Lord: Starting from the Pit-Dwelling Courtyard

Chapter 114: The Target

"Frederic." Caroline's voice turned somber. She recognized the face—the third-ranked name on the border bounty list, who had killed five Sky Knights in five years. She gripped her sword hilt tightly, but did not order a charge.

Caroline dared not lead the charge, and with a large number of carriages blocking both sides, it was too late for them to get around them.

"Frederick, aren't you afraid of being hunted down by the Count?"

"Pursuit! When has that woman Gabriel ever stopped hunting me? She'll show up the moment she gets wind of me. What do I have to be afraid of?"

The sound of horses' hooves grew closer and closer, and when Caroline saw who it was, her face turned ashen.

"Declan Shaw!"

Upon hearing this name, Rosalie's expression changed.

This man was the captain of the detachment sent to Gorubak Castle by the Knights of the Inspectorate, a veteran Sky Knight.

Rosalie recognized the newcomers and immediately realized, "Caroline broke through; they're coming for us."

Caroline decisively drew her knight's sword and broke through to the left.

Declan sneered and veered to the left: "Trying to leave? Since we've made our move today, we didn't intend to let you leave alive."

Caroline turned her horse around, her knight's sword slicing through the first mercenary who lunged at her, and the horse's hooves pounded the gravel as it charged into the wagon formation on the left.

The guards of the Crimson Rose Knights spontaneously formed a wedge formation behind her. Caroline, as a Sky Knight, unleashed her full power, cutting down several riders who tried to intercept her.

Rosalie lay on her horse, her staff held horizontally in front of her. As the incantation sounded, a wind blade cleaved a cart blocking the road in two. Amidst flying wood chips, the two rode side by side through the gap.

Although Rosalie is an architectural mage, she is also a guide-level mage. Her mental strength has barely reached 20, which is enough for her to use basic spells.

Only with the help of the spell-enhancing staff in his hand could he barely reach the power of a regular mage.

"Chase!" Frederick didn't move. He reined in his horse and stood still, watching the red cloaked figure weave through the carriages with a sinister smile on his lips.

This will be the sixth Sky Knight he hunts down, and he's one of the Border Lord's direct subordinates. Just thinking about it is exciting.

The dark mass of cavalry behind him had already bypassed the chariot formation and surrounded it from both sides.

When Caroline felled the fifth rider, the wedge formation of guards behind her had already had its tail cut off.

The last guard was Marta, someone Caroline had been with for three years. She was blonde, taciturn, and always the first to feed the horses at every camp. She fell without a sound; the horse crashed down on her, and the pursuer's spear pierced through its belly.

Caroline didn't turn around. Even without looking, the occasional wails told her that almost all of her men behind her were dead.

She switched the knight's sword from her left hand to her right, slashed a mercenary who was charging at her from the side, and the horse continued its westward charge without stopping.

Rosalie was not a professional mage after all, and her casting speed was far slower than that of a true professional mage.

It couldn't help Caroline much at all.

Ahead was a scree slope with a few clumps of dry thorns on the top, and the terrain was slightly undulating.

As Caroline spurred her horse up the hill, the horse's hind legs slipped on a loose rock, causing the warhorse to stumble and nearly fall. She forcefully pulled it up by the reins.

She glanced up at the barren land below the slope and felt a chill run down her spine. The land below was flat and there was no terrain to offer any cover.

In the midst of the fighting, they unknowingly fled in the opposite direction of Ashwood territory, hoping to use Ashwood territory for cover, but that was simply impossible.

There is no escape.

Caroline reined in her horse, turned around, and held her knight's sword horizontally in front of her.

Rosalie stopped beside her, her face pale.

The pursuers closed in from three directions, their hooves shaking the gravel and sand that rolled down the rocky slope.

Declan, with several scout knights, blocked the western side of the slope, while Frederick led his cavalry up the gentle slope from the north. The mercenaries spread out in a semi-circle, completely surrounding the scree slope.

Declan rode his horse down the slope, looked up at the two blood-covered women at the top, loosened the reins, and slowly rode a few steps up the slope, the tip of his sword leaving a shallow groove in the ground.

Declan stopped at the foot of the hill, a ferocious expression on his face: "Stop struggling. Cooperate obediently, and maybe I'll let you die with some dignity. If you resist any longer, it won't just be death. I believe those mercenaries will be very interested in the two ladies."

Caroline did not answer. She gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, squeezed the horse's belly with her legs, and the warhorse snorted and pawed at the gravel with its front hooves.

Rosalie tucked her staff back into her waistband and asked, "Why did you do this?"

Declan said menacingly, "It doesn't matter if I tell a dead man like you. That remnant of the Ashwood family is a bit strange. We want to use the Border Lord's power to see what other tricks he has up his sleeve."

Upon hearing this, Caroline and Rosalie immediately understood.

Their destination was Ashwood Territory. When the accident happened outside Ashwood Territory, the Border Count's first action was to question Ron.

Since Declan was able to ambush them so accurately, there must be an inside agent within the Earl's mansion, or even within the Rose Knights.

At that time, as long as some tricks are used in secret, the Border Count will surely mistakenly believe that they were killed by Ron.

Given Border Earl's character, he will surely avenge them.

Rosalie coldly remarked, "What a clever tactic!"

Caroline said softly, "You break through with all your might later, and I'll risk my life to create an opening for you."

Rosalie shook her head: "Even if I were to break through, I wouldn't be able to escape. You might as well try your best to break through; at least you'll have a glimmer of hope."

Declan shook his head: "Don't waste your energy, I won't give you any chances."

Frederick raised his hand, and the surrounding cavalrymen quickly raised their weapons.

In that instant, Rosalie caught a glimpse of the sky out of the corner of her eye and saw more than a dozen large iron spears flying toward their location.

Caroline saw it, and Fred Crick and Declan naturally saw it too.

To be precise, they were drawn to the spears in the sky by the sound of them cutting through the air.

"The Ashwood Territory has noticed this place." As Rosalie uttered the word in a low voice, a moving dark shadow suddenly appeared on the western horizon of the scree slope, rapidly advancing towards them.

Frederick watched as a well-equipped, disciplined army of five hundred men rapidly advanced toward them.

Frederick said to Declan, "Your target's army is coming. Why don't you give it a try?"

Declan looked at the spears that were almost within reach: "Let's stop these spears first."

As soon as the words were spoken, about a dozen Earth Knights jumped into the sky from both sides, attempting to knock the spears down with their own strength.

But the next second, the earth knights who jumped into the sky let out painful howls, while the lucky ones were in freefall. Several unlucky knights were directly pierced through the body by spears.

They landed on the spears and were pinned to the ground.

The spear hit the ground with a clear thud.

Many mercenaries and knights who couldn't dodge in time were shot into a pulp.

Frederick roared, "What kind of weapon is this?"

After all, they were still several kilometers away from the city wall. What kind of weapon could hit that far?