“It seems they have no intention of handing him over, huh?”

Garcia, who had joined the battle after entrusting Vanessa’s protection to Vincent, sneered while shrugging his shoulders.

As he said, seeing that there was no answer for over 30 minutes, it appeared that the Frambert family indeed had no intention of handing over Escal.

Despite the ominous atmosphere, Jurgen’s gaze remained calm as he stared at the tightly closed castle gate.

“My lord, what will you do?”

Arthur, the commander of the knights, approached Jurgen discreetly and asked. Perhaps because his voice was quite loud, the other knights’ attention was immediately drawn.

“…First,”

Just as Jurgen, who had been silently watching the castle gate, was about to open his mouth to answer Arthur’s question…

“Hear this, Jurgen Drake and his cruel gang!”

A herald with the Frambert family flag on his shoulder shouted loudly from atop the southern castle wall.

His voice was loud enough to be heard far below the castle wall, but his hands holding the parchment were trembling.

“Having dared to not only murder Livia Frambert but also insult the venerable House of Frambert, we hereby declare that Frambert will not comply with the enemy’s demands and will fight to the death!”

“What is he saying? Are they crazy?”

As soon as the herald finished speaking, Garcia exclaimed in disbelief. The other knights were equally dumbfounded.

“Did those bastards just address our Duke without any honorifics? And what, gang? Have they completely lost their minds?”

It was tantamount to treating the Duke of Drake and his soldiers like a group of ruffians. Moreover, the Count himself, the master of the castle, didn’t even show his face and put the herald in front instead… It was an utterly contemptible behavior.

“I heard that the current head of the Frambert family is weak-minded and foolish, swayed by the senile former countess… It seems to be true.”

Jurgen nodded slightly at Arthur’s murmur, and then calmly issued orders while surveying his troops.

“Prepare the shields.”

Immediately, infantry carrying large shields changed formation in unison, taking the front line and raising their shields.

The very next moment, archers appeared on the castle wall and fired a volley of arrows towards them.

While the shield infantry blocked the rain of arrows, Drake’s archers responded by sniping over the castle walls.

Even though both were archers, the training levels of the Frambert and Drake forces were worlds apart, and the difference in skill was easily discernible. Frambert’s archers fell like dominoes, their heads or necks brutally pierced, while Jurgen instructed his soldiers to prepare siege weapons.

First, a cart carrying a siege cannon rolled up and soon settled into its designated position. The cannonballs were not made of stone or iron, but of magic stones, developed by Jenelly as a hobby.

“Fire!”

As soon as Jurgen’s order fell, the artillerymen ignited the gunpowder as if they had been waiting for it. The fuse burned quickly, and soon after, a large magic stone was fired, hitting the castle wall directly.

Usually, it would take several cannon shots to completely demolish a sturdy castle wall, but Jenelly’s magic stone cannonballs were different.

Like a spider, it stuck tightly to the castle wall and began to emit a red glow that gradually intensified.

Sensing something was amiss, the soldiers on the castle wall became uneasy. The commander of the Frambert knights, directing the soldiers, turned deathly pale in an instant, as if foreseeing what would happen in the next few seconds.

“Ev… Evacuate! Take shelter below the castle wall!”

The commander shouted, but it was too late. The magic stone, which had turned as red as a ripe apple, caused a tremendous explosion. The sound was so loud it seemed to shake heaven and earth.

The formidable castle wall of House Frambert, boasting 400 years of history, crumbled helplessly. Shattered bricks poured down in a jumble, and a cloud of grayish dust rose in all directions. A hellish scene unfolded as soldiers who couldn’t escape in time lost their lives under large chunks of stone.

Even amidst this horrific spectacle, Jurgen and his soldiers, true to their nickname as the Legion of Demons, proceeded to the next strategy without changing their expressions.

“Do-Don’t let them cross the moat! Pour poison into the moat!”

After the commander on the castle wall lost his life, his deputy stepped up to command the soldiers, but the soldiers, having lost their fighting spirit due to the terrifying power of the magic stone cannonballs, were in disarray.

While the Frambert camp was in chaos, Drake’s elite soldiers threw about twenty magical items, another of Jenelly’s inventions, into the moat.

Then, the magical items emitted a light so strong it was blinding and released tremendous heat, causing the water in the moat to evaporate instantly.

Thick steam rose from the sunken pit. The humidity was reminiscent of a hot spring, but not a single drop of water remained in the moat.

Faced with this unbelievable sight, the Frambert knights and soldiers were left dumbfounded, dropping their weapons.

“R-Run…”

“Run away!”

“Aaargh!”

In this situation, some of the soldiers on Frambert’s side began to turn tail and flee.

Fleeing in the face of the enemy was a serious crime punishable by immediate execution under military law, but most of these soldiers were militia who had never received proper training, so they had no pride or loyalty as soldiers.

In the end, Frambert’s ragtag army was no match for Drake’s elite forces who had gained combat experience on the Northern Front, and Frambert’s castle fell in just one hour.

It was a humiliating defeat for House Frambert, who had foolishly overestimated their capabilities.

✦ ✦ ✦

Jurgen personally beheaded the commander of the Frambert knights who had stayed and resisted to the end without fleeing.

He threw the commander’s severed head, dripping with blood, in front of the Count of Frambert and the former countess, who were hiding and trembling in their final defensive position.

At this point, one might expect the knights serving as human shields to step forward to save themselves, but the Count of Frambert merely trembled in fear like a coward, while the former countess, her eyes bloodshot, just screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Don’t retreat at all! Don’t let that barbaric man harm me and my son!”

It was disgusting to see them valuing only their own lives even after losing the castle, causing hundreds of deaths, and witnessing the death of a loyal subject right before their eyes.

Jurgen clicked his tongue softly and carefully surveyed the knights standing in front of him, not the Frambert family. They were visibly shaken after losing their commander.

‘It’s clear who these men have been loyal to.’

This was a common occurrence when an unworthy lord had capable subordinates. The subordinates would be loyal to the capable retainer rather than the lord.

The knight commander who just died must have been their focal point. Instead of issuing further attack orders, Jurgen remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“As things stand, you will all die like dogs. Your superior died honorably. But he wouldn’t have wanted you to die.”

At the deep baritone voice that struck their eardrums, Frambert’s knights flinched, changing their postures or trembling hands holding their swords.

What they needed was absolution from someone and a turning point. Jurgen, having lived as a battle slave, mercenary, and knight before becoming a duke, knew this better than anyone.

“If you don’t want to make the knight commander’s death meaningless, don’t die, but live. If you throw down your weapons and surrender or flee, I will not hold you accountable. You’re free to live the rest of your lives as free men or mercenaries as you please.”

After all, House Frambert had no beautiful noble ladies for these men to offer their romantic love to. Nor were there any superiors left worthy of their respect…

Rather than throwing away their precious lives for non-existent loyalty, they would likely be inclined to survive first and think later.

Much time passed in the heavy silence.

The knights forming the defensive line began to drop their weapons one after another and assume surrender postures.

Once more than half chose to surrender, the remaining knights followed suit, dropping their weapons and surrendering. Surprisingly, no one chose to flee.

Jurgen had his subordinates verify that Frambert’s knights were completely disarmed, then herded them to one side.

Their eyes were uniformly either devoid of fighting spirit or filled with dejection, so it seemed unnecessary to even bind them.

“Y-You traitors…! How dare you!”

The former countess of Frambert, abandoned by the knights, shouted in a tone of utter disbelief. Her son, the Count, just trembled violently, his body tightly curled up.

And then…

Jurgen’s gaze turned to the figure standing quietly like a shadow behind the Count’s family.

He, Escal, was observing all of this with a leisurely smile that was out of place in the situation.

“Come forward, Escal.”

At Jurgen’s command, delivered in a flat voice, Escal raised the corners of his mouth in a broad smile and stepped forward with confident strides, showing not the slightest hesitation.

The knights of House Drake frowned and clicked their tongues at this brazen behavior.

Regardless, Escal, with a face as thick as iron plating, said only what he wanted to say.

“It’s been a long time, brother. Have you been well? I’m at a loss for words that you’ve come personally to fetch this younger brother of yours. Ah, how is Her Highness Princess Vanessa doing? I’ve been so bored here that I terribly miss her lovely beauty and sweet voice.”

The moment Vanessa’s name was mentioned, a storm brewed in Jurgen’s eyes, which had remained calm no matter what nonsense Escal had been spouting.

Following that, Garcia snarled fiercely in a voice reminiscent of a wild beast’s growl.

“You crazy bastard…”