Though few in number, they moved with the weight of a legion. Ivan narrowed his eyes. Once the enemy had advanced a good distance, he lightly nudged his horse. "Charge!"
The group spurred their horses forward.
Even with the storm's howl, Thorne heard his own breath, his racing heart. He thought of nothing. Could think of nothing. He tucked the three-meter Knight's Lance under his arm. The warhorse shifted from a trot to a gallop.
A long roar echoed beside him as Godrick's knights surged. "Haligtree Army—"
"Fight to the death, never retreat!!!" The crowd's bellow became a storm. Horse hooves merged into a single roar. Wind blasted Thorne, nearly blinding him. He felt swept into steel. Even if an abyss lay ahead—
He would trample it, without fear, without looking back.
Horses flew like Dilu. Bows startled like thunder. Looking down, two currents of iron charged head-on. Hooves drummed a continuous rumble. Cold killing intent filled eyes beneath helmets. No combat skills mattered here. To dodge meant death, and endangering comrades. This was a duel of courage, horse, and lance. Yet, in this valley, stood an outlier: Thorne Wright.
His blood boiled, but Thorne grew calm. Through his helmet slits, he saw the Banished Knight directly ahead. He raised a halberd. The next move was clear. Deflect the lance. Stab the chest. At a full sprint, a hundred meters vanished in seconds. Thorne bared his teeth in a grim smile. My spear is longer. He squeezed his horse, raised his blade. The Carian crest appeared, and "Magic Downpour" exploded into the air, just before impact.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
Magic crystals fell from the sky, covering several knights in front. They were prepared. Quickly, they raised their greatshields. Like sudden hail, the crystals clattered against shields and armor. They couldn't wound them. But the warhorses instinctively slowed. Then the Haligtree Army plunged. Bang! Bang! Bang! Steel clashed, unrelenting. Bodies flew, like petals scattered by a celestial maiden.
Thorne didn't have time to look. His wrist went numb. His lance snapped. It had hit a shield. The Banished Knight in front of him flew into the air.
Thorne twisted. Slashed. Frost Slash!
Clang!
The frost sword-beam met the halberd. Thorne used the horse's momentum. The knight flew back several meters. He tumbled. His crimson cape shredded. Thorne turned his horse to pursue.
But the Banished Knight wasn't a Cuckoo.
He slid. Shed momentum. Saw the horse's hooves. Stomped his right foot. A storm erupted. Storm Stomp. A sharp whirlwind. Thorne's horse lost its balance. The knight's hands were frozen. He pushed his halberd forward, horizontally.
Neiiigh—
The horse whinnied. Its several-hundred-kilogram body tipped. The Banished Knight stepped forward. He would catch up with the fallen Thorne. He shattered the ice on his wrists. Raised his halberd high.
"Die!"
Bang!!
Before the halberd fell, a winged spear sent him flying. A Cleanrot Knight galloped past. No time to glance.
They were on a different level.
Thorne scrambled to his feet. Ivan had already darted ahead. Hooves approached fast from behind. Without looking, he ducked. Gripped his blade with both hands. Slashed backward. Carian Slicer. The blade expanded. A deep blue arc in the night sky.
Bang!
A warhorse stumbled. Rolled. A knight of Godrick flew off.
The knight steadied his helmet. Rose to stand. Saw the swordsman. Five or six meters away. Vanished. Reappeared. Bloodhounds Step. Thorne saw the knight bracing his shield. He swung his sword. Star-frost hid under his arm. It transformed. A massive azure greatsword. Carian Piercer! The movement was slow. The magic, powerful.
A spark. The brass shield melted. The blade cut through the pauldron. Grazed the knight's face. Thorne slammed into the shield. Knocked him down. Pressed his knee onto the shield. Pinned the knight. Drew the Cleanrot Rapier. From his waist. Left hand.
Puchi!
The slender blade thrust. Through the eye slit of the helmet. Pierced the brain. Pinned him to the ground. The knight pushed up half his body. Then collapsed. Moved no more.
Damn, these iron turtles.
Thorne wiped sweat from his forehead. He scanned the battlefield. Many had fallen, unhorsed by the first clash. The mounted knights still rode, wheeling, launching cowardly attacks on the flanks and rear.
I need a horse.
Thorne knew the danger of being afoot. Just as he rose from the fallen knight...
Bang!
Blood mist. The heavy-armored corpse shattered. Thorne, having leaped back several meters, slowly straightened. His face was grim.
A golden greataxe rested on the mangled remains.
A pale hand gripped the handle, lifted it. Godrick emerged, silver hair spattered with gore.
"You... are good at running?"
The greataxe swept. Dust, blood, flesh, all cleared away. A windstorm, stronger than any Banished Knight could conjure, whipped Thorne's cloak. Terrifying pressure. Even with an incomplete Grafting, even wounded by Malenia, he was still more than a match for any ordinary warrior.
A demigod? Like Ranni?
Thorne regulated his breath. No point in talking. At the first bend of the other's knees...
Bang!
Too fast. Impossible to see.
He was there. In the blink of an eye. Where Thorne had stood moments before was now a deep crater.
"Oh, that step of those Bloodhounds?"
Godrick felt the empty air. He locked onto Thorne, now meters away, and flicked his axe upward.
Boom!
A warhorse slammed into him. A concentrated blast of storm-wind tore past Thorne. His constricted pupils barely registered the event. Overwhelming power!
He had no time to see the horse's origins. Godrick had only shifted half a meter, absorbing the full impact. A hand on his back seized the horse's head, casually tossing it aside. The horse screamed. Then a winged spear ended its suffering. A Cleanrot Knight materialized from the bloody mist, spear thrust forward. Sacred Spear Ritual!
Golden light erupted, forming an array of golden spears. Godrick leaped back, ten meters, shielding his face.
Clang!
The estoc arrived, and the spear slammed down. Godrick didn't even look. The arm holding the greatsword batted the spear aside. He twisted his wrist, preparing to cleave his foe. Azure light struck from the side. Carian Piercer! Thorne timed it perfectly, rushing in front of Godrick and thrusting with a gathered magic blade, over two meters long.
Clang!
A lance parried the magic blade, sending azure magic particles fluttering everywhere. From front and back, he and Ivan pinned Godrick in the center. After a moment of stalemate, the magic blade instantly vanished. Like one side suddenly letting go of the rope in a tug-of-war, Thorne slid forward, his hand, shoulder, and waist forming a straight line as he thrust the narrow estoc out. Cleanrot Piercer. The sword was like a meteor, heading straight for Godrick's head, but the latter slammed his heavy axe into the ground beneath him. Storm Assault!
In an instant, Thorne felt as if his sword had been thrust into a tsunami. The estoc slowed down, grew sluggish, and was finally swept back by an even more massive force. Boom!! The soil kicked up by the airwaves formed a 'tsunami' nearly ten meters high. Thorne and the Cleanrot Knight were thrown out together. He tumbled and bounced on the ground, his long blade and estoc stabbing into the dirt, sliding several more meters before stopping. Ignoring his shock and his injuries, Thorne looked up to see a 'twisted' meteor falling. He spread his six arms, his gaze full of tyranny. DIE!!!
Time seemed to slow down. The sound of the wind seemed to mock the swordsman's arrogance, but the swordsman thought of nothing. His long blade glowed with a faint azure light, and his body seemed to dissolve of its own accord. Storm Dance! In the next moment, a frantic dance of blade-light whipped up a storm, shredding everything within ten meters. Even the splashed pebbles were turned to powder. Limbs moved with lightning speed as Godrick enjoyed the destructive power. A few seconds later, he stopped and looked at the rising dust, a flash of confusion in his eyes. He actually escaped?
There was no blood or muscle fiber in the rising dust. He couldn't understand how this lowlife had escaped; even consecutive Bloodhound Steps shouldn't have been able to leave the range of the attack. A strong wind attacked from behind his head. He didn't need to look to know the Cleanrot Knight was coming. The arm holding the shield on his back met the attack directly. With a dull 'clang', the spear was knocked into the air. Godrick spun around violently, his already-prepared greataxe sweeping across. Ivan had already abandoned his spear and retreated.
Seeing the greataxe sweep past him, the resulting storm actually tore through his breastplate. His helmet flew into the air, revealing a face covered in bloody scratches, yet he was smiling. Godrick ignored that inexplicable smile, and the greataxe that had just swept past came back for a return strike. "Tremble! Kneel! To die at the hands of the Golden Lord is your blessing!" The greataxe was unstoppable, yet an azure light illuminated his profile. Godrick turned his head slightly and saw the swordsman, who had somehow avoided the attack earlier, appearing several meters away.
He hadn't fled in terror from the overwhelming power; even the hand holding the blade didn't tremble in the slightest. Hoo—
Exhaling like an arrow, Thorne crouched low with his legs apart. The long blade at his side shot out a narrow beam of light, and then without hesitation, he charged forward with total resolve. Godrick was still in mid-air, maintaining his slashing posture. He couldn't understand why, after seeing such overwhelming power, the man still dared to pounce. But this didn't stop the swordsman from rapidly enlarging in his pupils.
In this moment, Thorne had forgotten that he was facing a demigod. He had fallen into a state of emptiness, with only the prey before him, the blade in his hand, and the intent in his heart. He used the footwork of the Giant Hunt, adjusted the magic frequency of the Carian Piercer, and then used the technique of the Cleanrot Piercer to deliver this strike—
Secret Sword: Starlight Piercer! The sound of the wind went silent instantly. The surging light elongated the blade, forming a five-meter-long, fist-thick light spear. Its tip was unstoppable! Zzzzt!
Sparks flew as a hole was bored through the center of the greatshield. Then, this spear of light stabbed into Godrick's back, making him let out a roar of pain. "How dare you!" Thorne was deaf to it, only focusing on pushing this massive creature aside until Godrick landed on the ground and stopped his backward momentum with overwhelming strength. He stood firm like a mountain, but Thorne did not retreat either. Ignoring the slashing greatsword, heavy axe, and spears, he gripped the hilt, intent on tearing through the other's chest.
Even if he were to die, he would leave Godrick with a memory he would never forget! But at that moment, an afterimage jumped between the two of them. Rising red hair was like a delicate flower as a thin blade was raised. Ding—
The spears, greatsword, and heavy axe were all parried away, even though each of those limbs was thicker than her thigh. Thorne's eyes widened as he watched the various weapons being parried above him. He saw the scattering red hair and the straight back, and heard a voice full of heroic spirit. "Good swordsmanship.
But now—"
A swing of the Prosthetic Blade sliced the incoming shield in half from the center, and a hideous arm was severed at the root. "Let me take over."
Like a falling meteor, the most beautiful flower in the world bloomed before Thorne. The arc of the blade-light seemed etched into his mind.