Chapter 54: Conquest { XIV }

The whole northern border fell silent!Only the faint cry of Judus and the neighing of Glenwood horses approaching from afar could be heard.

Oliver turned his head sharply at the sound of his son's voice, his eyes widening in terror.

Rowan stood close to Judus, the black dagger in his hand dripping with blood.

Judus' eyes were wide open in terror as he stared at his severed right hand, lying on the ground beside him. His breathing came in ragged gasps, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Oliver was still trying to comprehend the scene when Rowan moved again. The dagger in his hand blurred, and in the next moment, Judus' left hand hit the ground!

"No! My hands! Ahhhh! My hands!" Judus screamed in agony.

He turned towards his father, who was standing right beside him, his eyes filled with a frantic plea for help. But the man he looked to for salvation could only stare back in horror.

Oliver's eyes turned red with regret, anger, and sadness—this was never part of his plan. He couldn't even move to save his son!

While he was still processing everything, Rowan signaled for the soldiers behind Oliver to grab him and drag him further away from Judus.

Rowan made sure to keep his gaze fixed on Oliver, ensuring the father would witness every agonizing moment of his son's suffering, so he could truly feel helplessness and despair.

"Killing you is too merciful. I'll make you watch as I cut your son apart, piece by piece. I want you to experience true pain and regret," Rowan said coldly.

Oliver, already traumatized by his son's excruciating pain, was further crushed by Rowan's words. "Please… just kill him!" he begged.

"Kill him? No. That would be mercy. Pain will claim him in the end," Rowan smirked.

"Keep them both under control," Rowan commanded the soldiers. "If they try to move, beat them as much as you want, but don't kill them. I still have Glenwood bastards to deal with." With that, Rowan turned his back and walked away.

"Rowan!!!" Oliver bellowed, his voice dripping with rage and hatred.

"You can't do this! You'll die if you face him! Only I can stop him from killing you! Free me and my son, and your village will survive!" Oliver shouted desperately.

But Rowan had already reached the captains and other soldiers, ignoring Oliver's plea.

"I used to respect you, Captain, but now my respect's dead… just like your balls after we're done here," one of the soldiers holding Oliver sneered with a smirk.

Oliver was about to respond when a sharp kick landed between his legs. His eyes bulged in pain, and the other soldiers joined in, beating him while his son cried out, consumed by trauma and agony.

---

Meanwhile, Stanis led his men fearlessly towards Winterseed.

He had been hiding in the bushes, waiting for the right time to meet with Oliver, when he heard a loud scream. At first, he was confused, wondering why someone would scream like that. But when the second scream came, he recognized it was the voice of Oliver and was a cry for help. Without wasting time, he ordered his fourteen soldiers to mount their horses and charge toward Winterseed.

They couldn't afford to let anything bad happen to their spy.

As they broke through the bushes, they saw soldiers gathered around the border and were taken aback.

"Captain, we should fall back! There are too many of them!" one of the soldiers riding next to him said, fear creeping into his voice.

Stanis scoffed, telling the soldier to be bold and not fear such a small village like Glenwood. He didn't believe the village's soldiers could pose a real threat — From everything he have heard from Oliver and Judus, they are no big deal.

And to be honest, why would he be afraid of a naive teenage lord like Rowan?

As they charged towards Winterseed, Stanis wondered what had caused Oliver to scream so loudly.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a young man step forward, standing before the Winterseed soldiers.

'This must be the young bastard Captain Waga talked about, the naive ane weak fool,' Stanis noted to himself, eager to deal with him.

On the other side, Rowan turned and quickly gave orders to his soldiers.

"No matter what, do not harm the horses, we will be needing them," he commanded.

The Glenwood soldiers were now only a few meters away. Their faces were clear, their fearlessness evident as they charged, swords gleaming under the soft sunlight.

Rowan's eyes locked onto Stanis, the man he had longed to kill ever since he learnt about his deeds from Elara.

Rowan summoned Blaze from the divine beast plane and gave him instructions to assist the soldiers. Blaze, seeing the serious mood of his tamer, agreed without protest.

Rowan couldn't help but notice the newborn maturity in blaze. His body was now a little bigger than it was before and his cultivations was growing. Sadly, he couldn't focus on that details at this moment.

He summoned his sword from his inventory, turned to his soldiers and shouted, "Charge!"

"Yaaah!" the soldiers roared as they rushed forward.

Stanis grinned, giving the order for his men to engage as well, while he rode his horse directly at Rowan. seaʀᴄh thё nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But Rowan wasn't going to let him slaughter through his soldiers to reach him, so he sprinted ahead, running twice as fast as the others.

Within moments, he was at the front, his eyes locked on Stanis.

His soldiers charged behind him, while Stanis' men moved forward as well.

"You're the naive lord of Winterseed, huh? You look no different from any average teenage boy. I'll enjoy taking your head home with me," Stanis taunted as he charged at Rowan.

Rowan didn't respond as he kept his focus on Stanis' hands. Elara had warned him about Stanis' skill with the sword and Rowan wasn't ready to lose due to carelessness.

[ Sword Grandmaster activated! Attack power and weapon efficiency increased by 300%! ]

Seeing this notification, Rowan gripped his sword and his readiness intensified.

Stanis leapt off his horse, landing beside Rowan and swinging his sword. The battle-trained horse immediately moved aside, away from the chaos.

Rowan blocked the strike swiftly.

"You've never trained in swordsmanship, from what I know. You won't last long against me," Stanis let out again, swinging once more. But Rowan blocked the blow effortlessly.

Around them, the Glenwood and Winterseed soldiers clashed fiercely.

The Glenwood soldiers dismounted and fought with precision, their swords slicing through the air with deadly intent. Though they were better trained, their smaller numbers gave the Winterseed soldiers the advantage.

"You bastards!" Bryce cursed as he grabbed one of the Glenwood soldiers by the neck instead of using his sword. His large hands squeezed until the soldier passed out from lack of air. But Bryce didn't let him off freely and stabbed him to ensure he is completely dead.

Roland swung his sword against another, overpowering his opponent with his size. He quickly disarmed him and ended the fight.

The younger Winterseed soldiers fought in larger groups to compensate for their lack of skill. Though some sustained injuries, they were minor.

Rowan and Stanis' battle raged on. At first glance, it appeared Stanis had the upper hand, but Rowan was holding back, waiting for the right moment to copy Stanis' skill—Copy didn't work on dead targets.

As they fought, Rowan scanned his stats and found a skill he needed.

[Muscle Strengthening (F): Permanent 200% boost in physical strength.]

Without hesitation, Rowan copied and merged with the skill.

"You should give up now. I'll let you live long enough to watch me with your women!" Stanis boasted, confident of his victory.

"Uno reverse," Rowan grinned as he blocked the next attack.

"Huh?" Stanis looked at him as if he was looking at a madman. 'What's this idiot saying?' he thought.

Before Stanis could finish the thought, he noticed a change in their fight.

Rowan's strikes grew faster, the force behind them stronger, pushing Stanis back.

His eyes widened in disbelief, but before he could react, he felt something cold run through his flesh and the world quickly went silent around him.

---

While the battle raged on in the northern border of Winterseed, two white horses could be seen galloping down the lonely forest path leading to the village, pursued by a ferocious looking group with more horses!