Bai Shi set out from the city as soon as he received the news.
It didn't take long for him to find the camp Hakan had mentioned. Boc was there, warming himself by the fire and eating.
Seeing Bai Shi, Boc hurriedly stood up and greeted him, deeply moved.
"Mr. Bai Shi! I can't believe you still remember me, I'm so touched!"
The surrounding Kaidan Sellswords all turned their gazes to Bai Shi. It was the first time they had seen their big boss.
The sellswords all stood and saluted Bai Shi.
Bai Shi waved his hand, telling them to be at ease.
"Boc, I went back to the place where I first met you, but you were gone. Did you manage to go back?"
Boc looked a little embarrassed.
"Actually, because I didn't want to trouble you again, I thought I'd go back and get my things myself, then wait there for you to return.""But I didn't know the way, and eventually, I couldn't even find my way back to our meeting spot..."
"And now I've caused you to send people to find me. I'm so sorry..."
Bai Shi nodded. Not being able to find his way back wasn't so bad; it saved him from being bullied by the other demi-humans in the cave again.
"It's alright. Their main duty is to patrol all over Limgrave."
He would take Boc to the cave tomorrow during the day.
Most demi-humans fell into a state of madness and frenzy at night, making them impossible to communicate with.
If he could subdue all the demi-humans in the cave, it would make for a good case study for propaganda.
"Speaking of which, where is Hakan?"
Bai Shi scanned the area but couldn't see any sign of Hakan.
As the leader, he should have been at the camp at this time.
Bai Shi hadn't given them any additional orders to patrol at night.
"After we found Boc, we heard a scream from far away."
"Brother Hakan took a group of our men to check it out, and he hasn't come back yet."
Bai Shi stared into the pitch-black night, a little worried.
"How long have they been gone?"
"Pretty much right after he sent the message to you."
"Which way did they go?"
The Kaidan Sellsword pointed in a direction.
"I'll go take a look."
Bai Shi mounted Torrent and galloped in that direction.
The Ancient King dispatched several Stormhawks from the sky to scout ahead, But as they flew into a certain area, the Stormhawks were shot down one by one, and contact was lost.
Although he didn't know what kind of enemy it was, now that he knew there was something strange there, the Ancient King stopped sending Stormhawks.
'It's in that direction. The enemy must be strong. Several of the Stormhawks I sent to scout were quickly shot down.'
Bai Shi acknowledged this and urged Torrent to run even faster.
What kind of enemy could be so powerful that Hakan and his men couldn't even send a message back?
And they had the ranged capability to shoot down Stormhawks.
Was it a Deathbird? It seemed only the Deathbird had ranged attacks among the enemies that came out at night.
Bai Shi stopped guessing what kind of enemy it was. He had to hurry and save Hakan and his men.
As Bai Shi and Torrent passed the bodies of the Stormhawks, a gray halberd immediately flew toward him.
Bai Shi summoned a storm, easily blocking the halberd. After being blocked, the halberd quickly dissipated.
Then, several more phantom halberds flew at him, all of which were blocked.
Bai Shi quickly recognized the skill. It was Phantom Lance.
He also knew the identity of his enemy: the Night's Cavalry.
Although no Night's Cavalry had ever been seen using Phantom Lance, since they knew Phantom Slash, it was plausible that they could use a mere Phantom Lance.
Bai Shi finally saw the scene on the field. Hundreds of Tarnished had been slaughtered, and the Kaidan Sellswords Hakan had brought with him were all cut down.
Hakan was kneeling on the ground, a huge wound just freshly carved into his body.
Scattered torches on the ground illuminated the figures of nine Night's Cavalry.
"Night's Cavalry, you're finished..."
Seeing Bai Shi easily block several Phantom Lances, the eight mounted Night's Cavalry quickly formed up and charged toward him.
Though they didn't know who Bai Shi was, since he was Tarnished, he was a target to be eliminated.
Facing the charging Night's Cavalry, Bai Shi pointed with his left hand, and a storm erupted from under their feet, enveloping them.
Ignoring them for the moment, Bai Shi immediately spurred Torrent toward Hakan.
The unmounted Night's Cavalry stood in Bai Shi's way, preparing to use his proud Phantom Slash again.
Bai Shi drew a Ceremonial Straight Sword and swung it at the Night's Cavalry's halberd blade.
Although it was just a light straight sword, the immense force sent the Night's Cavalry staggering back several steps before he could regain his footing.
The phantom repeated the motion, but before it could strike, Bai Shi cut it down with a single slash.
A blade of air shot toward the Night's Cavalry, shattering his weapon and sending him flying.
Bai Shi leaped from Torrent's back and landed in front of Hakan.
The wound was very serious, but as long as he wasn't killed instantly, he could be saved.
Bai Shi took out a Flask of Crimson Tears and poured it into Hakan's mouth.
One flask significantly improved Hakan's condition, but he wasn't fully healed; the wound was still open.
After giving him two more flasks, his injuries were finally healed.
Good, Hakan was saved. Bai Shi relaxed slightly.
Bai Shi looked up at the Night's Cavalry. Now it was time for revenge.
The Night's Cavalry who had been sent flying climbed to his feet, threw away his halberd, and casually picked up a greatsword from the ground.
The Night's Cavalry who had been trapped by Bai Shi's storm also escaped one by one.
One of them blocked the path of the storm, getting mangled, flesh and blood flying, along with his horse. He collapsed to the ground as soon as he was free.
But his sacrifice allowed the other seven Night's Cavalry to escape almost unscathed.
The Night's Cavalry closed in, surrounding him.
Bai Shi looked at the enemies before him and sheathed his Ceremonial Straight Sword.
There was no doubt that the Night's Cavalry had the fighting prowess of a hero.
When he fought Godrick, Bai Shi had only been slightly stronger than them.
Enemies of this caliber would have been somewhat troublesome to deal with before, especially with so many of them.
But the Bai Shi of today was terrifyingly strong.
Seeing Bai Shi sheathe his weapon, the Night's Cavalry felt they had been insulted and charged at him together.
Activating the power of his Great Rune, Bai Shi's body began to grow. His loose clothes became tight, and his leather boots were torn open.
Soon, Bai Shi's body swelled to nearly three meters tall without changing his proportions, and his muscles bulged.
Bai Shi tore off his tattered clothes, only tying his cloak around his waist for some simple cover. At this size, the Ceremonial Straight Sword was like a toy; he was better off bare-handed.
Just as well. As his body grew, the enhancements from his Great Rune's other attributes all shifted to his physical body—to his health, stamina, strength, and dexterity.
Now, Bai Shi could shred their fragile bodies with his bare hands. This was a matter of pure stats.
Let him experience a slaughter fit for a king of the badlands.
The unmounted Night's Cavalry was the closest and the first to reach Bai Shi.
His greatsword swung at Bai Shi's face as a phantom materialized behind him.
Bai Shi grabbed his wrist with one hand and kicked out violently with his foot.
The force of the kick was immense. He should have been sent flying, but his arm was held fast, so his lower body was simply torn off.
The phantom's attack fell, and Bai Shi lifted the half-corpse of the Night's Cavalry to block it.
It all happened too fast. This Night's Cavalry had no time to cancel his skill, and so he died by his own proud technique.
During this time, the other Night's Cavalry also arrived.
Their attacks landed on Bai Shi's body, leaving wounds of varying depths, before they rode away quickly to prepare for the next charge.
But the sensation transmitted back to the Night's Cavalry's hands was incredibly hard, making them wonder if they had even struck flesh.
The pain from his body didn't bother Bai Shi; in fact, it made him more bloodthirsty.
Bai Shi leaped up, and with the acceleration of the storm, he pounced on a cavalryman, his hand clamping down on his horse's neck.
His fingers dug deep into the horse's neck, creating five bloody holes. The horse let out a慘 a miserable cry.
The Night's Cavalry tried to fight back, swinging his weapon at Bai Shi, but Bai Shi's other hand was already under the horse's belly.
With a great exertion of force, this Night's Cavalry, horse and all, was lifted high into the air and then violently slammed onto the ground.
The horse's neck was completely torn off, but such an attack still couldn't kill the Night's Cavalry.
The Night's Cavalry fell to the ground and swung his flail at Bai Shi's ankle.
No matter how strong the body, the joints were always more vulnerable than other parts.
Bai Shi had no desire to repeat Morgott's mistake, especially since he was barefoot.
A storm swirled at his feet, blowing the flail's trajectory off course.
Bai Shi lifted his foot high and brought it down, stomping through the chest of the Night's Cavalry on the ground.
Before he expired, the Night's Cavalry wanted to struggle one last time, swinging his flail again.
Before the flail's attack could land, Bai Shi twisted his head off.
A nearby Night's Cavalry thrust his halberd at the back of Bai Shi's head, attempting to inflict a serious wound.
But Bai Shi, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, grabbed his halberd and pulled him off his horse.
With the crash of a fist, this Night's Cavalry's head and helmet were hammered into a thin sheet.
In just a few short minutes, the powerful Night's Cavalry were being casually killed like chickens.
The Night's Cavalry were strong and terrible, the reapers of heroes, but in front of Bai Shi, they couldn't even put up a fight.
This couldn't even be called a battle; it was a slaughter.
Now the situation on the field had completely reversed.
The Night's Cavalry, who had just been slaughtering the Tarnished and Kaidan Sellswords, were now the ones being slaughtered.
The remaining five Night's Cavalry exchanged glances, and three of them charged at Bai Shi together.
The remaining two split up and galloped off in two different directions.
In Limgrave, only the new 'Stormhawk King' could possess such strength.
But his strength was far greater than what Lord Margit had described.
According to Lord Margit, he had personally fought Bai Shi, so the intelligence should not have been wrong.
That meant Bai Shi had become this strong in such a short period of time.
They had to get this information out, back to Lord Margit, so that he could decide on a countermeasure.
Bai Shi saw through their plan and sprinted after one of the fleeing Night's Cavalry.
The rearguard Night's Cavalry blocked Bai Shi's path, their halberds and flails striking at him continuously, accompanied by phantoms that attacked in unison with their movements.
Bai Shi stomped his foot down hard, pouring a large amount of magic into the ground.
Then, a whole fan-shaped area of earth and rock was overturned, sending the Night's Cavalry and their horses flying into the air, and their attacks were all nullified.
This was a skill Bai Shi had learned from Red, which was also in the same lineage as Godfrey's techniques.
Taking advantage of the Night's Cavalry being off-balance in the air, Bai Shi grabbed two heads, one in each hand, and smashed them together.
With the crisp sound of colliding helmets, these two were instantly killed.
Bai Shi lifted the last Night's Cavalry from his horse, grabbed his torso, slammed it downward while bringing his knee up, and immediately broke him in two.
Bai Shi dropped the limp corpse, picked up a halberd, and threw it at one of the fleeing Night's Cavalry.
The halberd accurately hit the Night's Cavalry, but it did not kill him. With the halberd stuck in him, he continued to flee toward the Mistwood in the distance.
Bai Shi had the Ancient King send a Stormhawk to track him, while he himself chased after the other fleeing knight.
With his terrifying physical attributes and the acceleration of the storm, Bai Shi quickly caught up.
He finally broke his neck in the dense forest.
However, it had still taken some time, and by the time he returned, the other Night's Cavalry had already run into the Mistwood.
The visibility in the Mistwood was extremely poor. The Night's Cavalry used phantoms several times to confuse the Stormhawk and eventually shook off the pursuit.
Bai Shi carried the Night's Cavalry's corpse back to the original battlefield and piled it with the others.
That Night's Cavalry had escaped into the Mistwood, which would make him hard to track.
Bai Shi had no large-scale enemy detection abilities, and the fog in the Mistwood was peculiar, causing one to lose their sense of direction.
Although that strike did not directly kill the Night's Cavalry, it had seriously wounded him.
He could assemble his troops tomorrow, block off the Mistwood, and then search. There was no rush.
Besides, the Runebears in the Mistwood were no pushovers, and for a seriously wounded Night's Cavalry, they would be a big problem.
Some of the Tarnished and Kaidan Sellswords who were not yet dead climbed up from the ground, though their numbers were pitifully small.
There were also some still barely alive in the pile of corpses who hadn't been finished off in time.
These nameless Tarnished and Kaidan Sellswords were simply too weak to stand against the Night's Cavalry. It was no surprise that the scene was so tragic.
Bai Shi's heart ached. These were his men.
They hadn't died on the battlefield, but were instead ambushed and picked off by the enemy.
If Bai Shi hadn't arrived in time, these men wouldn't have even been able to take an enemy down with them.
"Check the piles of corpses for any survivors. Pull out everyone you can find."
"Give the wounded some simple bandaging first. Stay here and don't move. Someone will be here to treat you soon."
Bai Shi commanded the survivors, settling them down first.
The Ancient King reminded Bai Shi in his mind, telling him to look into the distance.
A tall figure slowly emerged from the Mistwood, carrying a greatsword on its back and dragging the body of a Night's Cavalry in its right hand.
The figure had the head of a wolf, yet it spoke in a human voice:
"I have come on a mission to make a deal with you."