With Galvin's defeat and capture, the remaining Blacktooth mercenaries completely lost their will to fight. They discarded their weapons one after another, hanging their heads in dejection as they crouched on the ground, accepting their fate of defeat.
The war was finally over.
After taking stock, of the original fifty-strong elite formation company, less than ten prisoners remained. Some had died in battle, and some mercenaries had even taken advantage of the chaos to simply run away.
Most of the mercenaries who managed to escape the battlefield were agile rangers and assassins who traveled light. The remaining heavily armored warriors and mages suffered heavy casualties;
under the alternating bombardment of the battery array and the self-destructing wasp soldiers, they couldn't escape and could only surrender on the spot.
Chen Yu's side also suffered significant losses. Over fifty poison-stinger wasps were lost in battle, two of the "Goblin Ripper" battery arrays were severely damaged and required major repairs, and half of the stored magic leaves were consumed.
Although some poison-stinger wasps carried magic leaves for defense, facing the mercenary company's magical firepower, if the logistical resupply was even slightly slow, they were easily overwhelmed by concentrated fire.
However, considering the elite nature of this mercenary company—their equipment and combat power even surpassed that of most regular army units belonging to the kingdom's lords—the price paid for such a victory could be considered within an acceptable range.
Moreover, they not only held their ground, but the main structure of the city wall remained miraculously intact, with only some partial damage.
At this moment, Little Ka flapped its wings as it flew back from the forest. Although it looked somewhat listless, it was otherwise unharmed.
"Hahaha, Your Majesty is mighty!" Anvil walked over carrying his large hammer, his hearty laughter breaking the silence of the battlefield.
The little earth elementals also clamored "ee-ee-ah-ah" on the side, bragging about how many shots they had fired earlier and how fast they had run.
Seeing this, Eserin finally relaxed completely. She put down the staff she had been tightly gripping, carefully cradled Chen Yu, and slowly floated down from the city wall to the battlefield.
Arthur escorted Galvin over and inquired, "Your Majesty, how should these prisoners be dealt with?"
Chen Yu thought for a moment. "Letting them go back to report the news is not an option. For now, detain them in the prisoner camp. Let them contribute some labor to the territory's construction."
After speaking, his gaze fell upon Arthur.
——
Reputation Title: Frost Wolf Sanctuary
Acquisition Conditions: Humanoid creatures whose primary professional attribute is Strength (Knights/Warriors/Barbarians, etc.) must temper their physique in extremely cold, snowy weather, conquer snowfield wolf packs with pure strength and earn their awe, and finally comprehend the true essence of winter's cruelty and resilience amidst a fierce winter storm.
Title Effects:
Note: This is not forging, but will compelling frost to submit and take form. The wolves bowing their heads, the ice yielding—all are proof of strength and conviction in the heart of winter.
——
He suddenly grew a bit curious. "Arthur, exactly how many trials did you pass?"
Arthur hesitated. "If there are no other forgotten trials, it should also be four—Knight, Frost Wolf, Deadfire, and Steel Body."
Huh?
Both passed four trials, yet the gap is this big?
After pondering for a while, his gel body swayed slightly as he shook off irrelevant thoughts, revealing an expectant expression. "Quick, let's see what these guys left for us."
Anvil immediately sprang into action, calling out to the little earth elementals. "Kids, get to work! Find all the valuable things you see and bring them out!"
The little earth elementals immediately scattered like unleashed groundhogs, struggling to squeeze into the backpacks and pouches the mercenaries had discarded, pulling out the contents item by item.
"Hey, this scroll looks good!"
"Gold coins! So many gold coins!"
"What flavor is this potion? Let's taste... bleh bleh bleh! Tastes bad!"
"Wow! This gem is so shiny!"
They brought out the loot they had scavenged, including but not limited to bags of gold coins, various bloody scrolls with different effects, healing potions, antidote potions, mana gems, spare weapon components, even some rations and personal items... and piled them up.
Then, they placed them on the broad carapaces of the beetle workers who came to help with transportation, who made trip after trip carrying the goods back to the fortress warehouse.
"You! Yes, you! What are you hiding behind your back? Hand it over!" Anvil glared at a mercenary whose eyes were darting around.
The mercenary's face flushed red. After fidgeting for a long time, he slowly pulled out from behind his back... a crumpled pair of underwear.
The other prisoners nearby subtly and silently shuffled a bit farther away.
Anvil's beard twitched, his expression turning strange. In the end, he just waved his hand dismissively. "Get lost. Keep that thing for yourself."
Soon, the loot piled up into several small hills in the center of the clearing. Glittering gold coins, scrolls and potions, fine weapons and equipment... it was dazzling to behold.
This haul was quite substantial, enough to cover most of the losses and even leave a surplus.
At this moment, Arthur walked over and handed him a seed, carefully preserved in a special metal case.
"Your Majesty, found on a mercenary. Its aura is similar to the last one, but also somewhat different."
"Another one of these seeds?" Chen Yu curiously took it. He could sense the peculiar life force contained within was similar to the last one, but the frequency of its fluctuations was slightly different.
He attempted to devour it.
[Devour Digestion Lv.7 triggered — ??? characteristics recorded, talent incubating (2/3).]
Sure enough, it was the same thing.
A shame it's still missing the final one.
He glanced at Galvin, who was tied up nearby with an expressionless face, then looked at Arthur, asking curiously, "Judging from your conversation earlier, this guy used to be your friend?"
Arthur was silent for a moment before replying, "We were knights trained in the same batch. You could say we were friends, also rivals. Now, we are enemies."
Hearing this, Galvin raised his head, his face carrying the calm of a defeated man and the pride of a knight. "I lost the bet, I accept the consequences. If you wish to kill me, then do it."
Chen Yu gave the order. "Take him back to the fortress first for solitary confinement. I still have some questions for him. As for the other prisoners, escort them all to the prisoner camp, keep them under strict guard, and arrange labor for them starting tomorrow."
He knew mere ropes couldn't hold this knight;
Arthur would have to watch him personally.
"Yes." Arthur nodded, escorting Galvin towards the fortress.
The other prisoners, under the close surveillance of the poison-stinger wasps, also moved dejectedly towards the direction of the prisoner camp.
During this time, the slime engineers had already begun busily repairing the damaged city walls and battery arrays. Other slimes helped clean up the bloodstains and filth on the battlefield, while the beetles transported construction materials... The territory was quickly restoring order.
Eserin walked up to Chen Yu, performed an elegant bow, and spoke in a solemn tone. "Slime Sir, after this battle, I have personally witnessed the strength and potential possessed by your kingdom."
"I, Eserin Moonlight, on behalf of Lord Viola and Rootwhisper Forest, formally agree to forge an offensive and defensive alliance with the Slime Kingdom."
"Effective immediately, the dryad domain will provide your country with a stable and ample food supply to support your military operations and future development."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu's little eyes immediately lit up. "Pleasure doing business!"
Previously limited by food production capacity, the number of poison-stinger wasps had been unable to expand on a large scale. Now, with the dryad domain as this "giant granary" backing them, they could finally go all out on troop production.
It was foreseeable that the territory would soon enter a period of rapid development.
At the very least, the expansion of the territory's borders could begin now.
His mind began to race, planning for the future.
"The Western Swamp... and the deeper parts of the dungeon... it's time to fully incorporate them into the territory and commence the third phase of the project."
The area of the Western Swamp far exceeded that of the Eastern Swamp. It was rich in resources and, being farther from the White Horse Kingdom's border, offered greater strategic depth.
As long as threats from the goblin army to the south could be effectively defended against, that would be the ideal place to build the true royal capital of the Slime Kingdom.
How could a true kingdom not have a magnificent capital worthy of its strength?
Afterwards, citing the need to return quickly to the dryad domain to guard against possible retaliation from the Blacktooth mercenary company, Eserin bid farewell to Chen Yu.
When they arrived, they were an inspection team. When they left, they had a small aid army in tow.
Peachy snorted and grunted as she took the lead. Little Ka flew low for reconnaissance. Behind them followed several dozen elite poison-stinger wasps and a beetle transport team carrying some strategic supplies.
They would follow the elves back to the dryad domain to assist them in strengthening their territorial defenses.
Eserin promised that once settled, she would immediately arrange for an elven team to deliver the first batch of food tomorrow to support the Slime territory's army expansion plan.
On the other side, the little earth elementals clamored noisily, "Ore! Hungry! Eat! Eat!", pulling a still-reluctant-to-leave Anvil back to the Obsidian Mining Area.
After the practical battlefield experience earlier, he realized the earth elemental giant was indeed as agile as expected;
it was just that the battery array's firepower was slightly lacking.
They could go back and continue debugging and improving, striving to install more cannons or find ways to enhance the battery array's power...
Chen Yu watched them depart one after another. The originally bustling fortress suddenly became much quieter.
He suddenly remembered that usually, Count Bran, that chatterbox, would be chirping away beside him. Who knows where that guy went off to scavenge for treasures;
he still hasn't returned.
He strained, growing gel wings on both sides of his body, and flapped noisily as he flew back to the castle tree hall.
As soon as he landed, Slime Mother concernedly bounced forward, and the slimes who had been waiting eagerly joyfully surged forward, bouncing and making "squelch squelch" sounds to celebrate the victory.
Even the usually quieter Little Flower seemed more lively than usual.
Chen Yu's gaze swept over these little ones, and he was gratified to find that the territory had, without him noticing, acquired over a dozen slime scholars.
A few slime engineers had even earned the title [Slime Artisan], granting special reflected damage bonuses to constructed buildings—though the bonus was low, only 4%.
After calming the excited little ones, Arthur soon escorted the silent Galvin to the tree hall.
Galvin's eyes scanned everything inside the tree hall. Although inwardly shocked by the level of civilization these magical creatures possessed, he showed none of it on his face, maintaining the cold sternness of a defeated commander.
He simply sat silently before the green slime that appeared to be the leader.
Before Chen Yu could speak, Galvin broke the silence first, asking directly, "What do you want to know? The Blacktooth mercenary company's defensive deployments, their resource points, or some other intelligence?"
At Chen Yu's signal, Arthur placed a pea-sized piece of gel behind Galvin's ear.
Immediately after, Galvin was surprised to discover a soft, glutinous voice, like jelly, speaking directly in his mind.
"I thought you would show loyalty to the Blacktooth mercenary company and choose to say nothing."
This slime really can talk... amazing... Now he could understand a bit of Arthur's submission to it.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, speaking flatly. "Loyalty? No, I have no feelings whatsoever for the Blacktooth mercenary company. It was merely mutual exploitation."
"They provided me shelter, allowing me to evade the Border Garrison's pursuit. And I, in turn, provided them with the martial prowess of an elite professional. That's all."
"Of the mercenaries who came here, nine and a half out of ten were for the gold coins. I'm no exception."
"Gold coins? Do you need gold coins that badly?" Chen Yu asked curiously.
Galvin lowered his head, revealing a weary expression.
"I'm tired of this life of constantly fleeing. This mission was meant to be the final one—to completely abandon the identity of a knight, forget all the truth, leave the kingdom's border, leave this quagmire of the Dark Realm, go to some small country in the south, buy a small estate, and live out the rest of my life in peace."
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of self-mockery. "But in the end... I still didn't get my wish. Instead, I fell into the hands of my former rival once again."
As he spoke, he glanced at Arthur, who stood like an iron tower beside him.
Chen Yu was very interested in their past and wanted to know even more what exactly happened back then that caused Arthur to become undead.
Arthur slowly spoke, his soulfire steady. "The memories are very fuzzy... I only remember that at the time, Galvin and I were stationed at Ironboot Town. Later, we accepted a mission and left Ironboot Town for the outpost ruins."
He paused, his skull shaking slightly. "As for what happened afterward... I have no memory of it."
Galvin grunted. "You died and got it easy. As for me, I've been hiding and dodging all these years."
"I advised you back then, don't go tracking those knights for the sake of so-called justice. You stumbled upon the dirty dealings of those big shots in the Border Garrison. How could they possibly let you go?"
"You mean... Arthur was killed by the Border Garrison?" Chen Yu was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, and no."
He took a deep breath. "To be precise, it was the claws of a demon."
"I clearly remember that day was very muggy, with continuous gloomy rain."
"We received a distress mission from the adventurer's hall at the Cardos chapel in Ironboot Town. The mission was to investigate abnormal mana fluctuations near the outpost ruins and rescue the adventurers who had mistakenly entered."
"The mission went smoothly at first, until deep within the ruins, we accidentally came across a squad of Border Garrison knights who should have been patrolling the border defense line."
"They were acting furtively, trading something with a group of mercenaries who were clearly not good people."
"We followed them secretly and discovered those mercenaries eventually transported the goods into an outpost camp set up by the goblin army. Moreover, those goblins seemed completely accustomed to it, even having a minor boss come out to receive them."
Hearing this, Arthur's soulfire shook violently. "You're saying... there were knights in the Border Garrison colluding with the goblin army? But what does this have to do with the demon you mentioned?"
"Of course it couldn't be as simple as collusion. The reason the goblin army could thrive and grow long-term in the Obsidian Mining Area, even assembling into such a large-scale force, fundamentally relied on the support of that great demon behind them."
His expression became unprecedentedly serious.
"Traveling further west through the Dark Realm, entering the only flat valley amidst the mountain ranges, there lie the grand ruins left by an ancient empire and gold and silver treasures found everywhere. Therefore, adventurers call this plain the 'Golden Radiance Valley,' meaning a place where the light of gold coins shines."
"And in the shadows of this valley flowing with gold and silver, lurks more than one powerful evil entity. Among them is precisely a great demon who successfully smuggled himself from hell to the material plane—'Lord of the Infernal Forge,' Casaric."
"I could find very little information about this great demon. I only know his form resembles the remains of a giant thrown into a forge, repeatedly hammered and twisted into a new shape."
"Massive horns curved like a ram's crown his head. His skin is cooled, cracked obsidian, with fissures spewing unquenchable flames. Every breath brings forth sulfurous sparks and ash."
"Casaric excels at manipulating sinful flames, capable of igniting a target's ambition, greed, and envy, causing victims to self-destruct from within."
"Like many lords of hell, he is a master of temptation and deceit, skilled at designing verbal traps, luring mortals into the abyss with seemingly fair deals, and ultimately feeding their souls into his burning forge as fuel and currency."
"He controls the goblins of that army, having them mine mountain copper gems year-round at Riftrock Pass and hand over the majority, transporting them into the Golden Radiance Valley. However, the ordinary goblins don't seem to be aware;
he hides very deeply."
"If Arthur and I hadn't accidentally witnessed that transaction, we would never have imagined there were knights within the Garrison whose souls were enslaved by a demon."