Chapter 103: Iron Bones Clash, bl**d Burn (Part 2)
“Caw—”
The pitch-black raven swooped in, riding a light breeze as it landed on my shoulder. Its head tilted, a scarlet eye fixated on me as it screeched, “Caw—Caw—”
“Stop squawking, stop squawking, be good…”
For some reason, it seemed a bit flustered, so I gently stroked its feathers… Hmm?
Something felt off.
I quickly turned my head, only to find Goat Cheese’s glossy black feathers were mostly missing from its back and half its tail, looking as if it had been singed by flames… It was injured.
“Who did this…?”
“Caw—”
“Fire! Fire! Hot, so hot—”
Fire?
What fire? Is it referring to Sin Fire…?
…This bird actually answered my dumb question!
I gawked at it in surprise, and then spotted the note tied to the silly bird’s leg.
Oh no, the message tube was singed too…
“What’s going on?”
Behind me, Isaac’s heavy voice inquired. I didn’t turn around, focusing instead on removing the burnt tube from Goat Cheese’s leg, saying, “It’s a letter, there might be news…”
But I wasn’t sure.
I took off the tube, pulled out the slightly yellowed, charred letter, and carefully unfolded it. The handwriting was rather hasty, and most of it was burnt beyond legibility.
[This is Beiyard.
My caravan and I risked our lives reaching Alectine City, losing over half of our currency exchange personnel and supplies… We attempted to send messages three times, but the messengers went missing. The heretics launched a fierce attack. My father leads the remaining knights in a desperate defense, the battle is brutal… The north wall has collapsed, the heretics are vicious beyond words… Our food supplies are critically low, support from the nearby city is unthinkable, the Warhammer Army has rebelled, and the Third Knights Order fights alone…]
“Where’s this letter from?!?”
Isaac’s bald head leaned in.
“From the Currency Exchange, in Alectine City… they’ve seen the Third Knights Order…” I mumbled.
The text was choppy and painful to read, but I could grasp most of the meaning. My heart raced as I continued reading.
[… We have less than three thousand left, estimates say there are over ten thousand heretics to the north, south, and east, most of whom are rebels and refugees… They are attacking with civilian captives… The knights are defensively engaging, trapped in a bind, morale is low… The city has been breached twice, and it’s a near-d*ath experience… Supplies have been cut off, and some heretics can use fireballs to intercept birds, making communication difficult…]
[This is my last attempt, Miss Peilo. May your raven be safe, may Commander Isaac come to aid, and complete the junction with the Third Army against the heretics… If Alectine City falls, then my father and I will both be dead… We will share the same fate as Alectine City.]
[Attachment: Your brother Barry is alive. I’ve seen him.]
Alectine City is about to fall…
Barry is still alive!
In that moment, it was hard to tell if I felt more joy or worry. Ignoring the bald head’s questions, I walked back to the tent, slapping the letter down in front of Angel, who looked slightly confused.
…………
Meanwhile, a few kilometers outside Alectine City.
The wind blew over damp soil, the sound of clopping hooves echoed. At the edge of the woods, three knights rode Horned Horses, cautiously advancing as their eyes locked onto a nearby thicket. Suddenly, one of them raised a hand, prompting the other two to quickly rein in their mounts, hands moving to their sides as they unsheathed their longswords with a clink.
Whoosh—
A blazing fireball appeared in their line of sight, exploding with a “bang!” as they sliced it apart with their swords. In that fleeting golden moment, someone leaped from a tree with a blade drawn, leaves falling like confetti, causing the Horned Horse to panic and spin. Amidst peals of laughter, another figure charged in, fists wrapped in scarlet flames, smashing down on the Horned Horse’s neck.
A gory spray of bl**d and flesh erupted as the Horned Horse let out a wailing cry, toppling over while its knight was thrown into the mud, sword flying from his grip. He quickly stood up, a white light flickering in his right fist, and punched out at the advancing heretic, both of them sent sprawling back with a damp thud.
“Ah hahahaha—”
Amidst the maniacal laughter, another heretic, hiding in the trees, pounced down, stabbing the knight who was hit by the fireball right in the chest. They fell off the beast in an embrace of doom, the heretic pinning the knight down and landing a few punches to his face, before being kicked away three or four meters by the beast’s hooves, rolling to the side.
The fallen knight coughed bl**d from his mouth and nose, a longsword protruding from his chest as the golden light around him fizzled out. The towering knight who hadn’t been hit glared with fury, roaring, “d*mn heretics!” as he charged the fallen heretic, who rolled to dodge, springing back to his feet, with infernal fire raging in his palm, aiming it at the knight’s retreating form.
On the other side, the young knight who had been punched got up. Before he could steady himself, his longsword flew through the air towards the heretic, who failed to dodge in time. The sword plunged into his abdomen with a “thunk.” The heretic swayed, glanced down at his wound and then began to laugh maniacally, deep red flames igniting from his bl**d and spreading across his body as he lunged at the knight.
Boom—
Suddenly, a ferocious fireball exploded nearby. The Horned Horse neighed in terror, its back half engulfed in flames as it bolted away. The towering knight leaped off the beast, clashing swords with the pursuing heretic in a series of “clang, clang, clang” sounds. The fourth swing knocked the longsword from the heretic’s grasp, with the knight murmuring softly as his left hand brushed against the sword’s blade, “Whirr—” The sword shone with brilliant purple light. He bellowed, swinging the sword to behead the heretic, a splash of bl**d bursting forth dramatically.
“Get back—!”
The headless body of the heretic crumpled as the towering knight knelt, quaking as it fell. He shouted to the nearby young knight, who was busy grappling with another heretic. At the call, the young knight quickly retreated, and the towering knight swung his sword through the air, violet light slicing through the dirt and hurtling towards the last heretic, cleaving him in two.
Crash—
Bloodied guts spilled across the mud as the bisected heretic fell, desperately clawing at the ground, dragging his upper body forward while grinning maniacally. But the next moment, his body began to swell rapidly.
“Run!”
The young knight hopped onto the beast, while the towering knight mounted the dead knight’s Horned Horse. He turned back one last time to glance at his fallen comrade’s body before fleeing with the young knight, followed by a deafening explosion as the scarlet flames surged behind them, toppling several large trees in the chaos. A hot wind swept through as they hunched low, escaping the woods.
“d*mn lunatics…”
In the blink of an eye, the fierce battle quieted down, leaving only a streak of scarlet behind. The two knights galloped for a while until they reached the edge of the woods on a hill, about to turn when a dark shadow suddenly flashed in their sight.
“Watch out—”
The tall knight reacted quickly, instinctively reaching for the hooked spear at his side. With a swift flick, the weapon transformed into a deadly form. However, the black figure struck like lightning, appearing from ten meters away to right in front of the knight as the ground erupted under them, dirt flying everywhere. The figure leaped high, just as the knight swung his spear.
Swish—
bl**d sprayed everywhere.
The towering knight was knocked off his Horned Horse, rolling on the ground in a flurry of his own bl**d.
“Ahhhhh—”
The young knight roared with fury, steering his beast toward the fallen shadow and, at the same time, he stood up on the Horned Horse’s back, preparing to attack with a fiery golden light in his right hand.
But in the next moment, from the shadows of the hill, a fireball flew forth with a “whoosh,” exploding and sending the young knight and his steed tumbling through the air, soaring nearly two meters before crashing down. The Horned Horse kicked up its hooves, and moments later, fresh crimson bl**d soaked the ground. The young knight found half of his body trapped beneath the massive beast, smoke rising from half his face, bl**d and flesh disfigured.
He screamed in agony, struggling to escape. Suddenly, the dark figure loomed into his vision, blocking out the sunlight.
In the final moment, the young knight saw the opponent raise their massive blade.
“I’ll be damned—”
Puff.
The longsword plunged into his chest.
His vision blurred, unable to make out the attacker’s face, and then blackness enveloped him.
Behind the hills, several figures emerged, dressed in strange outfits. They looked at the fallen Horned Horse and knight in the pool of bl**d, clicking their tongues. The lead black-clothed man, calm-faced, gazed at the one who just made the k*ll.
“Couldn’t you leave one alive, Weithermill?”
The heretic named Weithermill frowned slightly. “The Knights Order usually sends scouts in teams of three. Here, there are only two. The other one might be nearby…”
The black-clad man shook his head.
“Did you not hear the explosion earlier? They fled too hastily, surely they must have already clashed with our men. Most likely, one died making a getaway. This area is likely swarming with scouts. What does this mean? It means the First Knights Order is right behind you, and they’ve just arrived. These guys are nothing like those holed up in the city. Coming back from Silent Fortress, you should know this well… Who’s leading?”
“Isaac.”
“Oh…”
Hearing Weithermill’s answer, the black-clad man nodded. “That’s a bit troublesome. Anyone else?”
“There’s a little girl.”
“A little girl?”
“The Frost Order.”
“Frost… You mean that girl named Silvya? I heard she’s only sixteen?”
“From a distance, pretty much.”
“Hmm, that isn’t too frightening…”
“It’s just that the First Knights Order came faster than we expected. I’m not sure if Mr. J’s plans can proceed as smoothly… In any case, we need to step up our game and make sure they don’t get any information out. If we can finish off the knights in the city before dawn, victory will be practically guaranteed.”
Weithermill cleaned the bloody longsword, grinning mischievously.
“Perhaps we won’t even have to wait until dawn…”
…………
Ten kilometers away, in the ruins of a village.
Isaac, draped in golden armor, rode a massive Horned Horse up onto a makeshift stone platform.
“My valiant knights!”
He bellowed down at the throngs of warriors below, his voice booming like thunder, his smile as terrifying as a demon’s.
“The time to slay the rats is nigh; they’re just ten kilometers away!”
“There are over ten thousand rats! They’re besieging Alectine City! The brothers of the Third Knights Order are fighting back bravely! They’re at their breaking point—”
“The horrors of Silent Fortress are still fresh in our minds. I will never forget, and neither will you! Those poor women, those sinners driven to the brink! Demons using vile and cruel means to swell their ranks! Every evil fruit! The instigator of all this! We’re one finger away from crushing them!”
“Whoever they are! Jester, Weithermill, they’re all just worthless dogs! It doesn’t matter if it’s ten thousand, fifty thousand, or even a hundred thousand! What you must do is bury them here, bury them in this land! With your swords, your guns, your miracles, with your hands and teeth! Let them pay for their sins! Let their bl**d and flesh drown your ankles!”
From the high platform, Isaac’s powerful voice rode the dust winds, booming like thunder that shook the earth.
He raised his right fist high.
“Fist of Judgment!”
The knights below, rising in a wave, pounded their chests, over a thousand voices erupting in a roar like the tide.
“May the Deity be with me————!!”
At that moment, the earth trembled.
