Skipped Level Challenge

On the drill ground.

Monn stood at the very front. 

There were almost a hundred knights with different strengths stood in perfect lines in front of him.

Forty-nine of them were the captains of the new Knight of the Iron Blood.

The remaining comprised junior and senior captains of the existing paladins.

Standing beside them were another hundred ordinary knights.

Monn would be using these hundred ordinary knights to demonstrate the Three Level Formation to these troop leaders.

"Next, everyone must observe the formation carefully and ask if you have any doubts." Monn said to these troops unenthusiastically.

Echoes of agreement came from the troops.

Monn nodded and wasted no time on nonsense. He then barked his orders towards the hundred nights to form the Three Level Formation he designed.

Twenty knights in light armors formed the front line.

The light armor they wore was made of mithril, not ideal for defense purpose but was lighter than steel and flexible for quick movement.

All the Light-Armored Knights were armed with long-handled sabres upon Monn's request. This was because long-handled sabre had the edge when used for slashing and hacking compared to the swords that were frequently used by the knights. 

The Light-Armored Knights would be used in frontal assault and flanking the enemies. It was not a one-on-one combat with the enemy. Therefore, long-handled sabre would be the more suitable choice of weapon for the Light-Armored Knights.

The Twenty Light Armored Knights were divided into two teams and arranged in an echelon formation, which was more beneficial for retreat and enemy flanking arrangement.

The knights closest to the enemy were the first to come into contact with them. Even if they were losing and need to retreat, their retreat would not cause direct impact the other battle formations.

Four rows of knights in heavy armor stood behind the twenty Light Armored Knights. These Heavy-Armored Knights were clad in full-body armor made of black iron. Even their face was covered with helmets made of black iron.

This set of black iron armor was made for extremely strong defense purpose. Flexibility was sacrificed for the defense ability of the black iron heavy armor at the same time. Any enemy could be torn apart under the inertia from the charge of the Heavy-Armored Knights.

However, it would take some time for these Heavy-Armored Knights to make their charge. Thus, the Light-Armored Knights would have to make their window of time count during the charge of Heavy Armored Knights.

Twenty knights responsible for healing and long-range fire suppression stood behind these Heavy-Armored Knights. Some of these knights were deployed from the Holy Choir. The remaining of these knights were already pretty good with their magic cultivation in the Holy Choir group.

They would have to provide support such as Spell of the Holy Light, Blessings and Breath of Winds once the Heavy-Armored knights charged.

Besides that, they were also responsible for providing the long range fire suppression support and degrading the performance of enemy vanguards. With the support of these fire suppression, the Heavy-Armored Knights could charge into the enemy defense and broke their formations.

As for the reserve troop of knights at the back, their mission was more flexible, as they were supposed to extend their support to every function if problems were to arise.

For example, if the Light Armored Knights were scattered before the Heavy-Armored Knights made their charge, these reserve knights would need to take on Light-Armored Knight's task of retreat and flanking the enemies. If the charge of Heavy Armored Knights faced obstacles, they would have to take on the task of charging into the enemy frontier through these Heavy-Armored Knights.

Monn equipped them with five knights mounting a magical beast known as the Blood-Eyes Beast because of the agility required in these reserve knights. 

These beasts came from the deep of the Suva Mountain. There were less than five hundred Blood-Eyes Beast in the Orthodox Churches. So, only five could be allocated to each small troop.

"A formation like this is more flexible. All the strategic goals can be achieved in a shorter timeframe be it the frontal assault, retreat, charges, healing and fire suppression."

"Next, everyone will need to train and familiarised yourselves with this formation."

Monn then explained the functions of the Three Level Formation to the leaders and let them ask many questions on the formations. He even explained the change of the formation to go according to the change of circumstances in the time of war.

Three hours later, he stopped because of the thirst from talking continuously.

"Your task this afternoon is to assign the knights under you into Light-Armoured Knights, Heavy-Armoured Knights, and so on."

"Then, tell them their positions, their roles and responsibilities in the battlefield."

"I'm not familiar with the army, since I've never commanded an army troop before."

"So, I won't be able to tell you how to teach them and tell them what they need to do."

"I only want the result."

"We must get everyone familiarized with the strategy of this battle formation within two days."

"I don't expect perfect co-operation from the soldiers."

"But they must fulfill their responsibilities and complete their tasks."

"If the Light-Armored Knights fear of doing frontal assault, and the Heavy-Armoured Knights don't dare to charge, and the reserve knights fear going to the front line should the problem with the front liners arise, then there's no point for further discussion."

"Everyone here will be slaughtered by the werewolves."

"So, no matter how you do it, make them understand one point clearly. As long as they stick to their task and do it well, the rest of their companion will be able to accomplish their task well too."

"After the Light-Armored knights accomplished their frontal assault, The Heavy-Armored Knights will be able to charge forward, there will be no less of healings and power suppression to follow suit."

"When they think they are no match for the enemies, don't run. The reserve knight will definitely charge forward to their aid."

Monn's voice turned frosty, and his eyes filled with killing intent.

"Do you understand?"

"Understood."

Everyone shouted in unison.

He nodded his head in satisfaction.

Then, after a moment of thought, he continued, "I know that everyone here might not believe in the strength of this formation. How about a battle to test it out?"

"I'll lead these ordinary soldiers. There's Mithril Silver and Black Gold rank among you. You can use everything you have against me."

"Are you confident of winning?"

Monn asked calmly.

The team leaders, both of bigger and the smaller troops, looked at each other.

"Cardinal Monn, they won't be able to win with you around, even if there's another hundred of them." Philip said, as he knew that Monn's strength exceeded the rank of Amethyst.

The rank of the Amethyst was the ranking equivalent of a saint.

The combination of the hundred knights' average strength could not even reach the Mithril ranking. But with Monn around, even if his and Toan's strength combined, they would still get beaten up by Monn and his hundred ordinary knights.

Although individual strength was of not much use in a large battlefield, the ranking of a saint represented invincibility in a small one like this.

Monn looked at the team leaders from both the big troops and small troops and gave them a faint smile. 

Everyone had the same look in their eyes. They did not doubt the power of the Three Level Formation, but their combined strength would definitely overpower the one hundred ordinary knights in front of them.

No matter how powerful was the Three Level Formation, it was impossible for the ordinary knights to do a skipped level challenge against them.

They were only worried about Monn's attack. They were no match against a person of a Cardinal's level. 

Monn smiled, "I won't be joining the fight."