Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
The Budun Family’s Demise
Ignoring the grim scenes of the three Great Knights on the ground, Bane Bloodhoof did not require his assistance.
Xi Wei first went to Clemon’s side to check on his condition.
The old knight’s face was haggard, and he had already fallen unconscious.
He was already exhausted from depleted Qi, and had sustained no small amount of injuries during the battle. It was remarkable that he had held on until Xi Wei arrived.
“Fortunately, there’s no danger to his life. After returning and drinking a bottle of Life Water, he’ll be as good as new…”
Xi Wei smiled slightly and breathed a sigh of relief.
However, such situations would become more frequent, and the number of injured would also increase. It was impossible to rely on Life Water every time.
Xi Wei secretly made up his mind.
“Upon returning, I must seize this opportunity to awaken Loli.”
He pondered in his heart that with enemies surrounding them, the lack of healing power was a fatal problem.
The best healing power would naturally come from priests. They were very valuable resources, and churches built by the Holy See were usually only found in the main cities of Earl-level territories.
However, Xi Wei did not regret killing so many priests from the Baldar Church before.
Although priests of different deities possessed basic Healing spells, their beliefs were not the same.
The priests of the Baldar Church worshipped the God of War and Fire, which determined their destructive nature.
This was why they viewed commoners as lowly ants and committed demonic acts, such as using the blood of demi-human girls to create Templar Knights.
Furthermore, priests could never truly be controlled by Xi Wei. Even priests of benevolent gods were fundamentally meant to serve their deity, not a specific lord.
Xi Wei understood this very clearly. He was unlike other lords; he could never allow power outside his control to exist, as a sudden betrayal at a critical moment could drive him to his doom.
Therefore, regarding the choice of healing power, besides the little maid whom he could completely trust, Xi Wei already had some new ideas to experiment with.
On the other side of the battlefield, the Budun Territory’s army, which was already in a precarious situation, was completely at a disadvantage with the addition of the Minotaur Warriors.
“Bloodhoof Clan, join the battle!”
“Have a taste of this!”
Carl Bloodhoof dragged a Magic Cannon, his bovine mouth splitting into an exaggerated grin. With a “poof,” a crimson beam shot into the Budun Family’s formation, sending a group of soldiers flying into the air.
This one shot startled the soldiers and knights of the Budun Territory.
“These… these monsters have a Magic Cannon!”
“That looks like it’s from our city walls! Quickly report to Lord Viscount!”
Actually, there was no need for the soldiers to report. Viscount Budun had already noticed the crimson beams intermittently flying across the battlefield.
He looked at the Minotaur Warrior wielding the Magic Cannon, firing here and there, with a mixture of surprise and unease. His premonition of disaster reached its peak.
“Impossible, it can’t be. They can’t break through Budun City. That’s right, this is their own Magic Cannon…”
“Lord Viscount, something’s wrong!”
At this moment, a soldier scrambled desperately to Viscount Budun.
He was wearing the equipment of a soldier defending the city, and appeared out of breath, clearly having rushed from Budun City in a hurry.
“What is it? Tell me, is everything well in Budun City? Right?”
Viscount Budun looked earnestly at the soldier before him, still holding onto some hope, some sliver of chance, expecting to hear good news from the soldier’s mouth.
But the crestfallen city-guard soldier finally shattered his last illusion.
“No! Lord Viscount, Budun City… Budun City has fallen! The entire Homan Castle has been plundered! Lord Viscount… Lord Viscount?”
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“The Viscount has fainted, someone quick!”
“Quickly escort the Viscount away!”
“Retreat, retreat!”
From the first cry of “retreat,” the failure of the Budun Family was sealed.
The first to drop their weapons were the farmers. They were pitiful souls forced onto the battlefield by the Budun Family’s knights. As soon as they heard the order to retreat, they turned and fled.
The mass fleeing of farmers caused the knights and regular soldiers still locked in combat to waver. One by one, they began to flee, eventually triggering a chain reaction.
When the last few Budun Family knights who resisted to the end fell under the Minotaurs’ giant axes, the war was decided.
The Budun Family’s militia scattered like headless flies across the vast Gobi Desert, with the Winter City pursuers, their eyes bloodshot, hot on their heels.
In their eyes, these people were both enemies and meritorious achievements.
It was only after Xi Wei arrived to take command of the battlefield and ordered a halt to the pursuit that these militiamen obediently returned to the ranks.
After a brief cheer, the Winter City soldiers began to clean up the battlefield. The equipment worn by these Budun Family soldiers and militiamen was better than their own, and stripping it off was now their spoils of war.
After a cursory cleanup, they could collect over two hundred sets of iron armor. Even damaged iron armor could be taken back to Winter City to be repaired by the blacksmiths.
As dusk fell, the soldiers who had finished cleaning up the battlefield set up camp.
Clemon had already awakened from his coma and was gathered with Xi Wei and a group of knights around the campfire for a council.
Xi Wei did not choose to return to Winter City immediately. The soldiers needed rest, and marching through the night was not safe.
Besides the cheers of victory, the mood around the campfire was not particularly high. Many were lost in silence and sadness.
The war was undoubtedly brutal, with a large number of militiamen dying. However, they had used their lives to preserve most of Winter City’s knightly strength.
After making some simple arrangements, Xi Wei offered a few words of comfort. Although the effect was mediocre, it did manage to lift everyone’s spirits somewhat.
What surprised him even more was that the knights spontaneously brought up the matter of issuing compensation to the fallen militiamen.
After he understood the whole story, he couldn’t help but sigh. He never expected that such a small gesture from him would garner such support from these militiamen, and incidentally, it also had a spiritual impact on the knights under his command.
This was a good thing, but sadly, those militiamen had died.
Xi Wei said nothing more, telling everyone to get back to their rest and return to Winter City early the next morning.
The Budun Family was finished. Their assets had been completely plundered by Xi Wei. There was no need to attack or occupy Budun City, otherwise, this matter would escalate from a border conflict to the active initiation of a national war.
Xi Wei was not yet capable of undertaking a war of this scale.
As the knights dispersed, only Clemon and Bane, along with a group of confidants, remained by the campfire.
“Young Master Xi Wei, you’ve broken through to Sky Knight?”
Clemon was still somewhat weak, but he could walk without difficulty, and his gradually recovering Qi was nourishing his body.
Xi Wei nodded, smiling, “I broke through a couple of days ago, I just didn’t have the chance to mention it.”
“Good… That’s great…”
Clemon’s lips trembled as he heard this, unable to hide his excitement, which was even greater than if he had broken through to Sky Knight himself.
“Young Master Xi Wei, you are still so young. You will definitely become a Champion Knight in the future, and even Legendary is not impossible.”
“Perhaps one day, the flag of Eagle Territory will be planted across the entire Cain Continent.”
Xi Wei shrugged, saying with a half-joking tone.
“My Lord, the Bloodhoof Clan is willing to pave the way for you and serve you with all our might!”
On the Gobi Desert, the biting night wind rustled the tents. In the entire camp, everyone except the patrolling soldiers had fallen asleep.
