“Sometimes hatred can indeed be passed down over many generations.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

While Aideen had noticed the one crusader in particularly good armor and made him to be her main target, it was still rather difficult to focus on just that one enemy since the knights around him weren’t exactly cooperative. Even as she closed to her target another four riders got in her way, seeming adamant in protecting their charge or liege or whatever the man was.

As they passed each other – with them riding towards each other from opposite directions there was no time for more than one strike – Aideen unhorsed another of the knights, likely killing them instantly since her blow struck the knight’s throat. She took another pair of deep cuts for her troubles, which healed before they could even bleed, the only marks they left behind being the damage to the clothes she was wearing.

The last knight actually aimed for her steed, however.

Aideen was not a necromancer, and as such, when the last knight’s strike shattered the bone on one of her steed’s legs, she couldn’t just reform it on the spot. The necromantic steed she rode was one that was pre-charged with mana by some necromancers before the battle, that she controlled simply by feeding it “commands” with her own mana. A skilled necromancer would have been able to ignore the damage the same way she ignored damage to her own body and kept galloping without missing a stride, but Aideen was unable to do so.

The skeletal horse’s leg crumbled under the blow, and as a natural consequence, Aideen was thrown off its back.

Despite the sudden drop, Aideen had more than enough skill and experience to roll into the fall and recover to a kneeling position immediately. That still placed her on the ground before a group of galloping cavalrymen, however. The nearby cavalrymen – because of course more of them would cover and protect their commander from an assailant – already pointed their weapons her way, even.

At least Aideen was far more used to fighting on foot than on horseback.

Her weapon scythed down another of the knights, and even sliced into the hind leg of a horse on her other side as she continued the swing. She avoided several of the strikes that came at her, took other strikes she judged wouldn’t hamper her positioning by much in a far more direct fashion, relying on her healing magic to keep her body together and functional despite her opponents’ efforts.

The knight riding the horse she injured fell when the horse toppled over. Unlike Aideen, said knight was nowhere as skilled or nimble and failed to cushion his fall properly, landing directly on his helmet with enough force to break his own neck, instantly killing the man on the spot.

Even with all the interference she ran into, there was only so much one could do when their whole force was galloping at full speed, so there was nobody else between Aideen and her target at that point.

Aideen looked straight into the eyes of the charging knight in well-made, decorated armor, now more than certain that the person behind that armor was of some importance to the Vitalicans beyond just being a commander. The eyes that stared back at her showed various emotions in them, a mixture of surprise, some awe, and worry hidden behind the confidence, and to Aideen’s surprise, not a small bit of hatred.

Not that any of those emotions made no difference when Aideen skirted around the tip of the knight’s spear and lanced out with her weapon in turn. She skewered the knight’s right shoulder with the spearhead at the top of her weapon and yanked him crudely off the back of his horse in the same motion, sending the knight crashing heavily to the ground.

Several of the riders behind said knight noticed their leader’s fall and diverted their course, either to avoid the fallen knight or to strike at Aideen. Most couldn’t afford to do either, however, as they were too far to the side to do so. Those knights ended up headed straight towards the Ptolodeccan heavy infantry formation awaiting them, where most of them fell or met their end at the point of the waiting spears.

While normally a heavy cavalry charge should be able to break through most infantry formations, even if it cost them some casualties, the knights also had to contend with the skeleton horde, which struck them before they reached the heavy infantrymen. The skeletons at times stabbed at the horses, while some others just threw themselves to tangle up the horses’ legs, causing more than a few of them to fall down before they could reach their foes.

As such, by the time the rest of the knights reached the heavy infantry formation, their own formation was in tatters, which made them easy targets for the waiting heavy infantrymen. Spears pierced some knights or their steeds, while others were dragged off their horses by the hooks mounted on the spears. Those who had fallen to the ground were swiftly taken care of by the infantrymen, while some others had an even more unfortunate fate to be left underneath their fallen steed, their bodies crushed by the weight of their own mounts.

On Aideen’s side, she had similarly taken down several knights, as many of the knights who rode further back had headed her way in an attempt to rescue their fallen leader. As a result, a couple dozen knights were strewn around her, their bodies already cooling as the life had been snuffed out of them. Aideen herself was barely any worse for wear, other than her clothes, which had been reduced to tatters for the most part.

Nothing she couldn’t solve by changing to a new set anyway.

As for the fallen knight leader, Aideen had kept him alive, as she was curious about that look of hatred on the man’s eyes. The man himself was still unconscious, as the fall from him horse had knocked him out cold on the spot.