It’s not uncommon for armies to disguise themselves as bandits and rob merchant caravans.
Ordinary adventurers, unless they’ve reached the level of a Great Knight, have no ability to resist against a well-formed army.
A few volleys of arrows are enough to turn these adventurers into porcupines; the combat ability of an army is not something these scattered adventurers can match.
More importantly, strong individuals exist within the army, and Great Knights are not uncommon.
Since this army dares to come to a place like Dragon Ridge Highland to make a profit, there must be a Great Knight holding down the fort.
"No one is allowed to act without my order." The speaker was Luo Kui, the owner of this caravan and the person with the most authority. All the guards were hired by him.
Luo Kui was well aware that negotiation was the only way out when facing an army.
If they dared to resist, this group of people would certainly die.
The Dragon Ridge Highland is an isolated place; the death of three or four hundred people would go unnoticed, and it would be difficult to investigate who did it.
Even if investigated, what could be done? No one would create a conflict with the army of the Violet Kingdom for these people’s sake.
A few minutes later, the caravan finally saw what this army looked like.
They realized that they were already surrounded, and due to the White Mist, they couldn’t clearly see how many soldiers there were, but certainly more than their number.
The soldiers on the other side all rode horses; about sixty percent were fully clad in armor, all coldly watching the caravan.
"Greetings, gentlemen. I am Luokui Dome, acquainted with General Tranton, and I hand over military aid annually. Please, can you let us go?" Luo Kui stepped forward with a sycophantic smile.
From the army, a man rode out on a tall horse. As he wore full armor and a helmet, it was hard to see his appearance. He said, "General Tranton? Sorry, we don’t know such a person; we’re just a bunch of bandits."
Their armor bore no insignia, appearing freshly forged and not yet engraved with the Violet Kingdom’s characteristic mark.
Luo Kui continued, "Gentlemen, this cargo is meant to be sold in the Doris Kingdom to turn a profit. How about this: when I return from the Doris Kingdom, I’ll personally offer you One Hundred Thousand Gold Coins."
The other man sneered, "Do you take me for a fool? Stop wasting words; hand over anything valuable, and we want the goods too!"
"Can’t you spare us some, sir? It’s not easy making this trip, and I have a whole family to feed..." Luo Kui pleaded.
"I don’t care if you live or die! Right now! Immediately! Hand over the valuables, or we’ll take them ourselves!" With that, the man drew his Longsword, and other soldiers pointed their weapons at the caravan.
Luo Kui’s face went ashen as he waved his hand to those behind him, "Hand over the goods to them, alas!"
The caravan workers hesitated for a bit, but looking at the army poised to strike, they felt a chill down their necks and quickly turned to move the goods.
At this moment, a voice rang out, and everyone saw that it was Kaleem who spoke.
He walked out with a solemn face, looked at the leader opposite, and said, "You’re Ives, the Knight Commander under Duke Theodore, aren’t you? Aren’t you afraid that the Duke will find out about your actions here?"
Ives remained silent for a while: "You’ve got the wrong person."
Kaleem laughed, "Got the wrong person? A few months ago, you approached me at a banquet. How quickly forgotten? I stand here today; if you dare touch our caravan, I promise Duke Theodore will hang you on the gallows!"
The scene was silent; the caravan did not expect Kaleem to have such strong backing and dare to directly threaten the opposing army.
And Ives indeed fell silent, seemingly quite wary of Kaleem.
Herag sighed upon hearing this, "Idiot!"
Luo Kui glanced at Kaleem, his face showing obvious panic.
After a long silence, Ives raised his Longsword: "Everyone listen, kill them... all of them!"
"You!" Kaleem looked incredulous; he didn’t expect Ives would dare to overstep his bounds—aiming not only to kill him but also to eliminate everyone to silence them.
Kaleem was furious: "You’ll pay the price for this!"
Ives sneered, "It’s you who will pay for your foolishness. Remember, these people weren’t killed by me; they were killed by you."
His soldiers began to attack the caravan’s defensive line, and naturally, the guards wouldn’t sit still; they immediately started a defensive counterattack.
They did possess some strength, and for a short time, Ives’ troops couldn’t take them down.
Kaleem stood at the front of the line, wielding a Giant Sword, wielding it energetically, and with each swing taking a head.
He swiftly cleared the area in front of him, leaving the ground littered with the bodies of seven or eight soldiers.
Before his Giant Sword, these soldiers, even fully armored, couldn’t withstand a single strike.
The bow and arrow unit focused fire on him, but Kaleem was also in full armor, and its quality was extraordinary; these Arrows couldn’t harm him at all.
Kaleem faced the arrows’ volley, slashing one soldier after another with his Giant Sword.
Before long, no one dared to approach the place where Kaleem stood guard.
Ives glanced in this direction, slowly rode over on his horse, then dismounted and walked out from the crowd: "Let me handle him."
Kaleem glared at him, muscles tensed.
He was close to becoming a Great Knight, but not actually one, and compared to Ives, there was still a vast power disparity.
Yet he showed no fear, eyes firm, holding the Giant Sword steadily, ready to attack at any moment.
Ives held a Longsword, slowly walking to stand before Kaleem: "If I were as wealthy as you, I’d be lying at home, not out here seeking death."
"I’m a noble but also a knight; I’ll never indulge in a decaying life. Upholding justice is the truth I follow," Kaleem declared firmly, then swung his Giant Sword fiercely at Ives.
This strike was grand and swift.
Ives held the Longsword in one hand, blocking it steadily.
He stood upright the entire time, without a hint of movement, indicating he used only a minuscule amount of strength. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
Seeing his strike blocked, Kaleem swiftly shifted the direction of his sword and launched several consecutive attacks.
But Ives easily fended off each of Kaleem’s strikes as if he was playing.
Everyone could see that although Kaleem was powerful, compared to Ives, the strength gap between them was insurmountable.
"A Great Knight is far more powerful than you imagine. You’ve probably never seen the true power of a Great Knight; otherwise, you wouldn’t foolishly challenge me," Ives sneered.