The Female Knight

In this era, a full suit of armor was extremely expensive to make, and the forging techniques were hard to come by.

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

Even Mr. Wood only possessed a chainmail shirt, and that had been bestowed upon him by Count Hardy.

Cole wielded a gleaming longsword and moved with astonishing speed, reaching Duke in an instant and swinging for his head.

Duke was startled as well. His opponent was even faster than him.

He reacted quickly and immediately blocked the strike.

Judging by the force transmitted through the blade, the opponent was actually weaker than he was.

However, they had only just begun fighting, so this did not prove that it was the opponent's full strength.

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

The militia was under immense pressure and was forced back step by step.

"Cole? The Wild Wolf Bandit Group actually dared to come this far!" Wood's voice came from behind him as he arrived with more than thirty militiamen.

Enderland Town currently had fewer than forty militiamen within the town, and there was no telling how many men the enemy had.

Wood quickly came to Duke's side and blocked Cole for him. "Duke, fall back first. He's a mid-level knight attendant who has trained in a breathing technique. You're no match for him."

Duke nodded and retreated to the rear. He truly was under tremendous pressure.

His opponent was clearly weaker than him in strength, yet every so often, he could unleash explosive bursts of power that suppressed him completely.

Duke had no idea where that explosive force came from. At its peak, it was likely already around eight points.

Duke knew perfectly well that he had held on this long only because of his exceptional physical attributes.

If this continued, he would most likely lose.

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

"Just you?" Wood sneered disdainfully.

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

As long as Wood ended up dead, the credit for the kill would be his.

"Duke, take the others and guard the northern entrance to town. I'll handle things here. I've already sent someone to notify 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 south and one to the north.

As he passed Levin's courtyard, he saw its gates swing open, and more than a dozen armed men rushed out.

When they saw the leather armor on Duke and the others, they immediately shouted, "Kill those militiamen!"

Duke had not expected bandits to emerge from within the town itself. Caught off guard, he had no choice but to fight.

Fortunately, none of these men were as difficult to deal with as Cole. They were all roughly as strong as ordinary militiamen.

Duke dealt with them easily. With his strength and speed, he charged into their midst like a tiger among sheep, cutting down lives as easily as slicing melons and vegetables.

The men behind him were dumbfounded. Before they could even make a move, the enemy had already been terrified into retreat by Duke's killing.

Duke glanced at the deep, shadowy residence of Levin's family, silently committed the matter to memory, then continued forward to kill enemies.

The town's militia was fighting everywhere, while most of the residents hid inside their homes, trembling with fear and keeping their doors tightly shut, too frightened to come out.

Some of the bolder and stronger residents joined the fighting as well.

They understood clearly that if the militia lost against a bandit raid like this, they would not survive either. They were fighting for themselves.

During the battle, Duke noticed that besides the dozen or so men who had emerged from Levin's home, many bandits were also rushing in from outside the town.

By his rough estimate, the enemy had fifty or sixty men, while the militia had fewer than forty.

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

Wood was also tied down by Cole and could not determine the outcome in a short time.

Cole's objective was clear: hold Wood back until the rest of the bandit group dealt with the militia.

Once the militiamen had mostly been eliminated, Wood would be dead sooner or later. All Cole had to do was wait patiently.

Cole was weaker than Wood, but the defensive power of his full armor allowed him to hold Wood off by force.

However, the Wild Wolf Bandit Group had clearly not anticipated someone like Duke among the militia.

If Wood held the southern side of the town, then Duke carved his way all the way to its northern side.

His strength and speed far exceeded those of ordinary men. These bandits were simply no match for him.

Moreover, Duke's swordsmanship was so exquisite that he could be called a master swordsman.

Whether in strength or skill, he was beyond what these ordinary bandits could handle.

Combined with Duke's exceptional stamina, he showed no signs of exhaustion despite fighting intensely the entire time, slaughtering the bandits until they retreated step by step.

About an hour later, waves of hoofbeats sounded in the distance. From the sound alone, there had to be quite a few horses.

Throughout Maple Hill County, only Count Hardy possessed that number of horses.

Only Count Hardy's personal guard could field a cavalry unit on such a scale.

Cole knew that today's battle could not be won. He was anxious as well, unable to understand why the others had still not finished off the militiamen and come to support him.

At his signal, the bandits began to retreat.

The militiamen did not pursue too deeply. They remained cautious, afraid of falling into a trap.

The militia had suffered terrible losses as well. Of the more than thirty men, fewer than twenty could still stand.

Count Hardy's personal guard soon arrived at Enderland Town. By then, the battle in town had already subsided, and the bandits had either fled or been captured.

The captain of the personal guard was also a knight clad in silver-white full armor. She rode up to Duke and asked, "Where is Wood?"

Duke was surprised by the cool voice. The other party was actually a woman.

Only then did he raise his head for a closer look. Her figure indeed revealed that she was female, and the armor seemed custom-made, fitting the curves of her body perfectly.

"Mr. Wood went after the enemy." Duke pointed south.

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

Those bandits could only flee on foot. There was no way they could escape pursuit by this cavalry force.

As Duke watched the cavalry depart, raising a cloud of dust behind them, he could not help feeling envious.

It happened to be sunrise. The sun had just crested the horizon, and the sky was still gray and dim.

Duke let out a long breath. He felt a sense of exhilaration welling up from deep within him. He enjoyed the process of battle.

During that surge of adrenaline, he could hardly feel any fatigue at all. Only after stopping did he realize his body was already nearing its limit.