Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 388 A triumphant advance, a crushing defeat for the enemy.

As the sacrificial ceremony of the Wrath of the Sea God proceeded, the Battle of Stromgarde reached its climax.

The soldiers of Mannan were greatly inspired and held their city and fortress to the death.

Meanwhile, the army of the Black Forest Territory was in high spirits and vowed to slay the dragon today!

Riding Ailiria, Su Li surveyed the battlefield from the air. Everywhere he looked, fierce fighting raged. The Black Forest army, commanded by griffin knights, surged onto the city walls like a tidal wave. The knights, gleaming with golden light, were unstoppable, advancing relentlessly into the city. Under the onslaught of golden blades, the blue defensive lines crumbled continuously.

The most intense battle was undoubtedly the siege of the vampire sea dragon by the four divine generals. This sea dragon was a super monster summoned by the Church of Mannan using ancient relics and bloodlines unearthed from the bottom of Blue Mirror Lake, and it received the blessing of the sea god.

At its peak, this monster undoubtedly possessed legendary-level strength, possibly even approaching half a human's. Even a dwarf half-Hortrik might not have been able to gain the upper hand against this terrifying prehistoric behemoth at sea.

But now the monster is dead, its massive limbs barely maintained and driven by a swarm of abyssal leeches. Moreover, its ability to move is largely due to the devoured power of the river god, whose resentment and lingering hatred drive this monster to seek revenge on the world.

Therefore, it cannot use divine magic, nor can it activate the energy of its bloodline. It relies almost entirely on the instinctive activities of the broken melody and leeches, which greatly reduces its threat.

Even so, its enormous size brings a great sense of oppression, just like a human facing a huge elephant. If you don't dodge in time, its huge mass is enough to knock the target away.

Demst, as the main force absorbing the damage, was knocked away by the monster several times. His majestic body, over 30 meters tall, was smashed directly into the cliff and the low mountains on both sides, each time causing the earth to shake and the mountains to collapse. Several small hills were shattered by its staggering figure, and the waters of the Brienne River surged into towering waves.

But without a doubt, the cooperation of the four divine generals still gave them a significant advantage in the fierce battle.

After the four divine generals held off the monster, Eliria's long spellcasting finally ended.

The immense magical energy of Jilun, so vast that it distorted the very fabric of space, erupted like a volcano that had been accumulating for millennia, bursting forth from beneath every emerald scale, from between its outstretched wings, and from its majestic dragon eyes!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no beam of light piercing the sky.

Instead, there is a more chilling, more profound...silent decay.

【Gilun Magic: The Goddess's Curse】!
Abandoning all sublime virtues and noble symbols, the saints unleash divine punishment from the goddess of life upon all enemies who oppose the noble knights!
This is not a hymn to life of healing and growth, but rather the coldest and most merciless ultimate divine punishment hurled by the goddess of life, Sharya, for the sins of blaspheming life and trampling on the natural cycle! It abandons all sublime symbols of mercy, redemption, and rebirth, leaving only the purest and most primal power of life-stripping—targeting all unnatural, distorted existences that rely on blasphemy to sustain themselves!

hum-

An invisible, emerald-green ripple, imbued with an absolute will of "negation," spread silently yet swiftly from Arielia's core. Wherever this ripple passed, time seemed to lose its meaning, and light appeared to dim. It was not destruction, but a "refusal to exist."

When the emerald green ripples of death touched the vampire sea dragon writhing wildly below, its blood gushing out, a sudden change occurred!

*Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!*
The first sound was the piercing, soul-wrenching wail of countless leeches! Those abyssal leeches that made up the flesh and blood of the sea dragon and gave it the blasphemous power of "life" were thrown into a pot of boiling oil the moment they came into contact with the ripples of the curse!

The leech's slippery mucus dried and cracked instantly, like mud under the scorching sun. Its tough bony plates lost their dark luster, becoming gray and brittle, and then peeled off like weathered rock.

The curse's power precisely targeted the leeches' frenzied absorption of the decaying essence remaining within the sea dragon's skeleton—the very thing that sustained them. This blasphemous energy flow that sustained their existence was forcibly reversed and extracted! The leeches, as if instantly drained of all moisture and vitality, visibly shriveled and withered, transforming from elastic, living giant worms into grayish-black, wrinkled, shriveled sacs.

This withering and disintegration spread like a plague among the dense swarms of leeches! The "flesh and blood winches" formed by countless leeches were the first to be affected, instantly turning to ashes on top of the heavy damage from the Orstein warhammer! Next came the swarms of leeches supporting the massive body's limbs, the "flesh and blood armor" covering the spine and ribs, and the wildly flailing bone whips at the tail... Wherever the emerald ripples swept, the writhing mountain of flesh and blood seemed to have been injected with a powerful insecticide, losing its vitality in swathes and turning into ashes scattered by the wind!

“Roar…Woo…”

The bloodsucking sea dragon's earth-shattering roar of pain abruptly ceased, replaced by a low, intermittent, and incredibly weak whimper. Its massive, mountain-like body trembled violently, each tremor accompanied by the shedding of large chunks of decaying bone and shriveled leech skins, which, like landslides, crashed into the murky river, creating huge splashes.

The very foundation upon which it existed was fundamentally destroyed by the "Goddess's Curse"!

Once the leech swarm's envelopment, propulsion, and "repair" were removed, the massive sea dragon skeleton was fully exposed. Long since decayed and riddled with cracks and holes, it now emitted a sickening groan and a cracking sound under its own weight and the corrosive influence of the curse. The crack in its skull, caused by the warhammer's blow, widened instantly, and the eerie blue soul fire gathered in its eye sockets flickered violently, like a candle in the wind, its light rapidly dimming.

The curse's power not only affected the leeches but also penetrated deeper, touching the remnants of divine power and resentment of the devoured river god that drove the enormous corpse. That lingering resentment, which should have been filled with vengeful rage, emitted a silent yet all the more mournful wail before the pure power of life-stripping, rapidly dissolving and annihilating like a corrupted soul thrown into a purifying furnace. The last vestige of "power" sustaining the sea dragon's activities was being mercilessly erased.

The sea dragon's massive body began to tilt uncontrollably to one side. Bound by the Durst Raven, severely wounded by Orstein, and with vital limbs severed by Hilder, the decaying bones at the joints of its forelimbs cracked under the strain! With a deafening roar, this blasphemous beast, over five hundred meters long, as if its spine had been ripped out, crashed half its body into the surging Brienne River!
"Boom——!!!"

Towering, turbid waves surged skyward, nearly submerging the riverbanks. The immense force caused the entire riverbed to tremble, and the already crumbling riverside walls of Stromgarde Fortress finally collapsed in large sections under the onslaught of the giant waves! The remaining half of the Sea Dragon's body struggled and convulsed in the water, each movement accelerating the disintegration of the skeleton and the leeches' annihilation. The murky river water was dyed a terrifying mix of deep black and filthy blue, exuding a strong stench of death and decay.

After unleashing this earth-shattering attack, Arielia's massive dragon body appeared somewhat weakened, and her dragon breath became long and drawn out, but her dragon eyes still coldly stared at the collapsing blasphemous beast below.

【The Goddess's Curse】is not a destructive magic that kills instantly, but it is the most thorough "eradication". It fundamentally denies the "rationality" of the existence of the vampire sea dragon, allowing this monster, forcibly pieced together from blasphemous power, leech flesh and blood, and resentment, to meet its destined end - returning to dust and returning to eternal silence.

On the battlefield, the soldiers who were fighting were all deeply shocked by this scene. However, the fanaticism of the Mannan believers was as if it had been doused with ice water, while the morale of the Black Forest Territory burned to its peak in this scene of divine punishment!
The dragon-slaying is a foregone conclusion!

The bloodsucking sea dragon had once inspired the Mannan knights, and its fall dealt a devastating blow to the morale of the Mannan followers. When this behemoth collapsed, it was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, utterly shattering the remaining will and hope of the Stromgarde defenders.

The invincible deep-sea calamity, once considered the embodiment of Mann's power, now lay half-dead, convulsing in the murky river, its bones crumbling and leeches turning to ash. The filthy waters churned with the remnants of desecration, and the air was thick with the stench of decay and death. This scene proclaimed a fact more clearly than any war drum or horn: Mann's favor had vanished!

“Divine punishment! This is true divine punishment!” An armed servant from the Blue Mirror Territory dropped his spear, stared blankly at the collapsed remains of the giant beast in the river, and collapsed to his knees.

“The sea god… has abandoned us…” On the city wall, a Mannan knight’s face, twisted with despair, lay beneath his helmet. The totem of his faith collapsed before his eyes, and his spiritual pillar shattered instantly.

"Run...run!" Panic erupted like a plague among the remaining ranks of the defenders. Having witnessed the might of the divine general and the terror of the dragon's curse, and seeing the complete annihilation of their ultimate trump card, the soldiers of Blue Mirror Territory could no longer muster even the slightest courage to resist. They abandoned their armor and weapons, screaming and shoving, wanting nothing more than to escape this inferno soaked in blood and desecration.

In stark contrast, the morale of the Black Forest Territory erupted like a landslide and a tsunami!

"For the blazing sun! For our lord!" The griffin riders roared in the air, their descent becoming even more ferocious, utterly crushing the remaining sporadic resistance on the city walls.

The berserkers of Yurik, their eyes bloodshot, roared so loudly that the city walls trembled. No longer content with climbing the ladders, they charged directly at the breach in the wall that had crumbled from the sea dragon's attack!

"Blackforest Territory! Advance!" The dwarven butchers, carrying their massive shields, marched heavily, and under the cover of a hail of arrows and lead bullets from the Blue Heron mercenaries' crossbowmen and musketeers, crashed heavily against the already crumbling main gate of Stromgarde like a moving steel fortress!

Boom——! ! !
With the final blow of the giant butcher's battle axe, the massive, heavy gates of Stromgarde, adorned with sea monster reliefs, finally groaned under the weight and collapsed inwards! Shards of wood and twisted metal flew everywhere, revealing a smoke-filled, blood-soaked passage leading to the heart of the castle! "The gates have fallen!" Despite his injuries, Doglin roared in his signature booming voice, hoarse yet filled with the satisfaction of revenge, "Dwarf children! Charge in! Avenge our cannons and our brothers!"

"Sun Knights! Charge with me!" Though Hilder's divine form was dimmed by the intense battle, her golden longsword, [Beast Slayer], still shone brightly. She deactivated her divine form, but her heroic bearing remained undiminished. Mounting her griffin, she charged ahead like a golden arrow, leading the Blackforest Guard knights, who were already poised for battle, directly through the air towards the gaping breach in the city gate! A golden torrent instantly surged into Stromgarde!

Orstein's fighting spirit remained undiminished. He swung his massive warhammer, pounding it against the crumbling city walls and creating an even larger breach. Knights from the Blacksin Territory, carrying their battle banners, poured in through the breach in a single, unstoppable wave.

A select few of the most fanatical Mannan deep-sea priests attempted a final, desperate sacrifice within the temple, a last act of madness. But their chanting was shattered by the roar of the Sun Goddess Knight who burst through the doors. Orstein's warhammer, burning with the fury to annihilate all blasphemy, slammed into the heart of the altar! Deep-sea runes shattered, and twisted leeches were reduced to dust by the physical impact of the holy light and the warhammer. The old priest presiding over the ceremony was torn to pieces by the flying debris and the backlash of energy.

The only regret was that the knights did not find the figure of Baron Grant, the lord of Blue Mirror Territory. When the city gates were breached, he did not choose to die a meaningless death, but led a few knights who still had the will to fight and reason to evacuate from the castle's secret waterway in advance, preserving the last seed for Blue Mirror Territory.

The knights of Mannan had such a great advantage in the rivers and waterways that they disappeared into the deep waters unnoticed. During the brief moments when the Water-Repelling Pearl was unusable, the knights of the Sun Goddess found it extremely difficult to locate them.

However, this problem is no longer significant. The main force of the Blue Mirror Territory's army is in Stromgarde Fortress. When the Blacksin Territory's general leads his army into the fortress, Baron Grant will abandon his troops and flee alone, and his main force will become prisoners of the Blacksin Territory. For Su Li, this battle is no less than a great victory than the Battle of Guandu, capturing over 80,000 enemy soldiers. As for Baron Grant, who abandoned his army, he is merely clinging to life in his lair, and Su Li will capture him sooner or later.

When the sun shone brightly, casting its golden light upon the blood-soaked battlefield and the ruined Stromgarde, the battle was essentially over.

The crimson banner of the Black Forest Territory replaced the tattered Blue Mirror Territory sea beast banner on the main tower of Stromgarde, fluttering in the morning breeze!
Exhausted but excited, the soldiers cleared the battlefield, extinguished the remaining fires, and took prisoners. Griffins and Pegasus riders circled overhead on guard. The dwarves began to inventory the spoils, especially the precious, not-completely-destroyed Mannana Church collection.

Su Li, riding Eliria, slowly landed on the plaza in front of Stromgarde's main castle. This place had once been the gathering place for the Sons of Mannan's reserve forces, now littered with shell craters, collapsed buildings, and the still-uncleared corpses and rubble. The four chosen knights—Hilde, Orstein, Durmst, and Dietrich—along with generals like Doglin, gathered around. They all bore the marks of battle, yet their spirits shone brightly, their morale soaring. Having just won a crucial decisive battle, their mighty army was about to sweep across the entire Blue Mirror Territory; they were at the height of their pride and arrogance!

Su Li's gaze swept over the scarred yet still standing castle, over the rushing Brienne River below, over the huge, profane remains in the river being slowly washed away by the current, and finally landed on the fluttering banner of the Black Forest Territory.

"Strider Fortress belongs to Blacksin." His voice was calm, yet carried an aura that stirred the hearts of everyone present. This signified the final outcome of this brutal battle and marked a crucial and unshakeable step forward for Blacksin's dominance over the border princely territories. After the blood-red dawn, the blazing sun rose over Blacksin!
This was the moment before the war began, and everyone was incredibly excited! Because capturing Stromgarde and defeating Blue Mirror Territory meant that Blackwood Territory's strength had undoubtedly reached the level of a baron.

Although everyone had this understanding before this.

But never underestimate the impact of a war! Because only war and victory can profoundly and deeply change everyone's perceptions, imprinting power and influence on everyone's minds!

Just like before the 6-0 scoreline, those with a deep understanding of the situation knew that Tokyo University's strength was already precipitously superior. Their radar performance was overwhelming, and their fighter jet performance far surpassed that of other countries. It was undoubtedly the strongest air superiority fighter of its generation.

No matter how much science is explained, or how many times the data is presented, it's difficult to change the deeply ingrained impressions of those stubborn individuals. They simply believe that it's inferior, that others are stronger, even if the data shows that it's not as good as the University of Tokyo's, that its radar materials are a generation behind, and that its radar components are far inferior.

But after the victory of 6-0, a resounding triumph over a seemingly hopeless situation, everyone's impressions were instantly overturned. It propelled humanity's societal understanding, which had lagged behind reality by more than a decade, forward by a tremendous leap.

On Earth, where information flows extremely quickly, human social cognition and educational theories are still several years behind reality.

Moreover, in this ignorant and dark empire!

Even though Su Li had long possessed strength comparable to a baron, many people still considered him merely a pioneering lord. This wasn't just the case for Baron Grant; many knightly families and large landowners within the Black Forest Territory also lacked a deep understanding of this.

However, all of that vanished completely with today's battle.

Victory is the most inspiring thing!
Every knight gazed at Su Li with fervor. There was no doubt that after capturing Stromgarde, the Blacksin army would continue its unstoppable advance towards Blue Mirror Territory. In this year's imperial review, Blacksin would undoubtedly be deemed a qualified baron. At that time, those meritorious soldiers would have a chance to be granted the title of Royal Knight Commander for their service in supporting the emperor.

With the current size and population of the Black Forest Territory, it would be more than enough to appoint 10 or even 20 Kingdom Knights at once! This is precisely the most important goal for the knights who followed Su Li to this land, overcoming obstacles and fighting bloody battles.

All the bloodshed and sacrifice will be repaid in victory!
But the Black Forest Territory gained far more from this great victory.

After completely seizing control of the entire Stromgarde, Orstein excitedly approached Su Li and reported, "My lord, the gains from this battle are simply astonishing. We conquered Blue Mirror Territory in one fell swoop, seizing the treasury and acquiring mountains of supplies!"

"We captured more than 1000 million catties of grain from the fortress and its granaries alone!"

More than 1000 million catties of grain?
Su Li's eyes also lit up with excitement. Blue Mirror Territory truly lived up to its reputation as a rich and fertile land.

This is over 5000 tons of grain, enough to support the army in the Hessian Territory for more than two months.

The saying goes, "Eating one ounce of food from the enemy is equivalent to eating twenty ounces of food from me."

Transporting military rations was an extremely troublesome task. "The author wrote that tens of thousands of people were carrying grain over a thousand miles, and only ten or so zhong (a unit of dry measure) could transport one shi (another unit of dry measure)." This means that during the long-distance transport of grain, the loss rate reached 90%!

Su Li can rely on the Brienne River to transport grain, and although the losses will not be as great, the large-scale mobilization and transfer of grain will inevitably delay the production and development of the territory.

He wasn't concerned about the cost of grain; as a border granary and a jewel of the frontier, the Hessen Territory was extremely rich in food. However, he was very concerned about the impact of war on the territory. Not only would production and development be severely constrained, but a large number of people would die or be injured during the transport of grain, which would affect the development speed of the entire territory.

Therefore, the capture of these grains will greatly alleviate the pressure on the territory, and Su Li will not have to worry about logistics and supply routes for a long time to come.

Blue Mirror Territory clearly hadn't expected Stromgarde to fall so quickly; like Black Forest Territory, they had prepared for a protracted war. That's why they had stockpiled so much food in this important military town, which has now become Su Li's spoils of war.

Su Li clenched his right fist and said excitedly, "As the art of war says, 'An army marches on its stomach.' With such a large amount of grain, our logistics are secure, which means the outcome of the war against Blue Mirror Territory is already decided!"

Erstein nodded solemnly and said, "Our current military strength has an absolute advantage. As long as we have enough food and supplies and proceed steadily, Blue Mirror Territory will no longer be able to cause any trouble."

"Next, we can advance in separate routes, with each of the chosen ones leading an army to conquer different regions, and then encircle the Blue Mirror territory."

From this deployment, Su Li could feel Marshal Erstein's strong confidence, advancing in separate routes to eliminate all external support for Blue Mirror Territory.

Once the army is surrounded at Blue Mirror Lake, Baron Grant will be powerless to reverse the situation!

Su Li smiled and asked, "My marshal, how many enemy troops did we defeat in this battle? What gave you such great confidence?"

(End of this chapter)