Unknown Knight

Nergboye, who is nearly two meters tall, is considered to be extremely tall and mighty in that era. His ancestors were not actually descendants of aristocrats, but they were tall and mighty, with great strength, and served as the captain of the city defense team in this fortress.

That was in the pre-empire period. Later, the empire collapsed and split. Nergboye's ancestors simply killed the noble chief here and asked the original secretary to forge a noble seal for themselves of some kind of bloodline. From then on, they occupied this place and became an independent small force.

For such a so-called aristocratic family, they don't have any nationality or beliefs. Over the years, their family has taken advantage of its strategic location to reap the benefits of being a fence-sitter.

When the Kugits came, they pretended to be friendly, and when the Vaegirs came, they turned around and joined them. Although their family is currently nominally affiliated with the Vaegir Kingdom, they are actually a local tyrant who occupies the mountains and rules as kings, and no one can control them.

Due to its remote location and lack of strategic location, coupled with its rugged terrain, the cost and difficulty of attacking it were extremely high. The Vigrias and Khergits all treated this place as a toad in the corner, ignoring it as if it were a blind alley.

However, their family's peace and security may no longer be able to continue today, as someone had unexpectedly broken into the fortress without anyone noticing, and they had lost their greatest reliance against external enemies.

Moreover, right now was the time when Nerge and his men were at their weakest. Although they had captured some residents of Hanun Village to satisfy their hunger a few days ago and the soldiers' physical strength had recovered a lot, they were still very weak and did not reach half of their usual combat power.

Through the crack in the door, with the light from the snow shining through, Nergboye saw the soldiers outside the gate in shining armor. It was obvious that they were not the bandits and robbers he had previously thought, but real regular troops of the nobility.

The passage in the dungeon was also blocked by a group of people holding shields and crossbows. It seemed that they were not going to leave him any way to survive today.

He carefully thought about the past few years and found that he had not offended any great nobles. How could he have provoked such a powerful enemy? Was there any misunderstanding? So he said to the outside:

"Outside the door is the army of that noble. I am Nergboye, the Lord of Lerag Castle, appointed by His Highness King Yarogelk of Vigia. You know that this is the holy territory of the Vigia Kingdom. Retreat quickly and do not invade the territory of my Vigia Kingdom."

After hearing what Nergboye said, Aix wanted to laugh. At this time, this guy was still using the sign of the Kingdom of Vigia to ward off disaster. It was obvious that he was guilty and weak. Without waiting for him to say anything else, he replied directly:

"Nergboye, you still have the nerve to say that you are a noble of the Kingdom of Vijia. Well, I will let you die knowingly. I am Aixboye, the new Lord of Aslum.

Nergboye, you secretly communicated with the Khergit Khanate and privately sold weapons and iron materials to the Khergit Khanate, committing a serious crime of treason.

You also secretly let the Kugit army enter the country and occupy Shules, and built a fort there. Fortunately, I led my troops to capture Shules not long ago, and the captured Lord of Aichmor, Tojunayan, has already confessed everything. You, a traitor to the Kingdom of Vijia, have committed a damnable crime of treason.

I am now following the orders of my king, His Royal Highness King Yarogelk, to lead my troops to kill you, the traitor.

Listen up, officers and soldiers inside. My king has ordered that anyone who lays down his arms and surrenders will be forgiven for his past mistakes and can still work and receive salary in my Kingdom of Vaegir. Anyone who dares to resist will be charged with treason and will be executed like Nergboye. "

Aix's words were heartbreaking. He clearly heard some unusual movements among the people in the castle. In order to add fuel to the fire, he had several prisoners brought out from the dungeon to tell their stories. He encouraged the people inside and shouted something: surrender early, there will be rewards for surrendering, and we will not kill the prisoners.

What he didn't know was that this Nergboye was tall and mighty, and very strong. Although there had been a shortage of food in Lerag Castle recently, he was not hungry at all. He was the one who started eating people a few days ago.

Compared to those subordinates who were starving and had not yet recovered their strength, his fighting power was obviously terrifying.

He stared with eyes that had turned red from eating people, and when he saw several of his subordinates making unusual moves, he decisively drew out his two-handed sword, stepped forward and slashed at them. This killed a chicken and frightened a monkey, and directly extinguished the rebellious thoughts that had just arisen in his subordinates.

After waiting for a long time without any response, Aix heard Nergboye's mocking words:

"Lord Aix, please don't waste your breath. The soldiers here are all retainers who have followed my family for generations. We have common interests and no one will betray us. You should withdraw your troops as soon as possible.

You see, we can't let the soldiers work in vain. I'll give them 2,000 silver coins as compensation for their hard work. What do you think?"

"Haha, haha, Nergboye, you are dreaming. I brought three hundred fully armed soldiers here, and you want to get rid of us with just two thousand silver coins. Don't be so ridiculous."

Aix was bluffing, on the one hand to undermine the morale inside, on the other hand to buy time for the soldiers to prepare the battering ram. Robin Hood and his men had already found a large piece of wood one foot thick and were sharpening one end with swords.

After hearing what Aix said, Nergboye almost lost all his confidence, and said with a try-it-out mentality:

"Lord Aix, I know you want my territory, but there is no rush. You see, I have no children and my health is not good. The doctor said I won't live long.

Look, my sister is young and beautiful. I will marry her to you. When I die in the future, she will be the legal heir to this castle. Sooner or later, this place will belong to you, and there will be no need for soldiers to shed blood and sacrifice. Isn’t that great?

In addition to the two thousand silver coins I promised just now for raising troops, I will also give another two thousand silver coins as my sister's dowry. What do you think, Lord Aix?"

How could Aix not know his delaying tactic? He said sarcastically:

"I don't have the guts to date your sister. I'm afraid she'll eat me as a snack when I sleep at night. You'd better surrender as soon as possible!"

Aix's words caused all the soldiers to burst into laughter, and also directly angered Nergboye.

Although he has been a self-proclaimed aristocrat for so many years and has not changed his rough nature, he has given himself a lot of reputation as a noble. Now Aix is ​​publicly mocking his family's cannibalism, which his uncle can tolerate but his aunt cannot. He is so angry that he is yelling and swears to be irreconcilable with Aix.

Unable to vent his anger, the cruel man drew his sword and killed two of his timid subordinates in succession, only then could he barely maintain his aristocratic dignity which was about to collapse.

At this time, the battering ram on Aix's side had also been cut. At an order, several strong men, under the cover of the soldiers in the array, carried it to hit the two-meter-wide wooden door of the main castle.

Every time the battering ram hit the wooden door, Resarit organized the surrounding soldiers to roar in unison.

“Roar!——” “Boom!” “Roar!——” “Boom!”…

With the roars of the soldiers, the sound of the collisions seemed to carry divine power, making the entire main fort tremble, and some weak and timid individuals were frightened to the point of urinating their urine.

Nergboye was also frightened and went crazy. Unwilling to accept defeat, he imitated the formation of the soldiers outside and gathered all the soldiers in the main castle at the gate, with those holding shields in front, spearmen attacking from the back, and archers shooting from a distance at the end.

He stood behind everyone, holding a big sword in both hands, and threatened his soldiers that anyone who dared to retreat behind him would be killed with his two-handed sword.

Remembering his former power and the horrific sight of someone being cut in half by his sword just now, the soldiers were so shocked and oppressive that they had no choice but to line up as required and rush into the gate of the inner castle.

After dozens of collisions, with a loud "boom", the ten-centimeter-thick pine door was knocked open.

The strong man who was assigned to lift the battering ram in advance immediately leaned down to avoid the attack when the door was broken, and was hit by a continuous rain of arrows.

After the rain of arrows, the shield soldiers of both sides stood together, the spearmen behind them kept stabbing, and the crossbowmen behind them shot at each other.

For a while, the two sides were at a stalemate and casualties began to occur on both sides.

Aix frowned as he watched the scene. In such a surprise attack, the battle turned out to be such a mess. He had to exchange his own soldiers for the starving people in Nergboye. He felt it was a loss for ten to one. He was hesitating whether to let the soldiers withdraw first. Anyway, the gate had been broken and he could slowly think of a solution.

But at this time, Nergboye spoke. It turned out that when he scored the goal, he saw Aix standing in the C position not far away, and he came up with a vicious plan, but this plan was a bit risky, which made him hesitant.

However, seeing that the shield soldiers outside were relying on their physical strength to squeeze in little by little and were about to break into the main fort, he no longer hesitated and could not help but shout loudly:

"Lord Aix! You see, we are all suffering heavy losses in this fight. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties among the soldiers, do you dare to accept my challenge according to the tradition of the Vigia nobles?"

He shouted these words in a loud voice, causing the battlefield to fall silent for a moment. Aix sneered and wanted to refuse directly, thinking it would be unwise to duel with a dying beast.

But before he could refuse, Nergboye continued:

"Lord Aix, as long as you and I defeat or kill each other, even if the war is won or lost, if you win, all of us in Lelag Castle will surrender and accept your punishment. If I win, your entire army will retreat and it will be as if this fight never happened. Do you dare to accept it, Lord Aix?"

These words touched people's hearts, giving those who were afraid of death an excuse and filling the martial-minded Vigerians with expectations. At the same time, the two sides stopped in a stalemate, which also reflected the life-saving mentality of the front-line soldiers. There was nothing you could do about it, that's human nature.

Even though Aix refused, it only dealt a blow to morale. He was still able to win in the end. However, sacrifice was inevitable, and it would also leave some shadows on the soldiers who fought and bled in front of him.

Just as he was hesitating about what words and excuses to use to turn down this meaningless duel, a slightly childish voice said:

"How dare you be our master's opponent? As long as you can defeat me, we will acknowledge your victory!"