Shooting Himself in the Foot

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A sudden shower of rocks rained down, startling the construction crew who hurriedly took cover. The noble officer in charge of the project shouted urgently, "Don't panic! Guards, go and notify..."

As he spoke, his position was exposed, and he was now under the intense scrutiny of the Eaglemen slingers.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Heart of Life within his body quickly began to operate, and the knight's lance in his hand began to swing, knocking away one falling rock after another.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar echoed through the heavens and earth. As if some terrifying taboo had been triggered, the once arrogant eagle-men slingers quickly began to retreat.

However, reacting at this moment was still a step too late. The Pterosaur Cavalry, Dragon Cavalry, and giant eagle cavalry, all taking to the skies, charged forward as if in a race.

Ignoring the outcome of the aerial battle, the noble officers below were already busy taking stock of the casualties.

The fact that the human alliance reacted so quickly clearly indicates that this wasn't the first time they'd been attacked. It's unlikely they'd develop this level of coordination without experiencing several setbacks.

Few soldiers died directly from falling rocks, but many were injured or killed in the process of fleeing in panic due to trampling and collisions.

Before anyone knew it, Hudson had appeared on the battlefield, along with high-ranking officials from various factions within the alliance.

Anyone with even a little military experience could immediately conclude that this was a premeditated trap.

They were forced into this situation; the eagle-men would come down from the sky every few days to cause trouble, making it impossible to guard against them.

The long border line determines the length of the defense line. Even if only a part is being built now, it is still a huge construction site stretching for hundreds of miles.

When the Eagles come to cause sabotage, they usually only need to target one point. Relying solely on air force vigilance and then organizing a counterattack is clearly not enough to keep up with the speed of the enemy's attack.

After suffering several losses, they devised this pre-prepared "trap" to lure the eagle-men slingers into the trap.

"Count Hudson, the performance of your army is truly remarkable."

He only said half of what he meant, and with Blake's ambiguous smile, the sarcasm was palpable.

The others in the group all became onlookers, eager to join in the fun, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

"There's no other way, Commander Blake. To protect the foundation of humanity, since the start of the war, my Alpha Kingdom has lost over 1.07 million soldiers."

Almost an entire generation was wiped out. The soldiers in the barracks now are all serfs who have just laid down their hoes.

To have achieved what they have now is already quite an accomplishment.

"We are just a small, insignificant family, and the fact that we've managed to hold on until now is all thanks to the blessings of the Lord of Dawn. We truly dare not compare ourselves to the great Church!"

Hudson retorted without holding back.

In the Alpha Kingdom, opposing the Church is always the right thing to do. Besides, since Blake started this trouble, there's even less reason to give him face.

Like a firecracker that has been lit, Blake's face darkened instantly upon hearing Hudson's words, and his aura surged upwards.

Upon witnessing this, the nearby onlookers quickly retreated. They were just there to watch the spectacle and didn't want to be passively drawn into the conflict.

Deep down, many people also despised Blake. The verbal battle they themselves started was so easily provoked.

It was just a sarcastic remark: that the Church is a deadbeat, failing to fulfill its responsibilities.

Everything I've said is true, and everything I've done is true, so why should I be afraid of criticism?

Even Hudson himself was slightly taken aback. As a high-ranking official of the Church and a veteran politician, he was surprisingly irritable.

He quickly realized that something was wrong with Commander Blake in front of him. It wasn't that he couldn't handle stimulation; he was clearly putting on an act for everyone to see.

Having realized this, Hudson was speechless. His intuition told him that there must be some unknown secret behind this.

Locked onto by Blake's murderous aura, Hudson hadn't reacted yet, but Beldens, who was perched on his shoulder, couldn't hold back any longer.

The original Earth Bear pattern suddenly came to life, quickly solidifying to the size of a fist, its bear eyes glaring at Blake.

That's incredibly disrespectful to the bear. Knowing full well that he's under the protection of Hudson, the Lord Bear, they still dare to act so intimidating, clearly showing they don't take the Earth Bear seriously.

Almost the instant the man and the bear locked eyes, Blake's face turned bright red, sweat suddenly beaded on his forehead, and he staggered back seven steps before barely managing to regain his balance.

Having failed in his attempt to intimidate, Blake's face was filled with embarrassment. He had really lost face, and his resentment towards his intelligence unit had reached its peak.

This is absolutely outrageous! This Count Hudson before me is brimming with life, not a trace of death can be found. How could he possibly be Undead Great Sorcerer?

They originally planned to provoke a conflict, expose Hudson's status as Undead Mage, and use the power of the Human Alliance to put pressure on the Alpha Kingdom, forcing them to replace him.

This would not only embarrass the Alpha Kingdom, but also disrupt the balance of power in their domestic politics, sowing the seeds for future internal conflicts.

The plan was perfect, but the ending was very touching.

The sudden oppressive aura not only failed to yield any information about the Undead Mage from Hudson, but also resulted in Hudson being taught a lesson by the Earth Bear, who had just awakened from its slumber.

The truth could not be told, and what was seen by the outside world was that he, Blake, deliberately provoked the conflict, and was petty and immoral.

This is a classic case of shooting oneself in the foot; one can only suffer in silence.

"Count Hudson, Commander Blake drank too much last night and was busy all night... He's still not sober, please forgive him!"

The blatant mockery coming from Sunil's mouth made everyone who was already about to laugh unable to hold it in any longer.

Drinking alcohol is prohibited in the military; this is a common rule on the mainland. Even if someone has a craving for alcohol and occasionally sneaks a drink, there's no reason to get drunk.

Moreover, Sunil's words were full of ambiguity. "Busy all night"—what exactly was he busy with all night?

Official business?

Don't embarrass us. We can't even have a decisive battle yet, where would we get so much official business?

Normal people would associate it with women, especially since the Church is known for its extravagance and obscenity.

The sudden change in style left Blake completely dumbfounded. This was tantamount to ruining his reputation, and for the moment he didn't know how to respond.

To refute someone is either busy with women, or busy with men, or something else entirely.

In short, given the unscrupulous behavior of this group of aristocrats who love to watch the drama unfold, they will definitely come up with countless jokes about him.

He glared at Sunil fiercely, then inwardly regretted it. Given the relationship between the Church and the Frankish Kingdom, he had actually assumed Sunil was trying to mediate when he spoke up.

Of course, the goal of mediating the fight was achieved. Everyone was too busy watching Blake make a fool of himself to care about this insignificant little conflict.

"Marquis Sunil is too kind. Commander Blake is clearly overworked for the sake of human reproduction. Why would I hold a grudge?"

Commander Blake, while the propagation of humanity is important, you still need to take care of your health!

"If everyone were as weak as you, how would we fight the Beastfolk?"

Hudson added fuel to the fire.

Originally, he did not want to get involved in the conflict between the Church and the Frankish Kingdom, but alas, once you're in the game, you're not free to do as you please.

Trouble can't be avoided by simply trying to hide from it. Regardless of the reason, the Church has come looking for trouble, and as the representative of the Alpha Kingdom, he has to fight back.

Since Sunil was willing to help, he naturally had to respond in good faith. As for the Church, offending them once or countless times made no essential difference.

It's just a war of words. Even if it gets out of hand, Hudson won't back down. The Alpha Kingdom isn't that weak. No matter how fierce the argument gets here, no minister will jump out to impeach him for damaging diplomatic relations with the Church.

After all, there was no such thing as diplomatic relations between the two major powers; there were only conflicts and contradictions.

"Ha ha."

After a burst of laughter, Marquis Olavell, who had been watching the commotion, suddenly spoke up, "Count Hudson, you're quite the joker."

"Joking aside, let's get down to business. Look at the battle in the sky, it's almost over. Let's take stock of the spoils!"

As he watched the conflict between the Church and the Frankish Kingdom and Alpha Kingdom, Olafur's inner joy never ceased.

Deep down, he thought to himself more than once: Let them fight it out. In the end, the Ilibia Kingdom will be the biggest winner.

However, such actions of fueling the flames should not be too obvious. At appropriate times, it's best to play the good guy and step in to mediate, lest their plans be discovered.

Upon seeing the steps appear, Hudson smiled slightly, spread his hands helplessly, and told everyone with his actions: I didn't start this, you should talk to the one who started it!

Under the gaze of everyone, Blake, already embarrassed, became even more ashamed and resorted to faking fainting.

Hudson was speechless at the farce unfolding before him. Clearly, the guy wasn't thick-skinned enough; if it were a seasoned deadbeat, they could easily pretend nothing happened.

The brief interlude ended, and attention turned to the battlefield. Although the eagle-men were very vigilant, darting away at the first sign of danger, a trap was still a trap.

In less than an hour of fighting, nearly a thousand Eaglemen soldiers were permanently killed on the battlefield.

In summary, the attack was launched by too few Eaglemen soldiers. If 100,000 or 200,000 had come at once, the coalition forces would not have been able to contain them.

However, for the Eagle People, it is almost impossible to muster that many troops now.

In the previous battles, he had already lost tens of thousands of troops. Now he also had to join forces with the other Four Great Royal Clans to suppress the domestic rebellion. Given their population size, the number of troops they could send out to launch an attack was already very limited.

Of course, if 100,000 or 200,000 air force troops were to be deployed at once, they would suffer heavy losses. When the number reaches a certain level, it is the turn of air defense firepower to show its power.

Magic Crystal Cannon and Magic Crossbow, these long-range weapons, are also quite lethal to aerial targets.

It's not being used much now because the number of Eaglemen is small, and the battlefield for ambushes is uncertain. Before heavy weapons can even lock on, the enemy has already thrown their stones and run away.

Watching the eagle-man corpses being continuously carried over, Hudson couldn't help but exclaim, "The dragon riders truly are the kings of the sky!"

Becoming Dragon Knight is the dream of countless people on the continent. However, very few can actually achieve it, and Giant Dragon riders are practically nonexistent. As a second choice, a whelp is not bad either.

Among the many sub-dragon races, pterosaurs and wyverns are not considered powerful. Most are third-tier magical beasts, with a few wyverns occasionally evolving into fourth or fifth-tier magical beasts, but those are the kings of their respective groups.

The reason why they can become the kings of the human air force is not only because their combat power is stronger than that of griffons, giant eagles, etc., but also mainly because they have the same characteristic as griffons - living in groups.

A Dragon Race often consists of hundreds of dragons, and if they can be tamed, a Dragon Cavalry can be quickly formed.

Hudson, filled with envy, couldn't wait to visit the Monster Mountain Range. However, reason made him stop. If it were as simple as he imagined, dragon riders would already be flying all over the place.

Taming magical beasts is a long-term process. Just look at the number of Magical Beast Knight; very few wild magical beast races can be subdued by humans.

Especially with these social monsters, if you're not careful, they'll call their friends over and dismember you on the spot.

"What, Count Hudson planning to form a dragon cavalry?"

James, who was standing nearby, asked half-jokingly.

Anyone with common sense knows this is impossible. With the Coslo Family's meager resources, they could barely manage to tame a few wyverns and start a wyvern cavalry force; that would bankrupt them in no time.

Money is still the easiest problem to solve. As long as you're willing to put in the effort, there's still hope of raising the money.

The most difficult part was taming them; this secret art was strictly kept secret by King. Many ancient noble families lacked the relevant knowledge.

Occasionally, a few magical beasts might be trained to send messages, but these were always acquired through conventional means. Only the most elite nobles were entitled to possess a fully-fledged air force.

"Of course, this is every nobleman's dream!"

"If I have the chance, I will definitely form a dragon rider force. If that's not possible, other flying magical beast riders will also work."