The Vastness of Magical Destiny

Chapter 44 - 44 Nineteen Breaking the Stalemate

?Chapter 44: Chapter Nineteen: Breaking the Stalemate Chapter 44: Chapter Nineteen: Breaking the Stalemate The Green Knight who had leapt from his horse looked at the scene before him in surprise.

The horse-faced strongman was lying on one side, blood continually foaming from the corner of his mouth, clearly having suffered a heavy blow to his internal organs, probably from the Fallen Knight’s Lu Chen Spear. The two men whose relationship he still couldn’t completely understand were carefully lifting the horse-faced man and laying him on an even ground, while the guy in front of them, other than being unnaturally pale with traces of blood at the corner of his eyes, showed no other abnormalities. However, Green could be sure that this person had once again used his extraordinary magic to intercept the attack.

Being able to stop the attack of a knight who had already mastered Fighting Qi with magic alone at close range was something that Green couldn’t help but admire. Although had it not been for him and his companion’s arrival, this guy would probably have been buried here, which would have reduced a lot of trouble for Green. However, Green didn’t want to see that happen, after all, his mission was to uncover the secrets involved, not to see the owner of the secrets physically disappear. He was not a person who easily shirked his responsibilities, he never had been.

After a brief inquiry about the situation, Green and his partner learned that the Fallen Knight had targeted Komer and his two companions, but after failing to land a hit and being injured by Komer’s magic instead, and with their timely return, the two assailants had failed to achieve their goal.

Green and his companion were quite puzzled, as although the Fallen Knight was notoriously violent, he was not like the common hired assassins and hitmen who killed for money and power. It was said that their creed allowed them to kill for love, for righteousness, for reason, for any cause, but never for money.

However, this assassination attempt seemed strange according to Green and his companion’s speculation. Grand Duke Philip was the most suspicious figure, but a defiant person like the Fallen Knight would never be used by the likes of Grand Duke Philip, which indeed left the two baffled.

After this battle, Komer and his group knew that without the help of the two Thunderhorse Knights, they would have likely lost their lives there and then, but this also greatly stimulated Komer and Ilot and the others.

Aside from Puber, on their journey, the others, both overtly and covertly, sought out martial arts topics to learn from the two Thunderhorse Knights. Even Ilot, who usually cared a lot about saving face, unabashedly sought advice on the aspects of swordsmanship he didn’t understand from Green and his partner while his wounds were still healing. These consecutive brutal battles made everyone aware of their own vulnerability. Whether it was Ilot or Fran, whenever they had time on the journey, they practiced their martial arts, valuing every bit of improvement, knowing it might save their lives in a real fight.

Fortunately, although Maray had a cold demeanor, the Green Knight still offered a lot of guidance to the group, and both Fran and Baoling gained quite a lot from it too. This left Komer and his party feeling grateful. If not for concerns about the knights’ objectives regarding himself, Komer even felt it might be acceptable to allow the Church of Light to preach in his own territory.

In the following days, the situation seemed very peaceful. Komer and his five companions, who followed the Thunderhorse Knights closely, were very tactful. They didn’t stray more than half a step away, and on the other hand, Komer was also diligently assimilating the vague snippets of scenes and memories that flooded into his brain like a tide over the past two days. Through Komer’s conscious recollection and digestion, many of the blurry scenes became clear, and he also discovered that there were connections between many fragments and individual scenes, which were gradually forming into a systematic entity of consciousness.

This discovery left Komer both shocked and delighted.

It was like a child, new to learning, suddenly discovering upon waking that he had mastered many of the skills and knowledge he had longed for in his sleep. However, these skills were still so unfamiliar to him when it came to actual practice that they required more time to digest and adapt. Moreover, what caused Komer more anxiety was that in his hazy consciousness, he felt as if someone else’s personality and consciousness were trying to impose themselves on him and continuously change him.

Although he couldn’t yet tell whether this change was good or bad, Komer didn’t like it; he preferred being a person with an independent personality, not influenced by anyone else.

The wide Nissai River was like a jade belt separating Greenland Great Forest and the Leon Region, and the Mouth of Nissai River, due to its strategic location, became the most important castle fortress in the Homer region—Bruce Fortress. From here, crossing the Nissai River via the Floating Bridge would lead to the chaotic Leon Region. The fortress was stationed with two thousand mercenaries, charged with guarding the fortress to prevent mobs and slaves who fled the Leon Region from mixing into other parts of Homer.

Just as Komer and his party reached Bruce Fortress, an undisturbed discussion was also taking place in some part of his distant territory, hundreds of miles away.

He picked up the cup from the plank table and took a big gulp, the burly man with the bushy beard said impatiently and loudly, “Alright, no need to act so profound here, everyone. Now that things have come to this, it looks like our Caucasus Region is really about to welcome a true lord. I wonder what everyone thinks and how we should deal with this situation?”

“Hmph, and what about your opinion? You just keep asking us, but what can we do? Even your so-called foolproof plan has failed. What else can we do but wait for this lord to come and then make plans? After all, we brothers have been operating these mines for so many years; he can’t just come and take them straight away. Even a powerful dragon cannot suppress the local snake. I don’t believe we can’t fight against a young lad if we join forces,” a few men with the appearance of merchants said to themselves, trying to boost their own spirits.

“The ownership of the mines has always belonged to the lord; that’s an eternal legal principle. You can pretend you don’t know when there’s no lord, but as soon as the lord arrives, I’m afraid the ownership will change hands,” said an older man with a sarcastic smile, dressed in old-fashioned coarse cloth, but impeccably clean and tidy, his black hair combed smoothly, appearing more like a conservative gentleman. Yet, no one dared to take him lightly as the only leader of the Adventurer’s Guild in the Caucasus region, he wielded considerable influence.

“If we can’t even get rid of a few people with a monster group, who else has any ideas? To fight against him, we probably need to find another plan,” he continued.

“Damn it! We spent a lot of money setting up such a scheme, and it just so happened to be foiled by pure coincidence. That kid has some really good luck. How come he has two Thunderhorse Knights as his bodyguards? Those knights from the Church of Light, I heard they are usually very arrogant and rarely go out, except for their internal affairs. How did they suddenly join up with that kid and even enter Leon?”

The horse-faced strongman looked regretful, “Look at those guys selling gray wolf skins and making a fortune. I don’t even know if we paid just to send them trophies or to take their lives.”

“It’s thanks to those two Thunderhorse knights indeed, but all the servants died in the magical beast attack, and only these guys survived. If you say they don’t have a few tricks up their sleeve, I’m afraid no one would believe it,” the old man pondered, “We can only play it by ear from here on out.”

“Hmph, by the time they arrive, I think everyone will be unable to cry if they wanted to. Hesse, your Adventurers’ Guild’s tax rate will be very high. A large part of your earnings will go to our respected lord. Don’t you feel the pinch?” the horse-faced strongman sneered coldly.

“Heh, I’m just going to earn a little less money, but some people, if they can’t handle this situation well, won’t be able to satisfy their bosses behind them, I suggest you think carefully about how you’re going to report this to your masters,” the old man, Hesse, said with an unconcerned smile, lighting his pipe with a magic fire stone , took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled, filling the room with thick blue smoke.

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t believe those two Thunderhorse Knights will be with him forever. Are they going to spread their teachings here in the Caucasus too? With so many of us, are we really unable to do anything to him?”

The horse-faced strongman seemed to be pricked by something, his eyes narrowed and he glanced around the room. The representative of the free farmers, with his head shrunken, kept quiet; in such a gathering he had no place to speak. He could only come to listen. The others were also silent, clearly waiting to see what measures the people behind the horse-faced strongman would take to deal with the impending arrival of the lord.