Chapter 641: The war between the duchies

After Noah left for the pocket dimension with Yasmine, the Winston family soldiers consisting of five hundred men began their march towards the assigned battlefield. Since a large-scale battle between cultivators would destroy the surroundings to nothing, the Guardian Guild assigned a specific battlefield and surrounded the field with various arrays to safeguard the villages nearby. Because none of the parties at war agreed to a peace talk, the guardian guild had no choice but to oversee the war. Of course, the guardian guild could have stopped the war if they tried. However, their priority was to restore their damaged reputation. Ever since the royal news wrote an article about how the guardian guild knew about the vampires and hid it from the public, the guild had lost its reputation. As a result, many noble families withdrew from funding or decreased the amount given to the guild. Thus, the guardian guild prioritized fixing its reputation to sway the guild from the path to bankruptcy.

Leaving the Winston compound, Xavier and Ethan led the men under their command to the Akar grass field. It was located between the border of Flamefair and Pentown. They wanted to save every bit of arch energy in their body. Hence, they chose to march instead of fly to the grass field. Despite the long march, Ethan and Xavier did not camp out in the forest. They both knew about Avon and his underhanded tactics. It wouldn't be a surprise if they were ambushed in the forest. Thus, Ethan and Xavier passed the forest as fast as possible without any rest. When they were getting closer to the grass field, they ordered the men to take half a sip of healing potions. The men were thankful to the commanders once they consumed some healing potion. They immediately felt refreshed and rejuvenated. Soon, the refreshing feeling turned to courage and courage turned blood lust.

Once they passed the forest, they arrived at a clearing, the Akar grass field. When they arrived, two men, one riding a white horse and another riding a red horse galloped toward Ethan and Xavier.

The man atop the shiny white horse was Duke Marvin. He was a blond-haired man with a thick bushy beard. His golden spear dangled on his back as he welcomed Xavier and Ethan with a tired smile. The man riding next to Duke Marvin was Duke Alverin, the duke of Ice Fair. Among the four dukes, Alverin was the only nonhuman. He was born to an elven woman and a human father. After his mother died, Alverin received the duke title from his father who departed to the cold mountain to seclude himself. As a half-elf, Alverin had slightly pointed ears and smooth silky skin with a perfect jaw structure. He was neither too muscular nor too thin.

Initially, when the previous duke of Ice fair named a half-elf as his heir, many nobles caused a ruckus. Regardless of Alverin's claim to the title, the nobles did not want to be ruled by a half-elf. Instead, they wanted the duke to choose someone else, a human. Yet, the duke chose Alvering against the nobles. Everyone including the King of Kethen, Porter Forbes thought the duchy was deemed to fall into a civil war. But to everyone's surprise, Alverin used his mother's side of the family to bring millions of gold coins to the Ice Fair. Within a year, he built more guilds, shops, and businesses than all of his predecessors combined. Under Alverin, Ice Fair became a superpower among the four duchies. While Flamefair and Pentown were in the cold war, Ice Fair made money off of it.

Soon, those who opposed Alverin changed their mindsets. More gold coins into the pocket triumphed over their hate for the half-elf. One by one, every noble family in the Ice Fair flourished under Alverin's rule. After winning the nobles' support, Alverin immediately turned his focus to the citizens of his duchy. Under Alverin's father's rule, Ice Fair suffered famine due to a lack of fertile lands in Ice Fair. As the duchy's name, Ice Fair had more snowy plains than fertile lands. That changed soon when Alverin requested the empress of Awor's help. Once again, Alverin used his mother's influence and his diplomatic talents to sway the empress into helping Ice Fair. With the help of the empress, a special unit of elves arrived from Awor, cultivating the snow plains into fertile lands. Additionally, the empress and Alverin signed a treaty that brought Ice Fair a large amount of grains every year. All it took was Alverin's word to marry one of the empress's relatives when the right time came.

"Duke Alverin," Xavier was surprised to see Duke Alverin on the battlefield. Alverin was a diplomat, not a warrior, at least none had seen him battle before. So when Xavier saw Duke Alverin himself on the battlefield, he was surprised.

"Commander Xavier, Lord Ethan," Duke Alverin gently smiled at the both.

"Before you say anything, I am just here to oversee the battle, not to participate in it," Alverin said. His words were calm, composed, and contained a hint of authority.

"I have brought you five hundred archers from my personal army as I promised, Commander Xavier," Xavier turned his head to the side and saw five hundred archers clad in silver leather armor. They stood behind Duke Marvin's iron-armed soldiers on the frontlines. Duke Marvin's men were divided into two platoons. One platoon consists of warriors wearing crimson-red armor. They were armed to the teeth and each held a long golden spear. The second platoon stood between the archers and the iron-armored soldiers. Instead of armor, they were in their robes. These platoons contained cultivators who specialized in long-ranged and supporting spells such as defense barriers, and healing spells.

In total, the Ice Fair and Pen town soldiers formed an army of sixteen hundred thousand.

Boom!

As they were speaking, the sound of a horn reverberated through the grass field. They all turned their gazes in the horn's direction. On the horizon, a large army slowly marched toward them. The army of Duke Avon finally arrived at the Akar grass field. The front-line soldiers, almost six hundred knights clad in shining plate armor, halted a good distance away from Ice Fair and Pen town's army. They were near enough to see their enemies but far enough to evade arrows.

The archers of Duke Alverin quickly nocked and aimed their arrows at the newly arrived army.

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"Commander Xavier," Alicia descended from the sky after scouting the area ahead. She was in her battle suit, armed to the teeth. Except for her head, metal armor covered every part of her body. Her sword dangled on her waist while she held a golden spear, just like her comrades in her hand.

Although Xavier was Alicia's grandfather, on the battlefield, he was her commander. Hence, Alicia bowed her head and addressed him as Commander.

"Our enemies have sixteen hundred soldiers. Six hundred knights, five hundred archers, and five hundred mages," reported Alicia.

"Any idea how strong they are? How many Core Formation stage warriors? Are there any Soul Refiners?" asked Xavier.

"No, Commander. Duke Avon has some mages who cast a shield around them. It prevents any means to see their cultivation levels," said Alicia. Ever since the Hydra woke up from its slumber, it had been preventing the cultivators from seeing others' cultivation stage. It was a double-edged sword, especially for the soldiers on the battlefield. They wouldn't be able to gauge how strong or weak their enemies were. If they were lucky, they could end up fighting a weaker opponent. If there were not, then, most probably they would die.

"This all ends here today," Ethan exclaimed. He was sick of losing his soldiers to Avon's underhanded tactics. His eyes gleamed with battle lust. When Harriet was at his cultivation stage, Ethan fought head-to-head with her. Before becoming the Lord of Winston family, Ethan was the only man who came close to defeating Harriet Hunt in close combat. Even to this day, many adventurers in Awor sing about the black hawk, Ethan's adventurer guild name.

"Return to your regiment," Xavier ordered Alicia with a pat on her shoulder. An affectionate smile rose on his face. With a nod, Alicia joined the front line. Seeing his granddaughter joining the knights, Xavier sighed inside. He wished Peter was with Alicia on the battlefield. After all, no one would have one's back like family. It was really unfortunate that Peter walked a dark path and ended up being house arrested. But again, Xavier always sensed something amiss in Peter ever since Peter was a little boy. He valued power over everything, even family had become second to Peter.

The army of Duke Avon station in the distance, watching their enemies. For a few minutes, only silence haunted the battlefield. Eventually, Xavier and Ethan rode their horses, leading their men to the front. Meanwhile, Duke Alverin and Duke Marvin went to the back, far enough to avoid the enemy archers. Xavier turned behind to look at his men. Their eyes told him they fear no one and they would charge forward with a single command.

His men were strong but there was no need to purposefully put themselves at a disadvantage by charging head-on toward their enemy. Xavier wanted to study their enemies a bit more before giving any command. Anyone who knew Avon could tell he wouldn't come to the battlefield without having several trump cards. It took Xavier decades to train his men. He did not want them to die a pointless death. Since Xavier had seniority, Ethan stayed behind, waiting for Xxavier's command. After some thinking, Xavier decided not to charge in recklessly. However, that didn't mean he would stand here like a sitting duck.

"Bring out the beast!" Xavier issued an order as several knights dismounted their horses and started assembling a portable weapon made of iron. It resembled a hybrid of a ballista and a cannon,

The long hollow tube was as long as two carriages combined. After several minutes, the knights finished assembling the weapon and pointed it at the army of Duke Avon. Xavier moved a bit closer to Duke Avon's army. He then used a sliver of arch energy to amplify his voice.

"Duke Avon, come out!" Xavier's roar was loud enough, even without amplifying his voice. But with his arch energy amplifying his voice, his words reverberated the entire grass field.

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