Chapter 195: The Red Duke

"What is going on here? How did those Vampires sneak in?" Sinuoli, having already arrived, was in no rush to join the fray; after all, understanding the situation was more important than blindly charging in.

"The Vampires used a ruse to trick the gate open! That Viscount, the former lord of the town, Minaithir, was somehow turned into a Vampire. He then claimed his city had been breached and requested entry, leading some of his personal guards to fight their way out," Tomi recounted the news he had received.

"And then? The Humans inside just opened the gates? Did they have no sense of caution at all?" Sinuoli muttered.

"There were Vampire moles in the city garrison! They took advantage of Viscount Cameron questioning them at the gatehouse to suddenly cut the chains and drop the portcullis. Then that turned Vampire and some Black Knights beside him charged in and cut Viscount Cameron down!"

"An old trick!" Sinuoli evaluated the Vampire's petty scheme and the Humans' carelessness. Dwarfs were the experts of experts when it came to defending cities; tricking a gate was child's play in their eyes.

"True, but those dull-witted short-lived races always fall for it! As soon as I got the news, I rushed over with Kangsitanting to provide support. The elites under his command have decent combat power, and that Grail Knight is especially valiant. You wouldn't believe it, but the mysterious power swirling around him can even directly evaporate low-level undead!"

Tomi spoke with great animation; young people were at the age where they worshipped the strong. This cousin was a relatively open-minded Dwarf; the differences between races and faiths were not so important in his eyes.

"Grail Knights have the divine power and blessings of the one in the lake active within them; this power has a weakening effect on evil, unclean beings. Even the weapons they have used and their bones after death have..."

Sitelinge's advisor added a few details; the Dwarfs of Weifengbao had clearly paid no small amount of attention to these literal supermen over the last millennium. However, before he could finish speaking, a great clamor suddenly erupted at the city gate!

"It's over! We're finished!"

"Sheng Yagebu, Lord Sheng Yagebu has fallen!"

"I am willing to serve the Vampire, no, the great Lord of Scarlet!"

The two Dwarfs stood stunned with their mouths agape; how could the very Grail Knight they were just praising have been killed in battle? Sinuoli's heart also gave a violent jolt; his first reaction was also to find a place to retreat and avoid the edge of the Vampire's blade.

"We cannot let the routed troops crash into our lines!" Captain Gelunsen, this warrior whose white beard dragged to his insteps, was not panicked. He slowly added a pinch of tobacco to his pipe, encouraging the young juniors around him.

"Right, we have no way back!" Sinuoli calmed down. If they retreated any further, they would be in the sea; Dwarfs, with their heavy plate armor and greater body density, were the least suited for fighting on water.

"The situation has not yet reached the point of no return! Those routed common soldiers are only good for shouting and cheering if they stay!"

Sinuoli roared while standing on an anvil. To put it bluntly, any Dwarf Warrior pulled out at random could easily deal with ten members of an infantry regiment or militia who lacked armor and whose weapons struggled to pierce it. If it were Anvil Guard, they could simply kill until they could no longer swing their battle axes!

In the context of a cold-weapon era, armor was simply too important! In the history of Sinuoli's past life, there were laws such as: "Possession of one set of armor and three crossbows results in two thousand miles of exile; three sets of armor and five crossbows results in strangulation."

Dwarfs did not worship the Lady, so naturally, their faith would not collapse due to the death of a Grail Knight. On the contrary, many of them were quite excited; it was only right that the first target to receive the oracle after the God of War Gelunmuni'er awakened after thousands of years should be a formidable fighter!

The Dwarf army drove away the wailing, routed Human troops, which was not necessarily a bad thing; at the very least, it prevented them from being killed and raised again to fight against the Dwarfs.

"I, Aier-Xifu, the rightful lord of Akuitan! I intend to reclaim everything that is mine; my conquest begins here once more!" A fellow clad in scarlet plate armor, riding a Yiyi mengyanshou, appeared on the walls of Bordeleaux!

His long life had worn away his original name, leaving only the epithet Aier-Xifu, which meant "Sword of the North" in the Araby language, remaining in the Vampire's heart.

"You lot, either submit, or, submit!" He held the head of that Grail Knight high, rotated it to show the crowd, and then threw it down beneath the city wall.

"Ahhhhh!"

"No, this, this is impossible!"

"Lady above! Shaliya above! Anyone, save me!"

Seeing this horrifying sight, another group of Bretonnians collapsed. They hadn't run earlier not because they were braver than their peers, but simply because they didn't believe that the legendary, invincible champion of the Goddess could be defeated!

"This must be the legendary Duke of Red! The Duke of Akuitan from six hundred years ago; ever since his brother, the then-Knight King Luyisi the Righteous, defeated him, the shadow of this powerful Vampire has always loomed over Akuitan!" Sitelinge's advisor provided intelligence rapidly.

With the rout of the peasants and the temporarily conscripted soldiers, the city gate suddenly emptied. The remaining resistance consisted only of the few dozen knights around Kangsitanting and their hundred-plus squires.

Beyond the knights, there were some religious troops and infantry regiments who worshipped the Sea God Mannann; encouraged by the priests of the Sea God, they still maintained their morale. Of course, there was also Sinuoli and the Dwarf army under his command.

The Duke of Red was very satisfied with the effect of his intimidation; he laughed loudly and dropped from the city wall to the ground. Captain Salazar also arrived behind the Duke of Red after circling the city on his corrupted giant crab.

"Great Lord of Akuitan, this city is full of wealth! Enough for you to summon your old troops and rebuild your glory, and enough for me to organize a fleet that can rule the seas!" Captain Salazar pointed his scimitar toward the ducal castle.

"This is my wealth, what does it have to do with you?" The Duke of Red grinned at the Vampire Coast commander.

"What? You, didn't you promise?"

"Promise, promise? Luyisi, that shameless Luyisi took everything that was mine; I am the true King of Bretonnia! Ahhhhh! You, you actually dare to covet my wealth!"

The Duke of Red seemed to be triggered by a certain word; he suddenly fell into a frenzy, roaring as he grabbed Captain Salazar by the collar and wouldn't let go!

"Unofficial history records that this Duke of Akuitan at the time was betrayed by nobles who were jealous of him, who conspired with assassins from Araby to murder him. Although the Duke defeated his enemies, he was wounded by poisoned weapons and was theoretically doomed to die!" the Dwarf advisor whispered.

"And then he was turned into a Vampire by the Blood Dragon progenitor Aibolashi, right," Sinuoli muttered, looking at that set of scarlet plate armor.