Chapter 268 Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Five: The Cry
Hundreds of warhorses, with a unified goal, thundered together as their iron hooves struck the ground, producing a rumbling sound.
Under the influence of the fog and battle, the beastmen were already in disarray, fighting chaotically, and when they saw a large group of knights charging in, they instinctively made way. The beastmen, who originally had the numerical advantage, allowed the surrounded knights to launch a unified assault.
Along the way, solitary knights heard the thunderous sound of hoofbeats pounding the earth and joined in, their ranks swelling like a snowball, growing larger and larger.
When the leading Brother George saw the cyclops and its enormous eye, behind him were thousands of iron hooves thundering against the earth, the sound of the hooves converging to become the most blood-pumping battle song for men.
A surge of adrenaline hit Brother George.
He glanced back and saw numerous knights following him.
Is this what it feels like to be a hero?
He was full of spirit, his chest swelling with pride, forgetting fear and humiliation.
The hateful and terrifying cyclops hurled giant boulders at him, but Brother George no longer felt fear. With one hand wielding his knight’s sword and roaring, he kicked hard at the horse’s belly, charging even faster at the cyclops.
“Whoosh!”
Giant rocks flew over his head, the wind bending his helmet’s plume.
Not a single boulder struck Brother George.
Brother George became even more excited, flicking the horse whip vigorously against the horse’s rear, the warhorse raced faster and closer to the cyclops, which showed a look of urgency on its face.
Ah, does the monster know fear too?
He laughed heartily.
The cyclops, which had been throwing rocks at him, suddenly shouted. Brother George couldn’t understand the beastmen’s language, but he heard his nominal brother’s name—George.
Soon they will know, I am no worse than him.
Almost all the cyclops were startled and hurriedly bent down to lift giant boulders, hurling them at Brother George.
The giant rocks fell like rain, all directed at Brother George.
Brother George raised his sword and shouted, “Come on!”
“Boom, boom, boom!”
The boulders fell one after another beside him, splattering mud and stones all over him in a cloud of dust. Brother George could not hear the knights hit by the rocks; he was filled with confidence, believing that his courage would help him evade the boulders.
He pulled on the reins, zigzagging through the rain of boulders, managing to dodge them at full speed.
“Hah, is that all?”
Brother George burst out from the rain of boulders.
Seeing him unharmed, the horned beasts protecting the cyclops were frightened stiff, trembling in place, some even took the opportunity to escape in panic.
The nearest cyclops was only fifty meters away, and it showed clear fear on its face, hurriedly lifting a boulder to toss at Brother George.
“Dodge!”
Fueled by courage, Brother George employed the same trick, pulling the reins tight, and his horse sharply turned right. The boulder that would have struck him head-on hit him squarely on the side.
A tremendous force crashed into his side, and Brother George felt a flash of red in front of his eyes; then the world spun around him as he fell heavily to the ground, his dented helmet rolling away.
The shattered warhorse landed on his thigh, whinnying incessantly.
Brother George tried to move but found that his once-healthy and strong body was completely immobilized; most of his body ached painfully. Every breath felt like a stabbing pain, blood oozed from his mouth, bringing tears to his eyes.
Courage and pride vanished without a trace.
Knights passed by him on either side, charging at the cyclops, shouting: “For the goddess!”
But the sound of hoofbeats and charging no longer stirred his blood.
His hand trembled as he slightly raised it, saying, “Help me, help me…”
No one paid him any mind, for at this moment he was covered in dust and blood, unrecognizable as the George who led the knights.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, falling to the ground.
With broken bones piercing arteries, every heartbeat sent blood gushing from the severed limbs, staining the cold ground beneath him red.
He gradually lost consciousness, unable to hear the sound of hooves or shouts, only the wailing of his mother from the house at the time of his departure.
His outstretched hand for help fell to the ground.
Finally, two knights dismounted.
“George? Are you George?”
“For the goddess! He drew so much fire for us; that cursed rock hit him.”
“He seems to be speaking? Can you hear us?”
“George, do you have any last words?”
Brother George’s bloodless lips moved, uttering:
“Mom… Mom… Mom…”
With each word softer than the last, tears streamed from his azure eyes, dropping onto the dirt, fading away. At that moment, his pair of azure eyes, once filled with life, lost their spark, gazing up at the gray sky.
He was dead.
…
…
“Hard cans! Bad cans!”
Jima swung a branch axe, violently smashing the helmet of a motionless demon knight on the ground.
Deep dents appeared on the thick helmet, and even Jima’s not very strong blow created a hole.
George walked over, his armor battered with many dents and holes, revealing the scorched undergarment beneath, completely soaked, with water dripping from his iron chin.
That was thanks to Eve Frostleaf, who had come to help, commanding the water element to wash George and cool his armor.
Jima stopped and asked, “Are you alright?”
George limped a bit, “I can still fight.”
He crouched down, noticing two knight heads hung from the waist of a demon knight on the ground, one monkey-faced helmet and one dog-faced helmet. George reached out to detach them.
Jima said, “They must have been brave knights, at least that’s what this bad can thinks, otherwise, he wouldn’t have hung them at his waist.”
George detached the heads and said, “I want to give them a proper burial.”
“Sir George.”
A Chalice Knight rode over, leading an idle warhorse with him: “We need you to support the king.”
“Okay.” George quickly mounted, “Thanks for the timely rescue.”
“You should thank your succubus.”
“Did you hear that? Quickly thank your lady, and be sincere.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s a bit better.” Jima flew alongside George, “It’s also thanks to the Lionheart King’s fighting ability, to be able to stop that cyclops in its tracks. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to rally the knights to charge and save your life.”
“Stop in its tracks?”
“Military terminology, referring to short infantry standing under the feet of a giant beast or something big to protect them.” Jima explained, “So that the big guy won’t be encircled and die quickly.”
George jabbed at a beastman blocking their path, “Quite a fitting description.”
The beastmen protecting the cyclops indeed looked like they were propping up the giant.
The encirclement was easily broken, and the other surrounded knights came out, regrouping behind George, easily cutting through the disorganized beastmen who had lost their formation.
The already undisciplined beastmen scattered across the misty battlefield, fighting independently.
The cyclops were getting closer, many of them falling.
Jima patted her belt, only finding a ceramic jar; the rest was empty. Thinking of the money she had spent just to lose it all made her feel as if her heart had been whipped.
Jima said, “Since the fighting is still easy, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Compensation.” Jima extended her hand, speaking righteously, “To save you, I lost three jars of light orbs, filled with the extraordinary materials I painstakingly collected, and a jar of blessing potion for good measure. The cost, estimated to be around ten thousand gold coins!”
“Okay, I’ll compensate you.”
Jima happily exclaimed, “The boss is generous.”
Eve Frostleaf glanced at Jima, truly unsure why George would marry someone so money-focused.
But this was better than having a succubus who was gentle and caring, yet could also save one in times of crisis.
Thinking this, Eve Frostleaf rode her white stallion closer to George, intentionally blocking the black ribbon stuck to the hilt of his sword (Jima’s).
Easily killing their way to where the cyclops were locked in a standoff.
With the reinforcements joining in, the cyclops were outnumbered, falling one by one. The remaining ones dropped their massive stones in panic, trampling over any innocent beastmen in their path, crying out:
“It’s George! It’s George! He’s not dead!”
George unfurled his wings of light, soaring from his back, charging after the fleeing cyclops, and with one sword strike across the back of its neck, he left a terrible gash, causing the cyclops to crash to the ground, with George landing on its nose.
The massive eye of the cyclops stared at George, unable to believe that he was looking down at him and said, “Clearly… I crushed you.”
“Crushed me?” George jumped down, “Am I someone who can be killed by a stone?”
With that, he plunged his massive sword deep into the cyclops’s forehead.
“George! The dragon-slaying George.” A mounted knight with a flying horse rode up, “Hurry, the Lionheart King calls for you.”
George folded his wings and mounted the pure white flying horse.
Jima flew beside him: “You finally have a flying horse. If I were the Lionheart King, I would have given you a flying horse long ago, to move together.”
The flying horse knight reminded, “The Lionheart King currently has no flying horses available.”
“Then at this moment, we should display the knightly virtue of humility,” Jima said, “A flying horse knight should give up his flying horse to the renowned George.”
“The king believes that Sir George can assist the ground forces better in attacking the left flank. As it turns out, he has great foresight.”
“You all thought he was dead, crushed under the cyclops’s stones.”
“Dead?” George exclaimed, “What’s going on? Just now I killed a cyclops, and he said I was clearly dead.”
“Who knows?” Jima shrugged while flying, “They all say so.”
The flying horse knight said, “At the most critical moment, you rallied the scattered knights to charge at the cyclops, but they all claimed you died in the falling boulders; the Lionheart King even removed his helmet in tribute for you. Thankfully, it was just a mistake, and you are not dead.”
“I did not rally the knights; even when I charged with them, no cyclops threw stones at me.”
“How is that possible? Then who was the leading knight that claimed to be George?”
“I don’t know who he is.” George said, “I only know he is a hero. Perhaps he lied, but only a brave person would dare to tell such a lie.”
At that moment, he saw a group of knights surrounding a knight dead in a terrible state, half-kneeling in prayer for him. This was a treatment only heroes could receive on the battlefield.
And that knight’s horrifying state was remarkably similar to George’s own Gothic armor.
George immediately seized the flying horse and began to descend.
The flying horse knight shouted:
“Sir George? What are you doing? The battle is urgent!”
George disregarded him and insisted on going down; before the flying horse landed, he flipped off and raised the helmet of the dead knight, saying, “I am George,” pushing aside the half-kneeling knights as he spoke.
Seeing it was George, the knights stood up, looking at each other in confusion.
George forcefully pulled off the distorted visor from the corpse’s head. Upon seeing the face, he stood silently and raised his right hand to his forehead.
“You are George, so who is he?”
“My brother.” George said, before walking back to his flying horse, mounting it, and leaving with Jima and the flying horse knight.
