The pagans had constructed many fortifications in the square, but these were all facing the palace, with nothing behind them.
Therefore, the Christian cavalry could be said to have reached their destination unimpeded.
What followed was naturally a massacre; facing warriors mounted on tall horses and fully encased in armor, the pagans' helplessness immediately became apparent.
And upon seeing the cavalry of the cross charging, the Christians inside the palace immediately sallied forth from the gate, while the archers on the city walls continuously loosed arrows.
The two forces thus achieved a pincer attack.
Furthermore, the previously scattered crowd had caused unrest among the pagans, and the nomadic cavalry that had come to support them had hastily departed, further lowering their morale.
Most of the staunch believers had died in the previous sieges of the palace, and now, facing such a massacre, collapse was inevitable.
The attacking pagans now became the attacked, and this attack quickly turned into a true slaughter; swords continuously chopped down, blood flowed ceaselessly, and souls one by one went to the deities they believed in.
When the last resisting pagan fell, cheers erupted inside and outside the palace; the Christians cheered for victory, and for the long day finally coming to an end.
The generals commanding the army were also like this, but Rostislav unfortunately could not find the body of Zhe'erji; the Moscow Prince harbored great resentment for this fellow's attempt on his life.
Although it was possible that his body had been buried in the pile of corpses during the chaos, Rostislav had a strong feeling in his heart.
That is, this fellow was not dead; he was currently fleeing in the wilderness outside the city; this fellow would not die so easily, his story was not yet over.
Rostislav greatly regretted this, regretting not being able to personally kill this man.
However, he did not think this was a bad thing; an adult claimant with Arpad blood active in the wilderness—King Béla's expression upon thinking of this would surely be very interesting.
This created an unstable factor for the Hungary Kingdom, and Rostislav greatly anticipated the subsequent developments.
But now was not the time to think about these things; the most important thing was to meet the Christian Princes they had rescued.
The Moscow Prince and the Polish Noble rode forward together in the square, which was covered with corpses and cheering soldiers; this square was once paved with bricks, but now the bricks were covered by blood and bodies, and many corpses still had arrows, showing how fierce the battle that took place here was.
On the other side, soldiers were tying up the captured pagans; these fellows looked dejected, and some were even crying, after all, just before the riot, these people were merely civilians, and their psychological resilience was only so-so.
As for those die-hard pagans, they maintained a tough front, and some even cursed the Christian soldiers.
In Rostislav's view, these people were very smart; they were provoking others to kill them, because they knew that if they did not die, everything they would experience next would be even more cruel.
However, those soldiers ignored them; they were all veterans, who didn't know these fellows' intentions? They even stopped those newcomers who couldn't bear it; how could the story end like this?
Rostislav felt greatly emotional; today was truly an incredibly exciting day.
Having experienced so many schemes, so much slaughter, fighting from inside the city to outside, and then from outside the city to inside, this was truly an exciting day.
He had experienced many dangerous situations, but none could compare in scale and level of conspiracy to today.
As Rostislav was thinking this, he was suddenly called by a voice, and when the Rus' Prince looked closely, he realized it was Bolesław of Poland, King of Poland.
At this moment, this King of Poland was almost bathed in blood; the blood from the fallen under his command had already dyed his surcoat crimson.
And there was no discomfort on the King's face; on the contrary, it showed satisfaction, a greedy satisfaction, a kind of satisfaction that made Rostislav very uncomfortable.
Although Rostislav was also skilled in warfare and had grown accustomed to all this blood, he had never developed a fanaticism for the battlefield; in his heart, he always felt aversion towards it.
And another person beside the King of Poland, also bathed in blood, made Rostislav even more displeased, because this was his second uncle, Sviatoslav Yaroslavich.
They both pulled up a corpse to sit on, their faces full of exhaustion; it seemed the fighting had greatly consumed their energy.
And around them were Polish Knights and Rus' retainers, all covered in blood, but they stood there with straight backs, maintaining the dignity of nobles and the authority of rulers; only from their heavy breathing could one discern their fatigue.
Rostislav initially did not want to go forward, but since he had been called, Rostislav naturally could not pretend he had not seen anything.
Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, Rostislav and Siczech walked in front of these two Christian Princes.
"It seems both of you have achieved quite a bit, Your Majesty, and Second Uncle."
The Moscow Prince and the Polish Noble dismounted together, then both bowed slightly, and the two opposite also stood up to return the bow, after which the Polish Noble automatically walked behind his King, standing with those knights who were struggling to maintain their composure and prestige.
This made Rostislav look at this person for an extra moment; he had not expected him to be such a respectful subject of the King of Poland; he had thought that this person who dared to command a large army independently would not be so respectful in front of the King.
However, what Rostislav did not know was that while this noble was respectful to the King, he also had his own ideas and did not obey the King unconditionally...
"It's thanks to you coming; today was truly a perilous day; I've fought for so many years, and this is the first time I've been surrounded like this; if you hadn't won outside, we would have been finished."
King Bolesław said, his words containing more jest than complaint; it seemed King of Poland had no strong feelings about being surrounded, and was even somewhat pleased by the fighting.
As for why he knew about the battle outside the city, it was because there was a tall tower within the palace of Fehérvár, and the soldiers on that tower could see the battle situation outside the city.
"Rostislav, you organized the troops outside the city and defeated the reinforcing pagans; you can be said to have saved everyone in this city."
As for Sviatoslav, he did not have as much jest in his words as Bolesław; he sincerely thanked Rostislav, and his emotion was very genuine.
This made the Moscow Prince somewhat unaccustomed; in his impression, his second uncle was a potential enemy, so why would he thank himself?
But facing this gratitude, he naturally had to respond, so Rostislav could only return the bow rather awkwardly.
"This is all what I should do, Second Uncle."
And his second uncle's gratitude was indeed sincere, because as an ambitious person, Sviatoslav had also thought of what Rostislav had once been tempted to do.
He had thought at the time that Rostislav would lead his army away; as long as he left, All Rus' power would fall into his hands.
Sviatoslav had no complaints about this, after all, he was such a person, but his nephew did not make that choice.
Sviatoslav asked himself, if it were him, he would definitely do what Rostislav did not do.
So he sincerely thanked Rostislav, because this nephew did something he could not do.
And after the thanks, Rostislav became concerned about another matter, which was how close his second uncle and this King of Poland were; they fought side by side, arm in arm.
Especially considering that the King of Poland was still single, and his second uncle happened to have a daughter of marriageable age... This, this, this, could it be that history ultimately has its own inertia?
(Historically, his second uncle became the King of Poland's father-in-law.)
If his second uncle had the King of Poland's help, then some matters would need to be handled carefully...
"Alright, you two don't need to keep thanking here."
Bolesław's impatient voice rang out; the King of Poland did not like such scenes.
"It makes me quite awkward."
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