Chapter 178: Chapter 177: Capturing the Black-collar Tribe

For Knight Philton and his Knight Squad from Sain Territory, they thought today would be just like the past few days—another round in their game of harassment.

But none of them expected that the people from Grey Soil Village would actually dare to fight back.

This turn of events was too sudden, too unexpected.

The smell of blood drifted across the wilderness. Knights, cavalry, and horses fell one after another, turning the area into a bloody battlefield.

Philton was covered in wounds, his blood staining his Battle Armor red.

Even the Bronze Level Reisen couldn’t withstand Ridder’s Fast Sword, to say nothing of this Knight, who only ranked third in Sain Territory.

“We are Knights of Sain Territory! Attacking us is an attack on the nobility—a serious crime!”

Ridder paid him no mind. He batted aside the man’s Longsword and thrust forward, just as he had done against Reisen, piercing through Philton’s shoulder plate and severely injuring his arm.

Philton cried out in pain and hurriedly retreated, trying to create distance, but Ridder aggressively closed in.

Ridder lifted his right leg and stomped down hard on the man’s chest. The Armor instantly caved in!

The immense Power sent Philton sliding across the ground for over ten meters. In the chaotic impact, his Helmet fell off, leaving him in a wretched state.

“No, no, no, you can’t kill me!”

Philton panicked. He tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t obey him. His injured left arm, in particular, was completely numb and useless. In his current state, there was no way he could fight Ridder again.

“I am a Knight of Sain Territory, a noble! I possess the right to be spared from death!”

“As long as you don’t kill me, I can pay a ransom to you, to Ronning Baron!”

Ridder chuckled. ’Baron Reisen is about to be finished. If all goes well, Sain Territory itself will belong to Ronin.’

’By then, what assets will Philton have left to pay a ransom?’

However, Ridder still had no intention of killing him outright. After all, Philton was an Advanced Level Knight. How to deal with him was a decision for Ronin to make.

“Drop your Weapon. Take off your Armor.”

Ridder’s voice was ice-cold. “If you want to live, lie face down on the ground.”

Enduring the intense pain and discomfort, Philton quickly complied. There was no point in resisting any further.

He was now filled with deep regret.

If he hadn’t let his pent-up anger get the best of him and had chosen to defend the Black-collar Tribe’s stronghold, things would never have turned out this way.

He could have easily used the Black-collar Tribe’s fortifications and geographical advantages to keep Ridder and his men at bay.

But there were no do-overs in this world. The outcome was sealed the moment he led his men out of the stronghold.

With Philton’s surrender, the skirmish in the wilderness gradually came to an end.

Ridder scanned the battlefield.

The battle had lasted no more than three to five minutes, but the casualties were significant. Although most of them were from Sain Territory, the forces of Mountain Forest Town had also suffered losses.

Fortunately, Elron was present. The light of his Healing Skill shone continuously, greatly reducing the number of casualties.

“Tie up the ones who surrendered. Babulin, Horn, get a casualty count.”

Soon, the casualty report for their side was compiled.

In this battle, none of the Knights from Mountain Forest Town had been killed. Only Dandy had sustained minor injuries, which were not serious after treatment.

Aside from the Transcendents, one cavalryman and two infantrymen were killed. Twelve others were wounded, eight of them lightly.

The Black-collar Tribe had sent out eight Knights and twenty-four cavalrymen this time, for a total of thirty-two men.

In the recent engagement, six cavalrymen were killed by a volley of arrows. In the subsequent fighting, two Knights and eight more cavalrymen were slain, including Uunei Knight, who had been knocked from his horse. Another ten men were seriously wounded. All told, their casualties amounted to more than half their force.

Ridder’s brow furrowed. He took a deep breath and said, “Remember their names. After the war is over, bring their bodies back to Grey Soil Village for burial. When the Lord returns, we will issue compensation to their families.”

In truth, these results were already quite impressive.

“Everyone, rest where you are! In ten minutes, we attack the Black-collar Tribe’s stronghold!”

Ridder glanced at Philton on the ground. “If you don’t want to die, you’d better cooperate.”

Philton trembled all over. He never imagined that capturing them wouldn’t be enough for Ridder—he was going to attack the Black-collar Tribe as well!

“Invading the territory of another noble… even if Ronin is from the Wushan Clan, the Kingdom’s laws forbid it! As his Follower Knight, have you gone mad?”

At this point, all he could do was resort to such empty threats.

In fact, actively invading another noble’s sphere of influence was indeed a grave crime, one that could lead to the stripping of one’s Noble Title and territory.

But Ridder had faith in Ronin’s actions at Wushan Castle. He just needed to carry out the tasks his Lord had assigned him.

“Quiet!”

Ridder tapped the man’s cheek with his Longsword. The cold touch silenced him instantly.

“The Sain Clan is finished, understand?”

’Finished?’

’What does he mean?’

Philton couldn’t understand. Baron Reisen had gone to Wushan Castle to celebrate a birthday. How could he be “finished” for no reason?

Besides, even if a noble family were to fall, it couldn’t collapse so quickly unless a major crime was exposed.

At this thought, Philton’s eyes widened and his heart pounded. ’Could it be…?’

If the assassination plot had really been exposed, then Reisen’s trip to Wushan Castle was no different from a lamb walking into the slaughter.

’No, that can’t be it.’

Philton’s face turned ghastly. This realization was worse than death itself.

Ridder obviously had no intention of answering his questions. After a short rest, he left a few Knights and Guards to watch over the surrendered and the wounded. He then took the remaining men and, with Philton as their prisoner, marched toward the Black-collar Tribe.

This time, Philton had brought nearly his entire force with him. Not a single Professional Knight remained in the Black-collar Tribe’s stronghold; only the Infantry and Archers belonging to the Knight Squad were left to defend it.

But under Ridder’s intimidation and coercion, Philton had no choice but to show himself and call out to the remaining defenders, using a mix of persuasion and threats to make them surrender.

The Guards and Archers initially put up some resistance, but at the sound of Philton’s voice, their will to fight vanished. One by one, they laid down their Weapons and opened the stronghold’s gates.

Ridder led the Cavalry and Infantry surging into the stronghold. They quickly disarmed the remaining Infantry and Archers, bringing them firmly under control.

During this takeover, aside from two Guards who were accidentally injured by the first volley of Arrows, no one else was harmed.

The main reason it went so smoothly was the lack of a backbone among the defenders, which prevented them from mounting any effective resistance.

If Joffrey had been present, or if Finris hadn’t been sent to Sain Territory to recover from his injuries and had remained at the Black-collar Tribe, Ridder would have had a much harder time conquering this place.

Those two would have very likely defied Philton’s orders and used the stronghold’s defenses to fight back with the remaining men.

This just went to show that in a war, unless victory was absolutely certain, a commander’s main base needed to have someone with enough authority to command the defending forces.

Take Mountain Forest Town, for example. Although the only Transcendents left behind were David and Erin, they were both people deeply trusted by the Lord.

In addition, there was Chahar, the castle steward who had followed the Lord for a long time, and Wilson, the Civil Servant of Mountain Forest Town.

With them in charge, the Guards defending the castle would never open the gates of Mountain Forest Castle after just a few shouts and threats.

“This battle was a complete victory! No one has failed Lord Ronin’s trust.”

Ridder sat on his horse, looking over the captives, the Transcendents, and the soldiers of Mountain Forest Town. “But this isn’t over yet. Babulin, you’re in charge of taking all these prisoners into custody.”

“Yes!”

“Horn, take some Guards and announce Lord Ronin’s benevolence. Make the people of the Black-collar Tribe understand that as long as they don’t resist, we will not harm them, nor will we seize any of their supplies.”

“Praise the Lord’s benevolence!” Horn bowed and accepted the order.

“Elron, please continue treating the wounded.”

Ridder dismounted. “Jenny, you will be responsible for conducting a census of the Black-collar Tribe.”

“I’d be happy to,” Jenny said.

As the tasks were assigned one by one, Ridder was confident that they could take complete control of the Black-collar Tribe before Ronin returned to Mountain Forest Town.

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