Masked Knight

Near the hour of dawn, the moon remained on the horizon. Meanwhile, the east started to turn bright. The soldiers at the gates of River Home looked tired and struggling to hold their weapons.

The hours before dawn were the hours where people were most tired.

A group of soldiers walked on the main street behind the city gates. A few shadowy figures appeared at the corner of the street.

These people held katanas in their hands but they wrapped the blade with a black cloth to prevent their flash from exposing them.

At the gates, there were four soldiers slacking off. Among these four, three of them had already fallen asleep. The remaining one was fighting against his drowsiness.

At this time, the few figures rushed forward. The one that had not fallen asleep did not even have the time to cry out in alarm before a blade cut into his throat.

Blood sprayed out and the other three men up work up. However, someone had already stabbed them with a knife. The killers were very skillful and had targeted the neck.

By cutting in that very spot, the victim would not be able to make any sound.

After killing the guards at the gate, they lowered the corpses to the ground. They feared that too many movements would alert the soldiers on the gate.

Two of them then took out something. These two objects combined together to form a sharp saw.

The dwarves really deserved their reputations as those that were good at making tools.

They started to saw the capstan controlling the gates. Everything was going on quietly.

By the time the patrol soldiers returned, they had already opened the gates.

"Who is it?" The patrolling soldiers roared out as they rushed forward.

The people launching the sneak attack were already aware that they had been discovered. The one in front laughed sadly and shouted. "Men! It is time to die loyally for the Thousand Rider General!"

They drew their weapons and fought against the patrolling soldiers. One other person had already opened up a small seam at the gate. He also took out a small cask and opened it.

Swis.h.!.+

There was a clear and melodious sound as flames soared into the sky, blooming into a dazzling firework.

With this, all the defending soldiers woke up. However, before they could recover, at a distant point on the horizon outside the gates, dark shadows had appeared.

The thundering roar of the horses" hooves was like the rain, ruthlessly beating at the hearts of the defenders.

"It is Oda n.o.bunaga"s cavalry!"

It was not known who roared out first. The warriors then grabbed their weapons. Some of them picked up bows and arrows. The officers all hurriedly gave commands to their subordinates.

Most of the ones that launched the sneak attack under the gates had already been beheaded.

The soldiers were frightened and went towards the city gates. They tried to close back the city gates. However, the capstan was already destroyed. The few people were unable to move the heavy iron gate.

The distant cavalry started to approach like a flood and the warriors became frightened.

Suddenly, a voice from behind them shouted, "Follow me!"

Rody had heard the sounds of battle at the gates earlier and rushed over. He had quickly rushed towards the front like lightning.

When others were afraid and a person stood out to take the lead, others would blindly follow.

These soldiers that heard Rody"s orders involuntarily rushed out with him.

"Group up and hold the lines!" Rody"s deep voice rang out in the night, giving a calming effect. "Front row, lift your s.h.i.+elds and maintain a close formation! Block the gates!

The Maruyuki were the elites of the dwarves. At that moment, more soldiers came down to the city gates following the orders of the officers.

Within a short moment, a simple square-shaped formation was organized in front of the city gates.

n.o.bunaga"s cavalry soon reached the front. It was like a flood striking at the square-shaped formation. The horses that b.u.mped into the s.h.i.+elds were thrown off their feet along with their riders.

The cavalrymen immediately fell down and were soon killed by the Maruyuki soldiers.

However, n.o.bunaga"s cavalries were also elites. They charged towards the city gates in waves.

n.o.bunaga saw that the gates had already been opened by the spies inside and felt victory close at hand. He refused to give up this opportunity and had given a death order for the cavalrymen to rush into the gates.

They just needed to break through the square-formation at the entrance and rush into the gate to win.

Soon, corpses could be seen stacking up by the entrance. The cavalry"s charge caused the square-shaped formation to falter and gradually retreat.

In fact, many of the soldiers were already afraid.

"The gates have been destroyed. How could the s.h.i.+eld soldiers resist against the cavalry charge?"

At that moment, Rody was unable to deal with all that. He shouted and jumped out from behind holding his scimitar.

The moment he came out, he had jumped over the crowd and landed near the enemy.

He slashed forward, causing blood and flesh to fly. Those near Rody could not avoid his attacks. Often the cavalrymen cut into two before they had the chance to rush to the front.

Hideyos.h.i.+ and Yukinari had also arrived at the gates. Seeing the gates destroyed, Yukinari could not stand firm and almost collapsed.

Fortunately, Nedis was by his side and seized his arm as she ruthlessly said, "With me and Rody around, what are you afraid of? Right now, you need to give an order!"

Yukinari pulled out the temporary katana he brought along and shouted, "Forward! All units forward! Drive them back!"

Hideyos.h.i.+ was gathering soldiers towards the city gates but he could clearly see Rody"s figure outside of the city gates.

He saw Rody seemingly wrapped up with an aura and went out with a blade. His actions were seemingly never fruitless. Rody was like a Death G.o.d. He scimitar cut down n.o.bunaga"s cavalry as though it was paper.

Although Rody had not yet completely recovered, his strength had recovered until he was at the level of a high-ranked warrior. Although he was not able to fight back the force of an army, he fortunately had the Mystic Dragon"s blood strengthening his body. The weapons of the cavalrymen that struck him could not harm him.

Facing such a situation, Rody did not bother warding off blows. He simply attacked and ignored the attacks of his opponents.

In a short moment, corpses started to pile up in front of Rody. The corpses of the horses and the people blocked the way and prevented the cavalry from proceeding.

Although the gates were opened, s.p.a.ce was narrow. Rody"s current strength was unable to stop the entire cavalry"s charge. However, with so little s.p.a.ce, the cavalry was also unable to launch a large-scale a.s.sault. It created a situation where one person could prevent a large cavalry from getting through.

On top of that, with Rody taking most of the pressure, the square-shaped s.h.i.+eld formation was able to relax.

Far behind, n.o.bunaga had watched his cavalry rush to the entrance of the city gate but was unable to go further. That scene made him shout in anger. He saw a tall figure standing at the city gate as though he was a mountain. His cavalry that rushed towards this figure were all crushed.

n.o.bunaga cried out angrily and shouted, "Come with me!"

He patted his horse and led his soldiers forward.

At the moment, Rody"s side was filled with corpses. The cavalry also started to become afraid and no longer approached. An empty s.p.a.ce formed in front of Rody.

The cavalry realized that the charge was not having much effect and slowly drew the troops back further away and opened the formation.

Rody wiped his b.l.o.o.d.y face and felt short of breath. He felt that his strength was not flowing in the battle earlier.

This kind of feeling made Rody uncomfortable.

Right now, he felt that his strength was recovering too slowly. If he was at full strength, he could have just sent out a blade of light and settled everything.

However, Rody now no longer dared to use his Half Moon Slash. He knew that his strength was only at the level of a high-ranked warrior at most. He was probably not even close to reaching the level of a Sacred Swordsman. The Half Moon Slash consumed a lot of energy and he would be exhausted after two or three slashes.

He then heard the sound of horses. A horse rushed in front of Rody. Its rider pointed his sword at Rody and shouted, "Who are you?"

Both sides gazed at each other and were in a daze.

"So, it was you!" n.o.bunaga gritted his teeth and felt his heart turn cold.

He could naturally recognize Rody. Although Rody had returned to his original appearance, his facial features were the same as when he stopped the Shogun"s a.s.sa.s.sination at Kyoto.

He remembered that, on that day, this guy had defeated s.h.i.+nyu with a casual wave of his hand. This kind of strength was far beyond n.o.bunaga.

However, they were now in a crisis. n.o.bunaga was a warrior. He gritted his teeth and said, "Good! You are the one that got in my way again! Today, I will thoroughly deal with you!"

He then pulled out his katana and jumped off the horse. He roared and rushed towards Rody.

Just like this, the battle had turned into a duel.

Rody was tired at that moment. He saw n.o.bunaga rus.h.i.+ng over and placed his scimitar sideways to block. The swords clashed. Both of them felt a huge impact on their hands and stepped back.

The first bout ended in a draw.

Rody was angry. "This n.o.bunaga is only at the level of a High Knight at most. If it was last time, I can kill him within three strikes. But now…s.h.i.+t!"

On the other hand, n.o.bunaga felt rea.s.sured and greatly relieved. "Looks like this guy was not as powerful as I imagined. Maybe I can best him. On top of that, he has been fighting for so long now…"

Thinking of this, n.o.bunaga rushed forward again.

The two continued to fight again. Although Rody was not as strong as before, he was a brilliant student of the Imperial Academy"s swordsmans.h.i.+p and was extremely skilled. On top of that, his body was tough. Even if he was struck once or twice, it would not be able to hurt him.

In fact, Rody was currently slightly weaker than n.o.bunaga. His world-shaking powers could not come into play.

In a moment of desperation, n.o.bunaga gathered the strength in his body. The katana in his hands faintly give out fighting energy. With all his strength, he pushed Rody back and suppressed him.

The soldiers on both sides cried out endlessly. Rody was furious. He suddenly took a step back as he held the scimitar with one hand. He then took a deep breath and sent out a blade of light towards n.o.bunaga.

n.o.bunaga was shocked and moved his katana to block it. A s.h.i.+eld formed from fighting energy appeared in front of him. A blocking sound was heard as the wind caused the dust to rise. n.o.bunaga took a few steps back and then stood firm. However, his hands faintly trembled.

Rody was also not at ease.

That blade of light did not cause much damage, making Rody feel vexed. Even the G.o.d-ranked Hakone Serpent was afraid to block his attack when he used the Mystic Dragon Purge, but now Rody was like a mountain tiger trapped in the flat plains where he was disadvantaged.

"s.h.i.+t!" Rody cursed. That Half Moon Slash had consumed a lot of his energy.

"I cannot use this trick anymore!" Rody immediately thought to himself.

n.o.bunaga shouted loudly as he held the katana. He suddenly slashed at the air. A tooth for a tooth! Using his fighting energy, he sent out a wind blade roaring towards Rody.

Usually, this level of attack could easily be blocked by Rody. However, Rody could now feel the fatigue in his body. He barely managed to block it. The huge force struck his body and he flew back before landing on the ground. Fortunately, he managed to maintain his balance and was only knocked back a few steps instead of falling to the ground.

n.o.bunaga felt relieved. "Looks like this guy is no match for me!"

He waved his katana and was about to order his cavalry to charge again.

At this time, in the wilderness far outside the city, a tremendous sound could be heard. That noise startled everyone.

It was as if countless people were running in the wilderness. As it gradually approached dawn, both sides saw a scene that surprised them.

From the south, in the wilderness, were countless people running. A large number of soldiers seemed to be running in disorder. Their uniform showed that they were the Dwarven Army.

n.o.bunaga and Yukinari immediately had the same thought. "Is that k.u.mu Yu"s army coming over?"

"That cannot be! The Roland Army is still watching him!"

"Could it be..."

The two then immediately thought. "Has k.u.mu Yu been defeated by the Roland Army?"

Indeed, the soldiers looked as though they were fleeing. There were countless black figures that were not wearing helmets and were running around as though they were houseflies.

Soon after that, the sound of horse"s hooves could be heard.

In the wilderness, the silhouettes of a cavalry started to appear.

These people looked as though they were chasing to kill the retreating dwarves. A cavalry divided into two teams to catch up to the dwarven deserters running away on foot. The cavalry all wore the standard armor of a Roland Knight. On the horse, they held a s.h.i.+eld with one hand and a cross-shaped sword in the other.

The defeated dwarves were scared witless and their tragic cries could be heard in the wilderness.

Even Rody and Nedis were stunned. "How could the Roland Army defeat k.u.mu Yu"s soldiers so quickly?"

"The supplies has only been cut off today but the Roland Army had already defeated them?"

n.o.bunaga"s heart sank to the bottom. He needed to make a prompt decision. Two thoughts emerged in his mind.

"We must immediately kill our way into the city! There is no other way! We need to quickly seize River Home and fortify the walls to fight against the Roland Army!"

The other choice was…

Flee at once!

"Right now, the cavalry had not taken too much damage! Retreat North and gain the opportunity to re-gather strength to fight against the enemy!"

n.o.bunaga"s expression continued to change. He also felt that something was quite right.

"How did the Roland Army break through the frontlines?"

The answer was soon revealed.

Lightning struck not far in the sky. Looking back to the sky, they saw that the sky was already covered with clouds. The dark clouds seemingly pressed down. From the clouds, a human-like figure flew closer quickly. The entire figure was wrapped in silver flames. The clouds dispersed when the figure pa.s.sed through it.

Within a short moment, that figure stopped about ten meters over the city gate. It was a black robed and a black veiled figure. The figure stood high in the dim light of the night under the black thunderous clouds. It was as though a G.o.d had descended.

The figure"s slender eyes looked at the people and corpses around before setting on Rody. The eyes then showed a trace of anger and surprise.

The surprised and angry gaze soon landed on n.o.bunaga. A clear and cold voice then came from the sky. "Are you the one who injured him?"

n.o.bunaga started to feel a sense of fear.

The opponent was in the sky and had a cold aura. It made n.o.bunaga"s entire body turned stiff.

The clear resounding voice seemingly gritted her teeth and said, "b.a.s.t.a.r.d dwarven beast! Unforgivable!"

With a whistling sound, the figure in the sky lifted both her hands...

The dust rose in front of Rody and n.o.bunaga before it suddenly became a hurricane. The weapons, armors, and corpses were swept away by the hurricane.

The hurricane then advanced towards n.o.bunaga.

Within a moment, the hurricane had engulfed everything. The countless cavalrymen were thrown into the air like leaves.