The sky was gray, with occasional snowflakes falling from the sky. The north wind brought a chill that seeped into one's heart as it swept across the white plains …
There were a total of twenty-seven people, twenty-seven family knights and swordsmen whose Combat Auras were above Silver-tier. They lined up in three rows in front of Laurist, each wearing chainmail and leather robes, holding poles and skis in their hands. After more than ten days of climbing, rolling, and falling in the snow behind the manor, everyone here had finally grasped the basics of using skis.
Laurist checked their equipment and the skis in their hands one by one. Every one of them knew how much risk it was to leave the warm villa in such a harsh winter, but they had no other choice. In order to protect the lives of more than three hundred thousand residents who were wintering in the Plentiful Delight Plains from the threat of the magical beast tide, these twenty-seven family knights and silver-colored swordsmen all chose to follow Laurist to the Plentiful Delight Plains.
Josk, Berunik, El, Yuri, Padt, Jim, Peter, Patko, five Silver-tier knights and twelve Silver-tier swordsmen of the Family Armed Forces. The last two were Ross the Ferocious Tiger and Miss Bai Sha.
Ross the Ferocious Tiger laughed at Laurist shamelessly, while Miss Bai Sha lowered her head shyly, not daring to look at Laurist.
Laurist was speechless …
God knows how these two fell for each other and shamelessly hooked up with each other. No wonder Ross insisted on following Laurist back to Maple Forest Manor for the winter. He even said he wanted to see the beautiful scenery of the manor, and left the management of the Armored Lancers to his assistant, Knight Vasimir.
When they returned to Maple Forest Manor, Ross disappeared without a trace. Laurist was too busy accompanying his precious son for the first two days, and only realized that Ross was gone when he was free. Everyone searched for him, and found that he was busy rolling in the bed with Miss Bai Sha. He did not leave the bedroom for a few days, and did not know that the outside world was looking for him …
Laurist guessed that when he ordered Miss Bai Sha to lead the female guards to escort the teams that were handling the magical beasts' corpses to the wasteland, she met Ross, who was leading the army to clear out the magical beasts. No wonder Ross wanted to spend the winter at Maple Forest Villa with him. He was puzzled. What was there to see in Maple Forest Villa during the winter? So the scenery he wanted to see was on Miss Bai Sha's bed …
Laurist was not fond of Lady Bai Sha. In terms of status, Lady Bai Sha was the fiancée of his deceased older brother, so he had to maintain his respect. However, the memories of Locke, the previous owner of this body, did not bring him any kinship. Instead, it was the memories of being bullied when he was young. Furthermore, after Laurist returned to his family's territory and became the new head of the Norton Family, the few times he interacted with Miss Bai Sha were not pleasant. He even hated this unruly and arrogant woman.
Young Miss Bai Sha was indeed a great beauty. Not only did she have a head of beautiful red hair, her body was also voluptuous, and her face was very good. Unfortunately, Loriste wasn't a weakling, and he wasn't one of those loser otakus who would kneel at the sight of a beautiful woman. He had his own sense of beauty. Just like how he had given Ingrid's granddaughter, Molly, to Fatty Shi, he had no love for female literati. He kept a respectful distance from arrogant beauties like Miss Bai Sha.
Loriste liked girls from humble families like his little maid, Elina, or intellectual beauties like Miss Trish. Therefore, when Loriste heard that Ross was found in Miss Bai Sha's bed, he heaved a sigh of relief. He thought that there was finally one less trouble in his family …
If not for this incident, Miss Bai Sha was still Loriste's sister-in-law. No matter what, Loriste had to treat her well for the sake of his deceased older brother. This was why she wasn't punished even though she angered Loriste several times. Now that she was with Ross, she only had two choices. She could either marry Ross or become a normal family knight. She could no longer call herself the fiancée of Loriste's deceased older brother.
Loriste patted Ross's shoulder twice and did not say anything else. He turned around and returned to the front of the line.
"Jim, Pete, Wilson, Rogers."
Jim, Pete, and the other two silver swordsmen walked out.
"The four of you will head straight to the Rock Castle. Whether you can make it in time is related to the safety of the three hundred thousand new citizens of Plentiful Pleasure Plain. You must ensure that the news of the arrival of the magical beast swarm is reported to the higher ups. Ask Knight Shredder and Knight Bofinger to send their men to defend the villages and towns before the magical beast swarm arrives. I'm counting on you … "Loriste saluted the four of them.
"Rest assured, Sir. We will definitely send the news to the Rock Castle as soon as possible." The four of them saluted as well.
Usually, it would take six to seven hours to travel from the Rock Castle to the Maple Villa on a fast horse. It was winter now, and the roads were blocked by snow. They had to use skis to travel. Moreover, the sky was dark, and the wilderness was vast. It was very likely that they would get lost or get into an accident. It was easy to imagine how dangerous this journey would be. However, the four of them did not turn back.
"Ross, Bai Sha, Pachko …"
The three of them walked to the front.
"The three of you, take five silver swordsmen to Northern Field Town in District 7. Pay attention to the three new villages on the east side. They are most likely to encounter a wave of magical beasts. I'll leave them to you," Laurist said.
"Yes, Sir."
Ross patted his chest. "Rest assured, Sir. As long as I, Tiger Ross, am here, the villages will be safe."
Loriste nodded and looked at the rest of the people. "The rest of you, follow me. We will go to the central town in District 6 first, then to the villages in the east …"
"Sir …"
"Locke …"
It was Maid Elina who called out "Sir". She held the child in her arms and bowed deeply to Loriste. "Have a safe journey, Sir …"
It was Ms. Trish who called out "Locke". "Take care …"
Loriste waved at them and ordered, "Put on the skis. Let's go!"
…
The wind was like a bone-scraping steel knife, whistling in their ears.
Even though they had wrapped themselves in thick scarves, masks, and black veils, their faces were still numb from the cold. Their eyes were also hurting from the white sky …
Loriste pointed at a high hill covered in snow in the distance. He was ready to lead the team up there to see what was going on.
"Awoo …" Wolf howls sounded on the hill, and dozens of green winter wolves the size of calves appeared on the hill.
Damn, Loriste cursed. He didn't expect these carnivorous magical beasts that hunted herbivorous magical beasts to have already used this hill as a base to hunt and observe their food. They could only avoid it for now.
Loriste waved his hand, and the skis under his feet made a turn. He changed his direction and prepared to skim past the edge of the forest below the hill. He didn't want to clash with the winter wolves and affect everyone's speed. Loriste knew that since they had encountered the winter wolves here, the end of the magical beast wave was naturally not far ahead. They had to take a big detour to reach the front of the magical beast wave.
Humans don't harm wolves, but wolves harm humans. Loriste wanted to avoid the wolf pack, but he didn't expect a few wolf howls on the hill. A dozen or so winter wolves actually came out of the forest below and surrounded them. Thirty or so winter wolves also came down from the hill. They rushed down lightly on the snowy ground. Although their bodies were large, there was a strange rhythm to their movements. Their claws sank less than an inch into the soft snow, and it was obvious that they had experience in walking on snow.
Loriste pulled down his mask and condensed his Qi into a voice. "Joe, I'll leave the front to you. Yuri, Padt, give me the javelins on your backs. Beck, continue charging …"
Josk spun around and unloaded his green longbow from his back. He started to aim and shoot. As streaks of green lightning flashed past, the dozen or so winter wolves that came out of the forest fell one by one on the snowy plains …
Belluniak slammed the pole into the snow, and the skis shot forward. The last three Winter Wolves leapt into the air and pounced at Belluniak. Josk fired his last arrow, piercing the head of one of the Winter Wolves in the air and sending it flying a meter away. But he couldn't do anything to the remaining two winter wolves because they were blocked by Bellunick's figure.
Bellunick didn't panic. He transferred the pole in his right hand to his left and drew his sword. As the golden sword light flashed, the two winter wolves that pounced at him were cut into four pieces and fell onto the snowy ground, covered in dirty blood.
The wolf howls on the hill became more and more mournful. The winter wolves that rushed down from the hill were already closing in on the motionless trio …
When the first winter wolf was less than forty meters away from Loriste, he also moved. Javelins shot out from his hands, and the miserable howls of the winter wolves became one …
Thirty-four javelins, thirty-four winter wolves. The last javelin pierced the head of a winter wolf less than seven meters away from the trio …
The howls on the hill continued, but they had already turned into whimpers.
Carrying his leather bag that still had two javelins left, Loriste said to Pat and Yuri, "Let's go."
Pat asked, "Won't the winter wolves chase us again?"
Yuri replied, "They won't. Demon wolves are very intelligent beasts. The Winter Wolves that were hiding in the forest and chasing after us have all died. The Winter Wolves on the hill have already realized how strong we are and that we aren't their match, so they won't come to their deaths again. If you listen to the howls, it sounds like they're crying, which means they won't chase us anymore. Otherwise, the howls would be very short and urgent, which means they're urging all the wolves to move faster and not let the prey escape. "
Yuri was a pastoralist from the Havestan Khaganate, so he knew the habits of wolves very well. Even though one was a prairie wolf, and the other was a northern winter wolf, their instincts were similar.
What Loriste did not expect was that they would only reach the center of the sixth district after going around in circles for two days. The main reason was that after the wave of magical beasts passed through Maple Grove Manor, they no longer maintained their formation. Instead, they spread out in search of lichen that was covered in snow.
When Loriste and the others killed a lone Golden Snow Leopard and climbed up a cliff to look into the distance, what appeared in front of them was no longer a world of white light. Instead, it was an endless horde of herbivorous magical beasts that stretched as far as the horizon …
The silver knight stationed at the center of the sixth district was called Nois. He was an old acquaintance of Josk, and was originally the captain of the garrison for Josk's adoptive father, Baron Umador. He was captured due to heavy injuries, but he remained loyal and unyielding. Together with his family, he was thrown into Count Corbili's labor camp until Loriste and Josk pretended to be messengers and ambushed Count Corbili's headquarters in Gerdost City. After witnessing Count Corbili's death, he brought his family to the north, and was promoted to a family knight by Loriste at the caravan camp in Nadjas City because of his meritorious service.
Nois was very surprised that Loriste would bring his men through the wind and snow. When Loriste briefly explained that the wave of magical beasts was coming, he quickly found a detailed map of the sixth district's settlement villages.
"My Lord, there are many hills and hills to the east, so we have only arranged for four villages to be stationed there. According to what you said, if the Magical Beast Horde eats as they move, it will take a few days to cross the hills and hills. We can still inform the four villages to be stationed there …" Before Nois could finish his sentence, a warning horn sounded from the city wall in the distance …
A guard rushed in, panting. "Sir, a horde of magical beasts is coming, coming …"
Loriste sighed helplessly. The four settlement villages in front were finished …
The feeling of seeing the overwhelming wave of magical beasts again was completely different from what he had seen in Maple Forest Villa. At Maple Forest Villa, he had been standing on top of a tall castle. But now, they were standing on a mud wall that was no more than seven meters tall in the center of the city. As the magic beasts approached the center of the city step by step, Laurist could clearly hear the teeth of many of the soldiers on guard chattering.
"We must think of a way to strengthen the city wall immediately!" Loriste said.
"But my Lord, the weather is so cold, it's very difficult for us to dig for soil. Furthermore, we don't have any materials to strengthen the wall …" Nois looked at the wave of magical beasts in the distance with despair in his eyes.
Loriste looked around, and finally fixed his gaze on the icicles hanging from the eaves of the wooden houses not far away.
"Use water, splash water on the city wall. Quick, mobilize everyone in the city and splash water on the outside of the city wall. If it freezes, it will become a city of ice, and the magical beasts won't be able to do anything to us!" Loriste anxiously ordered.
The people around him perked up. This was indeed a good idea, the city could be saved …
There were more than thirteen thousand people in the central city. Other than the elderly and children, there were two platoons of family soldiers and one platoon of garrison soldiers, as well as five or six thousand young men and women who could help. As the warning horn sounded, everyone was mobilized to carry water. Then, bucket after bucket of water was transported to the city wall by human ladders and carefully poured down …
"Big Brother Beck, Joss, Yuri, and Aire, the four of you will immediately take the rest of the people to inform the remaining eight villages in the sixth district, and then inform the central city and settlement villages in the fifth district. That's all. Get those towns and villages to immediately organize manpower to water the city like we did here, strengthen the city walls, and turn all the towns and settlement villages into ice cities. Only then can we ensure the safety of all the citizens," Loriste ordered.
"What about you, my Lord?"
"I'll stay here. I can't leave. If I leave, the people here will lose their will," Loriste replied in a low voice.
"Then I won't leave. I'll stay by your side, my Lord," Joss said.
"Loke, I'm the commander of the guard camp. How can I leave you, the head of the family …" Aire also interjected.
"Then I'll stay too …"
"Nonsense, now is the time to hurry up and inform the towns and villages to make preparations. There's no need to shirk this responsibility. I'll just keep Joss, Aire, and Pat by my side. The rest will be led by Big Brother Beck, and Yuri will be his deputy. You guys discuss how to inform those places. Remember, you're the only ones who have the skills to ski right now. You're the only ones who can move around in this snowy weather. Whether or not we can inform everyone will depend on you. Leave now before the magical beast wave besieges the city. Don't be alone on the road, and pay attention to your safety. I'm counting on you! "Loriste bowed solemnly.
Berhunick, Yuri, and the other members of the Maple Villa stood at attention and also bowed solemnly to Loriste, "My Lord, take care …"
… …
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