Chapter 221 : Chapter 221
Chapter 221. A Great Number of Legions Stationed in the Land of Resilience
When Xilan’s military banner was finally planted atop the tower of the last castle of the Kadiya Kingdom, the setting sun was staining the broken walls blood-red.
The victory report that the entire territory had been recovered was sent back to the Kroll Royal Palace. William spread open the map, his fingertip tracing across the vast expanse of the Kadiya Royal Territory.
The fertile fields were still there, but they were overgrown with wild grass. The abandoned villages were like gnawed bones, exuding a deathly silence in the wind.
“Establish the buffer zone first.”
He murmured while looking at the markers on the War Sand Table. Then he wrote an imperial comment in vermilion on Xilan’s Memorial.
Commoners from the Western Frontier are to be transferred into Kadiya. All who relocate there shall be exempt from taxes for three years.
The moment the royal brush fell, the Kroll commoner caravans that had already gathered in the Western Frontier began to move.
They pushed handcarts and carried farming tools, slowly advancing along the Relay Stations of the Silver Oakleaf Royal Territory. The dust they raised mingled with the drifting clouds at the edge of the sky.
Serfs were also incorporated into the migration teams, and the clatter of iron chains sounded especially grating across the wilderness.
Three months later, they finally arrived at Kadiya’s Royal Territory. After the commoners and Glory Knights were assigned their respective lands, they officially began farming those fertile fields.
The overseer knights cracked their whips, driving the serfs to turn the soil across the desolate ridges. Iron plows cut through the cracked ground, exposing the dark earth beneath.
On the other side, protesting Memorials piled up on the royal desk like falling snow.
The Envoy from the Dragon Kingdom slapped the table and angrily denounced him for “devouring a neighboring state,” while the envoys from the surrounding small kingdoms tearfully complained that “their territories had been occupied.” William merely ordered the Inner Attendants to stack these Memorials in a corner, his gaze fixed all the while on the western border of Kadiya.
At that moment, on the wilderness of Kadiya’s Western Frontier, the wind swept up sand and gravel, lashing against the wooden sign on the Watchtower. The carved words “Orc Activity” had already been worn shallow by wind and sand.
For the past several months, the hoofbeats of Orc cavalry had nearly become part of daily life here.
They raided the Border Fortress like packs of wolves, then immediately withdrew once the harassment was over, leaving Xilan endlessly vexed.
At last, William’s transfer order arrived at the main camp in the Kroll Royal Territory on a stormy night.
Ten Royal Legions marched out through pooled rainwater. Rain streamed down their armor in thin rivulets, and their passage carved two dark tracks across the wilderness.
When the two Personal Guard Legions, the Heart of Steel and the Hand of Courage, appeared on the horizon, even the veterans could not help holding their breath.
They were the elites into whom His Highness William had poured several years of painstaking effort. The Magic Crystals embedded in the soldiers’ armor glimmered coldly through the rain curtain. As the spear formations advanced, the reflected light from their spearheads looked like a moving silver sea.
The shields of the Heart of Steel were cast with intersecting chains and gears. They had been forged from Black Iron mined from the deepest Mineral Veins of the kingdom.
The war banner of the Hand of Courage was embroidered with a clenched fist, and every Flag Bearer was a survivor of a hundred battles who had crawled out from mountains of the dead.
To gather enough men for these two Legions, His Highness William had nearly emptied the Royal Family’s armory. Even the finest noble graduates from the Knight Academy had been given priority and placed within their ranks.
It was said that even the weakest knight among them possessed Gold-Rank Combat Power, making their configuration even superior to that of the Gold Legion.
At this moment, the two Legions were establishing defenses along the ridgeline of the Western Frontier Fortress.
This was the position closest to the Orc Kingdom. Another fifty li forward lay the Border Fortress of the Orc Kingdom.
The soldiers of the Heart of Steel buried Enchanted Mines on both sides of the Canyon, their fuses connected to Alarm Bells placed on the heights.
The Hand of Courage split into small squads, riding Armored Warhorses as they patrolled the wilderness. Sounding Stones were embedded in their horseshoes, and once they stepped into an ambush zone commonly used by the Orcs, they would release a deafening cry.
The sentry on the Watchtower suddenly struck the Bronze Bell. At the far end of the wilderness, a dense mass of cavalry appeared. The Orcs had begun gathering again.
A’gu, the Legion Commander of the Heart of Steel, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and watched the soldiers of the Personal Guard Legions tighten their grips on their spears. A cold, hard curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Let them taste what true steel is.”
The rain continued to fall, washing over the cold gleam of the spearheads and the scorched earth of the Western Frontier.
The hoofbeats of the Orc harassment Legion rolled across the grassland like muffled thunder.
This was their usual rhythm: first probe with small groups of cavalry, then tear open the defensive line while the defenders were mobilizing.
Yet today, there was no chaotic dust rising at the end of the horizon. There were only two silent steel formations, like reefs embedded in the earth.
“Charge!” the Orc Legion Commander roared, raising his bloodstained battle axe. Behind him, the Wolf Riders bent low over their mounts, their fangs flashing with savage light in the morning sun.
When they were a hundred meters from the defensive line, the shields of the Heart of Steel Legion suddenly rose, linking together into a cold, gleaming iron wall.
“Release.”
The moment Legion Commander A’gu’s roar fell, crossbow bolts poured out from behind the wall like a rainstorm. The instant they pierced the Orcs’ leather armor, pale-blue sparks exploded.
The momentum of the Wolf Riders’ charge abruptly weakened. At that moment, the cavalry of the Hand of Courage Legion had already charged out like arrows loosed from the bowstring.
Aila’s silver hair flew in the wind. The long sword in her hand drew a dazzling arc of light, precisely knocking aside the battle axe of the Orc at the very front.
The instant her Warhorse crashed into the enemy formation, the knights behind her formed a wedge formation. Wherever their spearheads passed, the Orcs fell like harvested stalks of wheat.
The leading Orc Legendary Combatant roared and lunged at Aila, his giant axe cleaving down with a howl that seemed to tear the air apart.
Aila neither dodged nor retreated. Her long sword swept upward and hooked around the axe haft. At the same time, A’gu had already charged in from the side, his war hammer smashing toward the Orc’s knee with tremendous force.
That was the only place on the Legendary Orc that was not protected by thick hide.
With a crisp crack, the Legendary Orc dropped to one knee. In that same instant, Aila’s long sword had already pierced through his throat.
From the beginning of the charge to the fall of the Legendary Combatant, only ten minutes had passed.
The remaining Orcs stared at the corpses of their companions strewn across the ground, then suddenly let out terrified howls.
They had never seen such an army before.
The shield formation of the Heart of Steel was impenetrable, and their crossbow bolts always found the enemy’s openings with precision. The cavalry of the Hand of Courage worked together seamlessly, like a spinning blade. Every strike carried the perfect coordination born of training pushed to the extreme.
When the last Orc turned to flee, Aila raised her hand and signaled that there was no need to pursue.
She reined in her Warhorse and looked at the wolf corpses and battle axes scattered across the wilderness. Drops of blood slid from her long sword and fell onto the grass, spreading into a small, dark stain.
A’gu walked to her side, his war hammer planted against the ground. Blood was still dripping from his iron gauntlet.
“Three minutes faster than during the drills.”
Aila looked in the direction of the Kroll Kingdom. Sunlight happened to sweep across the Royal Crest on her armor.
“This is only the beginning. We absolutely must not fail the trust His Highness has placed in us.”