"He's deliberately trying to lure people out and let more Barbarians escape. Conversely, as long as we don't interfere, he can't do anything to us. The more Barbarians we kill, the more desperate he'll become." Gene realized he couldn't let this continue.

Though he intended to escape himself, he spoke with such skill that he managed to deceive Michelle.

Driving the carriage forward towards the village, out of the Archer's range.

At this moment, the brutal combat in the village escalated the bloodshed.

The Heavy Armored Knight charged into the Barbarian Tribes, letting their attacks fall upon his body without dodging, seizing the opportunity for slaughter. His Warhammer swung, and none could withstand it.

There were some Barbarian Musketeers shooting, but the impact was negligible. Lacking equally powerful adversaries and without heavy weaponry to breach armor, this was sure to be a massacre.

Yet those Barbarians were not ordinary people either. Driven to desperation, they unleashed savage combat abilities, and the Personal Guard wasn't as strong, leading to casualties.

Michelle didn't care about this; he only cared that the Barbarian Plunderers were being killed relentlessly, their wails sounding like beautiful music to him.

The Barbarians were all skilled, and without an absolute numerical advantage, a group of them managed to escape.

As the Heavy Armored Knight commenced the slaughter, the Archers outside engaged the Cavalry, breaking the Personal Guard's blockade.

Once the battle ended, Michelle, who had been joyful earlier, now appeared exceptionally irritable, because twenty of his Personal Guards had died under the Barbarian counterattack.

But what truly infuriated him was the Archer who, right before his eyes, assisted the Barbarians in escaping, and the Cavalry who pursued them were killed, making the remaining ones too afraid to advance.

"Damn it! Useless! They're all..."

Fickle as always, Michelle was a complete madman who was born with everything others yearned for, while Gene had to work tirelessly for such a man.

Gene bowed his head, concealing his complex emotions; now, amidst the Empire's chaos, it was an opportunity, and he intended to ascend to the top step by step.

"No need to be angry, my lord. They've already been scared senseless. What's left are just a few people." Gene looked up again, revealing a sinister smile, "You led us to fiercely counterattack, successfully killing those Barbarian Plunderers trying to steal the military supplies and protected the resources. When we return and present these Barbarians' heads, no one can say anything against you."

Gene was indeed Michelle's loyal dog, skillfully diverting Michelle's attention with flattering words, lifting him high in esteem.

But it must be said, these Barbarians indeed became a feather in Michelle's cap, pacifying his ruffled temper in no time.

"Good, you're right." Michelle knew his father had always looked down on him. If he displayed these achievements, even his father might have to acknowledge him.

Gene pleased him greatly, completely ignoring the battle-worn Personal Guard leader and those soldiers, instead turning to Gene for advice.

"What do you think we should do now?"

"By capturing Hamlet, we can secure more food to return, stabilize, or even push back the front lines. You, my lord, could become the savior of the Empire."

If initially, Gene wasn't fully convinced of acquiring resources through slaughter, maintaining some merchant's mindset.

However, he now understood to utilize Ovando, even the entire region as his nourishment.

He decided to use this madman, Michelle, to clear obstacles for himself, regardless of how many lives were lost.

It was at this moment he truly became Nobility.

A real "Knight."

"Good, let's set off quickly."

Michelle urged from inside the carriage, completely ignoring the fact that the Personal Guard had just survived an intense battle.

"My lord didn't have a good rest last night; your health is the priority. These trivial matters are left to us."

Gene acted as a mediator, calming Michelle down, and then took stock of the survivors.

It must be said, because the Barbarians aimed to capture Slaves and didn't kill, and the ensuing chaos left no time for targeting them, the casualties were surprisingly minimal.

Gene consolidated them, the city defense force utterly disappeared, all becoming drivers and laborers, no one caring about their opinions.

The carts were hitched to the horses again, stripped Barbarian equipment loaded onto them, invaluable in times of war.

More horrific was the entire cart filled with severed heads, blood continuing to seep through the gaps in the wooden boards.

Though the weather had started to cool, those heads would soon rot if not treated properly.

Where would one find salt and lime here? Even if they wished to, Michelle couldn't wait; they had to reach Hamlet quickly.

As Gene pondered, the long-absent Transcendent appeared, cloaked in a hooded robe hiding his form.

Gene noticed this odd person was previously doing something to the Barbarians' corpses, but dared not ask. Even someone as mad as Michelle wouldn't provoke him; Gene shouldn't risk it.

Then he watched the stranger doing something to the cart filled with heads, but he soon left.

Once the stranger departed, Gene, driven by curiosity about the inexplicable power, couldn't resist pretending to check, opening the cart only to find all the heads seemed drained dry.