'Knight' and 'Princess'

Lucian ran a sword through the charging rat. Before he could shake off the corpse, an infected man swung an old straight sword at him.

Lucian sidestepped, drove his sword into the man's chest, then spun and flung him away. The infected man and the rat corpse on Lucian's blade flew together, knocking down two infected men who had been preparing to attack.

Lucian was about to finish them off when another infected man unleashed Frenzied Flame.

Lucian rolled across the ground, barely escaping its range. Before he could rise, a rat rushed before him and opened its jaws to bite him.

Lucian grabbed the rat's head with his left hand and smashed it viciously into the ground twice, leaving his palm covered in bloody pulp.

Just as he was about to get up, something heavy suddenly crashed down behind him.

Lucian simply rolled twice more across the ground.

Bang!

The giant rat, larger than a man, landed where Lucian had just been.

Lucian rose, took a large step forward with his right foot, and gripped his greatsword in both hands. Gray light flashed across his body as he swung the blade with all his strength.

The blade cut through the grass, aiming for the giant rat's head as it slashed upward in a fierce arc.

Skill—Quickstep!

The giant rat leaped aside, trying to evade the blow, but its massive body had become a hindrance.

Lucian's sword tore open half its belly, spilling organs and blood across the ground.

Though he had not killed the giant rat, he had wounded it badly enough that it began retreating toward the edge of the battlefield.

His sword pierced an infected man through the jaw, its tip emerging from the top of his skull.

With a hard flick, Lucian sent the lower jaw and half the man's face flying away. The infected man slowly collapsed to the ground.

But more enemies closed in.

Two infected men charged from either side with swords in hand. Farther away, another infected man approached while clutching his head. Once he got close to Lucian, he would unleash Frenzied Flame.

The rustling of rats moving came from behind him. Seeing Lucian surrounded, the Misbegotten in the sky seemed to regain their courage and drew their little bows to full draw.

Lucian met them head-on. His greatsword swept sideways, cleaving one infected man cleanly in half at the waist. But the blade lost much of its momentum and lodged in the other infected man's ribs.

The infected man clutched Lucian's blade tightly, while the rat at his feet took the chance to bite Lucian's ankle. Lucian could only kick it away with all his strength.

The infected man farther away had already reached a suitable attacking distance.

He stared at Lucian, the Frenzied Flame gathering in his eyes seemingly ready to burst forth at any moment.

Lucian yanked his greatsword free, intending to immediately escape the Frenzied Flame's range.

But a Misbegotten in the air happened to shoot an arrow into a gap in Lucian's armor.

Pain shot through him, and his steps instinctively faltered.

Damn it.

That brief delay was enough for the Frenzied Flame to reach him.

But the expected Frenzied Flame never came.

Twang, whoosh—

A Ballista Bolt struck the infected man about to unleash Frenzied Flame right between the brows.

Lucian looked over and saw the Nomadic Merchant by the campfire sitting atop his skinny donkey, winding his hand ballista.

"Us Nomadic Merchants can moonlight as mercenaries when necessary. I figured you could use the service."

Lucian smiled. Nomadic Merchants truly were a strange bunch, but having them around had been a tremendous help.

Lucian did not thank him. There would be plenty of time to thank him for his assistance after the battle was over.

Lucian pulled the arrow from his body and panted softly.

After fighting continuously, Lucian felt fatigue for the first time.

To reduce the enemy's numbers as quickly as possible and avoid getting grazed by Frenzied Flame while surrounded, Lucian had deliberately brought out his highest-damage weapon, the Lordsworn's Greatsword, and put his full strength into every strike.

Still, though he was tired, he could keep swinging his sword.

Lucian surveyed the surviving enemies. The three Misbegotten could be ignored for now, since their attacks did not carry Frenzied Flame.

Lucian was not afraid of getting hurt. As long as Frenzied Flame did not injure him, it was fine.

Three infected men, one giant rat, and four or five ordinary rats were all that remained of the threatening enemies.

Watching them close in again, Lucian let out a slight breath of relief.

"With so few of you left, you're still rushing to your deaths? I'll finish you off soon enough."

Lucian's sword pierced the final infected man's chest. He pulled out the blade and let him fall.

Yet the infected man stubbornly braced both hands on the ground, trying to crawl back up.

Lucian planted his greatsword diagonally into the ground against the infected man's neck, then stepped on his head, giving his neck and the blade a kiss of death.

The head fell to the ground. At last, every enemy had been eliminated.

In the end, Lucian had won the battle.

Lucian slumped onto the ground, took the Flask of Crimson and Cerulean Tears from his pouch, and poured it all into his mouth.

The wounds on his body began to stop bleeding, and his strength of mind recovered as well.

Though there were fewer enemies, his fatigue had made it impossible to dodge in time, forcing Lucian to take several sword strikes head-on.

Fortunately, he had dodged every Frenzied Flame attack. Such minor wounds were nothing serious.

The Nomadic Merchant rode over on his skinny donkey.

"Wow, that was a truly brutal way of fighting."

Lucian did not deny it. The battle just now had indeed been far too bloody. Luckily, Irina could not see it, or it might have ruined the image she had of him.

"Thanks for the help just now."

The Nomadic Merchant smiled.

"Hehe, don't mention it. I'm only making money, and my rates are quite expensive."

"Besides, there aren't many people willing to spend money just to warm themselves by a fire these days. I've already decided you're a major customer. It would be a real shame if you died."

Lucian pointed at the corpses on the ground.

"You can handle all the spoils here. Consider it payment for your services."

"Oh! How generous. Then I won't hold back."

Lucian did not feel any reluctance. That Ballista Bolt from the Nomadic Merchant had truly saved his life, and afterward, the merchant's hand ballista had also proved highly useful in attacking the Misbegotten in the sky.

After resting for a while, Lucian picked up a piece of cloth and wiped most of the blood and flesh from his body before standing up.

He blew the whistle, and Torrent carried Irina over to Lucian.

Torrent ran steadily. Even blind, Irina did not need to worry about being jostled off his back.

"Is the battle over? Were you hurt?"

Irina asked worriedly.

Lucian patted his armor until it rang with loud clanks.

"Not at all. I wiped out all those enemies easily."

Irina did not know he was lying. Relieved, she revealed a sweet smile.

"It's wonderful that you're all right."

Then she seemed to remember something, and the smile on Irina's face abruptly turned to worry.

"No, it seems I dragged you into this again. I made you risk yourself in an unnecessary battle. I'm terribly sorry."

"Ah! Wh-what are you doing all of a sudden...?"

Irina was still blaming herself when one hand slipped beneath her knees and another wrapped around her shoulders, lifting her down from the horse.

Lucian carried Irina down from Torrent in a princess carry and slowly walked toward the campfire.

"None of this is your fault."

"And as a knight, protecting the princess is my duty."

A blush spread across Irina's face, and she could not help but laugh as she retorted coquettishly.

"How could a castellan's daughter count as a princess...?"

Seeing that he seemed to have successfully comforted her, Lucian smiled as well.

"If a wandering knight like me counts as a knight, then a castellan's daughter naturally counts as a princess."

Irina said nothing more and quietly rested her head against Lucian's shoulder.

The heavy scent of blood on him was not unpleasant at all. Instead, it made her feel safe.

She had originally wanted to tell Lucian that she could walk by herself, but now she suddenly did not want to say it.

How wonderful it would be if this road could go on forever, she thought.

Somewhere they could not see, Melina groomed Torrent's fur while watching them expressionlessly.

Torrent felt like quite a bit of his fur was being yanked out, but he did not dare make a sound.

The execution moves in these two chapters were inspired by For Honor and Blasphemous. Please give me daily recommendation votes, hehe ^_^