Chapter 196: I’ll Crush Your Heart
Chapter 196: I’ll Crush Your Heart
In the blaze filling the sky, countless figures wailing and writhing gradually became still and silent.
Yet life truly was a miracle. Even with the inferno scorching the heavens crimson, many Black Knights survived.
Though scorched and disheveled, their steel helms and armor saved them. Metal doesn’t burn easily. Conducting heat swiftly, but aided by their rudimentary Battle Qi protection and the mad momentum of their warhorses charging forward—especially amplified by the scar-faced knight leader’s furious roar, infused with Battle Qi, which reached every ear—some riders, lost in the smoke, finally found their direction. They charged wildly through the flames and broke free from the sea of fire.
The three golden-helmed Kings fared better than the soldiers, not as disheveled. Guarded by one or two Battle Qi experts beside them, albeit only Two-Star Level, such experts could, even against natural fire, project Combat Energy Flames for protection. This barely shielded them from the smoke and heat, allowing them too to escape the blaze.
The dry grass on the ground couldn’t sustain long burning. After roughly ten minutes, the fire began to weaken.
By then, over five to six hundred Black Knights had survived the inferno, out of the original fifteen hundred. Behind them, within the still-smoking ash, figures lingered between life and death. Limbs twitched sporadically, bodies horribly disfigured by fire. Clinging to their last breaths, they moved instinctively. The scene was unbearably tragic, pitch black everywhere, like a fiery hell. It was too dreadful to look at directly. The air reeked of foul charring and a faint, sickening scent of roasted meat. Lumpish shapes, like charred coals, faintly resembled the bodies of fallen Black Knights and their mounts. Soft “Boom! Boom! Boom!” sounds occasionally echoed—the sound of internal organs within dead men and horses, roasted by intense heat, swelling and rupturing. Instantly, red and white fluids would spray out like fireworks.
Although the escaped Black Knights were seasoned veterans, blooded on battlefields, they dared not glance back. Even an accidental peripheral glimpse of that hellish scene made them immediately vomit, or weep bitterly. Many lost the ability to think altogether, trembling and twitching, as if their souls had left them. It was too terrifying, too miserable—a true, unadulterated hell on earth.
The scar-faced knight leader reined in his horse and looked back, his expression dark as water.
He had fought in over a hundred battles large and small. Since he was a youth of sixteen, he’d wielded sword on the battlefield. Over more than a decade, he rose through merit to become a knight of the Imperial Knights’ Hall. Besides the unique metal Judgment Armor bestowed by the Knight Hall, the massive fiery scar on his face was his greatest medal. He always believed he understood the essence of war, certain he wouldn’t stumble against minor border kingdoms’ skirmishes… Who would have thought, he not only stumbled, but took a massive fall.
“Form ranks… assemble!” The scar-faced leader roared his command. The battle horns sounded once more.
Out of the five to six hundred survivors, over four hundred still retained fighting ability. The ranks formed swiftly. With a wave of his sword and a cry of “Revenge!” — a voice like thunder rolling across the heavens, shattering eardrums — the scar-faced leader was the first to charge like a bolt from a bow. Spurring his horse, he raced towards the small hillock less than fifty meters away.
Behind him, all the Black Knights spurred their mounts in a frenzied pursuit, following closely.
Upon the hillock, beneath a strange, gore-dripping banner bearing a double-headed dog clutching axe and sword, stood Xiangbo’s commander in black armor, with barely fifty guards. Clearly visible was the panic and disarray among the Xiangbo People. Evidently, they hadn’t expected the fire to fail in wiping out all the invaders. Now, trying to flee was too late.
Less than fifty meters. Breathing ten times, the invaders would be upon them.
“Kill them! Chop off their heads! Rush into Shampoo City! Make the Xiangbo taste the fire too!”
This was the sole thought burning in the scar-faced leader’s mind and every invader nursing their burns.
They were going mad!
…
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A rapid clashing of blades echoed through the dense woods. Though it was day, the sparks flaring beneath the canopy were dazzlingly bright.
Two figures soared into the air, passing each other in a flash, like lightning across the sky.
It was a direct clash of swordsmanship.
In the split second of that aerial surge, Black Knight Dric thrust twenty-three times. Lampard thrust twenty-six times. The result of three fewer thrusts became evident when their figures landed – three deep, two-finger-width gashes appeared on Dric: one on the shoulder, one on the arm, one on the thigh.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
After a brief silence, over a dozen bowl-thick trees surrounding the pair suddenly snapped in half. The breaks were smooth as if cut by a blade – severed by invisible sword energies released during their clash, unnoticed at first. Only after a breeze stirred did the treetops slowly topple.
“Fine Swordplay!” The short, thin Four-Star Level Expert Dric slowly turned, his curious gaze deepening on Lampard’s giant black sword. “Truly hard to believe! Hiding in Xiangbo, one like you… Your sword is forty pounds heavier than mine, yet you outpaced me by three strikes in an instant. I have to admit, your sword skill surpasses mine.”
Lampard gave a light snort, remaining cold and silent.
“Ho ho,” the Four-Star Level Expert chuckled. “Too bad. Such powerful skill can’t save you. Blame your choice of battlefield…” A cruel smile spread across Dric’s face. Suddenly, green specks of light drifted from the surrounding trees, swiftly merging into his body. The three bleeding wounds on his body wriggled and knitted shut, vanishing instantly. He smirked confidently. “I cultivate Wood-Element Fighting Spirit. It offers the strongest healing among all Battle Qi systems. Surrounded by woods like this, I can freely absorb their vitality. You could stab me thirty times, even three hundred times, and I’d recover. But just one wound from me? Your strength will wane drop by drop.” A dark grin twisted his lips. “…Until your blood runs dry. Then, I shall take your head as my thirtieth trophy!”
“Nonsense!” Lampard snorted coldly, unmoved. Crackling arcs of lightning surged around him.
“Hahaha! How cold! Heh heh… I do love collecting the heads of cold-blooded experts like you…” Dric chattered like a magpie, actually aiming to chip away at his opponent’s resolve. Squinting slightly, tiny green lights continuously streamed from the countless surrounding trees, enveloping him. Though the trees began visibly withering, Dirc’s green Combat Energy Flames surged violently. His aura soon eclipsed Lampard’s. He licked his lips. “Now… try blocking this…”
He slowly moved his sword.
A green radiance blossomed from its edge. Gradually, a vividly crafted dragon’s head, formed of emerald Battle Qi, took shape. Its maw gaped, sharp fangs glinting clearly. A faint, oppressive aura unfurled, like a true dragon unleashed upon the world.
“Aura Skill… GREEN — LIGHT — DRAGON — BREATH — SWORD — !!!”
The colossal emerald dragon’s head roared! From its gaping maw, an ancient-looking longsword materialized, coalesced entirely from emerald Battle Qi. Four meters long, tangible and solid. It hummed, vibrating the air. As it thrust forward, the very atmosphere seemed rent! What it passed? Mountain stones shattered! Trees snapped like dry twigs! A towering cloud of dust billowed upward as the colossal sword hurtled towards Lampard!
Another Aura Skill!
Warriors of the Imperial Knights’ Hall possessed profound legacies indeed. Not comparable to ordinary, wandering Four-Star warriors.
This [Green Light Dragon Breath Sword] Technique instantly boosted Dric’s attack power by more than double! This strike’s lethality was already near the level of Four-Star Peak… A terrifying amplification!
Lampard’s expression didn’t waver.
He sank his greatsword into the earth. Lightning crackled wildly around him, coalescing into the form of a proud, roaring Golden Lion in the air behind him. He planted his feet. Slowly, deliberately, he clenched his fist by his waist. This simple motion possessed an uncanny potency. Lightning arcs, swirling around him like restless serpents, coalesced intensely, vacuumed towards his right fist! A brilliant silver point, impossibly bright, ignited upon his knuckles. It pulsed! Blinding, pure white radiance exploded forth!
The sun above seemed overshadowed by that silver flash.
Opponent, Four-Star Expert Dric, felt stabbing pain in his eyes. He had to close them against the overwhelming brilliance erupting from his foe’s raised fist. Then, he heard the low shout carry across the distance from the stern, red-haired figure—
“Lightning… SPEED… FIST!!!”
An Aura Skill too?! An expert from some backwater country knew an Aura Skill?!
Short Dric was stunned.
The next instant, overwhelming, urgent peril flooded his senses! An immense power of electricity surged towards him! Panicking, he pushed his Green Light Dragon Breath Sword with absolute force! Instantly, the already massive four-meter-long emerald Battle Qi blade swelled even larger!
BOOM! KRACKATHOOOM! BOOM!
Countless blinding silver streaks of lightning collided with the five-meter-long Dragon Breath Sword.
Then—
Crack… Crack… Crack…!
A series of sharp, brittle snaps resonated. Dric’s heart lurched violently! He felt the Dragon Breath Sword shattering! Struck by countless monstrous lightning bolts! Piercing destructive energies smashed through the green wood-element Battle Qi blade! He stared, dumbfounded, as his Four-Star Aura Skill, [Green Light Dragon Breath Sword], utterly shattered like dried wood!
Then, shafts of silver radiance surged straight for his face.
“How… is this possible?!”
His eyes snapped open, but he saw nothing! His vision blank, seared.
“Too fast! Can’t see his punches! Can’t track the path…” Dric’s soul nearly fled his body! He frantically deployed layers of emerald defensive Battle Qi swords before him, simultaneously leaping back! Desperate to evade!
But the defensive swords crumbled like paper! The unending silver lightning engulfed him instantly…
Then… silence.
“A shattered heart,” Lampard’s voice was arctic. “Could your Wood-Element Fighting Spirit heal that?”
He stood almost nose-to-nose with Dric. He still held his fist extended. But his right arm? It drove straight through the thin knight’s chest! Bursting out the back! His fist clutched a pulsing, struggling heart.
“No—!” Dric’s eyes filled with despair. His strength was draining away.
“Rest easy. I do not collect heads.” Lampard stated coolly.
For a brief moment, Dric’s face showed something between grief and laughter. A twitch perhaps, wanting words.
“…But…” Lampard whispered. His fingers clenched.
Crunch.
The heart vanished into a shower of crimson vapor.