Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 148 The Bloodstained Road 3
Upon hearing Kevin's words, Frederick, who was riding on horseback, pushed hard into the stirrups, straightened up, and looked forward.

A dark mass of cavalrymen, shrouded in dust, charged toward them. They wore the uniform heavy armor of the Jacquard Steel Empire cavalry, but there was nothing on the armor to identify them.

They had no badges, no flags, and their faces were even covered by black visors, like an army that appeared out of nowhere.

"White Lion!!!! Assault formation, prepare!!!!"

Floating in mid-air, Kevin exuded a powerful aura of battle energy, which distorted the surrounding air. After confirming that his opponent had no intention of stopping, he quickly switched to battle mode.

Kevin, having landed back on his horse, turned back and shouted to Frederick and the others:

"Hey, Frederick, it seems they don't welcome you back."

Anduette! Protect Louise, don't let her get hurt.

As the White Lion Construct Knights rapidly adjusted their formation, Kevin, radiating a knightly aura, had already positioned himself at the very front of the wedge formation.

From above, the cavalry following Kevin quickly synchronized their pace and strides under the influence of the knightly aura.

The rhythmic hoofbeats were like thunder, making hearts beat in unison. With the added boost of the combined attack formation, all the White Lion Knights were ablaze with battle aura that resembled white flames.

"Lion's Fang!!!"

As Kevin issued the battle order, the originally tight formation instantly sprang apart, the six hundred cavalrymen quickly scattered, their knightly swords gleaming with a blinding light, and the blazing white battle aura burning on each knight rapidly concentrated under the blade.

"put!!!!!"

Kevin, who was charging at the forefront, was like a burning human torch. At his command, each knight delivered a double slash to the front.

The next moment, countless crescent-shaped, blazing white sword energies flew towards the unidentified knights rushing towards them.

The black-armored knight at the forefront saw a white curtain of swords through the gaps in his helmet, and his light brown eyes widened in surprise.

"Prepare for defense~~~~"

Before he could finish speaking, seven or eight sword energies struck him. The excellent defense of the heavy armor of the Jekasi Steel Empire cavalry was not broken by the sword energies, but the enormous force transmitted to his body could not be ignored.

In just a moment, hundreds of cavalrymen in the front row were knocked off their horses by the sword energy. More than half of these hundreds of knights who were knocked off their horses died on the spot in this wave of attacks. After all, even though the heavy armor of the Jacsig Empire cavalry was generally quite good in terms of defense, there were always some weak points in the defense, such as the arms and wrists, or, by chance, several sword energies just happened to hit the same spot.

The warhorses affected by the sword energy were not so well protected. Since they were just ordinary modified warhorses, they could not bear the weight of heavy armor, which made the defensive power of the warhorses' armor negligible compared to the heavy armor of the knights.

This made the previous attack particularly bloody; the warhorses in the front row were instantly turned into a pile of minced meat by the sword energy.

Broken armor, mutilated corpses, and the agonizing cries of knights who were not yet dead—except for some cavalrymen who were too close to stop and crashed into the pile of flesh and blood, the other cavalrymen following behind pulled on the reins with all their might to bring the galloping warhorses to a stop. Some knights pulled too hard and fell backward along with their warhorses.

Seeing that their opponents had stopped, the White Lion Construct Knights, who had once again regrouped into a wedge formation, stopped two hundred meters away from the unknown knights at Kevin's gesture. They silently sized up their opponents, but the fighting spirit burning on their bodies indicated that they were ready to launch another attack at any time.

The two sides stood facing each other for about ten seconds. Seeing that the other side neither spoke nor moved aside, Kevin lifted the chin of his helmet, took the reins in one hand and the longsword in the other, and rode his warhorse forward a few steps.

"I am Kevin Hylan, the White Lion of the North!"

I don't care which unit you're from, whose subordinates you are, or who you take orders from. Get out of the way immediately. That was just a warning; I don't want you to die over something so pointless.

Seeing the White Lion Kevin, who resembled a god of war, the black-armored knights, overwhelmed by his powerful aura, couldn't help but take a few steps back. The title "White Lion" was known to every soldier in the Imperial Army. For a moment, a slight disturbance broke out among the unknown cavalry regiment blocking the road.

But it was just a commotion, and not a single cavalryman dared to make way.

Seeing that the other party remained unmoved, Kevin didn't want to attack his own people, but if they were dragged out like this, who knew what might happen next? Thinking of this, Kevin turned around and glanced at the center of the group, where he saw Frederick, who was being protected by the White Lion Knights, also looking at him.

As longtime friends, the two exchanged glances and immediately understood each other's thoughts. After confirming their approach, Kevin's gaze turned sharp when he turned back.

Under the watchful eyes of over two thousand black-armored cavalrymen, he sheathed his longsword to block the attack, picked up the lance that was slanted on his saddle, and the White Lion Knights behind him, seeing Kevin's actions, uniformly sheathed their knightly swords and took up their lances to set up their mounts.

"White Lion!!!!!!!!! Surprise Attack, Annihilation!!!!!!!!!"

As Kevin gave the order again, the formation of the 600-man cavalry regiment changed once more. From an overhead view, the original wedge formation quickly dispersed into smaller wedges of six men each, with a spacing of about two or three meters between each group—a very standard annihilation goose formation.

"This is your last warning. You can still live if you flee now. Don't do anything pointless. Leave now, find a place to hide, and wait for the chaos in the capital to end. I, Kevin Hylan, guarantee with the honor of my family that you will still be soldiers of the Empire."

With the added boost of his fighting spirit, Kevin's voice carried far, making it clear even to the black-armored soldiers at the very back. The previously quiet ranks erupted into chaos again because of Kevin's words. Seeing this, the leader, who had been hidden among the soldiers, reluctantly mounted his horse and stepped forward.

Kevin narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the knight emerge from the black-armored soldiers, trying to discern whether he recognized him by his figure. However, after a few seconds, he gave up, as the knight's attire was indistinguishable from that of an ordinary soldier, making it difficult for him to identify him.

"It seems you are the leader of this cavalry regiment. I don't care who you are. Now take your men and leave this place, make way, and I'll pretend this never happened."

Knowing this was an unjust war with bloodshed within, Kevin, a chivalrous man, was unwilling to engage in excessive killing; after all, wielding a sword against one's own people was never as satisfying as wielding it against the enemy. But Kevin was met with silence again. Just as his patience was about to run out, the knight, who had previously lowered his visor, reached out and pushed it back open.

"Silster!!!!"

Upon seeing the familiar face beneath the visor, Kevin, who had been preparing to attack with murderous intent, let out a gasp.

Frederick, who was being protected by the team, was also shocked. When he saw that familiar face in the crowd, he stood there stunned, and at the same time, the incredibly clear memories flooded his mind.

"Hey, hello there. My name is Sirster, from Bangar City. You two are pretty good; the Level 3 exam at the Imperial Military Academy isn't something just anyone can pass."

'What?! You two?! You two?! My God, what am I doing?!'

"You mean, even though I'm just a commoner, you two are still willing to be my friends?"

'Frederick, Kevin, I intend to join the Imperial Army, and one day, through my own efforts, I will make us true friends.'

"Silster?! Why?"

Somewhat incredulous, Frederick walked past the guarding White Lion Knights and stopped beside Kevin, looking at his former commoner friend with whom he had studied at the Imperial Military Academy.

At this moment, the three of them are positioned exactly as they were when they parted ways years ago, but the feelings they have now upon meeting are even more painful and complicated than when they parted.

Sirster looked at his two friends standing opposite him and sighed softly. He hadn't expected that their reunion would turn out like this. Perhaps it really was as his master had said: we ordinary people spend our whole lives striving to become excellent knights, but in the end, we are just pawns used at will by powerful figures.

"Hehehe~ Your Highness Frederick, Lord Hylan, it's been a long time. I never expected that our reunion would be like this. But the White Lion of the Civilization Empire is indeed powerful. Kevin, you really didn't lie to me about that. Perhaps I really should have joined the White Lion with you back then."

“Sirst! Get out of my way. You are no match for me. I don’t know what has happened to you all these years, but once things are over in the capital, Frederick and I will find a way to help you resolve this.”

As a soldier, Kevin naturally sensed the faint deathly aura emanating from his friend. But upon seeing the two of them, Sirster instantly understood and shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. Reflecting on his life, which had been like that of a puppet on a string, he thought that dying at the hands of his friend in the end wouldn't be such a bad thing.

After figuring it out, Sirster nudged the warhorse's belly with his foot. The spurs grazed the horse's belly, and the horse, in pain, began to move forward.

“Frederick Kevin, please allow me to address you both as such one last time. Becoming your friend has been the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me. Now, let’s settle things once and for all, so that this liar can end his life of being controlled.”

Upon hearing Sirster's words, the two men narrowed their eyes slightly. After experiencing the various conspiracies against the royal family, it was not surprising that they were being deliberately arranged to get close to them.

"Have you thought it through, Sirst? Actually, I don't blame you, and I don't think Frederick does either."

Upon hearing Kevin's words, Frederick, who was standing to the side with a complicated expression, nodded slightly, but his mind was elsewhere. The situation was far worse than he had imagined. Had his father been asleep all these years? How could he be so unguarded against the people around him? Even he, a prince who was clearly on the fringes, had been deliberately targeted by someone with ulterior motives.

Thinking about this, Frederick couldn't help but shudder. What awaited him next? Could he really do it?
Meanwhile, Sirster had already ridden his warhorse to a position less than thirty meters away from the two of them. Looking at the two men, who were more mature than before, he revealed a satisfied smile.

"Come on, I've never been able to go more than a few moves against you since the Imperial Military Academy. I wonder if I've improved at all over the years."

"Kevin, let's have one last fight. Don't hold back this time. Once I'm dead, without anyone watching, these soldiers will naturally scatter."

Seeing Sirster put down his mask again, Kevin stopped trying to persuade him. Everyone has their own path to choose, and everyone must be responsible for their own choices. No one has the right to interfere with the fate of others.

Looking at Sirster, who was radiating a light blue battle aura, Kevin sighed softly, put his lance back on his saddle, drew his sword again, and charged forward. The difference in strength between the two meant that Kevin didn't unleash much of his battle aura, relying solely on his combat experience to fight Sirster.

"Kevin! Do it! Kill me!!!! They just wanted me to hold you off!"

Seeing that the sword strikes were becoming increasingly fierce and that Sirster's face had turned completely red as he entered a berserk mode, he knew that the other party had no way to turn back. He dodged the oncoming sword blade, swung his right hand quickly, and after a black shadow flashed, Sirster fell off his horse like a toy whose gears were stuck.

Looking at the azure sky, Sirster felt the threads binding his body finally snap, and felt his life rapidly slipping away. With difficulty, he turned his head and saw Frederick and Kevin had already walked over and squatted in front of him.

"Cough~cough~"

A large hole was blasted open in his chest by the fighting spirit released from Kevin's sword tip, making it difficult for Sirster to breathe.

"Hey~ Kevin, you're really something. Cough cough~~~ I'm about to die, but it's great to see you two. Actually, I lied to you from the beginning. My name is Sirsley, and I'm from Qibo City in the Southern Province."

Hey~ do you guys remember~ that girl~ that big-butt girl~~~

Sirster, or Sirsley, but it doesn't matter what he's called now, this guy who used to peep at female knights' butts all day long has finally gained his freedom in the hands of his friends, and his eyes, which had lost their luster, no longer look so tired or so confused.

"Kevin~~~ Let's go!!!! Let's go together and clean up these filthy guys living in the shadows and get them out of the capital."

Kevin reached out and closed Sirsley's eyes, grabbed the latter's belt, lifted him up and hoisted him onto his shoulder, and silently walked towards his warhorse.

Having lost their leader, the black-armored cavalrymen, facing the ever-approaching White Lion Construct Knights, eventually fled rapidly to both sides of the road, leaving behind only scattered pieces of flesh and limbs and the pungent smell of blood to tell the story of this meaningless ambush.

(End of this chapter)