From Nightingale City to the south, the desolate landscape of the Western Province finally reveals its gentle side here. As the people who live in this land say, the Lord God will always use his mercy at the end of a desperate situation to leave a way for the hardworking people to survive.

Between the mountains of the Upper West and the dense forests, the Lord God spread out a plain with no end in sight, and she stretched into the distance until the foot of the distant mountains, which were barely visible. In this land shrouded in summer breezes and transparent mist, you can see many villages, many woods, large patches of golden wheat fields, and slightly bulging hills dotted on the vast ocean.

Yes, she was not as majestic and vast as the plains of other provinces, but she nevertheless bestowed the most generous grace with her gentleness and kindness to her people who lay in her arms. She has a beautiful name - Turanskaya Plain, which means "mirror of the mountains" in the Old Continent.

Early in the morning, on a path that winds through the cracks between the hills, a team of more than twenty cavalrymen is slowly walking from a distance in the morning mist that has not yet dissipated. It was a somewhat low-key procession, with no flags, no blouses with the family crest painted on them, just a simple suit of hard leather or thin armor, and a bundle of camping felt cloth fastened to the back bridge of the saddle under each man's crotch.

At the back of the group, a slightly old carriage swayed slightly along the undulating road, creaking and creaking, and a layer of crystal clear dew was forming on the slightly faded side walls of the carriage.

It was clear that it was a long march, and it seemed that they had not risen early to make their way, but had been walking all night.

In order to hide their eyes, Greek and Chura obediently accepted the warden's arrangement, and left Nightingale City overnight with Solweran and the improvised team. All the way south, not only did they avoid the main roads where there were many merchants, but they also traveled all night, and when the light of the new day fell again on the lands of the Western Province, they had left Nightingale far behind. But for the road ahead, their journey has only just begun.

Glick, who was at the head of the line, took the kettle off the straps of his horse, poured it into his mouth, and then poured water over his face. "Damn, my eyelids are heavy like lead...... "He grumbled with some displeasure, shaking off the water stains stuck to his hair.

In fact, for Glick, who has always lived in Nightingale City, he has never experienced a real long-distance trip in his short decades. If when he first left Nightingale City, his mood was still full of excitement and anticipation, then now, after only one night, his heart was only tired and bored.

"How far are we, old man?" asked Gorrik, rubbing his slightly pale cheeks, to Chara next to him. Because of the lack of sleep, he looked a little sluggish. "I mean to Yellowstone. ”

Chara took her mouth in her hand and yawned. "It's still early, we haven't even made it out of the Turanskaya Plains......" he glanced back at the team behind him, although everyone was a little listless, but they didn't notice anything unusual, "At our current speed, it would be best to be able to reach Yellowstone before sunset." After a pause, he continued, "My opinion is that it's better to hurry, and to be honest, I don't want to camp in the wild on the first day of my trip." ”

"Trust me, friend, no one wants something like this to happen. "Anyway, let's find a place to take a break, and see this is the team behind us, and I won't be surprised if anyone falls off their horses while walking." ”

"Okay, okay...... Then listen to you, and when we get past this hill, we'll find a place to rest. Chara nodded helplessly. In fact, he instinctively wanted to oppose this proposal, because he was not a rookie without the slightest travel experience, and he had lived in the Lower West for a long time before coming to Nightingale City. He knew very well that the most important thing for a long escort was planning, and if he couldn't even guarantee that, the arrival date would only drag on indefinitely, and the whole team would become more and more lazy.

After all, according to the Warden's request, it would take at least seven days to get from Nightingale to Yellowstone, then from Yellowstone around the bleak mountains, and finally to the southernmost point of the Upper West, the Gray Iron Harbor by the Jun River. As for where to go after that, well, at least a whole month. This is not a distance that can be completed by a team that rests everywhere and shouts tired all the time.

But Chara still chose to keep his mouth shut, because Glick was the captain of the team, and he was just the deputy. In addition, before departure, the warden did not ask for a specific arrival date. So from any point of view, Chara didn't think it was a wise choice for her and Glick to have a conflict on the first day.

Before Glick could give the order to speed up and get out of the hill, a series of muffled crashes came from the back of the slightly dull team. Glancing at Charra, Glick raised his hand a little irritably to halt the group's progress. "Damn, what's going on?!" he glanced at the crashing carriage and scolded in a low voice, "Fuck someone, show me what's going on!"

"Yes, Captain!" replied one of the riders.

Grek was stunned for a moment, and a look of smugness appeared on his face. "He called me 'Captain'...... That's a good name......" he thought to himself, "The Lord God is above, I didn't expect me to have today!" Unconsciously touched a waist bag hanging from his waist, and the metallic texture transmitted from the leather made Grek's eyes suddenly light up, and it seemed that even the tide of sleepiness was instantly dispelled.

The warden spent a lot of money on this escort, not only paying a considerable salary in advance, but also promising all kinds of benefits after completion. Just thinking about this, Glick even had the illusion that he was in a dream. As for how he got such good luck, it was not within the scope of his consideration.

The door, locked from the outside, was quickly opened, and by the sudden influx of light, the guard saw a compartment with the seats removed, and a foul-smelling prisoner spread out on the floor. "Hell...... guard" The guard pinched his nose and cursed, he wanted to be proactive in front of the trust captain, but he didn't expect to get into such a disgusting trouble. "If you're not dead, hurry up and say something......"

Sovereign struggled to raise his head, his face stained with blood and dirt no longer showing his original complexion, and his wounded lips were chapped and wrinkled. "Water ......" his mouth opened and closed, as if it was extremely difficult to even speak, and he could only spit out one or two vague syllables intermittently. "Water ......" From yesterday to now, Sovereign has not eaten a drop of water except for that small piece of bread, and with the bumps along the way, he is almost unable to hold on.

The guard pursed his lips and turned to the front and shouted, "Captain!

"Drink water?!is that?!, does he think he is really some kind of noble lord?!" cried out Glick, who was still throbbing faintly from the bite he had been from last night. "Let him be thirsty! If you want to drink water? To be a prisoner you must have the consciousness of being a prisoner!

Chara frowned beside him, but he didn't care if Sawylan lived. "Forget it, Captain, if he dies on the road, we won't be able to explain it to the Warden. ”

Gorrik was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand in disappointment. "Then give him some water to drink! No more, just let him live! Remember, just live!" he shouted to the guards, though reluctantly.

"Yes, sir!" the guard grinned as he picked up the water bladder and poured it on Sovereign's face, which he had struggled to lift. Just as the cool liquid hit the skin and splashed in the mouth, slightly moistening the dry mouth, the guards stopped. "It's a shame that the captain only allows you to drink a little, I think that's enough, haha," he said with a smile as he shook the water bag in his hand.

Sauveray didn't say anything more, he just pressed the side of his face to the water-soaked floor, allowing his slightly hot skin to cool for a moment.

Glick withdrew his gaze from a distance, and said to Chara with some sarcasm: "It's all like this, and you still have to save your life......!"

But before he could finish speaking, he noticed that Chara's gaze suddenly showed a hint of surprise, and then quickly turned into a thick vigilance. Grek hurriedly looked forward, and saw a knight in a black hooded cloak, riding a black horse with satin-colored fur, coming out from behind a mound in the distance, and standing on the road in front of the group.

The black knight didn't speak, just stood there silently. The arm that stretched out from the hem of the cloak was wearing iron-gray gauntlets and hand armor, and he was holding the reins for a long time, repeating the action of retracting, and the fingerguards rubbed together with a subtle sound. The extraordinary horse under his crotch showed a very different mood from his master, shaking its head and snorting, and digging its hooves in a rage, as if it had no interest or patience in such a confrontation.

"Identify yourself!" Chara shouted as she looked at the other party, "We are the Nightingale City guards, and we are responsible for escorting the felons of the province! Before we attack, identify yourself!" He and Gorrik's attitude was more of curiosity, after all, they had a full twenty well-trained cavalry, should they be afraid of the other side alone?

However, what Greek and Chara were waiting for was the most straightforward answer from the black knight with action. The pitch-black figure jerked out the long sword at his waist, and then pulled the reins, and the war horse under his crotch suddenly neighed and raised its front hooves, and its fine mane shook in the air and shook out a violent light and shadow. The next moment, the iron boot on the stirrup slammed the horse's belly, and the whole figure, along with his war horse, rushed over like a black light that devoured everything.

The other party's actions made the two Glick suddenly stunned, but they didn't have time to think about it. "Come two of you, and kill this madman with me!" Chala shouted, urging his horse to rush out. Behind him, three Western cavalry followed.

"Stand out for the others! show me the carriage! quick!" Greek commanded loudly, looking around at the hills, "cheer me up! Beware of ambushes!"

On the other side, the black knight and Chara were getting closer and closer, the bitter wind blowing his cloak back, the broken edge of his hem shaking in the wind, as if embedded in a dark streamer, and the long sword raised high seemed to melt into the morning mist, fainting an unreal halo.

Chara could see the other man's face clearly, but the shaky hood was like a roaring evil spirit, covering the opponent's face in a bottomless darkness, and what was even more terrifying was that the darkness seemed to attract her gaze, leaving only a moment of fear in her heart. "Die, you lifeless fanatic!"

He gritted his teeth and roared loudly, using all his strength to slash down with a sword.

All the distance was squeezed out, and at the moment when the two galloping figures mismatched, Chara heard a low sound. "Hmph!" the black knight's left hand suddenly let go of the reins and swung directly at the opponent's blade. "Smack!", the long sword was instantly shattered into an exploding piece of steel, and the iron-gray fist armor hit Chara's face directly, bursting out a cloud of blood.

The riders who followed were shocked, but as the cavalry of the Western Frontier, they had no chance of retreating. And the black-clothed knight also had no intention of slowing down, he suddenly opened his left hand and threw it behind him, and stretched out towards a cavalryman who was rushing straight forward, and before the other party could swing his sword, the hook-like palm had already probed the cavalryman's neck.

"Click!"

The scalp-numbing sound of bones shattering came from the cavalryman's misplaced neck bone, and the huge force seemed to shake the black knight's body, exploding a vague layer of dust. But his killing was not over, the long sword in his right hand had already whistling and slicing the throat of another cavalryman, leaving only a bloody arrow like smoke behind the opponent.

The sword swung to the left, and the black knight grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands, and slashed diagonally to meet the terrified gaze of the last cavalryman. A cold glow like the moon flickered, followed by a rain of blood and a corpse that spun halfway down the verdant roadside.

Everyone was stunned, the black figure swept through everything like a violent wind, harvesting all the creatures that tried to stop him like a god of death, and when he drew an elegant and cruel end to this contest of life and death, the blood behind him had not yet been dispersed in the air, and the dust under his feet had not yet been raised on the ground.

But their nightmare was far from over, a shrill "whistle" fell from the nearby hills, and everyone's eyes were drawn to it. Even Sovereign, who was in the carriage, struggled to move his body, trying to see what was going on outside.

With a "poof", the whistle in the air suddenly stopped, and in front of Soveland, the guard who had just laughed at himself was shot directly through the neck by a feathered arrow inlaid with a cluster of hollow arrows. Large strands of blood spurted out of the irregular wound on his neck, and before he could make a sound, he fell off his horse.

Soveland's vision cleared for a moment, and he set his sights on the top of the mound in the distance. There, a muscular young man was holding a longbow with an eagle's head carved into its bow. At this time, his palms were still in the posture of archery, his index and middle fingers were still stuck in his jaw, and a little to the side, the slightly upturned corners of his lips spit out a very simple and understandable word. "One!"