Chapter 197: Frontier City

"Your Highness, consider granting honors to some outstanding adventurers—specifically those who performed exceptionally during the 'live broadcasts'—and bestow them publicly."

"Let fame and titles attract heroes and warlords; let profit and wealth attract reckless fools. What we pay is merely a few commoner titles that cost nothing. After all, knightly titles have long been oversupplied; issuing a few more makes no difference."

Li En's suggestion clearly drew upon experiences from his past life.

These ideas they might have conceived themselves, or might have developed through practice over time, but perhaps not for many years.

By informing Dai Niya of this in advance, Li En hoped she would grasp the direction of the future, secure this project under her own control early on, and turn it into her personal treasury and enterprise.

As for whether Li En's advice would be useful...

"Huh? What did you do? The threads of fate and causality are dancing again."

The snake has appeared once more; it should be of some use, at least.

With his advice concluded, Li En smiled as he watched Dai Niya lost in thought.

The little one is actually quite rational; she will seriously consider this possibility rather than dismissing it outright as "commoner nonsense." Though somewhat unconventional, such arrogant nobles and royal family members are the majority in this world.

In fact, Her Highness has always enjoyed excellent reputation among the common people, being quite friendly toward both commoners and nobles. Her attitude toward Li En was largely due to Li En's own actions.

This minor incident passed in an instant. Upon entering the dangerous zone, the temporary team naturally fell silent and prepared for battle.

Within the stone corridors, movement gradually became difficult. The darkness everywhere gave the impression that numerous hunters and beasts lay in ambush.

But this time, Li En found few opportunities to strike.

A group of demons appeared. The shield-bearing knights advanced with their shields raised, the spear (long-lance) knights followed through the gaps, and the archer knights behind didn't even have time to draw their bows a few times before the opportunity to mop up the battlefield arrived.

This is one of the main tactics of this world: the iron knights forming battle formations and pushing forward—simple, brutal, and extremely efficient.

Yet Li En still attracted far too much attention.

"Mystic Footsteps."

The black knight armor was already unusually conspicuous, but in this dark battlefield, it proved quite effective.

It couldn't provide camouflage, but the "Black Dragon," a master of night ambushes, needed only a moment of hesitation and doubt.

"Die!"

He seemed like a ghost suddenly leaping from the shadows, always appearing at the most painful corner of the enemy formation.

The extraordinary power and battlefield instincts granted by the Dragon-Serpent Eyes gave him an almost higher-dimensional observer's perspective; every Mystic Footstep teleportation landed precisely on the critical point of the battle situation!

"Evil-Breaking."

In the next instant, a golden-sheathed longsword tore through the darkness.

To most battlefield spectators, it was only after the golden sword erupted that they spotted the black paladin.

With that single strike, whether it was a giant lizard with stone-like skin, a towering and mighty minotaur, or even the glittering stone golem, the result was the same: cleaved in two.

He did not perform like a paladin who charges recklessly; instead, he resembled an assassin-dancer within the shadows.

And after completing the assassination, once he had penetrated the enemy formation, he naturally became the target of a siege.

But unlike traditional assassins who "frantically flee," he immediately switched to battle formation mode and engaged in a direct, life-or-death struggle on the spot.

"Realm-Breaking: Sword Collapse."

The greatsword's greatest strength in handling multiple attackers was perfectly demonstrated: the swirling sword-edge technique swept everything around, but the more dangerous element was always the holy power of the shattering sword light.

A near-perfect wide-area slash; that simple, brutal Evil-Breaking Slash was wielded by him as if it were a Sword Saint's sword dance.

By the time the sword edge fell, the surroundings were already a mess of chopped or seared meat chunks.

He was like a heavy tank airdropped from a high orbit directly into the center of the enemy formation, stubbornly pinned there, constantly disrupting their deployment.

Li En, with his sharp eye, specifically prioritized attacking their logistics, high-threat spellcasters, and ranged units.

The keen-eyed archers on their side even noticed the calmness of his expression; he hadn't even broken a sweat despite completing the entire sequence while wearing heavy armor, maintaining perfect balance of body and mind.

This meant he hadn't yet gone all out; at this level of combat, he could sustain this for a long time.

"So amazing... so young... how is that possible?"

"I heard he was once a Great Knight; now he's just recovered."

"It seems his current overall combat power can probably go head-to-head with a Great Knight."

"Still a bit short; he hasn't reached the Third Tier yet, but judging by this trend, it's only a matter of time."

"Arcane Knight? Quite impressive."

The knights' gazes toward Li En grew increasingly friendly and respectful.

Previously, most had only heard rumors; now, having witnessed it firsthand, his formidable swordsmanship and radiant holy power confirmed the tales were true.

Knights and warriors are accustomed to speaking with fists; in a sense, they are the most "realistic."

Whether one can fight or not becomes clear after a bout; boasting to the heavens is inferior to simply arm-wrestling.

Therefore, they hold the strongest respect and recognition for the powerful, especially for a "peer."

As for the Mystic Footsteps Li En displayed, they didn't take it too seriously; the number of Arcane Knights capable of Second-Tier spells was not small, and this was originally the auxiliary spell most suitable for melee knights. Considering Li En's identity as a degenerate species retraining, it was normal for him to quickly recall Second-Tier spells.

As mentioned earlier, the biggest problem for Arcane Knights is that their "spells" are too few and too low-tier; forcing their bodies to memorize the casting of a few low-tier spells is already the limit.

For this reason, they did not recognize that Li En was actually an outlier: a mage and paladin.

"Well done, young man." An old knight patted Li En's shoulder as he returned to their formation.

This kind of recognition from "one of our own" is, in fact, the most precious.

One could say that with the recognition of Her Highness and Miss Shaliman, combined with his own performance, Li En was gradually integrating into the upper circles of the kingdom's knights.

This was, in fact, quite difficult.

The knights following Her Highness were naturally the elite among elites: some came from the city lord's knightly order, including even two Radiant Guards, while the others were kingdom knights who had arrived a few days ago riding griffins, representing the main force within the main force.

These knights would form the future backbone of the princess, her new loyal faction as she gradually began to wield power.

And the reason these knights would follow her was largely due to the support of the Radiant City Lord and the Queen.

Her concerns were not unfounded; if she truly became the chosen one of the Mirror Maiden, would these two "big shots" still fully support her?

"They don't know, but he will."

For no apparent reason, she felt Li En's figure as he swung his sword merge with that of the tall knight in the Hall of Heroic Souls.

In the next instant, she grew dazed, and that figure merged once more with the tall silhouette she had only ever seen in stories.

Surrounded on all sides by demons and monsters, yet persisting in his sword-swinging stance, he must be just like the one in the statue.

"Your Highness, Princess."

The maid's call snapped her attention back.

Looking out, she saw a vast, enormous "dining hall," its walls resembling marble rock, with some colossal "furniture" serving as the buildings here.

One stone chair had become the most valuable general store, another a pricey inn; two gargoyle statues glowing with red light guarded the entrance, so sleeping inside meant at least no need to worry about high-level thieves passing by.

As a large group of knights suddenly entered, the local merchants and adventurers were somewhat stunned, but the knights completely ignored them and went about their own work.

Those needing land seized it; those needing to camp set up camp.

Very soon, these few buildings would all become properties operated by the kingdom.

What Li En cared about more was the great mirror demon being bound to a rack, and the plaza on the opposite side of its mirror!

That area seemed to be the Mage Street, where many spellcasters in robes were watching inside with great interest.

Perhaps the impact of the mirror demon's live broadcast had been underestimated; many high-level spellcasters and powerful figures who had previously been too lazy to go out might, if they often saw these "adventure clips," also step into this teleportation space.

"Clang!"

As a carriage slowly passed through the tunnel, cheers erupted both above ground and underground.

According to the plan, if the teleportation failed or proved unstable, the knights and workers would join forces to establish the most basic forward base.

At that time, it would be the knights' routine rotation of duty.

To be honest, it would be quite unpleasant; it should be a grueling task.

But now, with labor and supplies pouring in continuously, the knights had also grown idle.

Thinking that in a few months they wouldn't have to guard underground but could simply rotate by the day, their moods were quite good.

Yet they remained cautiously vigilant of their surroundings; here, there was no so-called safe zone. This place had become the largest settlement precisely because its hard surface could cut off the most troublesome burrowing demons, allowing people to feel somewhat at ease.

"Get lost!"

Li En even saw a knight kick away a treacherous merchant who had come to "demand an explanation."

The merchants around them all glared with hostility, clearly seeing the reality that their business would no longer thrive.

But when Dai Niya slowly stepped out from the crowd, the merchants' wary and hostile gazes instantly turned to fawning; any person of normal intelligence would not casually offend the royal family within the kingdom, let alone be foolish enough to obstruct such a state affair.

"Snap!"

What surprised Li En even more was the entry of a large number of Church knights; they too seemed to have reached a cooperative agreement with the royal family.

"So this is the underground ruin?" The arrival of that large group of mages, who bowed while riding floating discs, sparked widespread discussion around them.

An old mage of the Golden-Eyed Lion Clan, leading the group, approached the Princess and bowed slightly.

"In accordance with our agreement with the royal family, we shall construct a defensive mage tower here. May we begin now?"

"Begin, and I hope it can be completed as soon as possible," Dai Niya replied with a smile, her lips moving slightly.

"Uncle Felipe, thank you for your support," Li En "saw" that silent response.

It seemed this place would be thoroughly secured, locked down by a mage tower garrisoned by a royal relative; let's see who dares to cause trouble.

(End of this chapter)