Chapter 41: The Oath

CHAPTER XLIV

The room was silent in the twilight. The breeze brought the distant cries of Oliver, the crisp laughter of Malt, the sound of the carpenter's saw, and the cheerful shouts and banging of the iron basin as the kitchen steward greeted the meal.

Karenic and Ivan looked at Roy with strange expressions.

"Young Master" Ivan licked his lips and asked uncertainly, "You mean to restore your fighting spirit?"

Karenic looked directly at Roy, his deep blue eyes showing a look of disbelief as if he were dreaming.

"Yes. Roy simply nodded and said to Karenic, "Mr. Karenich, I can heal your injuries and restore your ability to cultivate your fighting qi." ”

Roy's affirmative answer made Ivan's eyes widen suddenly. Karenic's face flushed with the blood that had surged up in an instant.

Fighting spirit is the life of a knight.

Only with Fighting Qi can they have the Battle Ring. Only with the Battle Ring can they become one with the War Horse and become one of the most terrifying torrents of steel on the battlefield. It is only this invincible impact and strong melee combat power that makes the knight profession achieve its current glory.

Losing the fighting spirit is a loss of qiē for the knight. The pain of having your power wasted is unimaginable to anyone. It's like a mountain eagle losing its wings, like a tiger losing its claws, like a fish losing the ability to breathe in water.

In history, I don't know how many great knights have lost their fighting spirit and took off their armor, put down their swords and shields, and disappeared into the vast sea of people. To all those who admire them, all the children who regard them as idols, leave a painful and gloomy back.

Before, now, and even in the future, there will be countless knights who have followed the same path. Karenich is not the first, nor will he be the last. This is a problem that all knights face. Also Ivan, including Philip, including all the knights.

As we all know, just like the eyes of a man, the seven inches of a snake, and the wings of a bird, knights also have some fatal vital points. The most famous of these is the Knight's Exclusion Zone around the First Nebula in the Knight's Lower Abdomen.

Because the waist of the human body is a key area for the whole body to move. To ride a horse and perform martial arts, it is necessary to maintain the flexibility of the waist, so except for the close-fitting chain mail, the other armor does not protect the lower abdomen.

And this part is the place where the knight is most likely to lose his fighting spirit after being attacked. Once wounded, the knight could only pray to God. Most people are lucky, but there are always a few who are unlucky and have become ordinary people since then.

No one has been able to solve this problem. Neither the physicians, pharmacists, nor the magicians of the Holy See could do anything about it.

They can heal their injuries and they can save the knight's life. But they couldn't figure out why the wounds of flesh, bones, and internal organs could be restored, but the fighting spirit could not.

The study of the Knights' Forbidden Area has been going on for years. But so far, no one has been able to find a way to avoid losing their vindictiveness, let alone treat it.

But now, Roy is clearly telling them that he can restore Kalenich's vindictiveness!

Karenic and Ivan have no words to describe how shocked they are at the moment. Whether it is for them, or for all the knights of this world, this is no less than a terminally ill person, who heard that he can come back to life!

They could well imagine how much of a change and shock it would have if the news had spread - it would have made every knight go crazy!

Karenich's lips trembled, and it took a long time to squeeze out a low, hoarse voice from his throat: "Is this true?",

"Mr. Karenich. I'm not kidding. Every word I say is very serious. Roy said calmly, "It won't do me any good to deceive you. Whether you can recover your vindictiveness or not, just try it. Your body doesn't deceive you. ”

"I believe in you. Karenic said without hesitation.

There was no way he could not believe the boy in front of him.

In terms of identity, he is just Roy's slave. Roy didn't have to be trusted in that way. He can not give him freedom, he can do with him at will, he can move his tongue and turn him into the most miserable person in the world in a matter of minutes.

Now, however, Roy was talking to him, trying to gain his trust with a young man's voice and a sincerity that was hard to refuse.

It's a respect!

In fact, from the moment she stepped into the estate, Karenic felt the difference.

He took a shower, changed into clean clothes, ate something, and got a haircut. Everyone smiled at him and had a kind attitude. Several of the maids even giggled and talked about his physique and appearance, pushing each other around with red faces.

The estate is peaceful and peaceful. Everyone's face was filled with smiles. There are no thugs' whips and scolding, no dark and damp dungeons, no food that pigs don't eat. Even on the way to this room, Ivan, who is a knight, took the initiative to chat with him.

It was a feeling of equality that he had forgotten for a long time. The discrepancy between this feeling and his slave status made him think that he had a delusion.

But at this moment, he knew that this was not an illusion. As a slave with nothing, he had nothing to be calculated. In that case, what reason did he have to suspect a boy who had always shown good intentions.

Hearing Karenic's answer, Roy clapped his hands, laughed, showed a few white teeth, and said lightly: "Okay, now, Mr. Karenich, I need to see your injuries." ”

"Wait. Karenic said suddenly.

Under Ivan's surprised gaze, Karenic walked up to Roy and knelt down on one leg.

"Master Roy. Karenic said solemnly: "I do not know how to express the gratitude of my heart, and I must say that whether or not I can finally recover my strength, it is the luck of my life to know you." ”

His right hand was on his heart. It was a knightly salute that he had forgotten for a long time. When this ritual was completed, Karenich's whole person changed.

His back was straight and his eyes were sparkling.

"If you are willing to accept the allegiance of a lowly slave who has no fighting spirit, then, I, Kalenich, swear"

His voice echoed through the room.

"I will always follow you. No matter how difficult the road ahead, I will move in the direction pointed by your sword, and no matter how strong the enemy may be, I will defend your honor with my life, protect you and your family, and fight to the end until the last breath of life. ”

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

"Please, accept my allegiance. ”

The whole room is in the setting sun, and there is a sacred silence because of the man's vows. It's like an oil painting.

Looking at Karenich, who was kneeling, Ivan couldn't help but be moved.

Perhaps most of the people in this manor, including Roy, don't know who Karenic is. But he knew how respected Karenich, who had the reputation of the Dragon Gate Iron Gate, was among the soldiers of St. Solan, including the Knights of the Red Leaves.

Among the three empires of the Land of Redemption, the Philip Empire has always been the sworn enemy of the Saint Soran Empire.

The Philae Empire was an extremely aggressive country. This aggression has been engraved in her bones since the moment she was born. For more than 100 years, the royal family and the nobles of Philip have been trying to expand their territory and plant the banner of the Philip Empire in every corner of the land of redemption.

They never stopped expanding their army, never stopped building their already famous cavalry corps. It has also never stopped harassing its neighbors. They are savage, powerful. Wherever their iron hooves passed, nothing but ruins and corpses were left on the ground.

Even if it is as powerful as the Pompeii Empire, it does not dare to despise the Ferret. More than 60 percent of their troops were stationed on the border with the Philae Empire, in case the cavalry of this war-torn country poured into their borders like a tide in the early morning of one day.

As the weakest of the three major empires, the Saint Soran Empire was completely dependent on the natural dangers of the Demon Beast Mountain Range to compete with the Feilie Empire.

For a hundred years, although there has been no large-scale war between the two empires, the conflict on the border has not been interrupted. The most famous is the Dragon Gate, a border city that is considered by all the people of St. Solan to be the city of hell.

Dragon Gate, is a small city in the western part of the empire. The reason why this place is famous is because when the Warcraft Mountain Range stretches to this section, the uplifted plateaus on both sides are like a sky bridge, smoothing out the natural dangers of the Warcraft Mountain Range. As a result, there is a huge gap between the border between the two countries, which is cut off by mountain ranges, 20 kilometers wide from north to south and nearly 100 kilometers deep from east to west.

And the Dragon Gate, which is less than five kilometers away from the border of the Feilie Empire, is a battleground for soldiers at this pass!

Karenic was the head of the Ninth Legion of the Frontier Army stationed at Longmen, and fought with the Philae Empire at Longmen for twenty years. He has a resolute character, composure, and calmness. Always keep a sober judgment of the battlefield situation, fight bravely, and command steadfastly. is a natural warrior and leader.

Karenich's fighting style is known for being tough and tenacious on defense, pervasive in attack, and good at wandering in search of fighters.

In the more than 20 years of Longmen, the knights he led have smashed the attacks of the Ferrets countless times. It has also appeared on the flank of the enemy at the most critical moment countless times.

Not only that, he believed in a tooth for a tooth and blood for a blood, and after the Feilie cavalry slaughtered a mountain village southeast of Longmen, he personally led the knights to run thousands of miles and surprise behind the enemy. Dozens of urbanizations west of the Dragon Gate of the Feilie Empire were set on fire.

That time, the world shook. And because of this, he was called the Butcher of Longmen by the Fireh people.

And in the minds of all the people of Saint Solan in Longmen, he is the patron saint of Longmen, and an iron gate in front of all the Feilie cavalry!

Unfortunately, two years ago, Karenich gradually disappeared from view because of a wound in a battle.

No one expected that this legendary figure would become a slave, and no one would have thought that he would kneel in front of Roy in such a solemn posture at this moment.

Only those who truly know him know how precious it is to win Karenic's oath of allegiance.

No one can take away the pride and dignity of a strongman like Karenich. Although he has lost his fighting spirit at the moment and has become an ordinary person who cannot even be defeated by an armed knight, you can torture him, you can treat him as the most despicable slave, or even kill him. But you don't want to tame him.

If it weren't for Roy not treating him as a slave from the beginning, and if Karenic hadn't really felt Roy's kindness, no one would have wanted him to swear allegiance. Even Philip is just a rookie in his eyes.

"I accept your allegiance, Mr. Karenich. In the silence, Roy replied solemnly, learning the ritual of Baron Brian's acceptance of the knightly allegiance, and used the team to cut off the corner of his collar and give it to Karenich. ..., which means the entrustment of life.

"All right, Mr. Karenich, I have to fulfill my promise," Roy said with a smile as he picked up Karenich, "but you will have to hold back when I heal you later." ”

"Does it hurt?" Karenic asked with a smile.

"It hurts so much that you want to slaughter me. Roy laughed and motioned for Karenic to take off his shirt: "I'll see your injuries." ”

As he spoke, his hand quickly formed a handprint in the air. He pressed a leaf-like elemental array to his eyebrows.

Eyes of the Dead!

A small black hole suddenly appeared between Roy's eyebrows and quickly disappeared. Immediately, the blood element on Karenich's body appeared in front of him.

Karenic took off his shirt, revealing a well-proportioned body. A long slash sliced diagonally through his lower abdomen from his chest, making him look like two halves of a patchwork together.

"May I ask who did this?" Roy asked, checking where Karenich's scar had passed. He was really a little curious, as a Knight of the Great Light and the leader of the Knights, how strong the opponent must be to make Karenic hurt like this.

"Reyes. Karenic sat down in his chair and said calmly.

But as soon as he heard the name Reyes, not only Ivan opened his mouth wide, but even Roy was startled. The two looked at each other, shocked in their hearts.

"It's him!"

If it was Reyes, then it would not be unusual for Karenic to almost die.

Reyes is the most famous ninth paladin of the Philip Empire.

Ninth here does not mean that Reyes' power ranking is ninth in the empire. Rather, it is a title that symbolizes the status, glory and merit of the royal knighthood. Only the most loyal knights who have made outstanding contributions to the empire can be obtained.

Among the ten royal paladins of the Philip Empire, Reyes is an outlier.

The other nine paladins are either generals and marshals of the Philip Empire, or ministers of a certain department or commanders of the royal guard. But Reyes, however, did not have any position.

At the same time, Reyes's martial arts are also very different from other knights. He doesn't even ride a horse, doesn't use a riding gun, doesn't charge.

The reason is simple, he was an assassin. It was the sharpest butcher's knife in the hands of Emperor Peter I of the Philae Empire.

Although in terms of strength, Reyes is not as good as other royal paladins. But he is a world-recognized expert on assassination. Mastered in stealth, disguise, poison and escape, he never shows his head outside. He wore his signature silver mask to the Imperial Council.

This man is the most difficult to deal with. In the words of a knight of the Pompeii Empire, he would rather face an army alone than face Reyes's magic knife in the dark.

Roy and Ivan didn't expect that the magic knife Reyes would actually find Karenich, and they didn't expect that Karenic would actually survive under Reyes's knife.

I really don't know whether to say Karenic was unlucky or lucky.

Examining the knife that Reyes had left on Karenic, Roy found that the culprit behind Karenic's failure was the section that swept diagonally across Karenic's lower abdomen. This knife cut off Karenich's two meridians.

The meridians are the channels in the flesh and blood, the big ones are the meridians, and the small ones are the meridians. Because the qi and blood are connected, it is the natural channel of the human body's fighting qi. The operation of the knight's fighting qigong method, transforming the energy of heaven and earth, strengthening or stimulating the source force, all rely on the transmission of meridians.

And these two meridians, judging from the human life magic pattern, are the two most important lines. One is the main energy line of the First Dou Qi Source Force Nebula in the lower abdomen, and this meridian is truncated, making Karenic unable to gather the source force at all.

The other is a connecting line that connects other functional lines. This meridian is hidden, hidden behind the blood vessels, and meanders. Without this line, no matter how strong Kalenich's skill is, he will not be able to let the Dou Qi run to other meridians, let alone complete the Fortune Exercise. ..., find the root cause, and the next thing will be easy to do.

"Mr. Ivan," Roy took out a sharp dagger as thin as a cicada's wings from the spatial ring, and said to Ivan, "You are guarding the door, no matter who it is, no matter what happens, you can't let it in." ”

"Yes, Young Master Roy!" Ivan knew that he was disturbed during the treatment, and immediately bowed down. Turned and walked out of the room, closing the door. He drew his sword and stood guard at the door.

"Then, Mr. Karenich," Roy took a deep breath, holding the knife in one hand and a faint white light in the other, "I will now cut your wound with the knife and repair it again with healing." The process"

Roy didn't say any more. Even now when he thinks back to the pain he had suffered when he treated himself in a desperate situation, his heart was pounding.

"Healing!"

Karenic looked at the white light on Roy's left hand in amazement, and it was only then that he confirmed how lucky he was to meet Roy.

"The healing is painful, I know. However," he looked at Roy calmly, and the corners of his mouth slowly hooked up a smile, "I'm not even afraid of death, but I'm still afraid of pain?!"

The setting sun in the distant mountains and trees painted the last hint of bright red on the clouds in the sky.

Two men, one big and one small, looked at each other and smiled.

Sometimes, pain doesn't mean despair, but hope. After the night, it's a new day