as it rushed past, faster and faster.

With acceleration spells boosting them and a running start to build momentum, Jasmine could feel her velocity reaching terrifying levels…

At the same time, the tempo of the BGM picked up to match the charging rhythm, creating a perfect harmony with their advance.

The wind howled past them, the world seemed to blur, and the overwhelming momentum of the charge stirred every heavy cavalry player’s blood.

Jasmine was no exception.

A sharp, distant horn echoed across the desert.

The orc army finally came into their view.

She could now see the glinting armor of the frontline orc warriors, the fear creeping into their eyes, and the standardized longswords in their hands—swords issued by Sauron Company.

The orcs halted at the sound of the horn, quickly tightening their formation and bracing themselves for impact.

A smart move.

But—no spears?

“Victory is ours.”

The thought arose in Jasmine’s mind.

Another deep horn blast sounded, and from within the orc ranks, a volley of arrows launched into the sky.

The arrows formed a dense curtain of Death from above, before descending upon the charging players like a storm.

But Jasmine didn’t even flinch.

The arrows struck—but instead of piercing her, they collided with the transparent wind-element shields in midair. Their trajectories were thrown off, and their momentum drained.

One by one, the arrows lost their force and dropped harmlessly to the ground.

Jasmine emerged unscathed.

Still, the wind-element shield dimmed significantly after absorbing that first wave, its power clearly diminished.

At most, it could endure two or three more volleys before shattering.

But it didn’t matter.

Because Jasmine and the others had already reached the front lines of the orc army!

She tightened her grip on her lance and bellowed as she unleashed her [Pierce] skill. Like the tip of a sharpened blade, she plunged directly into the enemy ranks!

In an instant, she felt tremendous resistance—followed by the sounds of impact, screams, and snapping bones echoing all around her.

Then, that resistance quickly crumbled like paper as Orcs were knocked flying and trampled underfoot. Jasmine tore through them with the force of a tank crashing into a crowd—plowing forward, unstoppable, with the full might of the cavalry behind her.

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