Chapter 369: Chapter 369

This terrifying scene directly broke the will of the resisting Holy Temple Knights.

Two Legendary-level and seven Epic-level soldiers opened breaches on the walls, and soon the defending army could no longer hold the line, even losing the fortress gate. Content orıginally comes from novèlfire.net

Thousands of elite soldiers of the Golden Pansy Clan flooded into the fortress like a tide, mercilessly annihilating any stubbornly resisting enemy troops.

Soon, a notification sounded for Lin Rui, who had been calmly observing the battle with his hands behind his back outside the city.

[Ding, due to your frosty offensive, the morale of the Lauren Fortress guards has collapsed, and you have captured 138 prisoners.]

[Ding, congratulations to the Army of the Explorer for securing a minor battle victory. All members gain 1000 battlefield experience. Explorer reputation +10, territory reputation +10. Acquired Resource Pack (small) *1.]

[Ding, Crystal Scroll effect triggered, acquiring a total of Tier Two Spiritual Gems *86, Tier Three Spiritual Gems *45, Tier Four Spiritual Gems *27, Tier Five Spiritual Gems *3.]

[Ding, battlefield clearance completed, obtaining Spirit Crystal Coins *1127, Realm Coins *157568.]

[Ding, acquired Fine-level Equipment (Blue) *756.]

[Ding, acquired Enhanced-level Equipment (Green) *1563.]

[Ding, obtained War Leadership Item: Knight Squad Banner *16.]

[War Leadership Item: Knight Squad Banner. The flags that flutter on the battlefield are the most important source of courage for the knights. As long as one soldier holds this banner, the entire team (12/12) gains a layer of the "Banner Hunting" state, morale +5, defense +5%, and attack +5%. Gathering twelve banners for a squad grants an additional layer of the "Banner Hunting" state and enhances the battalion banner effect by 50%.]

The Golden Pansy Army currently most lacked War Leadership Items, and now they’ve got them.

Moreover, the effect is extremely powerful. In full state, not only can it provide soldiers with 10% boost in attack and defense, but it can also rectify the "Wild Battle Banner" effect by 50%.

[War Leadership Item: Wild Battle Banner. A battle flag stained with crimson blood, when held by the Explorer Army, all morale +10, attack speed +10%, and attack power +10%.]

After correction, the "Wild Battle Banner" can make the soldiers’ damage more fierce, with a 15% bonus to attack speed and a 15% bonus to attack, which is almost equivalent to an elite-level trait.

In full effect, the states provided to soldiers by various battle flags include [Fixed Damage Reduction +35%, Divine Damage +60%, Morale +25, Defense +10%, Attack Speed +15%, Attack Power +25%].

Coupled with the Commander Value bonus from Lin Rui, all soldiers have [Attack Power +135%, Defense +135%].

How could the territory army not be strong? It can be said that even in large-scale battles, without the help of Legendary-level or Epic-level soldiers, the elite army of the Golden Pansy Domain can easily defeat the enemy in front of them.

A thousand elite undead under Audrey’s command poured into the city, and soon Audrey rushed back with excitement to report the battle results to Lin Rui.

"Father, we captured 138 soldiers of the Holy Temple Knight Order, all of them are elite soldiers, and their tier is above Tier Three. How should we handle them?"

Lin Rui glanced at the attributes of the Holy Temple Knight Order, which are considered upper-tier within Tier Three, but they are somewhat inferior compared to the Sun Flame Knights.

The main difference is that they lack the two strongest elite knight traits of the Sun Flame Knight Order.

[Elite Knight: Elite-level Trait: Life Value +10%, Damage Reduction +10%, Weapon Damage +10%, Extra Experience Gain +5%.]

[Heroic Faith: Elite-level Trait: Courage is the most important virtue for a knight to defeat enemies. A steadfast will grants knights a more heroic performance. Knights who firmly believe they will win have an attack power increase of 20%, attacks come with 10% piercing damage, and vital attacks undergo willpower judgment, turning into lethal damage upon passing judgment. Knights who believe they will hold out until dawn have a blocking rate of +20%, and triggered blocks undergo willpower judgment, increasing damage reduction by 10% for 10 seconds upon passing judgment.]

These two traits have established the unparalleled status of the Sun Flame Knight Order in the territory.

With a 10% damage reduction, coupled with the territory’s Extreme Battle Banner, clan badges, and similar treasures, their damage reduction can exceed 50%.

It should be noted that the Commander Trait of Empress Wutong at Holy Spirit Level only provides soldiers with a 50% damage reduction effect.

And "Heroic Faith" makes this unit very idealistic. So idealistic that when defending, their damage reduction reaches 60%, and when attacking, there’s a high probability of delivering a fatal blow.

Therefore, they can always create miracles. If they were under the command of Commander Wutong, the Sun Flame Knight Order would be nearly invincible.

Whether facing bombardments from Mage Corps or rain of arrows covering the sky, they can withstand the damage and attack with all their might. Opponents without True Damage can’t harm them at all.

In comparison, the Holy Temple Knight Order’s attributes aren’t bad, but their traits are much poorer.

They are an offensive unit, strong in charges and attacks, and cannot be controlled during charges, while their lance attack power significantly increases.

But for offensive units, Lin Rui has stronger Griffin Knights, who are also more flexible in mobility. There are still many soldiers in the territory waiting for griffins to breed, along with mounts.

So the biggest issue with these Holy Temple Knight Order soldiers is that they are stuck in an awkward position.

Independently forming an army, they are decent. But to integrate into the territory army system, they don’t fit anywhere.

After serious consideration, Lin Rui made a decision: "Let Hanna sell them to the Explorers behind us. We need to advance rapidly and can’t waste time managing prisoners."

Audrey was shocked: "Selling such elite soldiers to the Explorers? What are we selling, resources? Isn’t that a bit wasteful?"

Lin Rui smiled, patting her head, saying: "Not resources, but according to the Recruitment Scroll trade. Those with Recruitment Scrolls can purchase with priority. Use the prisoners to expand the size of the Black Banner Guard and the Holy Hall Maid Guard."

"But we don’t sell for resources, we do it through Recruitment Scroll transactions. We need to make progress without delay and can’t manage prisoners right now." The problem, as even Audrey pointed out, was that the Explorers didn’t have many Recruitment Scrolls.

The reason not to train the prisoners into the main territory’s soldiers and directly sell them to other Lords and Explorers, is to exchange for a larger scale army.

These prisoners are also equivalent to Elite-level soldiers to those Lords and Explorers due to their tier and can be traded with the Recruitment Scroll.

Selling the prisoners to other lords and explorers is also a benefit for Golden Pansy as it allows them to exchange for more extensive forces.

Following Lin Rui, these feudal territories’ troops will soon form a Templar Order of over a thousand soldiers in number.

Regarding the deferred payment, it doesn’t even count as a benefit, it’s actually Lin Rui’s strategic investment. After all, it’s no longer the era of self-sufficient smallholder economies.

Following Lin Rui, these feudal domain troops will soon form a Holy Temple Knight order with numbers in the thousands.

This makes territories expand their power and trade capacity, a clear advantage for Golden Pansy Domain once they have more resources coming in.