Chapter 987: Chapter 431: The Might of Light Magic Riding (2)

"What if faced with a fast-moving enemy?" Belgar continued to ask.

"Then please look at this." Veronica snapped her fingers, signaling for the soldiers to bring out an iron cage.

"What is that?" Holy Grail Knight Armand focused his gaze on the cage, inside which was a wild boar.

"Oink~ Oink~" The wild boar bellowed loudly, forcefully ramming into the bars, creating a crisp sound.

"Mr. Lops, please open the cage," Veronica ordered.

"Huh? Why? That wild boar will cause quite some trouble if released, right?" Lops, who wasn’t wearing armor, hesitated. The full gear of a knight is heavy, and they rarely wore armor except for duty. Hearing Veronica’s order, this Kingdom Knight was somewhat reluctant.

"You don’t need to know why, you just need to do as I say, Mr. Lops~" When Lops didn’t follow her order, Veronica smiled sweetly, her lovely face forming an earnest smile, though her voice carried a hint of chill: "Shall I say please?"

"Alright, if you insist." Lops shrugged helplessly, muttering under his breath, "That’s why I hate the women of the Jialan Council—they always command from above and never explain why."

Laine subtly furrowed his brows, then let out a resigned sigh. Veronica was a woman who knew how to leverage power. Ever since formally gaining the status of a female courtier, she began naturally commanding and ordering Laine’s men. Under the feudal system and nobility system, Veronica indeed, to some extent, automatically acquired part of Laine’s authority, qualifying for the position.

Compared to Veronica, Teresa scorned such behavior, the female sorcerer rarely interacting with Laine’s subordinates, instead focusing on her Wizard Tower construction and magic research.

The two women had different ways of handling things, and it was uncertain who was right or wrong, whether it was good or bad.

Taking the key, unlocking the iron lock, Lops signaled everyone to be cautious, then pulled open the iron door.

"Roar! Roar roar roar!~~~~" The wild boar immediately realized it was free, releasing a massive roar, then charged straight toward the target. There, a large basin of clear water and many acorns, the wild boar’s favorite food, were already prepared. The wild boar, having been starved for a whole day, looked excited, releasing its legs for a wild run.

But when it was only about ten meters away from the food, a loud shout made it stop.

"Amentok’s Net!"

Standing atop the Light Magic Riding, the Official Witch Catherine held a magic book, and without any preparation, she shouted and activated the mechanism on the carriage.

Several light nets tightly bound the wild boar. No matter how the boar struggled, it couldn’t shake them off.

"Oink~ Oink oink oink~" This boar was very strong, seemingly weighing several hundred pounds. Its two large tusks struck wildly, its hooves kicked chaotically, and saliva sprayed everywhere as it exerted all its strength, roaring with rage.

It was no use; one minute passed, two minutes passed, it was still firmly bound, unable to move.

"Amentok’s Net (Enhanced version), this Light Element spell has been bound onto the magic array inside the carriage," Veronica explained proudly. "The Amentok’s Net I engraved has been fully enhanced. Any giant beast unit, unless it’s a True Dragon with very high magic resistance, will be suppressed by Amentok’s Net. We tested it with Laine, and even he was bound by Amentok’s Net for three seconds."

"Oh~ That’s amazing~" Belgar finally got a satisfactory answer. The King of Eight Peaks, drinking Bagman Black Beer, slurred, "You all learned quite a bit from the Dwarves, huh."

After speaking, Belgar went to the side and took out a little notebook, scribbling away.

"Dwarf Calendar Year D.C.5508, X Month X Day. Those damn Brittania human knights, suffering from Chivalry Syndrome, weren’t seriously listening to me and secretly called me long-winded. I’ll remember this grudge."

Belgar pondered for a while, then crossed out what he wrote, adding behind it, "But considering Lord Laine and Miss Veronica demonstrated their powerful war machines, I’ll let this slide."

Putting away the notebook, Belgar’s demeanor became serious again. He approached Laine: "Brother Laine, if this does work, it would be a great help in war, especially against the enemy’s giant beasts and Lords with considerable lethality. Can you get more of them?"

"It’s a bit difficult." Laine shook his head: "The Light Magic Riding is the Empire’s strategic reserve unit, and their productivity is especially low. Making one in two to three years is already good. The fact that the Empire could sell me one was already a special order from His Majesty Carl Franz."

"Ah, that’s a pity then." Belgar nodded understandingly: "Dwarves don’t understand magic, otherwise, I could have my engineers take a look, see if we could replicate it."

"No, I attempted to open the internal mechanisms of the carriage, but the Light Mage Academy has set prohibitions. If I try to force open the internal mechanisms, the entire Light Magic Riding will instantly collapse into a pile of scrap metal and wood fragments," Veronica explained to Belgar. "Moreover, the construction of the Light Magic Riding evidently has High Elf secret techniques gifted within it. The magic knowledge learned by humans is merely skin-deep compared to High Elves and can’t be replicated."

"Those damn Sharp Ears are always so arrogant; it’s the Dwarves who are the most straightforward," Belgar began grumbling again, chattering non-stop: "Since before your human epoch, we Dwarves severed relations with the Elves. Those Sharp Ears are too arrogant and annoying, always thinking they are the world’s rulers. However, the human brothers are more reliable, especially a friend like Brother Laine. If not for my need to reclaim Eight Peaks Mountain, I would definitely invite him to adventure with me in the Evil Land. We Dwarves once lost a famous fortress south of the World’s Roof Mountain Range—Karak Varn—a place rich in meteorite iron..."

Listening to Belgar, Laine maintained a constant smile, nodding repeatably without saying a word, allowing Belgar to ramble on.

Belgar felt satisfied with Laine’s patience and listening, thinking to himself that someone like Laine was truly suitable to be friends with Dwarves. After finishing his long-winded speech and getting invited to dine with Laine, Belgar thought to himself to remember this too.

In reality, what the Dwarves didn’t know was that Count Laine outwardly appeared to listen, but inwardly was contemplating which position would be best to use with Teresa that evening.

......

Meanwhile, in the Old World, at the border between the Empire and Brittania, in the Gray Mountain Range, at the Black Stone Stronghold.

Undead Grand Mage Heinrich Kemler led his Ancient Tomb Legion back to his stronghold, once a formidable Dwarf fortress, now turned into a paradise for the undead. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Returning with Kemler was not only his Undead Legion but also a Chaos Champion of the Four Gods, Guer. This terrifying Undead Champion Warrior, over two meters tall, wielded a black serrated giant axe and was clad in Barosh’s Blood Red Cursed Armor, following behind Kemler. He commanded a team of Undead Chaos Chosen Warriors who, even in death, still craved slaughter and blood.

Guer incessantly urged Kemler to advance toward the Human Realm, to bring destruction to those mortals who didn’t understand "embracing civilization." Sometimes, Kemler himself doubted whether he truly controlled Guer, but the orders of the Undead Grandmaster proved temporarily effective, and under his command, Guer was temporarily quieted.

Suspiciously eyeing the towering Guer, Kemler sat atop his throne piled with gold and corpses, contemplating his next move: to attack Montefel Castle or head south towards Bastogne?

Regardless, the midsummer season was not suitable for campaigns. The Sun God Petra’s divine power reached its zenith in the summer, and he and his Undead Legion needed to wait for the right moment.

"Master, an envoy has arrived at the Black Stone Stronghold, and wishes to see you," Guer approached from outside, holding his great axe in both hands, conveying a message to Kemler.

"Which news? Is it from Manfred?" Kemler asked sharply.

"A messenger from Musillon, a Blood Knight from the Blood Dragon Family," Guer’s blood-thirsty and shriveled voice said. "He brought gifts and goodwill from the Duke of Musillon, Mathew Bade. He wishes to form an alliance with us to jointly deal with the Brittania Knights."

"... Let him in!"