Female Knight

In this era, full suits of armor were extremely expensive to make, and the skill required to forge them was rare.

In a sense, this suit of silver-white full plate armor could already be considered a treasure.

Even Mr. Wood only had a piece of chain mail for his upper body, and that had been bestowed on him by Count Hardy.

Cole held a gleaming longsword and moved with incredible speed, reaching Duke in no time. He swung for Duke's head.

Duke was startled. His opponent was even faster than he was.

He reacted quickly and immediately blocked the strike.

Judging by the force that came through the sword, his opponent was somewhat weaker than him.

But they had only just engaged, so that didn't necessarily represent the full extent of his opponent's strength.

The two sides quickly clashed. Duke's group had only five people and was at a disadvantage, while the other side had more men.

The Militia was under tremendous pressure and kept retreating.

"Cole? The Wild Wolf Bandit Group has some nerve!" Wood's voice came from behind. He had brought more than thirty militiamen with him.

Enderland Town had fewer than forty militiamen in town at the moment, and they didn't know how many men the enemy had.

Wood quickly came to Duke's side and took Cole on. "Duke, fall back. He's a Mid-Tier Knight Squire who has trained in the Breathing Technique. You're no match for him."

Duke nodded and retreated behind him. He had indeed been under a lot of pressure.

His opponent was clearly weaker than him, yet every so often he could unleash an explosive burst of strength that kept Duke firmly suppressed.

Duke had no idea where that explosive strength came from. After the burst, his opponent's strength was probably already at eight points.

Duke knew full well that he had only managed to hold on this long because of his own excellent physical attributes.

If this continued, he would most likely lose.

Cole was clearly wary of Wood and took a few steps back. "Wood, you're still alive? If I can take your head today, my reputation should spread even farther."

"You think you can?" Wood said with a scornful sneer.

Cole smiled. "The process doesn't matter. The result does."

As long as Wood ended up dead, Cole could claim his head for himself.

"Duke, take the others and guard the northern entrance to town. I'll handle things here. I've already sent word to Count Hardy. Reinforcements will arrive soon," Wood said gravely.

Duke and the others nodded and withdrew. Enderland Town had only two entrances, one to the north and one to the south.

As he passed the courtyard of the Levin family, he saw the main gate swing open and more than ten armed men charge out.

Seeing the leather armor worn by Duke and the others, they immediately shouted, "Kill those militiamen!"

Duke hadn't expected members of the bandit group to appear inside the town. Caught off guard, he had no choice but to fight back.

Fortunately, none of them were as difficult to deal with as Cole. They were all about the same level as ordinary militiamen.

Duke had no trouble handling them. With his strength and speed, he plunged into their ranks like a tiger among sheep, cutting down lives as easily as chopping vegetables.

The men behind him were dumbfounded. Before they could even join the fight, Duke had already terrified the enemy into submission.

Duke glanced at the shadowy courtyard of the Levin family and silently committed the matter to memory before continuing to cut down his foes.

The town's militiamen were all fighting in different places. Most of the residents were cowering inside their homes with the doors tightly shut, too afraid to come out.

Some of the bolder, sturdier residents joined the fighting.

They knew full well that if the Militia lost against the bandits, they wouldn't survive either. They were fighting for themselves.

As he fought, Duke noticed that besides the dozen or so men who had charged out of the Levin family's home, many more bandits had poured in from outside town.

He estimated that the enemy had around fifty or sixty men, while the Militia had fewer than forty.

In terms of numbers, his side was at a disadvantage.

Wood was also being held up by Cole, and neither could defeat the other in a short time.

Cole's aim was clear: keep Wood occupied while the rest of the bandit group dealt with the militiamen.

Once most of the militiamen had been taken care of, Wood would be doomed sooner or later. Cole only needed to wait patiently.

Cole was no match for Wood, but he could hold him off by relying on the protection of his full suit of armor.

However, the Wild Wolf Bandit Group had clearly never expected the Militia to have someone like Duke among its ranks.

If Wood was holding the southern side of town, Duke was cutting his way all the way to the north.

His strength and speed were far beyond those of ordinary people. The bandits were no match for him.

Duke's swordsmanship was also too refined—he could practically be called a master swordsman.

Neither his strength nor his skill was something ordinary bandits could handle.

On top of that, Duke had remarkable stamina. He fought at high intensity the entire time without showing the slightest sign of fatigue, driving the bandits back again and again.

About an hour later, the distant sound of hooves rang out. From the noise, there had to be quite a few horses.

Only Count Hardy had that many horses anywhere in Maple Hill County.

Only Count Hardy's personal troops could field a cavalry force of that size.

Cole knew they could no longer achieve their goal today. He was growing anxious, unable to understand why the others still hadn't finished off the militiamen and come to support him.

At his signal, the bandits began to retreat.

The militiamen didn't pursue them too far. They played it safe to avoid falling into the enemy's trap.

The Militia had suffered heavy losses as well. Of the more than thirty men, fewer than twenty were still standing.

Count Hardy's personal troops soon arrived in Enderland Town. By then, the fighting had died down. The bandits had either fled or been captured.

The commander of the personal troops was also a knight wearing silver-white full plate armor. He rode up to Duke and asked, "Where's Wood?"

Duke was surprised by the cool voice. His opponent was a woman.

Only then did he look up. Her figure did indeed make it clear she was female. The armor seemed custom-made for her, fitting the contours of her body perfectly.

"Mr. Wood went after the enemy," Duke said, pointing south.

The female knight nodded without a word. With a wave of her hand, she led the cavalry behind her south.

The bandits were on foot. They had no chance of escaping pursuit by a cavalry force.

Duke watched the cavalry ride away, raising a cloud of dust behind them, and couldn't help feeling envious.

It was just after sunrise. The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, and the sky was still gray.

Duke let out a long breath. A sense of exhilaration welled up inside him. He had truly enjoyed the fight.

While his adrenaline had been surging, he had barely felt any fatigue. It was only after he stopped that he realized his body was already close to its limits.