Chapter 165: Masters Appear, Killing Intent in the Dark Night

Chapter 165: Masters Appear, Killing Intent in the Dark Night

The loud shouting and killing sounds woke the young girl from her sweet dream. Angela rolled out of bed and saw Sun Fei standing tall, holding a sword in his hand. Her heart immediately calmed down a little, and she asked, “Alexander, what happened?”

“We’ll find out by going outside!” Sun Fei wrapped his dark red cloak around Angela’s delicate and beautiful frame. “Come out with me. Let the soldiers see their King and Queen standing by their side.”

At that moment, the blonde loli Gemma also groggily got up.

The three of them walked out of the tent together.

The Urban Management of Shampoo City reacted extremely quickly. By then, they had already formed a defensive formation. Fifty black iron shields were interlocked like saw teeth, forming a movable wall several meters high surrounding the Royal Tent to guard against enemy arrow attacks. Although some had only had time to put on trousers, their bulging muscles exposed to the cold air made them look even more fierce.

The Saints reacted even faster. All fifty of them had clearly slept in their armor without removing it. Now fully armed and under the command of Drogba, Pierce, and Prison Warden Oleg, they were all mounted on Blaze Beasts. Their terrifying great axes were in hand, their bodies leaning forward. The Blaze Beasts under them tightly gripped the ground with their front hooves like angry bulls. At Sun Fei’s command, they would sweep out like a whirlwind.

The two top experts, Saints’ Legion Commanders Peter Cech and Frank Lampard, had already leaped onto the giant trees beside the camp. Their long hair flowed like waterfalls, their heroic and imposing figures brought a sense of security to everyone. Their dark red cloaks flapped loudly in the wind as they observed the surroundings like fearsome tigers.

The Big Black Dog let out a low growl from its throat, the light in its eyes terrifying.

Not far from the Royal Tent, Princess Tanasha’s tent was already surrounded by her Personal Guard. Grand Knight-Captain Roman Pavlyuchenko and the female swordsman Susan had long been standing guard in front of the tent, alert.

By then, the distant shouting and killing sounds were getting closer.

Torches flickered like stars in the dark night, scattered here and there, clearly indicating a large number of troops charging over.

However, unexpectedly, this group of troops suddenly stopped about six or seven hundred meters away from the Shampoo Expeditionary Force camp. In the flickering torchlight, it was vaguely visible that they were the cavalry of Blackrock City, about three to four hundred in number. Their swords and spears stood like a forest, their armor was bright, warhorses snorted, and the mounted knights beat their armor and shields, shouting and killing loudly but not advancing further.

“Prepare!”

At Cech’s command, a chorus of clashing metal sounded from the Shampoo City camp. Swords were drawn, sharp axes raised, spears pointed forward, blades gleaming coldly. Every Saint and Urban Management member, both in spirit and body, instantly became as taut as a Longbow drawn to the full moon, ready to charge out and tear the enemy to pieces at the command.

This sudden imposing momentum caused the enemy’s shouting to momentarily pause.

However—

“Hahahaha… Retreat!”

At that moment, unexpectedly, the burly leader of the Blackrock City cavalry suddenly laughed heartily, waved his hand, and the three to four hundred cavalrymen all turned their horses around amidst loud laughter, whipping their mounts and quickly disappearing into the vast night, showing no intention to attack at all.

Was it just a false alarm?

Sun Fei frowned. Seeing the questioning looks in Cech’s and others’ eyes, he gently shook his head, waved his hand, and ordered the soldiers to return to rest.

Sure enough, things didn’t end so simply.

About an hour later, just as everyone had fallen back asleep, the distant shouting and killing sounds suddenly erupted again. When everyone woke up, it was the Blackrock City cavalry coming to harass again. Just like the last time, they approached to about six or seven hundred meters from the Shampoo camp, then immediately stopped, carefully avoiding crossing the warning line marked by the white-feathered blood arrow. After shouting for a while, they directly turned their horses around and retreated laughing.

This cycle repeated throughout the night, with such harassment happening at least ten times.

By dawn, the Blackrock City cavalry finally withdrew and did not return. However, Sun Fei clearly observed that, having not rested well all night, the soldiers all showed clear signs of fatigue on their faces. Peter Cech was already directing the Saints to pack up and prepare to move out. Meanwhile, a large number of Scouts were sent out to observe any movement within five or six kilometers around them at all times.

After the team set off again, Sun Fei rode on the Big Black Dog’s back, stroked his chin, and seemed lost in thought.

Along the way, they didn’t encounter large groups of Blackrock City cavalry again, but about a dozen Blackrock City Scouts continuously followed behind the team, closely monitoring the movements of the Shampoo City group. The hot-tempered Drogba and Pierce grew impatient with being followed and several times raised their axes, wanting to charge over and kill them, but Cech stopped them. Although the Blackrock City cavalry clearly had ill intentions, they were currently within the other party’s territory. Wherever the other party went was their freedom. If they openly killed them now, they wouldn’t have a justified reason, which might bring unexpected changes to this trip to the Imperial Capital. Furthermore, King Alexander had remained silent the whole time, clearly having other considerations. Cech didn’t want these two reckless men to ruin the King’s plans!

Blackrock City was a Fourth-Class Vassal State, and its territory was clearly much larger than that of Shampoo City and Rais Country. The expedition force traveled for a whole day without leaving its borders.

However, at sunset that day, they finally left the grasslands.

Looking at the rolling hills and dense mountain forests in the distance, the team couldn’t help but burst into cheers. Some even started singing loudly. For many Shampoo City soldiers who had never traveled far, staring at the endless golden grasslands all day made their eyes hurt. The continuous mountain ranges made them feel as if they had returned to their hometown, giving them a sense of familiarity and closeness.

This mountain range was called the Scorching Sun Mountains. It originated within Blackrock City’s territory, spanned multiple vassal states, and extended all the way to the vicinity of the Zenit Imperial Capital. Although it couldn’t compare in majesty and steepness to the endless desolate mountains behind Shampoo City, it excelled in mineral wealth, especially its iron ore reserves, which ranked first among the major veins of the Zenit Empire. This was also why Blackrock City could engage in militaristic aggression—they had the capital and resources. In contrast, Shampoo City was much poorer. If not for winning two brilliant victories in a row, they might have even struggled with weapons and armor.

Within the Scorching Sun Mountains, large and small mines were scattered everywhere. This area could be considered a military stronghold for the major vassal states. Therefore, Blackrock City had built a small military fortress at the mountain pass, setting up many heavily guarded checkpoints. When the Shampoo Expeditionary Force reached the foot of the mountains, the number of Blackrock City cavalry in sight noticeably increased. However, they only flashed by in the distance and never approached within a kilometer of the team.

However, to reach the Imperial Capital Saint Petersburg on time for the Martial Arts Combat Tournament, crossing the mountains was the only way.

The mountains seemed close, but the journey was long. It wasn’t until after sunset and darkness had fallen that the expedition team reached the foot of the mountains.

By then, it was already late. Sun Fei looked at the heavily guarded Blackrock City military fortress in the distance, thoughtful. He ordered Cech to recall all the Scouts that had been sent out and set up camp directly at the foot of the mountains, facing the brightly lit military fortress from afar.

Shortly after midnight, the Blackrock City cavalry indeed appeared again.

Still not approaching within five hundred meters of the Shampoo expedition camp, they laughed wildly and provocatively, banging metal weapons hard against their armor, creating as much noise as possible to trouble the Shampoo City people in the distant camp. Watching the suddenly stirring, shadowy figures in the quiet camp, the Blackrock City cavalry laughed triumphantly.

“That’s enough for now. We’ll come back again in forty minutes!” A burly young Knight leader took off his helmet, laughed heartily on his horse, and said, “I really feel sorry for these poor Shampoo farmers. They can’t even get a good night’s sleep. I’m afraid by tomorrow, they won’t even have the strength to pick up their weapons…”

“Hahaha, yes, Your Majesty Kant’s plan is truly brilliant!” Someone nearby chimed in.

The young Knight looked proud, a trace of disdain curling his lips as he smiled and said, “Of course. My father is a man of great talent and bold vision. How could that idiot called Alexander compare? Let him live a little longer for now. Hmph, once our plan succeeds, we’ll definitely conquer Shampoo City and capture all those damned Xiangbo People, throwing them into the dark, sunless mine pits of the Scorching Sun Mountains to be mining slaves, so their descendants will be slaves for generations!”

“Retreat—! Let’s return to Blackstone Fort first and rest well. We’ll come back in forty minutes to greet these poor fellows again!”

The young Knight waved his hand, and the cavalrymen turned their horses around, preparing to gallop back to the distant fortress…

However, right at that moment—

“Since you’ve come looking for death, did you think you could leave?”

A cold sneer came from somewhere. Before the cavalry could react, one green and one purple light, like soul-reaping rays bursting from the depths of the netherworld, suddenly flashed in the dark night sky. Like shooting stars, they gleamed—pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—four times, four sprays of bright red blood shot into the sky. The four cavalrymen on the far right had no time to struggle; their heads fell to the ground, turning them into headless corpses…

“Enemy attack—!” A shrill cry rang out.

“Be careful, he’s on the right…”

“Kill him, kill him for me!!”

“I can’t see his figure, he’s too fast! Retreat, retreat, retreat! He’s an expert, a super expert!!”

The cavalry quickly fell into chaos. The suddenly appearing figure was like a demon harvesting lives, impossibly fast. Every time the green and purple glints flashed in the dark night, someone would die without any power to resist, like wheat under a scythe. The cavalry’s desperate struggles were futile, not even able to delay this figure for one second. The two-hundred-plus cavalry unit instantly fell into disarray!

“Don’t panic, form up!!” the young Knight leader shouted.

But, at this point, his command had no effect whatsoever.

Just as the cavalry looked panicked toward the right, suddenly, another change occurred. On the far left of the group, a spot of starlight suddenly appeared in the night. Then, in the next instant, the starlight incredibly became blazingly intense. Violent, strong light burst forth, causing people to instantly lose their visual senses. Streaks of strong light like electric currents suddenly exploded…

“Lightning—Speed—Fist!!”

A low roar suddenly came. The light-like currents instantly struck every cavalryman within a ten-meter radius. The young cavalry leader in the distance opened his eyes wide in disbelief, because he saw an unbelievable scene—wherever the dense, strong light shone, each soldier seemed to be struck by invisible giant fists. Then, their steel helmets shattered into pieces, their shields dented with fist imprints, their weapons broke apart like fragile wood chips, and they vomited blood wildly. Even the warhorses under them sprayed blood from their mouths and noses. A series of dense, dull thuds reached the young Knight leader’s ears. He watched helplessly as the invisible, terrifying fists rampaged all the way until more than twenty meters away before gradually coming to a halt!

Finally, the blinding strong light disappeared.

A burly figure slowly appeared. A Black Greatsword was slung across his back as if carrying a towering mountain. His dark red cloak didn’t have a single stain of blood.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The night wind blew. Over twenty soldiers, their bodies covered in shocking fist prints and long devoid of life, along with the warhorses under them whose bones had already shattered and died, finally lost their balance and fell to the ground one after another.

Fast!

Unbelievably fast!

So fast it exceeded the limits of ordinary people’s visual nerves.

The young Knight leader felt a chill instantly envelop his whole body. His strength wasn’t low; his Two-Star Level intermediate Battle Qi made him outstanding among the princes of Blackrock City. Yet, with his ability, he couldn’t even track the trajectory and angle of this burly man’s punches… Just how fast were these punches?

And this also meant that even if he personally fought, he was absolutely no match for this enemy before him.

“Who are you? Do you know we are the Blackrock City Storm Cavalry? How dare you provoke Blackrock City? Are you seeking death?” The young Knight leader’s heart was gradually sinking. He angrily invoked the name of Blackrock City, as if doing so could give him courage.

“Heh, I’m here to kill Blackrock City scum!”

“I spit on you! Is your lousy Blackrock City that amazing?”

The burly man carrying the Black Greatsword paid no attention to the young Knight leader. However, two thunderous roars echoed in response not far away. In the next second, the cavalry screamed repeatedly. They saw two half-naked brawny men, their muscles bulging like small hills, holding two-meter-long Great Axes and square steel shields as tall as a person, charging over. These two giants were like human-shaped violent dragons, their strength unimaginable. Rumbling as they charged, any cavalry or warhorses they bumped into were sent flying into the air as lightly as scarecrows caught in a tornado…

“It’s you…”

The young Knight leader’s pupils contracted sharply, because he finally recognized the enemies’ identities. These two were actually the two Golden Knights under the King of Champoo mentioned in the intelligence—the Taurus Golden Knight and the Capricorn Golden Knight.

Rumors said these two were immensely strong, brutal, liked to smash opponents’ heads with their fists, or chop enemies into mincemeat with their exaggeratedly large weapons. Moreover, it was said both had their own unique skills. The Taurus Knight’s head could shatter mountains, and the Capricorn Knight’s palms were comparable to divine weapons. These two were both marked as high-risk targets in Blackrock City’s intelligence. He never expected to encounter both at once today.

Watching these two barbaric beasts charging unstoppably toward him, the young Knight leader finally understood the truth of the intelligence. The last trace of his pride and contempt as royalty instantly vanished. He clearly knew he was no match for these two combined. He repeatedly turned his horse around, wanting to escape…

But those two Terror Beast-like brawny men clearly had him in their sights and gave chase together.

“You disturbed my sleep, now die!” Paul Pierce roared.

“I’m very angry, and the consequences are serious!” Didier Drogba sneered.

These two giants were like ferocious sharks parting the waves, carrying a bloody aura, laughing wildly as they cleared the crowd and instantly rushed to the Knight leader.

The two Great Axes carried a sharp, fierce wind that felt like blades scraping the young Knight’s face. He only had time to draw the broadsword from his waist before being struck by the axes. Despite the frantic protection of his Combat Energy Flames, he held out for less than a second. The knight’s broadsword turned into scattered steel fragments. The poor young leader didn’t even have time to scream before one axe blade cut him in half at the waist, while the other axe below chopped his fine horse into minced meat!

The young Knight leader’s upper body flew high into the air from the tremendous impact. The light of life still lingered in his remains. He opened his mouth wide but couldn’t make a sound. His terrified pupils reflected a scene that shattered him—

A fat giant with a scar on his forehead charged over from the other side. Wherever he passed, Blackrock City cavalry turned into a rain of blood. No one could withstand a single blow from this obese brawny man who also wielded a Great Axe. He took a step forward, his layers of fat shaking, yet he was extremely agile and fast.

A two-meter-tall lean man in light armor and a similarly dark red cloak also appeared. The sharp sword in his hand emitted a brilliance that outshone the stars in the sky. Dots of starlight enveloped the Blackrock City cavalry. Like an artist moving gracefully on a dance floor, light and elegant, glimpsed briefly, appearing and disappearing. Wherever he went, death followed.

One expert after another appeared out of thin air, killing their way into the Blackrock City cavalry like tigers among sheep.

As the young Knight leader’s upper half fell to the ground, his last glimpse was of the final cavalryman, under the green and purple glints that had first appeared, silently turning into six segments along with his horse… The two hundred Blackrock City cavalry were completely annihilated in an instant.

Until death, the young Knight leader could not rest in peace.

He had recognized the faces of these ambushers—all experts under the King of Champoo. The King of Champoo had personally joined the attack.

The King of Champoo… How dare he attack Blackrock cavalry on Blackrock City’s territory?