Chapter 33: Chapter 32 The Smell of Iron in the Snow
The cavalrymen clad in breastplates and helmets positioned themselves at the edge of the forest, awaiting the commander's order to attack with strict readiness.
Leading the cavalry formation was a red-haired middle-aged noble commander, Baron Bourette Meyer, one of the few younger brothers of Marquis Meyer.
He hailed from a prominent northern Rhea family, the Meyer family, the most important noble force among the many that had rebelled against the King.
But the Meyer family was too vast, and even if the family was defeated and negotiated with, the King would not dare to completely annihilate the Meyer family. From then on, the Meyer family would enter a long period of decline.
It might be a few years, decades, but after a century, the Meyer family would still undoubtedly remain one of Rhea's top noble families!
Every member of the Meyer family firmly believed in the future of the family, each willing to sacrifice life, freedom, and dignity to fight for the glory of the entire family!
Unity—that was the motto of the Meyer family!
Exhaling the chill air from within his black helmet, Bourette tightly grasped the reins in his hand and looked toward the two squire knights beside him.
"There's still time. Once we get that thing, we immediately head north."
The two squire knights, one burly and one frail, with the burlier one asking, "What about the infantry squads?"
"They can only remain within Cyart's reach."
Bourette fell silent for a moment before continuing with regret, "Duke Black Iron Houston's army is in Fein City; they will definitely come to intercept us."
"We're cavalry, we still have a chance to escape. The infantry squads are pretty much doomed."
The name of Duke Black Iron was well-known, the aged man was the terrifying demon, butcher, and madman who had repeatedly defeated the Rhea people.
Whenever they thought of such an old man, it always weighed heavily on the Rhea people's hearts.
However, Bourette thought that if his brother, Marquis Meyer, one day had the chance to face Duke Black Iron on the battlefield, he might stand a chance of defeating the legend.
Upon hearing that the infantry squads would be annihilated, the burly squire knight was shaken and couldn't help asking loudly,
"Baron Bourette, is it worth the death of so many brave Rhea soldiers?"
Bourette nodded without hesitation and said with firm conviction,
"Their deaths are valuable, precious. Only with that thing can the Meyer family step onto the highest stage with glory and join the ranks of the most splendid ruling families on this continent."
The two squire knights exchanged a glance; their ultimate loyalty was to the Meyer family. Since this action was beneficial for the family, they could only sacrifice those infantrymen.
Bourette bowed his head and felt the shards trembling inside the box on his body. Although he could sense the location of "kin" within a range, he couldn't pinpoint them more precisely.
He just felt one of the shard pieces was getting closer.
Of the five pieces of that broken thing, two were kept by his brother, one was with him, another on those Cyart people in the jungle, and the last one lay in the distant west of the continent.
In due time, the Meyer family would definitely be able to gather them all!
"Bang!"
A sudden gunshot immediately drew everyone's attention!
A cavalryman slowly collapsed among the crowd, the flintlock bullet having penetrated the unprotected part of his body at extreme range, instantly resulting in death.
A middle-aged man stood at the edge of the forest, holding a sword in one hand and raising a flintlock high with the other, clad in silver full-body armor.
When the breeze blew, the snowflakes reflected the Blazing Sun and Radiant Sun, resembling dancing shards of glass, sparkling with enchanting light, as though the surroundings were cast in a layer of illusionary light and shadow.
The light from above landed on the snow, and the reflected abundance of light made that challenging middle-aged man seem somewhat divine and inviolable.
The next moment, he turned and ran into the forest!
Bourette saw the man's speed was not weak, definitely a knight!
The odds of that thing remaining in the hands of an ordinary person were low, which meant that man was likely carrying a piece of that artifact!
Bourette immediately issued a serious order, commanding his two subordinate squire knights, shouting,
"I will stay here to lead the team and intercept the rest; you go lead people to block him!"
The two squire knights at once led forty cavalrymen in pursuit, while Bourette stayed behind with the rest, coldly waiting for the remaining "lambs."
The infantry squads moved closer according to orders, soon to close the net. Baron Bourette, with a stern frown, drew a deep breath of the ice-cold air.
——
"As expected, I couldn't lure all of them away. It's such a pity. They will have to find another way with the Lord of the Lost."
Lucius dashed frantically through the white, snow-covered forest, pondering whether Irene and Byrne had understood the hint he gave them that night.
At that time, he had hinted at something.
In the final moments, they could very well abandon everyone around them and flee with only Chris!
The core of the Fischer family, even what's so-called the Dawn Church, was merely those connected by blood, sharing a common fate!
However, making such a decision would be very difficult.
He knew very clearly that Irene would have the determination to forsake others at a critical moment, but the real issue lay entirely with Byrne.
That guy was the biggest fool in the group when it came to so-called "sentiments."
The snow fell thicker and thicker, and the ground, already difficult to traverse due to the snow, proved even more challenging for the cavalry once they entered the forest, forcing the forty-odd riders to dismount and search on foot soon after.
The two squires serving the Meyer family were Extraordinary Exponents of high-level Beginning, and their combat strength in one-on-one fights was no less than that of Lucius.
They were also well aware of the individual combat capabilities of an Extraordinary Exponent, so they ordered all the soldiers to not lose sight of the other two and to search the surrounding forest as cautiously as possible.
Gone.
Everyone quickly fell into bewilderment, the middle-aged man they had just chased here had disappeared, and no one could find a trace of him.
Where exactly could he be?
Long before charging out to provoke a challenge, Lucius had deeply dug a hole in the snow.
He had immediately run back to the hole to hide, swiftly covering the surface with a large amount of snow, leaving only a small crack exposed, and breathed quietly from within.
Lucius observed the situation outside calmly, completely motionless, even when at the most perilous moments, soldiers walked right up to his side, their boots crunching in the snow.
There were two Extraordinary Exponents with Knight Bequests, and forty dismounted cavalrymen armed with flintlocks and sabers.
He calmly waited for the right moment.
Breathing, calming, breathing, calming, breathing, calming, breathing...
Until one of the knights, the slimmer one, slowly approached, every inch of muscle on Lucius' body trembled softly, and then all his strength concentrated, suddenly bursting from the snow with full force!
In an instant, the hostility from all directions triggered "Quickdraw!"
Everything around him became incredibly slow, the gradually falling snowflakes appeared sacred and immensely beautiful in the light.
Sound seemed to disappear.
He saw both of the Extraordinary Exponents with Knight Bequests staring at him in shock, while the rest of the soldiers instinctively tried to turn around, but they hadn't managed to do so yet.
The ambushed squire's helmet concealed eyes that were calm and ruthless, who in an instant swung his saber towards Lucius, who had suddenly appeared behind him.
Lucius, coordinating with "Quickdraw," did not hesitate to launch "sword brandishing."
His upper body's hands sped up, his sword blade inching closer to the squire, finally landing in the gap at the neck of the enemy's armor.
Bright red blood sprayed out in abundance and slowly, staining the beautiful snowflakes in the sunlight red.
The squire was struck by a blow capable of lethality, his swinging saber deflected on Lucius's full-body armor, failing to cause any effective damage.
"Tsst..."
In the vastly elongated span of reaction time, all movements and sounds were extremely slow.
As the snowflakes gradually fell, some people tried to scream in terror, some people's eyes grew angry, bulging out, and someone already clenched their teeth, lifting their flintlock ready to shoot.
Lucius suddenly plunged into the thick snow nearby, deploying the repelling force of the "protective runes" in the nick of time.
Time resumed its normal flow.
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!" Gunshots from the flintlocks fired rapidly.
The knight's body slowly fell, eyes filled with disbelief, instinctively trying to grasp his neck to stop the bleeding, quickly trembling with signs of life fading away.
"Over there! He's right there!"
"Knight Kyle has been attacked!"
"He's gone again!"
Lucius frantically crawled through the thick snow with his strong physique, moving as swiftly as a champion swimmer.
The gunfire from that round had been completely blocked by the repelling power of the protective runes, and the ambushed squire was certainly done for.
His breathing gradually grew louder, then he immediately suppressed the sound as much as possible, the weight of his armor and weapons still a burden, even his physical abilities far exceeding human limits couldn't ignore them completely in the extreme combat.
Forty-one enemies remained.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone