novelraw Chapter 54 – The Elegy Named Guardian
Chapter 54 – The Elegy Named Guardian
The purplish-red beams of the magic cannons began to wildly shoot around Buton City, and the soldiers, caught up in the excitement, almost hit Sylvie on the opposite city wall.
Under the hazy night, chaos erupted throughout Buton City.
At this moment, the remaining defensive forces in Buton City began to consciously organize their troops in an attempt to reclaim the city walls.
However, leaderless, they were like a scattered sand, and their attempts were repeatedly repelled by the militia under Sylvie's command.
These newly recruited militia, after overcoming their initial fear, erupted with high morale under the leadership of their lord and the powerful Bloodhoof Clan warriors.
They only needed to follow orders, act with discipline, and they could effectively repel the scattered counterattacks from Buton City.
"Alright, stop playing around. Leave some men to guard one side of the wall, and destroy all the magic cannons on the other walls. The rest of you, come with me to raid Homan Keep."
With Sylvie's command, everyone sprang into action.
At this moment, a Bloodhoof Clan warrior carrying a magic cannon walked over.
It was Carl Bloodhoof, who had fallen in love with the magic cannons at first sight, followed by several militia carrying magic crystal boxes.
"My Lord, these magic cannons are valuable. It would be a shame to destroy them..."
Sylvie glanced at Carl Bloodhoof in surprise.
The magic cannons were not light, as they were meant for defending the city and were difficult to transport to the battlefield. Yet Carl Bloodhoof carried one on his shoulder with apparent ease.
Sylvie said, somewhat speechlessly, "Our remaining forces are struggling to guard the four walls, and these magic cannons are too heavy and cumbersome to carry. It's better to destroy them."
Carl Bloodhoof, with his big bull eyes, suggested in a deep voice, "My Lord, we could have each member of the Bloodhoof Clan carry one..."
"Shut up, Carl. Do you think everyone is born with your brute strength?"
Before Carl Bloodhoof could finish, a Minotaur Warrior behind him interrupted, and other Minotaurs chimed in:
"Exactly, the Bloodhoof Clan should wield giant axes and crush the enemy's skulls on the front lines, not hide behind with these magical devices!"
"Carl, you're a disgrace to the Minotaur Warriors of the Bloodhoof Clan!"
Hearing this, Carl Bloodhoof was so angry that his bull nose twisted, and he shouted indignantly, "You stubborn bulls, magic cannons can play a greater role on the battlefield!"
Neither side would concede, and finally, under Sylvie's mediation, Carl Bloodhoof carried one magic cannon himself, while two other Minotaurs carried another, taking a total of five magic cannons. The rest were ordered to be destroyed.
Just then, Sylvie received a sudden update from the system with a villain quest:
"Ding! Daily Villain Quest has been refreshed.
Villain Quest 1: Seize the iron ore that rightfully belongs to the Buton Family.
Villain Quest 2: Raid Homan Castle.
Villain Quest 3: In the upcoming battle, kill all Earth Knights and send their heads to Earl Amper.
Completing all tasks may trigger a critical reward. Keep up the good work, Host!"
Sylvie pondered over the system quests. The system had now shed its low-level interests and was decidedly leading him down the path of a rampant bandit.
...
Inside Homan Keep, a brutal looting incident was taking place.
"Take only the valuables!"
"Anything inconvenient to carry, like oil paintings and silks, burn them all!"
"Why are you taking plates? They're worthless, smash them!"
...
The servants and butlers of the Buton Family huddled together in a corner, trembling like a flock of quails. Anyone who dared to resist lay in a pool of blood.
Around them were the hurried shouts of Eaglehold soldiers, the sound of footsteps, and the crash of various objects.
Moments later, the once luxurious and wealthy Homan Keep was emptied by this band of soldiers, who left as quickly as they came.
The butlers and servants, terrified, crawled up from the ground, only to see devastation all around.
The exquisite glass and porcelain plates were shattered everywhere, the grand oil paintings on the walls were torn to shreds, and the castle was filled with smoke from burning furniture.
"Quick, put out the fire!"
It was unclear which butler reacted first, but his urgent shout snapped the others out of their daze.
Outside Buton City, all the loot from Homan Keep had been loaded onto carts. Sylvie had no time to inventory it, but conservatively estimated that the wealth plundered from this old family was five to six times that of Blackriver Keep.
This didn't even include the five magic cannons.
These treasures would be escorted back to Winterfell City by a Minotaur Warrior leading five hundred soldiers.
Meanwhile, Sylvie, along with the Bloodhoof Clan warriors, hurried to the main battlefield at the iron ore area.
The Viscount of Buton, being naturally suspicious, would launch an attack as soon as he suspected Eaglehold's army of stalling. By now, the battle had likely been underway for some time.
However, the situation on the main battlefield was even more dire than Sylvie had imagined.
The battle had been raging for an hour.
The Viscount of Buton had launched a fierce assault as soon as he approached Eaglehold's army.
After a brief engagement, he quickly assessed the strength of Winterfell City's forces. Now, he wasn't just aiming to take the iron ore; he wanted to attack Eaglehold as well!
On the battlefield near the iron ore area, even though Winterfell City had more ordinary knights, they were gradually struggling under the siege of nearly thirty Grand Knights from the Buton Family.
In one corner of the battlefield, within Winterfell City's formation, two ordinary knights were fighting a Grand Knight from the Buton Family.
Although they had successfully exhausted the Grand Knight's Battle Aura through coordinated efforts, their own Battle Aura was also depleted.
Now it was down to a contest of physical strength, but together they were still no match for the Grand Knight.
They had been knocked to the ground, and the Grand Knight was approaching with a sinister smile, sword in hand.
Just when they thought they were doomed, several militia from Winterfell City suddenly rushed forward to attack the Grand Knight.
Fearlessly, they used their bodies to block the Grand Knight's path. Some were quickly killed, but others took their place.
The Grand Knight swung his sword, his face dark and annoyed.
His frustration led to a momentary lapse, and a militia member managed to grab his sword arm. More militia seized the opportunity to swarm him, bringing him to the ground.
But a Grand Knight is still a Grand Knight; even in such a predicament, his entire body could be used as a weapon.
He headbutted, kneed, and elbowed, causing two or three militia to cough up blood and collapse to the side.
"Knight, kill him quickly, we can't hold him much longer!"
"Hurry!"
A militia member turned his head and shouted hoarsely.
Seeing the opportunity, the two knights struggled to their feet and picked up their longswords.
Supporting each other, they staggered to the pile of bodies, the scene before them shaking their very souls.
The Grand Knight from the Buton Family was struggling, his eyes bloodshot and breathing heavily, letting out angry, unwilling roars.
But his body was pinned down by several militia.
Some militia were already bleeding from their orifices, on the verge of death.
Others had twisted, bloodied faces.
They had no spare hands to wield weapons, resorting to biting the Grand Knight's face, using all their strength to hold his arms, and shouting as they tangled with him on the ground.
Corpses lay scattered around, all belonging to these militia.
The two knights from Winterfell City couldn't afford to be shocked by the scene before them.
They raised their longswords to stab the Grand Knight, only to find no place to strike—his body was almost entirely covered by the militia.
The knights had to move to the other side, and under the Grand Knight's terrified gaze, they drove a sword into his eye socket, twisting it until the brain tissue was destroyed, silencing him instantly.
The militia finally breathed a sigh of relief, rolling off the Grand Knight's body and lying on the ground, gasping for air.
The two knights looked at the militia on the ground with complex expressions and asked hoarsely, "...Why did you..."
One of the militia, catching his breath, raised his head and smiled, saying:
"We're just a bunch of farmers, but the knights are an important force under My Lord."
"My Lord took pity on us and reduced our taxes. We have nothing to repay him with, so we use our humble lives to ensure the knights survive."
"Knight, please protect Winterfell City! Protect My Lord!"
...
Similar scenes were not only happening here but also across the battlefield.
The militia and sword and shield soldiers from Winterfell City fearlessly protected their knights, causing great trouble for the knights of Buton Territory, whose militia wouldn't even protect them, let alone flee the battlefield.
In the chaos of the battlefield, old beliefs began to quietly change, and as the darkness faded, the stars shone brightly.
The newly born spirit of the army shone ever brighter, forged in the crucible of flesh and fire.