The surrounding forest had been burned clean. Tree trunks were still visible on the ground, but their canopies and leaves were gone, leaving only ash and roots that resembled small tombstones.
The flas had died out earlier. The trees in the Dark Forest weren't dense enough, and the high humidity here ant the fire had naturally stopped after burning through one area, failing to beco a widespread wildfire.
About seventy or eighty ters ahead of Fang Zhen's motorcycle, he could already see the advance scouts of Viscount Montagu's army, who had been burned to death the day before.
The bodies at the front were a grueso sight, leaving behind carbonized human shapes on the ground. It looked as though the slightest touch would turn them to dust.
Behind the carbonized corpses of these soldiers, an armored Knight rode a warhorse. He held a long spear and seed to be searching for sothing amidst the piles of charred bodies, wandering back and forth without rest.
It was clear this Knight's body was in an advanced state of decay. Green and murky-white pus oozed constantly from the gaps in his armor, a sight so nauseating it sent a chill down one's spine and even made one's own skin crawl.
The Knight's warhorse was even more grotesque. Its head had visibly rotted away, exposing parts of its skull. One eye had decayed in its socket, while the other was a milky white, as if the horse had so form of equine leprosy. It was an exceptionally horrifying sight, its body covered in pustules that oozed pus.
And yet, despite all this, both Knight and horse were not dead. Theirs was a fate worse than death, like so terrifying zombie.
Fang Zhen stopped his motorcycle. Behind him, Dalia and her one-eyed female guard reined in their horses.
"That's Ashton." Dalia held the reins with one hand, bringing the other to her mouth. She seed utterly shocked to see the Knight of Evil Disease before her.
Now that Dalia had confird the Knight of Evil Disease's identity, Fang Zhen no longer hesitated.
"Stand back. I don't want you getting hurt," Fang Zhen said.
He got off his motorcycle and laid out all six Molotov Cocktails from his gear bag in front of him.
He grabbed one Molotov Cocktail, lit it with his Windproof Lighter, took a few running steps to build montum, and threw!
The lit Molotov Cocktail flew in a perfect parabola, its trajectory aid precisely at the head of the Knight of Evil Disease.
A throw that precise had to involve a bit of intuition.
The bottle ca down with perfect accuracy, shattering on the head of the Knight of Evil Disease that Viscount Ashton had beco.
Flas erupted in an instant.
Viscount Ashton let out a low roar.
Perhaps the disease had corroded his vocal cords, because the roar sounded like a broken bellows—not sharp or loud, just abnormally low and guttural.
The flas engulfed Ashton, instantly turning him into a human torch.
Fang Zhen didn't stop. He picked up a second Molotov Cocktail and threw it.
He didn't even light the wick on this one, confident in the precision of his throw.
The second Molotov Cocktail traced an arc through the air and landed squarely on Viscount Ashton, adding fuel to the fire.
Ashton could no longer even scream.
Ashton urged his warhorse to charge toward Fang Zhen.
But the warhorse under him, its body long since festering from the disease, had been made even more fragile by the fire.
The horse managed to charge only ten or twenty ters before it suddenly stumbled.
Its front legs fractured and snapped. As its hooves hit the ground, the bones, weakened by disease and fire, gave way. It had stumbled and fallen in the most literal sense.
Engulfed in flas, Ashton tumbled from the horse's back.
The flas from the Molotov Cocktail, a mixture containing sugar and plastic pellets, were extrely adhesive. Ashton couldn't extinguish them and staggered forward, limping, a walking inferno.
Seeing this, Fang Zhen grabbed the compound bow he had hanging ready on his motorcycle's handlebars.
He took an armor-piercing arrow, nocked it, drew the bow, and took aim at Ashton's head.
"SWISH!"
The carbon arrow flew from the string. At this range, against a nearly stationary target, Fang Zhen would not miss.
The arrow struck Ashton in the head.
Instantly, the visor of his full helm shattered.
Behind it was a face that had turned green, so ulcerated it barely looked human.
In the flas, the face quickly burned and carbonized.
Having Fallen, Ashton's vitality was clearly enhanced. Despite an arrow to the head, he remained standing, not dying instantly.
Fang Zhen lowered his compound bow, grabbed another Molotov Cocktail, and hurled it at Ashton.
With another precise throw, the Molotov Cocktail shattered at Ashton's feet.
A fresh splash of gasoline instantly sent the flas roaring to a new height.
In the blaze, Viscount Ashton finally lost all his strength. His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, still burning.
After another six or seven seconds, Ashton collapsed completely, his body becoming more fuel for the fire.
As Fang Zhen watched the fallen Viscount Ashton, he suddenly felt a wave of relief.
'Ashton is dead now, too.'
'All the Fallen Knights in this dungeon are dead. It should be cleared now.'
Having completed his main objective, Fang Zhen felt an indescribable sense of relief wash over him.
'This is the first Hard-difficulty dungeon I've cleared.'
He quickly summarized what he'd learned.
'It makes sense that the Fallen Knights were rated as a Hard-difficulty dungeon.'
'Compared to the previous dungeons, the biggest challenge in the Fallen Knight one was the addition of a formal human army. Even if they were from a pre-modern era, they were still professional soldiers.'
'If I'd tried to clear it like I did the others, just relying on brute force and stamina, it wouldn't have been impossible, but it would have been extrely difficult.'
'The only reason I cleared it so smoothly was because I found a shortcut. I basically cheesed it.'
'Just like how the key to the last dungeon, the "Ancient Castle Caverns," was potassium permanganate and the "Blood Burst" potion recipe I stumbled upon, the MVP for this "Fallen Knight" dungeon was the gasoline-filled drone.'
'Without that, trying to kill all the Fallen Knights while they were protected by an army would have been much harder.'
'Looks like modern tech is incredibly useful. I need to use it more often.'
'If I get the chance, I should get my hands on an RPG, or so other heavy weaponry. It would be a huge help for clearing future dungeons.'
Just then, Fang Zhen heard a long sigh from behind him.
It was Dalia.
Seeing Ashton consud by the sea of flas, Dalia stared for a long ti before finally letting out that sigh.
Fang Zhen could understand how Dalia felt.
'Whether she loved Ashton or not, he was still the husband she had lived with for many years. Even without love, they were at least long-term partners, and it didn't seem like they had any major conflicts.'
'Ashton's story was actually quite tragic. He was attacked out of nowhere by the ambitious Montagu, lost all his power, chose to Fall and beco the Knight of Evil Disease, but never got to take his own revenge. Instead, he died by my hand.'
Fang Zhen felt a flicker of sympathy for Ashton. Ending his life was, in a way, bringing the Viscount's tragic story to a close.
Amidst the flas, Ashton was finally silent.
Just to be safe, Fang Zhen threw one more Molotov Cocktail.
'In that inferno, both the Fall and the Disease would be reduced to ash. He was no longer a threat.'
…
「Over half an hour later, Fang Zhen and Dalia returned to Redstone Town.」
Fang Zhen escorted Dalia to the second floor of the Redstone Inn, where Matthew was waiting.
Dalia's mood had already returned to normal. He had to admit, won were sotis more resilient than n.
After they entered the innermost room on the second floor, Dalia turned to Fang Zhen. "Thank you, Fang Zhen, for giving Ashton a final release."
"You're welco," Fang Zhen said. "But more than your thanks, I'd like to see you fulfill your promise."
"Are goals the only thing you n ever see?" Dalia said, slightly annoyed. She didn't press the point, however, instead turning to her one-eyed guard. "Show the Knight the Gold Rope we brought with us."
The one-eyed guard nodded and dragged a heavy trunk out from under the bed.
Fang Zhen could tell the trunk was unusually heavy.
The one-eyed guard opened the trunk. There were only a few articles of clothing inside. She removed them, then fumbled with the side of the trunk for a mont before flipping a switch.
Then, the one-eyed guard removed the wooden slats that ford the false inner walls of the trunk.
Fang Zhen's eyes imdiately lit up.
There, in the hidden compartnts of the trunk's four walls, were neat stacks of Gold Coins.
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