Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 504 A Battle of Titans: A Very Bourgeois Lineup

After separating from the expeditionary force, they continued northward across a vast expanse of land, a thousand miles away, before finally entering the core area of ​​the northern province.

This area was once home to large towns and various noble estates, prospering thanks to the vitality brought by the beating of the Persian Gulf Empire, with its capital, Hadda.

But now, only ruins remain, with bones and collapsed houses everywhere. Even the woods and grassy areas are decaying. The sky is gray and filled with an unpleasant smell of sulfur.

Anyone with a normal mind knows that such a place means "keep away," it's the most dangerous area, filled with unimaginable threats.

However, for the team above the clouds, this was already commonplace.

"Another horde of Abyssal Bats are coming." The lord rode on a griffin, carrying the drow elf Heather and the cardinal Anzul, the cardinal of Thales.

There were only five hundred griffins in Gaoyabao, not a single one was extra. In order to save as much as possible, there was no surplus enough for each person to have one.

So when faced with the situation where two people had to ride a griffin together, Ansuna did not hesitate to abandon the Muslim and choose to go with the lord.

Therefore, the Muslim could only ride in the same carriage as Bernard.

Levi originally planned to ride Sersney, but she was too big and difficult to hide, so he had to give up on the idea.

"Sit tight, I'm about to take off." Li Wei hugged the drow elf in front of him tightly, then said to Ansuna behind him.

Ansuna hugged the lord's waist tightly and nodded. Then, the entire griffin team continued to climb five hundred meters and stabilized before Ansuna let go.

These bat demons don't usually fly too high; this height is enough for Li Wei to avoid them and prevent attracting unnecessary trouble.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Ansuna asked. They had been flying for three days and three nights straight, and she was getting tired of flying in the sky and longed for the feeling of being on solid ground.

Most importantly, being constantly flying in the sky meant that she had to tell the lord whenever she had physiological needs, which made her feel extremely awkward.

"Let me see." The lord held out his hand, and the drow beauty immediately pulled out a simple map from her chest, which still smelled of milk.

"No more than two ounces of time." Levi carefully compared the map and ground landmarks, then snapped his fingers above an abandoned village: "Descent, replenish stamina."

Following the lord's command, the griffin flock began to descend in an orderly spiral.

The strong airflow whipped up dust and dead leaves from the ground, making the already dilapidated village even more desolate.

The griffins landed precisely on a relatively open area in the center of the village, their massive wings creating a final gust of wind as they folded them up.

Li Wei was the first to roll down, then reached out to help Heather and Ansuona down one after the other.

As soon as Ansuna's feet touched the ground, she staggered slightly; several days of continuous flying had indeed made her legs weak.

A barely perceptible blush crossed her face, and she whispered to Li Wei, "I'll go take a look over there."

Heather smiled and followed her.

The two quickly walked behind a half-collapsed wall and then raised a magical barrier to keep out unauthorized personnel, clearly going to take care of personal matters.

Muslim practically tumbled off Bernard's griffin, stretching his stiff limbs: "Is Lord Levy almost here?"

"Yes, we'll be there soon. It'll probably be a big battle soon." Li Wei nodded.

Li Wei looked around; the village was deathly silent, with only the mournful sound of the wind whistling through the broken window openings.

The skeletons on the ground were no longer human, their original appearance unrecognizable. Only the dark red wooden walls and the deep claw marks on the ground hinted at what had happened here.

The demons had long since abandoned this village that had nothing.

"Also, everyone hurry up and replenish your energy." Li Wei began taking out the snow bananas that had been cut into cubes and stored from his inventory.

Without a doubt, this delicious, ice cream-like food, which can replenish magic and stamina and slowly improve physical fitness with prolonged consumption, is a top-tier magical item that you might not be able to buy even if you have money in the market.

However, the lord extravagantly used it as military rations. If other lords knew, they would definitely condemn Li Wei for wasting such a precious resource.

After all, the gold obtained by selling such magical items could feed more than ten times the number of soldiers, and could even allow the lord to keep a few more beautiful dancers.

However, for Li Wei, nothing was more important than improving the strength of his subordinates.

The team immediately lined up and began to receive the food with great enthusiasm. Even among the military rations of Gaoyabao, the snow bananas were top-notch, and everyone was looking forward to it.

“Li Wei, no wonder your men are so highly motivated and strong.” Bernard finished his banana in a few bites: “If the lords of Debe’s group could guarantee their soldiers a meal of meat a day, let alone be like you, their fighting strength would increase by 30%.”

“Courage determines the lower limit of a soldier’s combat effectiveness, logistics determines the upper limit, and belief…” Levi said, revealing a meaningful smile, but did not continue, which disappointed Bernard.

Li Wei then began to check his inventory of Magic Crystal Arrows, a strategic resource he had brought back with him after returning to High Cliff Fortress.

These arrows were developed by Mir. The arrowheads are hollowed out and filled with liquefied magic crystals. Once the external pressure reaches a certain limit, they will explode with elemental power comparable to the most powerful burst of fire from a high-level mage.

The kill radius is as large as ten meters.

Without the aid of magic crystal arrows, the Griffin Knights of High Cliff Fortress, while not weakened, would at least lose half their life-reaping speed.

In half a year, due to the lord's special instruction to the blacksmith shop in High Cliff Fort to mainly produce these military arrows, only about 10,000 Magic Crystal Arrows were produced.

On average, only about fifty arrows are fired per day.

This speed is undoubtedly extremely slow, far too slow for a military aristocrat.

However, after Mir returned from his studies in the Holy Sith Kingdom and became an alchemist, he has developed an improved version of the Magic Crystal Arrow, which can greatly increase its power and reduce its manufacturing difficulty.

Ten thousand arrows were distributed among nearly five hundred griffin riders, meaning each rider would receive only about two hundred arrows.

While not enough for a protracted war, it is more than sufficient for a blitzkrieg.

It's common sense not to eat too much before a battle, and Snow Banana only requires a small amount to perfectly restore physical strength and magic power, which fits this perfectly. After the griffin finished eating Snow Banana and restored its physical strength and magic power, the group took off again after a short rest. However, they turned back after traveling in the air for a short while, and only set off again after a while.

Hadda, the capital of the Persian Gulf Empire, the slave capital of the seven kingdoms, a paradise for men, where you can easily find elves, fox spirits, mermaids, and even a princess of a certain country once traded here. Its fame has spread throughout the entire continent.

But now this place has become the starting point for the rampant evil of the Persian Gulf Empire.

To find out where these demons came from and what their purpose is, the truth can only be found here.

In the last ten miles, the tall, ancient city walls came into view in the distance. This was a city built beside a huge freshwater lake.

Li Wei narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the several powerful auras within. Without a doubt, these guys were all legendary experts, and they made no attempt to conceal their auras.

Because legends are at the pinnacle of this world, killing a legend is no less difficult than a goblin challenging a dragon, so they naturally run rampant and have no taboos.

In the last mile of Hadar, one can easily see the scene of this slave capital.

Surprisingly, there was no scene of the lord being overrun by a demon army as he had imagined.

Inside, however, it was bustling with activity, the streets were filled with pedestrians and vendors hawking their wares, and Persian Gulf warriors patrolled the city walls, creating a rare sense of peace compared to other parts of the Persian Gulf Empire.

If he hadn't been repeatedly confirmed, the lord would have thought he was under some kind of irresistible illusion.

"Mad King, oh Mad King, what are you doing?" Li Wei said expressionlessly.

What was originally just a title given to the other party by the Three Kingdoms' powerful forces now feels like a well-deserved honor.

Hadda was not possessed by demons at this time. There were guards at both the city gates and the city walls. There were 30,000 guards defending the four city walls alone.

In peacetime, with the addition of the palace guards of the Fuen Royal Palace, the total number of soldiers in Hada should be around fifty to sixty thousand.

However, considering that there is currently a war and the situation is volatile, the enemy will definitely send troops into the city from all sides. It is conservatively estimated that Hada now has at least 150,000 soldiers.

The overcast sky provided great convenience for the Muslims' concealment spell, "Sunblindness," allowing the group to pass directly through the outer city and arrive at the royal palace.

The royal palace, a blend of Roman, Victorian, and Gothic styles, is divided into more than a dozen sections, each higher and more pointed than the last, standing side by side with sharp lines, gray walls, and pointed roofs, exuding extreme luxury.

The pillars and windows of all the corridors are carved with broad-minded, scantily clad beauties, and even the murals depict the union of beasts and beauties. To an art master, this would undoubtedly be a masterpiece with beautiful lines and a strong sense of artistry. But to Li Wei, it was a palace of Slaanesh that was vulgar beyond measure, obscene beyond measure, and perverted beyond measure.

Only a barbaric nation with no cultural foundation and no pirate origins would admire such a crude and vulgar style.

But to be honest, I don't dislike Li Wei.

The palace was far more heavily guarded than the outer city. Squads of fully armed Persian Gulf warriors patrolled every corner with an eerie coolness, and soldiers stood like cedar trees on the city walls.

"Descent." Li Wei waved to the griffin riders behind him, signaling them to land at a position not much higher than the city wall.

"Lord Liwei, shouldn't we just secretly infiltrate the palace and capture King Fern IX first?" the Muslim couldn't help but ask.

He never expected that his "sunset haze" would actually allow him to get close to Hadda's palace. If they could just go in and capture King Fern IX, they would have accomplished half of their goal and avoided unnecessary bloodshed. But Li Wei chose to reveal himself directly.

"I'd like to, but it's obviously impossible." Li Wei looked down at the city wall. "Didn't you notice that a master has already blocked our path?"

"Come out now, so you can leave your last words before I make my move," the lord said coldly to the empty city wall.

As the "sunset haze" dissipated, the Persian Gulf Empire warriors on the city walls noticed the griffin squad that had appeared out of nowhere. They were all shocked and gripped their weapons tightly as if facing a formidable enemy.

Countless gleaming scimitars were aimed at the griffins in the sky. The griffin riders did not speak, but had already drawn their bows and arrows, and the sky was full of arrows that shimmered with an eerie light.

In the empty spaces on the city wall, wisps of black mist gradually gathered into individual figures, which were revealed to the crowd.

The man in the middle was dressed in a loose white desert robe, his face covered by a headscarf, revealing only a pair of sharp, eagle-like eyes. He had a white cloth wrapped around his head and was holding a red book. Just by standing there, the air around him became thick and scorching, as if he had gathered all the heat of the world into his body.

The man in the middle was an exceptionally tall and burly giant, wearing heavy black metal plate armor covered with marks from swords and blades, yet without any sign of damage.

He carried a massive sword the size of a door, its blade a dark red, seemingly stained with countless drops of blood. The aura he exuded was as heavy as a mountain, making it hard to breathe.

On the right, a figure is shrouded in a black cloak embroidered with a golden scorpion pattern, holding a twisted bone staff in his hand.

The auras of these three individuals were like three invisible mountains, firmly locking onto the griffin team in the sky.

“Three legends…” The Muslim’s face turned pale, and cold sweat was seeping from his forehead.

No matter how talented he is, how powerful he is at the epic level, or how close he is to becoming a legend.

But as long as he hasn't reached the legendary level, he's just a bug in the eyes of the legendary.

At lower realms, there is still a possibility of defeating an opponent who is at a higher realm, but once you reach the Epic or Legendary realms, there is absolutely no possibility of being defeated by someone at a lower realm.

That's why the lord was so amazing to the world when he single-handedly fought against multiple legends, and was hailed as the greatest warrior under the stars.

“The High Priestess Abdul, the Archmage of the Temple of Flame, the Sword Saint Gordan, and the Archmage of Shadows Safila…” Bernard solemnly uttered the names of the three, each name representing a legendary powerhouse feared throughout the Persian Gulf Empire.

Just when everyone thought this was the last of Fern IX's possessions, the lord unexpectedly turned his gaze in another direction: "How long do you intend to hide? If you don't want to die, don't force me to personally drag you out!"

The air in the void that Li Wei could see rippled like water.

A figure dressed in a tailcoat slowly emerged.

At first glance, it looks no different from a human, but it has dark red skin and is two meters tall.

Its head was topped with giant, curved horns resembling those of a goat, gleaming with a metallic sheen. Its pair of emerald green eyes, burning with pure evil, only occasionally revealed cruelty and cunning.

(End of this chapter)