Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 168 The Shadow~
Balam, sitting on the ground, was trembling uncontrollably. Marigloyan's words were like the whispers of a demon, telling him to set fire to the docks on the shore.

I never even dared to think about this. At the dock, in addition to the security patrol soldiers patrolling back and forth, there were also bodyguards and thugs hired by various chambers of commerce.

Some of the more established and powerful merchant guilds would even hire professionals to oversee things. If you were to sneak in and set a fire, and then be discovered by those powerful professionals, all that awaited you was death.

Thinking of this, Badam stammered, as if he weren't the one who had just confidently agreed. He said haltingly:
“Um, Mr. Marigolo Yang, these warehouses are all guarded by professionals.”

"Especially the Hengdeli Merchant Guild you mentioned, there are knights in armor standing at their gates. They usually chase people away when they are fifty meters away from their warehouses, so you can't get close at all."

Marigolo Yang nodded noncommittally at what Balam said. The drunkard was indeed right, but so what? It was like the man in black had just informed him, and he was just following the instructions to find a suitable person.

As for whether the person he found could actually accomplish this task, Old Mario Yang didn't care. As long as he delivered Badam over tonight, he would have gathered enough men for the men in black, and at least his own affairs would be over. He could then continue living in a daze for a while longer.

"Alright, I understand what you're saying. Do you need anything else to eat or drink? I'll take you somewhere in a bit, and once we get there, someone will take care of what to do next."

"Boss Yang of Maligolo..."

Border Wharf
The heavy snow had been falling for eight or nine hours. It was the middle of the night, and the entire dock was covered in white. Although the snow had stopped and the patrolling soldiers no longer had to brave the wind and snow, the snow that had accumulated up to their calves made patrolling very difficult.

"Ha~~~~~"

Zegna tightened her cloak, looked up at the gray sky, and yawned widely.

"Ha~ That's right, in this kind of weather we should be huddled in our tents, lighting a fire, having a bowl of hot stew with bread, and then a big glass of Benetton, wrapped in blankets and sleeping until dawn, instead of continuing to patrol in this weather where even mice don't come out."

The burly middle-aged man called the captain walked at the head of the group, carrying a magic chandelier. According to the ratio of the Imperial City's security team, a normal patrol team should have six members. As an old man who had served in the security patrol team for nearly twenty years, Macurelia had long since smoothed out his temper through day after day of patrolling.

Hearing the complaints from the new team members, Maculeria just shook his head and smiled slightly. These young kids don't understand that it's precisely at times like these that mistakes are unacceptable. He has been doing his job steadily for almost twenty years because he always gets his work done, rain or shine. Safety and security are the most important things.

As Maculeria walked along the planned route, she thought that since she had a day off tomorrow, it was time to find a good early childhood education school for little York. She had heard that there was a children's academy in the East Fourth District established by a church, and that as long as you met the requirements, you could enroll at a very cheap price.

Just as Macurella was silently planning what to do next, he suddenly heard his subordinates scream and quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

"My God, Liberty Girls on Top, what is this?????? Captain, Captain, come and see what this is!"

Upon hearing Zegna's voice, Maculeria quickly picked up his magic lantern and looked in the direction Zegna was pointing. He saw a series of footprints on the snow, which was as white as brocade. The size of the footprints and the distance between their strides indicated that they were not normal footprints.

Looking at the long trail of footprints only seven or eight meters away from his group, Macurella's heart began to race, and some rumors that had been circulating among the patrol team began to surface in his mind.

It is said that some citizens reported to the patrol team that they saw an unidentified humanoid creature in the middle of the night with a pair of bright red eyes that looked like they were looking at someone with a bloodthirsty light. However, after several investigation teams were sent out, they found nothing and the matter was dropped.

However, with a recent surge in reports of missing persons, the heads of the security patrols began to suspect something was amiss. They reported this to Chris the Night Watch, but the Night Watch only sent a team of investigators and then there was no further news.

Later, the higher-ups simply instructed the patrol teams to increase the frequency and scope of their patrols. Since the people reported were mostly from the lowest rungs of society—homeless people, thugs, beggars, and laborers doing menial jobs—no one really cared whether there were more or fewer of these people at the bottom of the capital.

"Is this... a wolf's claw?"

Macurelia, who was crouching on the ground examining the object, carefully examined it and then stated his conclusion with some uncertainty. Zegna, who was standing to the side carrying a magic chandelier, was clearly not very convinced.

"Hey~ if it's a wolf's paw, then it's huge! How big must that wolf be?!"

As she spoke, Zegna seemed to have thought of something funny and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahahaha, and look, Captain, if it really is a wolf, that's so strange. It only has two paws; shouldn't it have four? Does it walk on its front legs?"

As she spoke, Zegna's smile faded. As a graduate of the academy, although not from a top-tier institution like the Royal Academy, her extensive knowledge still allowed her to recall a creature that matched the description.

His pupils contracted rapidly with tension and fear, and he said to Macreria in a trembling voice:
"Hey~~~ This, this, this, could it be a werewolf?!"

Bathed in the magical aura, Zegna clearly saw Maculeria's Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed saliva down his esophagus.

“Zenia, send out a reinforcement signal. This is really a bad thing.”

"Everyone, gather around me and form a defensive formation. We are preparing to track this trail."

After Zegna sent out her distress signal, the five team members drew their weapons and formed a defensive formation around Macurelia. Although a sense of unease was rising in his heart, Macurelia had no choice but to lead his squad to retreat before assessing the urgency of the situation, as a member of the patrol team.

But Maculeria's heart was already clouded by Zegna's words, and he hoped things wouldn't get worse.

Werewolves, distinct from the werewolf orcs of the Orc Empire, are fundamentally different species, despite some similarities in physical characteristics.

Therianthropes are humanoid beings cursed with a form of beast-like transformation that uncontrollably transforms into beast forms during a full moon. Orcs are a separate race, while Therianthropes are cursed humans/elves, etc.

Although there are some naturally born beastmen, the vast majority of beastmen are infected with the beastification curse. In the widely accepted understanding, this curse is a sin of being forsaken by God, and it has gradually disappeared from the continent under the joint hunting efforts of the Holy Church.

The most recent recorded sighting of a beastman in the English Empire, at least, dates back to thirty years ago after Frederick IV ascended the throne.

The current situation is that neither the emergence of naturally born beastmen in the capital nor the appearance of the beastification curse is a trivial matter. Combined with the recent news of a large number of low-level people going missing, on this cold night, Maculeria felt a fine layer of sweat seeping from his forehead.

"You all better be on your guard right now. This isn't a joke, nor is it one of those childish drills. If things go wrong this time, you could all lose your lives."

What made Macurelia even more uneasy was that although he had already fired the signal flare, he hadn't received a response from any nearby squads or merchant guilds. This intense unease made Macurelia turn back to Zegna and say:
"Damn it, Zegna, are you sure you sent the right one?!"

"Boss, I'm sure I sent the right one."

"Damn it, why isn't there any reply? Damn it, send another one! No! Launch the remaining two!" "Ah!! Launching them both...wouldn't that be the highest level?! Boss, what if...?"

"Damn it, stop talking nonsense! Do what I tell you to do!!!"

"Okay, okay, boss, be careful!!!!"

Heat, desire, killing intent, a urge to destroy everything in front of him; everything he looked at was crimson; he couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing; despite the thick snow beneath his feet, the heat in his heart remained unabated.

The familiar scene before him and the recurring voice in his mind left him in a state of confusion. After wandering aimlessly in the snow for a while, he finally remembered what he had to do: kill all the living things he saw.

Ah~ that's~ that's~ kill them, kill them!!!

The black figure lay prone on a huge wooden crate, watching a group of humans carrying lanterns chase after its footprints. The remaining desire to kill completely pushed away all other chaotic thoughts in its mind.

The dark figure leaped high from the wooden crate, its sharp claws already aimed at the figure standing at the front.

"Boss!!!! Watch out!!!!"

Macurella, who was lecturing Zegna, felt a gust of wind coming from behind him and instinctively raised his standard round shield in front of him.

With a piercing metallic scraping sound, Macurella, feeling a surge of power, was sent flying backward, carving a long trench in the snow.

Awooo~~~~~~~
Under the light of Zegna's magical lantern, the figure that attacked Macreria became clear.

The long, wolfish jaws parted in front of everyone, and thick, foul-smelling saliva dripped from between its sharp teeth onto the snow.

The linen clothes that were originally worn by a human had been stretched into strips of cloth hanging on the body covered with stiff black hair.

The body, enhanced by the curse of the beastification disease, became unusually tall and robust, its height increasing to nearly four meters.

"Team leader~"

"Are you OK!"

Zegna gripped the Imperial standard longsword, his eyes fixed intently on the werewolf-like beastman before him, not daring to blink.

"I'm fine!!! Damn it!!!! It really is a beastman. Call for backup."

As Macurella gave the order again, two bright signal flares quickly rose into the air and exploded.

Macurella, covered in snow, hastily wiped the snow off his face, walked to the front of the group, and raised his left arm holding the shield. Although it still hurt a little, it should not be broken.

"Just like we practice every day, stay on the defensive and don't attack randomly, lest you get scratched or bitten by this guy and get infected with the beastification curse."

"We just need to stall until reinforcements arrive. In this weather, if we can hold out for five minutes, the fastest Royal Griffin squad will be here."

roar~
Having failed in his attack, the werewolf felt the heat within his body intensify, his blood rushing through his veins, and an endless urge to kill surge to his head.

The smell of flesh and blood emanating from these people in front of me is incredibly tempting.

Kill them all! Kill them all! Kill them all!
Pull their organs out of their throats, rip their hearts out of their chests, rip open their skulls, ah, delicious brains.

"Be careful! Be careful! Don't get scratched, focus on repelling them."

"Damn it, what are those guys in the church monitoring? They're completely blind."

bang bang bang
A loud, teeth-grinding metallic scraping sound rang out as the tall, muscular werewolf brandished his claws and launched rapid attacks on Maculeria and the others.

However, all the attacks were blocked by the standard Thai steel round shields, and no one was injured for the time being. But the tremendous force transmitted from the shields still made the patrolling soldiers who were blocking feel a tingling sensation in their arms.

Fortunately, it was a defensive formation, and the men were standing close together. The soldiers behind them braced their hands against the backs of the defenders in front, and they successfully held on.

"Damn it! How can it be so powerful? This is probably at least a mid-level attack."

Just when Zegna felt she was about to break down, the relentless, rain-like attacks suddenly stopped.

next moment.

The werewolf with blood-red eyes leaped high into the air, crashing down on the group like a black grenade.

The patrol team, struck by the powerful impact, scattered around like a bursting flower.

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of fighting, screams, tearing flesh, and breaking bones filled the air.

From this point on, the entire Maculeria Squad of the 16th Battalion of the 2nd Security Patrol Regiment under the Third Army Corps was killed in action.

Hundreds of points of light appeared in the misty sky, like exploding fireworks, rushing toward the thirty-two regions of the Holy Song Mayara.

"Royal Griffin Regiment, strike! Annihilate all unrest!"

(End of this chapter)