Facing a mini-boss of this caliber, even Tiansheng Zhankuang dared not be careless.
"Roar!"
Tiansheng Zhankuang threw his head back and let out a savage roar.
Veins bulged across his body as muscles knotted beneath his skin like blocks of iron. Dense plumes of white steam hissed from his pores, his eyes turning bloodshot as sheer, incandescent fury flooded every inch of his flesh.
Path of the Berserker: Frenzy.
"Even a monster like this..."
"...won't be able to withstand a cavalry charge at full tilt."
Trischka kept his eyes glued to the rampaging "monster" in the distance, his grip tightening around his sword.
He leaned forward slightly in the saddle, continuing to accelerate his charge as he leveled his longsword in a piercing stance. With his surging speed, an invisible magical ripple stirred, extending a metal shaft several meters from the hilt until it functioned like a lance.
This was the weapon forged especially for him by a master of magical tinkering in the south—the Sword of the Glory Knight, a masterwork crafted for cavalry.
"That's it... run him through!"
"Foul beast, in the name of Grand Duke Leo, I grant you death!"
Trischka bellowed fiercely. Aboard his galloping warhorse, he bore down with unstoppable momentum, his blade aimed straight for Tiansheng Zhankuang's heart.
Swish!
Yet his thrust struck only empty air.
"How can this be?"
Trischka's expression changed drastically, and he snapped his gaze upward.
Bathed in sunlight, the hulking creature had leapt high into the air, bringing down its greataxe in a crushing overhead chop.
Whoosh—boom!
First came the shrieking gale, followed by the sound of an axe blade tearing through flesh, and finally the thunderous impact as it struck the earth.
The warhorse still stood in place for a fraction of a second, cleaved cleanly in two as blood sprayed in every direction.
Yet Trischka, relying on peak reflexes, had bailed from the saddle the instant before the axe struck, rolling across the ground several times.
Panting heavily, Trischka knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his sword. His expression darkened as he stared at the "monster" not far away and at the two halves of his poor steed.
"Hah... hah..."
"Impossible... How could a monster of that size be so nimble?"
Tiansheng Zhankuang wrenched his axe free from deep within the ground and turned around, a ferocious grin on his face. "Damn, missed?"
"Hey, Brother Zhankuang, soloing another boss?"
"As expected of a bald man."
Nearby, an onlooker player casually smashed his hammer into the head of an ambushing coalition soldier behind him, not missing the chance to poke fun.
"Piss off! Don't ruin my fight, or I'll beat your ass too. This mini-boss is worth a ton of points—can't let him get away."
Tiansheng Zhankuang waved him off dismissively, snorted a puff of hot steam, and hefted his axe, ready to throw down again.
Trischka could not understand their dialogue or their bizarre terminology, but he heard the lofty superiority in their tone and the offhand contempt that seeped through—a dismissiveness that hardly seemed directed at an enemy.
To describe it in terms he could comprehend, it was like... a gaggle of noble youths playing around, hunting hares for sport.
They discussed whose archery was better, who shot truer, and which hare's pelt was glossier and more suited for a fur cap.
And he was that hare.
In an instant, the youngest count in the Northlands felt an unprecedented humiliation. Rage burned like wildfire in his chest. Never had he been treated this way, even before the mightiest of beings.
"Accursed monster..."
"I will make you understand the cost of looking down on me!"
He raised his sword once more and darted toward the creature with light, agile strides.
The heavy greataxe whistled through the air again. Even the slightest brush against it would mean being sliced in two, but Trischka, relying on his superb combat skill, measured the distance perfectly. He let the axe blade graze past his body, seizing the recovery window of the swing to lunge forward with his sword.
Slash—!
Scales and blood flew as the razor-sharp sword tore across the monster's chest, leaving a deep gash.
Feeling the pain, Tiansheng Zhankuang sprang back to open up distance, swinging his greataxe with the momentum to whip up a storm of swirling steel around himself.
Clang—!
The harsh ring of clashing metal rang out.
The greataxe slammed into Trischka's body, only to be deflected by a shimmering golden barrier that flared over his armor.
Yet the force behind the strike was simply too immense. As the golden barrier abruptly shattered, Trischka was sent flying backward.
However, the Levitate enchantment imbued in Trischka's boots allowed him to steady himself in midair.
Immediately, he kicked off empty air and dove down, dropping directly above Tiansheng Zhankuang's spinning head.
The blade of his sword shifted abruptly, forming a classic cross shape.
With grim resolve, Trischka gripped the hilt with both hands and plunged it straight downward into his target.
Thwack!
The razor-sharp cross sword skewered straight through the top of the "monster's" head, impaling skull and neck alike like meat on a spit.
Just before his screen went black, Tiansheng Zhankuang muttered with the last dregs of his strength, "Next time... never using Crippling Strike again..."
Then, he collapsed with a heavy thud.
More words Trischka could not comprehend.
Standing atop the "monster's" massive corpse, Count Trischka pulled free the sword dripping with blood and brain matter, thrusting it high into the air.
The blade gleamed cold under the sunlight, and the tattered lion-head cloak behind him billowed in the wind.
"Everyone, do you see?"
"The monsters of the Kingdom of Cinders are made of flesh and blood too! They die, and they can be defeated!"
"Scanians, do not fear! This is the land we depend upon to survive, and we can drive them out!"
Suddenly, a brilliant beam of light came shooting toward him.
Relying on his sharp reflexes, Trischka tilted his head to dodge the attack. Yet this form of attack felt oddly familiar—he had seen it somewhere before.
"A beam like that..."
"How could it be? No, that's impossible!"
Trischka's expression shifted drastically as a terrifying suspicion formed in his mind.
Stiffly, he turned his head toward the direction the beam had come from.
Yet reality was just as surreal as his suspicion: standing there was that familiar blond figure, surrounded by monsters. The man raised his silver sword, pointing it at Trischka from afar, his expression equally resolute.
"Andre?"
"You are the trueborn son of Grand Duke Leo, a scion of the House of Bosque! Noble Roselle blood flows in your veins!"
"Andre Bosque! How could you be standing over there? How could you betray your own blood?!"
Trischka's voice trembled with sheer disbelief.
As a young man deeply valued by Grand Duke Leo, Trischka had grown up alongside the third son of the Bosque family, and the two had shared a close bond.
Both had traveled throughout the south, and being of similar age, they shared much in common, including similar perspectives on the Northlands' political system. Never had he imagined their reunion would take place on a brutal battlefield, let alone as enemies.
In truth, Trischka had always envied Andre in his heart. He had often imagined that if he possessed Andre's status and lineage, perhaps he could have truly reformed the Northlands' institutions, transforming the region into a more progressive, enlightened realm.
Yet Andre had casually cast aside everything Trischka yearned for—power, status, even his noble bloodline. To Trischka, it was utterly incomprehensible.
Andre shook his head and said with absolute calm, "My status now is merely that of an ordinary kingdom citizen."
"I fight for no ruler. I fight only... for the people living in the Northlands."
Chapter 318