The troops began to advance towards the village.
The Plainsmen soldiers crossed the fortifications, their faces filled with excitement.
Arthur couldn't help but shake his head; these Plainsmen soldiers thought the same as Hakon before them.
They believed an assault on the Burning Men Tribe savages should have been launched long ago.
It was as if they truly thought they could just walk in, take the money, and get rich.
Arthur didn't know if this was good or bad, but if the strategic situation wasn't so critical.
He might have used a turtle strategy for half a month until the savages fell ill and collapsed.
Arthur walked between the two phalanxes, watching Lucien and Hakon closely follow beside him.
He was very displeased: "Lucien! Hakon!"
"What are you two doing!"
The two seemed not to understand Arthur's meaning, drawing even closer, one on his left, one on his right, vigilantly guarding him.
"What are you doing!" Arthur frowned. "Get back to your squads! Stand with your Plainsmen soldiers! Walk in the front few rows of your squads!"
"At a time like this! You are not my guards! You are officers of my army!
"The Plainsmen soldiers need to see their officers by their side! Understand!"
Lucien did not speak, giving Arthur a heavy look. After saluting, he still turned and walked towards a squad he was responsible for.
Hakon also had no choice but to salute Arthur and follow, reorganizing the other squad.
In the era of cold weapons, the most important thing was that Plainsmen soldiers must be able to see their officers.
They needed to hear their officers' voices and know that their officers were living and dying with them.
The squad's advance was very slow, each step taken cautiously.
The air in the village was filled with a nauseating smell of charcoal and decaying corpses.
The Plainsmen soldiers seemed to finally break free from that excited, dreamlike state, gripping their weapons tightly.
Along the way, all they saw were broken walls and ruined buildings.
Charred wooden beams, collapsed earthen walls, and scattered rubble lay everywhere.
More than a dozen villagers' corpses, so rotted that it was impossible to distinguish if they were men or women, lay mutilated on the ground.
A profound silence hung in the air, broken only by the buzzing of flies circling their bodies.
"Stay alert!" "Hold your weapons tight!" Lucien whispered, his phalanx leading the way.
Although he himself felt this reminder was somewhat redundant.
In such an environment, even the dullest person would have their nerves stretched taut.
The further they walked towards the center of the village, the more severe the signs of destruction became.
Broken walls and ruined buildings, scorched by flames, were everywhere.
Clearly, the Burning Men Tribe savages of the High Mountain Clan had carried out a thorough plunder and massacre here.
This village had been completely destroyed.
Just as they were about to approach the relatively intact farmstead in the deepest part of the village.
A sudden change occurred!
"Ah—!" A shrill scream came from the front of the squad.
A Plainsmen soldier walking at the very front stumbled and fell, a throwing axe lodged in his head.
Lucien, standing at the very front, reacted quickly.
He roared loudly, "Enemy attack!" "Hold the line!"
Immediately after, more wooden javelins were thrown from behind the broken walls of the farmstead, causing a moment of confusion in the front ranks of the squad, despite their limited lethality.
Arthur could sense the weakness of the Burning Men Tribe savages inside; otherwise, their response would not have been like this.
He quickly ordered: "Hakon's squad, do not move!"
Then he drew his Mil longsword, its blade flashing with a momentary silver-cold gleam in the surrounding environment.
"Lucien! Lead your squad! Charge in! Kill them!
Lucien faithfully carried out Master Arthur's command, even if it meant facing a mountain of blades and a sea of fire.
He said not a single word, only a terse "Follow me!"
He drew his longsword and charged in first.
His Plainsmen soldiers, seeing Lucien's bravery, quickly followed.
They charged into the granary!
Arthur was somewhat surprised by the fighting strength of the Burning Men Tribe savages.
The clash of blades and swords echoed from within the granary, accompanied by the furious roars of the Burning Men Tribe savages and the battle cries of Arthur's Plainsmen soldiers.
He saw the savages inside, many of whom were clearly already extremely weak.
Their wounds showed a sickly color due to infection, and some even had festering, foul-smelling wounds that had worsened.
This meant that every movement could bring them excruciating pain.
Normally, they should have already lost their fighting capacity, awaiting capture or death.
Arthur somewhat regretted that he wasn't steady enough.
Arthur looked at Hakon, pointing his finger in a direction.
Hakon didn't know what he meant, but he resolutely carried out Master Arthur's order, quickly lining up his men to face the direction Arthur was pointing.
Seven people were ambushed in a ruin on the flank, not to escape, but to kill him.
They would use their savage companions in the granary to attract most of the attention, and then a elite squad would seize the opportunity to behead him, the commander of this Plainsmen army!
Then, they would gloriously die in battle alongside their clansmen!
Arthur sneered inwardly.
Clearly, these seven savages responsible for the surprise attack had not anticipated one situation at all.
That was his five senses, far exceeding those of ordinary people, had taken in all the unusual movements in the village from the very beginning.
Seeing that they had been discovered, Negos Son Walker and the seven warriors directly flung aside the broken walls they used for concealment.
They had never prepared to escape; they would not escape. They would return to the High Mountain with the souls of their clansmen.
"Negos Son Walker will not hide! Negos Son Walker will not flee!"
"We are the wolves of High Mountain!"
"Clansmen! Kill that Plainsmen!"
They no longer feared death; they only wanted to drag Arthur, who had tormented their clansmen, into hell with them.
Filled with endless anger and hatred!
Like arrows released from a bowstring, they charged quickly!
Their goal was singular and exceptionally clear—it was Arthur!
However, what Negos Son Walker had never anticipated was that as he, wielding his battle axe, charged ferociously towards Arthur.
What awaited them was not fear, but the figures of Plainsmen warriors surging forward like a tide, their eyes shining with an unprecedented fervor and desire!
Like hounds pursuing prey, like sharks smelling blood, they stared at him intensely!
Negos Son Walker charged at the very front, swinging his terrifying battle axe, cutting down one Plainsmen soldier and forcing another back.
But a deep confusion and strangeness welled up in his heart; why were these Plainsmen different from the Plainsmen he had encountered before?
Why were they completely fearless, not even afraid of death?
Who exactly were these Plainsmen?
What he didn't know was that on him, on his body, hung a sky-high bounty, enough to change the fate of any low-ranking Plainsmen soldier.
In the eyes of these Plainsmen, he was no longer a terrifying enemy, but a walking, enormous fortune that could change their destiny!
These Plainsmen soldiers didn't care about the enemy's strength at all; they only saw a moving beauty, a mountain of gold, a life completely different from their past!
The thoughts in the Plainsmen soldiers' hearts were only one! And only one!
"Kill him! Get his body!"
"Kill him! Get his body!"
"Kill him! Get his body!"