It felt so good to be close to the witch!

After traveling for about an hour, the knights arrived at their destination.

This is a wide, barren, rocky area, with small stone hills faintly visible in the distance.

Starting from the border between Blackstone Territory and Iron Mountain Territory, heading south towards Iron Mountain Territory, the terrain is mostly like this, with no suitable farmland for cultivation.

Every year, Tieshan Territory spends a lot of money to purchase food from other territories, but even so, in the extremely cold winter, many people still starve or freeze to death due to lack of food.

When Roy and his group arrived, there was still half an hour until the appointed time, but the people from Iron Mountain Territory had not yet arrived.

This puzzled Roy.

Logically speaking, Tieshan Territory should be much more anxious than our side, so why haven't they arrived yet?

Could it be that some unexpected situation has occurred?

Roy shook his head, too lazy to think about it further. Unless Iron Mountain Territory gave up on this "territorial merger war," they would arrive sooner or later.

As for whether they gave up the fight?

It's impossible no matter how you look at it.

Once the "Territory Merger War" is initiated with the Empire's permission, it will be binding on both sides' territories. If Iron Mountain Territory chooses to avoid battle, it will be tantamount to automatically conceding defeat, which will result in Iron Mountain Territory's territory being automatically merged into Blackstone Territory.

The cool autumn wind blew in my face, and because the barren, rocky area lacked trees to shelter it from the wind, the wind was even more biting.

Feeling the deep chill in the wind blowing through the gaps in his helmet, Roy knew that winter was fast approaching.

In fact, after the annual "Feng Rang Festival", the temperature will gradually decrease. By the end of September, the temperature will drop to negative numbers, and from October to the end of December, there will be a three-month cold winter.

Heavy snow will block the mountains and roads, making trade extremely difficult. Without adequate winter preparations, it is common for the people to starve or freeze to death.

When winter comes, the Radiant Empire and the Kolei Empire will tacitly cease hostilities until the following spring, when the war will resume.

Winter in this world is far more terrifying than in my previous life.

Roy's thoughts drifted away.

Twenty minutes later, with only ten minutes left until the appointed time, the sounds of horses' hooves and running could be heard in the distance.

"Ta Tata..."

Roy looked up and saw a large troop of black iron cavalry rushing towards their location.

The jet-black armor was a fine piece of armor forged from the superior iron ore produced in Iron Mountain Territory—the Black Ore. Black Armor was highly praised among the nobles in the province of Lafa.

It was thanks to the excellent iron ore and superb forging techniques that Lord Denham, Lord of Iron Mountain, was able to develop his once impoverished territory into what it is today.

"Xilulu——"

The black torrent stopped fifty meters in front of the knights led by Red.

Nearly forty fully armed knights, clad in black armor and wielding weapons forged from black iron, exuded a fierce and ruthless aura. Coupled with the powerful pressure emanating from the two burly figures at the forefront of their ranks, the Blackstone Knights trembled, their morale plummeting.

Red watched the knights' performance from behind and felt disappointed, but he said nothing.

He stared at the two burly knights at the forefront opposite him and spoke in a solemn voice: "Lord of Iron Mountain, and Jax, the Bronze Knight."

"We have come to answer the call to battle. Are you prepared to die here?"

"You? You've got quite the nerve." Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, remained silent, while Jax, the Bronze Knight beside him, sneered, "I hope your abilities match your words."

"Further words are useless. Let's set a plan for how to fight." Red's face was cold and stern, his right hand gripping the hilt of the knight's sword at his waist.

Upon hearing this, Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, rode his warhorse forward a few steps: "Red, I know your strength very well, and you are probably well aware of our strength as well."

"Witless killing is meaningless. How about this, we agree to a three-battle treaty. Each side will send three people to fight in pairs. The one with the most victories will be the winner. What do you say?"

As he said this, Lord Denham, Lord of Iron Mountain, wore a faint, confident smile.

In his mind, this "territory merger battle" was a foregone conclusion.

On the Blackstone Territory side, not only are there fewer formal knights than on the Iron Mountain Territory side, and their weapons and equipment are slightly inferior, but they are also far inferior in terms of high-end combat power.

He himself was a Bronze 3-star Knight, while Jax was a Bronze 1-star Knight. Red was the only Bronze 2-star Knight in Blackrock Territory. Even in a one-on-one fight, he was confident that he could defeat Red within five moves, let alone in a two-on-one situation.

Therefore, in his view, the "three-war agreement" he proposed was essentially a favor, a way for the Blackrock Knights to suffer a dignified defeat.

It would be even better if Red was willing to back down, since battles inevitably cause damage, and these knights were all hard-earned; every loss pained him.

But if Red doesn't know what's good for him, he wouldn't mind letting the knights of Blackrock die here.

And the result was exactly as Lord Denham, Lord of Iron Mountain, had predicted.

Faced with his proposed "three-war agreement," Red paused for a moment before agreeing.

"it is good."

Chapter 38 Showdown

On the barren, gravelly ground, the bleak autumn wind rustled past.

After the "three-way agreement" was set, the atmosphere became increasingly somber.

"So, who is the first one to appear?" Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, rode on his tall warhorse with a smile on his face, but no matter how you looked at it, the smile was that of an old fox whose scheme was about to succeed.

"Tom, you're up for the first match," Red said sternly.

"Yes!" A cavalry squad leader rode out from behind Red.

Tom, an old knight who has served in Blackrock Territory for ten years, is already at the level of a senior official knight. With his skillful swordsmanship and shrewd experience, he is the strongest among the five knight squad leaders.

Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, clapped his hands upon seeing this: "Anduru."

The next second, a burly knight, nearly 2.1 meters tall and with broad shoulders and a thick waist, rode out from behind him.

In terms of physique alone, this man is superior to Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, and his squire Jax. Such a physique means that in a formal knightly confrontation, he will have a great advantage in strength and physique.

Knights hone their physiques. Before mastering battle qi and advancing to the Bronze level, the competition is all about who has the strongest physique. However, there are differences between people. Even at the same level, strength can vary due to individual differences.

Without a doubt, it is obvious to anyone with eyes that, in terms of physique, Andru, who is 2.1 meters tall, is far superior to Tom, who is only 1.9 meters tall.

Although the outcome of a battle is not necessarily determined by who is physically stronger, the obvious disadvantage at the start undoubtedly further lowered the already low morale of the Blackrock Knights, and their eyes dimmed.

Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, watched this scene unfold, a satisfied smile playing on his lips: "Now that the two sides have been chosen, let's begin."

"can."

On the desolate, open, gravelly ground, two full-fledged knights rode their warhorses out slowly, stopping only when the distance between them was thirty meters.

“Wheeze…”

The warhorse seemed to sense the impending battle, emitting heavy breathing.

"Your name is Tom, right? Now, are you ready to face defeat?" Anduru grinned and twisted his neck.

"Enough with the nonsense." Tom snorted, drew his greatsword from behind, and launched the first charge.

"Tap..."

Armored warhorses galloped wildly, causing the nearby pebbles to bounce slightly from the intense tremors.

A knight in full armor and on horseback is the true, complete form of a knight.

A formal knight possesses a physique twice as strong as that of an ordinary person. With the added boost of a warhorse's charge, the destructive power they can unleash far exceeds what ordinary people can imagine.

Ordinary people are no different from fragile pieces of paper in the face of such a powerful and ruthless cavalry.

Seeing Tom begin his charge, Andru laughed loudly and spurred his warhorse to gallop.

From a distance, it looked like two black streaks of light colliding head-on.

"clang--"

Tom's weapon is a greatsword, while Andru's weapon is a giant axe; both are heavy weapons.

However, Tom suffered a significant loss in their first encounter.

The horses were about the same horsepower, and Tom even had a slight advantage because the charge distance was longer. However, in terms of the knight's strength, he was far inferior to Andoru. At the moment the weapons clashed, the strong recoil almost made him lose his grip on the greatsword.

Such terrifying power even gave Tom the illusion that "this guy is already a Bronze Knight".

Faced with Andro's successive vertical slash, if Tom hadn't been experienced and sidestepped in advance, while simultaneously using his shoulder to brace the greatsword and slide the giant axe to the side, he would have been knocked down by now.

The warhorses passed each other, then began to circle each other about thirty meters apart.

On the Iron Mountain Territory side, Lord Denham's smile widened, while on the Blackrock Territory side, Red's expression turned rather grim.

As Bronze Knights, the two were able to predict the outcome of the battle after just one exchange.

Anduru will win!

This 2.1-meter-tall "little giant" had a huge physical advantage during his official Kamen Rider days.

"Law~~~"

With a long neigh, after a brief rest, Tom and Andru launched a second charge simultaneously.

The black streaks of light collided again. After a dull thud, a figure fell heavily off his horse, rolling more than ten meters on the ground before barely managing to stop.

Tom knelt on the ground, one hand supporting himself on the ground and the other clutching his abdomen. In the collision just now, Anduru had unleashed an even more terrifying force than before. In just an instant, the tiger's mouth of his hands was torn open, and blood gushed out.

If he hadn't used the blade of his greatsword to brace himself at the last moment, he probably wouldn't have just fallen off his horse; he would have been cut in half at the waist by the giant axe.

At the front of the Iron Mountain-led column, Anduru stopped his warhorse, holding a giant axe, his face full of disdain: "Is that all you've got? Ha?"

Upon hearing this, Tom, lying on the ground, turned red in the face but was powerless to refute it.

"We lost this round."

"Tom, come back."

Red's deep voice rang out, and upon hearing this, Tom struggled to return to the group, carrying his greatsword.

"We sent our people first in the first round. In the second round, it's your turn to send yours first, right?" Reid said expressionlessly.

“Of course.” Lord Denham, Lord of Iron Mountain, smiled. “Jax, the second match is yours.”

"Yes, Lord Lord!"

Beside Lord Denham, the Iron Mountain Lord, Jax, the Bronze Knight, who was half a step behind him, rode out to the front of the group, holding a black lance and staring coldly at the Blackrock Knights opposite him.

Lord Denham, the Lord of Iron Mountain, looked at Red with a smile.

In the first round, Tieshanling won, which means that it only needs to win one more round to achieve victory in this "territory merger battle".

As for Blackrock Territory, there is only one Bronze Knight, and that is Red himself.