Chapter 239: Enraging Gervas!

Half an hour later, Gervas led his Storm Legion out of the dense forest and marched in a grand procession toward the Iron Ore Mountain.

This time, Gervas had committed his entire force; aside from leaving thirty guards to defend the castle, every other guard was deployed.

Besides the guards, the Demon Swift Eagle Squad, the Barbarian Squad, and the Ballista Squad were also part of the expeditionary force.

The total strength of the Storm Legion this time reached around five hundred and fifty men.

More than an hour later, Gervas and his troops arrived near the Iron Ore Mountain.

And Lord Pa Ke received the news immediately.

Although surprised that Gervas's reaction was so fast, he did not think much of it.

After all, by cooperating with Minister Weilade's cabinet this time and having already seized the Iron Ore Mountain in advance, he had enjoyed every possible advantage.

Standing atop the Iron Ore Mountain and gazing out, he found that Gervas had halted his troops beside a small grove of trees over six hundred meters away from the mountain.

"This fellow actually did not advance directly!"

Lord Pa Ke felt somewhat displeased.

Naturally, he hoped Gervas would bring his men directly to the foot of the mountain and immediately launch an attack on the Iron Ore Mountain.

That way, he could strike down from a high position and crush him, avenging his own rudeness last time.

But he also knew that last time he had chosen to assault the mountain because he had underestimated his opponent.

This Gervas was extremely shrewd; to make him attack voluntarily, one would have to devise some schemes.

Just as Lord Pa Ke was thinking this, Gervas led more than ten cavalrymen away from the main force and approached the direction of the Iron Ore Mountain.

Seeing this, Lord Pa Ke immediately broke into an excited smile!

"Haha, perfect timing! Come, let us go meet this Gervas; I want to ask how he feels this time!"

Before a war, the meeting of the two commanders on the battlefield is a custom whose origin can no longer be traced.

Yet the custom has persisted to this day, and nobles generally observe this unwritten rule.

Besides wanting to display their own knightly etiquette,

it also allows for final negotiations before the battle.

If reconciliation or surrender could be achieved, that would be best.

Of course, the reverse is also possible, such as Lord Pa Ke's current thought: to severely insult and enrage the opponent before the fight.

At that time, if Gervas, in a rage, directly attacked the mountain, that would be even better.

"Haha, Viscount Gervas, who would have thought we would meet again!"

The meeting place was located at the foot of the Iron Ore Mountain; here, the distance to both camps was roughly equal, so there was no need to worry about a sudden ambush.

"Viscount Pa Ke, what do you intend? Last time, after I defeated you, I already let you go once!"

"Today, you actually dare to cause trouble on the border of my Storm Territory; have you forgotten the lesson from last time?"

"Or do you want me to give you a severe lesson that you will never forget in your life?"

Not mentioning last time would have been better; the moment Gervas spoke, Viscount Pa Ke's smile immediately turned grotesque.

"Gervas, do you think last time you won because of your own skill? No, that was merely because you were lucky and I underestimated you!"

"But this time is different; I came prepared, and now, the Iron Ore Mountain has already been seized by me!"

"So, Gervas, I give you one piece of advice: do not covet what is not yours, because you cannot keep it!"

"Furthermore, last time I prepared to return seven hundred gold coins to you, but this time, I have decided to return only three hundred gold coins!"

"Those four hundred gold coins shall count as compensation for your actions against me last time! How about it, Gervas? This is your last chance; are you willing to accept?"

Viscount Pa Ke wore a grimace of malice, while Gervas, hearing this, ground his teeth in fury, his fingers even trembling.

"Viscount Pa Ke, you... you are dreaming! This Iron Ore Mountain belongs to me, Gervas; I will absolutely not yield it to you!"

"Haha, Gervas, this Iron Ore Mountain is now occupied by me; if you have the ability, come and take it!"

"Of course, you can also go to Iron Wolf City to report me, or even go to Eagle City; that is no problem!"

"However, I have heard you offended the cabinet official of Eagle City; guess whether anyone in Iron Wolf City or Eagle City would dare to help you?" Lord Pa Ke wore an arrogant expression.

"You... Pa Ke, you despicable and shameless bastard!" Gervas, as if struck in his weak spot, immediately ground his teeth in rage.

"Enough, Gervas; cursing is something only gossipy women do; if you truly have the ability, then come!"

"Otherwise, then roll back to your territory; from now on, the Iron Ore Mountain belongs to me, Viscount Pa Ke!"

"Pa Ke, just wait; my, Gervas's, mine will absolutely not be taken by you!"

"I, Gervas, will also use my strength to tell you that last time I did not win by luck!"

"Very well, then I shall wait for you!"

Pa Ke's heart bloomed with joy.

His scheme had indeed worked.

Otherwise, if the opponent dared not attack the mountain voluntarily, he would have to launch an attack himself.

At that time, the losses would certainly be greater!

Of course, more importantly, he would be unable to experience the pleasure of revenge!

Subsequently, since the pre-war talks failed, both sides turned around and returned to their respective camps.

Gervas seemed extremely angry; after returning to his troops, he immediately began a pre-war speech, gesticulating wildly before his subordinates.

Immediately, only the sounds of "Kill! Kill! Kill!" were heard, and the Storm Guards advanced toward the foot of the mountain.

"Finally here! Remember later, kill these guys from Storm Territory for me!"

"My lord, rest assured! Even if you do not say it, we will also avenge the humiliation of last time!" Kieran and Bell wore similar expressions of anticipation on their faces.

Soon, Gervas's four or five hundred men arrived at the foot of the mountain.

However, the spearmen and the vast majority of longswordsmen did not attack; they simply stood in neat formation at the foot of the mountain.

Instead, only fifty shield-bearers and fifty strange archers advanced up the mountain.

Lord Pa Ke frowned slightly, a bad feeling stirring within him.

Sure enough, when those archers closed to within sixty meters of the mountaintop, they immediately halted their advance.

He saw them raise their peculiar 'longbows' in unison, aiming straight at the summit!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A sharp whistle rang out as fifty arrows soared up to the mountaintop!

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

Aaaah!

Screams instantly erupted atop the mountain; though the shots came from below, many unlucky souls were struck, resulting in at least twenty casualties.

This was not the battle Lord Pa Ke had envisioned!

He had expected the enemy's spearmen or longswordsmen to charge up the summit.

Then his own subordinates, holding the high ground, would rain down arrows, hurl stones, and inflict a crushing blow.

"Damn it, longbowmen, what are you standing there for? Return fire immediately!" Lord Pa Ke snapped out of his daze, roaring orders at his longbowmen.

Under his command, twenty longbowmen quickly moved forward.

In truth, most of these longbowmen were hunters, merely conscripted on the spot.

Due to the difficulty of training longbowmen, even a viscount like Lord Pa Ke could only afford to maintain seven or eight for castle defense.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The twenty archers returned fire, sending a rain of arrows down toward the slope.

But soon, a situation that made Pat grind his teeth in fury emerged.

He saw the fifty shield-bearers who had arrived with the crossbowmen raise their wooden shields directly in front of the crossbowmen.

Amidst a series of thud, thud, thud sounds of penetration, every single arrow was blocked by the half-man-high wooden shields.

Meanwhile, the crossbowmen who had dodged the arrow rain finished reloading, stood up, took a brief aim, and fired again.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

The arrows were dense and sharp; immediately, another dozen or twenty people fell.

Among them were even three longbowmen.

"Damn it! You useless fools!"

Lord Pa Ke was so angry he nearly vomited blood; he had thought that by provoking Gervas into attacking the mountain himself, he could vent his rage thoroughly.

Little did he know, the end result would be such a fate.

"Haha, my lord, it seems Viscount Pa Ke is so furious he's jumping up and down!"

"That fellow deserves it; he truly thought my lord didn't know he was just trying to provoke my lord into attacking the mountain!"

"The outcome of attacking the mountain, we saw it with our own eyes that day; how could we possibly fall for their scheme!"

Knight Mi Gen and the others laughed until their jaws ached; although the distance was great, they could still vaguely see Pat's furious, cursing appearance.