Chapter 365: Attack on Mane City

This chapter is an extra update thanks to the patron "Suffering for Redemption" with a gift of 40,000 coins. There are three more chapters to follow.

In this bizarre world, knights aren't restricted to riding just horses. Especially after becoming a sky knight, horses are no longer enough to hold them back.

As a result, all sorts of magical beasts catch the eye of sky knights.

Magical beasts are smarter than ordinary animals and can be tamed if they recognize a stronger master. When the count arrived at Coral Island, he set his sights on the Giant Savage Bear, an intermediate-level magical beast that lived on the island, hoping to tame it as his mount. Of course, the final result was a failure.

Instead of becoming a mount, the Giant Savage Bear ended up as a chair.

Since then, the count had been in pursuit of a magical beast mount, but none of the creatures he encountered were suitable. Thus, he remained a sky knight without a magical beast mount.

His son, Liszt, meanwhile, had acquired magical beast mounts from a young age. Not just one, but nine intermediate-level creatures. Outsiders didn't know that eight of them were intermediate magical beasts. Although Liszt renamed them Blizzard Beasts, most people still thought Hiddleston was the only unique intermediate-level creature.

The other eight were merely low-level magical beasts mixed with some intermediate-level bloodlines.

After all, they didn't have the hint from a smoke mission.

The sky knight delivering the message dismounted from the massive gray owl, his silver mithril armor displaying his rank within the Mho Owl Knights. The gray owl is a flying magical beast domesticated by the Sapphire Family. The Grand Duke selects elite knights from the Blueblood Alliance, grants them gray owl mounts, and forms them into a knight corps. Theoretically, this knight corps is more elite and powerful than the Blueblood Knights, but due to the limited number of members, it has never been fully staffed. At its peak, it only had over forty members.

Currently, the Mho Owl Knights have only twenty-five members.

"The visitor is Boateng Pansy, father of Boski Pansy and the Count of Seven-Colored City. He is the captain of the Gray Owl Squadron, one of the only two squadrons in the Mho Owl Knights," Levis stood beside Liszt and quietly introduced him.

The twenty-five members of the Mho Owl Knights, excluding the captain, are exactly organized into two squadrons, one named the Gray Owl Squadron and the other the Mho Owl Squadron.

The news brought by Boaten forced Marquis Glinderton to make a decision: "Marquis Wallace, I hope you will lead your knights to support the Second Prince in Horn City!"

Marquis Wallace said, "Then I'll leave the situation in Niu Jiao City in your hands."

"Don't worry, since Andy's directly subordinate knights have already headed to Horn City, we will swiftly take over the Niu Jiao City region! The Duke's wrath will not hesitate due to a single counterattack!" Marquis Glinderton's furrow deepened further, "My lords, look at this map, each of you choose a direction and complete the sweep!"

The massive map was unfurled.

It was somewhat abstract but precise down to the towns under each city.

Li Levis and others could only observe the decision-making. Soon, Earl William chose a large city as his main target—Niu Mao City.

Niu Mao City was the fief of Count Snide of Parsley Castle.

Back at the camp.

Earl William immediately held an internal meeting: "Snide only has three small cities besides Niu Mao City, and his strength is just that of an ordinary sky knight. I will lead the Red Knights to contain Snide and the knights of Parsley Castle. You quickly finish the sweep of the three small cities and join me in surrounding and attacking Parsley Castle."

After a moment of thought.

He made further arrangements: "Eunas, go to River Town, Trick, go to Greenwood City, Li Levis, go to Mane City, and Li Vois will provide roaming support... If there are no issues, get your gear ready now. Once I and the other earls gather intelligence on the rebel defenses and confirm the attack schedule, we will advance directly on Niu Mao City!"

……

Not much tactical arrangement was needed.

Battles in this world were decided by knights' charges, with at most some ambushes and counter-ambushes. So gathering information was very straightforward, and without much waiting, the war was set in motion. Following the agreed-upon strategy, Li Levis led the Black Knights, accompanying the Earl to Niu Mao City.

As they reached the border of the fief, the Earl rode his horse to Li Levis's side and first instructed Leiden, "Keep Li Levis safe!"

Leighton solemnly replied, "I am willing to use my body as a shield for Baron Liszt, my lord!"

The Earl nodded in response, then looked at Liszt with a complex expression, a mixture of worry and relief, and finally said calmly, "When fighting alone, be cautious."

Liszt calmly took a breath, "Victory is just ahead!"

Without any more emotional words, the Earl waved his hand grandly, and the five knight orders dispersed immediately. Liszt lightly kicked the belly of his horse, and the Black Dragon shot forward like an arrow, leading the Black Knights towards Mane City.

More than 140 Earth Knights and over 30 squire knights, a total of 180 horses, trampled the earth under the scorching sun.

The knights, armor, and horse armor combined weighed as much as a tank.

The dust kicked up into a haze that lingered for a long time.

"The terrain of Mane City is quite open, and there is no viscount lord, so the difficulty of the sweep is not great. We will start the sweep from Hay Town and push through to occupy Mane City. We'll eliminate all the knights and eventually take over the entire city, meeting up with the Earl at Parsley Castle."

Leading the Black Knights forward, Liszt discusses strategies with Leighton, Copper, Nash, and Marcus during water breaks.

"The knights of the town probably heard the news and have already retreated to Mane City for defense."

"All the better, we'll take care of them in Mane City!" Liszt galloped on, his excitement about the upcoming battle hidden, replaced by calmness.

The entire Niu Mao City and its three smaller surrounding cities had only one ordinary sky knight, Snide. Once this sky knight was targeted by Lee William, Niu Mao City had no knights who could stand against Hiddleston. Even if Snide tried to lure Liszt into a trap, Pariss and Hiddleston would work together to stop him.

So, he was fundamentally unafraid.

Of course, caution was essential. As they rode, he would occasionally take out a telescope to carefully observe the surroundings.

The route was chosen to avoid wooded areas as much as possible, sticking to open ground.

The charging knights could reach speeds of 40 kilometers per hour.

The army set out in the morning, split up at noon, and by just before 4 PM, the Black Knights had reached their designated target, Hay Town.

Seeing a group of strange knights charging towards the town, the serfs in the town panicked, dropping their hoes and bone hoes, hiding in dilapidated thatched cottages, not daring to show their heads.

Liszt ordered, "Marcus, take a team to scout the local officials in the town and gather information."

Marcus left to fulfill the order and returned in less than ten minutes.

"My lord, it's clear. Hay Town has no noble lord. The closest noble fief is ten kilometers away, in Boar Town, which is the fief of a baron."

"Ten kilometers, about 15 minutes away, let's go to Boar Town!"

The Black Knights did not stop, continuing on to the next town. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived in Boar Town. However, under the glow of the setting sun, the town was very quiet; they met no resistance. After questioning a few townspeople, it became clear.

Ten days ago, the baron of Boar Town had already packed up and fled his dilapidated little castle, leaving not even a single servant behind.

Not even a scrap of food.