Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

"We are here to relieve you, under the command of Lord Fojero," Rickro said, neither arrogant nor humble, with a hint of a smile on his face, though it seemed a bit stiff.

However, in the pitch-black night, lit only by torches, no one would really notice such details.

"Why haven't I received any orders?" Baylor remained cautious, not rushing to be relieved despite the torment of guarding the city.

The other party's identity was not in question. Whether it was that face or the characteristics of the soldiers of House Martell's Thorn Guard, he couldn't mistake them unless he was blind.

However, his years of military life had made him habitually adhere to military regulations.

"Actually, this matter was just discussed by Lord Damon and Lord Fojero. We rushed over as soon as we heard the order. The messenger should arrive shortly."

Rickro said sincerely, "This is all so everyone can have a cup of hot tea and a hot meal as soon as possible."

Baylor noticed that the knight's armor was covered in knife marks and bloodstains. Although they had congealed into patches of black-red patterns, it was clear that he had just experienced a difficult battle.

Although he was responsible for guarding the city, he also knew that the main force in the city had launched an attack on the demons outside the city in the morning, and the Thorn Guard was among them.

At the time, he and his subordinates had discussed how fortunate they were not chosen to go out of the city, otherwise whether they could return alive was another matter.

Everything seemed normal. He waved his hand, preparing to have the guards make way for the relief, but… wasn't this officer assigned to stay behind in the White Bone Fortress?

Baylor remembered, and a chill ran down his spine. He suddenly realized that the faces of these Thorn Guard soldiers were hidden in the shadows, like bloodthirsty undead lurking in the darkness.

He secretly made a gesture, but suddenly felt a chill in his abdomen, as if a piece of ice had fallen into his stomach. He looked down and saw a gleaming sword had pierced him.

"Alas… you could have avoided this," Rickro's voice became icy cold, and the blade in his hand twisted, churning the young officer's internal organs.

Gah…

His outstretched hands tightly gripped the sword, trying to expend his last bit of strength to raise the alarm, but then the world spun. Baylor saw another Thorn Guard soldier slowly retracting his sword and a body missing its head.

"Speed up, follow the plan. Those demons are already outside. As long as we open the city gate, the entire White Bone Fortress will descend into chaos," that Lord Rickro was issuing concise and rapid orders.

Realizing that a shocking conspiracy had occurred, Baylor opened his mouth, but ultimately darkness enveloped his eyes.

Soldiers wearing Thorn Guard standard equipment advanced towards the city gate in a strange manner, moving as nimbly as thieves despite wearing heavy armor.

No one could have imagined that there would be traitors inside the White Bone Fortress, which had remained unbreakable for months, and these city gate guards didn't expect it either.

Therefore, their lives were reaped one by one by nimble figures in the darkness. By the time they reacted, half of the city gate had fallen into the hands of this squad that had appeared out of nowhere.

The remaining guards began to sprint towards the city, shouting in horror, "The Thorn Guard has betrayed humanity!" and "The damned Northerners have colluded with the demons!"

…

Inside the White Bone Fortress, a spacious warehouse had been converted into a dining hall by Highcliff Castle. The big and small bosses of Highcliff Castle were feasting here.

Having just experienced a hard fight, the barbarians were starving, as their combat power depended on how full they were.

As soon as they returned, the lord ordered the cooks of Highcliff Castle to prepare a sumptuous meal.

He always believed that eating well was an important standard for maintaining combat effectiveness, especially the harder the battle, the more abundant the after-meal should be.

Under this ideology, the importance of food was equal to armor and weapons, which led to the food at Highcliff Castle tasting far better than other armies that only emphasized quantity.

And this result led to some shameless fellows coming to freeload.

Fojero was one of them, currently holding a sesame cake in one hand and picking up braised beef with the other, eating happily.

Clearly a commander, yet taking the lead in freeloading at someone else's camp, he really had no grace.

"I say, Old Fojero, you come to my Highcliff Castle for free meals every day. Even if I found a gold mine, I couldn't stand this kind of consumption," the lord was about to pick up his chopsticks when a large piece of beef was instantly snatched away. He tapped the table hard twice. "Even landlords don't have surplus food, do you understand?"

Fojero looked up at the lord, remained silent for a moment, and then said meaningfully, "Previously, my logistics officer kept writing in the report that the Thorn Guard's logistics were frequently stolen of alcohol, saying it was stolen by a highly skilled thief. At the time, I was wondering what kind of thief could enter the heavily guarded Thorn Guard garrison."

"And specifically only steal alcohol."

As soon as he said this, someone who often took advantage of his status to inspect other people's logistics couldn't stop sweating on his back.

"Lord Li Wei, you are knowledgeable and profound, so I want to ask, does Debay have such a strange thief with such strength?" Fojero asked, taking a big bite of the sesame cake, somewhat unclearly.

"Don't know," Li Wei shook his head frantically. He would definitely deny this kind of thing to the death. "Old Fojero, we are good brothers, and I have a good relationship with Rolina. You can eat whatever you want, anyway, it won't cost much."

Just then, Zart suddenly said out of nowhere, "Boss, why do I hear people shouting outside?"

"No way, who would be howling outside for no reason in the middle of the night?"

Seeing the topic being diverted, Li Wei was happy to do so and immediately took over the conversation.

"No, someone is really shouting!" He frowned. He hadn't heard it just now because he hadn't focused his attention outside. With Zart's mention, he noticed it, and he heard more information.

"Lord, there's a situation!"

The tightly closed door was suddenly opened, and two orc barbarians dragged a panicked soldier in with brisk steps.

This soldier was wearing the standard armor of the Southern Border, and it was clear at a glance that he was one of Damon's men.

He was covered in blood, and even his helmet was missing, his whole person in a state of shock.

"What exactly happened outside?"

"Lord, the Thorn Guard has colluded with the demons, they opened the city gate, and countless demons have poured into the White Bone Fortress. Fojero is a traitor arranged by the demons on our side!"

The soldier obviously recognized the famous Lion Hunter Knight and immediately shouted hoarsely, his voice miserable, making people couldn't help but guess what kind of tragic treatment he had suffered.

As soon as he said this, before the lord could get anxious, Fojero was already panicking, and he didn't even notice the sesame cake falling on the ground.

Damn it, I just came to freeload, how did I inexplicably become a traitor? He himself didn't know.

"Lord, please listen to my explanation!" He hurriedly opened his mouth, afraid that the holy sword that had made someone famous would be unsheathed and placed on his neck.

"You know me, we have known each other since the wilderness, how could I collude with demons? That doesn't make sense!"

The last sentence even carried a tremor.

"Old Fojero, what is our relationship? I definitely believe you."

Li Wei said this, but put the holy sword that had just been half-drawn back into its sheath.

Until he saw the mithril long sword return to its scabbard with his own eyes, Fojero wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if his own martial arts skills were not weak, he was not confident that he could withstand an ordinary blow from this peerless fierce man.

"You…" The soldier who escaped from the city gate didn't expect that the culprit was in the Highcliff Castle camp and had such a good relationship with the Lion Hunter Knight.

He immediately felt a sense of desolation, never expecting that even the famous Lion Hunter Knight would collude with traitors.

"Calm down, Your Grace." Before this soldier could stir the water even more, the lord slapped him hard. "Tell me everything that happened outside in detail!"

Slapped dizzy, the soldier's sanity immediately returned a little. He covered his swollen face and honestly recounted what had just happened in detail.

As he spoke, he became more and more grateful to the Lion Hunter Knight in front of him.

With the other party's strength, if he really made a move, he would probably already be a corpse, instead of just having a swollen face. This was probably the other party's "gentle caress."

After pondering for a moment, the lord snapped his fingers: "I guess either someone impersonated the soldiers of the Thorn Guard, or some of the soldiers of the Thorn Guard were controlled by the spells of the demon warlock."

The former was just the lord's guess, but the latter was not without precedent.

Back in Corin, that horned warlock controlled a knight to try to trick him into opening the city gate of Corin.

But this kind of spell that controls the mind and thoughts has many restrictions unless the magical cultivation is profound.

Either it requires distance, or it requires the caster's target's mind to have been destroyed.

The only chance for the Thorn Guard soldiers to contact the demons was the battle in the morning, but with the intensity of that battle, it was impossible for magic to control the Thorn Guard soldiers silently.

Therefore, Li Wei was inclined to the first guess.

"Your Grace is wise," Fojero immediately complimented: "I think so too."

"Brother-in-law, what do we do now?" Mir looked worriedly at the Highcliff Castle team that had already begun to gather outside.

Even if the demons had experienced several defeats, their numbers were still higher than the troops stationed here in the White Bone Fortress.

And the main force was some distance away from here. Even if they noticed something was wrong and immediately supported, it would probably be too late, not to mention that the other party might also encounter an ambush by the demons.

Li Wei looked around, and a pair of trusting eyes were looking at him, filled with the meaning of entrusting their lives to him.

He knew that the demons still had tens of thousands of six-armed snake demon warriors who had not been dispatched. He did not know whether these guys who could cause casualties to the barbarians depending on their numbers had entered the White Bone Fortress.

He also did not know whether Damon's army and Fojero, who had gone to stop the chaos, could defeat these demons who had entered the fortress.

But in any case, withdrawing from this place of right and wrong was the best choice.

Highcliff Castle could withstand the impact of the demons, mainly because the main force and Damon and others shared most of the pressure.

Facing the demon army alone, Highcliff Castle would definitely suffer, except for him.

"Go gather the manpower, not one less, and only bring weapons and equipment, throw away everything else, we will withdraw from the north gate."

Only one city gate had fallen, and it would take time for the demons to spread to the entire White Bone Fortress, so it was not difficult to break through in the city now, but this phenomenon would not last long. It was necessary to race against time, and escape from here to join Frina and the others before the demons controlled the entire White Bone Fortress.

Mir immediately turned around to gather manpower.

"Boss, don't you want food either?"

The barbarians were very distressed. They had been hungry and knew the value of food.

"Don't want it! You are much more important than food!" Li Wei said fiercely: "As long as you are okay, I can sell my body to beg for food for you, and I will definitely not starve you."

"Preserve the people and lose the land, both people and land will be preserved! I hope you will always keep this sentence in mind!"

He still remembered Lia's mother, Lady Ornaya's words. At worst, he would go and befriend a rich woman.

Although she was a little older, women are three years older, holding gold bricks, and the other party was holding more than just gold bricks, but the entire Southern Border. Not to mention supporting a Highcliff Castle, even supporting ten would not be a problem.

The barbarians were very touched. They knew that their boss valued his innocence very much, and that he had made a great determination to say this.

The entire Highcliff Castle began to act in full swing, and the demons at the distant city gate were also grinning and constantly pouring into this fortress that had troubled them for several months.

…

On the other side, Bolton was sitting in his room, drinking alone, cutting fresh beef slowly with a knife and fork. Compared to others who needed to comfort the soldiers, he didn't need to do this at all.

These soldiers were the property of the Tedber family, and they were the dogs he raised. Some losses were naturally normal. At worst, he would give some consolation money to the other party's family.

Compared to this meaningless thing, it was far more worthwhile to have a delicious meal.

"Lord, it's not good, the demons have entered the city!"

Just when he was in a good mood, a knight rushed into the room.

He frowned, put down his knife and fork, and raised his hand to signal the other party to speak.

Soon after learning everything, Bolton waved his hand to let the other party gather the army, but looked gloomily at a figure hiding in the darkness next to him.

Having guessed something, he suppressed his anger: "Did you do this?"

"As you can see, only we Hanged Men can do this kind of thing," a hoarse voice came from the darkness, but with a hint of pride.

"Damn dog things, you are just a dog I raised." Hearing the personal admission, Bolton was extremely angry, and the knife and fork in his hand flew out instantly: "You not only disobeyed my orders, but also did a complete stupid thing!"

"Lord, don't you understand yet?" The figure hidden in the darkness was not angry at all, dodged the flying knife and fork, and sighed:

"Chaos is a ladder!"