Death Knight

Austin stomped back and forth in the room, like a beast trapped in a narrow cage. Not only that, but now his eyes are no longer keen and sharp, but the blood of depression and anxiety.

The night's running has long ended—before the towering walls of the capital Lashende have been seen, the Fire Demon and the Hell Dog have given up their pursuit of the Knights. At this moment, the troops have returned to the Knights headquarters in the capital. This is the castle where the sword sage is located. However, although the result of total extinction was avoided, the situation is still very bad for Austin.

"The results of statistics have come out." The necromancer sighed. "In the battle last night, a total of 121 people were killed, plus the knights and soldiers lost in the hunt for the Paladin. The death toll was ... one hundred and eighty-three. The number of injured was more than two hundred, and the mages are too busy now. "

"Damn ~! I'm so unlucky to the extreme ~!" Austin punched the wall sharply. "This is a fairy tale ~! Devil, God ~! If they can talk, I have to torture them, why do those guys really want to? Assault us ~! And at that time ~! "

"What's worse is that the military weight has been lost. At present, I have dispatched 1,500 soldiers from the city defense team to the battlefield last night, but it is estimated that the harvest will not be great. The forest fire will turn everything into ashes. "Thomas avoided the angry eyes of the opponent and continued to explain the situation coldly." In this way, our direct troops can hardly survive, and the 30,000 main forces of the Cavaliers cannot play in this kind of action. Role, the only thing that can be done at the moment ... is to wait. "

"Wait ~! We had a chance to fight back ... Damn it ..." Swordmaster opened the curtains and stared blankly at the vast forest outside the city. At this moment, the trees were bathing in the damp mist in the morning, and they themselves Prey is hiding somewhere in that green.

However, Thomas's precautionary measures in advance gave him a little comfort. The necromancer sew a magic thread into the young mage's clothes, which would produce a weak magic wave and mix it with the magic in the surrounding air. Even advanced wizards can't detect it without using special spells. But the producer himself can rely on the crystal ball to find out where this line-the prey-is.

But now, the crystal ball on the table has no movement-the magic wave can only transmit a distance of 50 to 60 kilometers, and disappears far away.

"They didn't enter the city, they made a smart decision."

"Really? To be honest, even if they enter the city, I may not be sure to win." Austin smiled at himself.

"The one who can fight the sword is called Kaos?"

"I thought my sword fighting spirit was enough to cut everything, but he cut off my sword fighting spirit." The sword master subconsciously touched his forehead. The scar caused by Frost Wing had been healed by magic, but it was carved deep inside him The brand is still the same, "To be honest, for the first time, I feel a bit helpless."

"Don't worry, my commander," Thomas patted his shoulder. "There will be ways. There are many ways to fight. Head-to-head confrontation is just one of them. I will find him in Fahdodo who can deal with him. Suitable candidates."

"I hope so." Austin nodded, and the next moment both of them turned to the sudden knock on the door.

"Sir Austin, Her Majesty wants to see you." A high-level knight came in with an uneasy look on his face.

"now?"

"Yes, sir. The summoner is still waiting in the castle's reception room."

"Well then, I'm also trying to see if the respectable King is not here now," Juggernaut shrugged, then turned to the necromancer aside, "I'll see him now ... and those Ministers, you are in charge here, Thomas. "

"Be careful, Master Head." The other party added a tone to the word "Head".

"Of course." Austin waved her hands and walked to the reception room at the end of the corridor.

He was well aware of the current situation, and there were not many nobles who were dissatisfied with his style in the court, and this defeat obviously made the situation worse-the King of Fahdot was a man of lack of opinion His gaze will only stay on the immediate interests, not farther. But Austin also knew that the king and the nobles could not do without him. In addition to the well-known users of sword fighting, who else can resist the invasion of the Luvis Alliance?

If the alliance does not exist, will I become like you, the child of the forest? Juggernaut remembered his old opponent who died under his sword. It's really interesting. My existence is based on the existence of the alliance. But ... no matter what it will look like in the future ... I must also revive this country with the sword in my hands ~! I will know the secret that can turn everything around and get the power hidden in it ~!

Even at the cost of life.

"If you want to learn 'Yunyao', you must first understand the principle of sword fighting, so you will know why you did it." Roland glanced at the three young people sitting beside him, and night had quietly fallen. At this moment, the team who had hurried for a day set up camp in a hidden and quiet place. The bonfire in front of them was dancing cheerfully, making a crackling noise. Catori and Rennes seem to have forgotten their paladin status, and, like the most curious students, listen carefully to every word of the demon hunter. The mage with no interest in swordsmanship also raised his ears.

"The users of sword fighting gas have the power to convert anger into material attacks. When they swing the sword, the anger will radiate along the front line and use the cross section of the blade as the boundary to consolidate the upper and lower two. The side of the airflow finally formed the wind blade-this kind of air blade and the wind blade created by magic are completely different-in the simplest level of 'shock air', the wind blade is divided into three layers. The condensed airflow is one layer, the lower side is another layer, and the middle is the anger layer that connects the two layers of airflow. The key to defeating the sword qi is to destroy the anger that condenses the wind blade. "

"As long as the anger layer in the wind blade sandwich is broken, the sharp air blade itself will lose its cohesion and dissociate into a normal and harmless air flow."

"It sounds simple ..." Rennes commented.

"Any theory of swordsmanship doesn't sound complicated until you plan to master it, or fight it." Roland shrugged. "You know, there are two levels of realm above Shock, The "crushed stone" relies on the cross formed by the cross of two angers to condense the air flow, and the "broken mountain" at the highest level is a stronger vortex-shaped anger. In this way, what I'm talking about are just basic types, and each sword prince will derive countless variants on this to meet the needs of the battle-such as the point attack and multi-layer wind used by the Fahdod. They may also be playing cards out of common sense in times of crisis. "

"In other words, to destroy the anger hidden behind the strong and sharp air flow, it is not enough to just remember the structure of the sword fight. So we need to use a stronger technique, 'Yunyao.'" The demon hunter came to such a conclusion. He said to stand up, and took out the huge sword that was lost behind him. "Now look carefully."

Roland sighed at a leaf in the palm of her hand, and the thin, light leaves immediately flew up in the air. The next moment, before the sight of the attack was captured by other people's eyes, Frost's blade had cut through the stagnant air and divided the leaves into two, leaving only a dazzling ice-blue afterimage. Faded away in the reflection of fire.

One second later, the violent wind brought about by the epee wave suddenly erupted, shaving everyone's faces, shaking the campfire and making a whirring sound.

Catoli stared intently at the cold-smelling weapon, speechless for a moment. It is not difficult to chop free-falling objects. The key problem is that the leaves are too light. As long as they are blown by the wind, they will fly around, even for those who use fine-edged swords. The slash action of the airflow is also very difficult. But Kaos was able to suppress the sword wind raised by the great sword and cut it off before the leaves were blown away! How can we achieve this level ~! ?

"The time a senior swordsman breathes is called 'minutes', one tenth of it is called 'seconds', the next tenth is 'faculty', and the next tenth is 'jug' And then one tenth is' milli ', and one tenth of' milli 'is' Yunyao'. That is the speed equal to lightning. In the sword art created by 'Emperor' Jagassi, ' The meaning of 'Yunyao' is the highest state and perfect coordination of concentration and speed. "Roland put away his sword and said as he paced.

"The sword fighting spirit itself is almost transparent, and the flying speed is very high. It is unrealistic to discern the structure of the air blade in such a short time, but we can judge the solution of the sword fighting spirit by observing the sword trajectory Off-point, this requires a very high concentration, and misjudging any detail will bring fatal errors. "

"And the next thing to do is to dissolve the sword fighting gas that enters the attack range according to the sword trajectory of the sword master. If the action is accurate enough, you can destroy all the layers of rage hidden in it. Slash speed-fast enough to end the airblade before it bites into your body, otherwise the end result is still dead. "

"It seems this is a bit similar to the mirror trick. We must destroy the sword fight by reappearing the action of the sword master to build the sword fight." Catoli described her feelings and waited for the temporary teacher to make an evaluation.

"Yes, but in practice you will find that the rhythm is much faster. Every time you break an air blade, your eyes will not be opened by the wind that is triggered by it. What's worse, the sword fight is not The leaves, although only made of air of different densities, are strong and sharp, and it is difficult to maintain the speed of attack when cutting in. "The death knight smiled with the understanding of the girl's intelligence." Anyway, the principle is this , The next is the actual practice, I will tell you the delicate relationship between the blade and airflow, and how to enter a state of high concentration in a short time. Remember, only if your sword can grab the sword wind To cut the target is to reach the level of 'Yunyao'. "

"Then let's start now!" Cattoli and Ren immediately stood up and asked in unison.

"It seems that tonight it is not necessary to arrange a defense array ..." Xiu Yin yawned helplessly.

Before the girl noticed it, Chaoyang had quietly emerged from the horizon. The crisp golden light draws clear lines under the combing of dense branches and leaves, strewn in the forest in a staircase, like the strings of a harp, with sharp edges and corners without losing elasticity.

A green leaf fell slowly and gently plucked the strings. The next moment, the dazzling Jianmang's rapid awakening awakened the still air, and the short sword in the girl's hand cut to the target like lightning.

The result ... still not work ~! Catoli opened her eyes for a long time, and finally found that she hadn't cut anything—the leaf had been laughing and flew three meters away, and landed on the ground steadily without any injuries. The girl sighed involuntarily, and what emerged in her mind yesterday was what the demon hunter said.

"'Yunyao' can not only be used to combat sword fighting, but also very helpful in normal combat. After all, the level of concentration is one of the key factors for winning victory. But don't think you can easily master these, as far as I know, In recent years, only Uther, known as the Light's Guide, has grasped the meaning of Yunyao. "

The fighting style that only the great Light Guides understand, may be too reluctant to me now. Cattolie comforted herself, but the next moment, she suddenly noticed something, and there was a deep haze in her pupil.

So ... what about the Dark Eagle? He was a student of Uther, did he master the highest mystery of this sword art? If the Dark Eagle also realized 'Yunyao', how should I face him someday in the future? To prove yourself correct, you must surpass Roland Streve in all aspects ~!

"Continue to practice!" Catoli wiped the fine sweat on her forehead, and once again grasped the dagger in her hand intently.

For Josephine and myself, I must master this technique ~!

Counting from Roland's acceptance of Cattolic's invitation, today is the fifth day for the four to travel together. Rashand has long been left behind, and the Fahdodo Knights seem to be The demons suffered heavy losses in combat, and so far there has been no apparent movement. The death knight who has been keeping a high degree of vigilance at this moment intends to divert his attention by taking a morning break. He leaves the two young men in charge of breakfast and grooming, and slowly walks in the woods, tense. Body feels the warm and moist vitality.

Soon, the aquatic pupil caught the girl's figure, and Roland stopped involuntarily and looked at her quietly under the cover of dense foliage.

Catoli's wielding action was powerful and light, and the dagger was freely releasable in her hands, like a luminous butterfly flying in the air.

Delicia is a good teacher, and Catoli has a very high talent-much higher than that of the Paladin named Ren, which allows her to understand the essence of swordplay in the shortest time. But Roland is very clear that having these things alone is not enough to reach the level of 'Yunyao'.

You need another indispensable thing.

Abandon all attachments.

The girl's short black hair jumped playfully, and the emerald eyes were reflecting the cold light, but the eyes of the death knight lost focus and slowly reflected the scene fifteen years ago.

At that time, Roland was being devoured by the flames of hatred. In order to get enough power to avenge the entire alliance, the young swordsman abandoned Luvis's faith and left the elven kingdom that had kept his own soul. On the journey to find the legendary sword. However, in the north he encountered an unprecedented crisis.

The snow-capped Nordson continent is rarely visited all year round. The dwarves hide in a deep underground city. The surface is full of spider warriors who are good at poisoning, plus various monsters with strange abilities, and may appear on the head at any time. On the white dragon spewing ice, the Avenger found himself unable to move. Each encounter has to pay a great price to survive, not only that, almost 24 hours of uninterrupted snow and extreme food shortages, like the most imperious devil, mocking the small humans who are still breathing. Even the most seasoned ranger cannot survive in this environment.

If you can't make yourself stronger, then everything will stop here, and the truth will be buried in the cold and snow with your body.

In order to survive, Roland became another self, a hunter who focused only on fighting and food. He became aggressive, emerged day and night like a monster, and soon had much more intuition than usual. The huge sword allowed him to survive the confrontation again and again, the young swordsman. Finally, I was used to eating the body of a dead monster-although the leg of the spider warrior will not rot for six hours, at least that will allow him to survive.

In an encounter with the two dwarves, and only once, in the Northland, he even thought that momentarily: why not try to hunt them? Maybe the fat of the old dwarf will be a little tenderer than the flesh of the snow and ice ape ~!

Even now, remembering the almost miserable situation at that time, the beast-like self acting solely based on instinct still chills the death knight. But in that environment, in order to survive, to stand on the land of Elazea again, to wave the sword of vengeance to Windham, and to abandon everything Roland realized that Uther had taught , But he has been unable to master the fighting skills-the highest mystery of 'Yunyao'.

So, can you comprehend it? The demon hunter's thoughts turned back, and the aqua eyes stared at the girl's back. You also long for revenge, don't you? Revenge on the swordmaster for Josephine, and for Alazea ... revenge on the dark eagle, do you plan to give up everything?

We are very similar, perhaps because of our homogenous soul and desire for revenge, my sight will be attracted to you.

Yes, you are the same as me seven years ago, we are the same.

"The posture of the sword is very good. If you continue to do this, you will be able to practice the No. 1 sword-drawing technique on the mainland." Roland's voice came from one side, interrupting Catori's practice. The girl looked around, the demon hunter was cleverly avoiding the pull of the branches, and walked towards herself slowly.

"Sketch ~! Compared to when you met in Belial Village, you seem to have a lot of humorous cells." The girl poked her lips, pretending to be alive.

"You've only practiced it for four days. Don't be too anxious. Swordplay is by no means a day."

"But the bad thing is that I don't have any idea about this technique ..." Cattoli shook her head. "Even though I understand the principle and the way of practice, I still can't understand the true meaning of it. Until now I have I can only wander outside the door of Yunyao. "

"That's because talent, patience, and perseverance are not enough to achieve the necessary conditions to understand 'Yunyao'." The death knight glanced through the sly light, "There is another thing needed-persistence and simplicity heart of."

"What does that mean?"

"Do you know how people call that" Emperor "?-Lord of the Sword. It is said that he neither fights for justice nor wields the sword for evil, and whoever stands in front of him, Jagasi will come forward to challenge And defeat the opponent. "Roland stared at the girl who listened to the story." Power, honor, righteous cause, or evil temptations won't attract him. Jagasi only clings to the sword, and he only practices swords for swords. And In the end, he could only see the sword in his eyes, and created the highest mystery-'Yunyao'-that can defeat the sword's fighting spirit, so Jagashi became an eternal legend. "

"Practice swords only to practice swords. Is this the so-called pure heart?"

"Yes, rather than having the talent to become stronger, the desire to become stronger is the key to comprehension. Cattoli, you must clearly understand the purpose of learning 'Yunyao', such as ... revenge." When this As the hot words rolled over the cold tongue of the death knight, Roland's pupils involuntarily flashed the flicker of the soul.

"Revenge, yes, that is indeed a powerful and pure motivation, but ..." Catoli stared at the other person's aqua eyes, "I don't want that to be the only reason I learn 'Yunyao', nor do I want My heart is dominated by revenge. "

"Revenge is not an evil thought that needs to be eliminated," the demon hunter shrugged. "Of course, if that is forbidden for the Paladin ..."

"There is no mention of revenge or something in Luvis's teachings. This is my own principle," said the girl, shaking her head. "Kaos, do you know about the Undead War?"

Roland nodded.

"Luvith was twenty-seven years, the first year of the Undead War, when a very powerful death knight appeared. He had many titles, 'The Pride of Elazia', 'The Conqueror of the North ',' Lord of the White Dragon ', but now he is called' Dark Eagle. '"

"Roland Streve. I know the name." The Demon Hunter's expression became very delicate, "It is said that he is an apostate."

"He's an avenger. It's all due to King Winddam of Elazia, the cowardly man who put Roland's lover on the altar in order to survive. The king also tried to kill Roland and killed him, but failed. The surviving Roland did not hesitate to become a death knight but also needed strength. In the end, he returned with an unstoppable army of undead, and in a short year he hit the capital of Elazia and killed his enemies. "Ka Tori replied word by word, "Of course, throughout this incident, my father, Windham Orland, deserved it."

While saying this, the girl's emerald eyes kept staring at Roland without blinking, and in that crisp tone, she couldn't feel trembling, hesitation or sadness at all.

"Few people will judge their father like this." Silently, the demon hunter answered briefly.

"Do you know? 'Wendam Oland deserved it.' This sentence ... It took me a whole year to say it." The young girl's gaze drifted away. "At the age of fourteen, My adoptive mother, Delicia, told me everything about it. The only thing I could do at the time was to run out of the house in tears. The Cavaliers found Catolie hiding in the corner of the street after three days-a lost can The girl who relied on faith had longed for revenge on her father until she knew the truth, but now she has nothing. "

"I do n’t want to talk to anyone when I get home. My adoptive father, adoptive mother, Rennes, or other companions. They often come to comfort me, but those words have no way to rebuild a new hope for me ... so I just I covered my ears and didn't listen. I just practiced the sword alone, and sometimes I followed the mercenaries in other cities to kill the bandits. My parents couldn't stop my actions. The first time I killed was in that year. Tory said suddenly a sorrowful grin, "Kaos, according to you, if you knew 'Yunyao' at that time, I might as well realize it quickly ... This is ironic."

"What happened then?" Roland asked softly, as if afraid to startle the girl beside him.

"One day later, the battle with the robbers was very fierce. Many people died both on our side and on the enemy side. After the end of the battle, I found that all of my body was blood-all those who killed me. So I went to the nearby lake to wash it. Facing the mirror-like lake water, I noticed that the scene in my eyes suddenly changed. I didn't look like a 14-year-old girl at all! The elephant became another person ... a death knight ... "

The girl's thoughts returned to the snowy morning seven years ago. The eyes of the dark eagle are shining with a fascinating light. Even the heavy snow covering the sky cannot prevent the flame from burning.

Roland's thoughts also returned to the moment when his revenge ended seven years ago. After that, those who had been desperate and burning their souls madly lost their motivation to move forward, and had to swallow the bitter fruits that accompany the end of revenge—confusion, hollowness, and loneliness. The distance between Jiu Yuan and him is still the same.

"I have seen the dark eagle, and the specific situation was unimpressed at that time, but his eyes ... seemed to be burning with flames, eyes that could not be faced, but I could not forget it anyway, That was my childhood nightmare. However, when I stared at the lake, I realized that I had also become a nightmare. "Catolie's clear and sweet voice sounded again," At that time I finally woke up, if I I ca n’t face everything that happened, then I will only sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of hatred, and eventually become an existence that is completely contrary to my beliefs. ”

"I don't want to be like the narrow and selfish death knight, so I plan to re-examine the whole thing before deciding on my goals."

"What's the conclusion?" Roland stared at each other intently.

"That's what I told you just now. Never let your heart be controlled by revenge! Of course, if the damned Fahdodo dare to appear again, I will definitely try my best to kill him." The girl answered seriously, "But if I don't meet again, I don't plan to deal with him through the war-although the alliance does have the idea of ​​annexing Fahdot, I will definitely oppose it, because I am the victim of the war."

"So, what about your other enemy ... the Dark Eagle?"

"If this mission is successful, the strategic plans of the undead will be completely destroyed. At that time, I will join the Paladin, and drive out the ghouls, spider monsters, and death knights. If you meet at that time Word of the Dark Eagle ... I swear I will kill this war criminal ~! "

"But he is said to be dead."

"It doesn't matter that way. I will prove with my own experience that Roland Streff's behavior is wrong ~! Joining the war for revenge, even killing his mentor, killing his sword with his former companion, Such revenge is wrong ~! ”Catolie's voice sounded like a lightning bolt that ran through the whole body of the listener.