Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 173 The Dragon Emerges from its Nest
“Your Majesty! In fact, you didn’t need to go there in person at all. It’s just a small disturbance. I believe Commander Florian can easily resolve this issue.”

Surrounded by the Royal Armored Knights, Frederick wore a solemn expression. No one could fathom what the emperor, who had reigned for over thirty years, was thinking at this moment. When approached for questioning, the seasoned emperor gave a cryptic look.

"Everyone says that the king or emperor, as the supreme ruler of a country, is a dragon-like creature whose every word and action affects the fate of many people."

"But is everything safe and sound just because you're a dragon? No... humans can't become dragons, and dragons also have their troubles, and troubles are something that last a long time."

"Therefore, dragons must often leave their nests and spread their wings to fly high, showing the world their unparalleled majesty. At this moment of awe, either those restless villains will put away their inappropriate thoughts and lie dormant again, or they will challenge the dragon."

As he spoke, Frederick IV turned to look at the Platinum Tower behind him. Covered in snow, the almost pure white tower blended seamlessly with the snow. There, the great magician Mansconti awaited his emperor's summons.

"Alright, enough time has passed, long enough that those guys can't stand it anymore. In that case, let me see what they've prepared."

Seeing that His Majesty had no intention of continuing, the attendant did not press the matter further. Years of service had taught him that he should do whatever His Majesty said. He could choose to do more, but he had to wait for His Majesty's next instructions. He should also remember what His Majesty said, know what he should know, and not ask what he shouldn't know.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we will arrive at the border dock in about five minutes."

Border Wharf
The splattered blood, severed limbs, and snow created a horrific scene. Faced with the beastman's attack, the experienced Heavy Stone Mercenary Group did not offer much resistance, especially after their leader, Carlos, was blasted to pieces by the towering werewolf. The remaining mercenaries had no will to fight back.

Courage is something that changes constantly as the situation develops. When faced with a certain death, people often have a strong will to survive, and this will to survive is also accompanied by courage. But when this courage is exhausted, or when courage is no longer able to change the current situation, fear will emerge more fiercely than courage.

"Run! Run! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

As more and more mercenaries fell in battle, without a leader, the resisting mercenaries quickly lost their morale and began to flee like sand thrown into the waves.

This rout caused the already precarious resistance line to collapse in an instant. Without any resistance to stop them, the pursuing beastmen were like wild animals rushing into a sheepfold. Amid screams and the sounds of fighting, most of the members of the Heavy Stone Mercenary Group died in this safest place.

As Sinding gazed at the glass-crystallized skeleton in the pit, a look of enjoyment appeared on his wolf-like face. The divine reward brought by the completion of this hunting ritual was simply intoxicating; it was a visible increase in power.

After a while, having received the feedback from the divine grace, Sindin pulled out Helsing's hunting spear, which had been restored to its original state, and left the pit. The originally crystallized skeleton of Carlos in the pit had also turned into a layer of ashes, and only a faint human figure could be seen.

As a lesser chosen one, Sindin's talents are not actually that good, and in some special circumstances, he is not even able to serve as the vessel for Helsing's descent.

However, out of his unwavering worship of Helsing, Sindin has accomplished one impossible task after another. It is through these divine blessings that Sindin has transformed from an ordinary believer into a lesser chosen one. Although the human side has become increasingly smaller in the process, Sindin, who is now engrossed in the hunt, clearly doesn't care about such things. In fact, if possible, he would like to remain in this beastly form forever.

There was a loud bang.

The heavy ironwood warehouse door crumbled into pieces like paper under Helsing's hunting spear attack.

With the help of the dim magical light, the crimson wolf eyes surveyed the interior space, identified itself, and followed the guidance of the voice deep within its heart to arrive at an inconspicuous shelf.

The sharp wolf claws made a simple attack on the huge wooden box in front of it, and as the barley inside scattered all over the ground, the demon-sealing box that had been covered by the barley was revealed.

Looking at the one-cubic-meter-sized demon-sealing box in front of him, Sindin was clearly unsure how to open it. After hesitating for a moment, Helsing aimed the sharp tip of his hunting spear at the lid of the demon-sealing box.

With the assistance of the attributes such as anti-magic, sharp, razor-sharp, hard, and piercing attached to Helsing's hunting spear, an indestructible magic-sealing box was pierced through like a block of tofu, and a liquid like blood flowed out from the hole.

above the pier
Seeing that the Hendry Merchant Guild, where the most beastmen had gathered, had been breached, and that the beastmen who had slaughtered the mercenaries were beginning to move around, the members of the Royal Griffin Knights, who had been flying in the sky to monitor and scout, were at a loss for what to do and could only turn to look at their commander.

"Commander Kuku Garcia, what should we do now?"

Covered in blood, Losang looked at his leader. Just moments ago, he and his squad had barely managed to wipe out a werewolf patrol on the outskirts. If it weren't for the excellent teamwork of his members, and his own last-minute maneuver of his griffin, soaring into the sky and activating the griffin's innate magic, 'Iron Body', they would have been saved.

Like a grenade, it crashed down from the sky, smashing the werewolf into a bloody pulp. Otherwise, given the werewolf's agile movements and swift attacks, their team wouldn't have been able to take it down so easily without suffering some casualties.

It was precisely because of that dangerous battle that had just taken place that Losang, who had been clamoring to take the initiative, became more restrained. After all, his team of five had struggled to defeat even one werewolf, and there were at least a hundred more below. If they charged in now, who knew what might happen? He had a bright future ahead of him, and it would be a huge loss if he were seriously injured or killed because of such a small-scale operation.

Kuku Garcia felt the gazes of his other subordinates and sighed inwardly. Once upon a time, the Royal Griffin Knights were a symbol of bravery, courage, and fearlessness, but with the development of the times, this place had become the best place for noble offspring to gain prestige.

After all, compared to the Royal Construct Knights and the Royal Mage Order, which have obvious requirements for strength, the Royal Griffin Knights have less obvious requirements for strength. This makes it one of the best options for some noble sons of the Guizhu family who are far down in the line of succession and do not want to go to the border to expand their land.

This is precisely why the Royal Griffin Knights' strength has clearly declined. Although they still have combat power, they are not always brave enough when facing life and death, which has led the Royal Griffin Knights to gradually become a high-level reconnaissance, surveillance, and patrol force.

"Reinforcements should be arriving soon. We can't let these beastmen spread out, otherwise, once they reach the residential areas of the lower city, there will be even more to do."

With that, Kuku Garcia took a deep breath, as if he had made a momentous decision. "So, for the glory of the empire, for the glory of your families, we must confine these werewolves here. Everyone, follow me."

Upon hearing Kuku Garcia's words, the group of griffin riders exchanged wide-eyed glances before finally swerving their griffins to give chase. After all, no matter how unwilling they were, disobeying orders during wartime would be a serious offense they couldn't bear. Their families obviously wouldn't cause any trouble with the military over this, so they could only be more careful during the battle.

The Royal Griffin Knights, who had been flying by, quickly lowered their altitude. Kuku Garcia, who was flying at the front, poked his head out from under the griffin's neck to carefully observe the situation below.

"Circling formation, a third guerrilla attack strategy"

As Kuku Garcia gave the order, the Royal Griffin Knights quickly changed their formation into a V-shape.

At a height of about 60 or 70 meters above the beastmen below, Kuku Garcia pulled out a javelin about 1.2 meters long from beside his saddle and channeled his battle aura into it.

The magic runes engraved on the magic javelins lit up quickly. They were standard piercing javelins manufactured by the Imperial Magic Factory, each costing as much as three gold coins, and each griffin knight was equipped with three.

"Ready! Aim!!!!"

"Target: Large group of mutated humans directly ahead! One unit as a baseline probe attack!!!"

After the order was given, the Griffin Knights, led by Kuku Garcia, flew like a squadron of American Ghost bombers skimming low overhead.

Propelled by battle aura, the standard-issue flying spear instantly transformed into a black shadow and flew towards the beastman below.

Hearing the noise, the beastmen quickly looked up at the sky and saw hundreds of spears falling rapidly like hailstones. The beastmen within the attack range only had time to raise their arms before several standard spears pierced their bodies. With the spears already enchanted with penetration, the beastmen without any defensive equipment were no different from a piece of black bread.

As Kuku Garcia hovered in mid-air, watching his own team kill more than twenty beastmen and leave more than a dozen seriously injured in just one round of probing attacks, he couldn't help but feel excited and thought to himself.

'Perhaps we don't even need reinforcements. As long as we command them properly, these beastmen aren't anything to be afraid of.'

Thinking of this, Kuku Garcia couldn't help but feel a little excited. Although the Royal Griffin Knights were not one of the six major armies directly under the royal family, their treatment was only slightly better than that of Chris the Night Watch, who was in the intelligence department.

It is precisely this actual situation that has made the Royal Griffin Knights' predicament increasingly awkward over the years, and now that there is such an opportunity to gain merit, Kuku Garcia cannot help but be excited.

"Everyone, get ready for round two. Take good aim! At least half of the spears we just threw are stuck in the ground. Damn it! Wiping out this bunch of beastmen will be enough credit for each of you to get promoted."

Upon hearing Kuku Garcia's words, the young griffon knights' breathing quickened. Although most of them joined the Royal Griffon Knights not only because of their respectable status but also for their safety, how could they remain calm now that a seemingly easy and readily available reward was laid out before them? After all, who would willingly lie down when there is hope?

"Yes, boss! I was nervous just now. This time, just watch. I'll aim straight for the heads of those beasts."

Just as Kuku Garcia and his Griffin Knights circled in mid-air, adjusting their positions and preparing to launch another attack, Sindin, whose fur had turned blood red, emerged from the storeroom, gripping Helsing's hunting spear.

After sniffing the air with its enormous nose, the wolf looked up at the griffin riders circling not far away. Its eerie green wolf eyes then saw the beastman nailed to the ground not far away. It angrily howled at the sky and leaped to the top of a huge wooden box.

Just as the Griffin Knights were about to launch a second volley of javelins, Sindin, who had arrived at the Griffin Knights' diagonal side, let out a wolf howl at the flock of griffins in the sky. Then, rings of tangible sound waves flew toward the Griffin Knights in mid-air. The griffins that were hit by the sound waves seemed to short-circuit for a moment, and their flapping wings stopped abruptly.

After a few seconds of dizziness, the knights riding on the griffins regained their senses and quickly pulled on the reins to lift themselves up. After a struggle, they finally stopped the downward trend when they were still more than 20 meters from the ground.

Just as the griffin riders were still in a state of panic, a dazzling light suddenly shone down below, as if a blinding sun had suddenly risen. Before anyone could understand what was happening, a huge beam of light flew towards the griffin riders.

The griffin riders hit by the giant beam of light exploded into a cloud of blood mist in mid-air, while the remaining griffin riders who managed to dodge it quickly controlled their griffins to increase their altitude.

With just one strike, more than a dozen griffin riders were killed on the spot, and the courage they had finally mustered vanished in an instant. The crowd looked down at the red figure with lingering fear.

"Captain~ Captain~~~ What was that? That~ that~ Losang and the others were killed in an instant. I saw it clearly. Losang and his griffin were turned into a pile of minced meat and exploded in an instant."

Hearing his subordinate's stammering and incoherent words, Kuku Garcia felt terrible and terrified. He was afraid of narrowly escaping death, and also worried about how to face the accountability of the families of his fallen men.

Just as Kuku Garcia was wondering whether to continue fighting, monitor from the air, or retreat, the sound of orderly and powerful hooves from afar caught his attention.

It was His Majesty Emperor Frederick IV and his First Royal Armored Knights who arrived.

　Sorry, my condition has been fluctuating a bit lately, but I'll try my best not to take leave and to keep updating.

　
(End of this chapter)