Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 434 The Army Approaches Maleburg - The Terrified Nobles

When the unprecedentedly large caravan from the Blacksin Territory, with its combined sea, land, and air forces, slowly appeared on the eastern horizon of Maleburg, bathed in the sunlight and its armor reflecting a dazzling glow, this "free city" established by the Imperial Electors' Council in the border princely territory was plunged into an unprecedented tremor.

Without a doubt, the deepest panic did not come from ordinary citizens or merchants, but was deeply rooted in the ancient, musty, and money-smelling stone building of the Imperial Electors' Council—in the office of the Noble Assessment Committee, which was covered with heavy carpets but permeated with a rotten smell.

The entire city was abuzz with excitement from top to bottom as a large army slowly approached from afar, and many busybodies were spreading the news.

The first thing that caught the eyes of the defenders of Maleburg and the onlookers on the city walls was the golden raptors that covered a small patch of sky! Thirty-four well-equipped, heavily armed air cavalrymen—ten elegant yet deadly winged horses and twenty-four griffins and horse vultures clad in perfect [Sunfire Armor] and exuding a fierce aura—conducted a highly intimidating low-altitude formation flyby under Hilder's command.

The deep roar of the griffin, the sharp neighing of the horse vulture, the whistling of the Pegasus's wings cutting through the air, and the figure of the knight clad in rare armor, descending like a divine warrior, plunged the entire eastern city wall into a deathly silence, followed by suppressed gasps and panicked whispers.

"Gods above...where did that army come from?!"

"Air cavalry! So many! So elite! When did the border princely territory acquire such a force?"

"Look at the flag... Hessian Territory? That... a remote, impoverished place where even applying for a royal knighthood was rejected?!"

"What did you say?!?? You didn't even pass the Royal Knight exam?! You're calling someone with this level of weaponry a country bumpkin who didn't even pass the Royal Knight exam?!"

"Violet above! This is simply unbelievable. An army of this caliber can even disregard the ban on Maleburg and fly recklessly over the city, with even the city lord's guards not daring to take to the skies. Yet they failed the Kingdom Knight examination?"

"Just how powerful must the nobles who pass the test be? Do the earls and barons of the border princely territories each keep dozens of giant dragons?"

"You idiot! Did your aunt's ass, which is thicker than a bucket, crush your head?! How could this be? There's clearly a problem with the assessment. Those damned imperial bureaucrats, they're as greedy as Skaven ratmen, they should all be hanged!"

In fact, what the crowd below was saying wasn't entirely accurate; the city lord's guards did indeed take off.

However, they appeared too inconspicuous under the dazzling golden light of the Black Forest army.

In particular, for the purpose of demonstration, Su Li even coaxed and pleaded with Ariria to turn into a dragon so that he could ride it for a while and make a show of force over the city.

This is absolutely unacceptable in principle. Dragons have their own dignity and bottom line. Unless they are forced to go to war, they will not allow anyone to ride them and swagger around. That would be like having a reptile ride on their head, surrendering the dragon's majesty and pride to the reptile.

But there was no way for Aria to say no to Su Li.

So after Su Li "bribed" her with 3000 gold crowns, Ariria reluctantly transformed into a giant dragon over 60 meters long, lay prostrate on the ground, and let Su Li climb onto her head.

This immense sense of conquest made her feel both humiliated and subservient.

This made her immense dragon might incredibly violent and deadly; the entire city could feel the mighty and terrifying will of the dragon roaring overhead.

With Ariria included, there were a total of five Chosen Ones in the sky. This immense majesty was something that even legendary beings could not ignore.

The few remaining Pegasus riders in the city took off without making a sound.

They didn't even dare to block the Black Forest army's path, instead spurring their horses to chase after Su Li and the others until the Black Forest air cavalry had circled the field once before catching up. Because they were heading in the same direction, the city's citizens and merchants below didn't realize that the few dusty-looking winged knights lagging behind were actually from the city lord's mansion.

All of this is the result of contrast. In fact, the Pegasus Knights of the City Lord's Mansion are also well-equipped and fully armed, but they are wearing silver armor and appear very inconspicuous in front of the Violet Goddess followers who are shining with golden light.

Only after Su Li stopped his whooshing flight did the four Pegasus Knights manage to steer their mounts, struggling to maintain their balance amidst the raging air currents, and finally manage to catch up with the enormous, suffocating creature.

They hovered in mid-air, some distance from the dragon's tail, daring not to take another step closer. The sight before them made these elite knights of the city lord's mansion, who were usually revered, feel an unprecedented sense of insignificance and trepidation.

Su Li sat atop the broad neck of Eliria, covered in hard, dark gold scales, at an extremely high position. The colossal dragon body, over sixty meters long, stretched across the sky, its height alone—the enormous drop of more than forty meters from its belly to its back—forming a moving, living mountain.

The knights had to strain their necks, their skin practically scraping against their armor, to barely make out the seemingly tiny figure atop the dragon's back. The sunlight was blocked by the dragon's massive body, casting huge, unsettling shadows upon them. Each long, scorching breath from Eliria carried a pungent acidic odor and a deep, guttural roar, the exhaled breath causing the pegasus to paw restlessly and neigh in fear.

The knights' fine silver armor appeared dull and lifeless, like dusty tin foil, compared to the dragon's dark green scales that seemed to be forged from the sun's rays and the dazzling golden armor of Violet's followers. Their prized pegasus looked more like a few frightened birds flapping their wings in the face of the dragon.

The leading knight captain took a deep breath, trying to suppress the dryness in his throat and the pounding of his heart, and called out in his loudest voice, though it still couldn't hide the slight tremor in it, "Knight of the Bauhinia! Lord Su Li! Please wait!"

The sound seemed somewhat thin in the vast high sky, as if weakened by the invisible pressure emanating from the dragon.

The dragon's massive head, covered in bone spikes, turned slightly, and a pair of vertical pupils, burning with a molten lava-like light, swept over them. That single glance sent a chill down the spines of the four knights, and Pegasus was so startled that he stumbled back several steps.

Su Li looked down at the few tiny specks below, his voice not loud, yet it pierced through the howling wind and the dragon's breath, reaching the knights' ears clearly, carrying an undeniable calm: "What is it?"

The knight captain felt his armor lining was soaked with cold sweat. He looked up again, trying to make his voice sound more firm: "Lord Su Li! Your...your dragon...and the Black Forest Sky Riders' passage...this momentum...this...this is simply too astonishing! Cities have their rules, and the city lord hopes that all forces will exercise restraint to avoid excessively disturbing the citizens and merchants. Your...your direct entry into the city on your dragon is probably...probably inappropriate, and not in accordance with our city's rules of passage..."

He finished speaking with difficulty, feeling that every word seemed pale and powerless under the dragon's overwhelming and chilling will. Rules? Before absolute power, so-called rules seemed fragile and vulnerable.

Su Li sat atop the dragon's neck, his figure appearing exceptionally imposing against the massive dragon body. He looked down at the knights who gazing up at him like ants, a barely perceptible smile playing at the corners of his lips. He didn't immediately refute, but allowed the suffocating silence to linger for a moment, making the Pegasus knights feel even more tormented under the dragon's might.

Finally, Su Li's voice rang out again, still calm, yet containing an undeniable, mountain-like weight of power:
"rule?"

He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over the tiny outline of the city below.

“This is not to disturb you, Captain,” Su Li’s voice carried a strange penetrating power. “This is to let them get used to it.”

He slightly raised his hand and gently patted the hard scales on Ariria's neck. The dragon seemed to understand, letting out a deep, long roar that rolled across the sky like thunder, shaking the clouds and making the city below tremble.

“Tell them, and tell your city lord as well.” Su Li’s voice clearly reached the ears of every knight, carrying a calm announcement of the future, “Get used to this voice, get used to this shadow. Because later…”

He paused for a moment, his gaze seemingly piercing through the knight before him and reaching into the distance.

"...I will come often."

"If your city lord has any complaints, let him come and talk to me in person!"

Before the knights could react, Eliria let out an even louder roar, her enormous wings flapping violently and whipping up a raging hurricane. The four Pegasus knights, along with their mounts, were instantly tossed about like leaves in a storm, struggling desperately to regain their footing.

The colossal creature carrying Su Li, like a bolt of dark golden lightning, tore through the sky under the protection of the Chosen Ones, roaring towards the Black Forest army. Only its awe-inspiring dragon might and its powerful words lingered in the knights' still-shaken hearts, seemingly imprinted on the entire city's skies. Meanwhile, the news spread like wildfire through the elite circles of Maleburg, naturally reaching the Noble Examination Committee immediately.

Just half a day ago, this office was filled with the usual languid atmosphere, reeking of alcohol and greed. The chairman of the committee, the obese and bloated Baron von Kleist, a good-for-nothing who had climbed up the ranks through bribery and nepotism, was puffing on a cigar, enjoying a massage from his young female secretary, and listening to the flattery of his subordinates.

Helmut, the commissioner in charge of reviewing promotion applications in Hessen Territory, sat by the long table with his chin resting on his hand, his voice chilling: "...That Su Li, a country bumpkin! I asked for 100,000 gold crowns, and he dared to refuse! Hmph, doesn't know what's good for him!"

The other committee members either echoed the laughter or nodded numbly, already accustomed to this tactic of threatening the neck when bribery failed. In their eyes, the so-called "lords" of the border princely territories were nothing more than fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, or even skinny dogs that weren't even fat sheep.

In fact, the assessment for promotion in Su Li's territory did not proceed to the later stages of the process. As officials of the Elector Council, they were incredibly audacious, failing to report the incident to their superiors immediately.

They've become so arrogant and corrupt that they absolutely cannot tolerate a country bumpkin from some backwater challenging and breaking the rules they've set!

If Su Li doesn't offer bribes, how can others be expected to? If no one offers bribes, how can they complete their mission? If no one offers bribes, what's the point of the Electoral Council expanding the border princely territories?
Any form of corruption is not merely a matter of individual free choice; it involves enormous political interests behind it.

Therefore, they are fearless. This year, the number of border princes who have been blocked from promotion to noble ranks is much larger, possibly approaching a hundred.

Su Li was just an ordinary member among these hundred people. To save face, Helmut concealed his humiliating experience in the Black Forest Territory and did not elaborate on Su Li's specific response to him.

Everyone else just thought that Su Li was an ordinary lord who was blocked and refused to bribe.

They could try to persuade him again next year, or perhaps not even until then, as the territory would be destroyed amidst the turbulent situation in the border princely territories. They had seen far too many of these things. Countless lords, once full of vigor and believing themselves to be the pride of the land, had suddenly encountered major crises and fallen to the siege of countless monsters just as their territories were flourishing.

As the saying goes, "The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled." And the border princely territories are never short of crises capable of annihilating an entire domain. Rampaging greenskin tribes, beastman warbands emerging from the forests, countless undead and demons lurking in the tombs—any one of these could threaten a thriving territory.

Too many times, when officials of the Electors' Council failed to extort bribes in one year, they returned the following year to find that the once-stubborn territory had become ruins and scorched earth.

But the door was suddenly flung open, breaking the gloomy atmosphere inside.

Baron von Kleist slammed his fist on the table in anger, roaring, "You damned thing, what's with the panic? Do you believe I'll throw you into the slave guild and make you the lowest, most filthy slave! Let those lowly commoners you despise torment you without restraint!"

"No...it's terrible...Your Excellency! The Bauhinia Knight...the Bauhinia Knight has brought his troops to our door!"

Helmut's already cold face hardened further. He put down the wine from his lips, his voice like a viper's hiss: "Baron, you're doing very well! I think this servant really needs to be taught a lesson. A mere pioneer knight comes knocking on our door, what are you afraid of? Who's the fool? Let the city guards handle him! Break his legs and throw him out of the city!"

“But…but those aren’t ordinary pioneer knights. The city guards are all show and no substance; they’re good for decoration, but if you actually put them in battle, their legs would turn to jelly. And…” The scribe’s voice trembled with tears, almost collapsing to the ground. He pointed out the window, his fingers shaking like reeds in the wind, “The sky…the sky is full of…griffins! Pegasus! And…and so many carriages and soldiers! They…they’ve blocked the east gate!”

When the detailed report on the terrifying strength of the Black Forest caravan—including the number of air cavalry, equipment level, accompanying Chosen Ones, and the size of the elite guard—slammed down on the committee's mahogany desk like a cold hammer, all the laughter, all the laziness, and all the arrogance froze instantly.

The air seemed to have been sucked out, leaving only the rustling of paper turning and increasingly heavy, fearful breathing.

Commissioner Helmut's face went from rosy to deathly pale, and finally ashen. The report in his hand trembled like a leaf in the wind, and cold sweat instantly soaked the back of his expensive silk shirt. "This...they've come knocking so soon? Impossible! Impossible! And what about Count Litanel of the Swamp Territory?! How could he have come so quickly?!" He stammered incoherently, as if he had witnessed the most terrifying nightmare.

Baron von Kleist abruptly shoved his female secretary aside, his bulky body bouncing with difficulty from the high-backed chair, his fat face trembling violently with terror: "Hessian Territory?! Su Li?! That...that one we didn't approve?!"

He snatched the report, his tiny eyes fixed on the descriptions, each line draining the color from his face. "Thirty-four air cavalry... perfect-grade horse armor... rare-grade battle armor... suspected multiple Chosen Ones... and a ground elite capable of directly crushing the Chaos Warband... and... and a massive caravan... Gods! This... this is the strength of a baron?! This is the strength of an earl... no, it's the standard of an Elector's personal guard!" He roared, his voice trembling with fear.

Helmut's cold expression shattered like ice. He abruptly stood up, knocking over the chair behind him with a jarring noise. He rushed to the window and roughly pushed open the heavy velvet curtains.

Outside the window, the sky to the east of Maleburg was already shrouded in a huge, swirling, golden shadow!

Ten winged horses, like elegant silver shuttles, shimmered with a holy light in the sunlight, darting nimbly and vigilantly. But what truly brought a suffocating sense of oppression were the twenty-four griffins and horse vultures clad in "Sunfire Armor," which seemed to be cast from flowing gold!
Their colossal wings, spread wide, blotted out the sky; each powerful flap stirred up a heavy, oppressive wind, as if even the air itself was groaning. The knights sat atop them, their bodies covered in armor that shone brilliantly in the sunlight—no ordinary armor! The rare, intricate patterns were clearly visible, radiating a chilling aura of power. They hovered in mid-air like celestial warriors, their icy gazes seemingly piercing through the vast distance, directly penetrating this office!

Below that terrifying array of air cavalry lay a ground force, arrayed like an iron torrent! Elite soldiers gleamed in armor, their spears forming a forest, while heavily armored knights formed a mobile fortress, their numbers far exceeding what a "pioneer knight" should be! Not to mention the endless, massive caravans laden with goods—this wasn't just a disturbance; it was a display of force, a...investigation and retribution!

Panic, like an icy tide, instantly engulfed the entire committee office.

"What...what did we do?" a committee member asked, his voice trembling. "We forcibly stuck a lord with a count-level or even stronger military force at the 'Pioneer Knight' level? Not even a Kingdom Knight?!"

"Idiot! Helmut! You damned idiot!" another committee member pointed at the pale-faced Helmut and cursed, "You only saw that he refused the bribe, but you didn't see the confidence behind his refusal! A hundred thousand gold crowns are nothing to him! He can easily earn that back by selling some amethyst, gold, and brandy! He doesn't even bother to bribe us!"

“It’s over…it’s all over…” An old committee member slumped in his chair, muttering to himself, “He’s brought such a force to the city gates, not to do business…he’s here to demand an explanation! What will the council members think of us? We’ve pushed such a force, capable of changing the landscape of the border princely territories, to the opposite side, just because we were greedy for a little bribe?!”

"Where's the document?! Where's the document rejecting the application?!" Baron von Kleist suddenly roared as if grasping at a straw. "Quick! Find it! Burn it! Just say... just say we're still reviewing it! Yes! Still reviewing it! It's never been formally rejected!" He knew very well that within the Empire, corruption wasn't the problem, but causing trouble was definitely a problem! If the trouble couldn't be resolved, the Empire's high command would deal with the person who caused it.

Helmut, his face contorted with grief, cried out, “My Lord…the documents…the documents were filed and sent to the Electoral Council last week…unless…unless we send men to hunt down the team that was carrying the documents.” The bureaucratic system had become a noose tightening around their necks.

"Then what do we do? Helmut, you tell me! What do we do? You've made a mess of this, you have to clean it up yourself."

"How am I supposed to resolve this...? This document was clearly signed unanimously by the committee!"

Seeing that Helmut was about to drag everyone down with him, von Kleist's gaze was like that of a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey, filled with a venomous resentment like that of a ghost.

He's a complete failure. When something goes wrong, he immediately tries to shirk responsibility and has absolutely no ability to come up with solutions.

Helmut quickly said, "Perhaps... I have a solution."

Just as the committee was in chaos, like ants on a hot pan, the caravan from the Hessian territory had arrived outside the east gate. Foreign Minister Hatzkelin arrived at Maleburg with impeccable etiquette and a formally worded ultimatum requesting entry into the city and a meeting with the city lord.

This time, Su Li was no longer an unknown nobody walking among the bottom rungs of Maleburg.

He wanted to enter the Maleiburg Lord's Palace through a formal visit, with the Maleiburg dignitaries welcoming him in a grand manner.

Although his rank was low, his powerful military force was his greatest source of confidence.

He intended to use this stark contrast to enter the city lord's mansion and deliver a powerful psychological shock to all the nobles of Maleburg.

Of course, this was also the quickest and most effective way for him to see Mrs. Bayonetta.

(End of this chapter)