Chapter 218: Burning Kurrus Fortress and Marquis Charles’s Ultimate Defeat (Part 2)
Translator: The Light
Editor: Kenny
Due to the betrayal of the new Underground Rat King Boolean, changing sides to Clyde’s party to carry out a surprise attack, Kurrus Fortress fell into chaos.
Steinbeck Fief’s troops also took advantage of this chaos to attack. They set out from the Summy Plain’s Saka Fortress towards the burnt down fortress gate of Kurrus Fortress while launching an offensive attack. Sacred Moon Dragon Knight Princess Verly had also taken the lead. She wore a suit of armor and a mask to cover her face. She used Dragon Knight exclusive battle qi and bravely charged forward. Behind her were Paladin Princess Alicia along with the beautiful knight regiment. Under the cover of battle qi, the knight regiment charged forward violently, knocking down the defending troops who attempted to guard the fortress gate.
The defending troops who rushed to the battle had no time to organize a defense on the fortress wall. In this situation where the city gate was already destroyed, the defending troops lacked the power to reverse the situation. Their advantage in number was also partially restrained by the surprise attack from the underground ratmen. Those underground ratmen were obviously from the attacking side. They just attacked the defending troops while ignoring the troops of Steinbeck Fief. The troops of Steinbeck Fief seemed to have a tacit understanding. They didn’t attack the underground ratmen as if they already had a secret agreement. Moreover, it would be strange to say that they didn’t have any secret agreements.
Clyde directly advanced towards the commander basecamp where Marquis Charles was staying after resolving the external help of the Dark Church. He had promised Miss Sivia that he would not kill her father. Therefore, Clyde intended to look for Marquis Charles to discuss the matter. Otherwise, he could remotely locate the position of the other party based on the coordinates and use a long-range energy attack to destroy the place where Marquis Charles was staying. He basically didn’t need to spend any extra effort to meet Marquis Charles in person.
The personal guards of Marquis Charles spared no effort in resisting Clyde’s attacks. Under the terrified gaze of these guards, Clyde was just like a God of War who had descended to the human realm. He was unimpeded all the way through. As if he had activated some kind of plug-in, he killed all those guards easily in a single move. When the guards were slashing Clyde, there was no damage on him other than a few sparks. If Clyde weren’t wearing the standard armor of Adrian Empire’s soldiers, the guards would have thought that he was wearing an invulnerable divine artifact armor.
“Lord Marquis Charles, we can’t stop it. An assassin is attacking, please leave!”
“A single assassin?”
Marquis Charles revealed an ugly expression on his face as he walked out to see Clyde, who was gradually approaching him. He was wearing an ordinary armor suit, which was already dyed red with blood. Clyde was like an invincible God of War. Wherever he passed, the guards blocking his way couldn’t avoid their fate of being slashed into pieces.
Was he an assassin? He looked more like a God of War than an assassin. While Marquis Charles was hesitating, Clyde continued killing people who blocked his way as he walked towards Marquis Charles. Clyde finally saw the true appearance of his opponent. Marquis Charles had short black hair. His hair color was the same as his daughter Miss Sivia. This middle-aged man wore a precious golden armor as it was particularly eye-catching among the defending troops. Marquis Charles looked very calm. There was no trace of panic on his old face. After all, anyone who could become a marquis would likely be a very experienced person.
“Lord Marquis Charles, I took the liberty of disturbing you. I’m Clyde, magistrate of Steinbeck Fief’s army. I’m here to negotiate terms with you on behalf of my lord.”
“What is your lord’s intention? Adrian Empire’s imperial family has already assigned Needham Plain to me. I am the rightful owner of Needham Plain. Attacking here is...”
“Lord Marquis Charles, whatever Adrian Empire’s imperial family says is irrelevant, both you and I know this. Your fief in itself is not smaller than Needham Plain, why are you so greedy? If by chance something were to happen to you here, then other people might seize your fief.”
Clyde was calm and collected. He dared to confront Marquis Charles and his guards alone. Marquis Charles was just a Senior Warrior himself. He couldn’t even touch Clyde. When Marquis Charles was hesitating, Clyde gave a personal accessory of Miss Sivia to him. After seeing this accessory, the expression on Marquis Charles’ face stiffened. After all, it was impossible for him to be not concerned after his daughter went missing.
“Sivia... she is at your place!”
“Yes, my lord invited her as a guest. Lord Marquis, no need to worry, my lord is also a woman, nothing strange will happen.”
Marquis Charles was silent for a moment before finally compromising. He was not an iron-headed person. After all, the matter of fighting desperately between aristocrats wasn’t profitable. Clyde was right. Stopping before going too far was not a defeat. Now that the gates of Kurrus Fortress had already been breached, there was no barrier to hold their position now. Moreover, the monsters of Needham Plain’s underground world were difficult to deal with, especially those inconsistent humanoid underground ratmen monsters as they were even more difficult to deal with. No matter how one looked at it, it was a hot mess.
“Lord Marquis Charles, I... my lord has said that as long as you withdraw from Needham Plain, we can sign a three-year peace treaty, guaranteeing to not take any action against your fief, what do you think?”
“Okay... fine. However, we have to give up each other’s claims for war reparations. Moreover, I have thought of a way to deceive the Douglas Clan, but I need your cooperation.”
“No problem, I will contact my lord immediately.”
“By the way, Earl Royle might not necessarily give up. I can only guarantee the withdrawal of my troops. As for him, it’s hard to say.”
“It’s not a problem, someone will take care of that fellow.”
After the brief interaction, Clyde finally reached a peace agreement with Marquis Charles. Marquis Charles’ troops pretended to be defeated and quickly withdrew, fleeing back to their own fief from Kuruss Fortress. The external reason was that their granary was destroyed by monsters, so they couldn’t continue to fight. While the reason why Steinbeck Fief’s army didn’t send any troops to pursue Marquis Charles’ troops was that they had to suppress the humanoid underground ratmen monsters that attacked Marcus Plain. After Marquis Charles’s defeat, Needham Plain’s control was already determined; Steinbeck Fief’s army had won. After defeating Viscount Aaron and recruiting Earl Winissa, they had finally expelled Marquis Charles’ main troops.
After Marquis Charles’s defeat, only Earl Royle, stationed in Tonister City, was left in Needham Plain. This earl had over 30,000 troops under him. They defended the Grand Tonitas Fortress, seemingly hanging on and refusing to clear out. This fellow had no intention to withdraw even though his master, Marquis Charles, was already defeated. It seemed that he planned to fight until the end. Clyde had already commanded his little brother, Ancient Demon King Philip, to attack Earl Royle’s troops, intending to drive that fellow out of Needham Plain.
Before Marquis Charles withdrew, he met Miss Sivia. Her complexion was red. She shyly lowered her head, not daring to look at her father. She also didn’t dare to mention her relationship with Clyde. After Marquis Charles saw that his daughter was fine, he wasn’t too worried. He was surprised to see that Sivia seemed to have grown up in the past few days when she went missing. It was a strange feeling of a child turning into a woman.
“Sivia, is Steinbeck Fief’s suzerain truly a lady?”
“Yes... yes, father. I’m sorry because I disappeared and made you worry before.”
“That’s good, you don’t need to follow me back. I have already signed a peace treaty with Steinbeck Fief. You can stay here as an envoy.”
After Marquis Charles had determined that the Steinbeck Fief’s suzerain was indeed a woman, he was at ease to leave Sivia behind in Steinbeck Fief as an envoy. He didn’t know that this was an act of sending a sheep into the wolf’s mouth. His treasured daughter was already, more or less, eaten by Clyde.
After the loss of Needham Plain, Douglas Clan, as the behind-the-scenes financial backer of Marquis Charles, would definitely not let the matter slide. Although Marquis Charles’ defeat seemed like an irredeemable strategic failure, the merchants had the nature of getting some form of compensation even when suffering losses. They would definitely try to get some benefits from Marquis Charles as compensation. To avoid Douglas Clan having their attention on his daughter, Marquis Charles let Sivia stay here under the guise of envoy. Like that, she would avoid the limelight. Once the account with Douglas Clan was settled, he would allow her daughter to return.
After Marquis Charles had retreated in defeat, the chaos of Kurrus Fortress also stopped. The chaos came and left fast, recovering the calmness as if nothing had happened. If it weren’t for the ashes that were yet to be cleaned up, the people wouldn’t know what had happened here.
The underground ratmen quickly retreated to the underground world under the command of the new Underground Rat King Boolean. After pledging loyalty to Clyde, the troops under Boolean wouldn’t attack the aboveground world in a short period of time. With Needham Plain under the control of Clyde, it was very unlikely for Boolean to seek death by provoking Clyde’s prestige. It was also busy organizing its subordinates to seize this chance to attack the insectmen monsters that had lost Insect King Monster and continue to fight for the control of the underground world against insectmen monsters. It was very unlikely for them to come to the aboveground anytime soon.
Clyde ordered his troops to repair the damages of Kurrus Fortress after the attack of underground ratmen as he stayed here on standby. Now, he was waiting for the news of Tonister City. As long as Ancient Demon King Philip would defeat Earl Royle, Clyde would save a lot of effort.