Four Split Personalities

"Let’s not talk about the prince whose worth is hard to evaluate..."

Mo shrugged his shoulders to the two people in front of him, and spoke softly, "That Duke Wittem must be a very charismatic ruler, Lord Arthur also speaks highly of him, what a pity."

"Your Excellency..."

Veronia and Varez looked somewhat puzzled.

"Let’s set out."

The Sin Knight in front of them didn’t continue the conversation with the two, but instead walked slowly towards the front of the convoy, accompanied by the housekeeper Dao En.

He had always been at the very front of the convoy, ever since the day they set out.

"Haha, you’re not falling in love, are you?"

Seeing Veronia staring at the back of the Sin Knight, Varez couldn’t help but tease her in a low voice, "Stop daydreaming, one of my men saw the Sin Knight’s companion once, and was so lovesick he lost his appetite for days. Tsk, a bunch of young lads are so infatuated just hearing about it, you can imagine how good-looking they must be."

Veronia snorted coldly and said solemnly, "I was just thinking, it would be nice if the Duke’s intentions were merely to recruit or observe, rather than to consider the Sin Knight as a threat."

Varez raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I’m not sure how to put it..."

Veronia sighed and murmured, "I only know that I definitely wouldn’t want to be an enemy of the Sin Knight. Although he has never made me feel even a hint of danger, the man has a quality that makes one want to follow him at all costs, as if... just his silhouette is enough to stir people’s blood, irresistibly making them want to follow his footsteps."

Varez laughed, "Still say you’re not lovesick?"

"Don’t worry, just like you, I’m willing to oppose anyone for our Duke, even ready to lay down my life." Veronia pulled a wry smile and spread her hands, "But, when it comes to matters unrelated to ’loyalty,’ whether I’m lovesick or who I’m lovesick for, that’s my freedom."

"Tsk tsk, should I apply on your behalf to the Duke, to send you to serve the Sin Knight as a maid? Not only convenient for your infatuation but also to keep a close watch on him, killing two birds with one stone. If something happens in the process, then you’d hit the jackpot."

"Uh-huh, thank you for the trouble."

"What!?"

"Enough chit-chat, move quickly and keep up with everyone! I’ve had a bad feeling since a moment ago..."

...

Game Time PM 16:20

The bad feeling was confirmed; just as the convoy left the forested area and reached the nearest populated settlement, they suddenly encountered an ambush by rebel forces.

It was a small village with less than two hundred people, where the locals had a very simple manner. With immense enthusiasm, they invited the group in to rest their feet. Then, from all sides, a large number of fierce men armed with knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and hooks charged out yelling, slashing their way through. From a distance, numerous elements spilled over in the form of flames, thunder, and frost under the manipulation of magic power, taking the lives of over thirty people in the blink of an eye.

Even though the Sin Knight responded immediately, directing everyone to break out with full force and later exploiting the temporary geographical advantage to conduct a brilliant counter-attack that routed the assailants, the convoy’s losses were substantial. In addition to nearly a hundred dead, more than forty were seriously injured. Given the limited number of clergy and pharmacists, without a good resting environment, it was possible they wouldn’t survive the night.

Without the slightest hesitation, after temporarily escaping danger, the Sin Knight did not allow everyone to rest much, merely taking a brief respite before leading the remaining team in irregular high-speed maneuvers. He expanded the role of the Scout to the extreme, transforming Aziva and others into silent tendrils, encircling the main force like threads, and swiftly deconstructing and integrating the intelligence these ’tentacles’ perceived, then making a series of precise and meticulous adjustments. In the process, he even broke down the group of fewer than four hundred into several teams multiple times, moving, regrouping, splitting, detouring, and then recombining through different routes.

These seemingly meaningless orders did not provoke any disputes. On the one hand, this was because the Sin Knight had proven his strength in the previous three battles; on the other hand, it was because everyone could vaguely sense the threats surrounding them. Although they hadn’t encountered any enemies head-on since routing the rebels, none in the team felt any sense of safety.

[If not for the arrangements of Lord Sin Knight, we might have been rooted out and killed by the rebels long ago.]

Although unfounded, this thought strangely coalesced in everyone’s minds.

"How many have they sent after us? If this goes on, not to mention reaching our designated location, whether we can survive an encirclement is the question..."

After Mo dispersed the troops for the third time and gathered them back, a weary Veronia complained through gritted teeth. Despite not encountering a single enemy along the way, the frequent movements drained everybody, leaving them weary and exhausted. The high-level professionals in the group could cope better, but the others were starting to falter. Added to this was the unease from unexpected circumstances; the team’s morale was irreversibly sliding into decline.

Beside her, Varez nodded and said in a grave voice: "We cannot keep going like this, Lord Sin Knight. Everyone needs rest now. Can you find a relatively safe place nearby? If we can’t set up camp for rest before nightfall, I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold on much longer."

Just as Veronia said, the Sin Knight had, unknowingly, become the mainstay for everyone. Setting aside other warriors, even Varez had subconsciously begun to look for solutions from him.

But the latter’s response was somewhat disappointing...

"There are no relatively safe places."

Mo gently shook his head, deftly pulled out the Longsword and quickly drew several lines on the ground, then said with a wry smile: "As we were afraid of getting entangled by the enemy, we still don’t know how many rebels have been arranged at the boundary. But my estimation is definitely not less than three thousand. Although of mixed quality, it’s not a number we can confront head-on and absorb. Moreover, they are now clearly aware that we are here. If they command well, unless we keep mobile as before, just a short stay will have us searched out in no more than an hour."

"Damn it!"

Vares cursed furiously, "Have they lost their minds? What’s the point of annihilating our small group here? Lord Arthur and Duke Fossai leading the elites could break through the boundary by tomorrow at the latest. With so many of their forces deployed here, what will they do about the core region of their territory?!"

"That’s why they must have some contingency we haven’t foreseen."

Mo smiled, his calming voice pacifying an agitated Vares: "Logically, the wisest choice for the rebels would be to abandon the boundary entirely and shift the main battleground to their core territory. That way, at least they would have an absolute advantage in logistical support and could gradually weaken our isolated unit with the help of the most loyal citizens. But they didn’t do so... Instead, they have sent a large living force to the boundary. I suspect not only us but Lord Arthur and Duke Fossai are facing an equal or greater number of rebels."

Veronia shook her head vigorously, "That makes no sense, as you said, they..."

"They wouldn’t win the war even if they did as I suggested, at best they’d only cause us some more losses," Mo interrupted Veronia gently, and said softly, "Even taking the most objective view, the Royal Family cannot possibly lose; the people of the Konda territory are also clear on this. Since they haven’t fought in a way that would cause us the maximum damage, could their actions be...?"

"Could be what?"

"Could be stalling for time? Time that could win them victory?"

"Stalling for time? That’s impossible. As you just said, their strength compared to the Royal Family..."

"Yes, ’their’ strength certainly cannot compare to the Royal Family, but..."

The Sin Knight sheathed his Longsword with ease and looked at the two before him with a grave and focused gaze...

"Others might not be the case, like our good neighbor, the lion that has long coveted the Empire... the Griffin Dynasty."

Chapter 595: End