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Chapter 119 The Decision to Deploy As Duke Loggins's trusted aide, Baron Camorra understood him very well. Beneath the duke's facade of a person of average ability who had many vices hid a heart filled to the brim with ambition. Being a devious person, even though the duke might forgive one's errors on the surface, he might secretly take several methods to ensure one's demise and won't stop until one's life has been broken apart.

If the Second Prince was a hungry wolf, then the baron could be said to be a jackal. While wolves were ferocious and savage, jackals were cunning and suspicious. Even though almost everybody knew about the duke's desire to form his own Loggins Duchy, Baron Camorra understood that the real reason the duke wasn't able to accomplish it was due to his untrusting and indecisive personality.

The original reason for the formation of the Northland Army was so that the duke could defend himself against the Second Prince's father-in-law, Duke Fisablen and his Frontier Legion as well as to be the foundation of the main military force for his duchy in the future. However, the Northland Army had now become nothing more than a tool Duke Loggins used to threaten the landed nobles of the Northlands. Even though the duke's dominion's revenue did not exceed 60000 imperial gold coins, the wealth he had pilfered from the other landed nobles was enough for him to build three more armies the scale of the Northland Army. However, the duke did not do that and instead used the wealth to indulge in a life of luxury and debauchery.

One of the duke's current favorite pastimes was to use his imposing Northland Army to force the landed nobles of the Northlands to obey his orders and instructions as well as supply him with various provisions. However, being the person who played a huge part in the formation of the army, Baron Camorra understood that the biggest weakness of the army was its lack of actual experience on the battlefield. During the past two years since the army's formation, not once has it been deployed in actual battle.

It was further exemplified by the incident that happened earlier from the reckless behavior of the Silver ranked knights of the Northland Army at the Norton Family's bastide. Some of them were literally scared shitless from seeing their comrades die in front of them. All that time, the nobles of the Northlands had feared the terrifying reputation and the numbers of the Northland Army. But on that day, the army finally ran into somebody who wasn't afraid of their empty provocations. Not only did Lorist beat up the duke's Gold ranked knight severely, he even killed 8 Silver ranked knights belonging to the army and robbed the remaining survivors. That was a huge act of humiliation to the army as well as the duke himself.

Baron Camorra sighed and raised his head before he said to Lorist, "Lord Norton, aren't you afraid that the Lord Duke will lead his army straight to the Norton Family dominion? Aren't you afraid of the Northland Army tearing your bastide apart? I can only say that what you are doing now will cause serious consequences for the Norton Family. As the leader of the family, you really should be more considerate of your family's future and not ruin it in a rush of reckless behavior. If you're willing to hand the 100000 gold Fordes you got from the Kenmays Family to the Lord Duke, then I believe that I can convince him to restrain his anger temporarily and forgive you for your offensive behavior..."

Lorist snickered and said, "Oh-so-respectable Lord Baron, you really are a talent to be cherished. I really admire the way you can tell a lie like that as if you yourself believed it earnestly. In actuality, both of us already know the true origin of the 100000 gold Fordes, isn't that so? Since you say that the gold is given to the Kenmays Family by the duke for them to help him purchase military equipment and supplies, then he is no longer responsible for taking care of the money. Instead, it's the Kenmays Family's responsibility. Shouldn't the duke go to the Kenmays Family and prompt them to deliver the resources they promised in exchange for the sum of money he paid? Why would you come over to the dominion to ask us to return the money we took instead? That kind of practice doesn't abide to the rules and norms of us nobles, you know?"

"Then can I take that as an indication that the Norton Family is intent on opposing the Lord Duke?" Baron Camorra asked as he stared hard at Lorist.

"Hehehe, isn't the Norton Family not at fault here? Lord Baron, perhaps you have heard of a teaching that is passed down through the generations within the Norton Family. Aside from the Krissen Royal Family and the seniors of the Norton Family, every single member of the family will never kneel and submit to another person. The duke should have already expected this the moment he decided to stretch his greedy hands towards us. As for the Northland Army, if their ability is nothing more than those good-for-nothing knights over there..." Lorist said as he pointed at the 12 knights, "Then please, I sincerely welcome the army's arrival. Don't forget to tell them to stuff their money pouches with more coins the next time as well. Trust me, those coins will definitely be really useful for the preservation of their lives."

Baron Camorra stood up angrily and roared, "I will definitely tell the duke about your attitude and the exact words you said today! Lord Norton, since you insist on being so stubborn like this, you better pray that you have enough luck to bail you out from the consequences!"

"Hehe, Lord Baron, thank you so much for your kind wishes. I also think that I'm a rather lucky person myself. For instance, didn't I earn a small fortune from your visit today? Many thanks to you for that. It seems that it's getting rather late, so I would advise you to stay within the bastide for the night. Tomorrow, I'll send an escort to accompany you for your departure," Lorist said with a smiling face as if he wasn't the least bit bothered by the baron's threats.

Baron Camorra was already so exasperated that he could no longer even muster the energy to be angry. The leader of the Norton Family before him was even more ridiculous than Duke Loggins himself and was far more arrogant. The baron merely nodded with a cold expression and said, "I will take my leave now," before he exited the hall.

Lorist then looked at the 12 knights who were standing there obediently and told them, "What? Do you think that you'll be served dinner if you stay? Quickly drag this idiot on the ground and the corpses of your comrades out and buzz off! Did that dogshit duke think that we, the Norton Family, wouldn't dare retaliate at his greedy claws?"

...

"Sigh, Little Locke, that's far too reckless of you. Since Duke Loggins had already stated his conditions, we could've tried our best to negotiate to pay to a lower price.. There's no need to completely turn them down and piss them off to a point like that..."

The one who said that was Old Butler Gleis. Even though he didn't say a single word when Lorist was arguing with Baron Camorra, he felt that Lorist shouldn't have picked the worst possible choice from the get go. He felt that the best course of action was to use money and other material goods to placate the duke and his ambassador.

Lorist smiled and started pushing the butler's wheelchair before he said, "Grandpa Gleis, I've already thought through it. If we don't give all of the 100000 gold Fordes to the dogshit duke, he will never let us off that easily. And if we yield even once, he will take that as a sign of weakness and come even more often in the future to make his demands until we are completely sucked dry. Since we would eventually become enemies anyway, I don't see why we shouldn't give him a much needed wake up call and remind him that his Northland Army is not as fearsome and invincible as he thinks it is."

"Even if all the soldiers of the army were as useless as the Silver ranked knights that showed up today, there are still 20000 of them. The forces of our family are still far from being able to resist them..." said the old butler in a worried tone.

"Hehe, it will be fine. With the Firmrock Castle completed, they will never be able to enter our family dominion. No matter how many people they have, if they all run straight towards the castle walls, they will only crash flat into their deaths without being able to hinder us in the least," Lorist said as he expressed his confidence in the defensive capability of the newly-completed wall of the castle. That was also one of the main reasons he dared to go all out to turn against the duke.

"Oh, and, Grandpa Gleis, now that everyone is here, I'd like to discuss something important. I've decided to ready our troops to attack Wildnorth Town," Lorist said.

"Are you sure you'll succeed?" said the old butler in a surprised tone.

"I'm reasonably sure that I will, but I can't say that the casualties that we will incur will be small..."

Lorist then gathered everyone within the room and started briefing them on his plan to attack Wildnorth Town.

After hearing Lorist's explanation, Josk opined, "It'll be a tough battle. We are too short on time. Unless we attack without any regard to our casualties and reduce the fighting power of Wildnorth Town, there is no way that we will be able to take over it within a short period of time."

Lorist believed that by the time Baron Camorra returns to the duke's dominion, it would not take more than 15 days before the duke's army arrives at Firmrock Castle. He had proposed to occupy Wildnorth Town within that time frame to remove the tumor that was causing so much trouble for the family.

Lorist was prepared to mobilize one company and one squad of soldiers from Firmrock Castle and leave two squads of defensive unit soldiers to guard the place. Including the company of soldiers at the Maplewoods Bastide and the mercenaries at the base at Poplar Coast, they would have around 1000 men to attack the Wildnorth Town with.

Pajik expressed his objection to the plan and said that it was best if the family waited for another 6 months before attacking the town. He mentioned that Lorist had forgotten the most crucial factor that would cause their failure: the 1000 men he had wanted to mobilize were all new recruits who had little to no battle experience and military training and was not that much stronger than average farmer troops. On the other hand, the enemy had a huge fortified wall to hide behind and also knew the terrain well. They also had an advantage in numbers as the scenario of the women and elderly helping out with the defense that Lorist once mentioned was extremely possible.

Lorist laughed bitterly and said, "We don't have that much time. Even if the duke doesn't deploy his troops after hearing Baron Camorra's report, he will be more than happy to let the 2000-strong force of the Kenmays Family attack us first. Since we can only train elite soldiers by letting them fight actual battles, the casualties we will get is a price we have to pay. When compared to Duke Loggins, the people of Wildnorth Town are relatively easier to handle, so it's better to tackle that problem first. And we should also take into account that the conflict with the Northland Army will not end that swiftly, so we must also make preparations for a long, drawn-out battle."

"Is there no chance for us to take the gates of Wildnorth Town by way of a surprise assault and catch them off-guard?" Patt asked with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Lorist merely shook his head.

Old Butler Gleis explained to his grandson, "Deploying our troops to attack the Wildnorth Town will not happen instantly. We have to rally the soldiers and prepare the supplies we need during the expedition which will take at least two to three days to get done. Given how close the family bastide is to Wildnorth Town, any such movements we make will definitely be taken notice by them in no time. There are also many of the servants within the bastide who have familial relations with those of Wildnorth Town and it is entirely possible for them to notify the enemy in advance of our mobilization. By the time we arrive, they will have made their preparations long ago. That's why there isn't much we can plan for this assault; there is only one way and that is attacking head-on with full force."

Lorist announced, "Alright, it's decided. Pajik, you will be in charge of rallying and training soldiers here in the Maplewoods Bastide. Joe, when you escort Baron Camorra to Firmrock Castle tomorrow, lead the company of troops formed from the slave laborers as well as one of the defensive squad troops we have stationed over there back here and leave Ovidis in charge of defending that place. Paulobins will accompany you on your trip. Reidy, I need you to make a trip to the military base tomorrow and tell Hausky and Jim to bring their mercenaries over here and let Supervisor Kedan take charge of the construction work."

After making a few final thoughts, Lorist said, "All is set. We will mobilize our troops three days from now to attack Wildnorth Town."

...

When Lorist and the rest were discussing the plan of attacking Wildnorth Town, the atmosphere outside the Maplewoods Bastide castle was extremely merry and hectic. About 40 bored Northland Army soldiers started shouting at the guards on the walls of the castle and made many demands such as wanting more meat and alcohol as well as some allowance from the Norton Family for making them travel so far. They also demanded for women to be provided to serve them and to console their lonely hearts through the stillness of the night.

The soldiers gradually shouted their demands rhythmically as protesters would their slogans. "Give us money! Give us meat and wine! Give us women!..."

As their shouting got louder and louder, the gates to the castle opened and the ambassador and the knights that had went in earlier that morning emerged looking crestfallen and down. They didn't even leave with the mounts they had rode into the castle and some of them were even carrying corpses on their backs. The Gold ranked knight, Tabik, was being carefully carried by four knights who were using their capes as a stretcher.

The soldiers of the Northland Army were all dumbstruck at that sight before they were awoken by one of the Silver ranked knights who ordered them to quickly take care of the corpses as well as the unconscious Tabik. It didn't take long before the men realized that they had messed with the wrong people and the merry atmosphere within the camp returned to its former seriousness as they started to wonder whether the Norton Family would allow them to return unscathed.

After eating a simple meal, Baron Camorra paced around within his tent impatiently. He wasn't worried at being attacked in the middle of the night by the Nortons as traditional noble families like them had their own brand of pride and they usually wouldn't resort to underhanded methods like that.

Since that Norton Family leader is even more arrogant than the duke himself, he definitely would disdain doing something as devious as that.

Before the baron left for this expedition, he had never expected that he would actually fail. Given that the Norton Family had turned against the duke completely and had become his enemy, it was a given that the duke would mobilize his army in response.

Even though it was already rather late into the night, the baron still didn't feel like sleeping. He was troubled because he still didn't understand the true might of the Norton Family given that they had dared to choose to become the enemy of the duke. No matter how good the Norton soldiers' equipment were, it would only have limited efficacy against the 20000-strong Northland Army. Aren't the Nortons afraid that they will be attacked? What in the world are they planning?

At that moment, a soldier of the Northland Army peeked into the tent. Baron Camorra asked, "What's wrong?"

The soldier replied, "Milord, a few people have arrived outside the camp and they said that they would like to meet you. They are respectively the squad leader of the Wildnorth Town garrison force and one of the elders of Wildnorth Town, which is located within the Norton Family dominion..."

Chapter 120 The Days of the Expedition Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Three days later, Lorist brought a force of around 1000 men on an expedition to attack Wildnorth Town.

The distance that would have taken 1 hour to traverse on horseback had taken the whole troupe 3 hours to travel before they arrived at their destination, causing Lorist to laugh out bitterly while shaking his head.

Just as he had expected before he launched the operation, Wildnorth Town was already ready to defend against the siege. On the walls of the town, blades glinting from the light of the sun and rows of people could be seen. It seemed that the four great families had prepared themselves for the incoming assault and a few of the garrison soldiers even cursed at Lorist and his men from the walls.

Lorist sent Patt to the walls of the town to send a final warning to them: he would request for the garrison force of Wildnorth Town to discard their weapons and open the gates to surrender and if they do that, Lorist would take into account the 100 plus years of relation that the Norton Family had with Wildnorth Town and forgive their act of treason and will only request the townsfolk to obey the new regulations that were set up. He would also promise not to punish even a single person for this incident.

However, before Patt even reached the walls, a volley of arrows had been set flying in his direction, causing his mount to be turned into an arrow pincushion. It was fortunate that Patt responded quickly enough and jumped off his mount before he returned to the rest of the group on foot.

Lorist and the rest were enraged at that action as it represented that the people of Wildnorth Town did not even bother to take the Norton Family into consideration and wasn't even willing to even communicate. The act of attempting to attack a messenger was far worse than normal treason.

Resisting his seething rage, Lorist refused his subordinates' request to attack the town right away and ordered them to guide the men to set up camp and start making food.

Wildnorth Town had two gates with one being at the front and the other at the back. Logically speaking, Lorist should have set up two camp sites to surround the town's exits. But as he only had 1000 men, the troops would be spread too thin if he decided to split them up. That was why Lorist had his men set up camp and sent another troupe of scouts to monitor the rear gate. If the people of the town attempt to send a bunch of troops to attack the Nortons from the back gate, then Lorist would be able to take that opportunity to wipe their forces out.

Lorist couldn't help but wish for the soldiers of the garrison force to do just that. He hoped that he could wipe out all his enemy's forces in an open field battle. Not only would that be a great blow to the town, it would also increase the morale of his troops and lessen the number of enemies defending the town, thus making it much easier for the siege to succeed. It was too bad that the garrison force of Wildnorth Town were famed for their cowardice: they only seemed to be shouting out curses at the Nortons' men who were setting up the campsite without any sign or intention of attacking.

By the time everything was completely readied, the sky had already turned dark. Lorist checked the arrangement of the patrols and lookouts before he went to rest so that he would have enough energy for the siege the day after. Thus, the first day of the expedition concluded just like that.

On the next day, after having his breakfast, Lorist rallied his men and assembled them into formation. The plan for the morning was to have Josk lead a group of mounted archers to circle the walls while releasing volleys of arrows to expose a weak point in the enemy's defense so that Lorist may take the opportunity to attack the spot to take over a part of the walls, thus paving the way for the rest of his forces to eventually overwhelm the town's defense and take over it.

Having circled the walls twice, Josk only lost four of his men and that was a rather fortunate outcome. Upon his return, Josk reported, "It won't work. When I was on the other side, I noticed that they had broadened and deepened the moat, so there is no way we can attack from there if we don't fill it up first. Other than that, I tried firing an arrow towards their rear gate and noticed they have it clogged shut from the inside, indicating that they have no intention whatsoever to launch a surprise attack by sending their troops out from the back. We have no other choice but to attack up front. Just now, I also noticed that they were mostly using hunting bows which will not pose too much a threat to us."

Lorist was feeling rather annoyed. The last time he visited the town, the moat was shallower than Josk had described. Who would've expected for them to deepen and broaden it all of a sudden. According to Josk, it was approximately two meters deep and roughly three meters wide. Due to the terrain, the depth of the moat wouldn't be visible from afar and could only be determined up close.

Lorist personally rode his horse around the walls of the town and wondered, where did they take the mud and dirt that they dug out from the moat? Then again, the depth of the moat is just as Josk had mentioned. There's no way that we can attack from here unless we fill it up first.

On one hand, he instructed Reidy to return to the Maplewoods Bastide and have Supervisor Spiel send over some grass sacks and digging tools. On the other, he ordered his subordinates to lead their soldiers to fell some trees which he would then use to make some large wooden shields and a transport cart which he would need to move the dirt required to fill the moat.

On the third day of the expedition, the plan was to fill up the moat which stretched tens of meters to the left from the main town gates. Lorist planned to launch a strong attack from that spot. Josk commanded a company of soldiers to plant the large wooden shields used defend against arrows onto the ground within 50 meters from the town walls. After that, he ordered his longbowmen squad to fire at the walls from the cover of the wooden shields to suppress enemy fire.

The squad of longbowmen used bows of the simplest design. These training longbows were made from firm and flexible yew wood and its construction method was relatively simple. A yew branch with sufficient thickness could easily be made into a longbow by carving the shape out and drying it. This kind simplified of longbow was slightly longer than proper longbows, however its firing range was inferior to that of a proper longbow by 30 or so meters, being only at approximately 70 meters. Not to mention its power and accuracy was also vastly inferior. The bowstring of a simplified longbow also had to be switched out after 180 or more arrows were fired and the bow itself had to be checked whether it was still in proper shape for continued use. While it was effective when used in training, simplified longbows like these wouldn't do much actual damage to the garrison soldiers on the walls.

Proper longbows on the other hand were made out of a kind of wood that was even more firm than yew. The wood had to be dried in the sun for a period of time before it would then be submerged in a special kind of oil for up to three months before it must once again be dried at a place out of reach of sunlight. During the submersion process, the wood also had to be shaped and strung before it could be adjusted, fixed and sanded. Lastly, the bow had to be painted a few times over before a layer of leather would be affixed to the bow's body. A proper longbow like that would require at least one and a half to two years of time to make. The firing range of such bows could go up to 100 meters easily and pose a serious threat to even Gold ranked fighters.

The construction of the cart was also rather simple. Its basic form was nothing more than putting together two large wooden planks to form an A-frame roof with four wheels fixed to its bottom and coating the roof with a layer of wet mud to prevent it from being set aflame by fire arrows. As the soldiers push the carts towards the moat behind the cover of the wooden panels, they can easily fill up the moat by opening the hatch located at the front of the enclosed cart and toss grass bags filled with soil into the moat.

The operation during the morning went on without a hitch: under the leadership of the Divine Marksman Josk, the squad of longbowmen were successful in their attempt to suppress the garrison soldiers on the wall to the point that they were unable to even stand up to take proper aim and could only fire from the small crenels on the walls. Needless to say, their firing accuracy was rather bad and it was unable to cause Lorist's side much damage and the garrison soldiers ended up with more casualties than the attackers. Currently, the moat was already half-filled and the operation would be complete by noon.

Lorist was rather relieved and believed that taking the town would not be as difficult as he had previously imagined given the lackluster intensity of the garrison force's counterattack. His troops might even emerge from this conflict with relatively few casualties.

However, after the lunch break, the soldiers of Wildnorth Town had also erected wooden barriers upon their town walls, which allowed them to mount a proper resistance. Additionally, after noticing that the fire arrows were ineffective against the transport cart, the soldiers of Wildnorth Town poured a huge amount of flammable oil onto the cart when it was near the wall and finally managed to set it aflame.

Josk finally showed his prowess by knocking down a few of the wooden barriers on the walls with his arrows in successive order. However, it was to no avail as the destroyed wooden boards were quickly replaced by new ones.

"6 of the longbowmen have died with 21 others injured. Also, more than half of their longbows are worn out to the point that it's already useless. Fortunately, we brought along another 100 plus extra ones which we can use as replacements. 8 soldiers among those who were sent to fill the moat have died and more than 26 of them returned injured. Should we construct another transport cart to replace the destroyed one?" Shadekampf asked Lorist after he reported the number of casualties from the failed attempt to fill out the moat.

"Send another company of family soldiers to fell some trees. Make sure that the soldiers of Wildnorth Town will be able to see us constructing the carts so that they will think that the soonest time for our next attack is tomorrow and let their guard down. Tonight, we will make our preparations for the time when the clouds obscure the moonlight to have our men bring the sacks to the moat by hand to fill it overnight," instructed Lorist.

Lorist's arrangements far exceeded the expectations of the Wildnorth Town garrison as by the time they noticed the movements beneath the walls, the moat had already been almost completely filled. Seeing the startled garrison soldiers drop their torches from the wall, Lorist smiled and said, "Come, let's go back. We're already almost done. When we attack tomorrow, we just have to bring a couple of more sacks of soil to fill the rest up. I hope that we will be able to take the town all in one go after that."

On the fourth day of the expedition, the weather was sunny with clear skies stretching to the far horizon.

Lorist organized all his soldiers into seven squads of troops with each bringing a siege ladder with them as they rushed towards the walls of Wildnorth Town.

Accompanied by Patt and Reidy, Lorist approached the walls gradually as he followed the tracks of the charging soldiers. As long as one of the ladders was placed on the walls successfully, Lorist believed that he could rush up the walls and massacre away to occupy part of the walls. If his reinforcements also manage to make their way up there, then their victory would almost be assured.

The distance slowly shrunk from 100 meters, to 80 meters, 60 meters... By the time the walls were right in front of their eyes, the wooden barriers on the walls were suddenly lowered in unison to reveal a row of bowmen and longbowmen in firing positions...

"Fire!" The moment the order was made, arrows and crossbow bolts rained down from the walls in a manner similar to that of a humongous tidal wave, obliterating many of the soldiers at the front within seconds...

As one soldier after another fell, Lorist neared his limit and he shouted, "Retreat! Quick, retreat!"

The green longbow in Josk's hands let out a thundering roar as it sent one green arrow after another flying straight towards the walls of the town which sent one soldier after another flying off into the air. The situation on the walls broke into a chaotic mess within moments. In response, a group of soldiers who were in formation moved sideways to make way for four ballistas that were pushed towards the edge of the walls from behind.

With four deafening booms, four gigantic ballista bolts soared in Josk's direction.

The moment Josk saw the four ballistas appear on the walls, he knew that something went wrong and jumped off his mount without a hint of hesitation. With a loud whoosh, a huge ballista bolt scraped past his back, ripping off the armor and undergarments he wore and tearing a huge, deep wound on his back from which blood oozed out profusely. Within an instant, Josk was covered wholly with his own blood.

Josk's mount on the other hand had already been split into a number of chunks as a result of being struck by three of the bolts.

Rolling on the ground twice and standing up quickly, Josk resisted the pain in his back and once again drew his green longbow. With a flash, a green arrow was shot towards one of the black ballistas on the walls, causing it to break and splinter into many pieces. Some of the soldiers standing near that ballista were hurt from the flying shrapnel. The remaining soldiers on the walls quickly pulled the 3 ballistas back from the walls in response.

After releasing that last arrow, Josk's whole body slumped to the ground. Lorist quickly rushed to him and carried him back to the camp on his back.

Bam! Lorist hatefully pounded on the makeshift wooden table made from a split log and left a deep indentation of his fist on its surface.

Damn! Damn it all! Nobody had saw it coming. Not one of them had expected that the garrison force would be so cunning and devious. During the past two days, they used hunting bows to attack the Norton soldiers and allowed them to fill out the moat, causing Lorist to have a mistaken impression that they didn't have much ability to retaliate. They only revealed their trump cards today when Lorist planned to take the town in one go and successfully caused huge losses to the Nortons.

A couple of beastskin documents were placed on the table. Those were name lists of the dead and injured soldiers which was compiled by Shadekampf. Within a short 15 minutes, more than 300 of their forces have been put out of commission with 83 of them dead and more than 200 injured. Even Reidy got hit by an arrow when he was rushing to help out. Had it not been for the fact that the soldiers at the front were wearing chain mails, the casualty count would have been far larger.

Josk on the other hand wasn't injured too badly. The cut on his back from the passing ballista bolt was easily treated with some medicine and bandaging. However, the final shot he took to destroy one of the ballistas damaged the blood vessels at his back and caused the wound to rupture and he would require more than ten days of rest before he would completely recover.

"Milord, the morale of the soldiers is really low. I think that we will be unable to continue the attack tomorrow. Today's battle really surprised me. How did the people of Wildnorth Town get their hands on so many longbows and crossbows as well as the four ballistas?" Patt said.

"I might know where the crossbows came from," said Pajik. "Four years ago when the First Young Master led the family's armored cavalry to war under the orders of the Second Prince, there were around 100 garrison soldiers of the Wildnorth Town who tagged along with him. They were in charge of the supply line for the First Young Master's armored cavalry as well as foraging the battlefield after each skirmish. During the battle I was captured by the First Young Master, I noticed that the garrison force soldiers were really focused on collecting weapons and equipment, including even the broken ones. I know that they have handed the metal armor and money to the family, but I didn't expect that they would smuggle and hide all the bows, crossbows as well as the ballistas they found..."

"What a deeply thought out plan... It seems that they have been preparing to rebel since four years ago. No wonder their attitude towards us had gotten worse in recent years. Do they think they will be able to protect the town just because they have ranged weapons? I will not stop until I successfully remove this tumor from the dominion," said Lorist as he grinded his teeth.

"But we're still unable to enter the town!" Patt exclaimed.

"We'll attack during the night. As long as I manage to get up on the walls, we will be able to occupy Wildnorth Town!" Lorist said as he looked towards the walls of the town.

Chapter 121 Duke Loggins's Plot Prev ChapterNext Chapter

The obese Duke Loggins rammed around and busted up his study with a semblance of a savage wild boar, causing a pile of mess to gather on the ground. The only things within the study that survived were the ones that were too heavy for him to move, for instance, the furniture.

"Deploy! Deploy the Northland Army to the Norton Family dominion immediately! I want the Nortons to be vaporized and that family leader kid to beg for mercy while prostrating in front of me like an insignificant bug! After that I will hang him publicly for all the nobles in the Northlands to see the ending of someone who dares to resist me!" roared the count with bloodshot eyes as he breathed ragged breaths.

When Baron Camorra returned and reported the Norton Family's refusal to hand over the 100000 gold Fordes, the duke's anger gradually built up. Upon hearing that they do not acknowledge him as their senior noble, he became even more furious and started thrashing around, enraged. By the time Baron Camorra informed Duke Loggins about how the Norton Family leader incapacitated Knight Tabik and killed 8 of their Silver ranked knights, and even took all their money pouches and withheld their mounts, the duke completely lost it and flipped the desk he was sitting behind while muttering nonstop, "How dare they do this... How dare a puny bug like him resist my will..."

Standing beside the entrance to the study were three people. They chose that spot because the objects flying about in the room wouldn't easily reach there and they would also get a clear look into the study, so if something were really to fly out, it wouldn't be too hard for them to dodge and not become collateral damage of the duke's fit of rage.

Apart from the expressionless Baron Camorra, the other two were armored knights with huge physiques. The one with the beard was Duke Loggins's chief family knight, Wesson Chevany who also served as the chief commander of the Northland Army. The younger Gold ranked knight beside him was Hennard.

Hennard looked with an expression of excitement and envy at Duke Loggins who was sitting amidst broken chairs and messed up books while breathing raggedly. He said, "I really wish I could afford to smash a study up like that... It must feel so liberating..."

"Stop talking crap..." said Chevany with a humph. He turned to Baron Camorra and said, "Milord seems to be losing his temper more easily recently... That doesn't seem to be a good sign."

Baron Camorra replied quietly, "It has been like that since he met with the Second Prince the last time. I heard that he had been provoked and humiliated by one of the Blademasters serving the Second Prince. Oh well, at least milord will return to normal after he lets off some steam..."

Chevany sighed and said in a self-blaming tone, "It's all my fault for being unable to grasp the intricate insights required to break through to the Blademaster level and caused our lord to be humiliated in front of the Second Prince like that..."

"That can't be blamed on you. You've already tried your best and did pretty well. If only the Second Prince did not have two Blademasters serving him, then he would have come groveling to our lord for help long ago..." consoled Baron Camorra.

By the time Duke Loggins raised his head, his expression had already cleared up. Looking at the mess he made, he laughed out and said in a self-ridiculing fashion, "Gosh, it really is hard to control my anger at this age of mine. Come on, let's go to the small meeting room. Camorra, tell me the details of the happenings once again from the top and let's discuss how we should handle the Norton Family."

Following that, with Baron Camorra's excellent memory, he described the happenings without missing a single detail to the duke down to the attitude, intonation and expression of Lorist when he spoke.

"How are Tabik's injuries?" Duke Loggins asked.

"They shouldn't be anything serious. Mainly, his two arms which were rather severely twisted. The herbalist said that it would require around 1 year of rest for him to be able to recover," said Knight Chevany.

"Then, do you think that the Norton Family leader is strong? What rank is he at? How was Tabik unable to hold his ground against him?" asked the duke.

The two knights looked at each other before Chevany replied, "Milord, after receiving a notification from the guards, I went to visit Tabik. According to him, the twerp of the Norton Family should only be at the Iron rank. That was the reason why Tabik dared to act in the first place. But what he didn't expect was that the twerp excelled in unarmed combat. Tabik said that his loss was probably due to him having underestimated the Norton Family leader and let down his guard and lost the advantage during the first exchange. When he was aware of the situation, he was no longer able to fight back and that's how he ended up so severely injured."

"What a load of crap... I guess Tabik still isn't that honest of a chap yet. How is it possible for an Iron rank to injure him so badly? If he lost, he should just admit it and not come out with so many excuses..." Duke Loggins said as he knocked onto the tea table with his fist angrily.

"No, milord. That is indeed within the realm of possibility. The ancient legends from the Magical Civilization spoke of a profession called the combat monk. They were devout believers of the gods and also cultivated amazing fighting skills that could even take down dragons. However, they eventually died out during the war between the magi and the gods. Hundreds of years ago, some combat monk techniques were also excavated from some ruins and they were all cherished by the shrines like precious treasures. In present day, some of the shrines have practitioners who train in the revamped techniques of the combat monks from the days of old which also frequently allowed them to defeat opponents of a higher rank. I suspect that the Norton Family twerp had managed to get his hands on one such technique that specializes in unarmed combat. If that were really the case, then it isn't weird for Tabik to have lost at all," explained Knight Chevany.

"However, please be assured, milord. Even though techniques like these are extremely effective in one-on-one battles, in a battlefield scenario, the Norton kid will never be able to defeat a fully-armored Tabik charging at him from his mount," added Hennard.

"I see. Then I suppose this will serve as a good lesson for Tabik. I've heard that he's been getting more and more out of control lately. Hopefully this will change how he behaves in the future so that he doesn't get on the bad side of others and cause all sorts of unnecessary trouble," said the duke as he breathed out loudly twice from his nose.

"Chevany, can you defeat the Norton Family's forces if I let you command a regiment of troops?" the duke asked.

Chevany shook his head and said, "It won't be possible, milord. I've already checked the map and according to Sir Camorra, the Norton Family has built a new castle at the Morgan Hills. The fortifications at the castle according to Sir Camorra seems to indicate that a 2000-strong regiment wouldn't be enough to occupy it."

Baron Camorra took out a beastskin map from the pouch beside him and said, "Milord, please take a look over here. The route at Morgan Hills is the only one that leads into the Norton Family dominion. On my way back, I've came to a conclusion that the reason the Norton Family was daring enough to go against milord was because they believed that if they can defend the castle at Morgan Hills, even the Northland Army wouldn't be able to force their way into the dominion. I also have a few other drawings depicting the fortifications of the main defensive wall of the castle which Sir Chevany has also seen. He thinks that we can only conquer it if we continuously exhaust our soldiers in successive waves of attacks. However, the casualties will no doubt be huge and is estimated to be around 6000 people."

Duke Loggins looked at the map passed over by the baron carefully and could not help but admit that the terrain was severely disadvantageous to them in that it was easy to defend but extremely hard to attack. Just as Chevany had mentioned, a 2000-strong regiment was definitely not enough to conquer the castle.

"Then do we have no choice but to let the Norton Family off scot-free?" Duke Loggins was severely bothered by that notion. The fact that the Norton Family had managed to resist the duke's will was a bad example for the rest of the nobles in the Northlands and it would definitely affect his control and influence over the area negatively. He had to make the Nortons pay and use them as a warning for the other nobles who were unsatisfied with his rule so that they would not even think of rebelling.

"Milord, there is actually another route that leads to the internal part of the Norton Family dominion which will enable us to circumvent the pass at Morgan Hills," said Baron Camorra.

"Oh? Then where is that route you mentioned?" asked the baron as he looked intently on the map but failing to see anything of note. He thought that the Norton Family dominion was truly placed at a strategic location. The Blackmud Marsh at the north of the dominion sealed it off from any attempt at entry from there. At the dominion's west was the Bladedge Mountains and the open seas, at its south was the Morgan Hills and the Black Forests and to its east was the Magical Dragon Mountains. Apart from the pass at Morgan Hills which the Norton Family had constructed their castle to seal off, the duke couldn't find any other place where he could allow his soldiers to enter the Norton dominion.

"To be honest, I don't know where it is myself," said the baron. "However, the night I left the Norton Family's headquarters, I met with some visitors. They were the elders and the squad leader of the garrison of Wildnorth Town, the only town within the Norton Family dominion. The reason they came to me was that they wanted to complain about how the Norton Family leader changed the governing policy his ancestor first instilled to cause unfair treatment to the people of Wildnorth Town. That was why they came to me to offer help and said that they would stand at our side to aid in the defeat of the Norton Family when milord's forces come to punish them.

"According to them, the new Norton Family leader has always been a cruel person even from the days of his childhood. In one instance, he even pushed his 7-year-old younger brother into a well and almost killed him. In the end, someone from the family could no longer stand it and exiled him for ten years and he had only returned a few months ago to succeed as the dominion lord. After becoming the family leader, his behavior worsened and he went all over the place to instill conflict and tortured the poor citizens of Wildnorth Town. As a result, the citizens of the town who have had enough of the harsh treatment started planning to rebel in secret. They said that if the Lord Duke is willing to punish the Norton Family to right the wrongs they have done towards the citizens of the town,they will definitely be more than happy to help guide our forces into the Norton Family dominion through that secret route to catch them off guard..."

"Oh. I see..." said the duke as he breathed a long sigh. "Then did he say how the Norton Family kid changed the policies of his ancestor to oppress the people of the town?"

Duke Loggins had always been rather interested with how other nobles reaped benefits at the expense of their own subjects. He believed that learning more methods from others would enhance his own way of squeezing the last copper coin from the hands of his poor subjects.

Baron Camorra's face contorted in response to the weird situation. "It's like this..."

Baron Camorra was an intelligent individual and he had seen all too often how the nobles outsmarted each other for the slightest additional gain. The methods he learned was also put to good use by him. That night when he received the visitors from Wildnorth Town, he put on a friendly smile and personally served his guests to ease them up. Coupled with his expertly subtle questioning, it didn't take long for him to make the visitors reveal the truth completely and unknowingly.

By the time Baron Camorra finished describing the relationship between Wildnorth Town and the Norton Family, he was faced with three men who looked at him with expressions of bewilderment.

"That kind of situation actually happened? So there are nobles who are like that as well..." mused Knight Hennard.

Knight Chevany thumped on the table and said, "Ridiculous! Those heartless ingrates deserve death! Were the ancestors of the Norton Family idiots? They should've slaughtered people like that long ago! Why have they let them propagate until now?"

"Oh, so the taxes the Nortons paid to us actually came right out of their own pockets instead of their subjects... It seems that the Nortons are rather wealthy. After all, they have near 300 years of history and their foundation should be rather steep..." The duke was instead focused on the financial aspect the situation that was just revealed. To him, morals and righteousness were merely secondary to monetary profits.

"Did the people from the town request anything in exchange for their guidance?" asked the duke calmly.

"This.... Um..." Baron Camorra started to hesitate.

"Tell me. I want to hear what kind of ridiculous request they made," prompted the duke.

"They... They said that since the Norton Family dominion was rather large and they weren't that greedy, they hope that after you exterminate the Norton Family, you will assign four baronies to them from a small part of the Norton Family's territory..." Baron Camorra was embarrassed to even recite the request of the four great families of Wildnorth Town. They were thinking too far ahead of themselves.

"They dare to request that in exchange of merely being a guide?" said Knight Hennard in with his jaw agape after hearing that.

"They said that the four great families combined have more than 600 Battle Force-awakened people and up to 10 of them are Silver ranked. Other than that, they also have more than 2000 youths. According to them, if they side with the Norton Family, milord will never even stand a chance. Other than that, the secret route leading into the Norton Family dominion is also a something that was kept untold for hundreds of years among the leaders of the great families which they also use to smuggle their goods. They said that if they reveal it to milord, it will be exposed and they desire compensation for that..." explained Baron Camorra.

"Hehe, a smuggling operation that has been going on for hundreds of years... And they only had to pay the Nortons 10% of their harvest. It seems that the town is pretty wealthy after all. Promise them that after we enter the Norton Family dominion, we will agree to their conditions if they can conquer the castle of the Nortons. Let them be at the frontlines so that they will decrease the casualties of the Northland Army," decided the duke.

"But milord, are you really going to make them barons after they manage to take over the main castle of the Norton Family?" asked Knight Hennard with displeasure in his voice.

"Do you really think that a noble title is that easy to obtain? We are not as... kind... as the Norton Family. By the time the Wildnorth Town troops successfully conquer the Norton Family's castle, that is when we will strike..." said Duke Loggins as he let out a sly smile.

"What if they refuse to attack the Nortons?" asked Knight Chevany.

"Refuse? Hehe, then invite them to our main army camp and tell them that we are going to carry out the entitlement ceremony to grant them their baronies. That is when we will strike and grab all the wealth of Wildnorth Town for ourselves. As for the citizens... Kill all the elderly, the youths and the children. Leaving them alive will only spawn trouble in the future. Spare the young women and don't lay a hand on the virgins. I've heard that prices for female slaves have risen recently, just in time for us to make a killing," said the duke.

"Then how many troops are we going to mobilize? And, do we have to lockdown the pass at Morgan Hills where the other castle is located so that nobody gets out?" Knight Chevany asked.

Duke Loggins gave some thought before he said, "We'll send out two regiments of 4000 troops. That should be enough. The regiments will be led by Hennard and you. Don't forget to pay attention to that Gold ranked Divine Marksman. If he's willing to defect to our side, bring him back here. As for the castle at Morgan Hills, there's no need to pay attention to that. Viscount Kenmays has just departed with his 2000-strong force yesterday to take back the gold that was stolen from them. Hehe, let's just sit here and wait for them to wear their own numbers down by attacking the castle at Morgan Hills."

"Oh, before I forget, Camorra, contact the representatives of Wildnorth Town and tell them to supply us with the necessary provisions and food for the expedition. After all, they won't believe that we've accepted their proposal that easily if we don't even attempt to negotiate the conditions in our favor a little."

"Yes, milord," said Baron Camorra as he bowed deeply.

Chapter 122 Return in Futility Prev ChapterNext Chapter

The Silvermoon shined its light down towards the realm of man, indifferent of all the ongoing conflict in the world as usual.

At that particular night during the 8th month, the cool night breeze took away the scorching heat of the day, causing most to feel exceedingly refreshed.

It had already been eight days since Baron Camorra's departure and it was currently the fifth day of Lorist's expedition to defeat Wildnorth Town.

Within a small forest roughly 200 meters away from the town, Lorist could be seen leaning against a thick yew tree looking towards the moon with a long wooden stick placed beside him.

Hausky and Jim arrived at Lorist's side and looked at the distant town before they focused their gazes on the wooden stick.

"Milord, can you really get up the wall using this wooden stick?" Jim asked with a whisper, already unable to restrain his curiosity.

Lorist nodded and said, "I can. You guys should start moving as well after I get up on the walls. Are you all ready?"

Hausky patted on his metal breastplate and said, "Don't worry milord, we won't disappoint you."

"Why can't we act together? Isn't it better that way?" Jim asked.

"The more people at one time, the easier it is for them to discover us. Just wait for me to get up the walls and cause some trouble first. By then, the guards will have their attentions focused on me, which means you guys will have a much better chance getting up there alive instead of being struck down midway."

"Milord, thank you..." Hausky said in a touched voice.

"Hey, why is a big guy like you crying? How shameful..." said Lorist as he laughed.

"It's not shameful at all. Milord, we're willing to do anything for you. Seriously, not only do you not look down on us mercenaries, you've always treated us fairly. If it were the other nobles, they would've asked us to be the first to attack the town and fill the moat while they remain in safety and enjoy the spectacle..."

"To be honest, I've never given it much thought..." said Lorist as he shook his head. "I believe that mercenaries like you are definitely very experienced and far stronger than the soldiers of my newly-formed units. That was why I had planned to use your crew as shock troops to rush into the battlefield and seize a sudden victory by the time my forces are at their limits. I've never expected that the garrison force would be so cunning and cause so many casualties among our men though, so I have no choice but to use you guys right now."

"Milord, we're doing this of our own wills. Not only have you prepared double-layered metal armor for us, you're even going into battle yourself. It's an honor for us mercenaries to go into battle with someone like you..." exclaimed Hausky passionately while Jim nodded nonstop beside him.

"Milord, look at the sky..." Patt reminded.

A large dark cloud gradually moved into place and obscured the light coming from the moon, blanketing the ground below with a veil of near complete darkness.

"Let's get ready, Patt," said Lorist as he grabbed one end of the wooden stick.

"Yes," said Patt as he grabbed the other end of the stick.

By the time the Silvermoon was completely blocked off by the cloud, Lorist and Patt ran forward with one at the front and the other at the back out of the forest. They passed through the plains, crossed the main path and quickly made their way to the bottom of the walls of Wildnorth Town.

Lorist didn't slow down at all and when he saw the wall right in front of his eyes, he suddenly leaped upwards and stepped quickly with his feet firmly planted onto the surface of the wall. Borrowing Patt's forward charge momentum, he held on to the stick tightly as it was gradually pushed vertically upwards and seemed like he was running up the walls in a gravity-defying manner all the way up there.

On the corridor of the wall, a few of the garrison guards were chatting. "The moonlight was just blocked by that huge cloud. Can someone toss a few torches down there to see if there are any movements? We must be careful to not let the enemy get up here..."

"Oh, come on... Their casualties yesterday was so huge that I doubt they'd even dare to mount another surprise attack..."

"I'm just afraid that they don't know when to quit. Come on, don't be so lazy. How much effort does it take to toss a torch down there anyway..."

At that moment, Lorist descended from mid-air and landed on the side of the wall just as he had planned. With a few flashes of his sword, the five garrison soldiers instantly had their throats slit with some of them even wearing expressions of disbelief.

"Enemy attack! An enemy is on the wall!" A loud cracked voice called out loudly and broke the silence of the night.

Torches were rapidly lit within the town and slowly turned it into a shining beacon of light. Children were frightened awake from the commotion and their cries could be heard from afar as the sounds of the gong signalling for the people to gather reverberated around the area before a numerous swords and spears meshed into a chaotic mess of screams and shouts.

"Over there!" Someone quickly saw Lorist standing on the corridor.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Countless arrows flew in the darkness towards Lorist...

After ducking, Lorist moved a couple of steps to his side while laying low onto the floor while the spot where he originally stood become laden with passing arrows. However, the stream of arrows did not last long as right after that, Lorist had already rushed straight towards the attacking garrison soldiers and started slaughtering away.

"Kill!" Four spears lashed out towards Lorist in a fashion similar to that of attacking poisonous snakes.

"Ah..." Two garrison soldiers fell to the ground while holding their injuries while Lorist's sword found its way to the left shoulder of another one and emerged from his right rib. By the time Lorist pulled out his sword, that soldier's innards leaked out from the gaping hole that just created, causing him to cry out in agony before he stopped breathing altogether.

One other soldier was stabbed in the chest by Lorist and writhed in pain on the ground. However, his comrades behind him merely pushed forward and trampled him all over, causing him to promptly lose his life.

Bending backwards all of a sudden, Lorist managed to dodge the four pikes that barely passed by above him.

Clang! With the passing of Lorist's sword, the four pikes broke and the soldiers holding them felt a shudder from their hands. Stunned, they looked at their broken pikes and before they could react, they noticed the silhouette rush towards them followed by a glint from a blade in the corner of their eyes. Everything turned black for the soldiers before they felt a wound open up in their bodies. A stream of intense pain assailed their minds before they all lost consciousness.

"Kill" This time, the attacker was a Silver ranked knight who rushed at Lorist with a bright blade glow radiating from his sword. As Lorist spun around, he thrusted out his longsword into the left eye of the Silver ranked knight.

"Get into the wave charging formation!" shouted a person from not far away.

"That voice is familiar..." mumbled Lorist as he blocked an incoming pike with his sword and slit two garrison soldiers' throats right after.

"Kill..." This time, eight pikes were headed Lorist's way with four coming from above and the other below, not allowing Lorist any way to dodge by jumping or ducking.

However, Lorist merely stepped back and used his right leg to kick a pike on the ground towards the soldiers in front of him. The airborne pike found its way into the chest of one of the soldiers and caused him to drop his pike and fall to the ground as he clutched the one that had just pierced his abdomen tightly while crying out in pain. Lorist moved like an agile fish swimming in the ocean and entered the opening created by the soldier who had dropped his pike...

The remaining seven soldiers all fell onto the ground one by one.

"Attack from his front and back! Pay attention to the distance of the two groups! Get closer..." said that voice again.

"That is Malte's voice... It's that damned squad captain of the Mollin Family..." mused Lorist the moment he recognized who that voice had belonged to. Enraged, he scooped up the pikes on the ground and tossed them in the direction of the voice, causing pained shrieks to surface once again.

"Kill..." This time, another group of garrison soldiers rushed towards Lorist from one direction with another group rushing towards him in the other.

At that moment, a shadow jumped off the walls. Jim's voice rang out. "Milord, we managed to get up..."

Another two silhouettes could be seen getting atop the walls as well.

"You guys take care of that side. Let me handle this spot," instructed Lorist before he sheathed his longsword in the scabbard on his back. Following that, he took one of the pikes on the ground and rushed towards the garrison soldiers in front of him. The distinct sounds of slaughter continued to resound through the night...

"There's people down there! They're coming up!" A panicked garrison soldier said as he noticed the mercenaries who were currently climbing up the walls.

"Don't panic! Throw some oil jars and have the bowmen shoot some fire arrows downwards!" roared Malte once again. "Brothers, this is our home! Our ancestors have toiled for 200 years to build up Wildnorth Town! Our parents, our wives and our children live here! For them, we will fight!"

"Kill!"

"Fight!"

More and more garrison soldiers rushed up the walls...

"Sol, now I'm the bad guy..." Lorist said in a pissed voice as he lashed out without mercy with his pike in quick succession, causing one garrison soldier after another to collapse into the river of blood that was beneath them. But, after one was killed, two more soldiers rushed forward to replace the fallen one. There was no end to their numbers.

An injured garrison soldier slowly crawled his way to Lorist's feet and tightly clasped on Lorist's left leg. Pulling his pike back, Lorist stabbed harshly towards that soldier's head and instantly shattered his skull and spilled his brains. However, the soldier's death grip didn't loosen at all.

"Sol..." Lorist kicked his left leg out twice, but he wasn't able to shake the body off. The rest of the garrison soldiers present no longer cared about escaping alive and only wanted to give Lorist at least one stab before they would die satisfied. Some of the soldiers even held hard onto the pike that Lorist had pierced them with so that their comrades could avenge their deaths. The remaining ones who rushed towards Lorist were all willing to perish alongside him.

Lorist could only drag the body that was caught onto his left leg with him as he retreated. Hausky's voice rang out from behind him, "Milord, we're at our limits..."

Lorist stabbed two garrison soldiers before he took a peek to his back. Surprised, he noticed that that only 4 to 5 of the original 10 plus mercenaries that he thought had come up to the walls remained after only a short time of fighting. Jim was fully drenched in blood and breathing raggedly while Hausky was holding an unconscious bleeding mercenary. In front of him were two other mercenaries who were fending off the attacks of the garrison soldiers.

"What happened to the rest? Why are they not up there?" Lorist asked.

"They couldn't get up. One of the siege ladders had already been set aflame and there are bowmen guarding some other sides of the wall. Anyone we send up die before he reaches the top..." said Jim while breathing harshly.

Just as Lorist was about to say something, he suddenly noticed that the skies were getting brighter. The Silvermoon had once again returned to its full brilliance and shed its light onto the ground below.

Given that he had killed so many garrison soldiers, bodies could be seen scattered all over the ground and the blood that had pooled up submerged part of his feet. The incoming garrison soldiers were also stunned at the number of bodies on the ground. Given that the moonlight had been blocked out just now, most of the soldiers just realized the true terror of the scene before them as well as the fact that many of them had been stepping on the corpses of their comrades.

Lorist stepped hard on the body that was stuck to his leg to break its arm before he finally managed to free himself from its grasp. Looking at the distant archers, Lorist said, "Please hold on for a little more. I will go kill the archers over there so that the people beneath the walls can make their way up here..."

Before he finished saying what he wanted, Lorist felt a chill down his spine as he flattened himself onto the ground to duck. Feeling the three gusts of air whoosh past above him, Lorist heard the delayed echoes of the three bowstrings followed by a loud crash as a crenel on the wall near him got smashed into smithereens, causing the debris of stones and rocks to shower all over him.

"Agh!" The gigantic ballista bolt struck the two mercenaries who were holding up their shields to defend against the garrison troops and sent them falling down from the walls.

Three ballista bolts were fired in total with the first passing by Lorist's head by a hair's breadth, another shattering one of the crenels of the wall, and the last one killing the two mercenaries who were standing behind Lorist. Had Lorist been later in the slightest to duck, he would've been killed as well.

"Kill!" The morale of the garrison troops who were fighting the mercenaries soared as they continued to rush over.

Lorist sprung back up from the ground and brandished his pike as he charged into the midst of battle, resulting in even more terrified moans of pain as the mercenaries gradually fell dead one after another.

After eliminating that group of garrison soldiers, Lorist turned to face the direction where the ballista bolts came from, only to see an 80-meter-tall platform in the middle of the town that wasn't there before. On top of it were the three ballistas as well as tens of other men who were busy loading it.

"You guys, retreat! Fast!" shouted Lorist.

Jim was the first to descend the wall by sliding down the siege ladder, followed by Hausky and the hurt comrade he was carrying.

"Shoot him..." Malte's voice once again rang out.

Whoosh!

With a somersault, Lorist clasped the wooden stick that was laid against the walls with both of his legs and slid downwards with his back to the ground before he let go when he was about 2 meters in the air and landed safely. Patt quickly rushed over and used a large shield to cover Lorist and grabbed the wooden stick with his other hand before he ran. Just after the both of them ran tens of meters from the walls, the shield that Patt held up had already been struck with numerous arrows.

In the end, 13 mercenaries died with 21 others injured from the battle, effectively halving the battle prowess of their crew. Lorist grinded his teeth with rage from his depressing failure to occupy the walls. He didn't even fathom that the town had set up three ballistas on a platform so far away from the walls which posed such a huge threat for him and his forces, allowing the Wildnorth Town garrison to be able to successfully fend off the attackers and successfully defending the town.

After a night of bloodshed, Lorist felt more tired than ever and went to rest right away.

...

During the 7th day of the expedition, Lorist once again attacked the walls on Wildnorth Town. On that day, the fog thick fog in the area managed to reduce the line of sight of the garrison soldiers and provided cover for Lorist and Patt to once again use the wooden stick method to ascend the walls.

This time, Lorist attacked alone with no one else following him apart from Patt who was standing by beneath the walls. Lorist's aim was to rampage and kill as much as he could to terrify the soldiers of the town. He believed that after he did that a couple of more times, their forces would eventually crumble and weaken and allow all his forces to easily take over the town later.

After massacring away on the walls, Lorist was once again forced to escape after the ballistas were loaded. However, he wasn't disappointed with the results as he had managed to kill up to 200 soldiers on that run while he remained completely uninjured. After a few more runs, victory will be ours.

However, something had happened up on the walls at that time which Lorist didn't pay too much heed to. An old white-haired man leaped towards Lorist barehanded and screamed for him to pay for the death of his son. Lorist didn't kill him because he couldn't bear to. The old man had coincidentally been on his way to bring some food for his precious son who was on duty, just in time with Lorist's assault. In the end, the son of that man died from fulfilling his duty, causing the old man to enter a maddened frenzy and lashing out at Lorist with everything he had in his disposal including his teeth. Lorist had no choice but to knock him unconscious.

...

On the 9th day of the expedition, Lorist once again attacked the walls. But what surprised Patt was that Lorist had went down from the walls the moment he reached the top. Enraged, Lorist cursed at how shameless the people of Wildnorth Town were for letting the defenseless old people, womenfolk and children offer their lives on the wall.

Before Patt could react to what Lorist just said, he noticed many white-haired old people, women and children looking downwards from the edge of the walls while cursing out harshly at Lorist and shouting for him to pay for the lives of their family members that he had taken.

Lorist could only escape without any results along with Patt.

Perplexed, Patt asked, "Milord, these are all family members of traitors. Why didn't you just kill them off?"

"Sol, if it were you, could you do it?" Lorist said as he looked at Patt. "Why don't I send you up there then to kill them off in my place? We are warriors, not murderers or executioners. Warriors are all prepared for the possibility of death the moment they step onto the battlefield. However, if I were to kill these defenseless people, I would definitely find it hard to sleep when the night comes. Even if they are family members of traitors, we must also have a line we must not cross. They are people after all, not livestock!"

"Then, how would we attack the walls again?"

"Let's go back first. There must be a way if we think hard enough."

Chapter 123 Urgent Reinforcement Request Prev ChapterNext Chapter

"They rushed right at me barehanded. All of them were old men and women. There were even a couple of mothers with tens of children under ten years old and all of them were clamoring for me to return their sons, husbands, grandsons and fathers. I really couldn't bear to kill them and could only return without doing anything..." said Lorist when he returned to the tent and explained his early departure.

Everyone looked at each other with confused gazes, not knowing what to make of the situation.

"That's far too shameless of them, milord. In the 30 years I've been a mercenary, I've experienced more than 100 siege battles but I've never heard of anything as atrocious as that. This..." said Hausky as he didn't know how to continue the conversation. He was currently wrapped up in many bandages; the injuries were the ones he sustained during that night when they had to retreat from the walls. At that time, the injured comrade he was carrying got showered with arrows and died while Hausky himself got hit by a couple as well. Had it not been for the fact that the metal armor he was wearing stopped the arrows from penetrating too deeply, he might've been beyond saving.

"The family leaders of the four great families of Wildnorth Town are all cunning old bastards. I suspect that they came up with this method after that one time when I didn't kill the old guy on the walls. The most laughable part is that they treat Wildnorth Town as their own territory and label us as the horrible invaders. That was why the civilians were so willing to give their own lives up to protect their town. Even those old people were willing to die if it meant they could take me with them..." said Lorist as he sighed.

"That's not right, milord. Didn't you say that they were unarmed? How did they plan to die with you?" Patt asked.

Lorist pointed to Patt and said, "Are you really asking that or are you playing dumb? Those old people wanted to hold tight onto me and stop me from moving or dodging so that the three ballistas can fire and obliterate me along with them. The moment I saw the ballistas aimed in my general direction and the old people who were scrambling to hold me down, I understood their ploy. That was why I got down so quickly."

"Milord, even though the defenseless citizens of Wildnorth Town are the family members of traitors and deserve nothing less than death, and that their relatives soldiers died because they resisted us directly, I think that what you did was right. If it were me, I would also be unable to lash out at those defenseless people," Pajik said.

"Then, how would we be able to continue the siege? Should we close one eye just because the scum family leaders are using the elderly, women and children as their shields?" said Paulobins in annoyance. Even though he was merely a squad captain, he was currently serving as a temporary company captain and he had hoped that he would be able to get Lorist's recognition by raking in some achievements during this expedition and be promoted to become a family knight.

"On my way back, I thought of a method we can use. From today onwards, every two hours. I'll go take a stroll on the walls of the town and unsettle the soldiers of the garrison force as well as the civilians up there. You guys can also bring a squad of family soldiers nearby during the night to make some noise. Stand beneath their walls and strike at your drums while screaming that you're going to attack the town or something so that the people up on the walls won't be able to get a good night's sleep. I am pretty sure that within two days, when I get up on the walls again, those civilians will definitely be so soundly asleep that even if you play a drum beside their ears, they wouldn't wake up," Lorist said.

"Haha, I knew that milord will have a way. That method sounds rather good. I will be the first to harass them tonight," said Jim excitedly. He had been pretty lucky during the night of the retreat. After he slid down from the siege ladder, he ran like an agile rabbit and didn't incur any injuries much to the surprise of others.

"Milord, must we attack only from the front wall? Right now, the forces of their garrison are mostly concentrated there. If we attack from the back wall without warning, then surely they would struggle to respond and send reinforcements there in time..." The one who said that was Reidy and he suggested for the location of the attack points to be switched.

Patt smiled happily and said, "Reidy, you little idiot... If we change the point of attack, wouldn't we have to fill up the moat like before? By then, the soldiers of the town would definitely know that we are going to attack from there. When we finish our preparations, they will already be ready to receive us. That's why changing a location is quite a futile exercise..."

"Why do we need to fill out the moat?" said Reidy in a dissatisfied tone.

"How would you be able to cross it if we don't? It is 3 meters wide you know. Can you jump over there in one go?" Patt was thinking to himself of how stupid Reidy had sounded.

"Can't we just lay a few wooden boards on the moat when we attack? That way we can easily cross it," Reidy said.

Stunned, Patt mumbled, "This... um..."

Nobody present had a clue that there would be an easier way to overcome the moat and were all stunned by Reidy's suggestion.

Lorist clapped his hands and said, "That's right. Reidy, good job coming up with this idea. This way, we will definitely be able to catch them off-guard. And given how their ballistas are positioned to face the front wall, it would definitely take them some time to reorient it. Alright, the next time we launch an attack, we'll mobilize all our troops and finish this in one go."

"Then, do we still have to harass them during the night?" Jim asked.

"Of course we have to. We need to let them think that we're still going to attack from the front so that they will focus their attention and distribution of their forces there. For these two days, we'll bother them nonstop to tire them out and secretly move our forces to the other side. We'll also send a squad to frighten them from the front wall so that they will congregate their forces there in preparation to receive the 'attack' while we launch the true assault from the back wall. I will be the first to go up and kill off the remaining troops who stay behind at the back wall and subsequently destroy the three ballistas on the platform. The key focus of this plan is speed. By the time they get an understanding of the situation, we should already have victory within our grasps."

Lorist effectively combined his and Reidy's plans into a cohesive whole that would be perfect for conquering Wildnorth Town's walls and was met with the unanimous applause from everyone within the tent. Within another two days, the town would be conquered.

...

On the 12th day of the expedition, the dinner served was more plentiful than usual. Everyone knew that they were going to have a sleepless night that would determine whether they would triumph over Wildnorth Town.

During the past two days, the soldiers of Wildnorth Town had already been tired out severely. Not only were they unable to rest well during the night, they had to deal with Lorist's surprise visits during the day as well. Lorist would occasionally use the same wooden stick method to scale the walls and kill a number of soldiers and escape before the civilians made their way to him, causing the garrison soldiers to be unable to anything about it. They have already seen Lorist's abilities for themselves and understood that there was no way to force this new dominion lord of theirs to leave their walls apart from using human wave tactics after some of them witnessed a few of their Silver ranked fighters getting killed within one exchange with Lorist who seemed so relaxed as if he were merely slaughtering chickens.

Had they not discovered that Lorist wouldn't harm their elderly, womenfolk and children and used them to hold Lorist back, the garrison troops' morale would have crumbled and they might have surrendered after Lorist's continued solo rampages. Nowadays, the four great families of Wildnorth Town could only use the propaganda of protecting their homeland and relatives to motivate their troops. On one hand, they fanned the flames among the civilians to invite them to avenge their loved ones who had died from Lorist's hands. On the other hand, they were hoping that Duke Loggins's forces would arrive as soon as possible to reinforce them.

Even though they understood that the enemy was harassing them on purpose, the garrison force couldn't afford to slacken their defense just in case the attack was real. After only two days, the garrison soldiers were mostly tired out. A few of the leaders noticed that it wasn't faring well and wanted to have a part of the troops take tests rests in shifts, but they were worried that they wouldn't have enough forces to push Lorist back when he attacked again and had no choice but to continue as they had. L

...

Pajik, Paulobins, the both of you will lead squads to the hill near the town's back wall by circling from behind our camp. Make sure to reach there by ten o'clock at night and ensure that the troops are disciplined and quiet at all times so that the soldiers of the town don't discover us, understand?" said Lorist as he finalized the plan.

"Yes, milord. We understand."

"Jim, are you clear on your role?"

"I am, milord. I will bring the mercenaries to hide the wooden boards and siege ladder in the nearby forest and set it up after you get up the wall so that Pajik and the rest can lead their forces to ascend the wall," Jim replied.

"Reidy, you will be in charge of leading the lightly injured troops to carry out the usual harassment."

"Yes, milord."

"Shadekampf, please watch the main camp. Hausky, tonight's camp patrols will be up to you. Be alert, I'm worried that the people of Wildnorth Town will be forced to desperation and take the initiative to attack us instead."

"Don't worry, milord. Even though I'm all bandaged up, my movements are not affected in the least. I will definitely not spare a single one of them if they come," replied Hausky.

"Good. Tonight, we occupy Wildnorth Town. We..." Before Lorist finished what he had to say, sounds of a horse galloping towards the camp could be heard. The rider stopped his horse and the mount neighed in response.

A guard rushed into the tent all covered up in dust while breathing raggedly. Before he recovered his breath, he saluted and reported, "Re-reporting to milord... Ken-Kenmays Family's 2000 plus force has arrived at the Firmrock Castle today and started their assault. Our forces have sustained huge casualties defending it and Sir Ovidis has asked me to request for reinforcements."

The people in the tent instantly broke into a chatter. Everyone knew that Firmrock Castle was the most important citadel that sealed off the Norton Family dominion from the rest of the Northlands. That is also where Lorist intended to build the main city of the dominion in the future.

Lorist recognized the guard who had came to make the report as he had seen him hanging around Ovidis a number of times and was confident he wasn't an impostor to deliver a false report. "Calm down and speak slowly. Did Ovidis only send you alone?" asked Lorist as he passed a cup over.

The guard received the cup gratefully and drank huge gulps of water before he rubbed his mouth dry and said, "Yes, we are far too short on people. The enemy has launched two attacks that we successfully fended off. About a squad of people were injured or killed in the process and Sir Ovidis could only send me to come as we were too short on men. When I arrived at Maplewoods Bastide, they said that you were still here so I rushed over immediately."

"What's going on? Firmrock Castle should be quite well fortified. Why are the casualties so high? How is Ovidis commanding his troops?" Lorist was very troubled as he thought, don't tell me Ovidis went outside the castle to receive their attack in an open field battle? That can't be, he's not that stupid...

"No, milord. The Kenmays Family forces have two squads of properly trained longbowmen. The 200 or so bows are really too fearsome and they can shoot much further than the ballistas of the castle. We couldn't defend the outer wall at all and most of the casualties came from their longbowmen units. However, not everything is going well for the enemy either as they have failed twice in their attempts to take the inner wall due to the ballistas we have hidden within the turrets on that wall. It is estimated that their casualties are at least double of ours," said the guard, finally reporting a piece of good news.

"Sol!" Lorist smashed his fist onto the table and flipped the cup over. What horrible timing! If the Kenmays didn't attack now, I would've been able to conquer Wildnorth Town! What should I do now?

Lorist paced around within the tent as the rest stared at him and awaited his decision. Even though the occupation of Wildnorth Town was within sight, the urgent call for reinforcements from the messenger had worried all of them.

"I have decided..." said Lorist after he finally made his choice, "...to call off tonight's operation and recall all troops to the Maplewoods Bastide. Paulobins, when we return to the bastide, pick a company of the family troops for deployment. Shadekampf, have Supervisor Spiel ready some carriages when we get back for the troops Paulobins pick to use to travel to Firmrock Castle, alright?"

"Yes, milord."

"Understood, milord."

"Pajik, let the injured soldiers rest when we arrive at the bastide and increase the training of the remaining ones. I will leave the defense of the bastide to you."

"Please be assured that the bastide will be fine with me there," promised Pajik.

"Reidy, pay a visit to the military base and ask Supervisor Kedan to move the laborers back to the Maplewoods Bastide so that they won't get attacked by the forces of Wildnorth Town."

"Yes, milord." Reidy's shoulder was still bandaged. That was the wound he had incurred when he saved a number of family soldiers during the first attempt to take the town.

"Hausky, Jim, I want to give you and your mercenaries a task."

"Milord, please instruct us," said Hausky.

"Go back to Maplewoods Bastide ahead of us and make sure to have someone pay attention to the movements of the Wildnorth Town garrison. If you are confident that you can eliminate the scouts of the town, please do so as often as possible so that the town will be blind to the affairs outside. The reward is similar with the one for the mountain barbarians. Do you think you can do it?"

"Milord, we will definitely give it our best."

"Milord, are we going to leave Wildnorth Town just like that?" Jim asked while seeming a little reluctant.

"Wildnorth Town will remain here and it's not like it will suddenly grow legs and run away, right? When we fend off the troops of the Kenmays Family, we will come back to get rid of them once and for all," Lorist said. "Patt, make your preparations. We will depart straight for Firmrock Castle."

"Milord, can I follow you as well?" Jim asked in a worried tone.

Lorist smiled and said, "Naturally. Jim, do come along with us."