Chapter 312: Chapter 220: ’Who Else?!
"Where is Dalia?"
"Why hasn’t she co out to see ? I’d very much like to have a word with her."
"Has she lost even that little bit of courtesy?"
The nobleman in hunting attire, Count Henry himself, finished speaking and gazed up at the castle wall.
On the wall, Father Matthew looked rather anxious and uneasy.
"Count Henry, it’s not that our Countess is ill-mannered, but haven’t you gone too far?" said Father Matthew. "You arrived with soldiers. How could we possibly open the gates? This is hardly the conduct of a guest, is it?"
Father Matthew had a point, but he clearly lacked conviction.
"Heh. My soldiers aren’t going to enter the castle. What are you afraid of?" Count Henry scoffed. "Since you’re so scared, I’ll just send a single soldier. He can go knock on the lord’s front door for ."
With that, Henry casually pointed his riding crop at a Knight’s Squire clad in iron armor. "You. Go knock on Viscount Ashton’s door for ."
"Go on, knock as hard as you like. Let’s see if the people of Ashton Territory have any guts."
Looking as if he’d been greatly honored, the Knight’s Squire gave an exaggerated bow in his iron armor before turning and running toward the castle gate.
At the castle gate, the Knight’s Squire began to pound on the doors. He deliberately adopted the boorish shout of a drunken husband returning ho and demanding his wife let him in. "I’m here!" he bellowed. "Open up, open up! What’s taking so long!"
The Squire’s deliberately exaggerated shouts provoked a wave of raucous laughter from Count Henry’s army behind him.
The Squire’s humiliating display—both his actions and his voice—made the soldiers of Ashton Territory feel utterly insulted. Many grew furious, their faces flushing red with sha and anger.
However, without a decision from their commander, the soldiers of Ashton Territory dared not make a move.
On the wall, Father Matthew’s face also turned beet red from the humiliation, a stark contrast to the color of his neck.
The people around him all turned to look at Father Matthew.
The decision fell to Father Matthew.
Yet, even in the face of such a blatant insult, Father Matthew still hesitated, unable to make a decision.
Perhaps it was fear of a nobleman who commanded hundreds of soldiers and held the title of Count. Father Matthew hesitated, unable to bring himself to declare war.
Seeing Father Matthew’s indecisiveness, the female knight and the Apprentice Knights on the wall couldn’t help but sigh.
’This is so humiliating!’
Just then, the urgent sound of horse hooves echoed from the distance.
Father Matthew, who had excellent eyesight, spotted it from the wall. A crimson horse, impossibly large and majestic, was galloping in from the outskirts of the city like a streak of fire.
Atop the massive, blood-red warhorse sat a Full Armor Knight. His armor looked both incredibly sturdy and exceptionally expensive.
The Knight was also carrying a soldier from Ashton Territory on his horse.
The blood-red warhorse moved with incredible speed, faster than anything Father Matthew had ever seen.
’Who is that?’
The question surfaced in Father Matthew’s mind.
He wasn’t the only one. Many on the castle wall, as well as soldiers in both Count Henry’s and Ashton Territory’s armies, had noticed the towering Knight and his steed—a fine horse that stood nearly twice as tall as an ordinary one.
With such a striking appearance and the crisp clatter of hooves, it was impossible not to notice them.
Even Count Henry, along with the Knights and the Mage at his side, sensed sothing was amiss and turned to look.
The tall Knight on the blood-red warhorse was charging straight for the castle.
’Who is that?’
The question echoed in the minds of many.
The rider was none other than Fang Zhen.
Fang Zhen had overheard Count Henry’s words, as well as the Knight’s Squire’s humiliating taunts.
His expression was grim.
As he neared the castle, Fang Zhen grabbed Ayo with one hand and deftly deposited him into a passing mule-drawn cart filled with straw. Then he sat up straight. With a flash of a phantom image, a high-poundage composite bow materialized in his hand, and he drew a quiver from his King’s Belt.
Fang Zhen urged his horse forward. A white light flashed from his hands as he drew the composite bow’s string.
He activated his Power Mountain Seal, and the sixty-pound composite bow felt like a toy in his hands as he drew it with ease.
He nocked an armor-piercing arrow and, while still riding at full gallop, released the string.
VMMMM!
The armor-piercing arrow shot forth. Just as the Knight’s Squire at the gate sensed sothing was wrong and turned his head, the arrow struck him precisely in the right shoulder.
The Knight’s Squire let out a pained scream. The arrow had pierced through his iron armor, pinning his entire right shoulder to the castle gate.
Without the slightest pause, Fang Zhen drew another armor-piercing arrow. In one fluid motion, he nocked, drew, and fired again.
The long arrow sliced through the air.
It pierced his left shoulder, nailing it to the castle gate as well.
The Knight’s Squire, who monts before had been so arrogant and swaggering in the shadow of Count Henry’s power, was now pinned to the castle gate, both of his arms shot clean through.
At this sight, the soldiers of Ashton Territory, who had been simring with humiliation and frustration, erupted in a spontaneous, thunderous cheer.
The soldiers cheered as one, their eyes shining with delighted surprise.
Conversely, the Count’s army grew alard and uncertain.
Count Henry’s face went white.
The newcor’s superb archery made Henry feel imnsely threatened.
’He was on horseback. At this distance... if the rider’s target hadn’t been the Squire, but ...’
At the thought, Count Henry couldn’t help but shudder. He instinctively ducked lower in his saddle, trying to make himself a less obvious target.
In that brief mont, Fang Zhen’s Red Hare Horse had reached the area before the castle gate.
He had positioned himself right in the open space between Count Henry’s and Ashton Territory’s opposing armies, a conspicuous spot directly before the castle gate.
Fang Zhen now occupied the most prominent position. Beneath him, the Red Hare Horse snorted, slowed to a walk, and began to pace back and forth. Though only a mount, it exuded an air of disdain for its surroundings, as if the Count’s army were beneath its notice.
The horse’s attitude alone was imposing; it made Fang Zhen, mounted upon it, seem all the more mysterious, valiant, and fearso.
For a mont, Count Henry’s presence was completely overshadowed, and he seethed, unwilling to yield the stage.
Henry forced himself to sit up straight again. He looked at Fang Zhen and asked in a sowhat shrill voice, "Who are you? Where are you from, Knight?"
"Do you not know who I am?"
"I am Henry, a Count of the Kingdom!"
Fang Zhen sneered, ignoring Count Henry, who was all bark and no bite.
He raised his visor, revealing his face, and looked up at the castle wall.
"Father," Fang Zhen said, raising his head to look at Father Matthew on the wall, "it seems a few contemptible clowns have shown up in Ashton Territory during my absence."
"Lord Fang Zhen! It’s you?!"
"You’ve returned?!"
Upon seeing Fang Zhen’s face, Father Matthew was overco with joyous surprise. His voice jumped an octave, and his confidence instantly returned.
Fang Zhen nodded.
"Lord Fang Zhen!"
"It’s Lord Fang Zhen!"
Many soldiers in the Ashton Territory army had accompanied Fang Zhen to Baron von Klei’s Territory to formally take possession of the land, so they recognized his face.
Seeing that the newcor was Fang Zhen, the morale of the Ashton soldiers soared. Waves of cheers and shouts erupted, sweeping away the earlier atmosphere of dejection and oppression.
Seeing the reaction of the Ashton soldiers, the morale of Count Henry’s army faltered. They began to murmur among themselves, wondering what powerful figure had just arrived.
Count Henry’s expression turned ugly.
He shot a look at the two Knights beside him.
The two Knights understood imdiately and spurred their horses forward at the sa ti.
The two Knights were ard with lances over two ters long—nearly three ters in total.
The two Full Armor Knights spurred their horses on, lances in hand. Without a word of challenge, they charged at Fang Zhen, intending to use the montum of their warhorses to impale him and knock him to the ground.
It had to be said that the two Knights had a solid foundation. Though their actions were despicable, akin to a sneak attack, their fundantals were sound, and their movents were fluid.
Watching the two Knights charge over, Fang Zhen sneered.
He hung his composite bow on his saddle’s weapon rack, where his long spear also rested. He was now empty-handed.
Yet Fang Zhen showed not the slightest hint of fear.
The two enemy Knights charged forward, their lances about to strike Fang Zhen’s armor.
Suddenly, Fang Zhen spread his arms. In a flash, he deflected both lances, then with a surge of strength, he caught one under his left arm and the other under his right.
A white light flashed from his arms as he activated the Power Mountain Seal!
The imnse power was such that he actually lifted the two lance-wielding Knights clear off their saddles. Held aloft by their own weapons, which Fang Zhen had trapped, the two Knights were now suspended in mid-air.
Then, with a great heave, Fang Zhen slamd them down!
CRASH! CRASH!
The two Knights, falling from three or four ters in the air, were smashed to the ground by Fang Zhen.
The lances that had been pinned under Fang Zhen’s arms clattered to the ground.
In a single motion, he snatched the Dragon Gall Long Spear from his saddle and pointed it at Count Henry’s army.
"Who else?!"
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