Ambush

Neither of them liked wasting time. Once they had made their decision, they immediately set out for Blood Sandbar under the lead of the Knight with the ill-omened name. Along the way, Fang Zheng spoke with him a little. Of course, his main purpose was to gather information and find out just how much the search parties knew about his previous identity.

Knight Conan answered every one of Fang Zheng's questions with great respect. In his eyes, although Fang Zheng was only an Acolyte Knight, the combat strength and healing ability he had displayed meant that, so long as this young man did not stray down the wrong path, he would surely have a bright future in the Holy Temple. Naturally, he would not easily offend someone like that.

Under such circumstances, there was naturally no chance of conflict between them. Knight Conan held nothing back in response to Fang Zheng's questions. Given his status, he could not possibly know any Holy Temple secrets anyway, so there was no need to worry about that. Thus, a rather strange situation emerged—a wanted criminal and the man searching for him were chatting merrily, while the latter had not recognized Fang Zheng at all... How interesting.

Fang Zheng found this perfectly normal. Since he had been confident enough to come here, he had naturally prepared beforehand. It was not because he had learned one of those four evil Eastern arts that could alter one's appearance or even gender, but because... their temperaments were completely different.

The original Williams, according to the memories Fang Zheng had fused with, was no different from those pale-faced young masters in Wuxia novels who spent their days idling about with birds in cages, flirting with every beauty they saw, strutting around with a few lackeys behind them, and indulging in drink and women at brothels. Fang Zheng, however, was entirely different. For one thing, his messy long hair had been carefully trimmed, and their temperaments and personalities were nothing alike. Compared with Williams, who was always sneaking around and gave off a furtive air, Fang Zheng appeared far more imposing. In his original world, Fang Zheng had been part of upper management and had supervised quite a few people. Compared to some rich young master obsessed with wine and women, the sort who existed in web novels solely to provide the protagonist with experience points, the difference in bearing was enormous.

Not to mention that after Stone's training, Fang Zheng's formerly frail body had become much stronger. Though he had not yet developed six-pack abs, he at least looked reasonably fit, utterly unlike Williams's bean-sprout frame that seemed ready to fall apart in a gust of wind.

The knights' memories were probably still stuck on Williams's old appearance: dressed in a black robe, skulking about, and looking like trouble at first glance. Naturally, they would not suspect Fang Zheng, who differed from Williams in every possible way.

Of course, their journey was not entirely smooth. On the way to Blood Sandbar, they encountered several blockades and attacks by Undead creatures. Still, with Fang Zheng and the Knight with the dangerous name working together, they made it through without much danger.

"Right up ahead."

Pointing forward, Knight Conan wiped his sweaty face and shouted.

"Once we get over this place, we'll reach Blood Sandbar!"

As he spoke, he turned around and scrambled up the hill before them in a few quick steps. But just as Knight Conan widened his eyes and looked ahead, his expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly backed away.

"What is it? Is there a problem?"

Seeing the Knight's pale face, Fang Zheng froze for a moment before stepping to his side and asking quietly. Knight Conan nodded, then drew the longsword at his waist.

"I saw the Commander. They've already been surrounded! The situation is terrible!"

"Oh?"

Fang Zheng frowned at those words. He poked his head out and glanced toward the other side. Sure enough, he soon saw several knights fighting bloodily on the sandbar below the hill. However, their situation was far from good.

The knights were surrounded by giants standing two to three meters tall, with iron-blue skin. They wielded huge, thick clubs and fought the Holy Knights alongside Skeleton Warriors. Behind those giants stood several Skeleton Archers, raising their bows and firing through the gaps at the knights. On either side, three Skeleton Mages in robes held up their staffs and muttered evil incantations, forming a vast, gloomy barrier that enveloped the knights.

Clearly, this was a nearly perfect ambush.

"That's a Weakening Barrier!"

Knight Conan's expression turned grave as he watched the scene.

"It's one of a Necromancer's most powerful abilities. It continuously drains the life of everything inside the barrier, and those whose Life Force is drained will grow weaker and weaker before eventually dying... Damn it, this is troublesome!"

No sign of Great Knight Stone, nor that girl.

Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes and carefully surveyed the battlefield before frowning. It seemed he was the first to find this group of knights. Was that a good thing? Or a bad thing?

Forget it. There was no point thinking about that now.

"I'll deal with those Necromancers."

After roughly assessing the situation, Fang Zheng immediately made his decision. He turned to Knight Conan beside him and spoke.

"There are three of them. I'm confident I can hold two back at once. Can you handle the remaining one?"

"No problem. If it's only one Necromancer, I can handle it."

In response to Fang Zheng's question, Knight Conan drew the longsword at his waist and gave it a testing swing. Once Fang Zheng received his confirmation, he immediately gave his instructions.

"Then I'll take care of these two. Go around from the side and get behind them. Wait until I make my move before acting. Understood?"

"Leave it to me."

Knight Conan acted decisively. He did not argue with Fang Zheng over who should take command. After all, Fang Zheng had demonstrated formidable combat strength throughout their journey. Upon hearing his orders, Knight Conan nodded and quietly circled around from the other side.

"Whew..."

After watching Knight Conan disappear around the other side, Fang Zheng took a deep breath and turned back to carefully observe the battlefield. Just as Knight Conan had said, the Holy Knights were already showing signs of exhaustion. They tried to break out, but the Undead Giants blocked them in like moving walls, while other Undead soldiers waited outside. They had no chance at all. If this continued, the Holy Knights would have only one fate: death.

Yet Fang Zheng did not act immediately. In the world of Dark Souls, he had learned to observe the battlefield before moving. Although the Undead creatures appeared to have focused all their attention on their prey, Fang Zheng noticed several Skeleton Archers standing not far in front of the Necromancers. They were not attacking. Instead, they seemed to be idling about as they guarded the Necromancers, occasionally looking around. If Fang Zheng attacked the Necromancers now, he was certain that those Skeleton Archers would retaliate at once.

He needed to find an opportunity...

As he thought, Fang Zheng lowered his body and slowly moved forward. At the same time, his unblinking eyes remained fixed on the chaotic battlefield. He believed an opportunity would appear. Those Holy Knights would never be willing to simply die like this. They would definitely react, and when they did, that would be the moment for him to strike.

"Boom!"

Sure enough, perhaps realizing that their situation was growing increasingly dire, one of the knights roared and raised his longsword, hacking fiercely at the Undead Giant before him. The blade in his hand shone with pure white light as it struck the Undead Giant's body with tremendous force. The giant staggered and fell backward. Its enormous body crashed to the ground like a boulder, instantly drawing the attention of the other Undead creatures.

Now!

As the Skeleton Archers turned their heads, Fang Zheng suddenly leaped forward. In the next instant, a pure white warhorse appeared out of nowhere before him. Riding it, Fang Zheng sprang down from the hill like a hurricane, charging straight at the Necromancers ahead!