Late at night, as Belegar led the Angrund Oath Guards toward the castle gate, many of the defenders were struck dumb with fear.
Where did so many dwarves come from inside the castle?!
The patrolling guards had no time to react before Belegar and his Angrund Oath Guards overwhelmed them. The common serf soldiers of Spire Palace were no match for these dwarf hammer warriors and ironbreaker warriors. The hastily gathered dozen or so guards were directly overrun. Hammers and axes shattered the serf soldiers' shields and armor. Belegar sang the ancestral songs of the Angrund clan, his booming voice echoing through the castle corridors.
The guards instantly collapsed. One guard shouted, "Run! The dwarves can't catch us!"
"That's right! They have short legs!"
"Run!!!"
Morale shattered in an instant. The twenty or thirty guards who had initially gathered lost all will to fight and fled in panic.
In a way, the guards' thinking wasn't entirely wrong. When they ran, Belegar and his Angrund Oath Guards indeed couldn't catch up with them.
"Useless cannon fodder!" Belegar stroked his white beard in frustration. "If I catch them, I'll chop off their legs so they understand whose legs are really shorter!"
"My king, should we go kill all these humans now?" An Oath Guard burped, reeking of beer.
Many of the Oath Guards had secretly drunk the ale from the barrels. It didn't make them drunk, but it did make them extremely excited. Their faces were flushed, and they were eager for a fight.
Belegar, however, remained clear-headed and shook his head. "Open the gate first! Let Brother Ryan's army in!"
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, the military camp in Spire Palace was ablaze. The chief engineer of the Angrund clan, Harghaf the Goldseeker, had taken control of the camp. The guards, still in their slumber, were in chaos. Rumors quickly spread, first that dozens of dwarves were rampaging through the city, then hundreds, and finally that the entire southern knight army had entered the castle.
By this time, the garrison was in complete disarray. The guards trampled each other in a desperate bid to escape. Without Count Ocasen and his knights to maintain order, no one could control the situation.
When the guard captain woke up, he heard screams and saw the castle engulfed in flames. The scene was chaotic.
Hastily donning his clothes, the guard captain rushed to the tower window. The sight made his heart sink.
The castle gate was open, and the knight army was entering.
The castle had fallen! That was the guard captain's first thought. His face turned ashen, and he realized he had little time. In a few minutes, the southern knights would fully control the castle!
He needed to report this to Duke Mathieu Bard! That was his immediate reaction. He called his trusted guard, who was nearly in tears. "Captain! We must flee! The castle has fallen! A group of dwarves appeared out of nowhere, burned the camp, and opened the gate!"
"You..." The guard captain's eyes were bloodshot. He hesitated, looking at his sword and then at his trusted guard, his expression shifting.
He heard the distant sound of hoofbeats. The Bretonnian knights had entered the castle!
"Take this!" The guard captain gritted his teeth, handing his sword and pistol to the trusted guard. "Escape and report to Duke Mathieu Bard that Spire Palace has fallen!"
"But?"
"Go!" The guard captain shouted angrily. "I can't flee alone. I'm the appointed guard captain by the count! You must go to Mousilon and inform Duke Mathieu Bard. Go quickly!"
Footsteps echoed in the corridor. The trusted guard didn't hesitate any longer. The guard captain lowered a rope from the tower, watching his trusted guard descend and disappear into the night.
The next moment, the room's door was hit hard. "By the Lady's name! I order all humans in Spire Palace to surrender immediately, or the Lady's judgment will descend upon you!"
"Hah!" The guard captain sneered. He drew his sword and charged at the door. "Die!"
A Holy Grail Knight burst in. Seeing the guard captain's defiance, he swung his sword.
The sound of battle filled the tower room. Thirty seconds later, silence returned.
As the first rays of dawn lit up Spire Palace, the battle within the castle had ended.
Ryan's knights had fully taken over the castle. The well-equipped Bretonnian knights and their squires controlled every key position. All residents of Spire Palace knelt with their hands on their heads, awaiting their fate.
"We've finally taken Spire Palace." Ryan, mounted on his purebred elven steed Grape, sighed in relief. "But this is just the beginning. We must withstand Mathieu Bard's counterattack to truly establish a foothold in Mousilon."
The Enchantress of the Lake, Morgiana, riding her unicorn Sylphane, with a full squad of Holy Grail Guardians behind her, nodded in agreement. "Reaching this point is already a great achievement, Ryan."
"Lady Morgiana, Lord Ryan, all the residents of Spire Palace, including the five knights who surrendered and their squires, have been captured. How should we deal with them?" Federmond approached, asking Ryan and Morgiana.
"Hmm..." Ryan hesitated, but Morgiana spoke first. Her face was cold. "The commoners will be temporarily detained and used as laborers. As for the knights and their squires, bring them before me immediately!"
"Yes!" Federmond responded loudly.
Ten minutes later, the remaining thirty or so knights and squires of Spire Palace were brought to the castle hall, with Ryan and Morgiana seated on either side.
Ryan wondered how Morgiana planned to deal with these knights who had pledged allegiance to the undead. He remained silent, waiting for her to announce the judgment.
"In the name of the Lady, I declare that Spire Palace will be rescued from the corruption and decay of Mousilon. The people here will once again come under the Lady's divine grace." Morgiana's cold gaze swept over the knights who had submitted to the undead, her eyes filled with disdain. "In the name of the Lady, your knightly status is hereby revoked. From today, you are no longer knights. Your swords will be taken, your family crests abolished, and your names erased from all records. You face a long journey of atonement. Only by earning the Lady's forgiveness can you restore your honor."
"Starting now, I strip you of all property and titles. You are no longer knights, but serfs." Morgiana coldly announced the Lady of the Lake's judgment. "Now, remove your family crests. You and your families are no longer nobility."
None of the knights objected. In contrast, all the Bretonnian knights, dwarves, and even the sorceress Teresa looked at them with disgust.
"My judgment is complete. Now, who approves? Who opposes?" Morgiana stood up, her beautiful face icy. She turned her gaze to Ryan, for he alone had the authority to challenge her decision.
"I approve." Ryan had no objections to Morgiana's decision.
Ryan's soldiers moved in to strip the knights of their noble crests.
At that moment, a young knight with a purple face stood up angrily. Struggling against his bonds, he shouted at Morgiana, "I oppose! I am Harrison, the thirty-seventh generation descendant of George VI, the cousin of William II, the nephew of Landuin, the first Duke of Mousilon! What right do you have to judge me?!"
With that, the headstrong young knight charged at Morgiana, cursing with his mouth wide open.
Morgiana's green eyes turned as sharp as blades. Her right hand glowed with the light of the Lady of the Lake, and a brilliant beam enveloped the young knight.
"Ahhh!!!" The hall echoed with the young knight's screams.
The light of the Lady of the Lake flashed and receded. Morgiana snorted coldly.
"Ribbit!" The young knight was gone, replaced by a frog the size of a palm. It croaked, hopping around the castle hall. "Ribbit! Ribbit!"
Apart from the frog's croaks, the hall was silent.
"I ask again, who approves? Who opposes?" Morgiana calmly repeated. "Does anyone object to my judgment?"
All the prisoners on their knees shook their heads, faces pale as they looked at the frog. Tales of knights transformed into frogs by the Enchantress for severe breaches of chivalry were well-known, but few had seen it happen.
Now, they had seen it with their own eyes.
The sight nearly broke them. No one wanted to spend their life eating insects in a swamp. Hearing Morgiana's words again, the prisoners lowered their heads, accepting the judgment.
The prisoners were dragged out by Sir Bertrand and his men. As Morgiana decreed, they were no longer nobility. All their property would be confiscated, their honor stripped away, and their family history erased until they could earn the Lady of the Lake's forgiveness.
But with no knightly status and reduced to serfs, how could they ever win the Lady's favor?
It was an impossible task.
Morgiana ordered the Holy Grail Guardians to release the frog into the swamp. She was visibly angry. She looked at Ryan and sighed. "Landuin, as the purest and most excellent of the first Holy Grail Knights, absorbed all the virtues of his land into himself and left the current scoundrels to this duchy and its land."
"Oh, Grungni above!" Belegar exclaimed, his mouth agape. "This is... the harshest punishment. I can't imagine the disaster if I were turned into such a creature, living my life in swamps and ponds, eating insects."
"Let's not dwell on that, King Belegar. We thank you for your contribution. Without your help, we couldn't have taken this castle so easily." Ryan changed the subject, thinking Morgiana's punishment was indeed severe. But these humans who bowed to the undead were undeserving of sympathy, especially the local Mousilon knights who capitulated to the undead to continue their rule.
"Oh ho, Brother Ryan, remember that the dwarves did you a big favor!" Belegar proudly put his hands on his hips. "Without us, you couldn't have taken this castle."
"Indeed, without King Belegar and our dwarf brothers, we couldn't have taken Spire Palace." Ryan nodded, but his face showed no relief. "But this is just the beginning. We must repel the counterattack from Mousilon."
"Federmond!"
"Here!"
"Strengthen the defenses with your men. Ensure everything is coordinated before Mathieu Bard's undead army counterattacks!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Gerard, organize the soldiers to bring as many supplies and materials into the castle as possible."
"Yes, sir!"
Federmond and Gerard left to carry out their orders.
"Mr. Duggan, find a way to place the cannons on the walls," Ryan continued to instruct his dwarven engineer. "We need artillery to help us defend the castle."
"My lord, it takes time to move the cannons up the walls. We can't just lift them; we'll need to hoist them." Engineer Duggan Ironhand pointed out the difficulty. "How much time do we have?"
"Not much," Ryan shook his head. "At most a day and a half before Mousilon's undead vanguard arrives."
"But..." Duggan started to say, but Ryan interrupted. "Remember our earlier preparations?"
"Oh ho! I understand now!" The dwarven engineer suddenly recalled something, patting his belly with glee. "No problem, leave it to me."
Ryan delegated tasks one by one. Morgiana observed quietly from the side, watching Ryan handle everything before speaking. "Ryan, I can feel the power of the Grail of Potions! It's somewhere in this castle!"
"Manfred hid the Grail of Potions in Spire Palace?" Ryan's eyes gleamed.
"My feeling is certain," Morgiana said with conviction.
"Alright, let's find it," Ryan stood up.
As they headed toward the master bedroom atop Spire Palace, Morgiana hesitated but decided to share some news with Ryan. "Ryan, the Lady just sent me a divine message."
"What's her command?" Ryan's immediate thought was another request from the Lady of the Lake.
"The Lady wishes to inform you that your firstborn son has been born," Morgiana shook her head, her face showing a hint of sourness and reproach.
"Duchess of Nuln, Elector of Brescia, and Duchess of Wissenland, Emmanuelle von Lebwitz-Bernadino, gave birth to a healthy baby boy in the Black Tower of Nuln a few days ago. The baby spoke at birth, and the sky turned a deep blue upon his arrival."
"The War Goddess Myrmidia descended to bless the baby, announcing she would be his guardian deity and predicting he would become a great human hero."
"The baby is named Frederick-Makado von Lebwitz-Bernadino."
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