Vera walked down the city wall, carrying her heavy flag lance in one hand.
She entered the stables, mounted a pure white warhorse, and rode onto the street directly facing the city gate.
Through the open gate, she could see the barbarian leader holding a massive club, a pair of shiny black ox horns growing from his head.
“What traps? I, Big Barton, am not afraid of anything!”
Big Barton, riding a giant wolf, was the first to charge through the gate and into the city.
“Where are the traps? Where are the ambushes? Dammit, Old Gula and those guys are just a bunch of cowardly rats. And you, you’re that red-haired female knight, right? The priestess said you were strong, so let me see for myself! Let’s see if you’re the real deal or a fake.”
Big Barton looked around but saw no sign of any human elites.
He only saw a single red-haired female knight on a white horse, so he immediately charged at her.
‘So noisy.’
Vera looked at Big Barton and felt that he was incredibly obnoxious, louder than the frogs in a pond during summer.
“Give me your life! Taste my Big Barton’s Trunk Smash!”
Big Barton swung his weapon with all his might, smashing it toward Vera.
“Watch out, Sir Knight!”
The soldiers hiding in the buildings on both sides of the street saw the massive club—as thick as a grown man’s torso—hurling toward Vera and couldn’t help but shout a warning.
Boom — !
Following a deafening crash, Big Barton’s massive club was forced to a dead stop right in front of Vera.
“What! How… How can this be!”
Big Barton stared at Vera in disbelief. This woman had caught his proudest killing move using only one hand.
“Capturing you alive… well, it’s a bit of a hassle,” Vera said in a flat tone, easily blocking Big Barton’s full-strength swing with one hand.
“You want to capture me alive?! Don’t look down on me, woman!”
Big Barton tried to pull his weapon back, but even as his face turned beet red from the effort, he couldn’t move the weapon an inch.
“You’re out of strength. It’s my turn.”
With a slight exert of force, Vera snatched Big Barton’s weapon away and tossed it behind her.
She then raised her flag lance with her other hand and swung the flag-wrapped pole across Big Barton’s chest, sweeping him off the wolf’s back.
By the time Big Barton realized what was happening, his body had been hit by Vera’s strike in such a way that he couldn’t get back up.
“You… who exactly are you?” Big Barton asked, struggling to lift his head to look at Vera.
“Just an ordinary female knight defending the city,” Vera replied after glancing at him. She then ordered a few nearby militia members to tie Big Barton up and hand him over to Anke. As for herself, she moved on to deal with the remaining barbarian soldiers who had rushed into the city.
Without their commander, even though these barbarian soldiers were brave and skilled in battle, they could not withstand the pincer attack from the garrison—whose numbers were unknown—or the frontal assault of a female knight who was more of a monster than any monster they had ever faced.
After a brief clash, only twenty or thirty men at the back managed to escape through the city gate. Those who failed to escape were all captured by Vera and the garrison.
“Beautifully fought, Vera!”
From atop the city wall, Anke, who had watched the entire battle, gave Vera a thumbs up and shouted.
Vera met Anke’s eyes and didn’t speak, merely nodding.
Just then, the defending soldiers brought bad news.
“Lord! The main barbarian force is attacking!”
“What? Is it because we captured this minor barbarian leader?”
Anke looked back at the messenger in surprise. Such a development was not within his expectations.
“How many enemies are there?” Anke pressed.
“Only about 700 or 800, but they are all armored.”
“700 or 800… that’s fine. It’s still within a manageable range.”
After hearing the soldier’s answer, Anke felt much more at ease.
He immediately ordered the city gates to be closed and sent several soldiers to notify the Imperial Guard Knights scattered along various sections of the wall.
He kept only half of the militia on guard and brought the rest behind the city gate.
……
On the side of the Iron Jaw Tribe, Gros received the few soldiers from Big Barton’s unit who had broken and fled back. He soon learned the news that Big Barton had been defeated and captured.
Gros wanted to get some useful information from these soldiers, but all he could gather was that there were indeed ambushes inside the city. No one knew the exact numbers.
Another important point was how Big Barton—whose martial prowess was second only to Gros within the tribe—had been defeated. None of the surviving soldiers could tell him.
The vague intelligence made Gros even more wary of Border City’s power. Watching the city gates gradually close, he chose to order a temporary halt to observe the situation.
The other Centurions and the soldiers under them had no objections.
Since Old Gula and the others had tested the waters three times and claimed there were traps and heavy ambushes, and now even Big Barton had fallen after one attempt, it proved how dangerous Border City was.
Since Gros chose to observe instead of charging recklessly like Big Barton, no one raised an objection.
“Chief! Look, the city gate is opening again!” Centurion Flan shouted, pointing at the gate.
“I see it.”
Gros nodded, his eyes fixed on the slowly opening city gate.
The gate opened, and Vera emerged from the city on her warhorse, followed by ten Imperial Guard Knights, riding leisurely.
“Vera, I’m really counting on you this time. As long as we can capture the enemy leader, we can spend the rest of the day in safety. Otherwise, I’ll have to resort to donkey cart drifting.”
In the shadows of the city gate, Anke didn’t forget to remind Vera of the primary objective of these actions.
“I understand, His Highness.”
Vera glanced at Anke and responded in a soft whisper with a slight bow of her head. Then, leading the Imperial Guard Knights, she left the city and headed toward the barbarian army formation.
The speed of Vera’s group was not fast, as if they were not walking toward an enemy army but rather enjoying a spring outing.
Vera did not pull her horse to a stop until they were only 300 feet away from the Iron Jaw Tribe’s formation, confronting them where they stood.
“Which of you is the barbarian chief? His Highness has words he wants me to bring to him,” Vera asked Gros and his men.
Gros was about to ride his giant wolf forward to answer Vera when Flan stopped him.
“Chief, you can’t take the risk. That woman should be the red-haired female knight with great strength that Priestess Kaxier mentioned.”
“Risk? We have so many warriors on our side, and the other side only has about ten cavalrymen. What is there to worry about? Besides, if I have to hide from a woman, how will the warriors of the tribe look at me as their Chief in the future?” Gros said dissatisfiedly.
“That’s true, but Chief, Big Barton just fell inside Border City.”
“That was because Big Barton was reckless himself. I’m not like him. What do I have to fear out here in the open?”
Gros brushed past Flan, who was blocking him, and rode his giant wolf to the front of the army, answering Vera.
“I am the Chief of the Iron Jaw Tribe, Gros Broken-tooth! Woman, tell me directly what your lord wants!”
“Are you the real Chief? Not a fake?” Vera asked, confirming once more as she looked at Gros.
“What real or fake? How could I, Gros, be a fake! Woman! Stop talking nonsense and say what you have to say. If you keep rambling, I’ll tie you up, charge into Border City, and personally ‘greet’ your Highness.”
“It’s good that you’re the real one. His Highness told me to tell you… please come to Border City for a moment!”
Vera suddenly launched a surprise attack, moving so fast that Gros couldn’t react at all. The pole of the flag lance smashed against Gros’s neck. Despite his leather armor, the blow knocked Gros unconscious. His senseless body tilted and tumbled off the back of the giant wolf.
The sudden turn of events left the people of the Iron Jaw Tribe stunned.
“The person is secured! Retreat!”
Vera did not hesitate. She immediately grabbed the unconscious Gros, threw him across her horse, and led the Imperial Guard Knights back toward Border City.
Only after Vera and the knights had run a significant distance did the people of the Iron Jaw Tribe snap out of it, shouting as they chased after them.
“The Chief! The Chief is dead!”
“Reclaim the Chief’s body!”
“Don’t let them take the Chief!”
However, two legs could never outrun four. Any wolf-riders who tried to get close were knocked off their mounts by Vera. They could only watch as Vera and the others brought Gros’s “corpse” back into Border City.
The Centurions still wanted to take a risk. After all, it concerned the honor and heritage of the Iron Jaw Tribe.
Even if the Chief of the Iron Jaw Tribe were dead, his body could not be taken and insulted by the enemy.
Unfortunately, just as they were about to get close, a large number of crossbowmen appeared on the city walls.
“Fire! Fire!”
Anke stood on the city wall, holding a longsword and pointing at the barbarian soldiers below as he gave the order.
Arrows fell like raindrops, forcing the Centurions to retreat with their men and rethink their strategy.