Chapter 207: The Overestimating Baron

The battle outside Beifeng City lasted less than an hour, and the last half hour couldn't even be called a battle.

By the time Baron Guss came

"Be grateful for the mercy of the Demon King. If it were before, we would definitely have strung you up on a flagpole, just like you once did to us."

The little demon, who looked like it wasn't even as long as his arm, let out a cackle at him. That sinister gaze made him unable to stop his legs from trembling and his back from turning cold.

Of course.

Part of the reason was also because of the cold.

Fortunately, these little demons did not let him stay in the snow for too long; they soon dragged him, arms bound by rope, into the fortress at the foot of North Peak.

However, when he crossed that city gate, everything that met his eyes exceeded his expectations.

This was not the gloomy place he had imagined; there were neither tanning racks hung with human skin nor pagodas piled with human bones.

On the contrary, the streets here were clean and wide, the ground was paved with neatly cut stone bricks, and there were even cast-iron lamp stands standing on both sides.

And that was not the only thing that was astonishing.

Buildings with peculiar yet simple and practical designs were arranged along the streets, radiating a strange yet harmonious aesthetic from top to bottom.

It wasn't just the architecture that was harmonious.

There were also the humans, undead, and demons here... and this was the most incredible part to him: these guys could actually walk on the street in peace!

Just then, beside a stall, a skeleton soldier was peddling food and daily necessities to the residents, collecting paper currency from the latter's hands.

And not far to the right of the stall sat a half-open workshop. A metal gear was painted on the sign above the workshop door, and the people under the sign were repairing a strangely shaped machine under the direction of a little demon.

Everything was so orderly.

If it weren't for those guys with wings and the ghosts drifting across the sky from time to time, he couldn't help but suspect that he hadn't been brought to a monster's fortress, but sold to a human city-state.

"This is impossible... this absolutely cannot be the work of monsters."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he couldn't help but swallow, wanting to ask what these houses were for, yet he dared not speak casually.

"Behave!" Seeing the Baron stop, the skeleton soldier behind him shoved him, causing him to stumble forward. Only then did he snap out of his shock, recalling his status as a prisoner.

And it was at this moment that the people passing by finally noticed him, one after another casting curious and scrutinizing gazes at him.

"What did this guy do?"

"Could it be a marauder... I heard gunfire."

"I don't think so."

"His armor... it looks like the regular army of the Campbell Principality."

"A knight?"

"Wait... I recognize him! He's the Baron from the nearby town, that guy named Gus."

"Good fellow, so it's him."

Realizing that this guy was Baron Gus, the gazes of the people around him instantly turned unfriendly, and there was a bit more mockery and amusement in their eyes.

Gus flushed red.

If he could endure being humiliated by monsters, being looked at with such rude gazes by these lowly people truly broke his defenses.

"You guys who betrayed Saint Xisi! Actually associating with monsters! Just you wait, you'll go to hell sooner or later! You are simply not worthy of being human—"

A kick to his backside interrupted his hysterical shouting. Watching Baron Gus fall into the snow pile, the crowd immediately burst into a fit of belly-aching laughter.

"Haha."

"Go to hell?"

"We were already in hell before. If it weren't for the Demon King pulling us out of despair, we would have already frozen into ice blocks in the snow!"

A man wearing a padded jacket stepped forward, spat at his feet, and cursed.

"Betrayed Saint Xisi? Where was it when we needed it? What did it respond with when we prayed to it piously? Sending a scoundrel like you over our heads? Running away first when the army of Chaos attacked, leaving us in the village to wait for death?"

Baron Gus's lips trembled with anger.

"I did not!"

This was indeed a grievance against him.

Speaking objectively, he really hadn't abandoned the residents of Silver Pine Town to flee; rather, it was the residents there who had abandoned him first.

"You didn't, but you are all the same." The man looked at him with contempt and said, "Only when you need us to die will you talk to us about your honor. On the contrary, the Demon King wants us to live well while we are alive."

These were things the acolytes of the temple had told him.

A thousand years ago, Saint Xisi used "eliminating death" to trick them into conquering the Netherworld, yet in the end, it only fulfilled its promise to the Emperor.

Not only that, they not only failed to eliminate death, but later even death was no longer equal. Noble souls would reincarnate in the Reincarnation Pool, being born into noble families time and time again, while the remaining souls would fend for themselves like blades of grass, becoming wandering ghosts lingering in the deep valleys of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, or becoming prey for adventurers.

Having learned these things, he no longer had any good feelings for Saint Xisi, and his hatred for these nobles under the Empire's rule was extreme.

Gus was so pale he couldn't speak, and could only stare fixedly at that face, then let the skeleton soldiers behind him push him toward the prison at the foot of the mountain.

That was a cave; the space was not spacious, and the cold, eerie atmosphere made it hard not to feel panic.

In this cave, Gus saw his subordinates.

Fifty cavalrymen had all been captured, their equipment removed, their hands and feet bound, and shackles that restricted supernatural power placed upon them.

As for those militiamen, there wasn't a single one; it seemed they hadn't resisted at all, simply abandoning him and turning to run.

"This bunch of cowards..."

Baron Gus's heart was filled with both anger and shame, and even more so with disappointment in his subjects.

He had had enough.

Just you wait!

Once he got out, none of these guys would have a good end!

If he could still get out, that is...

In a farmhouse in Silver Pine Town, "Shoe-Dropper" Abel threw the militia uniform and the socks frozen into ice blocks into a wooden bucket, then hurriedly changed into his own coat.

At this moment, a cold wind drilled into the drafty farmhouse, blowing against the back of his neck and making him shiver uncontrollably.

"Who is talking about me..." Abel muttered, throwing firewood into the stove and lighting it along with the curled wood shavings.

Watching the slowly burning flames, his anxious mood finally calmed down a little. He made a cross on his chest and prayed facing the stove.

Saint Xisi above, please forgive his cowardice.

He absolutely did not intend to run away; it was just that those monsters were too terrifying, and even the knight masters had no chance to fight back.

Come to think of it, it wasn't like this when they were fighting under Grand Duke Aaron Campbell before.

At that time, once the priests chanted, they only had to worry about loading and firing; before long, the enemy's morale would collapse and they would flee, and then the cavalry would charge up to harvest... It was nothing like today, where the priests became mutes, a group of cavalry was actually pulled off their horses by skeletons, and the sheriff led the escape.

Right!

It was the sheriff who led the run!

Thinking of this, old Abel couldn't help but feel a little comforted. When the lord blamed them later, he would surely blame that shameful thing; it wouldn't go so far as to punish honest people like them.

However, just as he was thinking this, the door of the farmhouse was suddenly kicked open, scaring him so much he almost knocked the stove over onto the ground.

A leather boot stepped into the door. "Shield-Dropper" Hebar waved his hand, signaling the two militiamen behind him to step forward and pull old Abel, who was slumped on the ground, up.

Looking at this group of rude guys, Abel shouted in a panic.

"What are you doing?! What did I do? By what right do you arrest me—"

"What did you do? You have the nerve to ask!" Hebar looked at him with a straight face. "Sheriff Adelei only told you to retreat; who allowed you to disband on your own?"

Old Abel looked at him, dumbfounded, his face pale, his mouth hanging open, unable to speak.

Hebar sneered, not showing any regard for past relations as he said.

"You still have a chance to make up for your mistakes, and that is to hurry up and take your gear to the square to assemble. We can pretend nothing happened. Otherwise, hmph hmph, just wait to be hanged!"

"I'll go! I'll go right now!"

Old Abel was scared out of his wits, hurriedly picking the militia uniform he had just taken off back out of the bucket and haphazardly putting it on.

Hebar twisted his neck toward the militiamen on the side, signaling the latter to throw a gun to him, and then led the newly rounded-up able-bodied men to the next house.

And just as the militiamen of Silver Pine Town began to assemble again, a line of two hundred cavalry had already arrived at the northern part of the Silver Pine Forest.

Gazing at the fortress looming halfway up North Peak, Teresa, riding on horseback, frowned slightly and lowered the monocular telescope in her hand.

"Your Highness, we are right in front."

Riding alongside Teresa, Ailin Campbell's expression was solemn, her right hand gripping the sword strapped to her waist.

"I didn't expect the Demon King in the labyrinth to have built a city right under our noses..." Teresa said in a deep voice.

"This is the dereliction of duty of the local lord."

Ailin Campbell nodded, saying with a majestic expression.

"I know, but now is not the time to pursue responsibility; we must first rescue him from the hands of the monsters."

Saint Xisi bestowed the "Light of Praise" upon the Campbell family so that they could protect this land and the subjects living on this land.

This concerns not just the honor of the Campbell family!

It is also the majesty of the Principality!

"Yes!"

Teresa waved the reins in her hand, leading the cavalry behind her to form a formation, and advanced along the rugged slope toward North Peak.

Ailin and Luo Yan followed the team on horseback in the middle.

The line of cavalry continued to advance, and as they moved forward, the forest ahead became increasingly dense, with emerald vines even entwined on the drooping branches; it didn't look like winter at all.

!. Read

Luo Yan certainly knew what that was.

It was either Helen or Shirley who did it.

Apparently having also sensed a hint of abnormality from the surrounding scenery, Teresa's heart tightened slightly, and she held her long sword horizontally in her hand.

And at the same time, a sharp whistle spread from the forest, and countless skeleton soldiers and little demons surged up from all directions.

"Prepare to meet the enemy!"

Teresa roared, her long sword emitting a green glow, her aura surging like a mountain torrent; that momentum was not inferior to Xinuo Delagong at all.

The crackling sound of gunfire rang out from the forest, but the barrage of bullets seemed to hit a wall, being blocked without a single one getting through.

At the same time, Princess Ailin's personal guards immediately gathered to form a defensive formation, their breastplates shining with a blue light, and the lances in their hands pointing straight at the enemy like cold frost.

Luo Yan looked at Teresa with surprise.

Before, he only knew that this guard had Silver-tier strength, but now it seemed that the grading of supernatural power was probably not enough to summarize her full strength.

The life-profession players of the Great Graveyard launched their attack first. A little demon flew into the sky, attempting to use mental magic to disrupt the cavalry's formation, but was blocked by a protective barrier released by a personal guard.

That wasn't all; immediately after, another cavalryman raised the mace in his hand, and the gem embedded in the handle emitted a holy light.

"Holy Sanction!" The cavalryman roared, and a milky-white light, like an iron fist, slammed toward the little demon flying in the sky.

The little demon let out a miserable "Wuga" scream, smoke rising from its body, and after throwing out a "I'll be back," it fell into the forest like a scorched bat.

The regular army of the Campbell Principality was indeed extraordinary, and its strength was far from what the ragtag soldiers of the Silver Pine Town barony could compare to.

Luo Yan estimated that if one referred to Warhammer settings, Baron Gus's troops were probably at the level of Bretonnian peasants, while these personal guards of Princess Campbell were at least "Grail Knights," and they were also a mixed magic-martial unit.

Encountering this level of armed force, the life-profession players under his command were indeed no match; after all, they were in the same ecological niche as Bretonnian peasants.

However—

Thinking of taking down North Peak City with just two hundred people was still a bit too naive; the cards in his hand were not just these few.

Moreover, his players were immortal.

Even if these two hundred cavalrymen were exhausted to death, they could never be killed off.

In order not to let Her Highness the Princess suspect, Luo Yan didn't just watch the battle; he casually released fireballs, shooting down several players who were trying to move bombs to the top of his head.

At this moment, a cavalryman spurred his warhorse and charged into the enemy line.

His lance, under the blessing of magic, pierced through three skeleton soldiers, and the warhorse stomped on the ground, kicking up large patches of snow and earth, shaking more enemies back.

However, what made his hair stand on end was that the monsters he knocked away were not afraid at all, but instead let out excited cries.

Just then, blades of fire and ice cones flew from the forest, rushing toward the cavalryman like arrows released from a bowstring.

"Holy Barrier!"

Ailin shouted, her sword, still in its scabbard, pointing toward the sky. A golden barrier descended from the sky, shrouding the front of her personal guard team and blocking most of the magic.

The cavalryman looked at her gratefully and pulled the reins, about to return to the formation, when a vine crawled up from the ground and tripped the hind leg of the warhorse beneath him.

"Whoa—!"

The warhorse let out a startled whinny, struggling to kick its hind hooves backward, almost throwing the cavalryman off its back.

"Everyone dismount!"

Teresa roared decisively, jumped off the warhorse, and swung her sword to cut off the vines spreading along the ground.

Helen, standing in the forest, looked at her expressionlessly, her hands, slightly leaning forward, holding a staff that emitted a ghostly green light, urging vines as thick as pythons to continue growing toward the direction of the cavalry team.

Teresa spotted her at a glance and rushed up with her long sword, but was soon forced back by sharp arrows flying from the forest.

Looking at the arrows emitting black energy stuck in the tree trunks, Teresa's eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked toward another direction in the forest. She saw a dark elf drawing her bow and nocking an arrow, looking at her with a provocative gaze, as if saying, "Come over here."

"Small tricks." Teresa sneered, pinching the amulet on her chest, and golden runes soon plated her armor with a layer of gold.

Shirley's expression changed slightly, and she immediately released the bowstring. However, before her arrow could arrive, the female knight clad in heavy armor had already killed her way to her front as if teleporting.

"Oh my, so fast—"

On the other side, the skeletons surging out continuously had already collided with the dismounted cavalry, engaging in close-quarters combat!

Although the combat power of these skeletons was not high, their numbers were truly too vast; there was simply no end in sight!

Although the personal guards under her command were no pushovers, they were human after all; neither their physical strength nor their supernatural power was infinite.

"Hold on! Reinforcements are on the way!" Ailin Campbell roared, gritting her teeth and drawing the legendary sword in her hand.

Luo Yan's pupils contracted slightly; he didn't expect her to draw this thing just like that, and at such a close distance to him.

Bathed in the holy light, Ailin Campbell, holding the "Light of Praise," seemed like a different person, her whole body radiating a holy light.

The surrounding undead and little demons clearly seemed to have been debuffed, their movements becoming sluggish and stiff, as if a taut spring were tied to their bodies.

The holy light flashed and vanished, and Ailin, holding the long sword, returned to her usual appearance, only her aura was different from before.

At the same time, the personal guards following beside her seemed to have received a holy blessing; not only did the wounds on their bodies heal at a speed visible to the naked eye, but their whole bodies were also filled with inexhaustible power.

Luo Yan pondered secretly in his heart.

It seems he didn't fully understand the "Light of Praise," and this thing didn't suck the user dry like a vampire the moment it was drawn.

Aaron Campbell must have used a certain function of it, and if it were just used normally, it wouldn't overly overdraw the user's life potential.

At least not for Ailin, who was still young.

Just as he was pondering, a thick fog permeated the forest, followed by a string of laughter like wind chimes.

"Cackle cackle... This is truly too interesting. I didn't expect Aaron Campbell to actually hand his precious sword to a little girl. I thought I had seen wrong, but it turns out to be true."

Sensing the hostility rushing toward her, Ailin looked toward the deep fog around her with a stern expression.

"Who is it!"

"Cici."

The thick fog suddenly dispersed, revealing the petite figure sitting on the treetop.

The white western dress inlaid with red ribbons fluttered in the fierce cold wind, and beneath the fiery red shoulder-length short hair was a pair of bewitching red pupils.

Except for the pair of slightly protruding horns on her forehead, and the tail and folded bat wings swaying behind her, she was no different from a human girl, just looking a bit more petite.

Ailin looked up suddenly and met her gaze.

Hatred.

Killing intent.

Bloodthirst.

And... jealousy?

Ailin couldn't help but suspect she had seen wrong.

She could understand other emotions; after all, hell and surface humans were mortal enemies, but she truly couldn't read jealousy; they were clearly meeting for the first time.

However, the enemy's feelings were not important to her; she only cared about the subjects of the Campbell Principality.

Taking a deep breath, Ailin gripped the sword in her hand, staring fixedly at the little demon sitting on the treetop, and announced her name.

"Ailin Campbell, daughter of Aaron Campbell. No matter how many times you demons are resurrected, I will use the light bestowed upon me by Saint Xisi to cut off your heads."

"Is that so?"

Cici raised her left hand and yawned, her right hand lifting her skirt to bow slightly, the corners of her mouth, which she had been covering, curling up into a cruel smile.

"Then you can try it."

(End of chapter)