Viscount Sadde’s own ideas weren’t wrong. Political affairs were rarely ever settled by a simple elimination of one’s opponent. Breaking off diplomatic relations might feel satisfying, but the consequences were unpredictable, and compromise was the essence of politics, allowing matters to remain under control.

Sol might not have been a master politician, but he had occupied a high position for decades. He was no naïve fool who knew only force and had no skill in compromise.

However, compromise required both parties to possess the necessary strength and authority to sit at the same table and bargain. If the Saad family had been able to hold out against the guard’s assault and deny Sol a swift victory, he would, for the sake of the greater picture, have made some concessions to the twelve noble families of Bolay City.

If that had been achieved, Viscount Sadde’s goal would have been accomplished as well. To outright rebel, declaring their intent to remove the king, would have been impossible; they dared not do it.

Although the kingdom’s power and control over the regions had begun to wane, the Imperial Capital remained formidable. The dragon knights stationed there were still a sword hanging over any noble with disloyal thoughts.

Seeing that there was no intention to surrender within Saad Castle, Sol wasted no more words.

“Kutz, Dain, each of you lead a division’s worth of elite soldiers. Prepare to attack with me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Each division, when fully manned, should have five hundred soldiers. Two divisions would amount to one thousand.

The space before Saad Castle was not large, as the fortress was built within Bolay City, and the narrow streets nearby limited the area available for deploying troops. Launching an attack with a thousand soldiers on such a constrained battlefield would already push the limits of their capabilities.

After receiving their orders, Kutz and Dain prepared to lead their men in attacking the castle.

Though Sol had demoted Dain to the rank of common soldier, there was no way he would pass up using a Great Knight of such renown, especially after serving in the guard for so many years. By allowing him to lead a division as a private, Sol was setting a precedent without modern precedent—and certainly no historical antecedent.

Setting aside Dain’s curious status, the guard’s attacking troops were swiftly assembled. The unit included some ten simple ladders, hastily forged over the past few days, and a few soldiers equipped with grappling hooks.

These tools might assist the attackers in reaching the walls, but they would likely struggle to breach the defenses of the fortress with such meager equipment alone. Even thousands of lives lost in the attempt might not be enough.

The two divisions preparing to storm the castle were the elite of the guard, and they swiftly made ready and awaited orders.

At the front of the line stood Sol, clad in a full suit of gold armor and holding a broadsword as tall as a door in one hand. He was decked out in gold, more eye-catching than any white-armored knight on the battlefield, a real-life magnet for aggro.

Of course, Sol didn’t care; in fact, his goal was to draw as much enemy fire as possible.

With a sweep of his massive sword, he shouted, “Charge!”

He didn’t bother with any pre-battle speeches to rally the troops; there was no need when their commander led the charge. (The disheveled Austrian painter did not count.)

“Kill!”

Following their commander’s lead, Kutz and Dayne also led their respective units into attack. The previously quiet streets echoed with the sounds of slaughter.

At this point, no one was worried whether their meager siege equipment could breach the walls of Sadde Castle—they weren’t even keeping up with their commander’s swift advance.

“Archers!”

Although the assault had been sudden, the garrison troops had been on high alert. At Viscount Sadde’s command, the first wave of arrows loosed from the castle’s walls.

The defenders, aided by the height of the fortress, could shoot their arrows farther, and over a hundred of them found their mark in the attacking force. Most of them, intentionally or not, struck Sol, who led the charge.

From a distance, Sol, clad in golden armor, looked like a magnet drawing all those arrows to him. It seemed as if, in the next second, he would be pierced with ten thousand arrows.

Yet after the shower of arrows, Sol remained unharmed, even as he ignited his Earth Knight’s fiery golden energy. The arrows couldn’t get within two meters of him.

This energy field acted as an impenetrable barrier, keeping all the arrows out. His momentum wasn’t slowed even the slightest bit.

However, the soldiers behind Sol lacked such powerful defenses. The defending archers used powerful bows, and the force of gravity only added to the lethal impact of their arrows.

Even though the defending troops were well equipped, their iron armor couldn’t defend against these deadly projectiles raining down from dozens of meters above.

“Thud, thud…” The sound of arrows piercing flesh filled the air as over a dozen soldiers dropped one by one.

Yet the attacking force’s momentum showed no signs of faltering. When one soldier carrying a battering ram fell, another swiftly took their place.

“Loose arrows, quickly!”

The attacking army had covered over a hundred meters to reach the wall, and after three rounds of volleys, they had lost nearly a hundred men, even with Sol drawing the archers’ fire. The soldiers on Sadde Castle’s walls were even more elite than they had anticipated.

“Scale ladders! Up!”

Seeing that they were almost at the wall, Kutz shouted for the scale ladders. Regardless of how crude these tools were, without them, there was no way to breach the fortress.

Sol had already reached the wall. The towering structure posed no challenge to his assault. With a leap, he soared ten or more meters into the air. If the walls of Sadde Castle were any shorter, Sol would have landed directly on the top.

His jump drew the attention of everyone in the courtyard. It was impossible not to notice, given his golden armor and the height of his leap.

Viscount Sadde’s eyes were fixed on Sol, his heart practically leaping into his throat as Sol soared higher and higher.

He knew that if a powerhouse like Sol managed to scale the wall, he could easily clear out a section of the wall, allowing the defending troops to rush in through the breach. The castle would be lost in seconds.

Fortunately, Sol’s jump wasn’t quite high enough to reach the top, and he had already begun his descent.

Bang!

Before Viscount Sadde could fully relax, Sol had tossed his broadsword at the wall from midair.

The broadsword, made of some unknown material, sank halfway into the wall with no resistance. Sol landed steadily on the sword, the entire movement smooth and clearly premeditated.

“Hot oil!”

As everyone was stunned, Viscount Sadde seemed to realize something. He shouted orders at his soldiers, telling them to bring him boiling oil.

But Sol wasn’t idle. Just as several Saad family soldiers were about to pour their boiling oil over him, Sol leapt from the half-buried sword.

Clang!

Ah!

Sol kicked the boiling oil, sending it splashing back onto the unfortunate Saad family soldiers below, eliciting a chorus of screams.

Sol landed steadily atop the wall…