NEC Chapter 74: The Clash of Fire and Iron

When it came to understanding human nature, the kingdom's nobles were in no way inferior to the old officials of Blue Star's East Xia.

"Every professional who can pass the first tier in the Emerald Duchy has detailed records in Greenspine's archives. I had my scribes and several advisors carefully study this fellow Paven's information. This guy is smart, decisive, and resolute, but he has one fatal flaw."

"He comes from poverty and has too little capital, so he's overly petty and too fond of seizing battlefield opportunities."

"As long as we show him a chance to gain an advantage, he will definitely show himself!"

The Cloudmist Domain team's ability to traverse mountains and cross an entire enemy nation's territory relied on the information advantage brought by drones, but this was only a local information advantage.

Overall, Marquis Zircon was the one who held the information advantage.

Although South Pass Territory was still resisting, part of South Pass Territory's forces had already surrendered to Greenspine.

Marquis Valen deliberately relaxed control along the river while simultaneously scattering numerous hunting squads composed of Greenspine elites and "Emerald" puppet troops across the vast northern plains, creating the illusion of local battles and friction.

As reconnaissance efforts increased, new clues continued to converge.

Traces of someone swimming across were found on the south bank. After expanding the search, horse carcasses were found in dense woods several kilometers away.

At a river bend downstream, crude logs that had been pushed into the water and abandoned were intercepted.

Carpet searches on the north bank captured sporadic but clearly directional traces of movement.

After confirming the Cloudmist Domain team's river crossing point, Marquis Valen again increased the number and scale of actors in this area.

According to the marquis's plan, such arrangements would make the Cloudmist Domain squad unable to move an inch, so once an exploitable opportunity was discovered, Paven, the Goldscale Swordsman, would very likely risk taking action.

Then they would capture him, extract the little lady's location, and catch them all in one net.

Incidentally, they would pluck the feathers from the "crow" from Sky Empire and roast him to see what good things could be shaken out, then present him to Mistmoon as an achievement.

Collaboration was impossible. Greenspine had already sold itself to the Mistmoon Divine Court.

The plan and execution were both perfect. Although Captain Paven was cautious enough, after the opponent continuously created opportunities and continuously increased the stakes, he finally fell into the enemy's trap.

However, the Zircon side underestimated Paven's beast-like battlefield instincts and reaction speed. The moment the trap was triggered, before they could extract a single word, both sides were already at sword point.

There was no choice. Acting required actors, and in such a vast area, where could they find so many high-tier professionals? That's why they ended up with the spectacle of small fry chasing a great knight.

Of course, the marquis had also prepared for the "dramatic performance" to fail and directly turn into "action." He had planted Greenspine's high-tier combat power among the fleeing team.

At this moment, Zircon Family's Fifth Knight had already determined that the Cloudmist Domain team was nearby. With several loud whistle sounds, multiple magic flares shot into the sky and exploded into conspicuous light clusters.

Before long, surrounding Cloudmist Domain forces would quickly converge and turn this area upside down.

"Captain Paven," the Fifth Knight's voice carried deep regret. He stepped forward, his heavy boots crushing the dust beneath his feet, "Before I came, my lord repeatedly instructed me. He greatly admires your talent and hopes for a chance to meet you. I wonder if you would honor us with your presence?"

Seeing that Paven didn't speak, the Fifth Knight smiled slightly and took another step forward, "Captain Paven, with your insight and ability, even in our marquis territory, you should hold the position of a great city's garrison commander or territorial defense chief. Yet in the Emerald Duchy's count territory of Cloudmist Domain, you can only serve as a little girl's attendant."

"Watching those fools swagger above you, isn't that humiliating?"

"If not for insufficient allocated resources and constantly running around exhausted, you should have advanced long ago. How could you remain at the Goldscale Swordsman level for so many years?"

"Don't you see?" The knight spread his hands, "The little lady you serve is merely a commodity waiting to be sold in Cloudmist Domain. When she's sold for a price, where will you go? Will you become another little master's watchdog?"

The Fifth Knight pressed forward step by step, speaking both cruelly and truthfully. Paven seemed somewhat disturbed by these naked words, his grip on his sword hilt tightening and loosening, loosening and tightening, finally hanging down dejectedly with a slight tremor.

"Come to Zircon!" The Fifth Knight raised his voice, trying to strike while the iron was hot!

"Zircon Family will give you resources and help you advance. Before you reach the fifth tier, my lord permits you to choose any position as captain of a great city's garrison. Among Zircon's seven cities and future territorial great cities, you can pick any! After you reach the fifth tier, I'll step aside for you..."

This promise was incredibly sincere!

Faced with such a fierce psychological offensive, Paven finally moved.

Swift as thunder!

The Goldscale Swordsman's hanging hands rapidly plunged into the weapon pouch at his waist. When they emerged, his palms gripped two Type 4 grenades, the most powerful short-range thermobaric grenades.

Paven's thumbs simultaneously flipped the safety switches and pulled the pins. While throwing them toward the knight ahead, he rolled sideways, drew his sword from its sheath, and loudly issued the command, "Defensive posture! Prepare to charge!!"

The latest version thermobaric grenades sent by East Xia had both delayed detonation and impact detonation modes, mainly to prevent agile Starry Continent warriors from throwing or kicking the grenades away before the fuse triggered.

At such close distance, impact detonation triggered instantly.

"BOOM!!! BOOM!!!"

Two deafening, terrifying roars exploded almost simultaneously! Orange-red fireballs suddenly burst at two positions in front of and behind the Fifth Knight! Scorching, violent flames swept out horizontally, instantly swallowing the knight's figure.

The shockwave stirred up dust and sand everywhere, like a small sandstorm!

When Paven's command was issued, the repeatedly trained Cloudmist Domain warriors quickly crouched low, channeled energy throughout their bodies, assumed defensive postures, and opened their mouths.

This was East Xia's teaching to prevent sound waves from directly shattering eardrums.

Although they were also shaken with churning blood and ringing ears, they were merely staggered a few steps by the blast wave without serious injury.

The Zircon side was somewhat more embarrassed. Several Greenspine warriors who had been following behind the Fifth Knight in a semi-encircling approach took a direct hit from Paven's well-positioned thermobaric grenade.

Those nearby were directly consumed by flames, while those slightly farther away, caught off guard, took the full brunt of sound waves and shockwaves, immediately spurting blood from eyes, nose, mouth, and ears before collapsing.

After launching the attack, before the Zircon knight could emerge from the smoke and dust, Paven had already timed the explosion's recovery period perfectly. With a explosive shout of "Charge, free target acquisition!" he transformed into a sharp arc of light, tearing through the air as he rushed out.

His target was Knight Commander Connor, formerly of South Pass Territory, who had been standing motionless in the back with a somewhat gloomy expression.

Paven's plan was very clear: use thermobaric grenades to kill or severely wound this so-called Fifth Knight of Zircon, while he himself would spare no cost to disable Knight Connor.

Then look for a chance to withdraw from the battlefield.

If there was time to return, he would take the team and flee.

If there wasn't time to return, he would at least drag the enemy's pursuit forces toward other directions as much as possible, covering the lady and Chen Mo and others in the hiding place.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even accomplish the first step.

His main target, Zircon Family's Fifth Knight, regretfully shook his head at Paven in that split second.

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