256. Clear Forward
The march to Lord Konfir's castle was agonizingly swift. Captain Newt, now a prisoner marching alongside his remaining forces, watched in stunned silence as the Kim soldiers operated. There was no chaos, no looting, no unnecessary violence. Hughes, leading a core unit of a hundred men, ignored the desperate pleas of local officials and the shocked stares of townsfolk. Their focus was absolute.
The castle of Holland Barony, while sturdy, was built on the assumption that any siege would take weeks. Its thick, oak-and-iron gate, reinforced by magic, was considered impregnable to conventional small scale magic fire.
Hughes halted his men fifty yards from the gate. Lord Konfir, a panicked mess in a velvet robe, was visible on the parapet, shouting threats and desperate orders to a handful of house guards.
"Lord Konfir," Hughes's voice boomed, carrying easily in the clear morning air. "Surrender your person to the Duchess of Kim Dukedom. We are not here for your life or your people’s."
Konfir's response was a scream of defiance, followed by a handful of ineffective crossbow bolts skittering off the armor of the Kim guards.
Hughes didn't even look up. He signaled two men carrying a peculiar, iron-bound wooden chest. They moved to the base of the gate and quickly placed what looked like heavy, waxy bundles against the thick wood.
Captain Newt's eyes widened. He recognized the smell, which felt like oil of somesort. Explosives.
Hughes raised his hand. "Clear the field. Fall back to safety."
The Kim soldiers retreated with practiced speed. Captain Newt and his men were shoved roughly behind a rubble pile just as Hughes’s signal dropped.
The blast was concussive.
K-K-KRAKOOM!
It was louder and sharper than the naval cannons, an earth-shaking shockwave that sent dust, wood, and stone flying high above the battlements. The legendary, enchanted castle gate, the symbol of Lord Konfir's authority, didn't splinter or crack; it simply vaporized, leaving a jagged, gaping hole in the castle wall.
The entire operation, from the moment the first shell hit the port until the final blast opened the castle gates, had taken just over two hours.
Hughes was through the breach before the dust settled, his unit moving with the chilling efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Lord Konfir was captured less than five minutes later, dragged screaming and distraught from his balcony by two Kim infantrymen.
Captain Newt watched his Baron’s pathetic capture, the final dignity of his resistance stripped away by science he couldn't comprehend. He glanced at the gaping hole in the wall, then at the rifle-bearing soldiers marching back to the port.
"A good leader gets victory by any means necessary," Newt whispered, the sorrow returning to his voice. "But the best leader knows when the means of the enemy have made your own completely obsolete." He bowed his head, accepting the cold reality of the new world Princess Ravenna had brought with her. His barony had fallen not to a great army, but to a few hours of relentless, efficient industry.
A sudden stir of movement drew his attention. The main contingent of the Kim forces parted, and a figure strode into the shell-shocked audience chamber.
It was Lady Aurora Flask.
She was draped in a deep crimson gown, starkly contrasting the soot and rubble of the room. Her fiery hair seemed to drink the light, and she moved with a predatory grace, flanked by her two stern-faced private knights. She carried the chilling confidence of a woman who knew she was dealing not with equals, but with inevitable subordinates.
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Lord Konfir, pale and disheveled in his velvet robes, was hauled forward by two Kim infantrymen. He trembled, looking less like a noble lord and more like a captured beast brought for slaughter.
Aurora’s eyes, bright and merciless, scanned the pathetic scene, the fallen tapestry, the splintered oak, the terrified lord with cool detachment. She didn't offer comfort or courtesy. She simply approached the shattered remnants of Konfir’s table and slammed a roll of parchment onto the scarred wood.
"We are not here to annex your entire, useless territory, Lord Konfir," Aurora stated, her voice clear and carrying, though stripped of any unnecessary volume. "You simply have to sign this surrender agreement and spare us all further tedious effort."
Konfir's eyes, wide with a mixture of terror and disbelief, focused weakly on the document. He swallowed hard, a dry, ragged sound in the sudden quiet.
Aurora leaned forward, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous threat. "We don't have time for negotiation, Lord. Are you by any chance holding out hope for reinforcement?" She tapped the table once, the sharp, deliberate sound cutting through his indecision. "The Empire, as I am sure you have realized, is right now in a profound state of chaos. The Imperial Court has neither the time nor the resources to spare on one small, lowly barony. They are far too occupied with Prince Landon's rebellion and the Conley invaders."
She paused, letting the weight of the mainland's political collapse sink into him. Then, her smile became a thin, glaring line, a perfect imitation of Ravenna. "Or perhaps you would be more willing if we killed your family and executed your loyal Captain, and then actually annexed Konfir Territory? That, I assure you, would be a much more permanent arrangement."
"No! No! I will sign!" Konfir choked out, his terror overwhelming the last remnants of his noble dignity. He seized the quill, his hand shaking so violently that the ink splattered, but his signature was scrawled instantly across the bottom of the surrender treaty. He signed it not with defeat, but with a desperate, naked plea for survival.
Aurora snatched the documents immediately, her eyes flicking over the signed seals with surgical precision. She gave a curt nod of satisfaction and turned toward her Knight Captain, Hughes.
"Captain Hughes! The documents are secured. Let's move!"
Captain Hughes, his helm pulled low, barked the orders instantly to his waiting men. "Requisition teams! Move out! Secure all fast-moving carriages, and catalogue all food supplies. We need every able-bodied horse in the Konfir estate and enough provisions for two weeks' advance!"
The castle, minutes before a symbol of feudal authority, was instantly transformed into a well-managed military depot. Kim soldiers, operating with chilling, clinical discipline, did not engage in chaotic looting; they executed systematic requisition.
Konfir watched in horrified fascination as the last vestiges of his power were packed into saddlebags.
"W-what did they make you sign, my Lord?" Captain Newt asked, his voice low with dread, watching the efficient theft unfold.
Lord Konfir finally lifted his head, wiping a bead of cold sweat from his temple. He looked down at the parchment still clutched in his hand, a prisoner even to the ink on the page.
"A concession... for a fair trade route through Konfir," he read out, the words tasting bitter. "That was their initial justification for this attack anyway. They've seized control of our logistics. But the other terms..."
He swallowed hard, his eyes wide as he reread the clauses, the true cunning of the Kim Dukedom's victory revealed. "A say In succession for the next lord of Konfir, zero local tax for all Kim Dukedom businesses, and thirty percent of the revenue from our dungeons will flow directly to their treasury."
"That's absurd!" Captain Newt replied, realizing the terms were not too oppressive, yet surgically invasive. They allowed Konfir to survive as an entity, but transformed his Barony into an economic vassal. It was neither so harsh as to incite rebellion nor so light as to be meaningless, just strategically perfect. "It’s a perpetual revenue farm," Captain Newt muttered under his breath.
Konfir, his eyes darting frantically toward the door, paid him no mind. "What did the Kim knights say? Are they returning now that the deed is done?" he asked, his voice strained with hope.
Captain Newt shook his head slowly, the dread in his heart returning with sharp finality. He had caught fragments of the officers’ communication just before Aurora’s arrival.
"No, my Lord," Captain Newt confirmed. "I heard them talk about advancing along this route immediately. They will not stop here."
"They will be moving clear forward... in the most direct route... till they reach Flask County." The words hung heavy in the air, transforming Konfir’s barony from a Ancornan Barony into a mere, conquered stepping stone for the next phase of Ravenna’s relentless conquest.