Giant Dragon Lord: Starting from Daily Intelligence-Chapter 167 - 161: The Castle within the Castle

Raylo and Lillian walked side-by-side down the main road of Red Iron Castle.

The Stone Slab road underfoot was riddled with potholes, covered in the scars of battle.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, dust, and the faint scent of blood.

"We’ve lost three Pegasus Knights. Seventeen members of the Knight Order are lightly wounded, and eight Knights were killed in action."

Lillian’s tone was calm, but a flicker of sorrow still crossed her eyes.

"Pay the families of the fallen Knights a death benefit of three times the highest standard. If they have children, they can attend the Knight Training Camp for free, with the costs covered by the domain’s treasury."

Raylo’s voice was steady. On the battlefield, losses were inevitable.

Just then, Ed hurried over, his expression grave.

"My lord, most of the enemy has surrendered. However, the patriarch of the Valen Family, Count Old Haman, has retreated into the main keep with his last hundred or so family Knights and a group of Mages. They’ve activated the keep’s Defense Array."

Raylo looked up, his gaze falling on the most magnificent and solid structure in the northern part of Red Iron Castle—the main keep.

It was like a stubborn, hard rock, standing firm even as the rest of the castle had fallen.

The main keep was constructed entirely of massive stone blocks, making it exceptionally sturdy. Its only entrance was a heavy Refined Iron gate, now shut tight.

"They refuse to surrender?" Raylo asked.

"Yes, my lord," Ed replied.

"We sent a messenger to call for their surrender, but they shot and killed him with an arrow."

Lillian’s brow furrowed.

Raylo said nothing.

"Baofeng."

He gently patted his mount’s neck.

The Storm Griffin King let out a low cry. With a beat of its wings, it kicked up a current of air that sent dust scattering across the ground.

He mounted Baofeng and flew toward the main keep, which was hunkered down in a corner of Red Iron Castle, to conduct a detailed reconnaissance.

From high above, the structure of the main keep was laid bare.

It looked like a crouching Giant Beast, built entirely of hard marble. There were almost no visible seams between the stone blocks, and its surface shimmered with a faint magical glow, clearly having been fortified with some kind of Solid-type Magic.

On all four walls of the keep, square arrowslits were set at regular intervals, like the eyes of a Giant Beast, coldly watching the outside world.

Through these openings, one could clearly see the shifting silhouettes of people and the cold glint of steel within.

Raylo descended, circling above the main keep.

He could feel hostile gazes from below, and a few stray arrows were even shot his way.

But with a single flap of Baofeng’s wings, a gale-force wind blew the arrows off course. They didn’t even touch a feather.

The platform at the top of the keep was the heart of its defenses.

Four menacing Enchanted Bed Crossbows were armed and ready, their massive Crossbow Arrows gleaming with the light of Anti-Demon runes, posing a lethal threat to any flying unit.

More than thirty Knights in Heavy Armor stood ready with Longbows in hand, their eyes holding the ferocity of a cornered beast.

’This truly is a hard and stubborn rock,’ Raylo judged.

’It’s not that we can’t break through. My Storm Griffin Knight Order is more than capable of tearing their rooftop defenses apart, but we would certainly pay a heavy price.’

’Those Enchanted Bed Crossbows are no joke. Even a Storm Griffin could be severely wounded, or even killed.’

Achieving the greatest victory at the smallest cost—that was his principle of war.

After circling once on Baofeng and taking in all of the defensive deployments, Raylo changed course and landed smoothly on the ground.

"What’s the situation?" Lillian asked as she came forward to meet him.

"A tough bone to chew," Raylo said, dismounting. "A direct assault would be too costly. It’s not worth it."

Ed followed behind them, his brow furrowed.

"My lord, what do we do then? We can’t just let this drag on. If we wait too long, I’m afraid Viscount Andrew and the others might get ideas."

Raylo’s gaze swept over the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield, finally settling on a pile of rubble not far away.

The afternoon Sun was somewhat lazy. A huge, white cat was sprawled out on its back on a haystack.

One of its paws rested over its eyes, as if to block the glaring Sun, while the tip of its tail twitched intermittently. Its posture was so leisurely it looked like it was sunbathing in its own backyard, completely out of place with the tense, grim atmosphere.

Coal Ball lay next to it, letting Moonlight’s large tail sweep back and forth across its body.

The corners of Raylo’s mouth turned up slightly as he walked toward the "big cat" enjoying its sunbath.

"Moonlight."

The white cat’s ears twitched. It moved the paw from its eyes, revealing a pair of pale gold, vertical pupils.

It gave Raylo a lazy glance, yawned, and a low rumbling sound came from its throat, as if expressing its displeasure.

Raylo crouched down, ignoring its "don’t-bother-me-while-I’m-sleeping" expression. He pointed a finger toward Baofeng in the distance, and the Storm Griffin Knight Order that was gathering to rest.

There, besides Baofeng, were ten Knights and their Storm Griffins.

"See them?" Raylo asked.

Moonlight followed his finger with a glance, a trace of confusion flickering in its pale gold eyes before it returned to its languid state.

"I need your help," Raylo said, getting straight to the point.

"Make a double for each of them."

Moonlight’s eyes lit up instantly.

Its lazy expression vanished in a flash as it scrambled up from the ground.

It tilted its head, its pale gold eyes studying Raylo as if assessing the value of this deal.

Raylo watched it quietly, waiting for an answer.

Moonlight made no sound, but its actions said everything.

It lifted one of its front paws, extending the pads, and then slowly lifted the other one.

It held both paws side-by-side in front of its chest in a strange posture, like a lucky cat with both paws raised.

Ten digits.

Raylo understood its meaning in an instant.

"Ten roasted geese?" he asked tentatively. The price was much lower than he had expected; he had been fully prepared for the little creature to make an exorbitant demand.

Moonlight nodded, its pale gold eyes filled with anticipation. Its tail began to wag happily behind it, and it even stuck out its tongue to lick its lips.

Coal Ball, who was beside it, also scooted closer curiously, as if it wanted a share of the spoils.

"Deal," Raylo agreed without hesitation.

Moonlight’s asking price wasn’t high. It would have been rude to haggle.

Raylo had discovered that Moonlight’s price was related to the difficulty of the task; the harder the job, the more roasted geese it demanded.

The fact that it asked for so little to create doubles for the Storm Griffin Knights meant the task wasn’t very difficult for it.

At the same time, this also indirectly proved that Moonlight had grown stronger.

After receiving a positive answer, Moonlight seemed very happy.

It affectionately rubbed its large head against Raylo’s leg, a satisfied purr rumbling in its throat.