"My lord, please retreat first. I’ll stay behind and buy us some time."

The knight forced his spirit back together as magical power surged wildly through his body.

Before his words had even fully fallen, a savage greatsword smashed directly into the knight formation, instantly exploding limbs and flesh everywhere as several warhorses were blown apart into bloody chunks.

"Divine Skill, Divine Wing Assault!"

Tisiana transformed into a streak of light nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, her wings pierced directly into the knights.

Those seemingly soft wings and feathers, strengthened by divine power, were sharper than blades themselves.

The moment the knight’s attention faltered, Tisiana seized the opening instantly. Her wings stabbed into the third-tier knight from both sides.

The knight’s eyes bulged outward in disbelief. He could not comprehend how he had been ambushed so suddenly.

Tisiana’s wings trembled violently.

The third-tier knight was ripped cleanly into two halves from the center, filthy gore splattering across the ground.

"K... killed instantly?"

Busby was completely dumbfounded.

That had been a third-tier knight. Even with a sneak attack, there was no reason Tisiana should have been able to kill him instantly.

"Damn it! How does Phield even have Divine Chosen? Wasn’t he exiled to the Northern Province?"

The overwhelming bloodstained aura radiating from Tisiana completely intimidated him. He never would have imagined that the Divine Chosen before him belonged to the Holy Light divine system.

"It’d be best if all of you stayed here forever."

Rosalia violently yanked backward with one hand, pulling the blood-soaked Greatsword of Gluttony back into her grasp as a dangerous smile appeared on her face.

The two Divine Chosen charged directly toward Busby’s cavalry.

"N-No, wait! I surrender! I’m a noble! You can’t harm me!"

Busby’s mind overflowed with regret. If he could go back in time, he would have slapped himself twice for seeking death for absolutely no reason.

Rosalia gave him no opportunity to continue talking.

Her sword pierced straight through Busby and nailed him to the ground.

The terrifying corruption power flowing from the Greatsword of Gluttony spread from the wound into Busby’s body. His flesh began rotting away rapidly, and the agony was even worse than death itself.

The once elegant and refined baron now twisted on the ground like a writhing insect.

Busby tried to escape, but Tisiana immediately cut him down.

"That was easier than expected. There really wasn’t much suspense at all. Seems I was overly cautious."

Feudal armies were even weaker than Phield had imagined. Even without boosting morale, the result likely would not have changed much, though now the battlefield was simply far bloodier.

"Patter, patter."

Raindrops began falling one after another.

Within only a few breaths, torrential rain poured down from the heavens.

"Don’t let a single one escape! Continue the pursuit!"

Phield did not relax in the slightest as he led his forces in slaughtering the shattered remnants of the Wind Tour army.

"BOOM!"

Thunder and lightning roared endlessly while human screams mixed with the violent storm, sounding pitifully insignificant beneath the fury of nature.

Exterminating every enemy proved far harder than merely routing them.

The Wind Tour soldiers climbed trees, crawled into ravines, and hid throughout the mountains. The pouring rain both hindered their escape and slowed Phield’s pursuit.

It was not until dawn that Phield finally slaughtered every remaining Wind Tour soldier.

"Come, Rosalia. Let’s go take over Wind Tour City."

Phield wiped rainwater from his face before walking toward Busby’s corpse.

Protected by her divine power cloak, Rosalia had not been touched by a single drop of rain. Licking her lips with lingering excitement, she smiled.

"That was incredibly entertaining. I never imagined crushing a noble army could be this easy."

"Heh, it really wasn’t difficult."

Phield glanced at Busby’s corpse.

"With this body, I probably won’t even need to siege the city."

Rosalia smiled softly, clearly not understanding his meaning.

"Oh?"

"Pick a few men who still have strength left and change into Wind Tour soldier uniforms."

Phield casually removed his cloak, stripped a Wind Tour knight of his armor and battle robes, then dressed himself in them. After smearing mud across his face a few times, he laid Busby’s corpse flat across a warhorse.

"Leave one team behind to handle the bodies. Everyone else, follow me."

The moment he finished speaking, Phield spurred his horse and raced toward Wind Tour Territory.

At that moment, dawn had only just begun to break.

The mountain rain had weakened somewhat, though it still continued to fall.

The townspeople carried on with work as usual. Because the lord had conscripted most of the territory’s fighting force, Wind Tour Territory now felt unusually empty, with mostly female villagers working outside.

The wealthy merchant Kretch had prepared chilled grape wine and fresh fruit alongside maids and cooks, intending to reward the victorious army upon its return.

"Look over there. Isn’t that the lord’s army?"

The soldiers atop the watchtower spotted Phield’s group rushing toward the city in apparent panic.

Because of the stolen equipment, they mistakenly identified the chaotic riders as the Wind Tour army.

"Open the gates quickly!"

Still far away, Phield waved one arm while shouting loudly.

Behind them, more than a dozen Nightfall Domain cavalry appeared to be pursuing relentlessly, making the situation seem extremely urgent.

"Oh no, our army has been defeated!"

"Lord Busby is in danger too! They’re being chased by enemy cavalry!"

The watchtower soldiers were utterly stunned. None of them had imagined their lord would return defeated after taking so many troops with him, much less while being hunted down by enemy cavalry.

"W-What? Impossible."

Even Kretch stood frozen in shock.

Climbing the wall to look into the distance, he clearly spotted the motionless Busby lying atop the foremost warhorse.

"Hurry! Open the gates and rescue them!"

Kretch was terrified out of his mind.

"If anything happens to the lord, we’ll all be skinned alive!"

As Phield approached the city gates, the two heavy portcullises of Wind Tour City slowly opened. More than a dozen halberd-bearing guards rushed forward nervously to assist.

"What happened? Why is the lord injured? I have special healing potions here. The lord will definitely survive!"

Kretch did not suspect anything at all. Instead, he rushed forward immediately to inspect Baron Busby’s injuries.

"Hurry and bring the lord down!" Kretch shouted toward Phield.

"Oh? Then catch."

Phield grabbed Busby’s corpse and directly hurled it toward Kretch.

"Ah?"

The surrounding soldiers were completely dumbstruck.

Who would ever treat a noble like that?

Yet their shock had only just begun.

Phield thrust out his spear with explosive speed.

Empowered by overwhelming magical force, the spear shot forward like a streaking meteor and pierced straight through Kretch’s body while he still had his arms extended.

The pitiful merchant never even had the chance to enjoy his wealth. After making two unwilling choking sounds, he collapsed onto the ground lifelessly.

"Die!"

The sound of tearing air exploded loudly.

Phield swung his spear madly as the three nearest soldiers were instantly slaughtered by the sudden assault. Streams of blood sprayed violently through the air.

The supposed defeated remnants simultaneously drew their weapons and charged directly into the city alongside Phield.

After slaughtering the nearby guards, Phield allowed the rest of his soldiers into the city. Without suffering a single casualty, they seized the heavily fortified gate and gained control over the mountain city itself.

Tisiana did not participate in the assault.

Instead, she flew high into the sky, closely monitoring every movement within the city to prevent anyone from escaping through hidden tunnels to spread the news.