Chapter 110: The Despair of Lilia

A convoy moved slowly along the wide road. Over a dozen well-armored cavalrymen rode in two columns at the vanguard, while two squads of tall, sturdy elite soldiers followed the three carriages.

Nicole rode at the very front on an exceptionally robust warhorse. Her chestnut hair flowed in the wind, and her features were bright and captivating. She wore a suit of gleaming silver lady’s armor, elegantly styled with a form-fitting design that outlined her graceful curves, engraved with exquisite patterns that appeared both decorative and sturdy. Thinking that she would soon see her beloved, a faint smile graced Nicole's petal-soft, crimson lips. The blend of feminine softness and knightly valor created a moving charm, causing the surrounding cavalrymen to cast glances her way from time to time.

Bruce peered out from the carriage window, his expression somewhat strange. He had not expected that Nicole, usually so shy and reserved, would have such a flamboyant side after becoming a knight. As they were about to return to Blackfort Town, instead of staying inside her carriage, Nicole had donned her custom-made knight’s armor and mounted her warhorse, as if afraid someone might not notice she was a female knight.

A full suit of knight’s armor is crafted from hundred-fold tempered iron, and even a lady’s set weighs 150 pounds. This weight is nothing for a knight, but hard armor is inherently uncomfortable to wear. Thus, Bruce preferred to stay in his carriage, clad in comfortable hunting attire.

This time, Bruce and Nicole had escorted Master Edwin back to the Silver White Tower, located far away in the Kingdom of Ail. The round trip spanned over 8,000 kilometers and took six months. In truth, they could have returned to their family estate in four months, but Master Edwin had stepped in to request that a master blacksmith at the Silver White Tower craft a custom suit of armor for Nicole. Consequently, they had been delayed for nearly two months.

Bruce was a knight, but he did not realize that a female knight is an entirely different creature. With home in sight, if one had a beautiful new suit of armor, how could one not wear it? What kind of female knight would she be?

A strand of hair wrapped around Nicole's fair, slender fingers. Over the past six months, her short chestnut hair had grown back into long, silky tresses. Whenever she played with her hair, Nicole would recall the figure of Victor rushing out during her darkest hour and his courage in the face of the ogres. That scene was deeply etched in her memory, never to be forgotten.

"What kind of expression will Victor have when he sees me again? Lilia must have become his personal attendant by now, right? With Lilia for company, has he ever missed me?" The towering Blackfort was already clearly visible, but Nicole’s heart was filled with a thousand tangled emotions.

A team of galloping riders interrupted the knight’s reverie. Nicole narrowed her eyes and realized they were family scouts. The three riders also spotted Nicole’s convoy; each wore a look of relief as they pulled their reins and raced toward the group. Noticing the commotion outside, Bruce stepped out of his carriage.

"Lord Bruce! Lady Nicole!" The three tough scouts dismounted and saluted them.

"What has happened?" Bruce asked, frowning. Scouts riding two horses each were surely carrying urgent intelligence, and coming straight for their convoy meant they were here to deliver a message to him and Nicole.

"The Count has issued a War Decree, requiring all family knights to return to Blackfort. This is the Count’s personal order." The lead scout handed a parchment scroll to Bruce.

Taking the scroll from Count York, Bruce and Nicole exchanged a look, both seeing the gravity and shock in each other’s eyes.

To govern their vast territories, the lords employed a feudal system. Since income was primarily derived from land ownership, lords would grant large portions of their property—including farms, villages, peasants, livestock, mills, and all other incidental assets—as fiefs to their vassals. Beyond paying tributes, vassals were required to train armed forces to defend their fiefs and, when necessary, respond to the lord's call to mobilize all their strength to join the lord’s army. This was the War Decree.

As a knight of the York family, Bruce held 7,000 mu of land, a farm, a village, a horse ranch, and over 700 subjects. He not only had to organize production but also provide for 20 soldiers and train all the able-bodied subjects. In peacetime, Bruce served the family and received a knight’s annuity, but the family did not conscript his soldiers. However, once a War Decree was issued, Bruce had to lead all his armed forces—including soldiers and the entire militia—to join the family army and accept unified command.

Issuing a War Decree meant that every adult male subject of the family had to take up arms and participate in the fighting, reducing productive activities within the territory to a minimum. This required consuming the family’s savings of many years. Therefore, unless they were at the brink of life and death, a lord would not lightly issue a War Decree.

After unfolding the scroll and reading it carefully, Bruce’s face became incredibly solemn.

"Where are my wife and children now?"

The messenger replied respectfully, "Your lady has already arrived at Blackfort Town with all the villagers under her charge."

Bruce exhaled in relief. His wife was also a family squire; even in the face of such a disaster, she would not be as helpless as an ordinary person.

"What exactly happened?" Nicole asked Bruce.

Although Nicole was a knight, she held no fief and thus did not receive a War Decree. However, she was a disciple of the family’s Great Knight Trissily, and her vassal; in such moments, she had to follow Trissily to fight for the family. Furthermore, Trissily had funded and commissioned Edwin to custom-make her knightly armor, a cost amounting to 7,000 gold Solars alone, which illustrated Nicole’s close ties to the family.

"A massive horde of monsters has attacked the entire Centaur Hills. Baron Porta’s castle has been taken, and the Baron was killed in action. Viscount Kovan’s territory has been overrun, his army was completely wiped out, and only the Viscount and his knights managed to break through. The family’s Fangs Legion has been severely battered; Knight Phimit was killed, and Knight Uval was killed," Bruce said with grief.

A wave of sorrow surged in Nicole’s heart. Phimit and Uval were both York family knights and officers of the Fangs Legion; that they had fallen meant the Legion had indeed suffered a crushing blow.

"Let’s go! Back to Blackfort!"

Bruce leaped onto a warhorse and charged toward Blackfort. Nicole and all the cavalry followed close behind, the blood-red sunset casting long shadows behind them. At this very moment, if one were to look down from the sky, they would see countless teams converging on Blackfort Town. The family War Decree had been issued, and it was a time for all to be of one mind.

***

The road south of Blackfort Town was built along the banks of the Blackwater River. Days of heavy rain had made the path exceptionally muddy. A team of cavalry sped toward Blackfort, their sturdy warhorses snorting, hooves flying and kicking up great plumes of sludge.

Lilia sat on her horse, her face pale and her smooth forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, yet her bright eyes shone with a tenacious spirit. Some people break down in the face of adversity, while others are sublimated. The journey from Victor’s territory to Blackfort Town, which usually took over twenty days, Lilia had cut down to ten. The tough will she displayed moved the cavalrymen who guarded her. Blackfort Town was now in sight; by the time they reached this point, the cavalrymen with her had dwindled from over twenty to just over ten. Not everyone could withstand such high-intensity marching.

Lilia saw the south gate of Blackfort Town and the shadow of war. Wagons loaded with supplies drove into the town, while empty carriages pulled out. The merchant caravans that used to wait to pay taxes to enter the city had vanished, and the inns and stables that served them were empty, devoid of a single soul. The city walls were crowded with heads, all archers holding crossbows. Looking east along the walls, countless people were using stones and mud to enclose a gap in the wall, a spot originally reserved for the construction of a secondary fort.

The York family was preparing for a defensive battle! Who was their enemy? An infinite army of ant-men surfaced in Lilia’s mind, causing her heart to sink to the bottom.

After Lilia identified herself, she did not face excessive questioning or obstruction. The city guards told her directly to find Clerk Max in Blackfort, who was in charge of receiving the families of lords seeking refuge.

With the help of Kaan, Lilia pushed through the panicked crowd and headed toward Blackfort. The buildings in the trade and vassal districts had been torn down, the materials sent to reinforce the walls, while dense shanties were erected in the open spaces; the freemen from outside the city had clearly taken refuge inside as well.

Inside Blackfort, Lilia met Max. The clerk, who usually prided himself on elegant manners, was dressed in leather armor with a long sword at his waist, looking ready for battle at any moment.

"Lady Lilia, I was just about to send an envoy to Baron Victor’s territory; I did not expect you to have arrived already." Max paused for a moment before continuing, "Has Victor’s territory been attacked by monsters?"

"Yes, the monsters entered our land from the entrance to the Great Swamp, and the Hill Camp has been captured."

Lilia bit her bloodless lips. Upon entering Blackfort, she had already realized that it was not just Victor’s territory that had encountered a monster tide; it was a full-scale outbreak. Under these circumstances, how could she persuade the York family to send troops to support Victor?

Lilia steadied herself and described the situation in the territory to Max in detail.

"Lord Victor is a true lord!" Upon hearing that Victor had held his ground until the very end to cover the retreat of his people, even Max could not help but be moved. He had not expected the seemingly frail Baron Victor to possess such responsibility and mettle.

For a lord to abandon his territory during a war against monsters and orcs meant losing the legal ownership of that land. Standing firm and protecting the people was the foundation of the cooperation between the Radiant Church and the nobility. However, few lords truly lived and died with their territory; over thousands of years, knights had formed bloodlines, and even if they lost their status as lords, they need not worry about finding a family to take them in. In truth, if it weren't for the need to protect the alchemy tower, Victor would have fled long ago. Everyone understood the principle of saving the people while losing the land.

"Lord Max, I hope the York family can help us clear the monsters from our territory." Lilia pleaded with a hoarse voice. Although Victor was not a vassal of the York family, their interests were deeply intertwined, and Count York, holding the title of Governor of the Centaur Hills, had the duty to help lords eradicate monsters.

Max was slightly displeased. The family was at a life-or-death juncture; how could they have the energy to rescue Baron Victor? Besides, the Baron was likely already dead. Max did not believe that without a castle or knights, Victor could survive the ant tide. However, Max had no intention of provoking Lilia; at such a time, absorbing more manpower was good, and at the very least, the young lady before him still had over 400 able-bodied men who could serve as decent cannon fodder if slightly armed.

Max pondered and asked, "Lady Lilia, how many monsters are in Victor’s territory?"

"About twenty thousand, maybe more. I’m not entirely sure." Lilia replied in a low voice.

Max shook his head with a bitter smile. "It is certainly more than twenty thousand. There is one exit from the Great Swamp in Victor’s territory, and there are three such exits in the Centaur Hills. I will tell you the truth: the monsters pouring out of the other two exits already exceed seventy thousand, and the monsters entering Victor’s territory will not be fewer than thirty thousand. Perhaps even more."

"Baron Porta’s territory, which connects to a swamp exit, has already fallen; the Baron’s castle was breached, and the Baron was killed in action. The other exit’s territory, Viscount Kovan’s, has also been occupied by monsters; the Viscount’s army was wiped out, and the Viscount only managed to escape with his knights by a stroke of luck."

"Currently, thirty thousand monsters are besieging Count Terland’s castle, and Baron Vilpan’s castle is also under siege. Thus, we have no capacity to clear the monsters from Victor’s territory for the time being," Max said with regret.

Watching large tears roll from Lilia’s eyes, Max comforted her, "We have already requested aid from the Kingdom and the Church. Bishop Pelo is on his way with the Paladins, and the Kingdom will surely send a knight order to support us. When that happens, we will definitely clear the monsters from Victor’s territory. Before then, your people may enter Blackfort Town for refuge, but you must submit to our conscription."

"I want to see Lady Sylvia. Victor has something important to pass on to her," Lilia said firmly. At this point, she could only pin her hopes on that brick, even though she herself did not believe that such an unremarkable brick could save anyone.

"The Lady is very busy right now. Whatever it is, I can pass it on for you," Max said coldly, his patience with Lilia wearing thin.

"No need!" Lilia stood up and walked toward the door. Victor had instructed that the brick must never be given to anyone else.

Walking out of Blackfort, Lilia could finally hold on no longer.

The York family could barely protect itself; how would they reach out to help Victor? Perhaps the brick was just an excuse Victor had given her to escape. Thinking of this, Lilia slumped to the ground and sobbed.

"Lilia!"

A familiar voice made Lilia lift her tear-blurred eyes. What came into view was the dashing female knight, Nicole.