Just having put down the clean soup bowl in his hand, Horn heard the sound of the tent flap being lifted.
Under the escort of seven or eight tall War Monks, several nobles and knights dressed only in their undergarnts were brought into the tent.
"You are that Demon Horn?" The leading noble, though in a sorry state, still held his head high with arrogance, looking at Horn seated by the low table, "You're different from what I imagined."
"How do you think I should be?"
"Perhaps more robust or a bit taller," the noble appraised Horn up and down, "I never thought the one to defeat would be a short peasant boy."
"Audacious!" The Close Guard Cultivator behind him imdiately drew a saber from his waist. The cultivators on either side kicked the noble's knees, forcing him to kneel with a thud.
Horn, however, smiled and waved his hand to stop the monks: "What's your na?"
"Count Kazi Shiva of the Shiva Territory." Even while being pressed to his knees, Count Kazi gritted his teeth and raised his head to stare at Horn.
Horn stood up from behind the low table, walked slowly over to Count Kazi, and looked down at him: "Who's taller now?"
"Your soldiers rudely forced to kneel, of course it's you." Count Kazi raised his head coldly.
"Hahahaha." Horn turned around, walked to the low table, and picked up a cup of red tea, "Yes, you're much taller than , but I'm standing, and you're kneeling.
Your knights are all taller than , but they ran like lambs, driven by my muskets and cannons, crying and begging for rcy.
You're a loser, yet you disdain the victor as not noble enough. Is losing to a tall knight better than losing to a short peasant?
Don't you worry about your soldiers? Don't you think about why you lost?
The first thing you do is try to anger and seek death, acting as if you're a tragic hero, essentially just narcissistically moved by your own reflection.
Your mind really only has space for yourself."
"I lost because I'm not familiar with your new weapons. If you have the capability, let's each retreat thirty miles and fight again." Count Kazi's previously arrogant deanor was gradually faltering, his ears turning red.
"Failure is failure. You can be a thousand tis more beautiful or a thousand tis taller than , but I won, and you're the loser, so you have no excuse."
Sipping red tea, Horn looked directly into his eyes, his smile even tinged with a hint of pity: "In defeat, anything you say sounds like an excuse."
Ignoring Count Kazi's frantic shouts, Horn approached another knight: "What's your na?"
"Honorable and great Saint's Grandson, allow to humbly introduce myself; I am but a small ordinary knight, nad Rashik Babar." Babar knight swallowed and said, "I am willing to offer a substantial ransom for my unworthy life."
"Very well, Babar. Let ask you, who is your commander? Is it Duke of Bodosa? Where is he now?"
"It's the Duke of Bodosa. He said he would bring reinforcents to support us, but he never appeared until the end of the battle." Babar cautiously observed Horn's expression, "Perhaps he is still in the camp."
"Babar, you traitorous dog!" Count Kazi, his face flushed red as blood, strained to turn and spat at Babar.
Horn signaled with his eyes, and a Close Guard Cultivator imdiately took out a pair of dirty socks and stuffed them into Count Kazi's mouth.
"Approximately how many troops are in front of Solaburg? How are they distributed?"
From this Babar knight, Horn quickly extracted a rough layout of the troops and supply depots around Solaburg.
He cross-examined several knights, and their answers were generally consistent.
However, when it ca to the whereabouts of the Duke of Bodosa, everyone said only Count Kazi knew, so Horn had them remove the socks from Count Kazi's mouth.
After all the previous incidents, Count Kazi had cald down and coldly said, "If I tell you, can you answer a question for ?"
"I'll consider it."
Count Kazi stared long at Horn before speaking, "The Duke of Bodosa is in a hidden cove of the Mo'en River, not far from here. After I was defeated, he should follow the original plan and flow downstream to Dragonfly Port."
"Will he abandon the more than ten thousand people in front of Solaburg?"
"You captured or damaged almost three-quarters of the main force knights in just one battle. How could the remaining soldiers defend?" Count Kazi said flatly, "He might not even inform the Solaburg camp of the defeat, hoping they would buy ti to transport his looted treasures and spices from Black Snake Bay."
Horn nodded, neither agreeing nor opposing, just waved his hand to have these captives taken away.
"You promised to answer one question of mine." Count Kazi struggled, "Where did those muskets and cannons of yours co from?"
Horn seated himself again behind the low table: "You told potentially false information, and you expect to reveal a great secret? That's unfair."
Count Kazi stared at Horn with burning eyes: "As long as you tell , I'll give you whatever you want."
"What I want is quite substantial." With a soft laugh, Horn continued to wave his hand, "Saying more now is empty talk. Why not wait until I clear out the Noble Alliance Army in the Southern County, then we'll talk, alright?"
......
The people of Solaburg were awakened by the sound of thunder.
At first, they thought it was a sudden downpour, but when they looked out the window, there was only the glorious dawn spilling into their hands.
Selomis and a group of high-level Secret Party Wizards walked up to the ramparts, their first sight being a tent in the distant camp suddenly exploding, with a massive iron ball rolling through the sleeping soldiers, carving a gut-wrenching bloody path.
The golden dawn shone on the greenish earth, the gray chest armor reflecting the flowing morning light, as five hundred n appeared in row upon row on the rocky hill.
Eagle artillery roared and knocked the unguarded knights off their horses. Shells and tid bombs dropped among the camps, the cacophony of shouting filling everyone's ears.
Soldiers rushed out of the tents in disarray, not even able to grasp what was happening before an iron ball descended from the sky.
It should be noted that the area around Solaburg is rocky hill terrain, with just a thin layer of soil on rocky ground, even the Eagle artillery can ricochet beautifully.
Before the Salvation Army even arrived, so rcenaries or knights who secretly returned had brought news of the defeat.
However, since the Duke of Bodosa never appeared and no large-scale routed knights were seen, people in the camp assud those were deserters.
But now, with an iron ball hitting their heads, they were shocked to find it was true.
Amidst the amazed eyes of those on the city wall, the Imperial Guard wielding long spears marched chanically into the enemy ranks, bloodily reaping lives at the front lines.
Under the Holy Wind, those densely ranked soldiers fell in rows.
After nearly an hour of engagent, this battle entered the garbage ti of pursuing the enemy.
Selomis and the others didn't even have ti to muster their troops to help before the army that had besieged them for months utterly collapsed.
The massive Black and Red Sun Banner seed to truly emit scorching light, advancing toward Solaburg.
The warm wind fluttered the phoenix flag of Black Snake Bay, and the gate that had withstood the siege for months finally opened.
A tall, short-haired woman slowly walked out of the doorway, her skin, like Horn once had, sun-tanned to a light wheat color.
Seeing the young man surrounded by a group of witches and soldiers, Selomis took a deep breath, stepped forward a few paces, and prepared to kneel.
But just as she bent her waist, Horn imdiately supported her arm: "Madam Selomis has fought too long to stand steadily on feet."
She bewilderedly lifted her head, and Horn winked at her: "Within the Holy Axis Alliance, there's no kneeling ceremony. If you want to show respect, a slight nod and bow will do."
Selomis was montarily stunned, then finally, with a complex expression, straightened her back and stepped aside: "Please enter, Lord Horn."
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