Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 361 The Church Knights Legion and the Chosen Armor Officially Debut
After arranging the important matter of the bard, Hilde asked, "My lord, are there any other important matters today?"

Su Li smiled and said, "There's quite a bit of good news today. A Sky Tiger Griffin has crashed in our territory. We need to find someone to treat it."

Hilde's eyes lit up, and she asked, "Is it in the Green Hills area? During the competition, some local civilians claimed that they witnessed the presence of an Imperial Divine Beast."

“That’s right.” Su Li nodded with a smile and said, “This Sky Tiger Griffin Golden Thunder was corrupted by the death magic of the Night Wanderer Corpse and crashed in the Green Hills area. Which knight do you think would be suitable to lead the team there?”

Su Li has always been quite optimistic, so he pays more attention to the opportunities presented by this intelligence.

This is his duty and advantage as a lord. He must appear hopeful for the future in order to unite people's hearts and minds, so that everyone is more loyal and works with full enthusiasm in the same direction, turning their strength into one.

As his high-ranking steward, Hilde was more focused on filling in the gaps in his knowledge. Hearing this, she did not answer directly, but instead turned her attention to another key point: "My lord, was Jin Ting attacked by the Night Wanderers in the Green Hills area?"

"That's right, on the birch hill in the green hills, it has now fallen there and has almost lost all ability to move."

Hilde frowned slightly and said, "If that's the case, then it means the Nightwalkers are very close to us. After all, the Tiger-striped Griffin is comparable to a Champion Knight. When we set off from Purplethorn Fortress, we encountered a Griffin's nest on the way, but we didn't climb the cliffs thousands of meters high to sweep away all the Griffin eggs. Instead, we only took the Death Claw because our team only had one Champion Knight, Marshal Orstein. But these Sky Tiger-striped Griffins, which can threaten Champion Knights, have been infected by the Nightwalkers. This means that there are far more Nightwalkers hiding in the Green Hills than we thought."

"Then I suggest we give this Tiger-Striped Griffin to the powerful Undead Slayer, Orion. This will not only win over the Sunfire Knights and gain their favor, but also improve our army's ability to fight the Nightwalkers. You could even entrust the army to this Undead Slayer and train him to be a great general. Although he is a church knight, he is capable of commanding an army. After all, the strategic and tactical abilities of the Sunfire Knight are beyond question."

In human empires, griffins are typically the mounts of nobles or military commanders.

Deathclaw was the first to hatch, even wriggling to the edge of the nest as a cub before falling off the cliff. It was undoubtedly exceptionally powerful among the Sky Tiger Griffins. With the Dragon Blood Stone and various items given to it by Su Li, its size had now reached an unparalleled level.

When Su Li is not riding a dragon, it is Su Li's most powerful mount.

With the support of such a powerful mount, a knight's combat power can be quickly elevated to an unprecedented level.

It's no exaggeration to say that a dragon that would require more than a dozen champion knights to defeat could probably be defeated by just four Sky Tiger Griffin Knights.

A knight's combat power nearly doubles after acquiring a powerful mount. Mounts and armor are a knight's lifeblood.

If the territory were to fight Ariria again with its current fighting strength, even without the intervention of the Chosen Knights, Ariria would be decisively defeated.

Now, Arielia has to rely on Su Li to quickly improve her strength, especially with the effects of the Blessed Wisteria Tree. Lying in the eye of the Jilun Wind, she is being baptized every moment.

Undoubtedly, rewarding a knight with a high-class mount can greatly increase his favorability.

Upon hearing Hilde's suggestion, Su Li pondered for a moment before saying, "Training a general of the Church Knights would be meaningful, since sometimes the armies of these Church Knights would act proactively without much of our involvement."

“That’s right,” Hilde said. “With such a general in place, he will be more proactive in gathering the church’s legions to patrol, train, and eliminate various monsters within the territory. For example, right now, if Orion tames this mount, Golden Thunder, he will definitely lead the army to patrol back and forth in the Green Hills area, helping us to eliminate potential groups of Night Wanderers.”

"He is currently the mentor of the Sunrise Knights. If he uses his influence to launch a call to action, it is conservatively estimated that the Sunrise Knights will mobilize 200 knights and the Green Field Knights will mobilize 100 knights to respond to this small-scale war. If we add a 100-person Blue Heron Mercenary Group and a 100-person Sun Goddess Battle Pilgrimage Group, their main combat force will reach 500 people. This is the core of their army's combat strength. However, with so many knights involved, there will definitely be at least a considerable number of armed squires participating. Including logistics and supply personnel, they can raise a legion of 1200 to 1500 people."

Upon hearing Hilde's analysis, Su Li decisively made up her mind: "Then let the Sunfire Knights take charge of the matter of rescuing Jin Ting this time."

This 1500-strong church-affiliated armed force and legion, operating within the territory, can greatly alleviate Su Li's worries about the rear. Their size not only eliminates the potential threat of the Nightwalkers, but also helps Su Li stabilize the rear during his westward expedition, preventing threats from beastmen, the Chaos Legion, and the like to the Black Forest Territory's rear.

With the establishment of Flashspear City, the significance of this legion has become increasingly important.

After all, Flashspear City is located on the vast plains to the west of the territory. According to the effect of the Heaven's Spear, it will attract one Chaos Legion after another to the vicinity and roam this plain.

With this order of church knights patrolling, they will surely be able to proactively help him eliminate many enemies.

Most importantly, this legion is free, requiring almost no maintenance from Su Li. If there are more enemies, Su Li can also dispatch 1-2 squadrons of high-ranking attendants to respond to Orion's call, which would allow the legion to grow to over 2000 men.

2000 people—that was a standard legion size in the Old World.

Without engaging in a decisive battle with a massive force like the Green Dragons, a legion of 2000 men is sufficient to handle most situations and crush all enemies.

Then Su Li remembered something and said, "So it seems that the size of the church knightly orders in our territory is still somewhat insufficient. Apart from the two knightly orders stationed in our territory by the Church of the Goddess of the Sun, other gods don't have any knightly orders in our territory, do they?"

Hilde nodded, then smiled and patted Su Li's right hand, saying, "My lord, our territory is still relatively new, and there are many shortcomings and areas that need development. It is already quite remarkable that two knightly orders have settled here. We may not even have heard of our territory in many other churches."

"Even so, there are still some other religious orders in our territory. For example, the Church of the Goddess of Healing and Mercy, Sharya, has a 'Compassionate Service' in our territory. This service is mainly composed of war orphans, and is also responsible for sheltering orphans, caring for the disabled, and providing end-of-life care. It is said that they often cooperate with the White Dove Knights to establish shelters in the slums, and their members are required to swear to renounce worldly property."

"The White Dove Knights?" Su Li raised an eyebrow and asked, "Salya's knights?"

"Yes, it's one of the renowned Knights Hospitallers. Their primary duty is to protect medical convoys from plunder. The knights are equipped with silver plate armor and kite shields, and their weapons are usually blunt-tipped maces to avoid fatal injuries, symbolizing the protection of life rather than its taking. They typically set up outposts along trade routes to ensure the safe transport of medical supplies. I believe the next knightly order most likely to be attracted to our territory is the Knights of the White Doves. As long as our territory's trade routes become prosperous and large quantities of medical supplies are transported, they will proactively come to the trade routes to set up outposts, fortresses, and even bases."

"However, even so, what the knight lords really appreciate most about the White Dove Knights is their fighting style. With them on the battlefield, their soldiers' chances of survival increase significantly. At the same time, the enemy is more likely to be knocked unconscious rather than fatally wounded. Mercenaries love nothing more than following the White Dove Knights' army into battle, picking up unconscious prisoners on the battlefield. With a little medical treatment, they can survive and fetch a good price."

Su Li asked with a smile, "Doesn't that mean that as long as the White Dove Knights exist, it's easy to raise a free militia?"

“That’s correct in theory, and the White Dove Knights are renowned for this.” Hilde smiled broadly.

Su Li asked curiously, "Besides the Benevolent Attendant Corps, are there any other cults in our territory?"

“Of course there are quite a few, for example, the four orders of the Church of Dawn.” As the steward of the territory, Hilde was quite clear about the armed forces: “It’s just that each of their orders has a relatively small number of members, and they are not known for their military prowess. The only one worth mentioning is the Order of Righteous Wrath, which has about 10 superhumans and 30 armed believers.”

"The Shroud Order of the Church of Mor is roughly equal in strength to them, and this order also has about forty people. If we can attract Mor's Black Guards, the number of Mor believers in our territory will increase further."

"The Shroud Order." Su Li recognized this order and asked, "Are they dealing with the corpses from before the territory was established? How's the process going?"

"Progress is going well, and it looks like we can probably handle at least half of it this summer."

"That's quite good progress," Su Li instructed. "Tell them to speed things up. Next, I plan to take the troops to the east of Stormshade Fortress to clear out the Anarek Giant Spider's lair."

This is the last reminder for this month. It was originally scheduled at the beginning of the month, but it was delayed by the Radiant Festival.

Now that the Celebration of Light is over, it's time to take action.

The key was winning the war and killing a large number of Anarric Spiders, which were worshipped as gods by goblins and gnomes. This would greatly reduce the morale of goblins and gnomes when leading the army to attack the greenskins later.

In the eyes of this chattering monster, Su Li was the most terrifying demon in the world, a horrifying god-slayer.

If you add his great banner, making his figure appear exceptionally tall and terrifying, then in the eyes of these goblins, he is nothing short of a terrifying demon god's shadow. The crimson demon god sits high atop Storm Shadow Fortress, his blood-red gaze shrouding the east with majesty and terror.

This will greatly help him clear out the monsters in the western part of Bloodpine Forest.

Hilde immediately asked with concern, "My lord, are you going to personally lead the army into the underground? Won't you encounter any danger? I'll immediately gather another batch of troops to escort you there." Su Li decisively waved his hand and said, "There's no need. Going deep underground, even if we have a large army, we won't be able to deploy effectively. Besides, that cave is only 30 miles from Storm Shadow Fortress. To be honest, that distance is just a blink of an eye for a griffin. I won't be in much danger. The Black Forest Guard Knights and the troops from Storm Shadow Fortress will be enough. In addition, you and Demst will come down with me. With two Chosen Ones protecting us, we can even venture into the Seraphim's Domain. There won't be any danger down there."

Upon hearing this, Hilde felt relieved. With two Chosen Ones protecting them, even if the underground was a den of dragons and tigers, they would be able to venture in.

If this trip goes smoothly, encountering a few more Queen Anarek Spiders will greatly increase the territory's wealth with their silk.

Su Li said calmly and confidently, "We will definitely be able to collect a lot of wealth on this trip. When we do, we can allocate an unprecedented amount of wealth to the bishopric, which will significantly improve the various religious orders and knightly orders in the territory."

Moreover, the number of stockings might increase. Last night, the rows of fleshy legs of these female knights, plump and smooth, fair and slender, wearing stockings with a pearly sheen, almost made his heart jump out of his chest with excitement.

If she were to prepare complete sets of white stockings, black stockings, gradient stockings, glossy stockings, and luminous stockings for them in the future, then Su Li, as the lord, would be able to fully enjoy her life.

As the two were smiling and full of hope, planning for the future, the tranquility of the manor was broken by hurried footsteps.

Then, the dwarf's high-pitched, loud, and urgent voice rang out like a cannon at the doorway. Without waiting for the high-ranking steward Hilde to announce his arrival, Beros Dragonhammer excitedly shouted, "Lord! Lord! We have lived up to our mission! We have forged the first set of God-Chosen Armor for the territory!"

"What? It's really built?"

"So fast?"

Su Li and Hilde stood up in surprise at the same time. Forgetting to scold the dwarf for his rudeness, Su Li immediately asked, "Where's the armor? Where is it?"

Boros Dragonhammer immediately replied, “Lord Bairga is displaying this armor in the square of the Blackssen Armory. The brilliance of the Chosen Armor’s debut has shocked the entire city. Dwarves from the dwarven community, knights in the tavern, and even travelers on the commercial street have all flocked to the front of the Blackssen Armory. I had to use all my strength to squeeze through.”

"It's impossible to get across by land, my lord. You'll have to ride His Highness Deathclaw to get there."

Su Li decisively put down the food in his hand. This good news excited him so much that he couldn't wait to get it. Obtaining such a set of God-chosen armor before the war started was obviously a major benefit.

Next, it's time to wait for Ariria to awaken. This green dragon's participation in the war against Blue Mirror Territory is of extraordinary significance to the territory. Of course, its primary significance lies primarily in its unparalleled impact on Su Li's personal image.

Riding a colossal dragon through the sky, the sheer majesty and oppressive aura is enough to deeply shock both sides.

The feeling and fantasy of riding a dragon and a horse are completely incomparable.

Su Li quickly said to Hilde, "Immediately send an order to Orion to lead a group to treat Tiger-striped Griffin Golden Thunder. First, withdraw 50 catties of mithril from my treasury for him to ensure the success of the surgery. Then, arrange for the Griffin to go to the Black Forest Armory."

Hilde was exceptionally capable and quickly arranged everything in an orderly manner. Then, she led the Pegasus Knights and Swan Knights, among other air cavalry, to escort Su Li swiftly towards the Black Forest Armory.

Flying in the air, Su Li said cheerfully, "Once Bairga finishes forging this set of Chosen-class armor, our relationship with our territory will be even closer. After this envoy from the Dwarven Kingdom returns to Gray Mountain, how could he not do his utmost to collect horse vultures for us?"

The eagle is a superior mount that is stronger and more ferocious than the Pegasus. Eagle knights are basically the highest-level air cavalry unit that the Empire can organize into a complete unit.

The Sky Tiger-striped Griffin is certainly more powerful, but this kind of monster is extremely rare. Even the nobles of the empire rarely possess one, and even in the Black Forest Territory, it is currently the mount of a general.

However, according to the agreement reached between Su Li and Bairga, the Gray Mountain Dwarf Kingdom was to provide Black Forest Territory with 12 horse eagles every year. In just two years, Black Forest Territory would be able to successfully build its first air cavalry regiment. A 24-man horse eagle knight would be the standard air cavalry combat unit.

It's worth noting that even in the elven kingdom, where people live in greater harmony with animals, a griffin rider band typically consists of only 3 to 4 people.

However, this 3-4 person griffin rider unit can challenge dragons and sweep away giants, and it can also slaughter unicorns, greenskins, goblins, goblins and the like.

Even powerful dwarf tanks and thunder airships would find it difficult to gain an advantage against these griffin riders.

Of course, due to the extreme scarcity of Thunder Airships, the two sides have not clashed since the Age of Revenge.

Right now, the Black Forest Territory will have a Chosen Griffin Knight who wields a Chosen weapon and wears Chosen armor. She will also be able to command Sky Cavalry Horse Eagle Knights in battle.

Su Li suddenly felt ambitious and thought that he could conquer even Lady Bayonetta.

Hilde knew perfectly well that the lord had brought her to the Black Forest Armory to deliver this set of Chosen-class armor to her.

So she was also excited, but she remained rational and said to Su Li, "My lord, this armor will be a symbol of our goodwill with the dwarves, and will make our territory more stable and powerful. Perhaps you can keep it for yourself."

Su Li waved his hand and said, "No problem, I will put this armor in my reception hall in the future. But for now, this armor can exert its greatest combat power when worn by you. This is not only an honor, but also a responsibility, which means that you will charge into the most dangerous battlefield."

"But don't worry, our territory's gem pool is expanding. The upgrade of this resource point will provide us with more Ether. At the earliest next year, and at the latest the year after, we will be able to forge the second set of God-Chosen Armor."

Chosen-grade armor—this is the highest-level equipment that Su Li and the Black Forest Territory can forge.

The territory currently has no clue about higher-level legendary equipment.

Moreover, legendary equipment, even in the Dwarven Kingdom, is a historically significant and renowned existence, with each set having its own unique historical context.

This undoubtedly means that even the Dwarven Kingdom, with all its resources, would find it difficult to forge a legendary suit of armor.

Perhaps a legendary suit of armor could be forged in the dwarven dragonrock forge, thanks to its +1 quality attribute?

But Su Li felt that the birth of a legendary figure was probably not that easy.

It's important to know that Ingrid only created a legendary amulet that was nearly a hundred times simpler; that amulet was built entirely from mythical materials.

This approach is, to put it mildly, a waste of resources!

So many mythical-grade materials were wasted, and after a series of downgrades, only one legendary-grade amulet was ultimately crafted. Moreover, this amulet didn't need to adapt to the knight's body shape like the Chosen Armor; the difficulty of crafting them was worlds apart.

Apart from Black Forest Territory possessing abundant opportunities and fantastical materials, it's unlikely that any other territory could possibly have such a wealth of resources.

Su Li was very satisfied with this; he didn't care how much greater the effect these materials could have in the future.

If he can manage his territory peacefully into the future, he will have plenty of opportunities to acquire even the most precious materials. The most sensible choice is to quickly convert these materials into his own combat power and strength, allowing his territory to safely weather the initial crisis.

As he was thinking, the griffin flew swiftly ahead, and the four enormous royal furnaces of the Black Forest Armory came into view. Beneath the royal furnaces was a sensational scene, densely packed with knights, commoners, and outsiders from the territory.

The dwarves of the armory had to don heavy armor and, under Doglin's command, maintained their line, keeping the surging crowd at the edge of the square and leaving a clearing several dozen meters wide for the lord and air cavalry to land.

However, even for a group as strong as dwarves, whose bodies are incredibly dense, it is extremely difficult to hold back such a large and fanatical crowd, and their lines are teetering on the brink of collapse.

(End of this chapter)