Chapter 177: 177 Capturing the Heiling Tribe

For the Knight Squad of Sain Territory led by Knight Feilidun, they assumed today's situation was the same as the expulsion games they had been playing for the past few days.

Yet none of them expected that the people of Huitu Village would actually dare to make a move.

This turn of events came too suddenly, too unexpectedly.

The scent of blood drifted across the wilderness; knights, cavalry, and horses fell to the ground one after another, turning this place into a bloody battlefield.

Feilidun's body was covered in wounds, and fresh blood stained his battle armor.

Ruidar's fast sword could not even be resisted by the Bronze-level Leisen, let alone this knight who only ranked third in Sain Territory.

"We are knights of Sain Territory; attacking us is attacking the nobility, this is a grave crime!"

Ruidar ignored him, parrying the opponent's longsword and thrusting straight forward, cutting into the opponent's shoulder armor just as he had done against Leisen, severely wounding one of the opponent's arms.

Feilidun let out a miserable shriek and hurriedly retreated, wanting to create distance, but was aggressively followed by Ruidar.

Ruidar raised his right leg and stomped heavily onto the opponent's chest, the armor caving in instantly!

The immense force kicked Feilidun, plowing him over ten meters across the ground; amidst the chaotic impact, his Helmet fell off, and he looked utterly wretched.

"No, no, no, you cannot kill me!"

Feilidun panicked; he wanted to stand up, but his body would not obey, especially his injured left arm, which was completely numb and devoid of strength; in his current state, it was impossible for him to fight Ruidar again.

"I am a Conferred Knight of Sain Territory, a noble, and I enjoy the right to be spared from death!"

"As long as you don't kill me, I can pay a ransom to you and to Baron Luoning!"

Ruidar chuckled; Baron Leisen was as good as finished, and if things went smoothly, the entire Sain Territory would be Luoning's domain.

By then, where would Feilidun have the assets to pay a ransom?

However, Ruidar still had no intention of killing him directly; after all, Feilidun was an Advanced Knight, and how to handle him remained for Luoning to decide.

"Drop your weapon, take off your armor."

Ruidar's voice was cold, "If you want to live, lie face down on the ground."

Feilidun endured the sharp pain and discomfort and hurriedly complied; there was no point in resisting any further in this situation.

He was now filled with deep regret.

If he had not been blinded by anger earlier and had chosen to hold the stronghold of the Heiling Tribe, this would absolutely not be the situation now.

He could have completely relied on the Heiling Tribe's defensive fortifications and geographical advantages to keep Ruidar and the others at bay.

But there is no regret medicine in this world; the outcome was sealed the moment he led his men out of the stronghold.

With Feilidun's surrender, this wilderness encounter gradually drew to a close.

Ruidar scanned the battlefield.

This battle lasted no more than three to five minutes, but the casualties were not small; although most were from Sain Territory, the men from Shanlin Town also suffered losses.

Fortunately, with Aierlong there, the light of the Healing Spell kept shining, greatly reducing the casualties.

"Tie up those who surrendered; Babulin, Huoen, tally the casualties."

Soon, their own casualty report was tallied.

In this battle, no one among the knights of Shanlin Town was killed in action; only Dandi suffered a minor injury, which was not serious after treatment.

Aside from the Transcendental, one cavalryman was killed, two Infantry were killed, and twelve others were injured, eight of whom had minor injuries.

On the side of the Heiling Tribe, eight knights and twenty-four cavalrymen had come out, totaling thirty-two people.

In the recent engagement, six cavalrymen were shot dead by volleys of arrows, two knights and eight cavalrymen were killed in the subsequent fighting, including Knight Wunai who was knocked off his horse, and ten others were severely injured; more than half were dead or wounded.

Ruidar frowned slightly, took a deep breath, and said, "Remember their names. After the war ends, bring their bodies back to Huitu Village for burial. Once the Lord returns, distribute the pensions."

Actually, such a battle record was already very good.

"Everyone rest in place; in ten minutes, we attack the Heiling Tribe stronghold!"

Ruidar looked at Feilidun on the ground, "If you don't want to die, perform well later."

Feilidun trembled all over; he did not expect that capturing them was not enough for Ruidar, who also wanted to attack the Heiling Tribe!

"Invading the territory of other nobles, even if Luoning comes from the Wushan Family, the laws of the Kingdom do not allow it! As his follower knight, have you gone mad?"

At this point, he could only bring out these empty things to threaten his opponent.

In reality, actively attacking the sphere of influence of other nobles was indeed a grave crime, and if things went wrong, one could be stripped of their title and territory.

But Ruidar had confidence in Luoning's actions at Wushan Castle; he only needed to do what the Lord had instructed.

"Quiet!"

Ruidar tapped the opponent's face with his longsword, the cold touch making the opponent instantly quiet down.

"The Sain Family is finished, understand?"

Finished?

What did that mean?

Feilidun could not understand; Baron Leisen went to Wushan Castle to offer birthday greetings, how could he be finished for no reason?

And even if a noble were to decline, it would be impossible to collapse so quickly unless major crimes were exposed.

Thinking of this, Feilidun's eyes widened, his heart pounding wildly, "Could it be..."

If the assassination matter was truly exposed, then Leisen going to Wushan Castle was no different from a sheep entering a tiger's den.

"It can't be, right?"

Feilidun's complexion turned extremely ugly; this was even more unbearable than killing him.

Ruidar clearly would not answer the opponent's doubts; after a brief rest, he left a few knights and Guards to watch over the surrendering and injured, while he and the others escorted Feilidun to march on the Heiling Tribe.

This time, Feilidun had brought almost his entire force; there was not a single Professional Knight in the Heiling Tribe stronghold, only Infantry and Archers belonging to the Knight Squad left behind.

However, under Ruidar's intimidation and coercion, Feilidun had to come forward to call out to those left behind, using persuasion and threats to make them surrender.

Those Guards and Archers initially resisted for a moment, but with Feilidun's shouting, they lost the will to resist; they dropped their weapons one after another and opened the gates of the stronghold.

Ruidar led the cavalry and Infantry into the stronghold, quickly disarming the Infantry and Archers and bringing them firmly under control.

During this capture, apart from two Guards who were accidentally wounded by the first wave of arrows, the rest of the people did not suffer any harm.

The reason it went so smoothly was mainly because there was no backbone here, making it impossible to form an effective resistance.

If Qiaofuli had been here, or if Fenlisi had not been transferred to Sain Territory to recover from his injuries but had remained at the Heiling Tribe, it likely would not have been such a simple matter for Ruidar to capture this place.

These two people would very likely have refused Feilidun's orders and led the remaining troops to resist by relying on the mountain stronghold's defensive fortifications.

From this, it can be seen that in a war, unless one feels absolutely certain of success, there must be someone with sufficient prestige in the base camp to command the garrison.

Take Shanlin Town at this moment: although the only Transcendental ones left behind are Dawei and Ailin, they are both people deeply trusted by the Lord.

Besides them, there is also the castle Steward Chahaer, who has followed the Lord for Along time, and the Administrator of Shanlin Town, Wilson.

With them there, the Guards left to defend the castle would absolutely not open the gates of Shanlin Castle just because someone scolded or threatened them a couple of times.

"This battle was a complete victory; everyone has lived up to the trust of Lord Luoning."

Ruidar sat on his horse, looking around at the captives as well as the Transcendental ones and soldiers of Shanlin Town, "But the matter is not yet over. Babulin, you are responsible for leading men to take full control of these captives."

"Yes!"

"Huoen, you are responsible for leading the Guards to announce the mercy of Lord Luoning, letting the people of the Heiling Tribe understand that as long as they do not resist, we will not harm them, nor will we seize any of their supplies."

"Praise the mercy of the Lord!" Huoen bowed to accept the order.

"Aierlong, please continue to treat the wounded."

Ruidar flipped off his horse, "Jennie, you shall complete the census of the Heiling Tribe."

"Happy to be of service to you," Jennie said.

With matters arranged one by one, Ruidar believed that before Luoning returned to Shanlin Town, they would be able to completely take over the Heiling Tribe.

(End of this chapter)