Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

The lord had barely warmed his seat back at the camp when he had to summon everyone to the inner castle for a meeting.

After a moment's thought, Li Wei decided to bring Mil, Zart, and Layton, while the other Highcliff Keep leaders would stay behind at the camp.

He led the New Southern Territory group towards the inner castle.

Along the way, they occasionally encountered patrolling soldiers wandering the streets to maintain order.

"Liya, where's Fartier?"

Bored during the journey, Li Wei had to find something to pass the time.

The Church's Holy Maiden wasn't under his command, as she was assisting him in a personal capacity, making them equals. The lord usually didn't inquire about her whereabouts, only seeking her out when needed.

He had been about to ask the Holy Maiden to come to the meeting to support Highcliff Keep, but he found the bedroom empty.

"She arrived long ago. We're probably the last ones," Liya sniffled, her delicate nose slightly red.

The past winter glory was gone, but only during the day. The extreme temperature difference made the nights still bitterly cold.

Just then, a gray wolf fur cloak was draped over her, making Liya feel much better. She thanked Li Wei, looking at him in only leather armor: "Thank you, Li Wei."

The lord waved his hand, only saying worriedly, "I wonder what those griffin knights are up to. If it affects Fulina's decision, then..."

He didn't finish, but everyone present knew what he meant. Meng Weite shook his head first. The Earl of Wolf Island gave his opinion: "Even if those griffin knights bring the king's decree to persuade us to stop the war, they couldn't persuade us back then, let alone now, when both sides have invested a lot of manpower and resources."

"This is no longer an established fact that can be changed with just a few words."

Li Wei also knew that he was worrying unnecessarily. Now that Fulina had lost nearly half of her spellcasters and a small legion, even if the king himself came, he couldn't stop the war. Both sides would have to fight to a conclusion.

The group chatted idly, passed through the inner castle gate, and turned several bluestone-paved roads. When they reached the entrance of the castle's main building, they found someone waiting there.

"Welcome, everyone," Earl An Tao greeted them with a smile. "I am ordered to escort you to the meeting."

Li Wei didn't respond, only glancing at the figures behind An Tao.

It was Marquis Kloss and the Earl named Siss, who had been thrown into the water prison during the day.

"Hehe, our 'friends' arrived before you," An Tao chuckled meaningfully, emphasizing the word 'friends'.

Then he called out, "Let's go. You're the only ones missing."

The two groups mixed together and walked towards the castle hall.

"We meet again," Marquis Kloss took the initiative to start a conversation with the lord. "The hero of the Northern Territory, don't you find it strange to meet here?"

"Yes, I thought you were dead," the lord glanced at the little old man and replied casually.

"To be honest, I also thought I would never see the sun again and would end my life in a dark and damp water prison," Kloss didn't mind the Lion Hunter Knight's impatience, looking at the flickering candlelight on both sides of the passage. "It seems the arrival of these griffin knights is not without its use."

His appearance clearly indicated that he already knew something and was deliberately arousing someone's curiosity.

But the lord didn't want to play along, turning a deaf ear and quickening his pace to stay by Liya's side.

He hadn't forgotten teasing the old man during the day, and now he was clearly holding a grudge and wanted to get back at him.

A team of silver-armored halberd guards stood at the entrance of the hall. They were burly, but insignificant compared to the door, which was more than four spans tall.

With a creak, the door slowly opened, and the group stepped into the hall.

The next moment, their vision suddenly widened.

Bright light shone from the hundreds of unknown gems in the huge chandelier in the middle of the hall, illuminating the entire castle hall as bright as day.

The floor was covered with thick woolen carpets, making it feel like walking on clouds.

Chairs were placed on both sides, mostly occupied, filled with Northern Territory nobles, with no officers or the like.

Clearly, this meeting was of a high level, with only nobles allowed to sit.

The four exquisite long chairs at the front were already occupied by two people, Fulina in the middle and Fartier, who had arrived earlier, on the right.

She had changed into her original holy light robe, wearing a gilded bishop's hat and holding a delicate staff, looking holy and noble.

After a moment's thought, the group headed towards the empty seats on the right, but Fulina stopped them halfway, beckoning: "Liya, come sit next to me. This seat was reserved for you."

"Yes, Aunt," Liya nodded, then looked at Li Wei: "Li Wei, come with me."

The lord, who was about to sit down, had to get up again, then told Layton, "Keep an eye on these two, lest they make a fool of themselves and embarrass me."

The lord's words were not concealed, instantly making Zart and Mil, who had never seen such a scene and were excitedly whispering, look aggrieved.

Clearly, Sam was the one who liked to embarrass Highcliff Keep the most, but somehow it had become them.

Logically, Mil and the others were not qualified to sit, at most guarding by the side like other knights, but no one would nitpick when he had just conquered Blackrock Fortress and captured the enemy leader, the Lion Hunter Knight.

As Liya sat down, the lord, wearing exquisite leather armor and delicate deerskin hunting boots, stood guard beside her with a hand on the sword at his waist.

This scene was like the Sword Saint of Dawn, St. Des, guarding Empress Cersei Wei centuries ago, facing many ministers.

When everyone had finally arrived, a burly man in heavy gilded plate armor and a red cloak came to the center of the hall.

He had short blond hair, a resolute face, but a smile that made people feel like they were in a spring breeze, seemingly exuding a convincing aura at all times.

"I know that some of you here don't see eye to eye and have even shed countless lives and blood for it."

His voice was deep and serious, and after looking around, he continued:

"The king's order is to ask you to stop the war, but I have no intention of forcing it, because I know that this will only provoke your anger and be useless."

"So you're asking us to let bygones be bygones and live in harmony and love for the rest of our lives?"

Fulina spoke, her tone full of sarcasm.

But the lord noticed that she used honorifics to address the burly middle-aged man in the center of the hall, who was more than two and a half spans tall.

But before Li Wei could guess his identity, Fulina's next words gave him the answer.

"Even if you were my former teacher, you can't stop me from rescuing my sister and taking back what belongs to my sister's daughter."

"Fulina, I have no intention of stopping this war, because I know it's an irreconcilable conflict." The man's face showed a hint of helplessness.

"Then why are you here?" Fulina continued to press.

"This meeting is not for harmonious coexistence." Lance Lott first emphasized this point before continuing: "But for the sake of the entire Deber!"

"We are now facing the same threat."

"If you're talking about the lizardmen of the Southern White Bone Fortress, then you can go back to the Cloud Tower and retire," Fulina said. "After solving the problem of my sister, I will lead troops south to solve these beastmen."

"It's much more serious than that, Fulina," Lance Lott sighed. "This is a force that does not accept negotiations, with an army that devours all flesh and souls."

"Do you know why Damon hasn't appeared here yet?"

"Because he is fighting fiercely with this army at the White Bone Fortress, and is now at a disadvantage, even retreating steadily, which is why he sent a letter of request for help to the royal court."

He walked closer, looking at this former swordsmanship disciple: "You should know how arrogant Damon, this wandering knight, is. If the situation was not so critical that it was unimaginable, he would not ask outsiders for help."

"He said in the letter—if the White Bone Fortress falls, the other side can make it impossible to find a living thing in the Southern Territory in half a month, and then it will completely become a difficult evil to eradicate."

Fulina frowned. She naturally knew a lot about this younger brother of the Southern Duke, and knew that Lance Lott was not exaggerating.

But it was obviously impossible to convince her with just a few words. She turned her gaze to Kloss below.

"So this is the solution you Southerners came up with? Find a lobbyist, let us stop the war, and then wait for everything to be handled before turning back to defend the city?"

"Madam Fulina, no words in the world can erase the contradictions between the two sides, but I can prove that Lord Lance Lott is not a lobbyist I invited," Kloss stood up from his chair and came to the middle of the hall: "In fact, since you went south, Damon, who had already completed his deployment in Blackrock Fortress, had to transfer the main force south again because of a raven from the White Bone Fortress."

"To this day, we have only received news from the other side through the transmission magic stone."

"And the content of the message is simply chilling!"

"So Madam Fulina, if you are willing to stop the war, we are willing to release Madam O'Naya as a sign of sincerity." Marquis Kloss sniffed. As he got older, his physical strength gradually declined, and he had spent half a day in the cold water prison, inevitably suffering from cold sickness.

"How is my mother doing?" Liya couldn't help but ask.

"Please don't worry, apart from restricting her freedom, Madam O'Naya still lives in her former residence, and there are dedicated servants to serve her every day," Marquis Kloss glanced at the Lion Hunter Knight next to the girl before speaking.

This also made Liya relieved.

Then Kloss continued.

"Perhaps you will think that we are using Madam O'Naya as a threat, or even scold me as a despicable villain, but if it is for the sake of stopping the war, then I will be that despicable villain."

"I will not evade whatever comes next, whether it is a military court or something else."

At this moment, he had none of the appearance of the famous general Kloss, but rather like a humble and pleading old man.

The real reason for Marquis Kloss's actions stemmed from the conversation before sunset.

Lance Lott, as the commander of the Griffin Knights, met with him alone, and the content of the conversation over a cup of tea made the old general, who had experienced countless battles, shudder.

Both knew that neither side alone could convince Fulina, so they had communicated in advance.

Fortunately, Lance Lott, as the commander of the Griffin Knights and Fulina's former teacher, was not prevented from entering the water prison, allowing the two to meet.

"Fulina, I have something to show you. Once you see it, you will understand everything." Lance Lott came to the last empty seat in the main seat, then clapped his hands: "Bring it up."

Clatter clatter ~

With a series of crisp collision sounds, everyone focused their attention on the entrance of the hall.

A griffin knight, only slightly smaller than Lance Lott, was slowly walking in, carrying a heavy iron box on his back.

The sound of chains and boxes colliding came from inside.

He came to a position seven or eight spans away from Fulina and the others, took a deep breath, and slowly put down the box, then began to pull out three thick cotter pins.

Then he came to the back of the box with a wary expression, first grabbed a chain, and then kicked it hard!

Roar!

A piercing roar instantly resounded throughout the castle hall, and a blood-colored figure crawled out of the box and rushed madly towards Liya.

This frightened Liya, making her face turn pale. Just as she was at a loss, a tall figure stood in front of her.

"Damn, what undead thing?"

The lord cursed and kicked it back.

Afraid of kicking it to pieces, he didn't dare to use force.

All this happened too fast. By the time everyone reacted, the blood-colored figure had slammed into the griffin knight again, and the abundant force wrapped the two of them and fell to the ground, rolling into a ball.

The figure instantly changed its target and began to attack the griffin knight on the ground.

"So hungry, meat! Meat! I want to eat meat!"

The other party also roared in a crazy common language.

Although it still sounded a bit awkward, everyone present could understand.

The griffin knight was frightened and flustered, wrestling with the other party. Finally, Earl Meng Weite couldn't stand it anymore, stepped forward and kicked it away again. Only then did the griffin knight on the ground manage to get up and quickly control the figure under him.

Only then could everyone clearly see.

The creature struggling on the ground, baring its teeth, had dark red skin, just like a skinned person, with thick red horns like bull horns on both sides of its temples, a face like a demon, and ferocious fangs.

Both its palms and soles were sharp claws, and it had a slender tail behind it.

It was about one and a half spans tall, thin, but the griffin knight, who was about two spans tall and burly, clearly used all his strength to hold it down, and his forehead was already sweating.

"It's a demon!" Layton exclaimed first, attracting everyone's attention.