The northern part of the Holy Empire is divided by mountains inhabited by snowy monsters, with the Extreme Cold to the east and the endless prairies to the west.

This grassland is the habitat of the centaurs.

Centaurs, shaped like their names.

When God created this race, he took the upper body of the human race and the torso of the horse and put it together, so that they also had the intelligence of the human race and the powerful mobility of the horse.

They are the most powerful cavalry in the world, and there is no one.

Gathered like hills and mountains, scattered like wind and rain; swift as lightning, swift as an eagle; With their ease of coming and going, incredible speed, and abundant physical strength, they have little chance of being defeated when fighting in open terrain.

On top of that, their racial superiority is rebellious.

They have two hearts!

Even if one of them is pierced by an enemy, they can still be alive.

The only way to kill them is to cut off their heads.

It's just that for most races in the world, it is not easy to cut off the head of a centaur who is generally more than three meters tall.

It is not easy for the Terrans to do so.

In the history of wars between the Terrans and the Centaurs, for every Centaur killed, the Terrans had to pay the price of two or three people killed, or even more.

This is also the main reason why the Teutonic family took off the crown that year.

The long frontier defense line in the north made it impossible for the Terrans to rely on the Great Wall or continuous fortresses to defend the Centaurs from their territory, and they could only defend the tragedy with human lives. War was like a monster that could never get enough to eat, endlessly devouring the goods, population, and food of the North, and finally overwhelming the Teutonic kingdom.

Of course, God does not forget to increase the shackles when he gives.

Tough centaurs are also flawed.

With their four hooves and long bodies, they could not storm the castle walls.

Moreover, the talent of the two hearts makes it difficult for them to give birth to strong people.

When they try to break through the shackles and step into the realm of the strong, the divine veins will close the loop in two hearts at the same time, and the backlash they need to withstand is not as simple as one plus one.

Therefore, even though the centaur race has a population of more than 100,000 all year round, and even more than 300,000 at its peak, the number of khans has never exceeded three. Even in history, there have been embarrassing moments when there was not a single khan for more than a hundred years. And only once when he had three khans, he was still unlucky, just in time for the human demigods to survive, and he was directly wiped out two and severely damaged one, completely erasing the hope of the rise of this race.

However, whether or not Khans are born does not affect their strength.

They live on the grassland without a fixed dwelling, so that the human race does not have a chance to completely exterminate them; The raiding tactics of coming and going like the wind and not being ashamed to flee away made it impossible for the Terrans to effectively contain their invasion.

"Where the horses' hooves are stepped on, there are pastures!"

It's a racial oath for centaurs, and it's why they often invade Terran territory—in their eyes, Terrans are no different from the sheep they graze, no more than walking on two feet.

This brutal value has also brought bad consequences to them.

Iron ore in the steppes is scarce and small, and no lord in the human world is willing to communicate with them, which makes them very scarce in their daily necessities, not only are many warriors' weapons made of iron and wood, but even arrowheads have to be made of bone spurs.

Atwood, who bears the Teutonic surname, is no stranger to the customs and living conditions of centaurs.

When he was very young, his father and brothers told him about the cruelty of the centaurs, and even the old nurse, who had lost a lot of teeth to lull him to sleep, did not scare him with the phrase "he was taken away by the centaurs if he didn't sleep again".

He also had Teutonic blood in his veins, and a hatred that he shared with the Centaurs.

However, now that he has stepped into the grassland, he has come to find the cooperation of centaurs.

The reason, of course, is that they want revenge.

When he was eight years old, the last Duke of Teuton, his father, intended to send him to the imperial capital, where he was supposed to serve as the emperor's attendant but was actually a hostage.

But no sooner had he set foot in Middle-earth than his father and the Teutonic family were destroyed.

In order to preserve the blood of Teuton, the old retainer who escorted him immediately dismissed all the guards who were traveling with him, and he took Atwood to hide in the city of Gardinanras.

Both the Mills royal family and the Hughes family, who betrayed Teuton, have secretly investigated the whereabouts of Atwood.

It's just that the city of Gardinaras, which is the hub of the north and south, and gathers countless unidentified people, is too easy to hide two people.

And at that time, many families loyal to Teutonia raised the banner of rebellion, and the Mills royal family and the Hughes family deliberately claimed that Atwood had been killed by them in order to break the fighting spirit of these families and put down the rebellion more quickly. A boy about the same age and height as Atwood was found, smashed his face, cut off his head, and hung him outside the castle.

Therefore, they can no longer blatantly issue wanted notices for lords everywhere to search for Atwood.

Growing up incognito in the city of Gardinanras, Atwood had an unusually difficult teenage years.

Because the only old retainer who accompanied him, he soon died of the epidemic.

He was twelve years old.

He was bullied with no one to rely on, the high cost of the city of Gardenaras made it difficult for him to feed himself, and the gate tax of ten silver coins made it a luxury for him to go out of the city in search of some wild fruits.

Because in the city, he can still survive by helping people run errands, temporary domestic chores, or petty theft.

But if he wants to leave the city gates, he will only end up being taken by robbers or mercenaries and sold as a small slave.

Remembering the Teutonic surname at all times, he would rather die than be a slave.

In the same way, he would rather starve to death than be a beggar.

Barely fed, he finally reached a turning point after two years in the city of Gardinanras.

It was an unusually cold night, and with nowhere to escape from the cold storm and snow, he ran to the base of the wall of a small blacksmith shop in the south of the city, hoping to drive away the cold from the residual warmth of the iron-making furnace.

The owner of this blacksmith shop is old Charlie.

When he opened the door the next day, he found Atwood almost frozen.

Feeling compassion, he carried Atwood into the iron shop, and snatched Atwood's life back from the clutches of death with hot water and the temperature of the stove.

"Eat, it's for you."

When he saw Atwood wake up, Old Charlie threw over two pieces of black bread, but Atwood refused.

"Thank you, but I'm not a beggar."

He refused like this, without any hesitation in his expression or tone.

This made old Charlie stunned immediately, and then he looked at the unclothed and skinny young man in front of him and smiled, "It's not for you, hurry up and come over to work after eating!" ”

In this way, Atwood became a handyman in a blacksmith's shop.

I didn't get paid, but with well-fitting clothes, I was able to eat enough every day and sleep by the fire.

Even when the blacksmith business was so good that old Charlie was in a good mood, he would take him to Hera's tavern and buy him a glass of rye wine.

Aunt Hera, who is straightforward and kind-hearted, also takes good care of Atwood.

After learning that Atwood was helpless but often practiced secretly at night, she deliberately delayed closing the stable door for two hours every night. Give Atwood the opportunity to come and watch her teach her son martial arts, and let Atwood practice against her son and hone each other's skills.

Well, her son's name is Rita Copperbeard.

A strange surname like this, with a whisker, a hammer, or an axe, is of dwarven origin.

By the time Atwood was eighteen years old, he stopped working in the blacksmith's shop.

"I am the last Teuton, and I cannot be a blacksmith for the rest of my life."

He told himself in his heart.

"I'm already a man, and I want to go outside."

He said this to old Charlie.

Old Charlie, who only had one nephew of Little Jack under his knees, did not stay.

He just gave Atwood two swords, one long and one short, that he had forged a long time ago, and told him that if he didn't have a good time outside, he could come back at any time.

Atwood, who walked out of the city of Gardinaras, first became a mercenary.

Survive on a caravan from the small mountain town of the Loki Daran Mountains across the Great Wilderness to the Dwarven Realm.

Later, as time passed, mercenaries of his age either died or got tired of leaving, so he became an experienced mercenary with good luck and credibility.

He was then recruited by the caravan and became a caravan guard who could save his life more easily.

Occasionally, he would return to the city of Gardinanras and give the gold he had earned to old Charles or Aunt Hera for safekeeping—neither of whom was willing to accept a thanksgiving in return, so he had to use the excuse of "saving it on his behalf".

Many years later, he was thirty-five years old.

But he never found a wife, or bought a house in the city of Gardinanras, no matter how much old Charles and Aunt Hera persuaded him.

Because he always remembered that he was a Teuton!

The Last Teuton!

Teutonic with a sea of blood and hatred!

Until he becomes a strong man, until he has the strength for revenge, he doesn't care about anything else.

It's just a matter of making people.

He had already faintly touched the threshold of the strong, but he didn't know why, and he was never able to reach the critical point of the half-step strong.

In the history of the Teutonic family, all those who touched the threshold of the strong and reached the age of thirty-five have either died on breaking through the shackles or have become strong.

He was confused, but there was no one to turn to.

He's just a lonely ghost with nowhere to go, and even Silver Moon and Red Moon don't want to face the three of them when he raises a glass to invite.

Later, he met Chris, and when he heard the phrase "This is the south, and the souls of the north will get lost when they go home", he let go of the anxiety in his heart.

Yes, what his hometown is like, he is too far away from home to forget it.

The castle may still be strong, the surrounding low walls may still be covered with nettles, and the wild may still be green with wheat sprouts...... But the banner hanging in the territory is no longer a symbol of a snowflake monster head of the Teutonic family.

He wanted to go home.

Because of the last Duke of Teuton, he still remembers his father's countenance, with the same narrow face as he looked, with high eye sockets, and a narrow and long nose.

It's time for him to go home.

Because in every corner of the Holy Empire, there is a whisper of speculation about the imminent fall of the human demigods.

If you don't go back, it's too late.

Becoming a strong man, he can take revenge with the Teutonic surname.

But if he can't become a strong man, then he will retreat to the next best, willing to bear the infamy of the ages and use the centaur to take revenge.

So he set out on the road to the north.

After entering the Teutonic homeland, he did not glance at the castle where the Teutonic family had lived for generations, and did not inform the Teutonic vassals who had rebelled, but only secretly crossed the line of defense patrolled by the griffin legion, and went straight to the depths of the steppe.

After five days of walking, he lost his way.

Ten days later, he encountered the wolves, and with his tired horses he made the wolves give up the pursuit, at the cost of losing both the rations and the water bladder.

After another eight days, he had only two ordinary long and short swords forged by dwarves.

In the summer of the northern grasslands, it is hot both day and night, and there are many mosquitoes, but water and prey are very difficult to find.

He had a lot of small bumps on his body, which were cordial visits from mosquitoes.

His shoes have been damaged a lot, and I believe they will be thrown away in a few days.

Hunger took away his strength, and thirst destroyed his will to get up and continue on the road.

Am I going to die?

Is the blood of the Teutonic family severed?

He was now lying on a small puddle that had dried up, and he did not move. The scorching sun fell on him, and he couldn't bake a drop of sweat.

Da...

Da... Da...

I don't know how long it took, but the sound of a horse's hooves was far and near.

It was two patrolling centaurs.

One is young, the other has gray sideburns, but still very strong.

Centaurs always move in tandem, and the nearly three-meter-long body needs another partner to bandage when injured, comb the hair during bathing, and then apply a layer of anti-mosquito herbal juice, etc.

Centaurs, who are divided into small tribes to chase water and grass migration, and have no fixed residence, do not need patrol warriors.

And the centaurs patrolling here mean that the Khan's Golden Horde is nearby.

As for why they came~~

It was Atwood who had used his last strength to stick his sword upright into the ground before he fell, and tore a long strip of cloth from his body and tied it to the hilt.

"Take me to your Khan."

As the shadow of the centaur's tall body fell over Atwood, he struggled to make a hoarse sound from his chapped lips.

"Hahaha, two-legged sheep, are you dreaming?"

The young centaur who had just picked up the spear and was about to stab it down couldn't help but sneer when he heard the movement in his hand, "Our great Khan, you can see it if you want to?" ”

"Take me to your Khan!"

Atwood repeated, leaving no room for doubt in his tone, "Your Khan, will thank you for what you have done today!" ”

Belch?

The older centaur hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand to stop the other's movements, "Human, tell me your reasons!" ”

"You guys.... You don't deserve to know! ”

Atwood struggled to finish, and then passed out.