1161 Im Here to Invade You Part 1 (2/2)

Qin people did not have a habit of killing prisoners, especially with skirmishes fought between nobles within their own country. While the prisoners all looked dejected, they knew well that it was a fate better than dying on the battlefield.

Saleen deliberately slowed down and headed for the coordinates of the temple. Less than 2000 miles took Saleen almost ten days. Even to the Qin people, that was too slow.

Saleen had to deal with opposing forces coming to harass him over and over. The forces were always small, even mercenaries. Saleen kept the casualties in check, as the lesser nobles were not at each others' throats. The troops consisted entirely of Qin locals. If he went too far with the killing, it would be bad for his rule in the future.

When the weather gradually turned cold, Saleen's forces reached outside of a city.

Saleen dispatched a messenger and wrote a letter to the city lord. The letter was written in an incredibly pompous manner and made his intentions very clear: he wanted to take this city for himself for six months. During that period, everyone in the city were scattered outside. The city lord, a veteran earl, included as well.

Saleen then set up magic cannons outside the city, aimed at various targets in the city. His cannons were all installed on artificially created hills, allowing the weapons to fire directly into the city.

The earl read Saleen's letter and got incredibly angry. His underling, however, knew the power difference. \”Sir, Saleen is a king, which means that he's being incredibly callous with his actions. You're not his match, sir. How about this? You agree to scatter the people of the city, but he would need to pay for the losses suffered.\”

The earl thought for a bit and figured that the proposal made sense. While he had over 3000 elite troops, but the lesser nobles before had already proven sufficiently that if he went against a 20 thousand-strong southwestern noble army, it would be like throwing eggs at a stone wall.

Saleen watched in the military camp outside the city. He knew what the Qin elites were capable of. Despite having become a level ten mage, he remained as elated as he was before.

The prior battles had proven the demons' combat prowess. With the cannons set up, the city before him could be taken at a very small cost. The troops, however, did not let their guard down about the upcoming battle. The camp's atmosphere was tense. Even the soldiers feeding the horses were on guard.

Military discipline was strictly enforced and the troops were divided into two major camps. Things went very smoothly, which meant that the troops' training had been done professionally.

Saleen patrolled the camps, accompanied by the commander when a soldier delivered the news, that the messenger dispatched by the city asked to meet His Highness Saleen.

\”I'm not doing it. I don't want to risk getting angry and killing the messenger. Just tell the messenger what I said.\” Saleen fully intended on shooing the messenger away before Nailisi whispered in his ear. Saleen stopped the soldier and took out a piece of paper, writing several lines on it with magic and handed it to the soldier. \”Tell the messenger to take this back to the city. If they dare dispatch anyone else, I won't go easy on them.\”

The earl waited anxiously for Saleen's reply. He was thinking about running even if Saleen refused to compensate him. It was stupid to fight such a powerful enemy. However, Saleen was there to ask for trouble. The letter that the messenger brought back contained news that brought him to tears.

Saleen told the earl that in order to show that he meant business, he had decided to bombard the House of the Lord with the magic cannons. Saleen gave the earl an hour to tell his family to run.

There was a map drawn below the lines of words, which clearly showed the layout of the city, as well as the location of the House of the Lord. Saleen drew a red line around the House of the Lord, and area inside the line was where he intended to launch his attack.

\”How can this be! How can this be...\” The earl mumbled in pain. He stared blankly at the paper. It would only take him over a few minutes to scatter everyone; he was grieving over the treasures in the House of the Lord.

Saleen is going too far. Does he even see me as a noble?

A streak of magic light lit up on the paper and a powerful line appeared before the earl, glittering in the air.

\”Earl, I'm here to invade the place, so be quick about it.\”

Saleen's words made the earl jump. He yelled, \”what are you all still waiting for? Get the hell out of this blasted place now!\”

The earl understood that Saleen had no intentions of killing anyone, but he did not necessarily have any reservations about killing. Ironwall City served as a good example. While he was an earl, the city had 80,000 people, less than one-tenth of the Ironwall City's population.

The House of the Lord was emptied within half an hour. Everyone saw the magic cannons outside the city and knew how precious life could be. As for hidden treasures, the earl could only blame himself for not storing them in the imperial bank.

However, it was something that all nobles serving the Grand Duke of Pompeii did. They were all afraid of problems when putting their money in the imperial bank.