Supported by the long-range cover of the mangonels, Paladin Alicia’s maiden knight regiment led the charge from the vanguard. Relying on their powerful defenses, in the midst of the arrows falling from the sky, they successfully reached the vicinity of Ferro’s city gate.
When they closed on the city gate, Miss Jenny’s assassin unit, the scout troops that had hid among the vanguard knight regiment, appeared from their stealth states. These shadowy figures uniformly threw prepared explosive chemicals at Ferro’s city gate. This batch of explosives had been urgently compounded by Alchemist Rebecca, the Second Miss of Earl Harrison’s family. Although their power was not great, they were more than enough to blow up that roughly-made structure. Baron Haydn had chosen the cheapest materials to build this city gate to save more funds for himself by cutting costs. If it were not for her worrying about the knight regiment falling into a trap behind the city gate, Jenny wouldn’t have wasted their explosive chemicals.
However, the facts proved Jenny’s worry unnecessary. There was nothing waiting for them. Baron Haydn had never thought of them even from the very beginning. He had never thought that the town he had been stationed in would be attacked so quickly. Along with a loud explosion, Ferro’s city gate was blasted open, and a contingent of Steinbeck Fief’s soldiers followed the maiden knight regiment. After the city gate was destroyed, the war situation had already turned irreversible; there were no other defensive fortifications inside the town. Even if Baron Haydn wished to organize a resistance, it would do little in this hopeless situation.
“Viscount Aaron still hasn’t arrived. Damn it! Since we can’t hold this town, burn the entire city! Don’t leave behind a single house. Since we can’t have it, don’t even think about letting other people have it.”
“Your Excellency Baron Haydn, there are still some residents in the town…”
“What about those residents? In any case, they aren’t residents of my fief. Even if they were, at this time, they should be utterly loyal to their Suzerain.”
Baron Haydn stood on the city wall but quite far away from the city gate. After seeing the opponent break through the city gate, Baron Haydn realized that the situation was hopeless. Therefore, he gave orders to stall as much as possible while burning the residential areas without any hesitation. He wanted to use the entire town as a flame barrier to temporarily stop Steinbeck Fief’s army.
“Your Excellency Baron Haydn, our escape route has not been besieged. We should abandon the town and seek shelter at Joyce Fortress with Viscount Aaron!”
“No, Viscount Aaron is too inflexible. Since he didn’t come help us, going to his territory would be useless. We must detour around Joyce Fortress and go to Tonist. Earl Royle who is stationed there has a good friendship with my old man. We will have more chances to enjoy ourselves there.”
“Your Excellency Baron Haydn is wise. We’ll prepare immediately!”
Baron Haydn stationed in Ferro didn’t have the demeanor of a commander. After the city gate was breached, the first thing he thought of was not how to resist but rather how to best abandon the town and take refuge. He along with a few hundred trusted aides abandoned over 5,000 brave soldiers. With their commander fleeing on the eve of battle, the morale of the defending troops plummeted. Then, like their commander, the defending troops were quickly routed after some symbolic resistance. Thus, Steinbeck Fief captured Ferro with minimal casualties. As for the defenders, they lost over 2,000 people. The remaining 3,000 or so gave up and ran towards Joyce Fortress where Viscount Aaron was stationed.
Among those 2,000 casualties, only a few had truly been killed in battle. The boulders thrown by the giant mangonels had slaughtered most of them while they had fled. After the army of Steinbeck Fief rushed into the city, they took over a burning, ruined town. The withdrawing defending troops had razed and salted the earth behind them, forcing the residents to flee and leaving behind an empty husk.
When Paladin Alicia had broken through the city gate, she had spotted Baron Haydn’s fleeing shadow. Seeing the miserable sight of the burning town, Princess Alicia felt a flash of rage. Her paladin’s sense of honor made her unable to accept Baron Haydn’s cowardice. Before, when the monster army had used the giant mangonels to provide long-range support, they had only targeted a few important strongholds without attacking the residential areas. Nevertheless, in the end, the residential areas were still destroyed due to the human defenders. Even compared to the monster army, they were too excessive.
“Baron Haydn simply is… prepare to pursue them! We must not let that arsonist go! Eh, Jenny, you are…”
“Alicia, calm down. You don’t need to pursue that playboy. Let him go; that’s Lord Clyde’s younger sister, Miss Lucifer’s intentions.”
“Why should we let that bastard escape! This is too…”
“Alicia, this is part of our strategy. Baron Haydn has powerful connections. Even though he was defeated, he still wouldn’t be executed under military rule. Perhaps, he would be assigned a new important task. It is best to let a mediocre person on the other side live. If by chance, after Baron Haydn were killed, a decent aristocrat replaced him, it would be more troublesome for us.”
Under Jenny’s persuasion, Paladin Alicia finally gave up her vengeful plan. In addition, only then did she realize that everything had occurred according to Lucifer’s will. Ferro had not been surrounded so that the defenders would have a path to flee. With a route of retreat, the defending troops were very unlikely to fight to their deaths, and their fighting spirits would be reduced.
On the sole path connecting Joyce Fortress and Ferro, Viscount Aaron set out with over 10,000 troops. However, just as he stepped out of the boundaries of Joyce Fortress to assist Baron Haydn, several mysterious black-robed people blocked his path.
“Who are you people? Don’t block my path! Delaying an army is a big crime! Eh… this is…”
“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, please speak more politely! We are the special envoys of Marquis Charles!”
Those mysterious black-robed people took out personally written orders by Marquis Charles. As a person in Marquis Charles’s personal clique, Viscount Aaron recognized the authenticity of these documents at a glance. They had truly been written by Marquis Charles’s hand. However, Viscount Aaron was somewhat confused. Although he was not a magician, as an aristocrat with a veteran soldier’s background, he could discern these people’s professions. These mysterious black-robed people resembled Dark Shamans. Since when had Marquis Charles got along with Dark Shamans? Even as a direct subordinate, Viscount Aaron had never known this until now.
“So it turns out that you all are the special envoys of His Excellency Marquis Charles. Right now, I am a little busy with some military affairs. I must trouble you special envoys to…”
“There’s no need to save Ferro. Immediately withdraw to Joyce Fortress and defend it to your deaths. These are Marquis Charles’s orders.”
“But, Ferro is the gateway to the Needham Plains, abandoning…”
“Your Excellency, Viscount Aaron, I hope you understand your position. We don’t want to repeat the instructions a second time; otherwise, we’ll need a new commander for this place.”
Viscount Aaron had nothing to say. He was unable to make sense of why Marquis Charles had given his personally written orders to these Dark Shamans. From a glance, these Dark Shamans had never been on a battlefield and were trash that only understood military tactics on paper. However, considering the other party carried personally written orders from Marquis Charles, he couldn’t raise an objection and was forced to swallow the insult and withdraw in accordance with the commands of these arrogant Dark Shamans. After returning to Joyce Fortress, his final chance to recapture Ferro disappeared.
Other than Baron Haydn and the several hundred subordinates with him who successfully escaped due to Lucifer’s intentional arrangements, the entirety of Ferro’s military presence was wiped out. Over 3,000 soldiers died on the way to Joyce Fortress. The Bloodkin familiae hiding in the black mist ambushed and killed them all.
On the sole path leading to Joyce Fortress, Clyde’s younger sister, that bloodkin Lolita Lucifer sat on a bright red throne of blood, closely observing the battlefield. Dried human corpses released a ghastly odor. Without exception, all the defending troops had been sucked dry by the bloodkin familiae. These defending troops were very unlucky. If they had stayed behind in Ferro and surrendered to Steinbeck Fief’s army, they would at least have had a way out. However, since they had chosen to flee, they had lost any path to life. Beside the corpses of the human soldiers, traces of blood bats and wolves could be found. Blood had dyed the ground red, but under the cover of the black mist, the sunlight couldn’t illuminate these evils.
Nevertheless, a small number of female soldiers had survived because of their gender. They weren’t immediately sucked dry by those Bloodkin familiae but rather stripped and trussed up with red ropes using the tortoise-shell binding method. Then, they were escorted before Lucifer as tribute. The complexions of these several white lambs were bright red. Without a single bit of protective cloth, they were forced to kneel in front of a Bloodkin Lolita with their hands tied behind their backs. In addition, their were also gagged with a rod-style wicked erotic item.
“You all don’t need to worry; I’m very gentle with delicious food. I won’t crudely suck you all dry. I’ll raise you all properly and enjoy you every day! Oh, this truly sounds delicious!”
Lucifer unintentionally revealed an evil smile. Then, this Lolita wearing her black gothic Loli dress leisurely descended from her throne of blood and arrived in front of the higher-ranked female soldiers. The attractiveness indexes of these female captains weren’t high. They couldn’t be regarded as beauties and were just average, nothing more. However, it was hard for common beauties to possess the heroic and valiant bearings of soldiers, which easily stimulated the opponent’s dark desire to conquer them.
Lucifer kissed the soft and fair neck of the white lamb nearest to her. Using her tongue to taste her new prey, her sharp fangs gently pierced the lamb’s skin. That offering was so scared that her entire body trembled. Not fainting due to fear was already pretty good. An average woman would have already fainted upon receiving this shock. Taking advantage of when this white lamb’s attention focused on her neck, Lucifer suddenly turned her head and bit that big white bosom, sucking out the delicious blood. The offering who had suffered a surprise attack was unable to endure this stimulation and completely lost control of her lower body. Strange water sheened on the grass below her legs.
“How is it so easy for you to lose your mind? There will be many more interesting stimulations in the future. At that time…”
“Lord Lucifer, sorry to disturb your aesthetic mood, but Lord Clyde has entered the castellan residence of Ferro. Do you want to go?”
“Is Lord Big Brother Clyde looking for me? I’ll go immediately. Andrisno, there’s no need to be so respectful; you are not an outsider! Oh, that’s right! Send these cuties to my special storage room.”
“We will obey your commands, Your Majesty the Queen. Miss, I leave the rest to you.”
Ancient Demon King Andrisno’s presence inadvertently interrupted Lucifer’s matter. Taking an exquisite handkerchief from a servant to wipe off the bloodstains at the corners of her mouth, Lucifer instructed several handsome men wearing the formal attires of aristocrat vampires to send those female generals to her special warehouse where she stored special articles. Those few female generals sunk into despair as those unusually handsome vampire aristocrats intimately princess-carried them with warm smiles to a wicked place. Although they futilely shook their heads, under the control of the other party’s bewitching magics, they were helpless dolls as they disappeared in the black mist.
