Chapter 399: Military Deterrence
Julian courteously sent people to receive them.
The Red Dragon Knight Order halted directly in front of Marquis Shalier’s entourage.
The neatly arranged knight order, clad in dark red armor, looked as though it had been soaked in blood.
The warhorses beneath them had patches of rotten flesh, revealing tender dark red scales underneath, with small black bone granules protruding from their heads.
These changes to their bodies and skulls made the warhorses restless, but they did not move recklessly due to their riders' commands. Their nostrils twitched as they panted, saliva dripping from their mouths, and their crimson eyes greedily stared at the approaching group.
The raw savagery of their presence made Gregor's eyes light up. He spurred his mount forward.
Knight Edwin and Knight Kelton quickly followed. As for the marquis and knights behind, they were doing their best to calm the forest deer beneath them.
These sturdy and agile creatures had a dark green color like leaves and vines. Compared to warhorses, they were more suitable for woodland terrain. Therefore, although warhorses existed in the forest, the upper class still preferred riding these forest deer.
At least these forest deer hadn't bolted. Behind them, however, many were so terrified by the savage aura of the oncoming beasts that they had wet their pants. They leaned sideways on their mounts, ready to flee back into the forest at the slightest movement.
These past few days, they hadn’t been idle either.
Some had scouted deep into the woodlands, others had gone to gather information in Greenwood. As a result, Gregor, who also had access to the shared intelligence, was no stranger to the Red Dragon Knight Order.
Yes, he knew that this Red Dragon Knight Order had slaughtered at least thirty thousand people in his territory without losing a single member—and had only stopped the massacre yesterday.
But Gregor didn’t care about the commoners. His eyes burned with fervor as he stared at these knights.
He believed even Richard’s Oath Knights were no match for the Red Dragon Knight Order.
He also felt a tinge of regret—if only Richard had rebelled too. That way, his Oath Knights would have been crushed as well.
“Marquis Doyle,” the knight order’s commander at the front, holding the banner, slightly bowed and said.
His voice was hoarse.
The warhorse beneath him also bowed its head.
Gregor’s gaze shifted to the warhorse, his eyes filled with longing. He asked, “Where did you capture your mounts?”
The commander of the Red Dragon Knight Order replied, “They were bred within the order.”
Gregor asked, “Can they be sold?”
The commander responded, “They are exclusive to the order.”
Gregor was visibly disappointed but didn’t dare to press further.
After just a few exchanges, he understood that this knight commander was a Tier Five powerhouse—someone he couldn’t defeat.
He said, “Marquis Shalier is my guest, as well as Bishop Jeremiah’s.”
The knight commander replied, “We’re here to receive them. Also, to prevent the guests from taking the wrong path to... certain unsuitable places.”
This was Gregor’s territory, and yet he had no idea what "unsuitable places" the commander was referring to.
But since the other party had said so, it must be true.
Thus, he said, “Then please treat them well. I need to return to Doyle City to check on things.”
The commander nodded. “Bishop Jeremiah is awaiting you at the Great Cathedral.”
Gregor nodded back, returned to Marquis Shalier’s group, and after explaining the Red Dragon Knight Order’s intentions, he pulled Camilla onto his horse despite the marquis’s dark expression. He then passed through the knight order and rode toward Doyle City.
Once he departed, the hundred-strong Red Dragon Knight Order spread out and encircled the nearly five-thousand-strong entourage.
The knight commander rode up to Marquis Shalier. Without saying a word, he turned his warhorse, which tried to bite at the forest deer, and led them forward.
The accompanying noble vassals were filled with both rage and fear. They moved in slightly, gazing at Marquis Shalier.
Marquis Shalier looked at them, then finally shook his head and followed the knight commander at the front.
The encircled group bumped and jostled as they moved forward, a subtle sense of dread hanging in the air.
Suddenly, under the bright daylight, two arcs shot across the sky. Several forest deer, perhaps sensing terror—or maybe due to poor horsemanship—cried out harshly, threw off their riders, and bolted.
But they were swiftly intercepted by the warhorses in that direction. Like beasts, the warhorses tore open the forest deer's throats, ripped apart their chests, crunched bones, and devoured their hearts.
This gory scene was seen by few, as most people were staring blankly upward.
They were watching as the two arcs collided in the sky and exploded with intense heat and light—like a second sun—so dazzling and beautiful, they could almost feel its radiance and burning heat.
The nobles’ breathing grew heavy. As they exchanged glances, they saw the same relief in each other’s eyes.
How could they not pay attention to Greenwood, especially after Gregor led the Doyle Knight Order to knock on their fortress gates and propose peaceful trade?
They had been gathering intel on Greenwood. Their lands had Rat Paths, and although these couldn’t report on Greenwood’s current state, they did provide insight into past events.
From the intel they now held, they had concluded: Greenwood was establishing a new empire under new era standards—they were setting new rules.
This so-called peace was only due to the ongoing recovery from the War of Unification.
Look at the Northern Regions—even in this state, they were already under remote control.
After the North, the Woodlands would be next.
They didn’t believe Greenwood would cross the Demis River to provoke the Altlinsmann Empire.
That’s why, after Gregor repeatedly visited with his knight order in a “friendly” manner, they chose to reciprocate.
And thus, they were afraid.
Even something as simple as granting commoners freedom was unacceptable to them.
If everything in their lands no longer belonged to the nobility, then what made them nobles?
But they were also helpless. They couldn’t unite the entire Woodlands to resist Greenwood.
Because of the Woodlands’ geography, it had rarely seen war. As a result, many ancient noble lineages survived.
That’s also why the royal succession struggle in the Principality of Valorian had dragged on for nearly twenty years. In that time, seven grand dukes had come and gone, and except for the central regions, the surrounding nobles couldn’t be bothered with the grand duke’s mess.
But without the grand duke to unify them, how could these fragmented nobles possibly band together?
Even the North was controlled by Greenwood now—they couldn’t ask the northern barbarians for help.
And they had never considered seeking aid from the rainy lands to the west. That miserable place, where it rained over three hundred days a year, didn’t even have a population of one hundred thousand. How could they wage war?
So, after Gregor treated the entire Woodlands like his hunting grounds, galloping freely across it, they thought... perhaps these new rules weren’t so unacceptable.
At least they would still be nobles, still hold lands, and retain power.
It was better than being exterminated.
They still hoped to negotiate with Greenwood using their current strength—to secure more benefits, perhaps retain their fiefs.
After all, if war did break out, Greenwood would suffer heavy losses attacking the Woodlands, with its Mother Forest's protection and complex terrain.
This hope persisted—until the Doyle Knight Order, who had galloped through the Woodlands unrestrained, was annihilated overnight.
That’s when they gave up completely.
It was as though they suddenly became enlightened.
They realized that with the implementation of the guild system, Greenwood no longer lacked people to manage land—making them, the nobles, unnecessary.
Especially after Greenwood slaughtered half of the nobility in Doyle City.
Even if they were only minor nobles, they were still nobles. It made Greenwood’s stance clear.
So, as they gathered at Castle Shalier and saw that Gregor wasn’t killed, and as they heard from Marquis Shalier—who had heard it from Camilla, the future Marchioness of Doyle—that Gregor had no intention of resisting Greenwood and didn’t dare claim acceptance either...
They chose to loudly praise the Lord’s glory, to proclaim their desire for the Lord’s protection. The Lord loves all people, and they were His children too.
Thus, they looted everything valuable from their lands and headed for Greenwood.
They were just so devout—they even wore silver crosses.
Certainly not because they feared the arcs of light that could flatten entire forests and decimate most of their convoy.
The Lord loves all people. With such devoted believers, how could there be any killing?
Including Marquis Shalier, all of them dismounted from their unsteady forest deer, each holding a cross.
They had decided that until negotiations concluded, they would not let go of their silver crosses.
Otherwise, how would their counterparts in Greenwood know they too were devout followers?
As for the Mother Forest, they silently supplemented in their hearts—she was also the Lord’s child.
While they scrambled to cover up the sarcasm they once uttered when Jeremiah handed them the Scriptures, and while they desperately tried to squeeze the Mother Forest into the Scriptures...
They heard crisp and dense drumbeats.
Tap, tap, tap—
Accompanied by these drumbeats were steady footsteps.
Their gaze shifted from the slowly fading “mini sun” in the sky toward the source of the sound.
They saw Julian, riding an ordinary warhorse and flanked by personal guards. On either side of him, two legion formations marched in step with the drums.
The foot soldiers were armed even more extravagantly than knights, so much so that their trembling hands stopped shaking.
They clutched their crosses more tightly.
Knights were powerful—but rare.
In the Woodlands’ forests, knights couldn’t fully utilize their charges.
But foot soldiers were different. These troops could be mass-produced and could push forward step by step.
The forest was complex, but it still grew on land.
Two hundred knights could dominate the Woodlands—but with five thousand such elite foot soldiers, Greenwood could completely digest it.