A bumper harvest of spoils
The phrase "the rout is like a landslide" vividly captured the state of the Lizardman army on the battlefield. With their chieftain slain, their morale plummeted to zero, and they scattered in a frantic retreat. As they fled, they dropped to all fours, resembling terrified Komodo dragons, their thick tails whipping side to side to maintain balance.
However, no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't outrun the winged Golden Griffons. From high above, the Golden Griffons locked onto the fleeing Lizardmen with their sharp eagle eyes. With their Royal Knights on their backs, they dove down, snatching up Lizardmen with deadly talons. Screams barely had time to escape before the Lizardmen were torn apart and dropped from the sky, their bodies raining down in a gruesome display. The spectacle was awe-inspiring, instilling terror in the nearby beasts of the sandy forest, which fled in panic, not wanting to become the next target of the aerial predators.
Hundreds of Royal Griffon Knights scoured the sandy forest within a ten-kilometer radius, capturing nearly every escaping Lizardman. Only after multiple thorough searches, finding no trace of remaining Lizardmen, did the knights regroup at the now-conquered central riverbed.
The central riverbed, the most fertile area of this sandy forest, boasted a precious water source. Although the water was murky and filled with various animal and beast carcasses, making it a breeding ground for countless bacteria, it was irresistibly attractive to desert creatures. Surrounding the water were numerous desert fruit trees like sorghum and date palms, which the Lizardmen used to lure prey. This abundance allowed the Lizardman tribe to thrive, their population swelling to several thousand.
But now, the Lizardman tribe was no more. Its new master was Haotian.
After clearing the battlefield,
the old butler Hodern surveyed the mass of Lizardman corpses, pondering aloud, "How should we deal with these Lizardmen bodies? Dissect them, or just burn them all?"
With thousands of Lizardmen, there was a potential for a vast amount of Lizard meat. But who would eat it? Regular lizards were one thing, and their roasted meat could be quite tasty. However, Lizardmen, being neither ordinary lizards nor magical beasts but beastfolk, posed a culinary taboo. Eating Lizardmen meat was crossing a line.
At this moment, two burly Royal Judgement Knights approached, each accompanied by a nearly eight-meter-long Golden Griffon, true giants. One of the knights suggested, "Old mage, there's no need to dissect these Lizardmen. We can take them whole to the pasture and use them as food for the desert coyotes."
Hodern's eyes lit up at this idea. It was a perfect solution, avoiding waste and solving the problem of feeding thousands of desert coyotes. Remarkably, the pasture had seen a surge in pregnant coyotes recently, and in one night, hundreds of pups had been born, pushing their numbers over a thousand. Additionally, the number of reindeer had also increased significantly.
"Then take them all back," Hodern agreed, nodding.
He looked at the two Royal Judgement Knights with envy. They had advanced to the king level, as had their Golden Griffons, thanks to the rich rewards from slaying the Lizardman chieftain and numerous others. Hodern, a ninth-level mage after decades of training, couldn't help but feel envious of these knights who had so quickly reached such heights.
"The young master instructed that after the battle, a team of Royal Griffon Knights should patrol the nearby sandy sea to locate any desert dwellers' outposts," Hodern conveyed.
"At the lord's command!" the knights responded, saluting respectfully.
Soon, a dozen Royal Griffon Knights mounted their Golden Griffons and soared into the sky, spreading out from the Lizardman tribe's center. The rest of the knights began transporting the Lizardmen corpses back to the Golden Oasis. After multiple trips, they had transported all the bodies.
At the Golden Oasis,
in the back yard of the town hall, the old butler Hodern was once again stunned by the sight of his young master, Haotian, whose magical aura had grown significantly.
Haotian smiled, "Don't be so surprised. Wait until I reach the demigod level, or even become an immortal deity, then you can be truly astonished."
"An immortal deity is beyond imagination," Hodern replied. "For you to reach the king level at such a young age, even in the capital's magical academy of the Stanlow Kingdom, you would be considered a rare genius!"
"I'm no genius," Haotian said, shaking his head. "I'm a lord. The stronger my territory's troops, the stronger I become."
Hodern sighed, "If the Earl and Countess knew, they would be very proud."
"Let's not dwell on that," Haotian waved a hand. "With the Lizardman tribe now destroyed, let the Royal Griffon Knights continue clearing the sandy forest. Capture any non-humans they find. I need to know more about this 'Charles' the Lizardman chieftain spoke of."
"Understood, young master!" Hodern nodded and left the yard to mobilize the Royal Griffon Knights again.
Haotian then took stock of the spoils from the battle: over 6,700 gold coins, various pieces of equipment, and 15 bags of coins (eleven small and four medium), seven blueprints, and a skill book. The blueprints were all "troop quantity blueprints," each capable of recruiting a certain number of territorial troops. The skill book, a pleasant surprise, had been found on the Lizardman chieftain.
"Does this mean that only by killing king-level enemies can skill books drop?" Haotian wondered and consulted the "Lord System."
The response clarified that any enemy could drop special items, including skill books, but the drop rate significantly increased when the enemy was of king level.
Skill Book
Skill Name: Triple Slash
Level: King
Skill Effect: Using a longsword, deal three consecutive slashes to the enemy. The damage for the three slashes is 145%, 200%, and 350% of the base damage, respectively.
Applicable Professions: Warrior, Assassin, Knight
Special Note: No restrictions on the lord's profession.