Chapter 041: The Mark of Death
As he moved, Chen Ran kept a close eye on the movements on the map. The red dot that had entered Redleaf Town’s vicinity from the outside was rushing in a certain direction at an astonishing speed. Chen Ran estimated the red dot’s position and was surprised to find that the black knight’s target this time seemed to be one of the guards…
“Notify all the guards to gather at the nearest square!”
Chen Ran urgently gave the order and rushed toward the destination first. The speed of his mount, enhanced by Wings of Light, was astonishingly fast. Even an ordinary native horse was faster than a fine steed.
The red dot got closer and closer, and Chen Ran himself became nervous. After his men had notified everyone to gather, the black knight’s direction of travel indeed changed, and it charged straight for the crowd.
“Who is he going to kill this time?”
Chen Ran judged the target of this death from the black knight’s direction of advance. It was one of the members of a five-man guard team, but he wasn’t sure which one. After everyone had gathered in the empty square, Chen Ran estimated the time. At the black knight’s speed, it would only take about half a minute to get here.
Chen Ran directed the few guards who might be the targets to get into position and await orders. The others set up emergency traps along the black knight’s path, nothing more than iron caltrops or tripwires. Without knowing the black knight’s movements, they could only set up such simple traps.
Soon, the heart-pounding sound of horse hooves came from the distance, growing clearer and clearer. It sounded particularly heavy in the quiet night, making one’s heart pound. The few guards who might be the targets were so scared they were as quiet as cicadas in winter. Some of them were even trembling violently, just hoping that they wouldn’t be the one to die this time.
Time was tight. In the blink of an eye, a knight shrouded in black flames appeared in the darkness and rushed toward them.
During this time, Chen Ran had cast various support buffs on everyone present, greatly enhancing their combat capabilities. After seeing the figure, the dozen or so guards with crossbows all shot at the black knight.
A scattered rain of arrows flew toward the black knight. Although they were enhanced by Chen Ran’s buffs, the force of the arrows was much stronger than usual. But the black knight just swung the strangely shaped knight’s sword in his hand and easily cut down the rounds of arrows. The strong demonic qi even turned the arrows to ash.
Chen Ran’s attention couldn’t help but be drawn to the special material of the knight’s sword in the black knight’s hand.
The longsword was very strange, exuding a strong demonic qi. The blade was as smooth and translucent as a black gem, reflecting the bright firelight. There were also a few small barbs on the blade, giving it a unique style.
As a master of equipment crafting, Chen Ran quickly judged that it was a peerless divine weapon, definitely surpassing the excellent series (purple) of weapons, and even had the quality of an epic-grade (dark gold). And with such a divine weapon, the black knight’s strength was only that of a Tier 7 elite, which showed that the black knight’s own strength was not terrifying.
Of course, this was just a fleeting thought of Chen Ran’s. The primary task now was to stop the black knight.
After the black knight easily broke through the rain of arrows, the guards had to throw down their crossbows and switch to melee weapons, but no one dared to take the initiative to block him. The black knight got closer and closer to the target. His fiery warhorse ignored the ground covered with steel-spiked caltrops, and its fiery hooves even bent the spikes of the caltrops, not affecting the black knight’s advance at all.
Just as the black knight was about to charge in front of the few guards, a sturdy tripwire suddenly snapped up in front of his warhorse. Three men on each side pulled the rope taut. The black knight’s warhorse was too fast to dodge. It charged straight ahead, and then…
The six guards who had set up the tripwire were sent flying and fell heavily to the ground…
Terrifyingly powerful!
The last barrier was gone. The five guards scattered in fright, each fleeing in a different direction. The black knight targeted one of them and chased after him. Just as he was about to raise his sharp blade…
A white electric current shot through the black knight’s body. For a moment, the black knight’s movements seemed to stagnate, but that was all. It quickly caught up to the panicked guard. The sword, burning with black flames, drew a stunning arc. With a clear whistling sound, the blade mercilessly sliced off the man’s head…
Blood gushed like a fountain!
The guard’s body continued to run on inertia for a few seconds before falling to the ground. Blood flowed from his severed neck, forming a pool of blood that stained the ground red.
At the same time, the black knight casually skewered the fallen guard’s head with his sword and rode away without any hindrance, not stopping for a moment.
The black figure quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight. His departure made the night seem even heavier.
From the discovery of the black knight’s tracks to watching him ride away, it had only been a little over ten minutes. And from the start of their confrontation to the moment he killed his target, it had only been a few minutes. It all happened too suddenly.
Chen Ran walked over to the headless corpse with a grim expression, looked at it with pity, then turned to the guard captain beside him.
“Who is the deceased?”
The captain stepped forward, knelt down, and carefully examined the body. He quickly recognized the deceased from his clothes and answered with a complicated expression, “Your Excellency High Priest, the deceased is Bill. You saw him outside the morgue last time. He was the vice-captain of our guard.”
“It’s him?” Hearing the captain’s words, Chen Ran finally remembered the guy. He seemed to have a horse-like face. He had even sized him up a few times back then.
Recalling the feeling at that time, Chen Ran seemed to have figured something out.
The sky was gradually dawning. The morning light rose from the horizon, making the night no longer so frighteningly dark.
During the commotion, the mayor had also been awakened from his bed and had rushed to the scene. Seeing another dead person, his face looked very unnatural.
“Your Excellency High Priest, this…”
Chen Ran sighed. “Sorry, I couldn’t stop the black knight. But after tonight, I have a general understanding of the black knight’s true strength. I should be fully prepared next time. As for this time’s victim, I am extremely sorry.”
The guard captain at the side also stepped forward to speak up for Chen Ran. “Mayor, this time, under the leadership of His Excellency the High Priest, we took the initiative for the first time. Although we still couldn’t stop the powerful black knight, it was only because our preparations were not sufficient. His Excellency the High Priest’s command ability is indeed outstanding. I believe the situation will be much better next time.”
The mayor just sighed and said no more.
“Clean up the deceased. You can all disperse,” Chen Ran said, waving his hand for the guards to clean up the scene. But just then, he suddenly felt a familiar, faint fluctuation. He quickly turned around and looked at the person beside him.
The mayor stood there, looking at the nervous Chen Ran with some confusion. Chen Ran was stunned, his face filled with shock.
In the mayor’s pupils, a blood-red rune was flashing, but it quickly disappeared, so fast that it was as if nothing had happened…
