Chapter 368: Chapter 0365: Assault on Mane City (Third Release, 10,000 Coins Reward Celebrating 1/4)
 

This chapter has been sponsored by “Redemption” with a donation of 40,000 coins, and there are three more chapters to follow.

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In this strange world, the mounts of knights are not only horses, especially after becoming Sky Knights, as horsebacks can no longer confine them.

Thus, various magical beasts have entered the eyes of Sky Knights.

Compared to wild beasts, magical beasts have a relatively higher intelligence and a great potential to be tamed, understanding the concept of submission to the strong. When the Earl came to Coral Island, he took an interest in the Intermediate Magical Beast, the Giant Barbarian Bear that lived on the island and wanted to tame it as his mount. Of course, the end result was failure.

The Giant Barbarian Bear did not become a mount but instead a chair.

Since then, the Earl had been searching for a magical beast mount, but none caught his eye, making him a Sky Knight without one.

As for his son, Liszt.

He had long owned a magical beast mount, not just one, but nine Intermediate Magical Beasts—of course, outsiders did not know that the eight tiny ones were all Intermediate Magical Beasts, even if Liszt renamed them Blizzard Beasts, many still believed that Douson was the one and only Intermediate Magical Beast.

And the eight tiny ones were just low-level magical beasts mixed with some Intermediate Magical Beast bloodline.

After all, they had no prompt from the Smoke Mission.

The messenger Sky Knight before them descended from the back of a massive Ashen Hawk, his silver-white Mithril Armor highlighting his status—the Hemp Eagle Knights.

The Ashen Hawk is a flying magical beast domesticated by the Sapphire Family. The Grand Duke selects outstanding knights from the Blue Blood Alliance, grants them Ashen Hawk mounts, and forms a knight order. In theory, this knight order is more elite and powerful than the Blueblood Knight Order, but due to limited numbers, it has never been full, with only a peak of just over forty members at its most.

Nowadays, the Hemp Eagle Knights only have twenty-five members.

“The visitor is Boaten Tricolor Violet, the father of Boski Pansey, the Earl of Rainbow City, and the captain of the Greyhawk Squad, one of only two knight squads in the Hemp Eagle Knights,” Levis whispered an introduction to Liszt, standing beside him.

The twenty-five members of the Hemp Eagle Knights, aside from the leader, form exactly two knight squads, one named Greyhawk and the other Hemp Eagle.

The news that Boaten brought forced Marquis Glendenton to make a decision: “Marquis Wallace, I hope you will lead your knight order tosupport Second Prince His Highness at Bull Hoof City!”

Marquis Wallace said, “Then the battle situation in Bull Horn City is left to you.”

“Rest assured, since Andy’s personal knight order has already headed to Bull Hoof City, we will quickly take over the Bull Horn City area! The Grand Duke’s wrath will not be delayed by any counterattack,” Marquis Glendenton’s command wrinkles deepened. “Earls, look at this map, each of you choose a direction, and complete the purge!”

A massive map was spread out.

It was a bit abstract, but already precise down to every city’s subordinate towns.

Liszt and the others could only watch the decision-making; soon Earl Li Weiliam chose a large city as his main attack direction—Bull Hair City.

Bull Hair City is a fief of an Earl, Sned Celery.

Back at the encampment.

Earl Li Weiliam immediately held an internal meeting: “Apart from Bull Hair City, Sned only has three small cities, and his strength is merely that of an ordinary Sky Knight. I will lead the Red Knights to contain Sned and the knights of Celery Fort. You quickly complete the purging of the three small cities, and join forces with me to attack Celery Fort.”

After a moment of thought.

He made further arrangements: “Jonas goes to Little River City, Trick to Green Shade City, Liszt to Mane City, Levis is responsible for roaming support… If there are no problems, start preparing your equipment now. Once I gather intelligence on the rebel defenses with the other earls and determine the attack schedule, we will directly advance towards Bull Hair City!”

…

No need for too much tactical arrangement.

In this world, battles are determined by the charge of knights, at most with the addition of ambush tactics and counter-ambushes. Therefore, gathering intelligence was fairly easy, and without a long wait, the war had already been triggered. Following the predetermined decision, Liszt led the Black Knight Order, accompanying the Earl to Bull Hair City.

Upon reaching the territorial border, the Earl rode up to Liszt and first instructed Layden, “Protect Liszt well!”

Layden solemnly responded, “I am willing to be Baron Liszt’s shield, my lord!”

The Earl nodded his acknowledgment, then with a complex look in his eyes toward Liszt that conveyed worry and relief, he finally spoke calmly, “Fight on your own, be careful and cautious.”

Liszt took a calm breath, “Victory is in sight!”

Without any overly sentimental words, the Earl waved his hand, and the five knight squads scattered immediately. Liszt lightly kicked his horse, and the Li Dragon Horse burst forward like an arrow, leading the Black Knight Order toward Mane City.

More than one hundred and forty Earth Knights, plus over thirty Retainer Knights, totalled one hundred and eighty horses, trampling the earth under the scorching sun.

The knights, armor, and horses, with their combined weight, were like a tank.

The dust they kicked up hung in the air like haze, long unable to settle.

“Mane City’s terrain is fairly open, and since there is no Viscount Lord, the difficulty of sweeping through is not great. We’ll start the sweep from Dry Grass Town and push all the way to take over Mane City. Execute all knights, ultimately clearing the entire city to meet up with the Earl at Celery Fort.”

Liszt led the Black Knight Order forward, discussing battle strategies with Layden, Cobalt, Nash, Marcus, and others while replenishing their water supplies.

“The knights in the small town have probably heard the news and have hidden inside Mane City to defend it.”

“That’s perfect, we’ll take care of them all at once in Mane City!” Liszt galloped on his horse, hiding his excitement about the upcoming war, replaced with calm.

In all of Bull Hair City and the three small cities under its jurisdiction, there was only Sned, a common-tier Sky Knight. Once this knight was targeted by Li Weiliam, there was no one left in Bull Hair City who could stand against Douson’s knights. Even if Sned employed a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain and ambush Liszt, Paris and Douson would join forces to block him.

Therefore, he had nothing to fear.

Of course, being careful and cautious was essential. While speeding along, he would occasionally take out a telescope to carefully observe his surroundings.

The route chosen avoided woods, instead traversing open terrain.

The charging Knight Order could reach a speed of 40 kilometers per hour.

The whole army set off in the morning, the Knight Order split up at noon, and by less than four in the afternoon, the Black Knight Order had arrived at the predetermined destination—Dry Grass Town.

Seeing a group of unfamiliar knights charging toward the town, the serfs of the small town threw down their hoes and bone spades in panic, hiding inside their dilapidated thatched cottages, daring not to show their faces.

Liszt ordered, “Marcus, take a team to the town to find the local officials and gather information.”

Marcus obeyed the command, returning in less than ten minutes.

“My lord, I have found out. There are no Feudal Nobles in Dry Grass Town. The closest Feudal Noble is ten kilometers away at Boar Town, which is a territory of a Baron.”

“Ten kilometers, just a journey of one or two dozen minutes, let’s go, to Boar Town!”

The Black Knight Order did not stop for a moment, continuing on to the next town. Fifteen minutes later, the sound of their horses’ hooves entered Boar Town. However, under the glow of the setting sun, the town was very quiet, with no resistance encountered. After capturing a few townspeople and questioning them, the situation became clear.

Ten days ago, the Baron of Boar Town had already packed up his belongings and fled his ramshackle little castle, leaving it deserted without even a servant left behind.

Let alone a single grain of food.