Leaving 1

Anglie's words made the three behind him sink into grim silence.

Audis looked Anglie up and down. "Very good. I never expected my good-for-nothing nephew to have hidden such formidable strength. But even if you came, it would make no difference now."

"What do you mean?" Anglie stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with his father, his silver cross sword planted against the ground at his side.

"His meaning is obvious." Chris coughed several times from the side and sneered. "Did you really think this was all we had planned? The castle is probably already in chaos by now. Our people should have taken control of the entire castle."

"Besides Ward, you have others?" the Baron asked in a low voice.

"Kyle, apart from your son, most of the people in the castle are already part of our plan. There's no point even if you escape back. Give up." Lisa's voice was cold. One hand covered her lower abdomen. Though pale, she still appeared to be in good spirits.

"And besides," Lisa continued, "most of Saladin's people will arrive tonight. Their first stop will be the former Leo Castle."

The Baron and Anglie both changed expression.

"You've even colluded with Saladin's people..." The Baron's face darkened.

Swish!

Without a word, Anglie lunged forward. His silver longsword swept horizontally at Chris, who was closest to him.

With a clang, the two collided fiercely. Both let out muffled groans.

Anglie drove his knee into Chris's abdomen with astonishing speed.

Chris staggered back several steps, his face instantly turning deathly pale. The look he gave Anglie was filled with shock.

Just as Anglie was about to press his advantage, a greatsword blocked his path.

Audis slashed from the side, his face utterly expressionless as he swung at Anglie's head. A sharp whistling sound rose around them.

On the other side, Lisa had already engaged the Baron, who was trying to come to Anglie's aid.

Anglie dodged the greatsword, his cross sword striking like a venomous snake toward Audis's right chest. But a thin sword knocked it aside with a ring. Chris had recovered and intervened.

After his long sprint, Anglie was still exhausted and had not yet regained his strength. With his sword knocked away, he could only leap back a large step and widen the distance.

If it had only been Audis, Anglie could have quickly dealt with him in his badly injured state. But with Chris added to the fight, it was completely different. One was strength-based, the other speed-based. Working together, they gave Anglie no opening at all.

They, too, were surprised by Anglie's tremendous speed. For a moment, both sides stopped fighting and watched each other warily.

"Uncle Audis, I never thought the day would come when we fought to the death. Fate truly is strange." Anglie did his best to steady his breathing and recover his stamina.

"I never thought you had hidden yourself so deeply either. Should I say that you truly are Kyle's son?" Audis said quietly. He seemed to be recovering his strength as well and was happy to stall for time.

Anglie grinned. At his current strength, he was stronger than either of them individually, but fighting both at once was beyond him. Still, these were not all the means he had. It would have been different against unfamiliar opponents, but this was Audis.

A trace of relief rose in Anglie's heart.

Retrieve Knight Audis's combat data. Formulate the optimal kill plan, he silently commanded.

"Task initiated. Analyzing data. Modeling complete. Analysis complete. Optimal kill plan finalized," Zero's voice responded.

Synchronize with the visual system immediately, Anglie commanded inwardly.

"Synchronization initiated."

Hiss...

Amid another faint hissing sound, a pale blue layer gradually covered Anglie's vision, while countless fine grids spread across everything in sight.

Red points of light representing fatal weaknesses automatically appeared all over Audis's body, glaringly conspicuous. At the same time, streams of data continuously fed into Anglie's brain. They were the optimal kill plans formulated by the Zero Chip, along with the possible counterattacks his opponent might make.

This was the result of possessing detailed information on one's opponent.

Anglie's grip on his longsword tightened slightly. He lowered his body and charged forward.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Three consecutive blows struck Audis's greatsword. Anglie twisted his body in an extremely unnatural motion, narrowly avoiding Chris's thin sword stabbing in from the side. At the same time, he leaped to the right, and his left elbow slammed into the underside of Audis's right ribs.

"Urgh!" Audis failed to evade in time and took the blow. Though he could not draw back his greatsword in time either, he still drove a vicious fist into Anglie's chest.

The two retreated in opposite directions at the same time.

Audis's face turned pale. If Anglie's elbow had struck anywhere else, it would have been no more than a minor wound. But that spot was where the Baron had injured him earlier. He could feel his insides churning, and a nauseating urge to retch surged up.

"Damn it!"

Anglie had taken the punch squarely, and his face paled as well. He stumbled back several steps, only to clash with the pursuing Chris.

Both were speed-oriented fighters. Their longswords rang out in a rapid series of fine clashes.

Before long, a muffled groan sounded.

Chris's expression changed wildly. He clutched his neck tightly and leaned against a large tree, his face covered in sweat. Blood was already slowly seeping through his fingers. He had come within a hair's breadth of having half his neck sliced off. That instant between life and death had thoroughly drenched him in cold sweat.

Anglie, standing not far away, was no better off. A bloody hole was clearly visible on the left side of his waist—the injury they had exchanged just now. To his surprise, Chris and Audis were both experts nearly at peak Knight level. With the two of them joining forces, Anglie had been forced to pay a price.

But now, it was fine.

Anglie glanced at Audis, who was half-kneeling nearby with one hand over his stomach. Large beads of sweat dripped steadily from his pale face. That strike had badly damaged his internal organs and must have caused severe internal bleeding. With Anglie's strength being more than twice that of an ordinary person, and Audis already injured, even if he survived this, he would suffer serious aftereffects. This fierce Knight's life as a fighter was likely over.

Anglie gave Audis a pitying glance. With his left hand, he pressed over the bloody hole at his waist, accurately compressing the surrounding blood vessels to stop the bleeding.

He held his longsword reversed in his right hand and looked at Chris across from him.

Neither had gained an advantage from that last exchange. But Chris did not have Anglie's precise ability to control blood loss. His face was growing paler and paler from the loss of blood.

At that moment, the Baron let out a low roar from nearby and kicked Lisa in the abdomen. The middle-aged woman flew backward and slammed hard into a tree before rolling to the ground. A great number of leaves shook loose and drifted down. Blood poured from her abdomen, staining the surrounding grass red in moments.

"It's over," Anglie said flatly. His expression was poor as well, but much better than the three across from him. Unlike the Baron, whose body truly possessed the physical qualities of a peak Knight, Anglie's strength came mainly from his swordsmanship. Injuries that were minor to the Baron were serious wounds that Anglie had to avoid. In truth, his physical condition was only about equal to that of the three opponents.

"Yes. It's over." The Baron walked over, pale-faced, his expression complicated as he looked at the three before him.

"Heh heh heh... Kyle, so what if you've won?" Lisa raised her head with a miserable laugh, glaring at the Baron with hatred. "Saladin's people are coming. Everything you have will disappear along with it. The foundation you built over so many years, everything you worked so hard to manage, it's all gone! All..." She suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.

"So what?" the Baron sneered. He stepped forward and kicked Lisa in the waist.

Bang!

The woman's body flew violently through the air, rolling several times. Blood from her lower abdomen had already soaked a large portion of her clothes.

The Baron's eyes were vicious. "Lisa, I'll take good care of your two daughters and your son for you."

The woman on the ground froze, staring at the Baron. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but could no longer speak. Mouthful after mouthful of blood and bloody froth completely clogged her throat. The light in her eyes quickly faded.

Anglie's expression remained cold. He picked up the throwing knife he had fired earlier and carefully tucked it into his clothes before returning to the Baron's side.

"Father. Finish this quickly. Saladin's people will arrive tonight. We need to return immediately, settle matters, and leave this place."

The Baron looked at his only son, a trace of gratification and pride appearing in his eyes.

"You go back first and stabilize the castle. I'll deal with them and follow."

Chris, weakened all over from excessive blood loss, and Audis, suffering from severe internal bleeding, were no longer threats. Next, they had to return to the castle and stabilize the situation, then leave the territory at once with their valuables. If their forces had remained intact, they might still have been able to fight a defensive battle against Saladin's people. But now, their original fighting strength had betrayed them, and those who remained were wounded all over. There was no way they could resist Saladin's powerful army. Leaving was their only choice.

Anglie cast one last look over the three on the ground. Pressing a hand to his waist, he nodded and turned to leave at a brisk pace. Though he was badly injured, the rebels had lost their leaders, so they would not be difficult to handle. After all, ordinary soldiers were still vastly inferior to Knights. Coupled with the authority they had built over time, there should not be any major problem.