Chapter 120: Chapter 119: The Attribution of a Hero
Levi scratched his head, staring blankly at the head on the ground.
To be honest, he had expected this Dragon Vein Dog-man to last at least a couple of rounds with him.
After all, with the blessing of a Dragon Vein, control over the Fire Element, and an array of fancy Skills, he was clearly a master among masters.
He was worlds stronger than those Fighters in the Gladiatorial Arena who, at best, only knew a bit of shoddy Combat Qi.
But to his surprise, he was still one-shotted.
This was the first time he’d ever gone all out. He’d never even bothered to be this serious when roughing up Zat and the other Barbarians.
The Lord clasped his hands behind his back, gazed into the distance with a melancholic heart, and sighed, shaking his head slowly, "Alas, to be a master is to be as lonely as the snow."
Reciting a beautifully worded poem after a victory would have been more stylish, but this Lord, this "Emperor Yu Huang" of humble, working-class stock, only knew a few dirty limericks. Lacking such literary talent, he could only give up on the idea with regret.
"Boss, your sword."
Just then, Zat picked up the Broadsword Levi had tossed on the ground to look cool and handed it over.
The Lord took it smoothly, sized up the Giant Sword for a few moments, and spoke with conviction.
"The souls claimed by this sword were all the greatest of heroes. I wonder what kind of heroic figure its master must be."
Hearing his boss’s bizarre words, Zat curled his lip, wanting to retort, ’Isn’t that your sword, Boss?’
But, suddenly realizing something, he quickly shut his mouth.
Unfortunately, just then, Hog, who had been patrolling the perimeter, rushed over. He happened to hear Levi’s words and instinctively blurted out, "My Lord, isn’t that your sword?"
"Oh, right!" The Lord clapped his hands, feigning a look of sudden realization, and said gleefully, "To think that I am such a heroic figure!"
Listening to the Lord’s self-aggrandizement, Zat turned away and grimaced, feeling an uncomfortable itch all over as if he were infested with lice.
Pure power crushing its opposition creates the purest visual impact.
Even a camel can be killed by a single straw, let alone the hearts of men.
The fluttering banner of the Giant Dragon Corps had fallen to the ground at some point, trampled by countless large feet, yet no one paid it any mind.
After their leader was effortlessly beheaded by the enemy, what little morale the Giant Dragon Corps had plummeted. The first to flee, the goblin dogmen, inspired the still-hesitating Lizardmen and Leopard-headed People.
It ultimately snowballed into a massive, avalanche-like rout.
The Jackal Wolfman Cavalry, who had been providing support from the flanks, gave chase, running them down and further extending the victory.
As the fighting died down, squads of prisoners were escorted by High Cliff Castle’s Warriors to a makeshift dungeon, and the common folk were brought over to begin cleaning up the battlefield.
The Giant Dragon Corps may have been poor, but stripping the iron from their bodies and sending it to the High Cliff Castle Blacksmith to be reforged would still yield a considerable amount of weaponry.
Sam, who had been hung from the flagpole, witnessed the entire war. So when the Lord let him down, his legs trembled, and he immediately hugged Levi’s thigh, crying his eyes out. "My Lord, I know I was wrong! I’ll never run away again! I swear to serve High Cliff Castle to the death!"
The image of the Lord cleaving a Minotaur in two with a single sword strike filled Sam with unstoppable terror.
"In that case, I’ll trouble you to help treat High Cliff Castle’s wounded."
Levi smiled, his words polite, but it was enough to make Sam collapse in a heap on the ground. He frantically shook his head like a drum-shaped rattle, insisting it was his duty.
By the Bengyong River, the Beastman Barbarians of the Burning Corps stood with their arms crossed, forming a circle to watch their corps commander interrogate a prisoner.
"Speak!"
"Are you going to speak or not?!"
"Such a tough mouth, huh? Looks like I’ll have to get rough with you!"
Zat cracked his Cowhide Whip, lashing the Leopard-headed Person. This guy was incredibly tight-lipped; even after taking several series of ten lashes, he still wouldn’t talk.
The relentlessly whipped Leopard-headed Person wanted to cry but had no tears. ’What the hell do you want to know? Just ask! All you keep asking is if I’ll speak or not...’
At this point, Levi, tired of waiting for news, grew impatient. He decided to step in himself, pushing through the Beastmen and pinching the Leopard-headed Person’s fated neck before delivering two hard slaps to his face, one on each side.
"Are you the vassals of a Giant Dragon?"
"Yes."
Having been slapped twice for no good reason, the Leopard-headed Person clutched his face and answered honestly, trembling.
But inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. ’At least I don’t have to get whipped anymore.’
"Why didn’t this Giant Dragon show up?"
"..."
One thing Levi couldn’t figure out was why, if this Giant Dragon Corps was attacking High Cliff Castle, the Giant Dragon itself hadn’t appeared.
During the battle, he had actually devoted most of his attention to scanning the distant sky, but unfortunately, he didn’t see so much as a single scale of the Giant Dragon by the time the war was over.
This couldn’t help but make him doubt the Giant Dragon’s existence. ’Could this corps be a fake?’ That’s what led to this interrogation.
After a round of interrogation, they’d even pried out information about how many Female Leopard People he’d suckled from as a cub.
And the Lord also got the information he wanted.
This corps was indeed an army of vassals gathered by a Giant Dragon. However, their march south wasn’t ordered by the dragon, but was the Dragon Vein Dog-man’s own initiative.
As for the Giant Dragon, it was still in a deep slumber.
This news overjoyed the Lord. If the Giant Dragon was still sleeping, he could launch a blitzkrieg.
However, the truth of this information was worth scrutinizing. The Lord didn’t just take one person’s word for it; he went on to interrogate dozens more prisoners and received the same answer from all of them.
As Baisitina and Mier arrived on the battlefield from High Cliff Castle, they called out in concern.
"Levi! Brother-in-law! Are you okay?"
"Something is up." Levi was busy directing a Giant to drag a carriage out of the reeds. Seeing Baisitina and Mier arrive, he said, "I have a few things I need you two to do."
"First, the prisoners. High Cliff Castle can’t handle this many prisoners of war as things stand, but letting them go is out of the question." Levi pointed to the captives by the river, who couldn’t fit in the dungeon. "Those Lizardmen and Leopard-headed People can be sold to slave traders as Warriors or Fighters."
The Lord was no philanthropist; he felt no aversion to the slave trade. After all, these guys had come here intending to attack High Cliff Castle and kill or enslave everyone in it. The fact that Levi hadn’t simply had them all buried alive was already an act of great mercy.
"Tina, you can contact Lorina about this. She has some dealings in the slave business."
"Alright." Baisitina nodded.
"Second, the spoils of war. A lot of the equipment is shoddy and damaged, but after being reforged, it will still make for a considerable supply of weapons."
Levi then turned his gaze to the pile of weapons and equipment collected by the common folk. "Mier, this task is for you. Reforge all of this into Iron Armor."
