Chapter 106: Seeking Help

Outside the castle, the knight order stationed in the outer city mobilized all the able-bodied men of the city, issued them spears, and prepared for a full-scale assault on the fortress.

The dense crowd surrounded the castle tightly, their long spears glinting under the sunlight. At the far rear of the encirclement, the high-ranking officers of the knight order gathered.

"Humanoid, with the face of a devil—monsters never seen before."

The first problem they faced was identifying these attackers; they clearly did not look human. The vice commander of the knight order turned his gaze to the middle-aged man beside him, who wore the attire of a Hunter Guild master. "Guild Master Ludd, does the Hunter Guild know what kind of monsters these attackers are?"

This middle-aged man was the local guild master—or more accurately, a branch manager responsible for organizing local contracts and relaying information.

"They are not monsters," the branch master, Ludd, replied, shaking his head.

Not monsters? Looking like that and they weren't monsters?

Faced with the questioning gazes of the knights, Ludd did not beat around the bush. "According to information sent from headquarters some time ago, there is only one person who possesses those flying monsters: the Grand Duke of the Eastern Border."

The information sent from the kingdom’s Hunter Guild headquarters some time ago had puzzled him; such news usually wouldn't be sent to a lowly branch manager like him. Though he held the title of a regional guild master, he was effectively just a clerk handling contracts and front-desk duties—a small-time role in a small-time place. Now, he vaguely understood what it meant: it was a warning to prevent him from offending someone who shouldn't be crossed and bringing trouble upon the guild.

"My dear Ludd, you must be joking, right?" The vice commander's expression stiffened.

After four months of build-up, rumors had long since circulated through merchants and hunters. While the common folk might not have known, the knights had heard whispers. Yet, the sudden arrival of such a high-ranking figure left them unable to process the situation.

"I am merely stating facts," Ludd replied.

The scene fell into silence. The knights were stunned by the title of the Grand Duke of the Eastern Border. They didn't truly understand how powerful this suddenly appearing Grand Duke was, but regardless, he was a Grand Duke—a personage far greater than Count Lev. For a low-ranking official knight like himself, wasn't fighting such a person akin to suicide?

"Vice Commander, what do we do now?" one of the knight captains asked, voicing everyone's inner thoughts.

The vice commander, the highest-ranking officer present, had a shifting expression filled with inner conflict. Finally, gritting his teeth, he slammed his hands on the table. "Assault the castle and rescue the Lord! They have fewer than a thousand men, and we have tens of thousands. We owe our allegiance to Count Lev, not some Grand Duke of the Eastern Border!"

A Duke was not someone they could afford to cross, but if they failed to act today out of fear, Count Lev would have their heads tomorrow. Moreover, this was the heart of the Lev territory; once the message spread, reinforcements from all directions would arrive. There was no need to fear. The other captains, though uneasy, nodded in agreement. Compared to the distant, untouchable Grand Duke, they feared the Count standing over them even more.

The vice commander spread the castle map on the table and looked at the other captains. "The commander and the Lord are still inside. Their lives are hanging by a thread. We must break into the castle with every second counting."

"But the only bridge leading to the castle has been destroyed. The gap is four meters wide; only transcendents can leap across it. Relying solely on our knight order, we are no match for the enemy." One of the captains pointed out the fundamental problem. The castle, which should have been their strongest shield, had become an obstacle. The enemy's bizarre attacks, while unable to break their battle formations, were more than enough to deal with individual knights.

"What if we have the mages and archers provide cover while we charge across?"

"We no longer have any mages or archers."

At the start of the battle, the mages and archers had indeed provided excellent suppression, keeping the enemy pinned down and nearly allowing them to breach the gates. But as the fighting dragged on, all the mages and archers were killed by the steel monsters in the sky using a strange, eerie power. Now, they didn't have a single one left.

"This..."

Everyone looked at each other, feeling as if the more they discussed, the less viable their options became. They had never encountered a situation where their own base suddenly became the enemy's, and they had to find a way to break in. Normally, attacking a castle required preparation of siege ladders and catapults, which they could do now, but by the time they were ready, the Lord would likely be long dead.

The vice commander turned his gaze to Ludd. "Guild Master Ludd, we need the help of the Hunter Guild. Afterward, the Lord will surely provide the most generous rewards." He had to save his Lord's life; if the Lord perished, he would lose everything. Even if he went to another lord, he would be an outsider, never to be given real responsibility. Currently, only the Hunter Guild possessed sufficient mages and archers. With their help, he was confident they could take the castle.

Faced with the request, Ludd shook his head without hesitation. "I am very sorry, but this belongs to a war between lords. The Guild cannot intervene." The primary rule of the Hunter Guild was to never intervene in conventional warfare or power struggles unless there was clear evidence of dark deity forces. Furthermore, having just received a warning from the kingdom’s headquarters, if he provoked the Grand Duke of the Eastern Border now, he would surely lose his head.

Suddenly, anxious shouts came from outside, followed by hurried footsteps drawing near. An armored knight ran in, holding a bloody head—the head of the Lord.

"The Lord is dead."

Looking at the gory head, those present involuntarily held their breath, their eyes filled with disbelief. Those transcendent knights inside the castle had fallen so quickly?!

"Encircle the castle and await reinforcements from other knight orders."

Outside, in the sky approaching dawn, fire-red birds were released by the knight order.

...

On a plain, tall city walls stood firm, and the knight on night watch yawned.

Dawn was breaking; soon, they could go back to sleep. In the center of this city on the plains stood an iconic castle, a standard piece of Eastern Border aristocratic architecture. Because the Eastern Border was near the Death Swamp and often harassed by monsters, the local nobles did not live in manors like those elsewhere, but rather holed up in heavily fortified war fortresses. However, due to a lack of major disasters or wars in recent years, these castles had been remodeled by the nobles, stripping away many defensive works to make them as luxurious as possible.

*Thump, thump, thump!*

Urgent knocking echoed. Will slowly opened his eyes, sat up from his soft bed, and said, "Come in."

The door creaked open. His personal guard entered, holding a fire-red bird with a slip of white paper tied to its leg.

"A Return Bird?" Will frowned. "What on earth has happened?"

The Return Bird was a creature of incredible speed used for relaying information. They laid only one egg in their lifetime; as soon as they reached adulthood, they would immediately lay an egg, hide it, and fly away. A year later, they would return to hatch it, and once the chick reached adulthood, the old bird would die. This strange phenomenon had never been explained. People, however, exploited this habit to keep them for messaging. When needed, they were released; they would follow their instincts to find their eggs, and in doing so, deliver the letters. Simply put, they were one-time messengers. Because one had to wait for a new bird to reach adulthood after a delivery, they were used only for the most urgent information.

He took the white paper and slowly unfolded it.

"Order the knight order to prepare and march to support River Mouth City."

An hour later, the heavily armored knight order thundered out, leaving the city in a cloud of dust as they rushed toward River Mouth City. In other regions, knight orders of varying sizes were likewise moving toward River Mouth City; the surrounding military forces had been set in motion almost simultaneously. This was the greatest confidence of the Lev territory: a spiderweb-like defense where pulling one thread moved the entire web. No matter which direction they were attacked from, once they touched the central area, they would be immediately swarmed by the surrounding knight orders.

...

On the eastern edge of the Lev territory, at the fringes of the plains.

This desolate, uninhabited area had silently regained its vitality. The once-barren town was now bustling with people—workers in blue uniforms and soldiers in camouflage.

Inside the forward command post, the chief of staff put down the radio handset. "Comrades, Phase Two of the plan begins. Let these ghouls of the old era learn what a blitzkrieg is."