Mountain Knight

Between the inner and outer gates of the east city, there is a passageway wide enough for ten people, flanked by towering city walls. Inside this passageway lies the location of Baldwin, the Knight of the Mountain.

According to the Gravekeeper Girl, regardless of whether the Mountain Knight has lost his mind or not, he cannot allow Ivan to pass through the East Gate unharmed and reach the forbidden land outside the city of City of Light.

Ivan was also ready for battle. He carefully went around to the side gate next to the city gate, first killing several malfunctioning soldiers who were lurking inside the city gate, holding crossbows and waiting for an opportunity to attack, before he came to the main gate and entered the passage between the east and west gates.

The passage was deserted, and one could see the city gate leading to the outside world on the other side. In front of that gate, there were countless corpses of Warriors, piled up like mountains.

Ivan did not find any trace of the "Mountain Knight" in the passage, but he did not let his guard down and continued forward.

Buzz--

When he was about halfway there, Ivan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He experienced a severe ringing in his ears, and through the ringing, he heard a man's voice making a vow to someone.

"Humility, Loyalty, perseverance, Diligence, Frugality, Temperance, and compassion."

"Faced with a powerful enemy, we remain fearless and righteous, honoring our ancestors, upright and honest, unyielding to the death, protecting the weak, and acting in accordance with the principles of Heaven!"

I vow to treat the weak with kindness.

"I swear to fight for righteousness and against all violence."

"I swear to fight for the unarmed."

"I vow to always uphold the virtue of Frugality."

The buzzing in his head continued, and the voice seemed to be a rough male voice, causing Ivan to lean against the wall in pain.

At that very moment, the mountain of corpses opposite the city gate suddenly trembled, then rose high into the air.

Below the mountain of corpses, a tall Knight stood at the end of the passage, supporting the entire mountain of corpses with one hand while holding up a Tower Shield.

Red light burst forth from the gaps in his armor's eye sockets. Half of the armor's mouth section had cracked open, revealing his bared fangs and dripping saliva beneath the helmet.

His armor was entirely made of glittering gold, incredibly heavy, and in his other hand he gripped a massive iron rod.

It was called an iron rod, but the weapon was actually just a large, heavy iron block with a handle. Its weight was even more terrifying than that black Great Sword, and normal humans could not use it at all.

The legendary Knight swung the Tower Shield with one hand, sending the mountain of corpses flying to the side. Then, he opened his blood-red eyes wide and raised his weapon at Ivan.

Ivan finally came to his senses. Looking at the Knight before him, for some reason, a terrible hatred surged up from the bottom of his heart, and anger burned in his chest, making him unable to calm down.

He drew his sword, and as if the rage in his chest had materialized, his blade was ignited by a flame that appeared out of nowhere, turning into a blazing torch. Gripping the sword, he roared and charged toward the Mountain Knight.

Two monsters were fighting in the middle of the passage. One of them was tall and wore heavy armor. Its strength was beyond human comprehension.

With every step he took, the entire passage trembled; when he swung his weapon, the very air shook; and when he raised his Tower Shield, he became the most indestructible mountain, impenetrable and unbreakable.

Another gray-haired Knight, though weak in strength, possessed terrifying agility and skill. He wielded a flaming longsword, finding openings in the Mountain Knight's seemingly impossible defenses and striking him with them.

Finally, the mountain was consumed by fire, and this mountain that had stood for millennia finally fell to Ivan's sword.

After the Mountain Knight fell, Ivan, panting heavily, also collapsed to the ground.

His longsword broke and melted because it could no longer withstand the previous force. At the moment he fell, a large amount of light burst out from the Knight's body and entered his body.

Ivan's thoughts suddenly went Chaos.

He felt himself sinking into the depths of his mind. A ray of light flew in from somewhere, awakening either the light's spirit or a dormant memory within his mind.

He was a burly man, dressed in full armor, with a powerful and imposing face. He was bald, and a thick, golden beard grew from his cheeks all the way down to his neck.

In front of him was a blurry figure whose face was indistinct.

"If I help you, will those things become mine?"

The Knight raised his head, his face filled with greed.

"All that gold, all that treasure, all the riches we've amassed over the years, you'll give me a share, won't you?"

Memory interruption.

Ivan's thoughts were cast out of the ocean of ideas and returned to his own body.

Who was that person just now?

He touched the cold sweat beading on his forehead and glanced at his feet.

The ancient Knight of the Mountain, who had stood for ages, had long since turned into a pile of white ash and vanished silently.

Ivan wiped the sweat from his brow.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he simply decided to keep moving forward.

The longsword on the ground was unusable, but Ivan managed to retrieve a Tower Shield from where the Mountain Knight had fallen.

This is the same piece that the Mountain Knight held in his hand before, the one that supported the mountain of corpses, only now it has been shrunk to a size that a human could use.

Ivan tried it out. He couldn't lift the black Great Sword, but after successfully absorbing the Mountain Knight's "spirit," he was able to lift the shield, which was an unexpected bonus.

He decisively discarded the broken wooden shield he had found in the Graveyard and carried this Tower Shield on his back.

Nothing stood in his way anymore. After leaving the eastern gate of City of Light, Ivan followed the mountain path down and found himself back by the dark Great River.

On this side of the riverbank, there is also a large gong and a stone ferry crossing.

Ivan struck the gong, and soon a row of fires lit up the river. The hunched Old Man rowed his boat to Ivan and chuckled softly, "Heh heh, I didn't expect to see you again. I knew I hadn't misjudged you, Knight. You are the kind of person who can navigate this world in such circumstances."

"Please give me another ride."

Ivan went up and sat down at the back of the boat.

"I want to go to that country across the street. I've heard it's a Forbidden Kingdom."

"Hmm? It seems you've met someone who knows quite a bit about history."

The Old Man did not refuse; instead, he gave a meaningful smile and began to ferry people across.