Chapter 300: The Scum's Reliance
"Oswood, that's a notorious cruel executioner... He massacred our village! They gathered us together and used us as their entertainment these days!"
The villager's face was covered with tears and he kept looking back with fear in his eyes, as if he had been tortured to the point of losing all his courage.
The cavalry on the opposite side laughed and stopped a few dozen meters away.
They seemed to be waiting for these villagers to finish speaking.
Seeing the cavalrymen behind them stop, several villagers began to cry and complain: "All of us were tied up with thick ropes and divided into three rows according to children, women and men. Then they killed the children one by one..."
"When women plead or scream for their children, Oswood's men will abuse them in front of all the men... They love to hear women screaming and cursing!"
"After the last woman's throat is cut, they torture the men in all kinds of cruel ways... The methods they use to torture people are beyond anyone's imagination, and they do it just to make people feel pain - they do this purely for fun..."
According to the villagers, this was a group of brutal bandits.
A guy named Oswood led many small adventure groups and rogue knights. Normally, he would let these people disperse and fight on their own, constantly attacking caravans and villages like a wolf pack.
And when the real battle comes, he will gather these teams together to become a unified legion.
At this time, Klose was facing some teams that were obviously summoned by the arrows by mistake - they thought it was Oswood who was calling them.
It is said that Oswood's cruelty surpasses that of anyone in Pendor, and even many members of his own adventuring group despise his behavior.
He would choose villages that were weak, helpless and defenseless to commit violence, and he would torture people for no reason.
Men, women, young and old would die painful deaths under the torture of him and his men.
As long as Oswood and his team showed up, the tragic scene of corpses and flames would inevitably appear in the nearby villages and fields.
The villagers were obviously extremely afraid of Oswood's men. They hid behind Klose and didn't even dare to look at the cavalrymen with blood on their bodies.
Klose didn't expect to meet such a pure pervert here.
The heretics and the Snake Cult at least had a certain purpose in slaughtering the villagers, but Oswood's slaughter and sadism were simply for fun?
As expected, there are all kinds of scumbags in the continent of Pande...
As an experienced mercenary, Klose already understood the intentions of those cavalrymen - many brutal bandits would deliberately release the prisoners who had been cruelly tortured before the battle, so that these prisoners would bring fear to the opponent, disrupt the opponent's morale, and at the same time force the opponent to allocate manpower to protect the injured villagers.
Moreover, if the abuse they inflict on the captives is cruel enough, and if the opponent has a strong sense of justice, this method can also anger the opponent and cause him to behave irrationally.
For example, charging in anger - this will cause the entire team to lack coordination and command.
But this time, these guys might have miscalculated.
Klose is indeed a man with a sense of justice, but he is not an angry and reckless man.
In fact, most people in the Silver Hand and the Free Legion would not get angry easily - they all had their own tragedies, and many of them had experienced the same tragic experiences as these villagers, and most of them had been enslaved. If they were angry and reckless, they would not have survived until now.
Besides, they have a mission.
"Get the hell out of here! Or I'll crush you to pieces!"
Klose weighed the strength of both sides, shouted to the opposite side in a loud voice, and then gestured with his greatsword.
All the men present followed Klose forward, with their swords and halberds in a counter-cavalry stance, forming a hedgehog-like formation.
There are now forty or fifty well-equipped rogue knights on the opposite side, and seventy or eighty guys who look like squires. In addition, there are about fifty adventurers of various shapes and sizes, nearly two hundred people , all cavalry.
On our side, there are currently 350 people gathered, all of whom fight on foot.
Three hundred and fifty infantry soldiers against two hundred cavalrymen, and the equipment levels of both sides were basically the same.
It seems that the difference in strength is not big, but I actually have some advantages.
Because the Silver Hand is not afraid of cavalry. They have even dealt with the Python Knights of the Legion of Dread, so naturally they have no fear of human cavalry.
However, even with the numerical advantage, Klose was unwilling to take the initiative to attack the cavalry. People could not catch up with horses and might be defeated by the cavalry with bows and crossbows.
The cavalry on the opposite side certainly did not want to face the anti-cavalry formation composed of broadswords and halberds, so they did not launch an attack.
So the two sides began to confront each other.
Confrontation is certainly a good thing. At most, it will take another half an hour for all members of the Silver Hand to gather here.
By then, an army of more than a thousand people will be able to crush these enemies easily - in fact, now we can see a Silver Hand squadron approaching from afar.
Moreover, anyone can see the flare, and it won't be long before the Lion Knights will come here to check it out.
Perhaps because he saw troops converging here in the distance, a knight walked out from the opposite cavalry team, with his hands spread out without any weapons, as if he wanted to talk to Klose.
"We are the Oswood Adventure Group of Fleur... Big guy, if you don't lay down your weapons and leave here, I promise you will regret it..."
The guy who spoke was wearing a black smock and a black hood. He looked like a rogue knight or an explorer with a hidden identity.
He looked back while watching the other Silver Hand members approaching from a distance.
"Regret? Don't you recognize the flag in my hand? I am Klose, a knight under Marshal Leon. I am here under the king's order to suppress the rebellion - I think you are a lot like the rebels!"
Klose sneered at the rogue knight: "I think you will regret it soon!"
"Ha... Big guy, I know you are Count Leon's man - of course I recognize that griffin flag. But you'd better think about why we are here... I say it again, surrender! Or be like them! I'll give you five minutes to think about it..."
The rogue knight pointed at the villagers who were hiding in fear behind Klose and others, his tone still quite arrogant.
Klose is a bit confused...
The current situation is that the two sides are evenly matched. The opponent will definitely not dare to attack easily, but the Silver Hand will continue to gather here, so we actually have a great advantage.
The guy on the opposite side obviously also saw the flare, and he must have realized this.
But he is still so arrogant?
What do these scumbags rely on?
According to the villagers, these people should be just a cruel adventure group - or a group of well-equipped horse thieves.
A group of horse thieves, facing the direct troops of the Marshal of the Kingdom of the Fierce Lion, dared to ask Klose to surrender when they were not at an advantage in terms of manpower?
However, thinking carefully, this group of horse thieves really shouldn't be here now...
This is the outskirts of Guihu Town, only a few miles away from Guihu Town.
Godric and his daughter Amy have been defending Weird Fox Town for more than ten days. The Lion Knights besieged Weird Fox Town and fought battles one after another. With such a big commotion, people nearby must have heard the news.
How could it be possible that Fleur's Oswood Adventure Group, these scums who took pleasure in doing evil to weak villagers, appeared in a place where the Lion Knights gathered in large numbers?
"Who are you anyway?"
To be cautious, Klose asked again.
"It seems you have more on your mind than just muscles, big guy..."
The rogue knight smiled and said, "Perhaps you will understand it a little better after seeing this... Put down your weapons! Don't go against us!"
He lifted the black smock in front of his chest, revealing the breastplate underneath.
On the breastplate, there is a golden lion emblem!
"The Knights of the Lion?!"
Klose was indeed shocked.
Oswood's adventure group turned out to be members of the Lion Knights!
The soldiers behind him also looked at each other - they all saw the lion emblem.
But then, Summer shouted very cleverly: "You actually killed the people of the Lion Knights and stole their armor?!"
The rogue knight on the opposite side changed his expression: "Are you stupid? We will..."
Klose understood what he meant and raised his sword, knocking down the knight with one blow, preventing him from saying the rest of his words.
"Charge! Kill these rebels! Avenge the villagers and the murdered Lion Knight!"
Klose raised his bloody sword and charged directly - since these scums are members of the Lion Knights, there is no time to wait, they must be dealt with before the main force of the Lion Knights arrives!
…
late at night.
In Sarleon City, Lisadilan was walking through a dark alley with several masked men in black.
"Everyone, the king has been staying in the House of Nobles. We'd better sneak in before Lord Leon comes here ... Do you have any suggestions?"
The elf assassin was quite polite to the men in black, and basically spoke to them in a negotiating tone.
"Lisadiran, we are now considered to be Lord Leon's subordinates. Since Lord Leon has asked you to lead the team, just give the orders directly and we will obey."
A man in black holding a dagger looked around at the environment and said that there was no need to be so formal.
There was a black scorpion engraved on the dagger.
This is a member of the Scorpio Assassin Brotherhood and the liaison between Leon and Ramon.
"Well, I think you can try to disguise yourself as guards and sneak in. I can't pretend to be them, so you have to do it... I think you should be able to take down these careless guys."
Lisa Dilan pointed overhead.
This alley is outside a wall.
Inside the wall, there is a ten-story stone tower in the center.
This is the former Pendor Noble House, now the private residence of King Sarleon.
On the wall, there were several sentries standing guard, most of them were dozing off with their guns leaning on them - it was the second half of the night, the time when people were most tired.
It was those guys who were dozing off that Risa Dillan was pointing at.
It is naturally difficult for the Noldor elves to disguise themselves as human guards, but the Scorpio assassins are extremely proficient in this - disguise and lurking are compulsory courses for assassins.
"But please note that they will change guards before lunch. Lord Leon will be here early in the morning. If nothing unexpected happens, you must find a way to get out before noon."
Several Scorpio assassins nodded, observed carefully for a while, then quietly climbed up the wall from the alley and began to act separately.
Lisa Dilan waited in the alley for a while until someone threw several large packages down from the wall.
He took the packages one by one and carried them deep into the alley. After hiding them in a bush, he started to walk out.
Those packages contained corpses, which were the guards killed by the Scorpio assassins.
These professionals made basically no noise, and the bodies thrown outside the wall were caught by Risadiran. The entire operation was silent.
Moreover, each corpse was wrapped in a black cloak, and not even a trace of blood was spilled.
The city gates would not be opened at night, so Risadilan found a place near the gates and sat down to wait for dawn.
In the morning, the gate of Sarleon City opened when the first rays of morning light shone on the city wall.
“Woo… woo…”
As soon as the city gate opened, a horn sounded, welcoming the kingdom's marshal into Sarleon City.
Li Ang's general flag had already been waiting outside the city gate.
Li Ang's status and position are no longer the same now. When he enters the city, the defenders have to blow a welcome trumpet - Marshal Wang is the leader of the army, and the soldiers stationed at the city gate must show respect to Li Ang.
Moreover, no one would have any objection to Leon bringing the Noldor Guard. As a marshal, it was reasonable for him to hire any soldiers. After all, everyone knew that Leon had led the Noldor elves to defeat the Jatu for the Kingdom of Sarleon.
Leon led his guards into Sarleon City. Seeing Lisadilan, who was wearing a hood and waiting in a corner of the city, he gave him a questioning look.
Risa Dillan nodded.
"Thank you for your service. Is His Majesty in town?"
Li Ang turned and asked the city gate officer.
The reason for thanking him was that the city gate officer opened the gate at dawn and did not make Li Ang wait for any longer. He was very efficient.
This not only gave Li Ang face, but also meant that the city gate officer was very dedicated - he probably hadn't slept at all.
The city gate officer is actually not a small role. It is an extremely important position in this era, usually held by the adjutant of the royal city guard.
The adjutants of the Royal City Guard are usually direct descendants of high-ranking nobles.
But in most cases, the children of great nobles would not be able to open the city gates so efficiently...
"Lord Li Ang is too polite. This is my duty. His Majesty is of course in the city at this time... But I have to remind you that His Majesty and the Princess must not have gotten up yet..."
The city gate officer smiled and showed a little kindness to Li Ang.
The city gate officer on duty today was a knight without a family crest - this meant that he was a new knight and didn't even have a crest ready.
It was a bit rare to see a newly appointed knight become a city gate officer. Leon couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.
Judging by the standards of this era, this guy is a handsome guy.
He has a neatly trimmed beard, blue eyes and a high nose bridge. His short brown hair looks very energetic, and he is tall and strong.
The armor on his body was a little old, but it was kept very clean.
"Are you a relative of Princess Anna? What's your name?"
Leon turned around and asked another question. He felt that this city gate officer looked very similar to another person, a knight who also kept his old armor very clean.
