Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

“Aaron Brando, the third seat of the Obsidian Knights,” Aaron said briefly.

Young Master Valery was merely a novice knight and not yet qualified to perform such etiquette, but he put down Dylan and climbed the gentle slope: "Mary has been captured by them, we must find a way to rescue her."

“Mary?”

“A girl who was traveling with us left the city a little later than us. She was captured by the enemy when she left and is still in their hands,” Valery said anxiously, hoping to get Aaron’s help, but he received an unexpected answer.

“Then she should be dead,” Aaron said calmly.

Valéry was first taken aback, then became angry. He suppressed his anger and said:

"No, she's still alive! Thibault clearly said she's still in enemy hands, she must still be suffering there. We must save her, otherwise she... otherwise she..."

Valéry's expression was tense, and his voice was mournful. No need to say more; anyone would know what fate awaited a woman who fell into the hands of the enemy, let alone Marie, a beautiful noblewoman. Falling into the hands of bandits was like a doll falling into a pack of mad dogs. It was already the luckiest thing that she wasn't torn to pieces immediately. If she were still alive at this moment, she would surely be hoping that someone would come to rescue her.

Valery knew this all too well, which was why he looked so anxious. Besides, she was the girl he loved. How could a knight stand by and watch his girl die?

“But I didn’t come here to be a hero.” Aaron slowly turned around and looked directly at Valery. “What’s your name?”

“Valery Fracas, a novice knight of the Omniscient Knights, my father is Marquis Mori, and my mother is Patricia of Pertier,” Valery said proudly, raising his head.

Valery didn't back down. He knew his opponent was an Obsidian Knight, but he wasn't ashamed of his own status as a novice knight. Valery was that kind of proud man; when he believed something was right, he would never back down, even if the person standing opposite him was a king. Besides, the name he announced was so prestigious: Valery Flacas, the most distinguished person in the caravan besides Carol, the son of a marquis, the future Marquis Mori.

“Young Master Valery, let me tell you the truth,” Aaron said.

"Less than 20 miles from you, in a place called High Cliff Valley, lies a secret mine of the kingdom, containing strategic resources of paramount importance. It is guarded by a dozen or so Obsidian Knights under my command. It is currently under attack, and knights may be dying every second. The battlefield they are on can be called hell, ten times more brutal than any battlefield you have ever seen."

“Besides the high cliffs and valleys, Lister behind you and Levanta in front of you are also under attack from both inside and outside. There are bandits plundering outside the city gates and rioters causing chaos inside the city gates. They may face the risk of the city falling at any time. Inside, there are innocent girls like Mary and ordinary townspeople. At this moment, they are all in a life-or-death situation, but I cannot run over to save them now because I have to consider the overall situation.”

Valery stared wide-eyed. “We can find a way to save them! The enemy is just a bunch of bandits! I can take care of them all by myself! But Mary is in their hands now. Are we just going to stand by and watch her die? She is our comrade, one of us. If we can’t even save one person, how can we save the whole town? Besides, is it still knighthood to stand idly by and watch a young girl trapped in enemy territory?”

“Anyone can be sacrificed, including me. I can’t abandon other people’s lives to save her. I might become a hero that way, and no one would criticize me here. But to use other people’s lives to achieve one’s own reputation is an insult to the word ‘knight’.”

Valery was completely stunned, and slowly said, "Is this the chivalry of the Obsidian Knights?"

"Whether it's the Obsidian Knights or not, I don't know; this is my spirit."

"We can rescue them, it only takes the three of us..."

Valery seemed to still hold onto hope. He looked at Damian, hoping for his assistance, and said, "We have three men... the three of us are roughly equivalent to members of three knightly orders... we also have over two hundred knights in total, plus the superhumans in our caravan. They are all my brothers; I know them inside and out. Many of them have also received knightly training. They are very strong, while we are only facing a group of bandits. We will definitely find a way to deal with them. We can rescue Mary..."

Valery's voice trailed off as he saw Damian staring at him and slowly shaking his head. Valery's heart grew cold, spreading throughout his body, followed by anger, resentment, and a deep sense of sorrow. He thought of Mary suffering at the hands of the enemy, and how he wanted to save his beloved girl, yet no one was willing to help him, and these people were even knights...

“Can such a person… really be called a knight…” Valery murmured. He slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking.

“They’re just a bunch of cowards…” Valery said in a low voice.

“You can think of this as cowardice if you want,” Aaron replied.

Damian remained silent. As a high-ranking member of the Obsidian Knights, Aaron had been tolerant of Valery enough, considering that he was doing it to save the girl he loved.

But Valéry's words still stung their hearts. Cowards—it was indeed a harsh word, but that was the reality of life. It didn't allow them to act impulsively or recklessly for the sake of a woman. In many things, they had to compromise, even if it was seen as cowardice.

“If this is what it means to be a knight, then I’d rather not be one.” Valery raised his head, his gaze icy, and drew his sword. “Then I’ll go save her myself!”

Before leaving, he said coldly, "A person who packages himself as a knight but doesn't dare to face even a group of bandits or rescue a girl trapped in enemy territory is not worthy of being called a knight!"

“I won’t stop you from going to your death. I’ve said it before, anyone can be sacrificed. I can pass on your good name at your funeral.” Aaron’s gaze shifted from young Master Valery to the distance ahead.

At the same time, behind Aaron, on the horizon, an archer had drawn his bow to its fullest extent, aiming at Aaron's back. As he pulled the bowstring to its limit, something terrible happened around the arrow: an uncontrollable, violent force emanated from the arrow, and a terrifying force field was twisting around it.

All the soldiers had unconsciously moved away from that area. No one dared to approach it. The distorting force field there seemed to be able to tear the surrounding earth apart. Just getting close to it felt like one's body would be sucked in.

The archer's fingers twitched as he stared intently at the man's back on the gentle slope. Just as the distorting force field was about to reach its maximum and a violent roar, like muffled thunder hidden deep in the clouds, was about to explode, he suddenly released his grip.

In the vast plain, a muffled thunderclap exploded on the flat ground. Light arrived first, followed by sound, and then spiritual power that seemed to distort the entire sky and carried a huge gale. The gale howled and the arrow was shot out. The powerful force actually distorted the sky. Where the arrow passed, the ground was torn and pulled by the powerful gravity, and a vortex-like structure was formed in the sky.

The arrow's speed definitely exceeded the speed of sound; this was certain to the archer when he released the arrow, as it was precisely the limit of the power he could control.

This was a gift he had prepared for Charles, intended to kill the captain of the prestigious Obsidian Knights squad! Before this, he had thoroughly studied Charles's abilities, and he was certain that Charles could not dodge this arrow. This arrow was a death knell prepared for Charles; the death knell was already tolling, and the god of the underworld was calling his name!

Just as Aaron finished speaking the last word, the arrow was already at his back. There was no warning, no prior knowledge, and no one reacted in advance. Valery only felt a sudden gust of wind and rain blow against his face. The next moment, he saw the terrifyingly distorted sky and the destructive gale sweeping in.

Everything happened too suddenly, too fast. He had no reaction at all, and was unable to react at all. His ears had already gone deaf due to the strong wind pressure, and only his eyes were still open. Then he saw a scene that shocked him beyond measure.

A sudden gust of wind billowed his black robes, and a spinning arrow was right behind him. Aaron reached back and grabbed the arrow that represented destruction. The next moment, his robes were blown high like a billowing banner, making a loud rustling sound. The terrible wind brought by the arrow swept over his body, almost overturning half of the caravan's carriages.

Even Valery couldn't withstand the accompanying gale. As if struck head-on by a sledgehammer, he was thrown backward. But the arrow, powerful enough to cause gravitational distortion, was firmly held in his hand like an exploding cyclone. The cyclone spun, twisted, and dissipated, unleashing its terrifying power. However, all its power was confined to his hand. Only the unruly storm emanating from his body could glimpse the power of that arrow.

Damian was completely stunned. He was no less shocked than Valery. As the Blazing White Knight, he was completely unaware of the enemy's attack. He only reacted almost immediately after the attack occurred, leaping up and then tumbling down, knocking Valery, who had been blown away, down with him. They lay face down on the ground, with the raging wind before them and their eyes filled with terror.

Valery was tackled by Damian without any struggle, because his body went limp the moment the arrow came. He was like prey cornered by the enemy, unable to react at all. He was terrified by the power of the arrow, and even when Damian pinned him to the ground, his eyes remained unresponsive.

"Go save her, I won't stop you."

Aaron looked at Valery on the ground, picked up the arrow, snapped it in two with a "crack," and casually tossed it to the ground. He turned around and looked back in the direction the arrow had been shot, leaving Valery completely stunned.

Chapter 35 The Griffin Order

Aaron looked back at the enemy, who were also observing him. Aaron shocked not only Damian but also the enemy. The real soldiers were fine, maintaining basic composure, but the bandits became agitated. The frightened horses struggled to get away from the spot, and the bandits had to work hard to control them to prevent them from running amok. They couldn't believe that someone could catch that arrow with their bare hands. Was that even human?

"Is that one of our kingdom's knights?" even Dominic murmured.

The man on the white horse remained silent. He knew very well the power of the arrow shot by the longbowman. Anyone who could catch that arrow with their bare hands was definitely not an ordinary knight. The opponent must be a master of the Obsidian Knights. Could it be that Charles has already come from the high cliff valley?

"Charles' arrival may be a good thing for completing the whole plan, but it's a bad thing for these soldiers. If it really is Charles, even if they launch an attack, they may not be able to kill all the nobles. The war will be prolonged, which is very disadvantageous for them."

“We want our people to fight those kinds of people? I’m not doing it! We came here because we heard about the raids on nobles, which is not what we agreed on beforehand!” Dominic said.

The man on the white horse looked at him with disgust. He had long known that these bandits were not to be trusted. At a critical moment, they might turn against him, and there was no way to rely on them.

"Of course you won't be the ones fighting. My promise to you won't change. You only need to deal with those noble young masters and ladies on horseback. Don't worry about anything else. Even if there is a battle, it will be between him and me."

The man's expression was cold, making no attempt to hide the contempt in his words. Dominic, however, pretended not to notice and said obsequiously, "That's more like it! Our dragon slayer, Lord Roman, should fight him personally. As for us bandits, we can just play around with those noble young masters and ladies!"

Aaron glanced at the direction from which the arrows had come and at the terrified army, then looked away. From the moment they began their standoff, they had been assessing the other side's strength, and now Aaron had made a judgment on the group's combat power.

They're nothing but a rabble.

Those people are nothing to fear; they are not the key to the plan. The real battlefield is the high cliffs and valleys.

Aaron had already made up his mind. As he came down the slope, he saw Dylan lying on the ground, laughing wildly.

He had heard the commotion just now and probably thought the army was about to attack them, and that the convoy was about to meet its doom.

"You're all finished! You're all going to die today! They're soldiers of the Griffin Legion! No one will support you! They'll wipe you all out one by one today! None of you will escape! Do you know who the leader is? His name is Roman! He's not like you bunch of good-for-nothing nobles! His codename is Dragon Slayer, and he earned that title by killing you nobles!"

Damian's expression changed slightly. He realized that there were real soldiers mixed in with the bandits, but he did not expect that they were the Griffin Regiment. The Griffin Regiment was the largest legion in Chernog, with a status equivalent to the Lusset Army.

Chernobog is one of the most powerful empires in the New World. A third of its territory is frozen tundra. The people of the empire worship the god of war. The extreme climate makes the men of that empire brave and skilled in battle, full of martial spirit. It is said that men there can decide whether they can become soldiers as young as twelve, and the Griffin Legion is often the first choice for men in that country.

Upon hearing the name of the Griffin Legion, Damian's first thought was disbelief. The Griffin Legion had actually come to central Lucert and mingled with bandits? Were they really planning to go to war with Lucert? His second thought was despair.

If the enemy were ordinary soldiers, he might be able to organize the convoy to resist, but if the enemy were the Griffin Legion of Chernogg, or an army led by a commander of a truly powerful empire, then even if Damian were given a Lucerne army, Damian would not be confident that he could resist.

On the contrary, Damian didn't care about the name of the dragon slayer. He had heard of that person before. He was one of the many leaders of the huge Griffin Legion and was quite famous in Lusset. The army he led was probably stronger than the average regular army.

After finishing his sentence, Dylan gasped for breath. Although he was blind, he could sense the heavy atmosphere in their silence. It seemed he had been right all along. He burst into laughter: "Seven Gods! This is the fairest day of all time! This is a premature Judgment Day! You, all of you, will die under the fair blade of the Griffin Order! Nobles and commoners are no different!"

"I do admire your concept of fairness."

A cold voice rang in Dylan's ear: "However, the mere Griffin Company cannot accomplish the great cause of fairness you speak of."

Dylan heard the cold voice and knew it wasn't Damian or Valery, but the Obsidian Knight who had come to his aid. He knew it was that knight who was being stubborn, so he said, "At least let's make this place 'fair' first. In my territory of Lister, let's make it the first stop for fairness!"

"I've already said it. The Griffin Legion can't do what you're talking about. Wait until your knight, 'Sword of Conquest,' comes here in person before you talk about turning this place into a land of fairness."

Dylan was taken aback, but didn't take it seriously. At this point, such a struggle was meaningless. They would know who was right once the knife was to their throats.

What he didn't know was that this was actually Aaron's true thought. Since he arrived here, he had been estimating the enemy's troop strength and who they had deployed. He had already made a judgment when he "stared" at the army on the slow slope, and Dylan's words further confirmed his judgment.

They're just dragon slayers, so we can rest assured.

The enemy is most likely the renowned Griffin Army of the North, and the man on the white horse is probably Roman, the commander nicknamed "The Dragon Slayer." Everyone's purpose is clear, and everyone's identity is revealed.

That's all.

Looking at the big picture, you'll see that the enemy has deployed an entire army in Lister, while the forces deployed in High Cliff Valley are much smaller, only a few dozen men. However, unlike the mixed bandit and soldier situation in Lister, everyone who went to High Cliff Valley was a superhuman. And what was in High Cliff Valley was what Chernogg really wanted. The plains where the Griffin Legion was deployed were just a second battlefield.

Chapter 36 Blessing Black Abyss White Leap

The reason the second battlefield was so intimidating was to tie down the first battlefield and force the people of High Cliff Valley to send troops to support it. If they couldn't take High Cliff Valley, they would turn their attention here. It was a plan to kill two birds with one stone. The plan was not complicated, but it was effective. The person who devised the plan had thought everything through very carefully, ensuring that they could coordinate from the inside and outside, and even had people like Lister and Levanta as accomplices.

This is why, despite their overwhelming numerical and strength advantage, they have remained locked in a stalemate on the plains without launching an attack: the "Dragon Slayers" are waiting for news from the high cliffs and valleys.

However, this plan has a time limit. It is an interconnected plan, and everything must be done within the right time. If any link is not done well, all efforts will be in vain. Therefore, to break this plan, you must make good use of time.

Having grasped this point, Aaron understood the enemy's intentions. All the chaotic clues were now clear. In short, Aaron didn't have much time left.

Aaron said to Damian, “Don’t worry, just as I said, it’s not time for us to die yet.”

"I'm alright, but those kids might not be able to stay calm," Damian said with a wry smile. "I'm just unsure when we'll see reinforcements."

“There will be no more support,” Aaron said.

"what?"

“There will be no support. Originally, the Obsidian Knights of High Cliff Valley might have come to your aid, but if they had, they would have fallen into the enemy’s trap. Therefore, before coming here, I gave them a death order to hold High Cliff Valley at all costs. They cannot come to your aid. I am your only support.”

"Then you..." Damian looked Aaron up and down, wondering what he was up to.

“Now that I’m here, I will never let you die, but I can’t do too much by myself. I need someone to keep these nobles in check and prevent them from causing a riot.” As he said this, Aaron looked at Damian.

“I can help you as much as I can…” Damian said.

Aaron had anticipated this situation before arriving, which is why he treated Carol with a lukewarm attitude when he arrived at the caravan. He hoped that Carol wouldn't have too high expectations of him, so that he wouldn't feel too awkward if he had to be professional or even cold later.

Aaron walked down the gentle slope and looked in the direction of the convoy. Although he had caught the arrow, the impact was still enormous. Many people had no idea that they would suddenly launch an attack, and panic spread through the convoy.

Aaron didn't comfort them. He silently went to Carol and asked her, "Are you alright?"

Carol was surprised that Aaron would be concerned about her the moment he arrived. Like a brave heroine in a chivalrous novel, she replied, "Yes, I'm fine."

“Okay.” Aaron nodded and said to the maid beside him, “Bring a chair.”

The maid was puzzled, but she did as Aaron said. A moment later, the maid brought a chair, and Aaron invited Carol to sit on it.

After making sure Carol was seated securely, Aaron knelt down, looked at Carol, and said, "Do you trust me?"

“Yes, I believe you,” Carol said.

"Do you believe I can protect you?"

“Yes, I believe you,” Carol said happily.