Warhammer Divine Throne

In short, the entire duchy, whether knights or peasants, tightened their belts to endure hard times. The Knight Kingdom, considering Kakasong's situation, granted certain tax relief to the duchy with every generation of Knight King. Additionally, the Lake God Witch Mogiana would often dispatch Holy Grail Knights to patrol the southern border.

Though the Kakasong Duchy also bordered the Aisloron Forest, their relationship with the Wood Elves was quite poor. The knights of Kakasong envied Laine's ability to trade with the Wood Elves and were jealous of the prosperity of the Winford Duchy.

"The entire kingdom is changing; otherwise, we wouldn't have seen three peasants promoted to knights last year. Even though it turned out they were all illegitimate children of nobles, I believe if a peasant can fully demonstrate their loyalty and martial valor, they should have the value for promotion, just like Lord Bertrand!" A young knight carrying a whole crate of black powder said with a smile.

"Mr. Leofric, we are not life winners like you," a knight from the Kakasong Duchy immediately retorted. A ranger knight, about thirty-something, complained: "I know in your Winford Duchy, some peasants eat as well as knights. I just hope I can eat as well as you!"

"It's easy to eat like Leofric; just win the knight tournament's crown!" Paladin Jerald passed by, pushing a dwarf-made cart. Such dwarf-made carts had become popular throughout the Knight Kingdom; they were convenient to use and beautifully crafted.

Leofric-Karal, the champion of the knight tournament following Surya, was a Kingdom Knight from the Winford Duchy, only twenty-five or twenty-six years old at the time. He defeated twenty competing knights in the tournament to win the championship and was richly rewarded by Kingdom Regent Lorne. Lorne promoted him to Kingdom Knight and bestowed upon him a Pure-blooded Elf Warhorse. He not only gained fame but also caught the eye of a noble lady, the young lady Helen of Duke Hubeard of Kakasong, with whom he fell into a passionate romance. It's said they are already preparing to marry.

In Brittania, there aren't many ways for ordinary knights to win a duke's daughter's heart, but winning the knight tournament crown is certainly one of the most effective methods.

With both love and career achievements, Leofric became a life winner like Laine earlier. The consecutive victories of Winford Duchy knights in three knight tournaments (Julius, Surya, and Leofric) further highlighted the duchy's prosperity and strength.

"Sir Jerald!" Leofric-Karal quickly stood up straight to greet him.

"Now's not the time for chatting; make haste! If nothing unexpected happens, the Undead Vanguard will arrive by this evening!" Jerald was pushing a cart stacked with wooden boxes, and nobody knew what was inside those boxes.

"Yes!" the knights responded loudly.

Jerald nodded and forcefully pushed the cart up the city walls.

On the walls, dwarfs and knights worked together to hoist cannons up. Even with the help of knights and their squires, the speed of transporting a large number of cannons to the walls was still slow. Laine, already covered in sweat, exerted all his strength to place one cannon down and said to Jerald: "Good work, Jerald."

"Lord Laine, at this pace, by the time the Undead Vanguard arrives, we'll only manage to mount less than thirty cannons on the walls." Jerald set down the cart and spoke with concern: "If that's the case, once the Undead Vanguard starts the siege, we'll have to halt the transport of cannons, rendering most of them ineffective in this defense."

"They'll be effective." Laine took a towel from the female sorcerer Teresa and wiped his face haphazardly. He looked at the boxes Jerald brought up and smiled: "By then, the walls will be filled with cannons."

"By then?" Jerald glanced at the sky. It was already past three in the afternoon, and by all counts, the Undead Vanguard would arrive before six o'clock.

"They will be filled." Laine signaled Jerald to open the wooden box. When Jerald saw its contents, the Paladin widened his eyes: "This is?!"

"Indeed, I said it would be filled." Laine grinned slyly: "I deliver on my word."

...I am the devious dividing line...

In February at the Sharp-Top Palace, darkness began to descend around five o'clock,

The Vampire Lord of Musillon, Belites, was already leading over nine thousand Undead Army toward Musillon.

His deputy general was the Vampire Lord Har Harris of the von Castain Clan, who, if remembered, was the contact when Laine disguised himself for trade in Musillon. This Vampire Lord was left in Musillon by Manfred, both as his representative and to gather information.

"The fall of Sharp-Top Palace was indeed fraught with oddities; there's no way it should have been taken in just one day." Har Harris rode on an Undead Warhorse and said to Belites: "So I propose we temporarily halt the advance and send a sufficient number of people to scout the environment around Sharp-Top Palace first!"

"No! We must follow Duke Mathew Bade's orders and directly attack Sharp-Top Palace!" Belites refuted Harris's suggestion: "We cannot delay; we must attack before the Southerners complete their defenses!"

The Vampire Lord closed his eyes and scoffed: "Alright, I'll listen to you, but I want you to know, being overly loyal to your master brings no benefit. If you always follow his arrangements, you lose yourself."

"Neither of us is mistaken; merely our goals were different from the start." Finished Har Harris, not repeating the subject: "Tell me, Mathew Bade's lackey, what is your battle plan?"

"We will reach Sharp-Top Palace by half-past five, and I plan to directly select a wall with weaker defenses to attack." Belites ignored Harris's tempting and provocative words.

In some sense, Harris was correct. The von Castain Clan's Vampire Lord indeed had different goals from Belites. Harris wanted to amass his own army and become a power-holding lord, while Belites sought revenge against his half-brother Kaled.

Vampires of the von Castain Clan were like this; they constantly plotted to elevate their status, gaining more power and authority, desiring to dominate the world.

Belites knew that beneath Musillon's now peaceful surface, undercurrents were surging. Due to repeated wars and failed conspiracies, even with assistance from Witch Demon King Akhan, Mathew Bade's rule was not stable. Many Vampire Lords had opinions on his frequent retreats to Musillon, and according to rumors, there seemed to be the von Castain Clan's involvement in stirring matters up…

Watching Harris's bald head and his peculiar expression, Belites seemed to comprehend something.

But now wasn't the time to think about it; unknowingly, they had reached Sharp-Top Palace.

The Brittania Army was already in formation. Human Musketeers, Dwarf Musketeers, and Peasant Archers had gathered atop the walls, ready to meet the enemy.

What shocked the two Vampire Lords was…

So many cannons!

So many Dwarf Cannons!!!

Numerous Dwarf Cannons lined the walls. Just on one wall alone, over fifty cannons were installed! A row of ominous black cannon muzzles faced the Undead Vanguard Army, seemingly heralding their doomed fate!

"Impossible! This is impossible! The Sharp-Top Palace was breached just over a day ago; how did these Southerners get so many cannons onto the walls!" Belites widened his eyes, incredulous: "I don't believe it!"

But reconnaissance results told him the Southerners had completed their defense, with dozens of Dwarf Cannons mounted on each wall!

The disbelieving Vampire Lord attempted an attack just once. Immediately, several cannons on the walls fired, blasting two squads of Belites' kamikaze units into fragments.

"Boom ~ Baby!" Dwarf Engineer Dugen the Ironman laughed heartily atop the wall: "Come on! Undead scum! Your Grandpa Dugen awaits you here!"

"Damn it! We're too late!" Belites roared in fury and frustration: "Retreat! Retreat first! Wait until the Duke arrives with reinforcements; then we'll devise a plan to reclaim this castle!"

"Retreat!!!"