Chapter 336 245: Pies Really Do Fall from the Sky

The servant's quarters were the part of the castle the nobility used to separate the upper and lower classes. In stark contrast to the main areas with their exquisite sculptures and garden fountains, this place had nothing but foul-smelling livestock pens and stables. The lowly slaves lived here as well.

Given its location and how easily defended yet difficult to assail it was, the area held no strategic value.

This was precisely what Cross was thinking as he peeled the golden-brown skin off a soft, fluffy roasted potato and took a satisfying bite.

That is, until a panicked messenger rushed in and announced that the walls had fallen. The assembled nobles erupted in an uproar, their faces etched with disbelief.

Those walls towered over fifty feet high, fronted by a drawbridge spanning a deep chasm, and were garrisoned by hundreds of elite soldiers.

It couldn't have happened this fast, even if it were several hundred pigs lining up for slaughter.

But the faint wails and screams carrying from the distance dragged them back to reality. The walls had truly fallen, and it sounded as if their soldiers were being subjected to an inhuman slaughter.

Cross was a veteran of countless battles. He had managed to remain optimistic even in this dire situation, but now, even he was stunned. "Who broke through the walls?"

He knew they could not stay here. Surrounded by his personal guards, he began to move toward the exit as he continued his questioning.

He began to wonder if there was a traitor in their midst. Someone must have informed the enemy that the entire leadership of the Black Stone Castle Guard Army was gathered in this dilapidated stone house, leading them into a perfect trap.

But he wouldn't need an answer from the messenger. The moment they stepped out of the house, a contingent of fully armed Heavy Armored Infantry appeared in the distance, marching toward them and radiating palpable killing intent.

Both sides froze for a moment. Then, the shorty leading the enemy force let out a great roar and charged. The sheer excitement in that cry reminded Cross of an old country farmer who had just stumbled upon a fresh pile of cow dung.

Forgive him for the comparison, but the scene was simply too fitting.

"My lords, we'll hold them off! You must go! Now!"

The dozen or so personal Knights were undeniably loyal and brave. They were facing a charge from hundreds of Heavy-armored Beastman Barbarians, each a towering giant weighing a thousand pounds. It was like a stampede of warhorses, powerful enough to crush anything in its path.

Yet they charged forward without a moment's hesitation, attempting to buy time for the noble lords behind them to escape.

Their unswerving loyalty deeply impressed the Lord. So, to honor their valor, he "cooperated" by swinging his Giant Sword in a mighty sweep.

A flash of silver light. The charging Knights felt a sudden chill below the waist and watched in horror as their own legs kept running for several steps before collapsing to the ground. Only then did they realize that in the first instant of their clash, the shorty who looked the weakest had sliced them in half.

These Knights also cultivated Combat Qi, but theirs was nowhere near as Profound as that of men like Si Kai or Monvert. They couldn't even manifest it outwardly; all they could do was use it to temporarily fortify their bodies or coat their blades.

Thus, to Levi, they were no more difficult to handle than a group of common grunts.

"Surround them! Don't let a single one get away!" The Lord waved his hand, and the Barbarians instantly shifted formation, quickly encircling the stone house.

This stone house was so plain that the Lord wouldn't have given it a second glance even back when he was too broke to afford underwear. Yet right now, over a dozen Southern People were crammed inside, filling the space to the brim.

Some wore exquisite Plate Armor, others the Armor of high-ranking officers, and one was even dressed in the familiar robes of a Priest. A single glance at their attire was enough to tell they were of high standing; their identities were practically written on their foreheads.

'I never would have dreamed it…' Levi thought. 'By simply choosing to attack a spot the enemy would likely overlook, I've managed to catch the entire high command of Black Stone Castle—a constant thorn in the side of the entire Northern Border Corps.'

Among them was a white-haired old man in worn-out Armor, still clutching a half-eaten potato. Clearly, his leisurely lunch had just been interrupted by an uninvited guest.

Judging by his attire, he looked like little more than an old man who'd been press-ganged into service by some unscrupulous officer. But his bearing—that of a man with thunder in his heart yet a face as calm as a placid lake—was immeasurably superior to even Fujero, the Legion Commander of the Thorn Corps. 'This is no common grunt,' Levi thought.

The panicked nobles clutched the hilts of their swords, but as they looked at the Beastman Warriors staring them down with cold eyes, they didn't dare make a single rash move.

The ten Knights who had just died were their personal guards, and their Martial Arts were beyond question. Yet they had been cut down as easily as reaping wheat, and their deaths had been horrifying.

They knew they had no chance of breaking through an encirclement of several hundred fully armed soldiers.

"Levi, we met once at a banquet hosted by Kolon," one of the nobles said. He had watched the Lord remove his helmet and recognized the face the entire Southern Territory was desperate to see dead. Steeling himself, he tried to appeal to a past acquaintance.

"Wait," Levi said, in no mood for pleasantries. He pulled out a folded portrait, unfurled it, and began carefully studying the old man.

"No need to look, young man. I am Cross," the old man said with a sigh, stepping forward voluntarily.

"Holy shit!"

The Lord's hand trembled in shock, but then an irrepressible grin spread across his face.

Capturing a dozen or so high-ranking officers from Black Stone Castle would have been a fine military achievement.

But Cross—the renowned general responsible for decimating the Ice and Snow Mages and orchestrating that earth-shattering explosion—was the absolute number one target on the Northern Border Corps' bounty list.

To that end, the Northern Border Corps had even commissioned a special portrait of him, which was then distributed to every noble, great and small.