novelbin Chapter 83 : Wilderness Knight Order! The Death of Carlos!
Chapter 83 : Wilderness Knight Order! The Death of Carlos!
Chapter 83: Wilderness Knight Order! The Death of Carlos!
At this moment, the horse seemed to sense something, continuously stamping its hooves. The frozen-stiff Carlos was thrown straight off the saddle.
With a loud bang—
Carlos’s entire body slammed heavily onto the snow.
Neigh!
Startled by the sound of ice striking stone, Carlos’s yellow horse let out a long neigh and immediately bolted toward Blackstone City.
Though the horse didn’t know what had happened, it had suddenly lost its master, and instinctively began running back the way it came.
But at that very moment, a fierce whistling sound tore through the air.
At the same time, a spinning flying axe split open the horse’s head and embedded itself into it.
Driven by inertia, the galloping horse sprayed blood along its path before finally stumbling and collapsing in front of three figures.
A curtain of blood covered its eyes—it could only vaguely see silhouettes before the image froze.
At the front stood a man holding an axe, though a longsword also hung at his waist.
The longsword symbolized his identity as a knight, while the axe in his hand was his signature weapon.
“Respected Commander of the Wilderness Knight Order, Duke Nelson, this is the offering I have brought,” Zoro said, kneeling on one knee in respectful salute. His expression, however, remained cold and rigid.
“Hohohohohoho…” After a burst of strange laughter, a bizarre figure wearing a black bamboo hat stepped out from beside the old, obese knight.
The hat-wearing figure walked slowly to the horse’s corpse, pulled out the axe embedded in its head, and then moved toward Zoro.
At this moment, Duke Nelson continued speaking, “Congratulations on becoming a loyal believer who offers sacrifices to the Black God. I shall now, on behalf of the great Black God, bestow upon you the second chapter of the Divine Sacrifice Method. I hope that next time, you will bring a more valuable offering.”
“However, if you wish to obtain the final third chapter, the Black God requires you to present a sacrifice at the knight level to prove your loyalty and devotion.”
The cloaked figure extended a hand and handed Zoro a page inscribed with golden patterns.
Zoro’s eyes were filled with devotion as he raised both hands and respectfully received it. A rare expression of eagerness appeared on his face.
One could see the burning desire in his eyes—a yearning for power.
The first chapter of the Divine Sacrifice Method had already granted him strength comparable to that of a knight.
Then the second chapter should allow him to surpass that so-called High-tier Knight, Laforin.
As for the third chapter—
Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth curled into an arrogant arc.
Meanwhile, after Duke Nelson finished speaking, another black-robed figure behind him walked toward Carlos, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture.
As the black robe billowed, it expanded like a massive birdcage, completely enveloping Carlos’s frozen body.
A few seconds later, a series of cracking sounds—“ka ka ka ka”—echoed from within the robe.
“Your next task in Blackstone City is to gather intelligence on the Alchemist Lady Manta. If she successfully produces a Level 3 potion, I need you to inform me immediately,” Duke Nelson said with a serious expression.
For the Wilderness Knight Order, the most valuable asset in Blackstone City was Lady Manta, this Level 2 Alchemist.
If she succeeded in producing a Level 3 potion, then as the decision-maker of the Wilderness Knight Order, he would make his final move.
Zoro nodded in acknowledgment.
Duke Nelson stroked his graying beard. “Additionally, as a loyal believer, you may choose one item from the magic box as a blessing from the Black God to the devout.”
A faint smile lingered on Nelson’s face as he took out a box resembling a clay jar from his robes.
The surface of the box was covered with fragmented thread-like patterns, resembling distorted human faces, giving off an unsettling sensation.
Zoro took the box as quickly as possible, then lifted it and peered inside through its square opening.
Half a minute later, Zoro slowly raised his head.
“I choose…” A greedy, eerie smile spread across his lips.
“Calamity.”
Reflected in his eyes still lingered the shadow of a Three-Eyed Crow.
……
As the warm spring sunlight spread across the land, the winter snow accumulated during the cold season gradually melted away.
It had already been ten days since the Kingdom Merchant Caravan last arrived at Blackstone City.
During this period, Leo maintained his training rhythm.
At the same time, he did his best to expand his intelligence network within the city.
As spring approached, many Quasi-Knights left the castle to carry out hunting missions.
Through the intelligence brought by the horses, Leo could grasp the movements of most Quasi-Knights and knights in the castle at the earliest moment.
During this time, several more Knight’s Squires heard about Leo’s novel horse services.
With Dragon-Elephant’s imposing presence, these Knight’s Squires all signed contracts with Leo smoothly.
However, what Leo didn’t expect was that today brought several rather unexpected pieces of business.
“I heard that Carlos was a pervert.”
“Yeah, I heard long ago about him abusing male servants. Just look at him—covered in muscles, even shaved his chest and armpit hair. Thinking about it makes me sick.”
“It’s been so many days. He must’ve died outside. I heard Knight Laforin has already sent an official letter to his hometown, Longyang City.”
“Anyway, the Knight Hall announced him as missing. It’s been nearly ten days—neither man nor horse has returned. He’s definitely dead.”
“Something must’ve happened. I’ve heard several versions of the story.”
Leo, listening to the conversation from afar, became interested.
“Some say his horse suddenly went mad in the wild and fell off a cliff. Others say he defected to the Wilderness Knight Order. But there’s another version I think is most likely—that he and his horse were doing that outside, and then…”
“No way, even the horse wasn’t spared?”
“That’s too ridiculous. I still think joining the Wilderness Knight Order is more likely. I always felt Carlos wasn’t satisfied with Blackstone City’s rules.”
“Whatever. He was Zoro’s man. Whether he left or died, it’s a good thing. To celebrate, I’ll treat you all to a special service today—you’ve definitely never tried it before.”
Leo’s ears twitched as he opened his eyes, instantly withdrawing from the state of 【Hunting Moment】.
Those people had already reached within a dozen meters outside the gate.
Leo had long heard that Carlos was dead, but this was his first time hearing so many rumors.
As the saying goes, a person’s reputation precedes them.
Carlos had always had a bad reputation, so after his death, people naturally speculated in negative directions.
Especially since his personal conduct was problematic, it made him an easy target for gossip.
However, the claim that his death was related to a horse felt unreliable to Leo.
Or rather—it seemed like someone was deliberately guiding public opinion in that direction.
Leo leaned more toward the idea that Carlos had defected to the Wilderness Knight Order.
The Wilderness Knight Order—he had been hearing that term frequently lately.
As the winter snow melted, these black knight factions in the wild had begun to grow active again.
The so-called Wilderness Knight Order was essentially like a bandit organization.
It consisted of punished knights or Quasi-Knights who had turned to banditry and gathered in the wild.
Leo had a feeling that the Wilderness Knight Order was secretly supported by official forces, which allowed it to continue existing within the kingdom.
Like the black gloves of certain factions within the kingdom.
Calming his thoughts, Leo stopped indulging in such useless speculation.
He was currently staying within the castle every day; these Wilderness Knight Order forces couldn’t affect him.
Every day, he could obtain a large amount of intelligence.
Most of it consisted of hearsay political news.
It seemed that no matter the world, middle-aged men were always most enthusiastic about discussing politics after meals.
But for Leo, most of this hearsay was useless information.
He also tried not to let himself become immersed in such pointless political speculation, wasting his precious training time.
However, Carlos, a veteran Quasi-Knight, had mysteriously gone missing in the wild.
This indicated that hunting missions outside were not absolutely safe.
“Better to stay in the city and train steadily,” Leo reaffirmed his earlier decision.