Bear Infestation

After a spring rain that year, a group of hungry black bears arrived in the forest north of Glan Territory.

The bears attacked a village belonging to a knight's fief within the territory, killing more than a dozen livestock animals and several farmers who had gone to drive them away. The villagers had no choice but to flee their homes and report the situation to Baron Connor.

"There are seven or eight of those black bears. Gather all the knights and five hundred strong farmers. We must kill every last one of them!" In the castle's council hall, Baron Connor issued a levy order.

"Father, I want to hunt the black bears too. Can you take me with you?"

When Little Donny, Baron Connor's sixteen-year-old son, heard that black bears had entered Glan Territory, he became extremely excited and desperately wanted to join the hunt.

"My good son Donny, you should stay at the castle and study with Scholar Ellen. An adult black bear is stronger than a knight and very dangerous. Don't come along."

Like Madam Madeline, Baron Connor was very fond of his lively and active youngest son, Donny. Unfortunately, Donny had been in poor health since childhood and was not suited to becoming a knight. So, at great expense, he hired a tutor who had once served as a scholar in the royal capital's court, hoping to raise Little Donny into a learned scholar. Though it could not compare to being a lord knight, a wealth of knowledge could still earn him a respectable standing.

Yet Little Donny, active by nature, simply could not settle down to study that dull book knowledge. Every day, he only wanted to ride outside the castle, watch the farmers plowing the fields, hunt along the forest river to relax, or visit the town to look at the lovely farmer girls.

Most of all, he wanted to visit Little Ryan's home and see his younger sister Alice, who was growing prettier and more delicate by the day... But that damned Little Ryan always hid his sister somewhere he could never find, forcing him to visit their home an average of three times just to see Alice once.

"Father, just let me come along. I'll only stay behind and see what black bears look like. There won't be any danger. I've been stuck in the castle for nearly a week now. If this keeps up, I'll die of boredom!"

Little Donny pleaded desperately.

"Fine. You can come along. I'll send someone to protect you."

After Baron Connor nodded in agreement, Little Donny jumped up in excitement.

In the dense forest to the north of the territory, a group of farmers holding spears formed a long, tightly packed line as they searched their way deeper into the woods.

Behind the farmers, Baron Connor personally led more than twenty mounted knights and knight attendants. With bows in hand, they remained highly alert, watching every movement in the dense forest ahead.

They were already very close to the area where the black bears roamed. Numerous bear tracks and droppings had been found on the ground. Go a little farther, and they would see the bears.

"I heard an adult black bear can snap a fir tree as thick as a bowl with one hard swipe, and crush a tiger's spine just by sitting on it..."

"I'd better be careful. If I see a black bear, I need to keep my distance..."

Zhou Ming muttered to himself as he searched and advanced with the crowd.

Roar!

A thunderous roar suddenly rang out!

A huge black bear, over two meters tall, suddenly burst from a patch of bushes. As though it were deeply displeased that someone had disturbed its sweet dream, it swung its thick arms, roared furiously, and charged at several trembling farmers.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Thud! Thud!

Two arrows struck the black bear precisely in the eyes. "Roar! Roar!" Blinded, the bear let out two earth-shaking roars and flailed its arms wildly. Like a headless fly, it crashed recklessly between the trees, snapping several trunks along the way.

"What are you standing around for? You useless farmers, hurry up and stab it with your spears!"

Seeing the farmers around the black bear retreat in fear, Edward roared and lashed one of them hard with his riding whip.

"Stab it!" "Get it together!" "Let's stab it together!" The farmers gathered their courage, surrounded the black bear, and thrust their spears into it together.

"Roar! Roar!"

Amid a series of miserable cries, the blinded black bear sent several farmers flying with powerful swipes, but it still could not withstand the hundreds of bloody holes dozens of farmers stabbed into its body. After spraying bear blood all over the ground, it finally collapsed unwillingly.

"Woo! Woo! Woo!"

"We killed a black bear! We killed a black bear!"

More than a hundred farmers cheered together.

Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Suddenly, several more roars came from the woods nearby.

"Oh no, there are black bears here too!"

"There are two here! They're charging at us together!"

"The big black bear swatted Little Rom to death! We can't hold them off much longer!"

Five enormous black bears burst out of the bushes together, as if they had planned it beforehand, battering the fragile farmer line until it was on the verge of collapse.

"Don't panic! Nobody panic! Hold the line! Surround them and kill the bears together!"

It was Edward's first time facing such a chaotic situation. He held a longbow with an arrow nocked, but had no idea which bear he should shoot.

After all, all five black bears still had their eyes. Combined with their thick hides and tough flesh, which made them unafraid of the spears, these enormous and incredibly strong bears killed or injured dozens of farmers in no time.

"Run!"

One timid farmer lost his nerve, threw down his spear, and turned to run.

When the farmers struggling beside him saw this, they too tossed away their spears and ran after him.

Slash!

The first farmer to flee had his head cut off by a longsword. The other farmers immediately stopped in their tracks.

"Those who flee will die!"

Baron Connor had drawn his sword and beheaded the cowardly farmer. After stopping the other farmers, he raised his longsword and called to all the knights beside him, "Throw away your bows! Draw the longswords at your waists! Form groups of three and kill the black bears!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The knights tossed aside their bows, drew the longswords at their waists, spurred their warhorses, and charged the five black bears.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

After just one pass, several ghastly wounds appeared on the five black bears. One of them even had an entire foreleg severed.

"Charge again!"

They wheeled their horses around and passed by once more. The black bears' wounds multiplied, and one of them even suffered a horrific gash in its neck that cut deep into its windpipe. Bear blood sprayed more than a meter away, and before long, the bear toppled over stiffly.

"Damn, they really are human-shaped tanks. These knights could actually kill black bears in seconds."

Zhou Ming stared in a daze, his blood boiling throughout his body. If only he could become this powerful too...

"Roar~!"

Suddenly, another huge roar came from nearby. Somehow, a smaller young bear had appeared behind the knights and charged straight into the knight attendants gathered at the rear.

"Neighhh~"

The horses beneath the knight attendants had rarely experienced battle. Startled by the black bear's sudden charge, they quickly scattered in all directions. The bear rushed directly toward the person the knight attendants had been closely guarding in the middle—the lord's son, Donny.

"Father, save me!"

Donny's horse was frightened and bucked him straight off its back. Lying on the ground, Donny watched helplessly as the black bear drew closer and closer.

"Donny!"

When Baron Connor turned and saw this, his eyes nearly split with rage. He spurred his horse and tried to rush back to rescue him, but with dozens of meters between them, there was no way he could arrive in time. All he could do was cry out in terror, "Donny! Get out of the way!"

"Father!"

Lying in the grass, Donny could only scream in despair as he watched the black bear approach. His ankle was injured, leaving him unable to move.

"Bang!"

Just as the black bear raised its thick foreleg, ready to smash Donny into a pulp, a figure suddenly shot in from the side and slammed heavily into the bear. The black bear let out a muffled grunt and rolled together with the figure.

"Little Ryan?"

Still shaken, Donny saw the figure pinned beneath the black bear and being relentlessly battered, and immediately recognized who had saved him.

"Father, hurry and save Ryan!"

When Baron Connor rushed back and saw Ryan pinned beneath the black bear, desperately fending off its furious blows, Donny cried out anxiously.