Chapter 261 Chapter 258 The Chivalrous War (Part One)
As the black-haired succubus reveled in her successful deceptions, she felt smug about her future happiness.
A massive beast horde was rampaging across the land of the Duchy of Kason. Under the will of the Mother of All Beasts, they surged towards the port of Le’an like a flood breaching a dam, sweeping away and devouring the villages and castles in their path.
Simultaneously, brave knights from all over the Knight Kingdom of Barto were leading their armies to join the chivalrous war.
Inevitably, various small-scale skirmishes broke out across hundreds of miles of territory.
The flames of war consumed forests, and smoke filled the air.
Seven knights traveled together. They were stained with blood, and there were no soldiers or attendants by their side, just the seven solitary knights.
Black smoke rose on the horizon, dissipating in the thick, overcast sky.
Without a doubt, they were disgraceful and helpless cowards. The beastmen had ambushed a small, reckless contingent of Barto knights, led by a minotaur missing a horn, wielding a heavy battle axe, capable of cleaving a fully armored chivalrous knight and his steed in half.
In the face of despair and slaughter, even the proud and passionate chivalrous knights abandoned their code and fled on horseback, scattering in all directions.
Now, they remained silent, swallowing their shameful defeat in silence.
The leading knight lifted the visor of his pig-faced helmet. He had a pair of black eyes, and his black hair was slightly curled. He said, “Once we reach the Lionheart King’s army, we will clear our shame.”
Another tall knight, wearing an ape-faced helmet, retorted sarcastically, “Are we going to run away again?”
Such blatant picking at each other’s scars immediately drew a rebuttal from the black-haired, black-eyed knight: “It’s clearly the commander’s arrogance; the beastmen launched a despicable ambush. If it were a direct confrontation, who could defeat us Barto knights? Even those beasts know this, which is why they hid in the woods, charging out to scare those timid and cowardly farmers, who crumbled at the first touch, one even clinging to my horse’s leg. Otherwise, I might have skewered that horned minotaur.”
The other knights also loudly complained about the farmers, berating them for being as dumb as pigs, with brains slower than wood, failing to form a front line in time to resist the beastmen’s charge, extinguishing their last hope of turning the tide.
“And another farmer blocked my horse; I struck him with my whip and he didn’t even know to dodge, impeding my charge.”
“They run faster than my horse; no wonder they are honorless farmers.”
The ape-faced knight sneered, saying, “You really know how to make excuses. Next time, will you say the grass is too soft, and the hooves slipped on it?”
The other chivalrous knights glared at the ape-faced knight. In the past, they would have challenged him to a duel, but now everyone understood that no matter the reason, fleeing was still fleeing.
The black-haired, black-eyed knight held his whip and pointed at the ape-faced knight, saying, “You haven’t a drop of blood on you; you must also be a shameful coward.”
“Really? You’re spot on,” the ape-faced knight replied.
“At least I’m better than you,” the black-haired, black-eyed knight said. “Not a single beastman has died under your weapon.”
The other knights unanimously agreed with the black-haired, black-eyed knight’s words.
“My sword is so swift that the blood doesn’t even have time to splatter on me before the beastman dies; only when my comrades slaughter the beasts does my armor get bloodied. It’s a pity…” the ape-faced knight shook his head, “Forget it; once we reach the Lionheart King’s army, we will have our trial.”
The argument temporarily ended as the knights continued westward.
As they progressed, the knights surrounded the black-haired, black-eyed knight, isolating the mocking ape-faced knight.
A stone bridge appeared before them, over a river several meters wide flowing beneath it. Behind the bridge was a small village. Upon stepping onto the bridge, the knights noticed it was quite sturdy, with no significant potholes—a rare sight in such a remote mountain village.
More remarkable was that there were people in this village.
At the bridge’s entrance, there was a barrier, and several militia holding spears respectfully opened it.
The ape-faced knight glanced around and saw that the village was only protected by a little over thirty militiamen, armed with spears or longbows.
If the beastmen who had shattered their forces came, these militiamen would probably panic and run upon seeing the towering minotaur.
Thus, the ape-faced knight raised his visor and said, “Hey, you should run; a large group of beastmen is going to flood in here.”
A stinking, thin, and dark farmer asked, “M’lord Knight, w-what did you say?”
“I said a whole bunch of walking beasts is going to rush in and eat all of you!”
“Really?”
The ape-faced knight replied, “Really, we just had an encounter with them.”
The skinny farmer gasped in shock, “You were driven away by them?”
The ape-faced knight lashed at him with his whip, cursing, “Peasant.”
The skinny farmer immediately ran away in a panic to find the village chief, causing an uproar throughout the village.
The seven knights, once again having their scars exposed, merely wanted to leave the village as soon as possible.
Like many rural areas in Barto, the houses in this village were made of either wood or mud, with thatched roofs made from wheat straw. There were no lights inside, and the narrow doors and windows were dark, resembling caves.
Amongst the many mud and wood houses, a stone church dedicated to the lake goddess stood out prominently. Its doors were tightly shut, and its priest had long since vanished.
As the seven knights passed by a gaggle of squawking geese and approached the church, they saw a monument standing before the goddess church.
“This is actually a small sanctum,” the black-haired, black-eyed knight read the inscription on it and said, “Here lies the armor of a warrior. Let us pray to the goddess for redemption.”
The ape-faced knight said, “These small sanctums are everywhere; many are just clever farmers and priests setting up so-called relics to trick pilgrims into coming to spend money. We should quickly find the Lionheart King; only fighting can redeem our sins.”
The black-haired, black-eyed knight ignored him. He dismounted, stepping onto the filthy ground with his iron boots. The other knights also dismounted, and the six of them stood in the muddy filth, kneeling on one knee with both hands on the hilts of their swords, praying to the lake goddess for her to forgive their sins.
The ape-faced knight wanted to mock them, saying, “So, you’re going to let the beastmen desecrate it?”
But he ultimately held his tongue, fearing to provoke the other knights, jeopardizing his chance of surviving to meet the Lionheart King.
He fidgeted anxiously as he waited for the six knights to finish praying.
At that moment, a commotion broke out. He looked back to see an old village chief, leaning on a cane, leading a group of weeping villagers behind him.
“M’lord Knight!” the white-haired old chief immediately knelt and said, “Please, save this village; do not leave it to the beastmen.”
The ape-faced knight replied, “Why don’t you just hide away?”
The old chief seemed not to hear; he knelt in the mud, wailing loudly, and many behind him followed suit.
“Don’t pay attention to these peasants,” the ape-faced knight said. “They’re just acting.”
The black-haired, black-eyed knight pulled at the reins, turning to leave, and the knights departed together.
The old chief suddenly sprang up, blocking the knights’ steeds with surprising speed, his face wet with tears as he said, “There are many children and women in the village who can’t escape in time; they will all become food for the beastmen.”
The ape-faced knight said, “If we don’t evacuate, we will all become food! Don’t think that I don’t know; you scheming and despicable people want us to hold the rear to buy you time to flee!”
With that, he raised his whip and pointed at the farmers not far away, who were frantically gesturing and gathering their belongings.
Then the whip came down, leaving a bloody mark across the old chief’s face, causing him to fall to the ground, holding his face.
The ape-faced knight grumbled, “I’ve seen plenty of crafty peasants.”
The black-haired, black-eyed knight, however, tightened the reins and picked up his helmet. He glanced back at the village and said, “Everyone, I have an idea. Today, we will redeem our shame, imitating ancient heroes by holding the bridge and guarding the sanctum. What do you think?”
The ape-faced knight said, “Nonsense.”
Strangely, the other five knights agreed.
“Alright! Let’s go to the church and retrieve the relics; may the heroes fight alongside us.”
