Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

After Liya left, Si Kai also took his team deep into the Wilderness to gather intelligence.

As the vanguard, their duty was to investigate the movements and strength of the Minotaurs. After resting at High Cliff Castle for a few days, they set out again.

"These are troubled times."

The Lord stood at the highest point of the hill, hands clasped behind his back, gazing out over the Wilderness.

The sky was blanketed in dark clouds and a biting wind blew. The ankle-high ryegrass rippled like waves of wheat, creating a grim, terrifying sight that was almost apocalyptic.

Two days later, a light snow began to fall. Everyone, except for the Lord and the robust Beastman Barbarians, had changed into padded winter clothes to ward off the cold.

To Levi’s surprise, it wasn’t Si Kai returning from the depths of the Wilderness that he greeted, but an army from Bailiu City.

A mounted messenger galloped to about a hundred paces from High Cliff Castle before pulling to a halt. He was clearly an old hand who knew this was the edge of their perimeter; any closer and he would draw a warning from the castle’s defenders.

He flew a banner embroidered with an eagle holding a sword in its beak—the symbol of the Martel Family.

Levi led a party of a few dozen men down the hill. He glanced curiously at the army behind the messenger and asked with easy familiarity, "Knight, which big shot from Bailiu City is leading you this time?"

"My Lord, it’s someone very important, someone you would never expect." The messenger hadn’t expected the Lord of High Cliff Castle, who was spoken of in almost mythical terms back in Bailiu City, to be so unassuming. Emboldened, he decided to be a little coy before stating his purpose. "Duke Fulina has ordered us to station ourselves near High Cliff Castle. She said you would make the arrangements."

"Then I shall wait and see," Levi replied absently, his mind already turning. ’There are many important people in Bailiu City, but very few who would truly surprise me.’ 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Suddenly, a thought struck the Lord like a bolt of lightning. He muttered uncertainly, ’It couldn’t be Fulina herself, could it?’

But then he dismissed the idea. It was too unlikely. Although the Minotaurs’ southern advance seemed like a major event, in truth, Fulina could have easily resolved it by dispatching any one of her Legion Commanders. It was hardly a crisis that required the personal attention of a Duke.

Unable to figure it out, Levi decided to stop thinking about it. ’No matter who this important person is, I’ll meet them soon enough.’

As for the matter of stationing the army from Bailiu City, Fulina had indeed written to him personally about it some time ago.

After all, the area surrounding High Cliff Castle was considered his domain. Even a Duke couldn’t simply march soldiers into another noble’s territory without permission.

Levi had already sent men to clear a tract of wasteland below the hill. While it couldn’t accommodate a hundred thousand soldiers, it could easily house several tens of thousands.

...

An army of over ten thousand can create the illusion of being a boundless sea of men. Although this advancing column didn’t quite have ten thousand, it was close, numbering around eight thousand.

The unsophisticated folk of High Cliff Castle, watching from the hill, were utterly stunned. It was a grand spectacle the likes of which they had never witnessed before.

A vanguard of four heavily armored standard-bearers marched at the head, followed by the vast, sprawling column. Cavalry patrolled the flanks. Following the procession with one’s eyes, it seemed like a boundless line of ants marching to the very edge of the horizon.

Levi even spotted Thunder Lizard Beasts at the rear of the column. These Giant Beasts stood over three Tri-Blades tall at the shoulder, weighed several thousand pounds, and were covered in overlapping scales like plates of armor. A single, exceptionally sharp horn protruded from their heads.

But contrary to their ferocious and terrifying appearance, they were gentle-tempered and purely herbivores. Though slow-moving, they possessed incredible stamina and immense Power.

They were typically used by armies as Servant Beasts to haul heavy supplies and equipment.

But even knowing this, the tremors caused by their pillar-like hooves striking the earth were still heart-stopping.

Levi couldn’t begin to imagine the scene. ’What would it be like if a thousand Thunder Lizard Beasts charged all at once?’

Excluding the accompanying logistics personnel and Auxiliary Soldiers, the number of true combat soldiers was likely around six thousand.

This was the standard legion structure in Debei. A small legion at full strength comprised 6,000 men, divided into 12 cohorts. The first cohort had 720 men, while the other eleven each had 480. A squad consisted of 80 men.

The first cohort was typically the cavalry unit, which was why it was larger.

One look at this legion was enough to tell they weren’t some ragtag militia of hastily conscripted peasants. They were, at the very least, a standing army of professional soldiers who trained full-time. Otherwise, they could never march in such disciplined silence, the air filled only with the uniform tread of their boots and the metallic clang of their Armor.

At a wave of the messenger’s flag, the column soon came to a halt fifty paces from the waiting Lord.

The ranks parted naturally to form a path, and a Silver Armored Knight with a slightly slimmer build than the other Knights rode forward on a Magical Beast Levi had never seen before.

Levi narrowed his eyes, studying the knight carefully.

The Silver Armored Knight’s Plate Armor was engraved with exceptionally intricate patterns. Cat’s-eye-sized gems were embedded in the chest plate and the backs of the gauntlets. Setting aside its defensive qualities for a moment, the price alone was clearly astronomical, far beyond what the Lord could imagine.

The Knight sat astride a magnificent mount that resembled a deer, yet was clearly not one.

The mount had a lean, powerful build with a flowing blue coat, contrasted by a chest of snow-white fur. Its head was fox-like, yet crowned with a pair of antlers, and its eyes sparkled with unusual intelligence.

’This is definitely a Magical Beast of high Intelligence!’