Heart of the Castle

Chapter 541 Demon Army Assembled, Last Line of Defense
A dead shadow swept silently across the west bank of the Oath River, looking almost like a black tide.This tide is composed of hundreds of war horses. The war horses look tall and haggard, with prominent bones, and their eyes are shining with unnatural blood red light. On each back sits a knight in full armor.

These knights wore undecorated black armor, and black cloaks of the same color fluttered behind them, as black as the wings of the night.Although they were traveling at high speed, none of these knights seemed to be tired. In the cold night, there was not even a white mist of breathing on the breathing holes of the face armor.

The young knight Grun Worm carefully manipulated the zombie warhorse under his crotch, trying his best to straighten his body, so that his appearance was as close as possible to other death knights-although this was a completely unnecessary behavior.Under the influence of the magical holy sword Tranyatesis, even if Grun Worm made some out-of-the-ordinary actions, he would be automatically ignored by his companions.

This troop known as the Dark Hammer Knights is composed of five hundred elite death knights, and it is the strongest combat group that the Council of the Dead can assemble within the scope of the Kingdom of Arthur.According to the agreement reached between the deceased and the demon of the abyss, this army will serve as a sharp knife hidden in the darkness, and fatally ambush those remnant human soldiers who escaped from the capital of Fermeyer by chance.

The death knights advanced silently, quietly passing through the dense forest and over the hills. Ambushes could be set up in many places, but the leader of the Dark Hammer, Drex, a powerful condemned knight, wanted to find a The most suitable ambush location.

They stopped about 3 kilometers away from the city gate on the north side of Firmeyer. There are two low hills juxtaposed together. The Guangyao Avenue winds between the two hills. Like a silver snake through a suffocating shadow.

The slopes of these two hills are very gentle, with sparse vegetation, just suitable for knights to charge, and obviously belong to a good ambush location.Scourge Knight Derex stopped, and scanned the surroundings with eyes burning with dark green flames. He did not wear a helmet like other death knights, and his pale and thin face was as expressionless as a plaster mask. The lips were pursed into a thick purple-black twisted line.

"Barely." Drake's voice was as cold and ruthless as the empty night sky, making Grun Worm, who was not far away from him, shiver uncontrollably. "Dismount all and prepare for an ambush."

The discipline of the death knight even exceeds that of the best human knights. After hearing the order of the condemned knight Drakes, these dark knights jumped off their horses without hesitation, except for the metal sound of friction between the armor and the chain mail. Other than that, no other sound was made.Soon even these voices gradually disappeared. A total of [-] knights and their war horses were hidden on the two hills, but they were as silent as hundreds of stone statues. Even the scouts with the sharpest eyes could not find them A figure that merges with the twilight.

Grunwalm and the other death knights also knelt on one knee, but instead of putting the saber at their feet, they leaned on it in their hands, and the hands holding the hilt trembled slightly under the black iron gloves.The waiting time was extremely difficult for him. At first he counted his heartbeats to calculate the time, but soon he found that the interval between each heartbeat was frighteningly long, as if there was no beat for an hour or two.

The wait lasted for a full 100 years—of course, this was just Glenn Warm’s idea, but in fact it was only a few 10 minutes at most—a high-pitched and weird trill sounded from a distance, followed by a blood-red monster that looked a bit like a bat. The monster fell straight down from the sky.

This is not the first time that Grunwalm has seen this monster, but like the previous few times, it made the young knight's stomach churn, and his throat felt nauseated, he turned his head away instinctively, I just hope I don't vomit in the helmet like I did the first time.

The size of this monster is about the same as that of an ordinary bat, but the spread wings are not skin membranes, but bloody red skin.In fact, the appearance of this monster is similar to that of a human head that has lost its bone support. A line was drawn on the flat face from the center of the eyebrows to the lower jaw. membrane.One of the monster's eyes turned into a black hole, but the other one remained, and it had swelled several times, with a dark green will-o'-the-wisp burning in the pupil.Grunny Worm even felt as if a worm had crawled across his back as he was swept by its terrifying eyes.

The location where the monster fell happened to be in front of the condemned knight Decrese. For this stern and cold death knight who never knew how to smile even when he was alive, even this monster looked a little frightened. The body tried to shrink a little, and then spoke in a hoarse and sharp voice.

"Here they come, they evacuate, north gate, ten minutes."

Scourge Knight Decres nodded lightly, so small that one wondered if it was an illusion. "It seems that the griffon cub can't bear the pressure anymore?" His voice was calm and powerful, with a slight sense of satisfaction. "Very well, he may not have imagined that there is still a pitch-black hammer waiting here, ready to smash every bone in him!"

The beam of light shot up into the sky, rendering the southern half of the sky blood-red. In the silence, the noise coming from the direction of the royal capital Fermeyer was clearly discernible. Grun Worm listened attentively and found that those voices were indeed As the monster said, approaching the hill where the Dark Hammer Knights ambushed.

Grunworm gripped the hilt tightly, hoping to gain courage from the holy sword Tranatesis, but fear still seeped into his skin, crawling endlessly between the muscles like a multi-legged spider, making him I feel pain and itching all over my body.

"The one they are going to ambush is Master Li Wei... I should warn him in time." Grunwalm said silently in his heart, not only reminding him not to forget his oath, but also hoping to get support and encouragement from Holy Sword .

However, what Grunwalm didn't expect was that the voice of the Holy Sword Tranyatesis did sound in his heart afterwards, but it was not support, but a clear-cut objection.

"Grunworm, my lord, I object to your doing this, it is simply foolish."

"I must, I swear." Grunworm was taken aback by the answer of the holy sword, but he insisted, "I swear allegiance to Lord Liveston, to slay his enemies with the sword, and To cover his body, the knight's oath is extremely sacred, and it does not change because of any danger he faces."

"You are not an ordinary knight, Grun Worm." The voice of the holy sword was very soft, echoing like a song in the mind of the young knight. "It's me—the master of the holy sword Tranyatesis, you are destined to become a great leader, a monarch who establishes a new dynasty, and a hero who will be famous in history!" The voice of the holy sword suddenly became passionate , "My master, but all of this must be based on your ability to survive, don't forget that my power is not omnipotent, if you warn those below, then all cover will not be effective Nothing worked."

The young knight was silent, only the blue veins on both sides of his neck were still throbbing, showing the intensity of his inner struggle.He never thought that Holy Sword would give him such advice. Maybe Holy Sword is right, only heroes who survived are heroes, and more are lost in the long river of history, as a heroic act that should be recorded in the annals of history. People tend to describe it as bravery and stupidity when they don't get the corresponding results.

"Yes, I should be a hero! I should hold the holy sword, defeat the demons, clear the darkness, and open a new era for mankind!" Grun Worm's body trembled slightly, and the seductive vision was like thunder in his mind It reverberated incessantly, agitating the blood one after another. For a while, the excessive excitement forced him to shut his mouth tightly, for fear that when he opened his mouth, he would involuntarily let out a roar.

The violent fluctuations in emotions made Grun Worm unable to feel the passage of time. He didn't know how long he had been absent-minded, but when he woke up, he could clearly hear the sound of many horseshoes stamping on the ground, accompanied by the sound of guns and swords. The armor clashed, and the muttered curses of the soldiers rose and fell one after another.

The voice sounded very close, as if it was echoing in his ears, Grun Worm suppressed his beating heart, raised his head with extremely slow movements, and looked down the hill.

Through the gaps in the sparse bushes, he saw a group of people galloping along the Guangyao Avenue, the number of which would not be less than two thousand. The spears, sharp swords and armor gleamed coldly under the moonlight.Several flags were fluttering at the front of the team. Because the light was too dim, Grunwalm couldn't see what the badge on the flag looked like, but it was vague and didn't look like a golden griffin with wings spread out. .

Seeing the army getting closer and closer to the ambush site, the young knight's mouth became very dry.He told himself that he should stand up immediately and warn those people at all costs, even if he sacrificed his life because of this, he could save thousands of lives from the death knight's ambush.

He should, he swore it!

However, he felt something—a big hand like a pair of iron pliers—choked his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe, and his eyes turned black, and he couldn't even utter a word.

Grunwalm knew in his heart that it wasn't anything tangible at his throat, but fear.

Even the fear that could not be suppressed even with the holy sword Tranyatesis in his hand, the fear had seized his soul and turned him into a... coward?
"No! Never!" Grunwalm almost yelled angrily, roaring in his heart. "I'm not a coward, I want to be a hero, a hero will not be afraid... Holy Sword Tran Yate Hiss... tell me, what's going on with this feeling?"

Holy Sword didn't answer immediately as usual, but fell into an abnormal silence. Grunwalm was about to ask for the second time. Make a "all ready" gesture.

This gesture made the death knights who had been motionless like statues just now seem to be suddenly injected with vitality. They picked up their weapons one by one from the ground, and the long swords were pulled out of their scabbards with a slight friction sound. A cruel and ruthless blade is exposed from below.Then the zombie horses beside the knights also stood up one after another. Unlike their fellows whose blood was still warm, these tall and haggard undead creatures did not make any sound when they stood up.

The Knights of the Dark Hammer seemed to be a group of ghosts standing on a hill, waiting for a massacre. They were waiting for the last time, waiting for the doomed human army to step into the ambush circle.The death knights who were about to mount and charge had already gripped their spears and sabers tightly; some death knights who were good at shooting took out their black longbows and put the twisted and terrifying bone arrows on the bowstrings.Every death knight's dark green eyes are condensed with undisguised killing intent, as well as greed and desire for the scorching blood in the living body.

Perhaps feeling the sudden murderous aura, a knight in front of the human army suddenly reined in his horse, raised his hand to signal the team to stop, and then raised his head to look up.Grunwalm noticed that the knight was not wearing armor, but was wearing a black and red straight aristocratic dress, just like those rich and powerful children of the royal capital who were drunk and dreaming.

Grunwalm breathed a sigh of relief, "Master Li Wei's subordinates... definitely don't have this guy." He thought, "Since he is not a subordinate of the Griffon Lord, then I should not have to risk reminding them?" But then he asked Ashamed of his sudden cowardice, his cheeks were even red hot.

Due to the obstruction of the hill itself and the sparse vegetation on it, the knight didn't see anything suspicious. He continued to stand still for nearly a minute before slowly raising his hand, ready to issue an order to move on.

At this moment, Grunwalm uttered a cry, piercing the quiet night like a sharp blade, "Withered Hope!" He shouted like a most fanatical death knight, and jumped onto the zombie horse. "In the name of the Eternal Sleeper, kill——"

The death knights kneeling beside Glenn Worm hesitated for a moment, because they still clearly remembered that the order of the Scourge Knight Derex was not to attack, but it was just an interval of a heartbeat, and the hatred for the living overwhelmed everything. , The dark green flames blazed in the eye sockets of those death knights, and they all jumped onto their horses at the fastest speed, brandishing their spears and sharp swords, roaring like a wave of turbid waves, sweeping towards the human troops below the hill.

Now even the Scourge Knight Drakes can't stop these fanatical death knights, only a small number of high-level death knights can still maintain enough willpower to restrain the team that did not join the charge.

However, this is meaningless, "May Flandara's golden face be aimed at your ass!" Derricks cursed hoarsely.However, although the ambush plan was destroyed, the Scourge Knights did not have any more doubts about Grun Worm's behavior in their hearts, because death knights are inherently undead creatures that are easily affected by emotions, although they usually behave However, under the temptation of the flesh and blood of the living, unexpected violent behaviors often erupt.

"Lord Drakes, what shall we do now?" A high-ranking death knight looked at the expressionless face of the Scourge Knight and asked with some trepidation.

"What a perfect plan, ruined by a damned idiot, if he can't get enough souls in the battle, I will definitely..." Derricks said gloomily, and then jumped onto his extraordinarily tall and The bony war horse said, "The plan is meaningless, everyone, charge!"

Of course, this human army that was ambushed was the Death Knights who had just left the battlefield of the king's capital, or most of the Death Knights.Because when the Lord of the Eyes, Tomad Jansen, had no intention of waiting at the north gate of the capital, he ordered Lord Haihua, who was still executing his order to assist in the evacuation of the residents of the capital, and nearly three hundred people under his command. The cavalry gave up.

For the Reaper Knights in its heyday, three hundred cavalry were quite a force, accounting for one-fifth of the overall strength. Of course, it is very sad to lose in vain; As far as the stable Lord Thomas Dejansen is concerned, most of these [-] cavalry belong to the second branch of the Death Knights, which is the old department of Lord Haihua, the death robe. A major destabilizing factor has been removed.

Moreover, it can also restore the notoriety of some Death Knights who evacuated the capital first.

For this practice of killing two birds with one stone, Tomad Jansen was even a little complacent, until his intuition felt a slight threat.

The road ahead looked normal. The low hills on both sides were covered with sparse shrubs and grasses, and occasionally there were some thin snow accumulated not long ago, which glowed pale under the moonlight.Thomas Jansen couldn't find anything suspicious, and that trace of threat became looming, and it was even difficult to tell where it was.

Maybe it's an illusion, or maybe it's from the demon army that is raging in the capital of Fermeyer?In any case, it cannot stay here for long.Lord Grim Eyes comforted himself in this way, and then raised his hands, ready to order the troops to move on.

At this moment, a shout came from the hill ahead, "Withered hope is here!" Tomad Jansen's heart was beating violently a few times. He looked up and found a large number of black armored knights riding their horses. Rushing down the hill, the eyes under the helmet gleamed, like a group of cruel fireflies wrapped in dark green flames, pounced towards him!

(End of this chapter)