Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Endings and Beginnings

The night over Qingyu Ridge remained deep and dark, with remnants of fire flickering among the mountains, illuminating the bloodstained snow.The battle had ended.The Red Tide's division tactics proved entirely effective, forcibly tearing the Snow Swearer forces into isolated, unsupported groups, which were then individually eliminated.This was slaughter, not battle.Although the knights brought by Yorn lacked combat experience, under the guidance of the Red Tide Knights, they were assigned to the outskirts to specifically deal with enemies attempting to escape.They patrolled the battlefield's edge in echelon, intercepting and killing any enemy trying to flee with a single sword strike.But the Snow Swearers were ultimately not common soldiers.They roared, ignited their internal fighting energy, and forcibly entered the "Blood Boiling Frenzy" state, still causing significant casualties.A few managed to escape, fleeing north and spreading news of the bloodshed.But that could not change the outcome.Qingyu Ridge had fallen.And Louis's side suffered minimal casualties, losing only eighteen knights, while the Snow Swearers were nearly wiped out.The entire battle was precise, swift, like a textbook night attack annihilation.Of course, without that small path, and the cover of night, even with three times the troops, Louis would have been dragged into a quagmire by the Snow Swearers.Bond stood in the remnants of the tent, staring incredulously at the now-pacified Qingyu Ridge.He looked down at the mottled blood on the battlefield, then up at the ranks of Red Tide Knights forming up and reorganizing."Is this. how it was taken?" he murmured.Qingyu Ridge, a stronghold that Duke Edmund couldn't resolve over several years, was a constant thorn in his side.Yet now, in one night, Louis had taken it.Cleanly and swiftly, without a prolonged tug-of-war, without disorderly sieges, without even a proper frontal battle.Bond looked at that young silhouette.Louis stood at the high point of the mountain path, instructing several knights on the aftermath, his expression calm.As if all this should have been so."A true young hero," Bond said softly.Yorn stood beside Louis, barely able to suppress a smile."Does this mean I've earned merit?" he asked quietly, excitement barely hidden in his tone, "Will the military report to the Governor include my name?"He barely moved, just leading the knights to block a few waves of escaping soldiers.He won somewhat by muddling through.He rubbed his hands excitedly; clinging to the boss's thigh indeed brought great benefits.After clearing the battlefield, the soldiers began to tally the spoils of war.Several camps and caves were thoroughly searched, filled with grain stores, leather, dried meat, and arrows.There were also looted valuables - gold, silverware, gold coins, woolen cloth rolls, and some old currency from Snow Country.But the most unique item was that mirror soldiers carried out from behind the tent.The shattered mirror embedded in an obsidian round frame, with cracks like a spiderweb, reflected an eerie blue light."The Hidden Mist Mirror."