Lord: I can see loyalty.

Blackwater City, above the Blackwood in the North.

This is a small town that had been invaded and occupied by the Grey Hyena Mercenary Group of the Southern Territory long before the war began.

The small town sits on a hill on the north side of the Black Forest. The walls are not high, only about two people high, but they are thickly built of stones and remain sturdy despite the wind and rain.

In front of the city gate was a dirt road leading to the north, with harvested wheat fields on both sides, leaving only knee-high stubble, shivering in the cold wind.

The streets in the city are narrow and winding, and most of the houses on both sides are made of stone with black tiles on the roof and wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys.

But there was much less smoke from cooking fires today than usual. Many households didn't even light a fire, and their doors and windows were tightly shut. Occasionally, a brave person would peek out through the gap in the curtains, only to quickly retreat back inside.

They were afraid.

News of the Northern army's arrival in Blackwood had already spread throughout the small town.

Three days ago, the Gray Hyena Mercenary Group and the militia from the Southern Territory officially moved in and took over the city's defenses.

They brought news, but also the smell of war.

The local residents didn't know who would win the war; all they knew was that their homes were about to become battlefields.

"Have you heard? Tens of thousands of people have arrived from the North."

"Tens of thousands? How many are there in the southern border?"

"I don't know, but it seems there are only a few hundred people stationed here. The Gray Hyena mercenary group, including the militia, has less than a thousand."

"Less than a thousand against tens of thousands? How can you possibly win that?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let the soldiers hear you."

Similar conversations were taking place quietly in various corners of the city.

No one spoke loudly, no one dared to make a sound; the entire city was shrouded in a stifling silence, broken only by the sound of the wind and the occasional clatter of horses' hooves.

On the city wall, the Grey Hyena mercenaries are patrolling.

They wore the leather armor uniformly issued by the Southern Territory, with standard longswords hanging at their waists, and their eyes warily scanned the open fields outside the city.

At the crenellations of the city wall, several crossbows were set up, their strings fully drawn, the thick bolts gleaming coldly in the twilight.

The militiamen stood beside the crossbows, their knuckles white from gripping the triggers.

The militia captain, Glenn, stood atop the highest watchtower on the city wall, gripping the massive magic ore greatsword, his gaze sweeping across the northern horizon like that of a hawk.

He was tall and strong, more than half a head taller than the average person, and stood on the watchtower like an iron tower.

His face was stern, his brows were furrowed, and there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

Since joining the Southern Territory, he had experienced countless battles, but this time was different. This time, the enemy was no longer a scattered pirate force, but the most elite knightly coalition of the Northern Territory.

There were 30,000 men, while their garrison here numbered less than 1,000.

In other words, if the enemy attacks, they must hold out until their main force arrives to provide support.

"Captain Glenn!" A young militiaman ran up the watchtower, panting. "Enemy activity detected to the north!"

Glenn's brow furrowed even more. "How many people?"

"We can't see clearly, it's too far away, but there's a lot of smoke and dust, at least several thousand people, several times our number!"

Glenn was silent for a moment, then turned around and walked towards the foot of the city wall.

"Pass down the order: everyone to be on high alert. Nock the crossbows, archers to their positions, and spearmen to form ranks behind the city gates."

"yes!"

The bugle sounded, deep and urgent, echoing under the twilight sky.

On the city wall, the mercenaries quickened their pace of patrol, the militiamen gripped their weapons tightly, and the crossbowmen aimed their bolts at the north.

Behind the city gate, dozens of spearmen stood in a square formation, their spears pointing diagonally forward, their tips gleaming coldly in the twilight.

Outside the city, a dark mass of people was approaching.

They were not knights, but ordinary infantrymen—or rather, a group of people dressed in various clothes and carrying various weapons.

Some people wore tattered leather armor, some wore farmers' coarse cloth clothes, and some even wore only a thin coat, shivering in the cold wind.

Their weapons were also varied, including longswords, short knives, spears, and some even carried sharpened wooden sticks.

Their steps were disorderly, their formation loose; they were more like a rabble than an army.

"That's the Allied Knights Army from the North? No way..." a young militiaman couldn't help but ask.

Glenn shook his head. "Looks like he's not a key player, just cannon fodder."

He could see clearly that although this group was numerous, their fighting ability was questionable.

Most of them were farmers who had been forcibly conscripted, and some were even desperate criminals who came just to try their luck for a little reward.

The real elite—those knights in full armor, riding tall horses—were still behind.

They wanted to use these cannon fodder to exhaust the defenders' arrows and stamina, and then launch a fatal attack when the defenders were exhausted.

"Don't waste arrows," Glenn said calmly. "Wait until they get close before firing. Ballistae should prioritize those wearing armor."

The militiamen nodded and gripped their bowstrings tightly.

On the open field outside the city, the rabble drew ever closer.

On the open field outside the city, the rabble drew ever closer.

Their footsteps were like muffled thunder, shaking the ground. Some were shouting slogans, some were cursing, and others were thinking about how to escape.

They understood that they were not there to fight, but to die.

Finally, they came within range of the ballistae.

"put!"

At Glenn's command, the ballistae on the city walls fired simultaneously.

The thick crossbow bolts whistled through the twilight and crashed straight into the crowd.

Several farmers who rushed to the front were all pierced by crossbow bolts! They fell to the ground screaming in agony.

There was a brief moment of chaos in the crowd, but they were quickly driven forward by the supervisory team behind them.

"Release the arrows!"

The bowstring trembled, and arrows rained down, falling into the crowd and splashing blood.

Screams, wails, and curses mingled together, but the farmers kept charging forward. It wasn't that they weren't afraid of death, but rather that something even more terrifying lay behind them.

The knights in armor were wielding longswords and driving them away.

"Damn it..." a militiaman cursed, pulling the bowstring even tighter.

More and more corpses lay beneath the city walls, their blood staining the ground red, but the number of those charging forward did not decrease.

There were so many of them that the arrows couldn't keep up. Finally, the first group reached the city wall. They set up makeshift ladders and began to climb.

"Spearmen, charge!"

Glenn raised his greatsword and charged toward the city wall. With a sweeping motion, three farmers who had just climbed onto the wall were cut in half at the waist and fell down screaming.

The militiamen followed suit, using their spears to stab down the climbing enemies.

The battle reached its climax, with swords flashing and blood splattering everywhere on and off the city walls.

At that very moment, in the open fields outside the city, the true elite forces finally moved.

One hundred family knights, dressed in silver-white half-plate armor with various emblems, carrying long spears and riding tall horses, charged out from the rear of the line. The sound of their hooves was like thunder, shaking the city walls.

They were elite knights from various small and medium-sized families in the North, each with blood on their swords and their family crests engraved on their armor.

Their charge was like a tidal wave, crashing straight towards the city gate!

"Stop them!" Glenn roared.

The ballistae turned their cannons and fired at the knights.

One or two warhorses were hit by arrows and fell to the ground with screams, but more knights rushed forward.

They were too fast; the ballistae didn't have time to reload a second shot.

"boom--!"

The city gate was smashed open, and wood chips flew everywhere.

Silver-clad knights surged in like a tide, their lances piercing the bodies of militiamen, their warhorses trampling their shields.

Anger flashed in Glenn's eyes.

He even leaped off the city wall, raised his greatsword high, and slashed straight at the nearest knight!

"die!"

The greatsword, carrying immense force, cleaved the knight and his horse in two!

Blood gushed out, splattering all over Glenn, but he didn't stop, continuing to swing his sword and kill.

But no matter how strong he was, he was only one person. There were too many knights. They came from all directions and surrounded Glenn.

"Captain! Watch out!" a militiaman shouted.

Glenn gritted his teeth and continued swinging his sword.

He had several wounds on his body, his leather armor was torn open, and blood was seeping out, but his eyes remained firm and his sword remained steady.

Just as the battle reached its climax, an even more rapid sound of hooves came from outside the city gate!

But the newcomers were not knights from the North, but knights from the South—the Knights of the Azure Peak!

Leading the way was Jimmy, who took the lead with his longsword raised high, followed by nearly a hundred Azure Peak Knights. They wore half-plate armor with the emblem of the Southern Territory engraved on their breastplates, and their longswords gleamed coldly in the twilight.

They surged forward like a torrent of steel, crashing into the flank of the Northern Knights.

"kill!"

Jimmy's sword was as fast as lightning, piercing a knight's throat in one stroke.

The knights behind them followed closely, brandishing their longswords and forcing the northern knights to retreat step by step.

Glenn breathed a sigh of relief, propped his greatsword on the ground, and panted heavily.

Reinforcements from the south have arrived!