The war for the Swamp Territory had begun.
On the two hundred and thirty-ninth day, led by three Entry Tier Magical Beasts, a horde of over eight hundred Demon Beasts began a massive assault on the Swamp Territory.
The Demon Beast invasion was immediately discovered by the Baron's Mansion in the Swamp Territory.
However, all was well.
Within eight days of discovering the Demon Beasts' plans for a large-scale invasion, the Swamp Territory had already hastily evacuated nearly everyone.
Merchant guild workers, miners, and various small vendors quickly took their people and evacuated the Swamp Territory.
Meanwhile, York gathered all the territory's subjects and peasant slaves inside the Lord's Castle.
In short, the Swamp Territory intended to use the Lord's Castle as a fortress for a head-on clash with the Demon Beast Tide.
This was a battle that had to be fought.
Although York could have led his people to seek temporary refuge in the Korola Highlands and returned after the Demon Beasts retreated.
But such an action would have been no different from suicide.
As a noble Lord, he could never abandon his territory under any circumstances.
If he abandoned his territory, he would undoubtedly become the biggest laughingstock in the Silver Lion Duchy for the year.
And that wasn't even the most important part. Most importantly, if he could hide this time, what about the next time, and the time after that?
Moreover, if he retreated every time, the losses to the territory would be immense.
The cultivated farmlands, the residential buildings, even the Lord's Mansion—all of it would be utterly destroyed by the Demon Beasts.
Therefore, from the moment York claimed the Swamp Territory as his own, he was left with no other choice.
He either had to repel these small-scale Demon Beast Tides one after another, or he would die and his territory would be destroyed.
Besides, this "Beast Tide," strictly speaking, didn't even qualify as one. It was merely a joint operation by three nearby Low Tier Magical Beasts.
If he had to retreat from such a minuscule Beast Tide, he might as well abandon his territory and obediently return to the Gale Territory to serve as a Knight's Follower to the head of his house—his father.
'A title? What title would a Knight's Follower have?'
Thus, from the very beginning, York had no intention of backing down.
Moreover, York had plenty of confidence and courage regarding his Swamp Territory's current capabilities.
After all, he was now a Tier Two Elite Knight.
Although he only had two Tierless Knight's Squires and fifty territorial militiamen under his command.
But this time, he had at least spent a fortune to recruit over one hundred and fifty mercenaries. With them, and relying on the newly built walls surrounding the castle that stood over ten meters high, he felt he had a good chance of victory against the horde of over eight hundred Tierless Demon Beasts.
As for the three Entry Tier Magical Beasts, even though two were Tier Two, he had so many mercenaries and had purchased sufficient weaponry. There was a good chance they could wear them down.
As for the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard?
York had no intention of asking the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard for help from the very beginning.
If the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard intervened, all his efforts would be meaningless.
York wanted to prove himself to the Deities—to prove that he could handle a Beast Tide of this scale without borrowing the Power of Their agent.
Although this approach seemed somewhat unwise.
But York's wife, Lucia, did not object to her husband's decision.
First, York truly needed to prove himself.
After all, the Deities had already bestowed more than enough grace upon him. Blindly relying on them would only lower his standing in their eyes and simultaneously erode his own courage.
Second, the Swamp Territory was newly established and needed a war to temper its soldiers.
At the very least, it would show the subjects that the Swamp Territory possessed great Power and had a bright future, which would in turn strengthen the territory's cohesion.
Furthermore, by hiring so many mercenaries, York could take the opportunity to select suitable candidates to sign contracts with, allowing him to cultivate his own Knight's Squires instead of depending solely on support from the Gale Territory.
Therefore, for this war against the Beast Tide, the Swamp Territory did not request aid from the Gale Territory, nor did it seek help from Lucia's family.
This was both a war to prove himself to the Deities and an opportunity for the Swamp Territory to prove itself to the Gale Territory and the outside world.
Of course, if the situation became irreversible, York still had a final option.
That option was to let the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard take action.
In truth, he wouldn't even need to ask. The Rock Dragon Giant Lizard had sensed it the instant a large number of Demon Beasts gathered on the border and prepared to invade the Swamp Territory.
The Rock Dragon Giant Lizard had intended to act, but it was spotted by the knights York had stationed at a camp on the edge of the swamp. York had then immediately stopped it.
Although Lince had given the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard a conservative directive, this "conservatism" simply meant it was not to take the offensive.
When the territory was invaded, however, the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard would naturally take action.
So, even though York had stopped the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard, the great beast did not entirely agree.
Perhaps because a game update had copied Lince's personality, the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard's instinctual intelligence had increased significantly. It could even be said that it had become an incarnation of Lince.
Thus, through its Master-Servant Contract with York, the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard spiritually conveyed its own opinion.
It would not allow casualties among the territory's population to exceed half.
The moment casualties exceeded that limit, it would intervene.
Everyone and everything in the Swamp Territory was the property of the Deities in the mortal world; it would absolutely not allow the Swamp Territory to suffer major losses.
Everything for the great Deities!
York, of course, could only agree to this.
And now, the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard was underground near the Lord's Castle.
It would constantly monitor the situation in the Swamp Territory with its senses, and if there were major casualties, it would immediately emerge to deal with the aftermath.
——————
"The Demon Beasts are here! Archers, ready!!"
On the castle's not-so-high walls, a sharp-eyed Knight's Squire was the first to spot a large number of Demon Beasts pouring out of the distant, untamed forest.
The Knight's Squire roared, and everyone on the wall, whether mercenary or militiaman, nervously raised their bows.
Inside the castle, over eight hundred peasant slaves and subjects trembled in fear.
Many huddled together, praying ceaselessly to the gods.
The earth began to tremble as the distant Demon Beasts came into view.
The vanguard of the Beast Tide was a pack of Forest Wolves, numbering over three hundred.
At the same time, countless venomous snakes could be seen on the ground. Ranging from several meters to over ten meters in length, they were difficult to count accurately, and many had not even been included in the tally for the Demon Beast Tide.
Then, appearing behind the Forest Wolves and the swarms of snakes, came the greatest threat of this Beast Tide.
It was a herd of one hundred Frenzied Dappled Boars.
Each of these adult beasts was a true behemoth, weighing close to eight hundred pounds, with some even exceeding a thousand.
Even if mercenaries encountered a single one of these creatures in the wild, most would choose to retreat.
The reason was simple: they had tough hides and thick flesh, making them extremely difficult to kill.
Unless a master archer was present to hunt them by targeting their eyes, the average mercenary was helpless against these beasts.
The entire Beast Tide consisted mainly of these three groups. There were plenty of other Demon Beast species, but their numbers were comparatively small, just a 'motley crew' mixed in among the main force.
Watching the approaching Beast Tide, even some of the more powerful and battle-hardened mercenaries couldn't help but reveal looks of concern.