"What makes you think I can't be your match? I once fought your brother Roger in a duel and only lost after a long and grueling battle. But now, I'm not who I used to be!"
Hearing Fogen's words, Julius's anger suddenly dissipated. He realized he had let his emotions get the better of him. From just looking at Fogen's subordinates, like the Phoenix Guard member Fernando Pirazzo standing behind him and the Arabian gold mage sitting on his left with his eyes closed, holding a jar and with a golden scimitar at his waist, Julius understood they were both powerful Saints. It was clear that Fogen himself was not only a Saint but perhaps one of the best among them.
Julius knew he'd been impulsive. Remembering the teachings of the Lady, he couldn't help but feel a sense of shame. As the legitimate son of Duke François, this kind of behavior wasn't appropriate for him. It could only be said that he had lost his composure. After all, as a devout follower of the Lady of the Lake, Julius couldn't tolerate Fogen's apparent disregard for the goddess's oracle.
"Roger...?" Fogen sneered. "Is it fun to bully someone who was disabled?"
"Disabled?" Julius was stunned.
"Roger was severely injured at that time, barely recovered, with only half of his peak strength," Fogen explained, shaking his head. "And besides, Roger is not a warrior by nature; he's more of a sorcerer. His strength was greatly diminished after his injury, and due to the intense suppression from the Great Vortex and the Grand Protector, he didn't dare use magic against you because he couldn't control his power. He was afraid of accidentally hurting you. And yet, even in close combat, you couldn't defeat a sorcerer. Do you really think you can defeat me?"
"…I won't withdraw my challenge." Julius thought carefully and then made up his mind. His dignity and pride wouldn't allow him to regret it. Even if it meant death, he wouldn't give up the duel!
"To challenge me, you need to at least be on par with your father," Fogen smiled, giving Julius an out. "For now, you need time to grow. If you rashly challenge me now, it will only destroy all your confidence, without any gain. Let's put this duel on hold for now."
At least as strong as his father? Julius fell silent.
"Strive to become a Grail Knight. If one day you can prove yourself, I will give you a chance," Fogen said gracefully. "Since you're willing to help us, I have a task for you now. In my stables, there are two purebred Elven warhorses, a male and a female. Could you help me with their breeding?"
Julius's face turned from pale to red to black. Remembering the teachings and oracles of the Lady of the Lake, he eventually nodded in understanding, then got up and left the hall under the guidance of a servant.
As Julius walked out, Fogen closed his eyes. "He's still a child."
"He's too confident, confident to the point of arrogance. He probably thinks that with his martial prowess, there's no problem in the world he can't solve. On his Grail quest, he must have resolved everything with his sword," remarked Karim, the Arabian gold mage, gently stroking his beard. He was nearly two hundred years old.
"Such people only meet two kinds of endings," added Felix, the winged hussar general.
"But no matter what, he's my brother-in-law, the brother of Ryan's wife, Sulia," Fogen nodded slightly, gazing at the doorway. "So, I feel it's necessary to pass on some life experience to this young man."
"Grail Knights don't seem as invincible as the legends say," commented Fernando Pirazzo, the vice-captain of the Ash Legion.
This mercenary leader had decided to swear loyalty to Fogen after being impressed by his charisma and was selected by Fogen to join the Phoenix Guard after the Battle of Croco. Fogen had obtained fifteen Emperor's Children gene-seeds from Croco and selected fifty veteran Ash Legion soldiers for testing. Through a process involving gene symbiosis in a lizardman hatchery purified by the Emperor's supreme power, eleven soldiers survived and became Fogen's descendants, forming the Phoenix Guard as his personal bodyguards.
Fernando Pirazzo was one of them, and with the power of the gene-seed, he had broken through the barriers of legend to enter the realm of Saints.
"The King of Araby, Jafar, thought the same way you do," Karim said calmly. "That's why his head is now missing, reportedly gilded and stored in the treasury of the capital of Bretonnia."
Fernando was momentarily speechless at this, and as he was about to defend himself, Fogen spoke. "Fernando, you've just entered the Saint realm, and your foundation isn't stable yet. You haven't seen Julius's father. That Grail Knight is incredibly powerful, far stronger than you. Even I wouldn't be able to defeat him in a few moves. Don't underestimate your opponents or let your guard down."
"Yes, Legion Commander," Fernando immediately bowed his head in acknowledgment.
"The true strength of a Grail Knight can only be understood after facing them in combat. Normally, a swordsman or scimitar wielder has one or two moves that are their finishing techniques, which can determine the outcome of a battle in a short time but at great expense to their energy and stamina," Karim continued, stroking his beard. "But if you duel with a Grail Knight, you'll find that every move they make is a finishing technique. What's worse is that these beasts hardly ever seem to tire."
"I've been used," Fogen chuckled, having figured out the situation after some brief thought.
"Used?" Felix frowned immediately, seeming to realize something.
"The Lady of the Lake had a good intention in sending Ryan's brother-in-law to me," Fogen nodded slightly, thinking it over. "From what I can gather, the Lady's intention was for Julius to receive training and leadership experience under me. He was already on a quest, and undergoing trials and challenges in this manner would bring him closer to the Grail. As for his arrogance, I don't think it was the Lady's intent; rather, Julius likely interpreted and extended the goddess's oracle to believe he was here to be a second-in-command, not just a regular soldier."
"Wouldn't the Lady of the Lake understand that this serious, arrogant, and self-righteous knight would cause trouble? If he weren't Sulia's brother, we certainly wouldn't tolerate such rudeness," Fernando added.
"That's why she chose me. The Lady of the Lake understands perfectly, far too well," Fogen said with a cold smile, holding his cup of hot cocoa. "How could a deity not understand her own follower? I suspect she did this deliberately. A brief and vague oracle gave Julius the illusion that he was here to do us a favor, leading to a clash with me. The Lady knew that Julius's arrogance would ultimately lead to a harsh lesson, maybe even a severe one, so in a way, I've been used."
"If that's the case, it makes sense. The Lady of the Lake wants to use you to temper this knight's arrogance, or else this flaw in his character might prevent him from ever touching the Grail," Karim and Felix both understood.
"But it's fine. After all, Julius is my sister-in-law's brother," Fogen concluded after piecing together the situation. "As a relative, it's necessary to give him a hand. He's an excellent knight, and with a bit of cultivation, it will benefit us, everyone else, and even Bretonnia."
"Felix!"
"Yes!"
"Have Julius serve as a stable boy for a week!"
"Understood!"
The meeting in the hall continued when a member of the Phoenix Guard entered. After undergoing the gene symbiosis process, this Phoenix Guard member had grown from 5'7" to 6'3". He saluted and reported, "Legion Commander, the lizardmen have sent a messenger."
"A messenger? From Hexoatl or Itza?" Fogen asked, shifting his focus from Julius.
"From Itza," the guard replied. "The Empire's vanguard was completely annihilated by Gor-Rok and his lizardman army at the Temple of Tzlan. The lizardmen have now surrounded the Empire's forward outpost on the coast. The Itza forces ask whether you intend to take in these warm-blooded... human troops. If not, they will commence the final assault immediately."
"How many of the Empire's forces remain?" Fogen's expression darkened slightly upon hearing that the vanguard had been wiped out. But knowing that humans only learn through pain, he shook his head in resignation.
"The two thousand soldiers of the vanguard have been completely wiped out. Fewer than five thousand Empire troops remain at the outpost," the guard continued.
"Alas, I did send a warning," Fogen said with a sigh. After a brief pause, he decided, "We need them, of course. You can never have too many people, especially well-trained Imperial troops. With a little reorganization, they can be a powerful force, which will be useful for our upcoming plans."
"Tell the messenger we'll take them all."
"Understood!"
...
Meanwhile, on the coast of Lustria, the Empire's forward outpost had fallen into despair.
Since leading a vanguard of two thousand men into the forest, Hunter General Eric von Schöngerl had mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
At first, the Empire's expeditionary force thought there was just some delay and didn't pay much attention. But after two days passed, both General Alaric and Vanguard Officer Richard began
to sense something was wrong. The vanguard only had rations for three days!
The silence was deafening.
Seeing this, Alaric immediately dispatched several scouts into the jungle to search for the vanguard.
Similarly, not a single scout returned. That dense green tropical rainforest seemed like a giant beast that devoured anyone who dared enter.
Now, the remaining Empire soldiers flatly refused to enter the forest. Terrified to the extreme, many even started clamoring to return to the Old World!
General Alaric and Officer Richard worked tirelessly to suppress the soldiers' attempts to desert, expending all their energy to keep the situation under control.
But worse news was yet to come. First, food supplies from the Ash Legion were suddenly cut off. Then, a deranged Empire soldier suddenly emerged from the tropical jungle, raving madly about "doom," "General Eric being killed," and "we're all finished" as he fled back to the outpost.
Alaric and Richard quickly had the deranged soldier captured and interrogated, but all he could repeat were those few phrases. From this, the Empire's generals deduced a terrifying truth: the vanguard had been wiped out, the Hunter General killed, and the lizardmen had ambushed and annihilated every one of them!
"What should we do now?" the Empire's officers asked, knowing they had no reason to doubt the soldier's words.
"We have three choices: First, we can break camp immediately, head south, and engage the lizardmen in a decisive battle. Second, we can break camp immediately and sail back to the Empire along the trade route. Third, we can sail north to the Ash Legion's territory and request their protection!" Alaric proposed after some thought.
"We know General Eric's capabilities. He led two thousand men, including half our gunners and all the hunters. I don't think even if we all head south, we can defeat the lizardmen!" Richard said, stomping his foot in frustration as he suddenly realized something. "And, Alaric, have you considered how that guy even escaped? The jungle is teeming with lizardmen and ancient beasts!"
"Wait... Wait, are you saying that madman wasn't really...?" General Alaric pondered for a moment and then felt a chill run down his spine. "He wasn't actually escaping?!"
"Exactly! It's very likely the lizardmen let him go on purpose, following him to find our camp!" Richard said urgently, now drenched in sweat. "Damn it, these jungle scum won't even leave our camp alone!"
"Bad news!" Just then, an Empire soldier burst into the tent. "Bad news, General! There are lizardmen everywhere! The enemy is attacking from all sides! We've been surrounded!"
Alaric and Richard rushed out of the tent. Sure enough, the entire outpost had become an isolated island in a sea of lizardmen. Three sides were swarming with lizardmen forces, and ancient beasts roared, with saurian warriors and skink soldiers encircling the outpost.
"Help!"
"Run, get out of here!"
"I'm done fighting! I want to go home!"
The Empire soldiers, already in a state of panic, descended into chaos, scrambling to board ships and escape.
"Boom!" From the lizardmen army's formation, several bright, scorching fireballs were launched from the back of a Stegadon. They struck several of the Empire's ships, shattering their sides and decks, sinking the fastest ship by piercing its hull.
"Abandon ship, abandon ship!" the Empire troops cried out in terror, forcing them to jump into the water. Some of the non-swimmers drowned on the spot, while most of the sailors and soldiers could only swim back to the shore, soaked and trembling in fear as they hid behind the outpost's walls, preparing to face the enemy.
"Champion Gor-Rok, we have surrounded these humans, awaiting the arrival of the Children of the Old Ones," the skink priest said to the white-scaled saurus.
"Roar~" Gor-Rok waved his massive club in acknowledgment.
And so, the lizardmen army surrounded the Empire forces for two days. The expeditionary force was on the brink of collapse, with their food and drinking water nearly exhausted. In desperation, General Alaric attempted to lead his troops in a breakout, but all efforts were futile, resulting only in more losses as they were driven back to their final camp, awaiting their inevitable fate.
However, strangely enough, the lizardmen seemed to be waiting for something, as they did not launch an attack.
On the third morning, a fleet bearing the Ash Legion's banner appeared, sailing across the Spider Sea and approaching the coast.
The human saviors had arrived, led by Fogen himself. The Ash Legion commander stood before the Empire's expeditionary force and addressed them: "Fellow humans, I have secured your last chance. Will you surrender, or will you die?"
"Traitor! Scum who colludes with lizardmen! Filth of the mortal world! Charlemagne curses you!" Alaric, realizing the situation, rushed to Fogen and cursed him, pointing a finger in his face. "You won't get me to submit!"
"Oh, I admire your stubbornness, Imperial. But because of you, all these men must die. Does that not matter to you?" Fogen remained calm.
"…" Alaric fell silent, staring at the 3,000 Imperial soldiers on the beach, waiting for his decision.
Alaric knew that if he ordered them to fight to the death, the Imperial soldiers would hold out to the last man, until they were all annihilated.
But what was the point? These were lives—more than 3,000 lives!
They were all still young; they shouldn't die here.
"Ash Legion Commander Fogen, is it?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Could you... grant me one request?"
_________________________
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