City of Sin

Book 3, 12

Knight

A group of strange people entered the Eternal Plains in autumn, stepping on the road to Faust. Their carriages were bright and colourful, the guards mostly barbarians warriors. Amongst them was a small group of knights in extremely beautiful armour, their sigil a tree branch bent into a ring. The maple knights of the Millennial Empire were one of the three largest knight legions tasked with guarding the imperial capital, and had a great reputation on the continent.

As they stepped onto the Eternal Plains, the barbarian warrior at the helm of the group, at least a head taller than the next largest man, used the extended field of view of the plateau to follow the road up Miracle Peak to the City of Legends, Faust.

This was Steelrock, Mountainsea’s closest guard. His brutal aura had faded from his last visit to Norland, replaced by the desolate sense of distance of Klandor. He stared at the City of Legends for a whole three minutes before nodding hard, “This is more like it!”

When they reached the base of the mountain, the caravan was stopped at the checkpoint. When the soldiers on guard were looking over the documents as per regulation, a patrolling group rushed over from the side. Their leader was a rune knight! Only Faust was so luxurious that even the patrol team leaders were full rune knights.

The soldiers stopped before the caravan and pointed to the large wagons, asking coldly, “What’s inside?”

One of the barbarians spoke up, “The skeleton of an ancient beast, for young master Richard of the Archeron Family.”

“An offering?!” the rune knight shouted reflexively out of shock. Countless ideas started to pass through his mind; these wagons before him were worth more than their weight in gold! He made up his mind incredibly quickly as well, immediately waving at the knights behind him as he shouted, “These people could be spies! Take them to the back, the items on the wagon should be inspected carefully!”

The rune knight’s words left the barbarians both shocked and angry. However, those who were familiar with Faust’s recent circumstances clearly understood the unspoken meaning behind those words. The patrolling of Faust’s surroundings was always undertaken by the powerful families in turn.

This rune knight was from the Joseph Family, who were already arch-enemies with the Archerons. The barbarian warrior had casually revealed that the wagons were delivering ancient beast skeletons that could be used as an offering, and it was even for Richard. Unfortunately, with Gaton trapped on another plane, island 7-2 was currently at its emptiest. Because of that, the rune knight made the decision to seize them by force. He even felt proud of his determination and quick thinking.

They were just a group of barbarians, what could they do in Faust?

The moment the rune knight gave the command, the knights behind him swarmed forth with the intention of surrounding the caravan and taking the precious wagons. However, what happened afterwards wasn’t as beautiful as the knight imagined. The first few that went forward were all flung back much faster than their charge, as if they were flies being swatted away. A huge, strong body appeared before the rune knight, a scarlet pattern drawn across his bare chest. Outside of a beast-tooth necklace hung around his neck, there wasn’t even a single weapon or accessory on his body.

A single sweep of Steelrock’s arm had sent all the knights before him flying.

The rune knight’s eyes narrowed. This barbarian in front of him struck fear in his heart, but he couldn’t feel any kind of powerful energy or aura from the man’s body. It seemed like the fellow relied purely on natural strength. With the blood of wild beasts flowing through the barbarian tribes, this was a common thing that was not worth fearing.

Seeing the second wave of knights also getting thrown out by the man, the rune knight rushed up hot-bloodedly, roaring in anger, “You dare behave in such an atrocious manner under the city of Faust? Send the alert!”

A blood-red flare flew into the sky, letting out an ear-piercing whistle. The rune knights on duty from the Joseph Family would rush over immediately, their leader a saint!

The rune knight stared at the barbarians before him with a sneer. In his eyes, these savages were as good as dead. However, he suddenly frowned when he saw that exceptionally large warrior; that man’s prideful gaze was untameable, with even some contempt within. It was as if he felt like the signal for help was incredibly disdainful.

The rune knight’s eye twitched, seeing red in an instant. He did not like others being arrogant before him, and now he didn’t care about hiding his intent to annihilate the caravan! Letting go of the mask, he spurred on his horse and activated all his runes. Rushing up to Steelrock in a flash, he slashed down with a huge sword that weighed a few hundred kilograms!

“Do you want to die?” The look in Steelrock’s eyes suddenly changed, growing fierce and terrifying like a wild beast. He actually laughed in the face of the crazed rune knight that was charging towards him, his mighty aura becoming a tornado that surged into the sky as the ground beneath his feet cracked apart in an instant!

The barbarian raised his thick leg, simply kicking the knight’s warhorse in the chest. The creature’s abdomen immediately sunk in, its neck twisted unnaturally as it flew back from whence it came. A single kick had stopped a rune knight’s wild charge!

Blood suddenly sprayed out from the rune knight’s visor, his heavily armoured body flying off the horse. Still, he was a master amongst knights, not admitting defeat so easily. Regaining control of his body in mid-air, he twirled his huge sword around to strike towards Steelrock.

Steelrock remained standing in the same spot, only sending a punch forwards. His huge right fist landed firmly on the rune knight’s body, and after an ear-piercing sound of metal twisting the entirety of his armour was left unrecognisable. The man flew out over ten metres, falling with a plop before rolling another ten. Fresh blood spurted out of the cracks in a torrent; one look would be enough to know he was deader than dead.

Steelrock’s simple moves that had eliminated their captain shook all the patrolling knights. His grand aura startled the warhorses, forcing the weaker ones to their knees.

Steelrock looked around with a sneer, shouting, “You lot dare steal Mountainsea’s gifts? You have guts!”

An angry shout suddenly rang out from afar, “Mountainsea? What is that? You wild dogs, you lot will die here today!”

An entire squad of rune knights sped over from a kilometres away, the iron hooves of their mounts kicking up a storm of dust no less than would come from an entire company of heavy cavalry. In fact, their power was only greater than a well-equipped company! At the head of the squad, a horse flew across the plains like it was walking on the wind. The knight atop it was emitting a powerful aura that made it seem like flames were raging all over his body. This was clearly a saint powerhouse!Steelrock’s gaze turned cold. He suddenly restrained his aura, the earth-shattering pressure disappearing without a trace as he strode forward, the huge body seemingly losing weight and growing agile.

However, he had taken only a single step before a hand stopped him.

This was one of the maple knights, only different from his comrades in that he had two swords crossed on his back instead of one. He had the figure of the average man, but he still quietly stopped Steelrock with that single hand. “You’re too brutal, let me do it.”

Steelrock grew angry at that, “Why? Are we barbarians even afraid of them?”

The knight shook his head, “No, but if you do it your way it will bring Richard a lot of unnecessary trouble.”

Steelrock hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded, “Alright! You lot on the mainland have a bunch of strange rules. But don’t you forget, he insulted Her Excellency Mountainsea!”

The knight nodded in response, “I understand.”

He then strode forward, stopping before the charging formation of rune knights. He was still stood casually, but a sharp aura suddenly rose towards the sky. The knight’s entire person seemed like an unsheathed sword, one of his blades leaving its sheath on its own to fall into his hands. A blinding flash enveloped the entire area, the watery light from the sword instantly dazzling everyone!

The saint powerhouse was inconsolably terrified, the green pike in his hands stabbing forth in desperation. A light screech rang out as the weapon was reduced to pieces, the sword light swallowing him whole! The saint suddenly felt much lighter, starting to float where he stood. He then saw the knight appear in front of his subordinates and leisurely walk past them. The sword in his hands could no longer be seen, only a light so bright that one could not look at it directly.

The rune knights maintained their charging position, but their actions were slow as a snail. Even after the maple knight had returned to his original position, they still hadn’t even advanced the length of a horse.

For a second the world went incomparably quiet, leaving the saint unable to hear a single thing. A moment later, countless sounds swarmed his ears. It was only then that he realised he had flown up high and was falling quickly, soon being planted into the ground!

The other rune knights were flipped over as well, all falling off their horses. The beasts whinnied and jumped a few times on the spot before falling as well, dead within the blink of an eye. The rune knights could still struggle a little, but not one of them could immediately stand up.

The saint finally struggled up, feeling a wave of dizziness. However, he discovered that his right hand did not get up with the rest of him. Forcing himself steady, he looked back at the ground only for his vision to black out. The knight had already cut off his right arm!

“You... You...” the saint pointed a trembling hand at the knight, but he couldn’t say a thing.

The maple knight spoke indifferently, “Since when is the Joseph Family so aggressive and shameless that you’re robbing people under Faust’s nose?”