Chapter 52

Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~~

On a mountain road leading to Crescent River Valley, strange noises suddenly began to sound.

It sounded like many boot‑wearing people running in unison, but strangely, only the sound could be heard—no figures were visible.

However, upon close inspection of the road, some abnormal details could still be seen.

For example, unusually rising dust, many trampled grass stems, and a barely visible footprint.

These details were too subtle to notice unless one got close; once a little distance away, nothing could be detected.

Suddenly, the uniform footsteps ceased, and a young man's voice rang out on the road.

"Just past the bend ahead is a narrow valley. At the valley entrance stands a guard post, the only one leading to Crescent City, known as Sea Wind Guard Post."

"Currently, three elite knights and over fifty ordinary soldiers are stationed here, all trusted retainers of Sir Ales—just kill them all."

The speaker was none other than Luosen.

He had ostensibly gathered this information from Stonard; it was quite accurate, nearly matching what the hidden sage Levin had observed.

At this moment, he and the Blaze War Regiment were hiding inside an invisible veil erected by a squad of battle mages, and this veil is a required spell for daytime raids.

At least in Weilan, this is the case.

Inside the veil, Yue Pu immediately asked for specifics: "How high is the valley? Is the guard post's wall made of wood or stone? What shape is it?"

Luosen drew his Knight's Guardian Magic Sword, pointed it at the ground ahead, and released a Transformation Technique.

The ground's soil instantly rose rapidly, revealing the detailed shape of Sea Wind Guard Post.

"That's the model, and the wall material is compacted clay."

Yue Pu gazed at the three‑dimensional earthen model of the guard post, secretly amazed at the fineness of the Baron's Transformation Technique.

With this, he could easily devise the safest battle plan.

"Is it accurate?"

"Of course it's accurate. My father showed me blueprints of every fortification in Crescent River Valley, and I've lived on the island for ten years myself."

With that, Yue Pu felt reassured.

He and the three deputy regiment commanders gathered around the dirt map on the ground, beginning to discuss tactics for assaulting Sea Wind Guard Post.

Luosen added another detail: "The guard post likely has a few informal mages who, though lacking formal training, may excel in certain areas."

The crossbow deputy regiment commander Ned chuckled, turned to a squad leader, and said: "Squad 3, equip anti‑magic arrows—specifically to shoot mages."

"Understood."

A few minutes later, the battle mage regiment moved first.

A squad of battle mages took out resonance crystals, began resonant joint casting, and the spell they cast was the intermediate technique 'Giant's Roar'.

Several seconds later, a distorted air sphere over one meter in diameter, emitting a faint white light, appeared among the troops.

Under the control of the battle mage squad leader, the sphere swiftly rose, following Luosen's map directions, it went around the cliff, flew above the guard post, and then exploded—'Roar~~~~~~'

A strange muffled sound came from behind the cliff, dull and not very loud—even less piercing than a dog's bark.

But Luosen knew this was because the spell limited its damage radius.

This was both to prevent friendly fire and to avoid alerting the enemy.

To them it sounded like nothing, but inside the guard post within the damage zone, the noise was estimated to be ten to twenty times louder than a ground‑thunder blast, enough to burst an ordinary person's eardrums and cause bleeding.

As soon as the spell was cast, three squads of shield‑bearing soldiers surged out of hiding, striding forward toward the guard post's sturdy wooden gate.

The shield bearers each held a nearly one‑meter‑diameter curved rune‑etched steel shield.

Initially they jogged, but upon nearing the gate, the three elite shield‑guard captains explosively released battle qi, suddenly boosting their charge speed and concentrating nearly half of that battle qi on their shield surfaces.

The three captains lined up and, with the force of a buffalo charge, successively struck the same spot on the wooden gate.

'Bang~crack!'

'Bang~crack‑crack~'

'Bang~~rumble~~'

The wooden gate was smashed open by the rune steel shields, leaving a large hole.

The three shield‑guard captains immediately stepped aside, and the troops behind them, shields raised, rushed through the breach into the guard post.

Within seconds, the sound of blades cutting flesh—'heh heh'—could be heard from inside the guard post, mingled with the muffled groans of fallen soldiers.

'Gah‑zzz‑zzz~~'

The wooden gate was completely flung open.

The remaining two shield squads followed the charge, trailed by the crossbow unit and the battle mages.

Nail Hammer Yue Pu, two shield guards, and Luosen still waited in the rear for news.

Alex strode back and said, "Regiment commander, they're all dead—no survivors left."

Now continue.

Yue Pu was satisfied: "Rest here for fifteen minutes, then move on!" The quarter‑hour passed quickly, the battle mages raised the invisible veil again, and the unit advanced once more in tight formation.

After passing through the narrow valley, the terrain gradually opened up; after a few more steps, the view widened dramatically, revealing a vast, flat plain.

It felt like entering a utopia.

Precisely because of this fine place, Luosen conceived the idea of withdrawing from the world, but after unexpectedly marrying a princess, he changed his mind.

He marched with the army while observing the plain ahead.

Only to see the plain covered with farmland, and a fairly wide river flowing from the distant Dragon Sleep Snow Peak, crossing the plain before rushing into the mountains, then following a steep valley down to the sea.

In the middle of the plain stood a low, slightly bulging hill resembling a round bun, which the island locals call Nai Zi Mountain.

It was precisely such a good place that made Rosen think of withdrawing from the world, but after unexpectedly marrying the princess, he changed his mind.

He marched with the troops, all the while keeping an eye on the plain ahead.

The plain was dotted with farmland, and a reasonably wide river streamed all the way from the distant Dragon Sleep Snow Peak, traversing the plain before rushing into the mountains, then surging down a steep valley into the sea.

Rising gently in the center of the plain was a low, bun‑shaped hill that the island inhabitants named Nai Zi Mountain.

This name is obviously too vulgar; officially it is called Round Moon Hill, on which a small-scale city has been built—Crescent City.

One can see that a low-but-not-too-low earthen wall encircles the base of the hill, about four meters high, and the slope behind the wall is the urban area of Crescent City.

The urban area extends all the way up the hillside to the summit, where the lord's castle district begins.

That is the Crescent Castle of the Baron of White Sturgeon.

One can see that it is a large complex of earth-and-stone construction, with an outer defensive wall about ten meters high, far larger and sturdier than the city's defensive wall.

Under the protection of the invisibility veil, the Blazing Flame Regiment approached Crescent City at a steady pace while discussing tactics.

Yuepu gazed into the distance at the castle district on the hilltop, his brows slightly furrowed.

"This castle looks very sturdy; if the rebels really hole up inside and refuse to come out, it will indeed be quite troublesome."

With such a complex structure, the effect of the Giant's Roar spell would be greatly reduced, and once the enemy takes precautions and mounts a targeted defense, they would have no choice but to launch a frontal assault.

"My lord, how many formal knights are there in the castle?"

"About a hundred, I'd say, with roughly fifteen senior knights."

Yuepu's brows furrowed even tighter.

With such defensive strength, they should be able to storm in, but casualties would certainly occur.

And he very much did not want the Blazing Flame Regiment to suffer any losses.

The Mage Deputy Regiment Commander, Harry, then asked: "My lord, are there any powerful mages in the castle?"

Luosen nodded: "There is a black mage with mid-level peak magical power named Makanha, who is a confidant of Knight Alaisi. He has five apprentices, all possessing low-level magical power."

"My confidant tells me that this fellow is not skilled in combat, but he has mastered some precognitive spirit witchcraft."

Harry exclaimed in surprise: "In other words, our surprise attack could be detected by him using witchcraft?"

Luosen gave a slight smile: "Don't worry; I have had my men set up some interference magic arrays inside Crescent City, and he hasn't detected any anomalies these past few days."

Having said that, he turned to Yuepu and said: "Regiment Commander, I know your concerns, and I personally also very much do not want this raid to incur excessive casualties."

Yuepu listened, puzzled: "My lord, do you have some good plan?"

Luosen nodded: "I know the internal structure of Crescent Castle inside and out, and I also know some secret passages."

"Soon, I will sneak into the castle covertly, subvert some of the castle knights from within, and open the castle gates."

"You have also seen that the outer wall at the hill's base is easy to breach, so you should find a place to hide outside the city; once the castle gates open, you will immediately charge into the city to assist me."

Crescent City is small; with the Blazing Flame Regiment's charge speed, rushing from the hill's base to the summit takes only about five minutes.

Yuepu exclaimed in shock: "My lord, this mission is far too dangerous!"

It's practically a suicide mission.

And this baron cannot die; if he did, the ensuing troubles would be countless.

He immediately said: "Tell us the location of the secret passage, and I will have a soldier take your place."

Luosen, however, bluntly refused: "This must be done by me, not only because this is my castle, but my mother and sister are also trapped inside the castle."

"Regiment Commander, rest assured; if worse comes to worst, I will also surrender to Knight Alaisi, and then you can collect ransom from my wife."

Yuepu still wasn't reassured: "It's still too dangerous. The knights on the island simply don't observe any rules."

"If this were the Weilan Continent, the baron's conduct would be no problem, for the Weilan nobility have all been related for hundreds of years; they would not lightly break ties, and they tacitly accept paying money to ransom one's life."

But on the sea island, it's different; these so-called lords are really nothing more than bandit chieftains.

Luosen grinned: "What battlefield isn't dangerous? Moreover, I am trying to seize my Saxon family's castle—if I don't risk my life, who will?"

Hearing this, Regiment Commander Yuepu felt a jolt in his heart and instinctively gave Luosen a serious look.

Originally, he had looked down on this island baron, thinking him merely a small lord with a bit of luck, but after hearing these words, he now felt this fellow had a strong sense of duty, far surpassing the affected, hypocritical nobles of Shire County.

His head heated up, and he said: "In that case, I'll accompany you into the castle. At least two people can watch each other's backs."

Luosen once again bluntly refused: "Don— I am the nephew of Knight Alaisi; if I fail, there will still be some face to be saved. But you cannot."

Bringing another person would just add another pair of eyes, or rather a pair of experienced eyes; then how could he let the Number 1 Puppet help secretly?

Yuepu also merely felt his head heat up, but he quickly came to his senses; the other side was risking everything for family—what was he risking for?

Just to join the fun?

Seeing Luosen's will was quite resolute, he no longer obstructed.

"Alright, then we will await the lord's good news."

(End of chapter)