Chapter 63: Granules

Aaron stepped forward a few paces and raised his hand wearing the Ring of Power.

The area below suddenly went quiet.

This kind of imposing power made even Theodore feel a bit envious as he watched.

"Everyone... I will provide an explanation for everything that happened within Sotos Castle... Everything was a conspiracy, a despicable plot by spies from the Kajashi Kingdom, which directly led to the death of my brother, Colin..."

Aaron's expression was calm, his voice neither slow nor fast, as he firmly announced:

"But the Green Forest People will not forget this hatred!"

"Now... I announce my first order after becoming Count: my Knights, return to mobilize your armies, conscript your Militia, we are going to war with the Kajashi Kingdom!"

"We will make the 'Green Disaster' erupt once again, and make the goat-men of the south tremble at the mere sound of our name!"

"We will head south to plunder wealth, ironware, and captives..."

"In the end, we will reach the goat-men's capital—Kajiashi—and hang every single member of the Royal Family!"

Aaron was not an orator, but at this moment, he was able to make his words full of incitement.

Accompanied by his final roar, ambition and flames burned in the eyes of every Green Forest lord, and they hissed and howled like wild beasts.

Kajashi Kingdom, the seventh year of the reign of Anthony II, autumn.

The Green Disaster had erupted!

The territory of the Kajashi Kingdom was vast, containing one Duke, two Marquises, four Counts, and the fiefs of many more minor nobles.

Among them, the one closest to the Green Forest was the northern Frost Wolf family—Arnold.

When the contemporary Arnold Marquis heard this news, he was so frightened he could barely sit still; he gathered all his Knights and soldiers, scraping together three thousand men, only to be overwhelmed by five thousand Green Forest Warriors...

In terms of one-on-one strength, the Green Forest People were inherently superior.

Not to mention that under Aaron's call, all the lords of the Green Forest had poured out in full force this time, scraping together an army of five thousand.

On the flat land of River Valley Beach, Aaron did not use any Witchcraft, nor did he even really command them; the five thousand men charged once, and the opposing army collapsed...

This left Aaron quite speechless, and then he led the army in pursuit, arriving at Frost Wolf Castle.

Aaron rode on horseback, with guards like Bazhi and Sanchez by his side.

The five thousand Green Forest troops were in very loose formation; some soldiers wore no armor at all, their upper bodies bare, revealing green or blue tattoos, and although their weapons were crude, they were full of a fierce temperament.

"These goat-men are truly fragile; they scattered after just one charge. It's a waste of such good weapons and armor."

Bazhi was wearing an outer shell stripped from the corpse of some Knight, polished until it was incredibly bright, shining brilliantly in the sunlight.

Aaron ignored him, gazing at the castle that had abruptly appeared on the horizon.

It was built against the mountain with treacherous terrain, its walls made of thick granite, resembling a giant Turtle Shell.

Lordly castles of this era were often built on major thoroughfares or in places with steep terrain, guarding the throat of a region, making them extremely difficult to attack.

In fact, with the Green Forest People's pathetic siege technology, they could never bite into such a hard bone.

In past raids, they would always surround the castle without attacking, robbing the surrounding villages—a classic case of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Aaron, of course, would not do that.

He arrived near the castle, looked at the guards one by one above, and suddenly smiled: "There are probably still a thousand defenders inside this castle, right? That so-called Arnold Marquis is probably very confident; after all, Kajashi's construction technology is better than ours. With a thousand men defending such a large castle, even if ten thousand men besieged it, they might not be able to take it, and who knows how many people would die..."

"Count, the enemy has sent a Messenger."

At this moment, Knight Yiman brought a pale-faced fat man before Aaron.

"Respected Green Forest Count, you are also a vassal of the Kingdom, why do you attack us without authorization?"

The fat man first performed a salute, then said tremblingly: "My master is magnanimous and does not care about the previous minor offense. If you are willing to withdraw, my master will send you a gift that will satisfy you."

This was effectively a plea for peace, and he was even willing to offer compensation.

If it had been the previous Green Forest army, they certainly would have accepted it with joy.

After all, they were a scattered mess and really couldn't take the castle.

But Aaron only sneered: "The King conspired against my family; this is my righteous revenge. Go back and tell your master: if he obediently opens the castle and announces he will join me in attacking the Kingdom, I will spare him. He only has half a day to consider..."

In this era, a monarch who hadn't fought a few battles with his own vassals simply didn't exist.

Therefore, the envoy was not surprised, only feeling that Aaron was insane.

After all, for a Count to demand that a Marquis submit and rebel against the Kingdom together was simply shocking.

Watching the envoy scramble away in a panic, Aaron didn't care much.

He was not prepared to take action himself this time; as the commander-in-chief, being able to use divination for buffs was already quite a cheat, wasn't it?

Not to mention, he had specifically prepared some high-power weapons for the war.

For example—gunpowder!

Like the soil Chemical Fertilizer, these were things that could be easily produced. Aaron hadn't brought them out before because they were too easy to imitate.

But later in a dream, relying on 【Supernatural Memory】, he found another way to increase the power of gunpowder, and that was Granular Gunpowder!

The more complex the process, the harder it was to crack.

Moreover, the power of Granular Gunpowder was undoubtedly far superior to Black Gunpowder.

This time, it would be just right to test it with war.

"If it fails, I'll have to do it myself. Otherwise, with five thousand men attacking this kind of castle, they might all die without necessarily taking it..."

Half a day later.

Arnold Marquis had indeed not submitted.

Aaron looked at the castle that was almost integrated with the mountain and waved his hand.

A group of Green Forest People holding shields charged up.

"Loose arrows!"

From atop the castle came the hoarse, desperate roar of a Knight.

A massive number of arrows fell from the sky; most were blocked by shields, but a small portion passed through the gaps, inflicting casualties on the Green Forest People.

When they reached the base of the castle, there were even falling stones.

Huge boulders plummeted from above the castle, carrying terrifying kinetic energy; those struck were left with broken heads and bleeding.

If this were to continue indefinitely without being able to inflict casualties on the defenders, it would deal great damage to the morale of the besieging army.

"Quick! Dig quickly!"

Sanchez held up his shield, reached a blind spot at the castle gate, pressed himself tightly against the wall, and gave the order.

Several subordinates were rapidly digging into the ground, burying explosives, and pulling the fuses.

To deal with castles, armies of this era had devised all sorts of methods, and digging tunnels was one of them, though it had long since been countered.

Fortunately, Sanchez was not digging directly inside, but merely intended to insert gunpowder.

Once finished, the group retreated like a receding tide.

"Light it!"

Sanchez ignited the fuse and then ran off like a rabbit.

Boom!

At the castle gate, a massive explosion erupted; not only was the gate torn to pieces, but even the adjacent wall collapsed by nearly half because of it...

The besieging Green Forest People were stunned for a moment, then immediately cheered and swarmed madly toward the breach...