Life was unpredictable and often fraught with misfortune. That couldn't be more true for the Wolf Moon mercenary legion at this point in time.

Talan led the Wolf Moon mercenary legion out of Feony Forest, and his plan was to travel to Haggardy, where he and his men could rest and wait for the Four Winds mercenary legion to come out. With their advantage in wealth and numbers, he was certain that it would only be a matter of time before they wiped out the Four Winds mercenary legion.

However, what he failed to anticipate was that the mercenary legions of the Skycourt Kingdom had made their way so far south along the coastline that they were already close to Haggardy.

Haggardy was known as a city, but in reality, it was nothing more than a glorified fort. The population in the city was very low, and most of the city's residents made a living by planting sweetgrass. The sweetgrass that was grown here was normally sold first to Xeto in the northeast, then sold by the merchants in Xeto to Newen along the provincial road. 

Speaking of sweetgrass, this was something that had been discussed between Erwin and Lana back at the Old River Restaurant. Sweetgrass was a type of plant that grew by the sea, and its stem and leaves could be ground into powder to serve as a magic potion ingredient, while its roots could be used as a spice.

Aside from sweetgrass, there really wasn't anything else to speak of about Haggardy.

If it weren't for the fact that Prince Lazaar had once sent people to repair this dilapidated city, it would've still been a run-down fort without any defenses to speak of.

However, a certain mercenary legion from the Skycourt Kingdom was so desperate and demented that they weren't even willing to pass up a place like Haggardy. Furthermore, at a rough visual estimate, they appeared to have over 2,000 people.

The mayor of Haggardy was standing on a tower in the fort, and he was extremely excited to see the flags of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion, which had golden lion heads embroidered onto the left corners. Never had he thought that such a large mercenary legion would be sent to their humble little city, and he immediately ordered his subordinates to open the city's gates and welcome the mercenaries. In fact, he was so excited that tears were welling up in his eyes, and he was struck by the urge to rush over to every single mercenary in the legion and thank them one by one in person.

However, what he failed to anticipate was that the mercenary legion of the Skycourt Kingdom was also not far away. As a result, the mayor had a conundrum to consider. Theoretically speaking, it would've been the correct course of action to allow the Wolf Moon mercenary legion to enter the city so that they could join forces with Haggardy's soldiers to ward off the enemy together. However, the Skycourt Kingdom's mercenary legion had arrived first, so the mayor naturally didn't dare to open the city gates. Thus, he could only shut both mercenary legions out of the city.

Initially, the mercenary legion from the Skycourt Kingdom was planning to conquer Haggardy, but upon spotting the Effer Kingdom's mercenary legion, which they presumed had been sent here as reinforcements for Haggardy, they immediately switched their target, deciding to plunder the Wolf Moon mercenary legion first.

The situation was a very unfortunate one for Talan. Of course, he wasn't actually here to reinforce Haggardy, but that hardly mattered anymore in this situation. The fact of the matter was that the Skycourt Kingdom's mercenaries had set their sights on the Wolf Moon mercenary legion, so a battle was inevitable.

A mercenary from the Skycourt Kingdom's ranks by the name of Luphen made his way forward on horseback, then declared, "Weaklingth of the Effer Kingdom, I thuggetht that you lay down your weaponth and thurrender without a futhth. If you do that, I can let you go in all my grathe and kindnethth. If you refuthe to thurrender, then we'll make you regret ever oppothing our mighty Heavenly Thtar merthenary legion!"

This was supposed to be quite a menacing declaration, but the man who had spoken had a severe lisp as well as a strange accent. Prior to his declaration, both of the opposing mercenary legions were facing one another with grim expressions, yet as soon as he began to speak, the serious looks on the faces of the Wolf Moon mercenaries instantly gave way to amusement, and they were struggling to hold back their mirth.

"How about you thtriaghten out that damn tongue of yourth before you thpeak to me!" Talan said in a mocking voice as he impersonated the man's lisp.

All of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion's men immediately burst into raucous laughter.

In contrast, the mercenaries of the Heavenly Star mercenary legion were looking on with stony expressions, and it was clear that they were either already used to hearing this every day, so it was no longer funny to them, or this was just a normal accent in the Skycourt Kingdom, so they didn't find anything funny about it. 

"You bathtard! How dare you make fun of me!" A furious look appeared on Luphen's face as he raised his horsewhip. All of the cavaliers behind him instantly raised their spears upon seeing this, preparing themselves to charge at any moment.

Talan was lamenting his own ill-fortune, but he knew that a battle with these Skycourt Kingdom mercenaries was inevitable, and he was fully prepared for such an eventuality. The main problem on his mind was the Four Winds mercenary legion, which was still lurking in the Feony Mountains. He was worried that the Four Winds mercenary legion would take advantage of this clash to opportunistically strike when it would benefit them, but there was nothing that Talan could do about that in this situation.

With that in mind, Talan drew his blade and pointed it directly toward the Skycourt Kingdom's mercenaries up ahead. The mercenaries of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion immediately adopted menacing expressions that replaced the amusement on their faces.

Frosty wind was blowing in from the winter sea, sending chills running down everyone's spines. The waves of the sea continued to crash against the beach, completely ignoring the two opposing mercenary legions in the distance. There were also a few detached and disinterested seagulls circling around in the sky, and the sound of their squawking could be heard ringing out above Haggardy.

"My brotherth, let'th kill thethe cowardly Effer Kingdom bathtardth!" Luphen swung his horse whip forward, and all of the cavaliers behind him immediately began to charge forward at once.

"It's time to fight, my brothers! Make sure none of these Skycourt Kingdom pigs get away!" Talan let loose a thunderous roar, and all of the cavaliers of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion behind him immediately charged forward with unstoppable might.

The barren plain to the north of Haggardy was a very spacious area, one that was large enough for the mercenaries of both mercenary legions to adopt their preferred formations before charging toward one another.

The ground rumbled violently beneath the pounding hooves of their gallant steeds, and the blades of their weapons were giving off a cold and unforgiving gleam.

The Heavenly Star mercenary legion held the advantage when it came to cavalry numbers. The Heavenly Star mercenary legion had around 1,200 cavaliers, while the Wolf Moon mercenary legion only had around 800, but the cavaliers on the Wolf Moon mercenary legion's side were the more skilled warriors.

After the first round of arrows fired by the archers of each mercenary legion, the cavaliers of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion suffered extremely few casualties, while over 200 of the Heavenly Star mercenary legion's cavaliers had already been struck by arrows and fallen onto the ground. Not only had they been struck down, they were also tripping over the cavaliers that were charging forward behind them.

Soon, the cavaliers from both mercenary legions were no more than 50 meters away from each other, and the weapons in their hands were already desperately yearning for the blood of the enemy.

Countless galloping warhorses collided with one another as the two sides finally clashed. A string of dull thumps rang out, followed by the sound of neighing horses. Immediately thereafter came the sound of countless clashing weapons, clanging and thudding incessantly.

Generally speaking, in small-scale battles like this, cavaliers were usually able to penetrate through the formation of the enemy during the first charge alone. After that, they would reorganize their formation before unleashing a second assault.

However, all of the mercenaries in the back row of the Heavenly Star mercenary legion were defensive martial artists who were holding huge shields and clad in suits of heavy armor. They stood like immovable mountains, and the cavaliers of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion were unable to break through the defensive line that they formed.

In contrast, the back row of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion was faring far worse. The remaining 500 or so mercenaries they had in the back had to contend with around 1,000 cavaliers from the Heavenly Star mercenary legion, and their formation was instantly destroyed. 

Thankfully, Talan was also situated in the back, and after a series of attacks from his mighty blade, over 10 Heavenly Star cavaliers had already been felled from their steeds.

Meanwhile, the Four Winds mercenary legion was advancing toward the exit of Feony Forest, and the massive commotion taking place outside the forest naturally aroused their suspicions.

"What's going on over there? Why is it so loud?" Larwood asked as he peered into the distance through narrowed eyes.

"It sounds like a battle is taking place. Listen carefully, doesn't that sound like a battle? Not only that, but it sounds like there are a lot of people involved in the battle," Chase said with his brows slightly furrowed.

"Could it be that the Wolf Moon mercenary legion has gotten into a fight with someone else?" Kaiba asked with an amused expression.

"Let's get Georgina to ride on ahead to see what's happening outside the forest," Erwin suggested as he turned to Larwood.

Larwood nodded in response before calling over Georgina.

…

Only after the clash between the Wolf Moon mercenary legion and the Heavenly Star mercenary legion began did Luphen realize that they had run into a formidable foe here.

With a sweep of Talan's blade, yet another Heavenly Star mercenary's head was chopped off. He hadn't even unleashed his three killing strikes yet as there was no one here worthy of the honor of facing his three most fearsome attacks.

As he raised his blade to lash out at the neck of another Heavenly Star mercenary, a black vine whip suddenly swept forth from several meters away before wrapping itself around his blade.

"You theem to be a pretty capable warrior. How about you pick on thomeone your own thithe?" A cold smile appeared on Luphen's face, and with a flick of his wrist, the whip unraveled itself from around Talan's blade before sweeping toward Talan's face.

"I thought I already told you to straighten out that damn tongue of yours before you speak to me!" A disdainful look appeared on Talan's face as he raised his blade to shield himself from the attack.

Thus, a clash ensued between the commanders of the two mercenary legions. Even though Talan was the more powerful one of the two, he still couldn't harm Luphen unless he resorted to his trump card in the form of his three killing strikes.