When the southern army was still immersed in sleep, the city gate of the river valley pass quietly opened, and the defenders in the pass poured out of the city gate. Due to the passive slackness of the night vigil soldiers of the Southern Army, only nine of the thirty sentries who were supposed to stand guard tonight were still holding their posts. By the time they noticed the change, it was too late.

With an elite force, El uprooted the Southern Army outposts one by one, and before most of them could react, their necks were cut by blades stretched out in the darkness. The vanguard scattered in the camp, each looking for the tent where the officer was located, and the cavalry wrapped in horses' hooves rushed in close behind, and the defensive line of the Southern Army was instantly opened a huge gap.

The roaring hooves and shouts of slaughter alarmed the sleeping Confederate soldiers, and when they got up from their tents bare-bottomed, they were horrified to find that the camp was already full of Istalon warriors.

The Istalon army guarding the valley pass has always maintained adequate supplies, and the warriors of the Locke family are also the elite soldiers that the family has devoted their financial resources to support, compared to these heavily armed killing machines, the ordinary soldiers of the Southern Army who are not fully equipped are completely lambs to the slaughter.

When the Isttalon warriors stormed the camp, the Confederate army was crushed at the first touch, showing no stubborn fighting spirit at all. They are unarmed, they have no morale, they have no goals, and they can't even count on their own commanders. El rushed into the most conspicuous command tent in the camp with a large man, only to find that it was empty, and the prepared decapitation operation had to be stopped.

They circled around before they caught a frightened adjutant, and with little interrogation, the guy confessed everything he knew like a bamboo tube pouring beans. It turned out that when the commander of this unit crawled out of the bed and saw the flames outside, he didn't even bother to put on clothes, but just grabbed a sheet to cover his buttocks and began to run for his life. Now even his close lieutenants don't know where this guy has gone.

Although the level of combat effectiveness of the southern army has long been predicted, these southerners are obviously very good at breaking through their own lower limits. This made El even more determined not to go to war easily, and he never wanted victory, but the lives of his soldiers. It is stupid to risk your brother's life to fight hard with these southern girls, even if it is for ten El, you feel that you will lose money.

The defenders of Hegu Pass broke through the defense line of the Southern Army without danger, or drove the unarmed Southern Army to scatter on both sides, and rushed out with vigor and disappeared into the vast night. 【Starter】

El didn't dare to let the force run too far, and deliberately set a nearby landmark they knew as a rallying point. The night is a terrible enemy for both sides, and if you run too far, it is easy to have non-combat attrition.

The camp of the Confederate army outside the valley pass was on fire, and the defenders of Lille saw the flames and wanted to dare to come to the rescue, but as soon as they gathered their troops and walked out of the town, they were sniped by the cavalry led by Timmy, and they fled back to the town with more than two dozen corpses. As for Locke Manor, which is farther away, it will take some time for the defenders over there to rush over, and it will definitely not be too late to rescue.

"Is the combat effectiveness of the Southern Army really so scummy?" The process of breaking out of the siege was so smooth that it was beyond El's best assumptions, which made him still unable to believe it.

"Count Kemal's southern army, for the most part, consisted of peasants conscripted in his domain, who could use military service instead of offsetting the taxes they had to pay at home. They have no strength, but they have little formal training, and they are certainly not as good as the professional soldiers on our side. However, this was what Count Kemal wanted to see, and if these peasants were trained to be soldiers, when they were discharged, the power of the local lords would be shaken. Allet explained in a low voice.

"The ugly mentality of the aristocracy. El had a sarcastic smile on his face.

"It should be said that it is the ugly mentality of the southern aristocracy. Allet corrected with a smile: "You must not be contemptuous of Count Kemal, he is also a well-rounded figure in the southern aristocratic faction. The real combat effectiveness of the Southern Army is not as unbearable as you see it now. They're just too lax. By the time they react tomorrow during the day, it won't be easy for us to get the results we did tonight. ”

"It would be best if there was no war, and the blood of the brothers could not be wasted here. We have now saved up the bargaining chips for the negotiation, and we can have a slow showdown with them tomorrow. El said confidently.

After the two forces converged, El slowly moved north with all his men, following Arlet's advice to find a suitable campsite. The pieces on the chessboard have been switched between offense and defense, and now he just needs to wait for the exiles' team to come, and the rest can be left to Tiana to settle at the negotiating table.

"Forgive me, General, but I'm a little worried about the young master of the Kemal family, that is, Delare, who is said to be very talented and has studied magic. As the troops set up camp, Reynard's adjutant Rosen came to El and said with some concern.

"He's a magician?" El asked puzzledly, when he was at Locke Manor just now, he didn't feel any obvious magic fluctuations, either the young master Delaree didn't make a move, or Lawson was a little worried. In the eyes of ordinary people, mages are synonymous with mystery and power, but El himself has already been a spellcaster, so there is not much psychological pressure on this.

"I don't know, General. Rosen said with some hesitation: "When he led his army to besiege the valley pass, we saw him perform evil magic, although we don't know what kind of magic it is, but he turned ordinary soldiers into monsters, and killed many of our brothers during the siege of the city. ”

"I heard Renard say that the Kemal family has demonic blood?" El blinked, intrigued by what Rosen had said.

"Because Young Master Miharan's development is obviously abnormal, there have always been such rumors in the family, and we haven't seen real demons, but we have heard those old people talk about ......" Rosen scratched his head and smiled a little embarrassedly.

"It doesn't matter, we also have magicians, and we'll be here tomorrow morning. El comforted him, and at the same time said with a serious face: "I can't take care of the housework of the Locke family, but I don't want this kind of suspicion in the team now, do you know what I mean?"

"Of course, I understand, Your Excellency. Rosen's face was solemn, and he immediately stood up and saluted.

El patted him on the shoulder and told him to go back to his business. After Rosen left, his face slowly became gloomy. Palanti, who had been following him all the time, noticed the change in his face and couldn't help but ask softly, "Is there anything wrong?"

"Originally, I didn't, but when he said that, I really couldn't help but care. El said to himself with a gloomy face, his eyes rolled and the corners of his mouth raised, and he led Palanti to a secluded place, grabbed her hand and pressed her against the tree.

"Uh...... General?" Palanti was startled by El's rough movements, and her face turned red. She subconsciously wanted to resist, but due to the soldier's nature of obeying orders and some other unspeakable reason, she struggled a little weak.

"Palanti, keep it that way, listen to me. El leaned over Palanti's cheek and whispered in the faintest of voices in her ear, "There's something watching us, right in the tree behind us, I thought it was an ordinary night owl, but now it feels like something isn't right." Do you remember what Rosen said?"

“...... Demon?" Palanti quickly calmed down, his eyes half-closed, and looked back from El's shoulder without a trace. Her perception was not as strong as El's, but she could also vaguely feel some kind of hidden malice gaze, hiding in the shadows of the woods to peep in this direction.

"It doesn't dare come closer, we have to make a chance......" El spat out the words between his teeth, and then reached over and took Palanti's body in his arms, making the posture of the two men even more ambiguous. He looked into Palanti's eyes with affection, returned to his normal volume and said, "Oh, dear, you have to understand me, that woman of the Lanstadt family is not trustworthy!"

"What...... What?" Lori Knight obviously lacks acting experience, and can't keep up with El's leaping thinking at all, just being held in El's arms is a little dazed, and he doesn't react to what he says at all.

Naturally, El didn't expect Palanti to be able to keep up with his own rhythm like Tiana, he just wanted to test the thing that was watching behind him, deliberately saying something sensitive, to see if it would react.

"That Miss Lanstadt is a witch, she's even more terrifying than you think, I've seen her hide in a nobody's place and cast spells, summoning ......" El carefully gathered his senses while lowering the volume of his speech a little. As he expected, the thing hiding behind the tree was gradually attracted to it.

It thought it was secretive and silent, but it could not hide in the ears of El, a mountain hunter, and all the subtle sounds of the trees around him could not escape his sensitive ears.

"That woman can summon the undead, she'...... See, on the second tree behind me. El lowered his voice and whispered in Palanti's ear.

Lori Knight had closed her eyes by this time, but one of her hands had quietly pressed against the hilt of her sword, and the other hand reached out and gently scratched El's palm.

"It's now!" El jerked off his hand to let go of Palanti, and the whole man fell backwards. Palanti kicked on the trunk of the tree behind him, and the whole person flew up like a cannonball, and the sword was unsheathed, shining with a silver-white brilliance in the dark night!