'Buzz!'
As a chilling aura began to flow, the sky, already dimming with the setting sun, instantly plunged into darkness.
Night had arrived.
'Whoosh!'
But in the eastern suburbs of Long City, on the small hill northeast of Su Family Village, where Vikia Castle sat like a crouching giant, a large expanse of firelight suddenly appeared.
These were bonfires lit in braziers, and torches appearing on the city walls and in the streets below.
At this moment, whether bonfires or torches, the flames were burning fiercely.
Releasing light and heat.
Bringing precious firelight to this area, shrouded by Mount & Blade Rules and plunged into darkness.
And the sense of security that firelight brought.
"Very good, it's finally dark."
Shen Mu stood at the top of the city wall, looking at the Blue Star World outside, which was completely enveloped in darkness just a few meters away, a faint smile on his lips.
However, in his eyes, this smile was not as relaxed as it seemed; instead, it carried a hint of solemnity.
Because this was his moment to verify his conjecture.
That is to say, whether those Hell Devil would emerge from the subway station again tonight to attack him was a crucial test tonight.
"Bestour."
Shen Mu nodded to the side.
"I'm here."
Just on the nearby stairs, Bestour, holding a heavy Nomadic Scimitar, was walking up the stairs quickly.
Seeing Shen Mu nod to him, Bestour, who had already received instructions, immediately nodded back and replied, "My Kujit people are ready and can go out to verify your conjecture at any time."
"Very good."
Shen Mu nodded with satisfaction, then turned his head again to look at the pitch-black night outside the city wall.
He pondered for a moment.
His hand involuntarily rested on the hilt of the Holy Tree Knight Sword hanging on his left side, a faint stirring in his heart.
"My Lord, the outside is already shrouded by death spirit rules, and who knows how many Undead Monsters are out there, and we don't even know the situation of those Hell Devil. I think it's best for you to stay inside the castle; that's the wisest choice!"
But when Shen Mu's hand rested on the sword hilt, Bestour, who was beside him, immediately understood Shen Mu's thought.
Frowning tightly, he immediately objected, "Only if you are alive can you bear the hopes of all of us. Therefore, please do not take risks actively; none of us wish for you to take risks."
Shen Mu placing his hand on the sword hilt clearly indicated that he wanted to personally lead these cavalrymen out to investigate.
To conduct an on-site inspection.
But as Bestour said, the entire Mount & Blade System, Mount & Blade Rules, and the subsequent Mount & Blade World all depended on Shen Mu alone.
At this moment, Shen Mu absolutely could not be allowed to take any risks or encounter any accidents.
Otherwise, their guilt would directly kill them.
Or, if Shen Mu ceased to exist, whether these mount & blade Generals and mount & blade Characters who emerged from the Mount & Blade World would still remain in this world was truly uncertain.
Although these mount & blade Generals and Mount & Blade Soldiers did not understand the exact details of what would happen.
But from the depths of their souls, the souls still bestowed upon them by the Mount & Blade System and Mount & Blade Rules, still made them feel apprehensive about any action that endangered Shen Mu's life.
Therefore, they simply did not dare to let Shen Mu take risks.
"It's alright, I know what I'm doing."
Shen Mu, at this moment, gripped the sword hilt tightly, his tone also becoming solemn and firm: "Bestour, now tell everyone to bring torches and prepare to open the city gates."
"My Lord! It's too dangerous for you to go out personally. Why don't you let me go to that subway station to check it out instead?"
Bestour still wanted to stop him.
"No need for more words, I've already decided."
Shen Mu, at this moment, gave Bestour no chance to refute, directly gesturing for him to stop his persuasion, and then led the way down the stairs.
After all, for Shen Mu, this really wasn't dangerous.
It was just going out for a reconnaissance.
If he encountered danger, he would immediately return and would not lead the troops to linger or engage in prolonged combat there.
He still had this sense of crisis.
Seeing Shen Mu make such a firm decision.
Bestour could say no more, he just gripped his heavy Nomadic Scimitar tightly and quickly followed behind Shen Mu.
After all, Bestour was quite confident in his Steppe Bandit Elite and regular Steppe Bandits.
These were all elites from the Kujit people.
And they were all strong and sturdy steppe horses, known for their speed and endurance. If something truly happened, protecting Shen Mu during a retreat would not be a problem.
But preparations were still needed.
Bestour was tightly following Shen Mu at this moment, because he felt that he was the best preparation for protecting Shen Mu.
Upon reaching the base of the city wall.
200 Kujit Steppe Bandit Elite had already lined up on their heavy steppe horses.
Each held a long spear and a Nomadic Bow.
Looking menacing.
But not far away, seeing Shen Mu descend personally, the 110 Holy Tree Knights, who had been waiting, also quickly walked over.
These Holy Tree Knights also understood that Shen Mu intended to personally ride out beyond the city walls to see if the Su Family Village Station was threatened by Hell Devil.
So they immediately hurried over.
They needed to confirm whether Shen Mu was indeed going to personally ride out to the city walls to check the enemy situation.
At the same time, they also planned to continue dissuading him.
After all, they all understood the dangers outside the city walls; the Undead Monsters, permeated by death spirit rules, were quite troublesome fellows.
Although their combat power meant they didn't need to worry about those Undead Monsters, since they were Undead Monsters, they posed a certain threat. If they encountered an overly difficult opponent outside, it would truly be dangerous.
"Holy Tree Knights, assign 10 men as personal guards to accompany me outside."
Shen Mu, seeing the Holy Tree Knights approaching, immediately pointed out 10 individuals, choosing them to follow him.
However, the faces of those Holy Tree Knights exchanged glances.
They had originally intended to dissuade Shen Mu from leaving the castle, but now Shen Mu had chosen 10 of them to protect him instead.
At this moment, the Holy Tree Knight Captain, who was at the forefront, opened his mouth and said with a wry smile, "My Lord, this is truly too dangerous. If possible, I truly hope you would not put yourself in such peril."
"That's right, I agree with that."
And just behind Shen Mu, Bestour very appropriately agreed with the words of these Holy Tree Knights.
The reason was still the same.
They were simply afraid that Shen Mu would truly encounter some danger.
"Alright, I don't want to say it a second time. Everyone get ready."
Shen Mu, at this moment, would not retreat in the face of their persuasion.
He gestured to a Holy Tree Knight, who led his Holy Tree Heavy Steed over.
Then he nimbly swung himself onto the horse.
Looking at the somewhat stiff faces of the surrounding generals and cavalrymen, Shen Mu's face grew even more amused.
He still explained to them, "Because that subway entrance concerns my upcoming strategic arrangements, I must personally go and see it to be at ease. And if I encounter danger, with you all there, I can retreat. I still trust you."
"We understand."
Since he had already said this, they could no longer stop Shen Mu from proceeding to the most dangerous front line to survey the enemy situation.
So they nodded to each other.
Gathering their respective troops, they began to set off.
With 10 Holy Tree Knights as personal guards, tightly protecting Shen Mu.
And 100 Steppe Bandit Elite led by Bestour, spread out as a flanking force, indeed formed a flexible and extremely fast special light cavalry unit.
If they truly encountered any danger, these 100 Steppe Bandit Elite would unhesitatingly use their lives to help buy time.
Including those 10 Holy Tree Knights as well.
Seeing these cavalrymen who were all ready, Shen Mu nodded, then waved towards the west city gate, signaling them to open it.
As the Vigia Skirmishers there opened the city gate, they began to gallop their horses, thundering across the ground, and exited in an orderly single file.
Charging directly into the darkness outside.
However, every 5 people had already raised simple torches in their hands. As the burning material wrapped around the torches emitted light and heat in the darkness, it instantly dispelled the darkness and gray mist imbued with death spirit rules.
And around them, and in front of their galloping horses, some Undead Monsters similar to Skeleton Soldiers, zombies, or Ghouls appeared.
But they were simply not worth worrying about.
Charging at the very front were the Steppe Bandit Elite led by Bestour.
Upon seeing any Skeleton Soldiers, zombies, or Ghouls, they immediately cooperated closely with each other, raising their spears and thrusting them forward.
Almost in a single pass, they killed all these Undead Monsters on the spot.
Undead Monsters, which were inherently slow-moving and quite weak in combat, faced these Steppe Bandit Elite who wore lamellar armor, wielded stronger spears, and possessed more skilled combat techniques.
Now, killing these Undead Monsters and sending them back to the embrace of death was simply child's play.
That's right, child's play.
The Steppe Bandit Elite, who had already become Tier 4 units, had combat skills that had almost reached the level of highly proficient war machines in the Calradia continent.
Killing these low-level Undead Monsters was simply too easy for them.
"Su Family Village Station is just ahead."
Shen Mu was also at ease at this moment, the entire force galloping forward, like a running steel machine, highly efficient.
In hardly seven or eight minutes, they had already crashed their way to the location of the Su Family Village Station.
And all around, Undead Monsters had already appeared densely, lingering there, swaying back and forth, occasionally emitting some whimpering sounds, looking quite terrifying.
But with a few whistling sounds, a large number of Undead Monsters fell to the ground.
Followed by the rumbling sound of horses' hooves rapidly approaching.
The night, which had been shrouded in darkness and gray mist, was directly dispelled by the light of the torches burning on the simple fire pits. Then, Steppe Bandit Elites, armed with long spears and Nomadic Scimitars, charged into the lines of the Undead Monsters.
They began to slaughter them on a large scale.
It could be said that it didn't take long at all; within seven or eight minutes, all the Undead Monsters entrenched near the Su Family Village Station were completely massacred.
Even those Skeleton Monsters whose bones emitted a gray-black metallic luster among the Undead Monsters were no exception.
They were still directly shattered on the spot by those spears and Nomadic Scimitars.
Turning into useless fragments of bone scattered everywhere.
They also turned into rotten bones.
"Safe."
"Safe!"
"This place is safe too!"
After these Steppe Bandit Elites had completely encircled the entire Su Family Village Station, and even dismounted and rushed into the underground supermarket to clear out all the Undead Monsters inside.
Once they confirmed that all the Undead Monsters had been completely killed, they all spoke up to signal to Shen Mu, who was surrounded by the Holy Tree Knights behind them, that it was safe here.
This also showed that their work was indeed well done.
"Very good," Shen Mu nodded in praise.
Looking at the Su Family Village Station, which was now covered in bone fragments, and the Undead Monsters on the first floor of the underground supermarket, which had also turned into bone fragments.
And after his Steppe Bandit Elites lit up the indoor environment with torches, confirming that there were no abnormalities.
Shen Mu's eyes showed a look of 'as expected' at this moment.
"It's pretty much as I thought; the Skeleton Legion has indeed gone to find trouble with the Hell Devil."
Shen Mu murmured to himself at this moment.
But the corners of his mouth curled higher and higher, because this truly made him very happy. After all, if the Hell Devil, who had always been a great threat to his Vikia Castle, became entangled with the Skeleton Legion,
Then it would provide a considerable buffer time for his New Rivadin, Vikia Castle.
It would mean giving his New Rivadin a period of rapid development.
Not much time was needed, two or three months would suffice, at least Shen Mu thought so.
As long as he was given this buffer time to allow his New Rivadin to develop steadily, then he would be able to effectively prevent attacks from either the Hell Devil or the Skeleton Legion.
After all, Shen Mu was quite confident in the defensive effectiveness of the well-built stone castles on the Calradia continent.
Since everyone fought with cold weapons and there were no extraordinary powers that could completely shatter these castles or other defensive structures,
Then these stone castles represented reliability, security, and sturdiness.
'Buzz!'
Just at this moment.
A faint red light suddenly emanated from the negative first floor of the underground supermarket.
It was the dark red color of the Hell Devil' Hell Rules.
"Wait! Something's happening!" Immediately, around Shen Mu, the 10 Holy Tree Knights who had followed him instantly gripped the long spears in their hands, raised their shields with their left arms, and stood in front of Shen Mu.
Their eyes were fixed on the stairs leading to the negative first floor of the underground supermarket.
Including the Steppe Bandit Elites around them, who had originally declared it safe, they all simultaneously raised their spears or Nomadic Scimitars, their expressions extremely solemn as they looked towards the negative first floor.
Their faces were not looking good at all.
After all, they had just checked this underground supermarket and confirmed that there was nothing unusual, and they had even shouted "safe."
But before a few minutes had passed, they were proven wrong; the dark red light at the stairs of the negative first floor of the underground supermarket grew stronger and stronger.
This clearly indicated that the Hell Rules were taking effect.
And the Steppe Bandit Elites near the negative first-floor stairs also heard some sounds approaching.
One by one, their expressions changed slightly.
"Sounds of fighting."
A Steppe Bandit Elite suddenly spoke at this moment.
And Bestour, who had originally been protecting Shen Mu, also frowned tightly at this moment. He dismounted, quickly entered the underground supermarket, and listened carefully to the sounds coming from inside.
Then, with a very strange expression, he turned around and came back to Shen Mu, reporting, "Lord Shen Mu, there are indeed sounds of fighting."
"Hmm, I hear it," Shen Mu nodded slowly.
Because he really did hear it.
He dismounted, bringing the 10 Holy Tree Knights who had also dismounted and were closely following him, and arrived at the first floor of the underground supermarket.
The Steppe Bandit Elites around them, holding torches, had lit up the first floor, making it as bright as day.
Especially at the entrance to the subway platform on the negative first floor of the underground supermarket, there were four or five torches guarding it.
They actually illuminated the stairs leading from the negative first floor to the subway platform into a bizarre state where darkness and gray mist, the light of torches, and dark red light intersected and opposed each other.
The darkness and gray mist represented the death spirit rules.
The dark red light represented the Hell Rules.
And the light of the torches represented the rules after the integration of the Spirit World and the Blue Star World.
All three converged at the stairs of the negative first floor of this underground supermarket.
It indeed seemed strange.
"But this should have nothing to do with us," Shen Mu stood at the top of the stairs and gestured for the Steppe Bandit Elites holding torches to retreat.
Then the four or five Steppe Bandit Elites holding torches obediently retreated two steps.
The light emitted by the torches then conveniently avoided a portion of the subway station stairs, allowing the areas permeated by darkness and gray mist and the areas permeated by dark red light to once again dominate.
The two sides fought even more fiercely.
And standing here, Shen Mu could already clearly hear the intense sounds of fighting coming from the platform of the Su Family Village Station below and from within the subway tunnel.
Occasionally, there were roars from the Hell Devil, and the crunching sounds of Skeletons breaking apart.
Coupled with the even denser sounds of Skeletons clashing.
And the faint sounds of arrows whistling through the air.
Shen Mu raised his eyebrows.
"Lord, I didn't expect there to be the sound of arrows being shot down below."
At this moment, beside Shen Mu, Bestour also frowned slightly, subconsciously touching the Nomadic Bow on his body.
Because he had indeed heard the sound of arrows whistling through the air among the sounds coming from below.
That clearly indicated that someone was using bows and arrows in the battle below, and the number of arrows used was not small; at least from what he heard in the bursts of whistling sounds, he estimated the number of archers to be at least 100 or more.
After all, Bestour was from the Kujit people of a nomadic tribe.
He was simply too familiar with the sound of arrows being shot.
In a sense, the Kujit people were born a nation of warhorses and bows and arrows; compared to the Vigia people who preferred to fight with battle axes, they were more familiar with the sound of arrows being shot.
"Hmm," Shen Mu's lips curled slightly at this moment, with no extra expression on his face, he just said lightly, "Since the Skeleton Legion and the Hell Devil are fighting, then let's not interfere in their affairs. Now we can go back to New Rivadin and have a good night's sleep."
"Understood." Bestour was slightly startled, but then he understood. After nodding, he called out to the surrounding Kujit Steppe Bandits, and they, surrounding Shen Mu, began to head back.
After they left the first floor of the underground supermarket, mounted their horses, and shook the reins again, they galloped towards New Rivadin.
Soon, they disappeared into the dense darkness, leaving the Su Family Village Station.
In an instant, they charged into the outer layer of the castle.
"Lord, how was it?" At this moment, Lezalit, who had been in charge of staying behind, also walked over quickly.
Including Aleron, who should have been resting in shifts, also walked over quickly to inquire.
"Everything is good, no problems," Shen Mu said with a smile, "Just as I thought, the Undead Monsters under the death spirit rules in the subway tunnel and the Hell Devil under the Hell Rules have clashed and are currently fighting."
"That's truly wonderful then," Lezalit and Aleron exchanged glances, both seeing the joy in each other's eyes.
Because they both knew very well.
Since their two enemies had engaged in a fierce conflict, didn't that mean they had gained a significant amount of buffer space for themselves?
As long as they could use this buffer time to develop themselves as quickly as possible, that would be excellent.
They also understood the difference between tactics and strategy.
And they understood the importance of strategic buffer space.
Moreover, this was a precious time for strategic preparation; for them, this was an opportunity for development, this was being the fisherman who could gain an advantage while the snipe and clam fought.
"Since my conjecture has been confirmed tonight, then I will need to return to Deherim tomorrow."
Shen Mu made his decision at this moment.
After all, matters of faith might still require his careful arrangement; especially now that he knew the function of the Land of Faith, he absolutely could not miss this important opportunity.
At this moment, he also said to Aleron, "When I leave here, Aleron, you will stay and be responsible for all work at this New Rivadin Castle."
"Understood." Aleron immediately nodded, "Thank you for your trust, Lord Shen Mu, I will not let you down."
"Hmm." Shen Mu nodded, "You stay vigilant here; if there are no special circumstances, there's no need to go out."
After a slight pause, Shen Mu also arranged, "At the same time, I will leave 10 Holy Tree Knights as your personal guards, and also leave 200 Steppe Bandits. If there are any problems, you can have the Steppe Bandits relay them to me promptly."
"Understood." Aleron nodded again.
The 10 Holy Tree Knights as personal guards were for his personal protection.
And the 200 unupgraded Steppe Bandits would serve as light cavalry; if anything happened, they could use the speed advantage of the light cavalry to rush to Deherim to deliver messages to him.
It could be said that the arrangements were quite good.