Lord: I can see loyalty.

Western border, Frido Port.

Several days passed quickly, and the sea breeze still carried a salty smell, but the atmosphere in Port-Rideau was completely different from usual.

On the dock, warships were neatly arranged, and the decks were filled with fully armed soldiers. The streets had also returned to the bustling atmosphere that a commercial city should have.

Inside the Frido Stone Tower, Vio stood before the enormous map of the Western Regions, his gaze fixed on the location of Soldato Port.

"My Lord," Xavier said, standing to the side with a newly delivered intelligence report in his hand, "Ulysses has made his move."

Vio turned around, took the intelligence report, and quickly scanned it with his eyes.

How many people?

"About five hundred men," Xavier said calmly. "Fifty of them should be Ulysses' 'pirate knights,' and the remaining four hundred and fifty are a few civilian soldiers who betrayed the nobles and were forcibly conscripted from their own territories."

Vio's brow twitched slightly.

"That's all?"

"Yes." Xavier nodded. "This is just the manpower put together by those few nobles who fully agreed to send troops, but according to this ratio, if all the nobles sent troops, we could indeed gather two thousand men."

Vio sneered and placed the intelligence report on the table.

"Have Timothy's men keep an eye on Ulysses' movements," he said. "Give the order to assemble the troops."

…………

Outside the port of Soldato, on a plain.

The afternoon sun shone on the earth, turning everything golden.

But in the distance, a dark mass of people was surging toward the port of Soldato.

That was the advance force sent by Ulysses, a group of five hundred men, their flags in disarray and their formation loose, looking from a distance like a swarm of moving ants.

At the very front of the procession were fifty knights on warhorses, clad in fine armor.

They were "pirate knights" meticulously trained by Olympus, well-equipped and menacing, but upon closer inspection, they were somewhat lacking in horsemanship and their formation was not very disciplined, barely maintaining their formation.

Behind the knights were four hundred and fifty infantrymen.

Although they were called infantrymen, they were actually just a group of civilians who had been forcibly conscripted. Some of them even carried their own spears, or weapons made from modified hoes, and some even carried only a sharpened wooden stick.

Their clothes were a motley collection, and their faces were filled with fear and confusion.

In the center of the procession, a young nobleman from the central West sat on horseback, looking around nervously.

He was the son of a minor lord in the central West and had attended the Knight Academy in the capital for a few years, which is why Ulysses put him forward to be the "commander".

He was accompanied by several real knights, but they looked at him with disdain.

"My lord, the port of Soldato is just ahead." A scout rode up.

The young nobleman swallowed hard, trying to appear calm.

"Get the team... ready."

But his voice was trembling uncontrollably.

Outside the port of Soldato, the southern army had already formed ranks.

At the forefront were one hundred newly trained Western Militiamen.

They wore brand-new leather armor and held uniform spears. Although they were still tense, their formation was neat and their morale was high.

These men were trained by veteran militia members from the Southern Border. Although they lacked experience, they were quite disciplined.

Behind them were two hundred veteran militiamen who had been urgently transferred from various parts of the western border.

These people had experienced banditry and naval battles; almost everyone had blood on their hands.

Most striking were the nearly one hundred Azure-Clad Knights on the flanks.

They wore half-plate armor, the Southern Emblem on their breastplates gleaming in the sunlight, and held magic ore longswords in their hands.

The warhorse beneath him stood quietly, occasionally snorting, but never breaking formation.

Vio stood on horseback at the rear of the formation, with Jimmy, Gina, and Ansquey beside him.

Even Timothy stood to one side with a few close associates, calmly watching the rabble in the distance.

"Your Excellency," Timothy said calmly, "how do you intend to fight?"

Vio gazed at the team in the distance, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Look at those civilian soldiers," he said. "They can't even hold their weapons properly. How can they fight a war?"

Timothy followed his gaze and indeed saw the terrified expressions on the faces of the civilian soldiers and their trembling hands.

"Ulysses isn't stupid; he probably just wants to test the skills of your militia."

"Pass down the order." Vio didn't reply, but simply ordered: "Ordinary civilian soldiers who surrender will not be killed, and those who dare to resist will be killed without mercy."

He paused, his gaze falling on the fifty knights.

"As for those pirate knights..."

His voice turned colder.

"Kill without mercy."

The order was quickly relayed by the captains throughout the entire army.

As the horns sounded, the southern border's formation began to advance.

Although the western militia at the forefront were nervous, under the captain's command, their steps were neat and their shields were tightly linked, forming a moving shield wall.

They were usually accompanied by one or two veteran militiamen from the Southern Territory, which served as a form of protection.

When the civilian soldiers in Ulysses's ranks saw this scene, their faces turned deathly pale.

When the civilian soldiers in Ulysses's ranks saw this scene, their faces turned deathly pale.

"Oh my god... what is that...?"

"This kind of shield wall... we're definitely not in the same league!"

"Run..."

Before the battle even began, dozens of civilian soldiers threw down their weapons and ran away.

However, before they could escape, several pirates who were supervising the battle cut down a few of them with their swords, but this did not stop the retreat.

"Stay calm! Stay calm!"

The young nobleman shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one listened to him.

The civilian soldiers could only stare in terror at the approaching steel wall, their legs trembling, barely able to muster the strength to run away.

"Get the knights up here!" he shouted to the knight captain beside him.

The knight captain glanced at him, his eyes full of disdain.

"Who do you think you are, to order me around?"

The young nobleman's face flushed red, but he couldn't utter a word.

The knight captain snorted coldly, but he also understood that if he didn't take action soon, the morale of those civilian soldiers would be completely destroyed.

"Knights, follow me!"

Fifty pirate knights charged out on horseback, rushing towards the southern front.

Although their horsemanship was not excellent, their momentum was fierce, and the sound of their hooves thundered, giving them a certain imposing presence.

However, before they could reach the front lines, a squad of knights suddenly attacked from the flank!

Ansquie took the lead, his longsword raised high, and the nearly one hundred Azure Knights behind him crashed into the flank of the fifty pirate knights like a steel torrent!

"kill!"

The two groups of knights clashed!

However, it was a one-sided massacre.

Although those pirate knights were well-equipped, their swordsmanship was only at the advanced level of most basic swordsmanship. In the Kingdom of Rovia, they would indeed be considered qualified knights.

However, almost all of the Azure Peak Knights have mastered the basics of the Serpent Eagle Sword Technique!

The power boost from the Serpent Eagle Sword Technique makes each strike incredibly powerful.

The pirate knights tried their best to block, but the shockwaves made their arms go numb and they almost dropped their swords.

Their swords could only leave a few white marks on the armor of the Azure-Topped Knights, but when the Azure-Topped Knights' swords struck them, they could sever their limbs directly through their chainmail!

"ah!!!"

Screams immediately rose and fell.

In just one encounter, more than a dozen pirate knights fell from their horses.

They were either chopped off, had their throats pierced, or were cut down along with their horses.

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

The knight captain screamed in terror, but Ansquie decapitated him with a single sword stroke.

The remaining pirate knights scattered and fled, pursued relentlessly by the Azure Peak Knights.

On the battlefield, blood was already flowing like a river.

The civilian soldiers completely broke down; large groups of them threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground, and raised their hands high.

"We surrender! We surrender!"

"Spare me!"

The militia in the south did not choose to pursue them, but instead followed orders, silently surrounding them, confiscating their weapons, and escorting them to the rear.

Only those pirates who were still putting up a fight were caught up with one by one by the Azure-Topped Knights and cut down.

The battle was over in less than fifteen minutes.

The young nobleman, trembling on his horse, had only a few equally terrified confidants by his side, while the pirate knights had all been killed or wounded.

"Run...run!"

He finally realized what was happening, abruptly turned his horse around, and galloped away.

Several close associates followed closely behind, fleeing in a sorry state.

Vio watched the departing figures but did not order a pursuit.

"Your Excellency, are we just going to let them go like this?" Jimmy rode forward.

Vio shook his head.

"Letting them go back is the same," he said. "It will also show Ulysses that even if all five hundred of his men came together, they wouldn't last a quarter of an hour against me."

He paused, then looked into the distance.

"I'll show him what a true knight is."