Let me see the effects of the God of War's blessing.

Chapter 424 Let me see the effects of the God of War's blessing.

"You mean the Griffin Knight?" Sharl tilted his head, looking at the gnoll in front of him. "You know her?"

"No, no, I don't know her." Iron Fang quickly shook his head, while lowering his head to avoid Diana's gaze.

This behavior is not quite right.

Charles smiled and prepared to beckon Diana over; perhaps the two of them really did know each other.

"It seems there might be something I don't know," he chuckled, looking eager to learn. "I think I need to find out more."

However, the goblin's words made the gnoll visibly nervous. His hands were tied behind his back, but his body kept twisting and turning, as if he wanted to escape immediately.

"If you don't tell me, I'll hand you over to her." Charles pointed to Diana on the soldier ant.

"I," Iron Fang gritted his teeth, waited a few seconds, and then slowly said, "I was beaten up by her. At the time, she even said that if she saw me again, she would stab me to death with a sword."

"Hmm?" Charles smiled after hearing Iron Fang's words. "As far as I know, she's not cruel at all."

Of course, that's Ciel's feeling, but if it were Red-Eyes and Little John saying it, the answer would probably be different.

"I—" Iron Fang sighed softly, "My mercenary group was previously hired by a human lord to deal with an undead matter."

The monk's incident, along with others—"

He stopped abruptly, then looked up slightly and glanced suspiciously at Diana on the saddle. "Also traveling with us are the Holy Crusade of the Church of the Human God of War."

"Oh, she was indeed a Crusader in the past." Charles nodded with a smile.

"So, your master is the Church of the God of War?" Iron Fang immediately raised his head, looking at Charles with hopeful eyes. "If that's the case, we can accept being employed by the church."

"I'm sorry," Charles chuckled twice and waved his hand, "as I just said, neither I nor my kingdom have any master."

"No owner?"

"Yes, we are free."

These words startled the bald man beside him. He opened his mouth silently. Although Sharl had said that he had no master and did not rely on any power, the appearance of Diana riding the soldier ants and her attitude repeatedly emphasized this point. Even though the gnolls were afraid of this human girl, they could not change the girl's attitude towards the goblin leader.

Could it be true that goblins can survive in the forest without relying on other forces?

"But why would she be in the forest?" Iron Fang still didn't quite believe what Charles said.

"Oh, I hired her. Now she's the commander of the team, of course," Charles shrugged and said calmly, "just now..."

"It was her team that defeated you."

"We were defeated by the Griffin Riders—" Iron Fang murmured several times, then visibly relaxed. Compared to his previous demeanor, it seemed easier for him to accept being defeated by Diana than by goblins.

"Of course, she commanded the goblins and minotaurs." Charles chuckled, adding another blow.

“I know griffin riders,” Iron Fang stretched his shoulders. “A few years ago, we dealt with that necromancer incident together. Of course, they were riding griffins back then, while we didn’t even have enough snake-chickens.”

"I think I heard her mention it," Charles blinked. Before the battle started, Diana seemed to have talked about her encounter with the gnolls. "Back then, a gnoll stole their team's griffin, and one of them even rode on her griffin, only to be kicked by her—"

"Could it be you?" Charles looked the gnoll in front of him up and down, a smirk creeping onto his face.

But the only response he received was Tieya's proudly erect chest. Although he didn't speak, it was as if he were saying, "I am the one who is truly talented."

No, you thief king, what are you so proud of?

The gnoll clearly didn't consider this a scandal; what he was really afraid of was being beaten by Diana again.

It's clear that the gnolls vividly remember that beating.

Is it something like beating up a red-eyed person?

"I understand," Charles chuckled a few times as he looked at the gnoll in front of him, then said loudly, "Diana, come here, there's an old acquaintance of yours."

Upon hearing Ciel's Common Language, Iron Fang's previously proudly squinted eyes widened instantly. "You, no, I—"

"Who?" Diana spurred the soldier ants closer, then quickly jumped down. "What acquaintance?"

"Him," Charles pointed to the gnoll in front of him, "do you know him?"

"A gnoll?" Diana tilted her head slightly, sizing up the other person, seemingly unable to recall who Iron Fang was.

But Iron Fang paid no attention to the goblin and the girl. His gaze was completely drawn to the soldier ant. This huge soldier ant stood to the side, shaking its massive head and opening and closing its mandibles. With its two antennae, it looked exceptionally majestic.

Moreover, the saddle on its back looks very exquisite, a hundred times more exquisite than the cheap leather on the back of the snake-chicken beast, which is just a layer of leather that serves as a saddle.

"You remember, you told me before about stealing the griffin—" Charles smiled and gestured toward Iron Fang.

"Him?" Diana was taken aback, then looked at Iron Fang again, but his gaze was not on her at all. Instead, he was staring intently at the soldier ants, and even drool was about to drip from the corner of his mouth.

"Damn it, trying to steal my soldier ants again?" Diana's lips twitched, and she reached out to draw her longsword.

"Wait a minute, let me finish my questioning." Charles quickly waved his hand to stop Diana. It was clear that the theft of the griffin had indeed angered Diana.

Indeed, nobody likes their newly bought car to be driven away by a dirty guy who then brazenly leaves his mark on it.

Anyone would catch the thief and give him a good beating in this situation.

Charles called out a few times, finally attracting Iron Fang's attention. But when Iron Fang saw Diana's angry expression, he quickly looked away, which amused Charles. "So, you're attacking me on the orders of Quetzalcoatl?"

"Yes," Iron Fang nodded straightforwardly, without any concealment, "Quetzalcoatl, let us attack this place and kill all the goblins we see."

"And then you came? Quetzalcoatl was defeated by us."

"Yes," Iron Fang nodded. "When Quetzalcoatl first descended upon our camp, some people noticed that it seemed to be injured, but even so, its power was still immense. Some of our members were eaten by it when we made a mistake during our march."

"Then why are you still coming?" Charles was a little confused about the thinking of these gnolls. They knew that Quetzalcoatl had been defeated by him, yet they still came to provoke him.

"We can't deal with Quetzalcoatl either, but your master—" Iron Fang said, glancing at Diana, who glared at him fiercely, before quickly lowering his head, "is very powerful, so we thought we'd come and see if we could get him to hire us."

"Looking for survivors?" Charles's lips twitched. "Then why are you attacking?"

Looking at the somewhat hesitant Iron Fang, he thought for a moment and understood. "Oh, I get it. Kill a few goblins to prove yourself first, and then sell yourself to a better buyer."

"We also want a good price," Iron Fang said dejectedly, twisting his body a few times.

"Fine, fine, you came looking for me for a job, and then you killed me first to prove you're capable." Charles shook his head in annoyance. It felt like when I applied for a security job at a company, and to prove my competence, I first sneaked into the company and stole the boss's seal.

"In that case, I think it's best to leave it to you to handle." He took two steps to the side, making room for Diana, and then spread his hands towards Diana, pointing at the gnoll.

Diana, however, gave a wicked smile, then slowly drew her longsword and walked up to Iron Fang.

With a clang, the longsword rested on the jackal's shoulder, less than a centimeter from his carotid artery.

Iron Fang shuddered, and even a few gray hairs on his neck were cut off by the sword.

"Shut up," Diana whispered. "I have my own plans, Uncle. Please don't say anything."

This made Charles chuckle silently; it sounded as if "Fourth Uncle" was encouraging Diana to stab the gnoll in front of her to death.

"How many people are in your mercenary group?" Diana asked sternly.

"Us?" Tieya was taken aback, but when he saw the girl's gaze, he immediately trembled. "985 people."

"However," he hesitated for a moment, then muttered under his breath, "some may have died."

"How can there be so many people? Back in the Kingdom of Argon, each mercenary group only had about 50 people." Diana said, then pressed Iron Fang's shoulder with her "Fourth Uncle" gesture.

"We are a combination of many mercenary groups," Iron Fang said, feeling Diana's "pressure," and quickly began to explain their situation. "Because of the reduced food production in the Kingdom of Argon, no, it should be said that there was a food problem, those lords stopped employing us and even drove us away. They also set their sights on our equipment and money, so we had no choice but to flee for our lives, all the way into the forest."

"In order to survive better," he said, glancing slightly at Diana before adding with a relaxed tone, "that's why we came together to form a large mercenary group."

"More than 900 people," Charles nodded with a frown. He had to admit that this mercenary group was indeed quite large, much larger than any of the legions he had heard of. However, no one would be willing to hire this group of gnolls.

On the one hand, there are too many of them, and too much money and resources are needed, so some lords are unwilling to spend that money.

On the other hand, gnolls are also a restless race. They can be controlled when their numbers are small, but once their numbers increase, they become troublesome. More than 900 gnolls huddled in one lord's territory will soon cause all sorts of chaos.

Is it simply a matter of killing these guys, or sending them back, only to have them controlled by the Feathered Serpent God again?

Charles couldn't figure out what to do for a moment.

"In that case, you need to surrender now," Diana continued sternly, "surrender to this leader beside me and obey his orders unconditionally."

"Huh?" Charles froze, staring wide-eyed at Diana. "No, we—"

Diana turned to look at Charles, smiled, and said, "Didn't you say that the tribe isn't manpower enough?"

"No, it's already —"

"You said it yourself, the troop composition of the clan is problematic. These guys are pretty good riders, they're well-suited for riding soldier ants."

"No, I didn't—"

"Leave what you just said to me."

"I----"

Charles was speechless. He reached up and rubbed his cheek. "We don't have enough money to hire them, their..."

There are more than 900 people.

Diana did not answer Charles directly, but turned to Iron Fang, the gnoll, and said, "Given the irreparable damage your attack has caused to the kingdom, the price for employing you will be in exchange for reparations from you."

"Compensation? Compensation?" Tieya was stunned; he didn't understand what the girl meant.

"That's right, you need to pay compensation to the Goblin Kingdom. Of course, if you don't have the money, you can use your employment fees to cover it."

"In other words," the girl smiled silently, "your employment fees have all been deducted from the kingdom's pay. Of course, the kingdom will still provide you with basic equipment and food in accordance with the general employment regulations."

"You, you mean," Iron Teeth stammered, "that we... have no money."

"Yes." Diana nodded with a smile, while her longsword moved a little closer to the gnoll's neck.

Iron Fang could already feel the coldness of the sword's edge on his neck.

"This isn't a good idea, they are—" Shar waved his hand, speaking somewhat urgently. The tribe had previously incorporated centaurs, goblins, and later minotaurs, but at least these races didn't have any major problems, and they all integrated well into the tribe.

But gnolls are different. These guys are a bit difficult to deal with, and according to Diana, gnolls also like to steal and are even mercenaries who are greedy for money.

Even if they are skilled riders and have some fighting ability, they are still not easy to control.

"What?" Diana smiled as she sized up Charles. "A man blessed by the God of War, surely he can command a group of mercenaries?"

She looked at Charles with great interest, her eyes full of mockery, as if to say, "I want to know why the God of War would bless a goblin, and how powerful a goblin would become if blessed by the God of War."

Charles bit his lip gently and sighed softly.

Immediately afterwards, he slightly opened his palm and began to cast [Mass Intelligence Reduction Curse] and [Mass Language Curse] on himself.

Then, Ciel didn't forget to cast a new spell—[Mask of Hypocrisy].

【Mask of Hypocrisy: You can cast a spell on yourself, making it as if you're wearing an invisible mask, making others more likely to believe you're a kind and "good person." This spell can last until your magic power is exhausted, and it can be cast again to cancel it. Note that this spell has a certain charm bonus, cannot be cast on other targets, and can be seen through by those with very strong willpower.】

"If you really want to surrender," Charles said with a gentle smile, his face showing sincerity.

"I accept your surrender, and not only that, I will also provide you with new mounts."

He then pointed to the soldier ants beside him, "You'll be the one to ride this mount, how about it?"

Diana's eyes widened. "Huh?"