Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

The Lord charged at the very front, his Giant Sword hoisted on his shoulder.

This had nothing to do with the notion that with great power comes great responsibility; he simply wanted to be the first to take the castle wall, creating enough space for those behind him to fight.

Usually, only the strongest warrior could be tasked with being the first over the wall, and he naturally wouldn’t let anyone else take his place.

’I’m also a little worried that old general Cross might pull some kind of trick.’ The Lord opted for a lightning strike—seize the wall before the enemy could react, and worry about the rest later!

The Black Stone Castle archers, who had been so suppressed by Feder’s longbowmen that they hadn’t dared to peek out, were hiding in the wall’s corner towers. They hadn’t dared to trade shots before, but now, with the enemy right under their noses, they could hide behind the battlements and fire at will. How could they possibly pass up a chance to kick a man when he’s down?

They immediately let loose on the Lord, hoping to turn the flashy-looking bastard—who was obviously a big shot—into a human pincushion.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Unfortunately, against his fine Three-Layered Heavy Armor, these arrows did nothing but annoy the Lord.

This is why a fine suit of Plate Armor is often valuable enough to be a family heirloom—because being armored versus unarmored are two completely different realities.

Even someone like Monvert, the Wolf Island Count with his Profound Combat Qi, wouldn’t dare charge headfirst into a rain of arrows without his armor.

To pierce Three-Layered Heavy Armor, one would need a top-tier expert like Gus shooting the bow, or they would have to use a Bed Crossbow.

Crowded at the top of the wall was a group of Southern Border Guard Army soldiers. They wore Nose Guard Helmets with a layer of Chain Armor over their Leather Armor. They wielded weapons like Long Spears and hooked scythes; the Lord even saw a brightly polished Grass Fork. Their guiding principle was clearly "an inch longer, an inch stronger."

Without a doubt, these were regular soldiers—a far cry from the elite Heavy Armored Infantry, but still a cut above conscripted Militia.

Just as Fujero had said, the truly elite troops of the Guard Army had already been dispatched to the main front.

Facing the Iron Canister charging up the Cloud Ladder, they let out a collective roar and thrust their weapons forward.

One white-haired soldier, clearly a veteran, made a cunning thrust with his Long Spear, aiming for a gap in the Lord’s Armor.

Had this been an ordinary soldier of the Heavy Armored Infantry, he would have either been pushed off the Cloud Ladder by their combined strength or been pinned by the veteran’s spear, his movements restricted, before being swarmed and beaten to death by soldiers with Crane-beak Hammers.

Unfortunately for them, they were facing the genuine article: a Lion Hunter Knight and the Baron of High Cliff Castle.

SHIING!

A flash of silver light—a sword stroke of absolute perfection—severed all the weapons before him. The next instant, he crashed into the crowd, followed by a chorus of bloodcurdling screams.

BOOM!

Clad in over a hundred pounds of Three-Layered Iron Armor, the Lord was no different from a human tank. Those he slammed into were sent flying like tattered sacks, their chests caved in, as if they had been hit by a charging, armored warhorse. They were clearly not going to make it.

"Remember this in your next life: stay far away from anyone carrying a Two-Handed Greatsword!"

Seeing the Black Stone Castle Guard Army instantly surround him, preparing to swarm him, the Lord was still in the mood to show off. He flicked his Holy Sword back into its sheath, took a firm two-handed grip on the leather-wrapped hilt of his Giant Sword, gathered all his strength, and spun in a mighty circle.

SWOOOSH!

A massive wave of blood surged into the air. Like stalks of wheat before a scythe, a whole swath of the Black Stone Castle Guard Army on the wall was cut down in a single stroke.

In an instant, a space nearly three blade-lengths wide around the Lord was completely cleared.

Blood sprayed everywhere, pooling into streams on the ground as the metallic stench of gore filled the air. The soldiers who had been cut in half at the waist weren’t dead yet. It had happened so quickly that there was no pain on their faces, only dazed shock as they stared at the lower halves of their bodies—separated from them for the first time in their lives. And then... a chorus of shrill, agonizing wails erupted without end.

For a moment, the top of the wall was silent save for the screaming. Every guard stared in utter horror at the figure standing in the center of the carnage. The sound of panicked gulping was audible as a single thought consumed their minds.

’Is that even human?’

That last group of Mastiff Men had been ferocious, but even they couldn’t withstand their relentless assault and were eventually surrounded and beaten to death.

’But this person before us now... can he really be defeated by sheer numbers?’

The Barbarians right behind the Lord weren’t going to pause just because the enemy was in a daze. Instead, they surged onto the wall with even greater speed.

"Go, go, go! Hold back those Northern Guys!" an officer who had snapped out of his stupor urged furiously.

They knew this man was a warrior of supreme Martial Arts, but an individual’s prowess couldn’t decide a war. ’If it could, Giant Dragons would rule the world, not humans!’

’Even though we didn’t see the shimmer of Combat Qi in that last move, he must have used some unknown Power. It’s impossible to have such an effect otherwise. The toll on him must have been huge!’

’We can take him down by just throwing more men at him. After all, anyone who’s human will eventually get tired.’

They comforted themselves with this line of thinking. To cut dozens of men in Chain Armor in half at the waist using nothing but physical Power was utterly beyond human capability. It was illogical; there was no way to explain it.

The courage of this isolated Black Stone Castle garrison was truly commendable. Their morale returned, and spurred on by roars of fury, they began coordinating and forming up.

The War Axe-wielding Beastmen crashed into the Black Stone Castle Guard Army, kicking off the cruelest, most brutal phase of the melee.

Unfortunately, that brutality was a one-way street, reserved entirely for the Southern Soldiers.

Both sides possessed a strong will to fight. In fact, it was as if this isolated garrison was on steroids; their resolve was only a step below that of the High Cliff Castle forces and even a bit stronger than the Wolf Island soldiers. However, a gap in true strength is not something that can be bridged by courage alone.