章 9: Section 10: I Am Indeed Brave and Fearless
編集者: Henyee Translations
The tavern was quiet, all the Holy Temple Knights stopped their actions and quietly watched the old squad leader, listening to his words. On their young faces, strong excitement surged.
"We charged!"
"We lost!"
"Heh heh." The old squad leader laughed, stroked his thick white beard, wiped off the wine stains on it, and his face was full of pride.
"My strength was limited; I was struck by many swords and fell among the corpses like a dead dog. Haha, when I woke up, I found myself back at the Holy Temple. Then I learned that the entire fifth squad was dead, only I survived."
"The Cold Pine Knights didn't let us go, they gave every corpse a finishing blow. But luckily, the knight used a stabbing sword. That stabbing sword blinded my eye, pierced my brain, and my brain matter flowed out all over the place."
"It was the Great Emperor who personally saved my life. He asked what reward I wanted."
"I told the Great Emperor to give me the number of the fifth squad of the knights, I wanted to rebuild a fifth squad of Holy Temple Knights!"
"So, that's why all you little brats exist, understand?"
"Otherwise, how could the esteemed Holy Temple Knights recruit new members so easily?"
"You little guys are just lucky. But you're still too young. That last battle, what was it worth?" The old squad leader shook his head repeatedly and said nothing more, just continued drinking.
He spoke very briefly, very crudely, but the young Holy Temple Knights in the tavern were all excited.
They chatted excitedly.
"I know that battle in Jackal Valley, our fifth squad with just a few hundred people, annihilated more than five thousand Cold Pine Knights, destroying their three brigades!"
"Just after the Cold Pine Knights cleared the battlefield, they were ambushed by the third squad of the Holy Temple Knights and were completely wiped out in Jackal Valley."
"The Cold Pine Knights were the top ace of the Southern Nobles Alliance. This battle broke the backbone of the Southern Nobles Alliance!"
"That's right, this is us, the Holy Temple Knights!"
"We are unbeatable, invincible!"
"Even in desperate situations, we hold our heads high and face death!"
"That's right, charge, charge, charge to death!"
The atmosphere in the tavern heated up again; the young Holy Temple Knights didn't know if it was the wine or the excitement, but their faces were all flushed.
The memory faded, but their voices still seemed to echo in Zhenjin's ears.
Charge!
Charge!
Charge to death!
Zhenjin charged forward without hesitation!
The Monkey-tailed Brown Bear's ears twitched immediately; it heard the commotion.
But the heavy injuries made it much slower than usual. Just as it turned around, it saw the boy in mid-air!
Zhenjin sprinted and then leaped, the dagger in his hand glinting with a cold light.
The Brown Bear, caught off guard, had the dagger directly plunged into its remaining left eye.
In an instant, it became blind.
Roar!
The Brown Bear raged, the intense pain and the darkness before its eyes causing it to unleash its beastly fury.
With a violent swing of its bear arm, Zhenjin had no way to dodge.
In a hurry, Zhenjin could only curl his body as much as possible, raising his two arms to protect his face and chest.
Bang.
With a dull thud, the boy was sent flying twice as fast as before by the Brown Bear's strike.
He was slammed into the cave wall, his arms, which served as a shield, completely broken. From the intense collision with the cave wall, his shoulder blades and rear ribs were fractured in multiple places.
His internal organs suffered too; the severe blow seemed to have caused internal bleeding.
Zhenjin let out a wail, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
The intense pain spread throughout his body, his face turned pale.
However, despite this, a new strength surged from the depths of his body.
This was the effect of the Frenzy Potion!
Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Zhenjin forced himself off the cave wall with a strong push of his legs.
"Kill!"
He gave a low shout and charged at the Brown Bear once more.
In a split second, the wind whistled past his ears. It felt like he broke through his limits, the pain from his intense movement only fueling his excitement.
His two arms were completely numb, swinging like two stout noodles behind him as he sprinted.
The Brown Bear's earlier strike was no small thing; it shattered the boy's arm bones and turned the muscles into mush, barely held together.
The Brown Bear went berserk, attacking chaotically in the cave, sending ore fragments flying.
The scattered ore struck Zhenjin, his face as stern as iron.
He suddenly lowered his head, dodging a sweeping claw from the Brown Bear, and accelerated his charge to the limit!
He ran along the cave wall, taking a few steps before leaping high into the air again.
The Brown Bear, blind and maddened, was completely unaware.
Seizing the moment, Zhenjin landed and stomped hard on the dagger lodged in the eye socket of the Brown Bear.
Squelch.
Blood and brain matter splattered out, the dagger drove deeper into the Brown Bear's brain, with the hilt disappearing completely into the socket.
Roar—!
The Brown Bear let out the most agonizing and sorrowful roar of its life.
Following animal instinct and driven by survival, it grabbed Zhenjin.
Its claw-like nails, sharp as knives, heated up intensely, turning crimson.
The nails plunged deeply into Zhenjin's abdomen, piercing straight through him, then slammed him down onto the ground. The sharp nails, driven with such force, embedded into the hard ground.
The searing claws pierced Zhenjin, as if a hot knife cut through butter with ease.
Zhenjin let out a pained scream, his intestines and flesh charred. At this moment, he fully understood the agony those Scale-Horned Black Panthers endured.
"My lord—!" The sight of the brutal battle before her made Zi Di cry out in anguish.
The shout reached Zhenjin's ear, bringing a sliver of clarity amidst the intense pain!
His abdomen was pinned to the ground by the claws, trapping him.
At that moment, the Monkey-tailed Brown Bear lowered its head, its bloody maw inches from Zhenjin's face!
In a life-or-death moment, the boy mustered all his strength, twisting his upper body to its limit.
The Brown Bear, with no vision, had its attack effortlessly evaded by Zhenjin.
With a thud, the bear's head slammed into the ground, its sharp teeth gnashing through the ground, sending fragments flying.
With his arms long crippled, Zhenjin, in his desperation, imitated the Brown Bear, aiming for its neck with his mouth wide open!
On this side of the Brown Bear's neck was a terrifying wound.
This was a heavy price it paid not long ago in a fierce battle with the Scale-Horned Black Panther leader.
The wound was deep, bone visible, with fur long gone.
Zhenjin nearly buried his head in, biting fiercely into the wound, his mouth filled with the bear's flesh and blood,
The wound initially bled heavily, but after the Brown Bear consumed some ore, the blood had stopped. Now, Zhenjin's vicious biting ruptured the artery within, causing a massive spray of blood, flowing even faster than before!
In an instant, bear blood covered Zhenjin's face.
Like sticking his head into a small waterfall, he had to close his eyes tightly, with the acrid metallic smell filling his mouth and nose, carrying a slight sweetness.
Zhenjin, still in a life-and-death struggle, continuously tore at the bear's flesh.
As a result, copious amounts of bear blood flooded his throat, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
But who cares about breathing at this moment?!
The fight had reached the most critical point.
Who will win or lose, who will live or die?
Zhenjin began choking on blood, his lungs filling with bear blood, an excruciating feeling.
The Brown Bear let out a mournful roar, panicked!
It couldn't see the boy, but could feel Zhenjin's frail body. Yet, Zhenjin was fiercer than any beast it had ever encountered!
Zi Di was stunned too, staring blankly at the scene of man and bear tearing at each other, her eyes lifeless, as if turned to stone, immobilized by the sight.
The Brown Bear tried to withdraw its claws to tear Zhenjin to pieces, but after several attempts, it failed.
It turned out that after the intense battle, it was at the end of its strength. After Zhenjin's desperate attack, its strength rapidly waned, like an avalanche, unable to even pull out its claws.
Thump.
Finally, the Brown Bear collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Its enormous body was several times the size of Zhenjin, but ultimately it became the loser.
Zhenjin also fell to the ground, coughing violently, vomiting chunks of flesh and mouthfuls of blood.
After exorcising the blood and flesh, the boy could finally breathe smoothly.
Like a drowning person saving dry land, his chest heaved, gasping like a bellows.
After a few breaths, he started coughing again, spitting up more blood.
Who knows if it was the Brown Bear's blood or his own internal bleeding.
A strong feeling of dizziness filled the boy's head.
He tried to get up, but failed completely.
His abdomen was still pinned by the Brown Bear's claws, bleeding profusely. The violent struggle had torn open the original wound, splitting it wide apart.
The charred intestines from the claws protruded from the gaping wound.
The boy fell back to the ground with a thud.
"Heh heh heh…" He looked at the huge bear carcass and let out a weak laugh.
This laugh sounded just like the old squad leader of the fifth squad of Holy Temple Knights.
Then, Zhenjin's eyes glazed over; the laugh grew weaker and weaker.
A few breaths later, his pupils lost all light.
The effect of the Frenzy Potion wore off.
The boy lost consciousness completely.
For the moment, neither man nor bear moved.
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