The First Magic World War

One of them was named Gwen, nicknamed The Spotted Deer! The other was called Bankcroft, nicknamed The Wind Wolf! In their earlier years, they adventured together and after accumulating some wealth in middle age, they left the adventuring group and settled down in Silver Pigeon Fort.

Both of them were tenth-grade knights, which means they had reached the peak in their breathing techniques and Meditation Technique, but they had never been able to obtain any Knight's Certification, preventing them from advancing to the rank of intermediate knight.

Charles subtly expressed his intention to recruit them. Initially, the two wanted to reject the offer, but looking at the extraordinary weapons in their hands, they ultimately felt too embarrassed to refuse and agreed to join the Westwind Knights.

With the addition of Gwen and Bankcroft to his ranks, Charles's spirits were slightly lifted, giving him the sensation of being transported to the era of the Three Kingdoms, recruiting warriors of the age. Even though The Spotted Deer Gwen and The Wind Wolf Bankcroft were not considered powerful Transcendents in the Old Continent, the sense of achievement was still the same.

Once Gwen and Bankcroft joined the Westwind Knights, Charles immediately established two combat squads of two hundred men each under their command. The main force of the Westwind Knights, barely considered competent soldiers, consisted of Charles, Dobin, Taoles, Philedrica, Yellow Bear, and the two newly-formed combat squads of two hundred each. The remaining combat squads still amounted to a mere rabble.

Charles's direct combat squad was made up primarily of adventurers, along with some elite members of the Patrolling Army and premier fighters from the guilds.

The combat squads led by Taoles and Philedrica consisted of female adventurers and members of the guilds.

Of course, Dobin's combat squad was based on the backbone of the Patrolling Army.

Yellow Bear's combat squad was composed purely of guild members.

Gwen and Bankcroft's squads were made up of the now 'annihilated' Yahoo Knights and friends from their own adventuring days. Some of their comrades from those days had also settled in Silver Pigeon Fort with them.

What surprised Charles was that after a defensive battle at Silver Pigeon Fort, although the Westwind Knights had lost five to six hundred men, their numbers had not declined but instead increased, reaching a total of seven thousand. Many of the soldiers who had fled were warriors of the Yahoo Knights; after escaping back to Silver Pigeon Fort, they now quietly chose to "return."

Charles also conducted another round of recruitment in Silver Pigeon Fort. With the merit of defending Silver Pigeon Fort and his remarkable achievement of charging alone into the enemy's formation, killing the enemy commander, and defeating the South Ceraph Reclamation Army, combined with his status as a Behemoth person, he received much affection from the citizens of Silver Pigeon Fort, making the recruitment process very smooth.

Charles even had the capacity to be selective, enlisting a group of strong, local men, which allowed the Westwind Knights to quietly expand to eight thousand members.

Charles dared not expand the army any further, because the finances of Silver Pigeon Fort could not support an army that large.

Baron Phile's extravagant lifestyle meant he had not invested much in the army, and he had not set aside a substantial budget for the military.

The next day, Charles began to take inventory of the Baron's personal assets.

He also sent someone back to Strasbourg to invite Louis Simi and Ross Bard to visit Silver Pigeon Fort.

Tasking Taoles with the inventory of the Baron's personal assets was Charles's decision.

After all, Taoles was a young Lady of the Su Mei Family; the mere wealth of a baron was not enticing enough to cloud her judgment, and Charles couldn't trust the others with this task as much.

He did not know how the Empire would ultimately deal with his situation, but time was of the essence, so he had to seize every moment to liquidate the Baron's wealth.

"Agmillar's Labyrinth" could turn Silver Pigeon Fort into a maze, but it would not convert the Baron's immovable property into assets under his name. It would be better to sell them off.

The Labyrinth was his, and so was the gold Aegeus he had obtained from selling the real estate, equivalent to winning twice.

Some of the baron's luxuries, although the Maze-ification of Silver Pigeon Fort could hide them, these luxuries were initially meant to flaunt value. Hidden luxuries were meaningless; whom could he show off to in the Labyrinth? Therefore, he needed to liquidate them quickly as well.

In short, to turn the baron's wealth into Charles Mecklen's wealth still required a bit of finesse—it couldn't be done just by Maze-ification.

Charles had been enjoying peace for no more than five days when Lady Southseraph attacked Silver Pigeon Fort again. It was Cyrus who could not contain his hatred and, lacking reinforcements, carried out a test attack.

In Charles' hands were now Philedrica, Taoles, Yellow Bear, The Spotted Deer Gwen, and The Wind Wolf Bankcroft, five Transcendents. The Westwind Knights, after several battles, had become united, and with the support of the residents of Silver Pigeon Fort and a large number of auxiliary militia, they easily repelled this attack.

This increased the Maze-ification progress to (1/18).

Charles, delighted by the repulsion of the South Ceraph Reclamation Army, deliberately sent someone out of the city to provoke them, inciting Cyrus to rage on the spot. He attacked Silver Pigeon Fort a second time without regard for his exhausted troops and was ambushed by Charles, who had set a trap and cut off his forces, defeating them once again.

The Maze-ification progress of Silver Pigeon Fort advanced to (2/18).

This victory had a different significance for Charles; it was a straightforward and clear confrontation between two armies outside the city, a direct triumph. Although strategy played a part, it at least showed that the current Westwind Knights had gained some semblance of form after several battles.

Cyrus retreated extremely quickly this time, which Charles regretted deeply as he couldn't lure the enemy into attacking Silver Pigeon Fort once more.

A few days later, before Charles could await a third attack from the South Ceraph Reclamation Army, he finally received a letter from Grand Duke Joseph, who instructed him to strike fast and join the battle at Interlaken City.

The Grand Duke's messenger was very arrogant, treating the thirty-fourth-ranked fourth-grade Clerk Chief as though he were a dog, commanding and rude in his speech.

Charles suppressed his anger and asked the messenger carefully, learning that the Grand Duke was trapped in the small town of Interlaken under dire circumstances. Righteously indignant, Charles declared that he would set off to assist the Duke the very next day.

But the next day, Charles was bedridden with a sudden stomach ache, preventing him from sending out troops.

The Grand Duke's messenger cursed at the door for a full day.

On the third day, Charles fell flat, injuring himself, which led to another delayed deployment.

The Grand Duke's messenger even kicked open his bedroom door, saw his legs wrapped up like rice dumplings, and then stormed off slamming the door. Explore more stories with empire

On the fourth day, the Duke's messenger urged him once more to dispatch his forces urgently and threatened Charles that he would report his deliberate delay to the Duke.

Finally, Charles stopped making excuses. He found someone to impersonate Lady Southseraph to break the legs of the messenger and sent the man to Cyrus, along with a letter filled with bitterly sarcastic and competent criticism.

Cyrus, unable to control his fury, killed the Grand Duke's messenger and sent the head at a gallop to Interlaken City, it was said that the Duke vomited blood on the spot from anger.

Just as Charles had dealt with the Duke's messenger, Louis Simi and Ross Bard arrived with their respective merchant caravans at Silver Pigeon Fort.