Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 423 Why did the general betray the enemy?

"Damn it, why aren't they charging up yet!" Zart lay on the city wall, craning his neck and staring with his big, bull-like eyes.

Although they captured Fog City, they hadn't made any preparations in such a short time. Logically, the enemy should have seized the opportunity and launched an attack immediately.

But the two sides waited and waited until the sun was almost setting below the horizon, and the Persians did not make any move.

"What are these people dawdling about?" Vorebel waited anxiously, his grip on his weapon tightening and loosening repeatedly.

It had only eaten a meal before taking over Fog City, and hadn't had time to eat again since. Now its stomach was rumbling with hunger.

“If these Gulf people knew His Majesty Levi was here, they would have run away long ago unless they’d been eaten by goblins,” one of Debe’s officers said with a laugh.

This was originally a compliment.

But what happened next left everyone completely dumbfounded.

The Persian Gulf army, which was positioned on the hills in front of Fog-shrouded City, sounded a loud bugle call, and the entire army actually retreated.

It looked as if the fog-shrouded city was a gaping maw of abyss that devoured flesh and blood.

"No, they really ran away?" Zha Manzi was stunned.

Li Wei glared fiercely at the officer from before, then raised his arm and shouted wildly, "Quickly! All troops, attack! Don't let these bastards get away!"

As he spoke, he patted the waist of the Black Dragon Queen beside him.

Sersne raised an eyebrow, but obediently dispelled the transformation spell.

roar~
A colossal beast appeared out of nowhere above the city of Fog, and with a deafening roar, it flapped its wings and swept towards the Persian Gulf army not far away.

All the city gates of Fogvere City were opened, and the barbarians rushed out, howling, but still maintaining a synchronized pace and orderly formation.

Behind him followed a dense swarm of soldiers.

……

"My lord! Debe's dragon knights are really here, and they're charging towards us!"

A commotion broke out in the army of the Persian Gulf Empire as messengers frantically reported something to their commander, Hari, and the Pahlavi under his banner.

Even without the report from the lowly soldier, Pahlavi had already heard the dragon's roar and the dragon's might that swept in like a landslide and a tsunami.

The setting sun dyed Pahlavi and his massive army behind him a blood-red hue.

Eighty thousand elite soldiers of the Persian Gulf Empire, who had come from afar with unwavering confidence in victory, now felt as if they were being crushed by an invisible boulder, the atmosphere oppressive and suffocating.

They stopped ten miles from Fog-shrouded City, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

If they continue to retreat, they will only be pursued and killed by the soldiers rushing out of Fog City, and by the black dragon roaring in the sky and attacking them.

The generals exchanged bewildered glances, while the soldiers gripped their weapons nervously, awaiting Pahlavi's orders.

In their view, only this person is capable of fighting against the enemy's dragon knight.

Pahlavi waved to stop the army's retreat, and rode alone to the front of the army, riding the blood wolf whose body was shaking.

"The enemy has dragon knights, but we have Lord Pahlavi!"

"These Debebes chose the wrong opponent at the wrong time."

"We might get to taste what dragon meat tastes like today!"

This act of facing the dragon alone undoubtedly made the men of the Persian Gulf Empire cheer with excitement.

In their minds, Pahlavi was as powerful as a god, capable of breaking through the walls of Fog City with a single punch or kick, causing unimaginable destruction.

Even if I die in the aftermath of the battle, it will be worth it to see Lord Pahlavi's magnificent figure slaying the dragon before I die!
"I surrender!"

With a glance, a gust of wind swept in, making the cloak of Pahlavi's armor flutter wildly. Seeing the black dragon that had swept up to his head and blotted out the sky, he quickly threw down his weapon, raised his hands, and shouted loudly.

"Don't kill me! I'm a legendary powerhouse, capable of doing many things for you, Lord Li Wei! You can also sell me to slave traders; I'll definitely be worth a lot of gold!"

……

All the soldiers in the Persian Gulf stared wide-eyed, like ducks with their necks clamped, unable to utter a single word.

Every soldier stared in disbelief at their idol, the "Iron Wall of the North," Pahlavi. Why? Why had their leader surrendered so easily?!

Is this still the invincible, all-powerful Pahlavi?

Where is Pahlavi, who relied on his iron fists even when facing the siege of the Behemoths? Could he be dead?

All the soldiers in the Persian Gulf trembled uncontrollably, their faces flushed red like the bottoms of monkeys, and an unprecedented sense of shame and humiliation almost overwhelmed them.

Their inner pride made them unwilling to see that the once-admired strongman, the face of the empire, had surrendered so easily, without even fighting a single battle, in such a pathetic state.

……

"What is your name?" The lord stood atop the giant dragon's head, looking down at him with a strange expression.

Having heard Kemish's introduction of this man, I thought he was someone tough to deal with, but I never expected him to surrender faster than he could draw his sword.

It's truly unbelievable that a legend could be so afraid of death.

Sersni stared intently at the slightly stronger ant in front of her with her enormous dragon eyes. If anything went wrong, her dragon breath would corrode the other into dust!

Pahlavi didn't bother with these ignorant fellows; their thinking was too rigid. No wonder they remained ants their whole lives. He wisely said, "Sir, my name is Pahlavi."

Clearly, this powerful figure from the Persian Gulf Empire cherished his life very much.

"You are a smart man," the lord chuckled.

But this smile caused Pahlavi to break out in a cold sweat. His opponent's strength far exceeded his expectations. Even without doing anything, he felt a deathly aura lingering in his heart, a feeling that came from his keen senses.

"Your Majesty the esteemed and powerful Lord Li Wei, I have long heard of your great name. To thank you for sparing my life, I am willing to become your servant and regard your words as my life." The legendary powerhouse Pahlavi's voice trembled as he jumped off the giant wolf, knelt on one knee, one hand on his chest and the other on his forehead, extremely humble.

This was a slave ritual of the Persian Gulf Empire, where the forehead, which receives the eternal energy of the heavens, is covered, and one swears to dedicate everything one has to the one to whom one is loyal.

In fact, Pahlavi did consider a plan to feign surrender and then launch a surprise attack.

But upon seeing the other person with his own eyes, the last shred of hope he had vanished instantly.

Li Wei sensed a faint hostility from ahead, and he knew exactly what was going on. He was just waiting for this guy to suddenly attack, but as he waited, nothing came of it.

He had originally intended to kill the opponent outright, but unexpectedly, the opponent surrendered before Sersney's dragon breath even landed. "Unfortunately, your strength, your life, everything about you is utterly useless to me," the lord sneered.

These words immediately made Pahlavi's expression stiffen, and his last bit of hope vanished. Before he could struggle, Li Wei changed the subject.

"If I order you to kill the soldiers behind you, what will you do?"

The lord crossed his arms and smiled as he looked at the legendary expert sent by the Persian Gulf Empire.

Killing the opponent is indeed the most wasteful thing to do. The value of a legendary powerhouse is incomparable to money. The opponent alone is more valuable than an army of 100,000.

Pahlavi was stunned, his mind racing.

He wondered what the dragon knight meant by saying that.

Is it to see if he is loyal? Or to see if he is a ruthless and cunning person?

After some thought, he fell silent.

"I prefer to answer with silence." Li Wei chuckled, then suddenly rode the black dragon into the sky, uttering only one sentence: "The Pahlavi is already dead. Quickly change your name and assist my men in dealing with this army of the Persian Gulf Empire. I don't care what methods you use, I just want to see them without any weapons."

A name can remind a person of the past and is also the anchor point for everything in the past.

Since they have become slaves, they must naturally forget everything from before.

This is a trick often used by slave owners; the lord is simply applying it in a new way.

“Swain, from now on I will be called Swain!” He stood up from the ground, looking at the black dragon circling in the sky and the Debe soldiers who were already surging towards him, and said this.

"Now, do you still want to be enemies with His Majesty Levi? If you surrender, I won't mind sparing your lives." Swain turned to look at the Persian Gulf soldiers behind him, who were filled with resentment.

He is a person with an extremely clear self-positioning; he will do anything as long as he can survive.

Just like before, in order to survive, he fought with wild dogs for bread and with vultures for carrion. In fact, there is no essential difference between these things and the present.

The soldiers in the Persian Gulf remained silent; this was the nature of men from the empire. However, given the current situation, even the most eloquent businessman would likely find nothing to say.

Thus, the dull thud of hammers striking flesh and the clanging of steel blades clashing against armor all over the hillside converged into a poignant elegy.

The defection of the Persian Gulf army's strongest fighters not only deprived them of the ability to deal with the powerful warriors of the High Cliff Fortress, but also completely crushed their morale.

The orcish barbarians wielded their axes diligently, just like old farmers toiling in the fields to harvest wheat.

The Tyresh mages meticulously cast their most skilled spells.

As a legend, Swain single-handedly dealt with all the fire mages and half-moon warriors in the Persian Gulf army.

Massacre, a one-sided massacre!

The massacre continued until darkness fell completely, at which point the Persian Gulf soldiers, unable to withstand the casualties, finally surrendered.

Corpses littered the ground, and mournful howls echoed through the air. The sweet, pungent smell wafted on the breeze, attracting flocks of vultures and hungry wolves.

Eighty thousand Persians were slaughtered until only fifty or sixty thousand remained. In the end, they were all stripped of their armor and weapons and thrown into prison.

To solve the problem of where to house these guys, the mages who were proficient in earth element had to work through the night to build houses, which barely managed to accommodate them all.

As for the reinforcements that arrived later, it's unclear whether they received the news and ran away in advance, as not a single trace of them could be seen, much to the lord's disappointment.

After all, according to De Bea's tradition, whoever wins the battle gets the spoils.

……

Wirz Castle, study.

Time seems to have frozen.

The meticulously planned scheme, seemingly on the verge of success, filled the study with an air of composure and complete control. However, this was utterly frozen and shattered by the clerk's urgent report from Fog City.

Howard's smile froze on his face, like a poorly painted oil painting.

The menacing glint that had burst forth in his cloudy eyes, like that of an old lion, was instantly extinguished as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, leaving only a deep sense of bewilderment and incredulous astonishment.

It was a kind of bewilderment, like a mind short-circuiting, after strategy had been torn apart by absolute violence and brute force.

His fingers, which were usually as steady as a mountain, trembled uncontrollably and very slightly for the first time while resting on the armchair.

The study was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

The fervor in the officers' eyes had long since faded, leaving only silence and bewilderment.

They were just moments before thrilled by the impending, glorious victory that would go down in history, but now it felt as if an invisible giant hand was gripping their throats, making even breathing difficult.

The air was as heavy as lead, making it hard to breathe.

The letter brought by the clerk lay quietly on the red cloth on the desk. It was just an inanimate object, yet it seemed to be mocking them mercilessly.

“The main force of Gaoyabao… Dragon Knights…” A young staff officer’s voice was dry like sandpaper scratching, “Shouldn’t they have contracted the disease at Shilingbao? And why didn’t the scouts discover the mobilization of tens of thousands of troops?”

No one could answer him.

As witnessed by the knight Kamikaze Falcon, a large number of soldiers at Stone Ridge Fortress were infected with disease.

However, the sudden appearance of the Gaoyabao Brigade turned what they had firmly believed into a stark irony.

The opposing dragon knight, the young lord of High Cliff Fortress, used the simplest, most brutal, and unreasonable method—a legendary black dragon—to completely shatter their proud plan, which had cost them countless efforts.

Howard's Adam's apple bobbed almost imperceptibly; it was only through sheer willpower that the veteran managed to keep from collapsing into his chair.

Shiling Fort was captured, Wulong City fell, and nearly half of the 80,000 elite reinforcements were slaughtered in a short period of time, with the rest becoming prisoners.

And all of this is because of one person.

"Sir, what should we do next?" The officers had no choice but to accept the situation. They mustered their spirits and looked at the old man in front of them with wry smiles.

In fact, Howard didn't have any good options at this point, because any scheme would seem pale and powerless in the face of absolute strength.

Unless the enemy's dragon knight is dealt with, even an army of 500,000 would be a waste.

"My lord! My lord! We have received a reply!"

Just then, a joyful voice rang out.

(End of this chapter)