Chapter 268 - 208: Chop His Horns First
The mountain range snaked and rose like the spine of the earth. In the valleys and lowlands, a few coniferous trees grew tenaciously.
These forests provided excellent conditions for ambushes and concealment, but they also made travel difficult.
A bone-chilling wind howled across the battlefield, making it hard to believe it was the height of summer. Flurries of snow swirled in the air, sometimes creating the illusion that winter was just around the corner.
Henry’s war banner snapped in the wind, standing out starkly against the snow.
The figures of soldiers appeared and disappeared along the path. Traces of war were visible from time to time, such as abandoned weapons, broken shields, and even the bodies of soldiers left behind.
On the fourth day of the march, the sky was clear and vast. Yet on this unremarkable day, Henry unexpectedly ran into an enemy army of over ten thousand!
Although the enemy’s combat strength wasn’t particularly high, their sheer numbers still made Ratifa nervous.
Henry observed the enemy from a distance. They looked no different from the people of the empire, except for the random, inexplicable horns that might sprout from their bodies.
This reminded him of one group in particular: the Inferior Horned Beasts.
Ratifa advised Henry to pull the army back and avoid engagement. They couldn’t be certain if there were more enemies behind this army of ten thousand.
Neither her scouts nor Henry’s had spotted this ten-thousand-strong force. It was almost inconceivable, completely illogical.
Henry shook his head. He didn’t think much of these enemies. They were simply too weak.
The enemy’s armor was tattered, and their weapons were nothing special.
’I want to see for myself just what this Level Two Life Level can do!’
Henry quickly issued his commands. The Grassland Warriors serving as messengers immediately galloped off to relay the orders. The army instantly changed formation, donned their armor, and prepared for battle.
Seeing this, Ratifa had no choice but to order her own Personal Guard to put on their battle armor and form a battle line with Henry’s Senior Infantry.
After all, her Personal Guard were also Heavy Armor Infantry and could serve perfectly as a core fighting force.
Henry didn’t bother reprimanding the Scouts. Surprise encounters like this were normal, especially since his soldiers were unfamiliar with the environment here in the Northern Lands.
"Henry, let’s have the Crossbowmen..."
"HYAH!"
The words had barely left Ratifa’s mouth when Henry was already charging out on his warhorse, wielding his thickened and weighted Yanyue Saber.
He made a beeline straight for the enemy army!
Ratifa was dumbfounded. Utterly stunned. She had never seen this kind of tactic before.
Nobles usually commanded from behind the protection of their armies. At most, they might personally enter the fray for a duel between Knights or in a small-scale battle.
’Who charges an army of ten thousand all alone like Henry? Is this something out of a storybook?’ His insane actions left her momentarily at a loss.
Ratifa quickly looked to Bain and the other Attendants, as well as Henry’s Personal Guard captain, and asked, "Why aren’t you going after him?"
Bain and the others had surprisingly calm expressions. Their answer was simple and direct: "The lord didn’t tell us to."
Ratifa was taken aback. She didn’t know what to say.
She knew Henry was a powerful Warrior, but she never imagined he could be this reckless.
In her eyes, Henry’s actions were undoubtedly a gamble—he was practically taunting death.
Ratifa was panicking, but in truth, so were the enemy.
They had been marching across this desolate land, expecting a relatively peaceful day, only to suddenly encounter an enemy force.
Faced with this sudden encounter, they were also at a loss.
Under their leader’s command, the enemy managed to form a respectable battle line. Despite their crude equipment, their numbers were enough to form a daunting defense.
As they watched Henry gallop toward them, a commotion rippled through their ranks.
These horned enemies were appallingly poor. They didn’t have a single piece of decent ranged equipment, only some throwing bags filled with stones.
Some of them nervously started to hurl stones, hoping to stop Henry’s charge, but these feeble attacks were insignificant against his heavy armor.
Moreover, due to the great distance and the gusting winds, most of the stone-filled bags didn’t even fly in Henry’s direction.
Henry watched the enemies, who were mere black dots in the distance, grow larger and larger in his vision. His body began to move in response.
He adjusted his warhorse’s speed, tightened his grip on the Yanyue Saber, and prepared for the coming impact.
His breaths were filled with passion, his heart racing in anticipation of the coming slaughter!
These Inferior Horned Beasts had never seen an enemy charge them all alone like this. They instinctively huddled together, hoping their human wall could stop the momentum of Henry’s warhorse.
Then, they would pull Henry from his horse, crack open his armor, and kill him!
They had no idea they weren’t facing an ordinary Knight, but a Warrior who had reached the second Life Level—a being who was practically invincible on a battlefield like this!
Henry’s eyes were locked on the rapidly approaching enemy, his heart pounding in time with his warhorse’s thundering hooves.
As the distance closed, he could clearly see the savage expressions on the faces of the Inferior Horned Beasts.
A strange agitation spread through Henry’s heart. The more he looked at these enemies, the more irritated he became.
His mind felt as if it had been seized by a violent power—an impulse that craved battle, craved destruction.
He felt a voice echoing in his mind, a primal, wild call telling him to snap off the horns on the enemies’ heads, arms, and faces—to break them!
’It’s like seeing a perfectly round ball with a single lump on it and feeling the overwhelming urge to pick it off!’
This impulse burned like fire in his veins, and a bestial glint flashed in Henry’s eyes.
His grip on the Yanyue Saber tightened, every muscle tensing for the imminent impact!
The Split-foot Beasts raised their... short-staffed weapons? They tried to fight Henry with the crude implements in their hands, but in his eyes, their efforts were nothing more than a futile struggle.
Henry’s warhorse let out a long neigh. It sensed its master’s will to fight, picked up speed, and charged straight into the enemy formation.
SHING!
The moment Henry crashed into the enemy line, the boiling in his blood reached its peak. His movements became exceptionally swift and violent.
The Yanyue Saber danced in his hands, cleaving through the enemies’ horns and bodies alike!
Blood and chunks of flesh flew everywhere as Henry’s warhorse rampaged through the enemy ranks!
A single swing from Henry sent a spray of heads flying! The warhorse beneath him seemed tireless and fearless, charging forward with wild abandon!
Henry’s attacks were like those of a perfect war machine, reducing every enemy before him to fragments.
’Destroy. Annihilate. Snap those horns. I will make these enemies feel fear and despair!’
Ratifa’s hand trembled as she held the expensive spyglass she had purchased from the western coastal region. She aimed its lens at that lone figure on the battlefield—Henry.
She saw the image of Henry brutally slaughtering the enemy, and her mouth fell open wider and wider.
The scene before her defied everything she knew about war!
Henry sat upon his warhorse, wreathed in a storm of blood and gore. Beneath his blade, enemies fell like wheat in an autumn harvest, completely powerless to fight back.
’Is he even human?’ The question couldn’t help but surface in Ratifa’s mind.
She had seen many Warriors and witnessed dozens of battles, but she had never seen anyone like Henry...
’Is that horse he’s riding even a horse anymore?’ She even began to suspect that the steed had been infected by Henry’s madness.
It had become like a wild beast, charging and killing tirelessly through the enemy ranks.
If she wasn’t mistaken, Henry’s warhorse was even opening its mouth to bite people!