In the oasis of the desert, building a stone castle is an extremely difficult task.
Especially within Koqte's territory, there's no river nearby to transport bricks and stones.
Abdullah sat on horseback, chatting with Losa.
"I know Koqte, he's a cruel and cold opponent nonetheless with immense power. His own forces alone comprise hundreds of elite cavalry. If given enough time, he can gather a vast army of thousands from the tribes and chiefdoms loyal to him."
Losa frowned. This is a powerful lord, even mightier than Baron Godfrey.
If his territory weren't in this barren desert, where not even a castle could be built, he wouldn't have given this lord a single thought.
"But he won't have that time."
Losa's expression was solemn and confident: "We will capture that wooden castle before the enemy reacts, Abdullah, we can do it."
Abdullah touched his shoulder gently, nodding slightly: "I have never doubted that."
Kurdish soldiers collected scattered warhorses, stripped armor from the fallen, and picked intact pieces for use, discarding heavy armors.
In this era, in terms of defense, scale armor is notably inferior to chain armor.
However, in aesthetic, scale armor surpasses the dark chain armor by a huge margin.
Beyond appearance, the major advantage of scale armor is its simple craftsmanship, easy mass production, and maintenance; just remove and replace armor pieces.
It's suitable for forming industrial chains, mass production to equip armies.
This is why the Eastern Empire, the Sassanid Empire, and the Ayyubid Empire, which are countries with vast territories and high centralization, prefer scale armor.
Even today, the Eastern Empire's heavy cavalry still wears scale armor, but beneath it, they wear a chain armor shirt to ensure defense.
Losa and his party changed out of their blood-stained clothes, disguised as a Bedouin tribute team, bringing camels and mounts, hiding weapons under the vehicles.
They proceed slowly toward the wooden castle within the oasis.
...
Kokb's wooden castle stands in the oasis's center, next to a beautiful lake like a bright mirror.
The guards at the gate and walls saw the group from afar, shouting at the convoy to halt.
Abdullah shouted loudly, "We are under Lord Kaimu'er of Uld, bringing tribute to the honorable Governor Kokb."
"Under Lord Kaimu'er?"
The guard approached cautiously: "Isn't it usually Lord Aladdin who escorts tribute? Who are you? Why haven't I seen you before?"
The Kurdish soldiers' bodies were tense, their breaths becoming heavy.
The atmosphere was extremely tense.
The guard sensed something amiss, wanting to say something, when Furinjira rode forward two steps, her crisp voice ringing out:
"Are you sure you haven't seen me?"
"You?"
The guard's expression became somewhat dazed.
Furinjira's eyes flickered with a dark red light, though under the dazzling sun, it wasn't very noticeable.
The guard stopped mid-sentence, seemingly forgetting what he wanted to say.
He mused, "Indeed, I have seen you, you are under Lord Kaimu'er, that's right, open the gate, let our guests from afar enter."
The wooden castle's door opened wide.
Abdullah looked at Losa with some doubt, Losa looked calm and casually said: "Enter the city, this time our tribute includes exquisite porcelain from the Song Empire, loot from when we raided Saladin's caravan, handle them gently, if damaged, Lord Kokb won't forgive you."
Losa's expression remained normal, but the sweat on his temples betrayed his feelings.
Furinjira's charm affects only the weak-minded; like the time with Governor Safudin, it almost had a reverse effect, fortunately, Abdullah handled it wisely.
However, it seems people like Governor Safudin are rare.
The group entered the wooden castle, the guards didn't even demand they lay down arms, just two opened the draped tribute, confirmed and covered it again.
Everything went surprisingly smoothly.
Women, servants inside the castle, curiously observed the group.
Losa examined the guards on the wooden castle's walls, noting their lack of vigilance, and few willing to stand guard under the scorching sun.
He waved his hand, whispered, "Act, eliminate any enemy who picks up weapons."
A servant noticed the group's actions, about to question them loudly.
A flying axe whizzed past Losa's ear, striking into the servant's skull with a clang.
The maid beside him got splashed with blood on her face.
Screams instantly echoed throughout the wooden castle.
Losa picked up a half sword and charged into the wooden castle with the Kurdish soldiers.
The sturdy armor allowed them to ignore most ranged attacks.
Undeniably, this Kurdish cavalry is extremely elite; whether in foot combat or mounted, they match the cavalry composed of twenty knights and their attendants.
Yet, Losa was tempted but had no intention of recruiting them.
Baron Godfrey kindly lent him troops; if he started poaching, what kind of person would he be?
Shouts of battle resounded.
Thick smoke rose from the tower.
Abdullah urged, "We must deal with them quickly, or when Kokb's cavalry reinforcements arrive, we won't have a way to retreat."
Losa kicked an enemy flying in front of him, stomped on him, and thrust the half sword into the enemy's throat.
"I know, Abdullah, you take people to deal with the guards on the walls, I'll find Kokb!"
A servant suddenly leaped from the ground, grabbed Losa's calf, and attempted to pound his leg with a hammer.
Then, his eyes suddenly bulged.
With a pop, his eyeball burst, blood gushing out.
Losa nodded slightly at Furinjira and then led the soldiers into the estate guarded by the Wooden Castle without looking back.
The decoration within the estate was exceptionally exquisite.
Intricate murals on the walls, various exotic realm vessels, furniture, neatly arranged.
The scantily clad exotic maidservants shrieked sharply, fearfully avoiding the blood-soaked, ferocious man before them who seemed to have descended like a killing star.
Losa had no time to admire these and walked straight in.
Crossing a threshold, a fierce gust met him.
The hammer struck Losa's iron helmet, making his head buzz intensely.
Ignoring the dizziness, he raised his shield and charged forward, knocking the person staggering as a Kurdish soldier behind him threw a flying axe, striking the man's brow squarely.
It turned out to be a burly man wielding a hammer, shirtless.
Their attack was so swift that many soldiers in the estate hadn't had time to armor up, at least half of their full combat strength was cut off.
Losa picked up the hammer from the man's hands, as his two-handed sword was difficult to wield in the narrow room, the hammer was more practical.
The group rapidly pressed forward.
The deeper they went in, the quieter it became.
The Wooden Castle was like a small maze; there were far too many places to hide.
At this moment, he gently twitched his nostrils, recognizing the familiar scent akin to the fragrance of hawthorn flowers.
Following the scent, he opened a cabinet door, revealing behind it a naked exotic woman.
"Do you understand Kurdish?"
The exotic woman nodded frantically, her face full of terror.
"Where is Kokb?"
The woman pointed behind Losa, and taking advantage of the moment he turned his head, she pulled out a dagger and aimed it fiercely at his neck.
But just then, as if he foresaw it, Losa stepped back and dodged the dagger while clamping the woman's neck with his iron grip.
Her eyes were filled with reluctance.
Losa frowned: "The performance marks are too obvious, you're not afraid at all, are you a death warrior raised by Kokb?"
The woman did not reply, her face filled with venom.
"Speak, Kokb trained you only to send you to enemy lords in the future for assassination. I killed him, which means you'll be free."
The woman still didn't reply, her expression stubborn and fierce, causing curiosity about what kind of entanglement she had with Kokb.
"But I don't have the time."
Crack.
Losa released his grip on the woman's neck, looked at Furinjira: "She's not wearing clothes, and there's no bathtub or anything in the room. Most likely, she just had intimacy with Kokb. Can you track him?"
Furinjira sniffed and nodded: "Follow me."
They followed Furinjira through the narrow corridor and garden to a quiet chamber at the back of the Wooden Castle.
"Come out, Kokb, your woman betrayed you!"
Losa shouted.
Bang—
The door was pushed open, and a burly man in iron armor lunged out with a ferocious expression on his face.
Losa looked at a Kurdish cavalryman next to him.
He shook his head: "He's not Kokb, let me deal with him."
With that, he drew his weapon and went up.
Losa bypassed the two fighting and exchanged a glance with Furinjira and Prajna. Just as he intended to enter the room, he saw Prajna already stepping inside.
Bang—
The hammer whistled.
Prajna's figure was as steady as a rock, motionless.
Her steps did not falter, like an unstoppable war chariot charging straight ahead.
Bang—
The armored giant was directly knocked over.
Kokb, wielding nail head hammers in both hands, got up and roared: "Who are you, who dare to attack me, the great Kokb! My soldiers will come soon and slaughter you all."
Losa snorted coldly: "Lowly creature, you should have anticipated this day the moment you offended my master Saladin. We are not the dirty assassins of the Assassins, I'm giving you a chance for a fair fight."
Kokb's expression changed, he shouted: "Alright!"
He got into a stance, and Losa waved his hand, whereupon a blood spear formed in Furinjira's hand.
Kokb exclaimed in shock: "Devil, this is the Devil's power, you lied to me, you said you'd give me a fair fight."
Losa smiled: "This is already very fair."
Bang—
The blood spear easily pierced through Kokb's armor, pinning him to the wall behind.
Losa swung his sword and cut off Kokb's head, then walked out of the room without looking back.
He helped the Kurdish cavalryman solve his opponent and loudly ordered: "Immediately tally the loot, we have limited time, only take things that are easy to carry and of high value."
From the room behind, only then came a booming explosion.
Blood splattered.
It was the sound of Furinjira's blood spear exploding.
Losa climbed to the top of the castle wall, holding up Kokb's head, and shouted: "Your lord Kokb is dead, immediately cease resistance, surrender and you will not be killed!"