A large group of soldiers in heavy armor, holding spears or sword and shield, quickly poured into the settlement. There were at least fifty soldiers. Leading them was a Knight around thirty years old, riding a fine horse and clad in green armor.

Soon, Erwin and his group were surrounded. Weapons glimmered coldly in front of them.

The Green-armored Knight rode his horse, looking down at them, pacing back and forth.

Behind them, the chubby man who claimed to have lost a gemstone and the bathhouse owner quickly blocked Erwin's group's retreat.

"Hand over the gemstone," the Green-armored Knight said expressionlessly.

"I didn't steal any gemstone!" Erwin argued.

"Then lay down your weapons and let us search you. If we find nothing, we'll naturally let you go." As he spoke, the Green-armored Knight gestured with his hand.

Two soldiers put away their weapons and approached unarmed, ready to search.

"Wait!" Erwin quickly shouted.

The two soldiers halted.

The wind blew lightly as both sides held their positions.

...

A girl standing on the balcony slightly raised her head, staring at Erwin from afar.

Behind her, a middle-aged man in heavy armor respectfully said, "My lady, I really don't understand the point of your actions."

"Their magic equipment, I've heard, is quite powerful, but it requires magic stones and can't fight for long," the girl turned her face slightly and softly said, "Have them interact with ordinary people first. Pretend as if nothing's happening here. We'll find another opportunity. Once there's an opportunity, they won't be able to escape. If they're willing to take off their armor... all the better."

"But would they really believe that nothing is happening here?" the middle-aged Knight asked.

"Who knows? At least until now, they should not have confirmed that Kapu has completely lost control," the girl smiled faintly.

...

"This is obviously aimed at us; otherwise, why would trouble start right when we arrive?" Matthew whispered, "I bet there's no gemstone at all. They just want to trick us into taking off our armor. This place is completely under control."

Glancing around, Matthew whispered, "They're all liars; we can't trust any of them."

Erwin seemed still a bit hesitant.

George thought for a moment, stepped forward, and pulled out his family crest, raising it high, shouting, "I am George of the Fernandes family, the first heir of the Fernandes family's title. Searching the body of the Fernandes family heir is an offense to the Fernandes family which I absolutely cannot agree with! If you insist on doing this, then, please let your lord come to see me!"

Instantly, all eyes gathered on the crest in George's hand.

The Green-armored Knight rode his horse wobbly to George's side, craning his neck for a look, then suddenly shouted unpreparedly, "It's fake!" With a "clang," he drew his Longsword and swung at George's hand.

George quickly dodged, retreating. The crest in his hand fell to the ground.

Erwin and Matthew, who thought there was still a glimmer of hope, were completely dumbfounded.

Pointing his sword at George, the Green-armored Knight shouted loudly, "I've seen the Fernandes family's crest; it's not like this. So, these three are all liars! Thieves! Seize them!"

There was no longer any choice; the three of Erwin's group instantly drew their swords in unison.

The battle began.

Erwin whispered a quick reminder, "Try not to use magic, don't kill anyone," and then he was already charging out, meeting the advancing soldiers head-on.

You have to admit that if judged merely by the standard of ordinary human Knights, these three were top-notch both physically and technically, just slightly lacking in experience. But their current opponents weren't yet at a level to test their experience.

Very soon, both sides were locked in fierce combat.

Erwin swung his sword, disarming one soldier and then sidestepping to knock him down.

George's sword was exceptionally quick, wounding the hands of two soldiers attacking him in just two strikes, causing their weapons to fall to the ground.

Matthew was in a bit of a mess, but not bad either, charging back and forth in the chaos. Although he hadn't inflicted actual harm on anyone, he was barely holding off the assault in one direction.

The Green-armored Knight rode his horse, circling them from a distance, looking for an opportunity.

"Get on the horses! Let's get out of here!" With a shout, Erwin was already leading the charge toward the inn.

George and Matthew quickly followed, sprinting toward the stable in front of the inn, cutting down soldiers along the way, sending them flying.

From Erwin's perspective, their achievements were likely quite impressive. However, from the girl's viewpoint, it was a different story.

The Green-armored Knight continued to roam the periphery, calmly directing, as the soldiers advanced and retreated in an orderly fashion, relentlessly attacking Erwin's group. Not a hint of chaos in sight.

In the blink of an eye, the three were close to reaching the stable.

But at that moment, three soldiers with spears appeared out of nowhere, wildly stabbing at the horses in the stable.

Amidst the intense pain, the three warhorses struggled mightily, collapsing the already fragile stable roof. The hay-covered top fell heavily, trapping the three warhorses underneath.

The three soldiers rushed to the collapsed roof, thrusting their spears downwards repeatedly. Blood was slowly spreading across the ground.

"My God, what should we do now?"

This scene left Erwin, Matthew, and George dumbfounded.

From afar, the young girl once again revealed a smile.

During their moment of hesitation, dozens of soldiers once again surrounded them tightly. They could only stand back-to-back defending their position.

Not only that, but Erwin also suddenly noticed more soldiers arriving one after another from outside the settlement. Before the fight, there were only fifty soldiers present; now there were almost a hundred. All the soldiers were holding torches.

The surrounding windows opened one after another as the newly arrived merchants peered out to observe.

Seeing his "close friend" Matthew among those being besieged, the merchant Martin covered his mouth in fear.

"What do we do? Should we use the Meridian Sword?" Matthew said nervously. "As long as we bring out the Meridian Sword, these guys are no match for us."

"The Meridian Sword should be used against the Demon Envoy," Erwin replied in a low voice.

"If that's the case, we might not get the chance to use it. I've never hoped more for a Demon Envoy to stand before me, truly. Or we could pretend that the leader is the Demon Envoy."

Ignoring Matthew's complaints, Erwin gritted his teeth, stepped forward, reached into his armor, and took out a scroll. Surveying the soldiers surrounding them, he shouted loudly, "We are a knight squadron commissioned by Duke Beisher of White Castle, Yilin Beixier, here in Kapu to investigate! There is a Demon Envoy in Kapu, I don't know if you know, but this is a fact! The only ones wanting to eliminate us could be the Demon Envoy lurking in Kapu! This is a trap!"

After shouting, Erwin closely observed the reactions of the soldiers in the firelight.

No reaction, yes, no reaction at all. But their expressions were extremely abnormal. Each one gritted their teeth. In the weather just after the snow melted, each was sweating profusely, staring intently at Erwin.

The Green-armored Knight leading them sat on his horse from afar, smiling as he watched Erwin.

Clearly, something was wrong with these people. Reasoning with them was definitely impossible.

Erwin could only step back slowly, saying in a low voice, "There's no explaining this."

"You just realized?" Matthew rolled his eyes at him.

"Our horses are gone, but they have them." With a clang, Erwin lowered his visor.

"Hmm?"

Matthew and George were momentarily stunned.

The next moment, they exchanged a glance and lowered their visors too.

"Take them down! If they resist, kill them!" With a wave of the Green-armored Knight's hand, the soldiers surged forward like a tide.

Perhaps due to a newfound resolve, Matthew and his companions were not as disheveled as before.

The three grabbed their swords and, carrying the Meridian Sword, began a frontal charge.

You have to admit, armor from Giant Snake City not only allows for magic use but is also far superior in quality to human-made armor. Unless you stab at the armor's seams, ordinary swords and spears are useless against them.

With these three tin cans charging together, their impact was quite significant.

Moreover, Erwin hit much harder. Although he still didn't intend to kill directly, he no longer evaded. Wielding his sword, he charged straight at the opposition.

A large number of soldiers rushed towards them, but the entire battle line was madly pushed back.

The Green-armored Knight on horseback seemed a bit panicked because in a blink, the three of them were less than five meters away from him.

The Green-armored Knight, holding his sword, rushed up. However, he was quickly pulled off his horse by Erwin.

At the same time, both Matthew and George managed to seize horses, and the three began to break through in a unified direction under Erwin's command.

With the Green-armored Knight already thrown to the ground and no one left to command the soldiers, chaos ensued. Erwin and his team managed to break through relatively smoothly, quickly exiting the encirclement and running towards the outskirts of the settlement.

"I've thought of a problem. If a knight were to be ambushed, the focus would actually be on the horse? How does Lich King Gray solve this problem?"

"His horse is a Bone Horse, and Tenidas might be even better in battle than he is."

"Alright, maybe we need a few Bone Horses too..."

The soldiers continued their pursuit fervently, but how could two legs possibly outrun four? As for the few cavalry chasing after them, they might as well be delivering themselves as fodder.

In the middle of the now chaotic settlement square, only a dozen injured soldiers remained on the ground, wailing in pain.

"What next?" the middle-aged knight asked the girl in a low voice.

"Take your men and pursue them, relentlessly. If they don't use magical weapons, chase them until they are utterly exhausted. The way back is all mountain roads, and they can't leave Kapu on horseback like this. This way, even if they have magic weapons, they're useless." With that, the young girl turned her head to glance at the middle-aged knight, lazily yawned, and said, "I'm going to take a nap, notify me if there's any news."

"Yes, ma'am!" The middle-aged knight bowed deeply, pounding his chest armor hard.

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