Ironvine Territory (22)

However, Victor restrained his urge to take action. After all, he was only participating in the Ironvine Territory's operation as a spectator, and he didn't know much about these Silver Maple Secret Guards, so he simply remained silent and continued to watch.

Unable to break through the net, the Silver Maple Secret Guard quickly calmed down. They each took out a small bottle, poured out some food, and prepared to eat it.

Just then, the soldiers of the Ironvine Territory suddenly exerted their strength, dragging the nets and pulling down the Silver Maple Secret Guard who were about to eat.

Lenster turned to Victor, who was standing to the side, and said, "The terrifying thing about the Silver Maple Secret Guard, besides their ability to infiltrate secretly and use poison, is this: they increase their combat abilities by taking drugs, so their combat power is extremely terrifying."

According to our family records, these Silver Maple Secret Guard underwent rigorous and cruel training from a young age. They were also subjected to drug stimulation, but these drugs were highly toxic, requiring long-term, costly training to develop tolerance."

Victor was puzzled. "If that's the case, won't many people die from the poison before they can even adapt to its toxicity?"

"Yes, Viscount Victor, according to my family records, the success rate of such secret guard training is only one or two out of ten, the attrition rate is terrifying."

However, once they adapt to the poison and complete their training, they can take the drug as needed in combat. Taking the drug increases their strength, speed, and reduces their pain perception; the enhancements are extremely dramatic, turning someone who could take on ten men into someone who could take on a hundred.

Victor could understand how terrifying such secret guards were; warriors capable of taking on a hundred men, and even his direct army had no more than five of them—they were far too few.

"Although the attrition rate is high, if the Silver Maple Ducal House were to train a large number of such secret guards, they could easily train thousands of terrifying warriors with the population they control in their territory. Who could possibly be their match?"

After Victor finished speaking, Lenster burst out laughing. Victor realized he had misspoke; if it were that easy, wouldn't the Silver Maple Ducal House do the same?

Grand Duke Mora was not a benevolent monarch who cared about human life; since he didn't do so, it must have been because the circumstances didn't allow it.

After Lenster finished laughing, he explained to Victor, "The difficulty isn't the selection or the loss of lives, but the production of that drug. Although our family records are rather vague about this, we can tell that this drug must be very precious, with a very limited annual output. Plus the losses during training, there are probably not many secret guards who can be trained."

My father also sent people to secretly investigate the situation of the secret guards. The number of secret guards should not exceed one hundred, and they usually operate in small teams of ten. Therefore, it can be deduced that the production of medicine is indeed very small."

Victor nodded after listening, then turned his attention to the battlefield. The Ironvine soldiers were basically in groups of ten, while the Silver Maple Secret Guard on the field were also in groups of ten.

According to Lenster, if these ten men form a small team, the Silver Maple Secret Guard who infiltrated Ironvine Territory should have been completely wiped out.

On the battlefield, after the soldiers with Ironvine Territory used nets to trap the Silver Maple Secret Guard, they took advantage of the Silver Maple Secret Guard.

While the two were talking, three secret guards had already been dealt with. Victor suddenly realized that the Silver Maple Secret Guard should have a very sturdy inner armor under their black clothes, making it difficult for even a sharp spear to kill them immediately.

It's no wonder that the soldiers of the Ironvine Territory didn't use crossbows; with their sturdy inner armor and poor visibility at night, crossbows would probably be ineffective.

Victor could also see that Lenster was probably planning to capture a few people alive, otherwise all the secret guards would have been slaughtered.

Just when he thought the battle was about to end, several Ironvine Territory soldiers at the edge of the battlefield suddenly fell to the ground. Then, several black-clad Silver Maple Secret Guard rushed into the battlefield and, before anyone could react, wiped out a squad of soldiers who were controlling the net.

"What's going on? Why are there still Silver Maple Secret Guard? Weren't they supposed to only have one team?"

Lenster was also shocked. Just as he was shouting for the soldiers to go up and stop the Silver Maple Secret Guard, Victor suddenly grabbed Lenster and pulled him away from where he was.

Just after Lenster was pulled away by Victor, several throwing knives suddenly fell from his spot.

Lenster also saw the throwing knives, which were basically the same as those used by the Silver Maple Secret Guard on the field. "How come there are more..."

Before Lenster could finish speaking, three Silver Maple Secret Guard dressed in black rushed towards him and Victor. The soldiers who were originally guarding them had been called to the battlefield by Lenster, so now only the two of them were facing the Silver Maple Secret Guard.

"Oh no, we have to run!"

After saying this, Lenster tried to run away, but Victor remained motionless and said to Lenster, "It's too late, they're too fast."

Lenster turned his head and saw that the three were less than ten meters away from them. "They're really fast... Ah!"

Victor grabbed his arm and flung him behind him. Lenster couldn't react at all, and could only wonder in his heart how strong Viscount Victor was.

Victor drew his sword and charged forward. The three Silver Maple Secret Guard probably thought Victor was just a bodyguard, so one of them stepped forward to meet him, while the other two prepared to circle around and continue the pursuit of Lenster.

Victor snorted coldly, his sword flashing in an arc, fast and swift, the sword shadows forming a continuous line, like a silver moon. In an instant, the Silver Maple Secret Guard was coming towards him was knocked from his hand by Victor.

Before the Silver Maple Secret Guard could even react to what was happening, he saw his weapon knocked away and his wrist broken. Then, Victor's longsword slashed down again, severing his upper body and right arm in one fell swoop.

"Ah!" Even the Silver Maple Secret Guard, whose pain sensitivity had been reduced, couldn't help but scream in agony at the sight of such severe injuries.

All of this changed in the blink of an eye. The other two Silver Maple Secret Guard also discovered that their companion had been killed and realized Victor's special abilities. They stopped pursuing Lenster and began targeting Victor instead.

Having witnessed Victor's skill in dealing with their companion, the two knew Victor was a formidable opponent. They cautiously distanced themselves from Victor, each pulling out a small bottle from their pockets and pouring the medicine inside directly into their mouths.

Seeing this, Victor knew that the two were probably planning to fight to the death.

Just then, Lenster's guards noticed the change in the situation and quickly sent more than a dozen men back to protect Lenster.

"Don't worry about me, go help Viscount Victor."

Five of the guards stayed behind to protect Lenster, while the rest ran towards Victor.

By this time, the two guards had finished taking the medicine and tossed the bottles to their feet. Victor had already activated his Supernatural Perception and noticed that the two men's auras had changed, becoming faster and more urgent than before.

Victor also noticed that the two men seemed to have suddenly swelled up, especially as they gripped their weapons tightly; Victor could even hear the weapons creaking under their grip.

Victor suddenly realized something. "Hey, hey, what kind of magical drug can change a person's muscles like this? This is clearly a Transcendent drug!"

Victor became increasingly cautious. He didn't know how strong the secret guards would be after taking the medicine, but he still had to be careful. The three of them began to confront each other, moving very slowly and with small steps.

Just then, the guards who had come to provide backup arrived. One of the secret guards turned to look at them, Victor quickly shouted to the guards, "Watch out!"

At that very moment, the two secret guards sprang into action. One charged directly at the other guards, while the other rushed towards Victor.

Victor sensed the extraordinary speed of the approaching secret guards and, no longer concerned with reminding them, focused intently on the long sword in their hands.

Soon, their swords clashed, producing a series of metallic clangs. Victor was secretly surprised by the strength of his opponent as he sensed the impact of their swords.

"This strength is already half of mine!"