Chapter 53

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Chapter 53: Retreat

Winter Fortress.

Marquis of Logan’s camp.

"You want to leave now? Huh? The Order Sect has supported North Land for so many years. Has the Tersk family ever treated you poorly? The people of North Land have never brought shame to order. And now, at the moment of life and death, you want to leave! You fools, you are all fools!"

"Viscount Carter, please don’t be so ungracious. If your soldiers were reliable, the Order would not want to give up this place."

"Ha, after saying all this, you are just afraid of death. What grand bishop, what knight commander! To me, you are just a coward."

"Viscount Carter, there is a great enemy before us. I will not punish you for your wrongdoings this time, but if you want us to stay, at least find a count to speak with us."

"You!"

"Ha, there isn’t even one count in this Winter Fortress. Tell me, has Logan asked us to defend the city or just to be his scapegoats?"

"…"

Excited arguments and shoutings echoed inside the tent, while Leo stood outside, scratching his ear.

"Nono! Nono! Aren’t you going in, Leo?" The clumsy little bird perched on his shoulder tilted its head, its fluffy feather swaying.

"What good would it do for me to go in? Both sides are angry and won’t listen to anything," Leo shook his head, deciding to wait a little longer.

There was no way around it; the Order Sect wasn’t foolish. After that battle, they must have gathered their strength.

It was clear that they had been set up.

If this continues, eighty percent of the armed forces will be lost in this brutal battle at the Winter Fortress.

And even then, it’s not certain we can hold it.

After about ten minutes, when the shouting inside the tent gradually stopped, Leo lifted the curtain and stepped in.

As soon as he entered, he caught the attention of everyone in the tent.

The Saintess of Order and Grand Bishop Lennon looked up calmly at him and then turned to Carter, seeming puzzled about what he was doing.

Miss Kalian’s eyes sparkled like crescent moons when she saw Leo.

"We’ve been waiting for you," Viscount Carter said with a grunt, stepping forward to warmly grab Leo’s arm. He glanced around and lowered his voice, "The situation is urgent. I don’t have time for a private meeting. Tell me honestly, are you sure you can hold the Winter Fortress?"

"It will at least be better than the current situation," Leo replied honestly. "How long can the supplies in the city last?"

"Well, that’s not a concern. The Winter Fortress was designed as a supply station and can last at least a month."

"Then there’s a 70% chance."

"…Huh, let’s treat a dead horse as a living one." Carter gave Leo a deep look and chose to trust him.

Before the siege began, Carter was just surprised by Leo’s keen vision.

After the siege, he truly placed his hope in Leo.

This believer in order, who saw through the Marquis of Logan’s strategy at a glance, predicted that the Winter Fortress would not hold out for long before the battle even started.

These two things combined completely overwhelmed Viscount Carter, who was already in a rush and unable to contact his main support.

Besides trusting Leo, he could think of no way to stop the Order Sect from leaving or to prevent the Winter Fortress from falling.

"Huh…" Taking a deep breath, Carter turned his head and glared at Lennon with a stern expression, "When it comes to courage, you saintesses and grand bishops are no match for Mr. Leo, an ordinary believer."

"Leo?" Lennon turned his head and met Leo’s gaze, hoping to see something in his eyes.

"Viscount Carter, I am not just an ordinary believer, I am only a servant of the White Cavalry Army," Leo said calmly, neither humble nor arrogant.

"A servant of the White Cavalry Army? Hmm, don’t undervalue yourself. Being chosen as a servant proves your devotion to order," Lennon nodded. "So, Carter, why did you call our believer here?"

"Of course, to discuss how to drive back the enemy," Carter raised his chin.

"Let me be clear, are you the kind of person who cannot understand the situation?" Lennon said without changing his expression. "I’ll be straightforward, no matter what the Marquis of Logan’s original plan was, it is all over now. He has failed, completely failed."

"The troops you gathered from North Land have no effect on the battlefield. When faced with the Night Demon, they only want to run away."

"Moreover, there are over thirty thousand soldiers you tricked into coming, while you have fewer than three thousand elite guards. Even if you formed a task force to stand behind those soldiers and threatened them, could you really kill them all if they tried to retreat?"

"Last time during the siege, Tersk’s flag still had some power, and your guards’ blades still held some shock value. Most importantly, those mercenaries among the mixed troops had not realized that they were just pawns, so you could temporarily halt their retreat. But what about the next time, or the time after that?"

"They will eventually come to their senses. They will realize they are bait, they are the discarded pieces. When that happens, their rebellion and panic will be inevitable. What will you do then?"

"Kill them all? Or let them kill you?"

Knight Lennon’s words were powerful, each word sharp like a blade, piercing deep into Viscount Carter’s heart.

Even Lady Kalian, who knew nothing about war, felt a deep sense of despair and shuddered.

Not to mention the many generals who had already gathered here.

In an instant, the entire tent fell silent, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing.

"What if I could prevent them from rebelling and get them to give their all to defend the city?" A calm and magnetic male voice broke the deep silence a few minutes later.

Everyone looked up, searching for the source of the voice.

The source.

Lennon also turned his head to look at Leo, who had spoken, his gaze as cold as ice, "Since you are a believer in order, you should understand that staying rational at all times is essential to believing in order."

As these words were spoken, almost everyone turned their eyes to Leo.

The words of the Grand Bishop Lennon seemed to doubt Leo’s faith in order.

And the main character, Leo, felt the most terrifying pressure since he came into this world.

It was the pressure from a powerful being of the sixth tier, a Punishment Knight.

His body trembled, his knees felt weak, and a voice seemed to rise out of nowhere, constantly echoing in his ears.

"Bow down, bow down."

"Give up, give up."

"…"

Cold sweat nearly soaked all of his underclothes, the buzzing sound threatened to burst his eardrums, and the adrenaline from the fear of death made his mind feel nearly oxygen-deprived.

But even so, Leo still did not back down.

He lifted his head and gazed into Lennon’s eyes, which seemed to see through his soul. Without a word, he drew the sword from his side.

The Order Sword System activated.

Golden light flowed through the sword, and the sound of order surged in the tent.

"I do not know where it begins, nor where it ends."

"Alone, accompanied only by reason."

"Only by abandoning emotion can one embrace order."

"This body is the sword of order."

"The sword of order? Is that the sword of order?" Everyone in the tent looked surprised.

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