Masked Knight

A deep moat was dug around the perimeter of the church! And outside it was circled by a fence of barbed wires! Groups of armored soldiers guarded the place, with swords in their hands and a murderous look on their faces! Besides that, at the church’s entrance, two men clad in clerical uniforms were hung on a pillar while two soldiers were lashing at them severely with the whips in their hands!

The men from the Flaming Warriors felt like they had never seen such...such treacherous scene!

In the fury of anger, they almost wanted to immediately unsheathe their swords and put up a fight with those evil soldiers who dared to savagely beat the servants of God!

However, a smiling officer intercepted them. He held aloft a personal order autographed by the honorable, mighty Supreme Commander of the Empire, the Empire’s God of War, Duke of the Tulip Family’s brother-in-law, the hero of the Empire, the hot, new star of the Empire, Marquis Rody!

Marquis Rody’s orders were clearly written on the personal order—[Nobody is allowed to enter or exit the church! Those who defy the orders of the Marquis will be immediately arrested and whipped twenty lashes! For repeat offenders, soldiers are authorized to kill them on the spot!]

The officer said with a smile, "I’m the commanding officer of West Hill. I was given orders by Marquis Rody to punish these two guys who defied His Excellency’s order. They have to receive twenty lashes. Their punishment is not over yet, please step back."

The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors was so mad that he almost vomited blood. He roared in rage, "What order did they defy?"

The commanding officer shook his head and sighed, "They tried to escape from the church, so we had to..."

At that moment, noticing the presence of their own warrior’s group, one of the guys who could not bear it anymore gathered all his energy and yelled, "We were just going to the market..."

"Shut up!" the commanding officer turned and bellowed fiercely. He shot a warning glance, and the soldier who was whipping increased the strength of his lashes. The poor guy screeched and his voice shook beyond recognition. He was not able to utter another word again.

When the commanding officer turned around again, the fierce look on his face immediately vanished and was replaced with a respectful smile, "Your Excellency, you must be tired after traveling so far. Marquis Rody has arranged a residence for you just nearby, and cool tea will be served...Would you like to go there and have some rest?"

Considering that he could not afford to offend that Marquis, if he could, the chieftain of the Flaming Warriors had only one thought in his mind right now—to punch the daylight out of this plump, smiling face in front of him!

After some negotiations, the commanding officer’s expression became cold, "To release them is out of the question! Marquis Rody’s military orders cannot be revoked! If I release them without permission, the next moment, I will be the one hung up here and getting whipped! If you have any questions, please discuss it with Marquis Rody!"

The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors was desperately anxious. He finally bowed his head and pleaded, "In that case, can you please drop the whipping of these two first?"

"Impossible!" the commanding officer replied coldly, "In the entire Westwood Province, in West Hill City, I now only take orders from Marquis Rody. If you want me to release these people, please go to the duke’s mansion and ask for Marquis Rody’s personal order. Once you have that, I will release them immediately!"

The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors was so mad that he almost drew his sword. Suddenly, the topmost window of the church opened. The pale-looking bishop stuck his head out. When he saw the Flaming Warriors, it was as if he saw his loved ones as he shrieked ‘Help!’.

The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors was not an idiot after all. His ranking in the church was quite high, or else he would not have been sent here to deal with this matter. For someone of such high position, it was impossible that he could not see clearly the current situation. He rationally stopped his angry warriors from drawing out their swords.

The current situation was obvious. The surrounding soldiers from the public security forces were already lined up in battle formation. They were now looking at him viciously. Although he had more men, if a bloodshed crisis erupted between the Church’s and the Empire’s armies at a time like this, he would not be able to bear the responsibility at all.

"Marquis Rody’s personal order?" The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors said through clenched teeth, "I’ll go see him right now, but..." He lowered his voice and said pleadingly, "Can you suspend the whippings first? I’ll be gone for at most one...no...half an hour! I’ll be back within half an hour!"

"In that case..." The commanding officer gave him a friendly smile and nodded. "I have respect for the Gods too. I’ll give you half an hour, even if that means I risk myself getting whipped by Marquis Rody. Please hurry up and come back quickly!"

The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors sighed. He picked the most level-headed deputy to stay behind with the group, and gave him a strict order to not start a fight no matter what happened!

Then, he brought twenty of his confidants and rode towards the Duke’s Mansion.

Less than five minutes after they left, a sly smile spread across the commanding officer’s face. He suddenly glared at the soldiers who stopped whipping and snarled, "Idiots! Marquis Rody had ordered for punishment. How dare you stop! Do you wish to die? Keep whipping them hard!"

His words pissed off the officer from the Flaming Warriors. He was about to go forth and argue, but the commanding officer had already turned away from him. He deliberately stretched himself and walk towards the back, muttering loudly as he walked, "Such a hot day, and instead of resting at the back, I’m here standing under the hot sun, am I out of my mind?"

He gave one last order, "Buck up! Marquis Rody has ordered. If you let even a single one escape, you shall bear the consequences!"

Hundreds of soldiers gave a majestic roar. They unsheathed their swords and scowled viciously at the Flaming Warriors standing in front of them.

The officer from the Flaming Warriors went white. He kept in mind the chieftain’s orders and dared not make any moves. The square quieted down for a while, except for the shrieks of ‘Ah!’ and ‘Ouch!’ from the two clergymen being whipped.

On the other hand, the chieftain of the Flaming Warriors, together with his twenty capable subordinates, galloped to the Duke’s Mansion. However, this was not a place where they could come and go at will. He and his men stood outside and waited patiently at a small side door for fifteen minutes before a servant came running out and informed them lazily, "Marquis Rody is not around. He left to the hunting grounds with Miss Nicole for hunting early this morning!"

When he finished speaking, he did not even look at them but immediately closed the side door.

"This is too much!" The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors almost crushed his teeth. He wanted to break in, but this was the Duke of the Tulip Family’s mansion!

Tulip!

Speaking of this name, whoever offended the duke and his family in the Empire, without the need of the duke to take any actions himself, his fanatical supporters could have drowned the offender just by spitting. Moreover, if he offended the Tulip Family, the Pope would tie him up and personally hand him over to them to resolve the issue...

He forcefully swallowed the blood which he nearly spat out and climbed on his horse with hatred. He roared, "Go to the hunting ground!"

He whipped his horse hard and shouted, "I don’t believe I can’t meet that Marquis Rody today!"

After rushing to the hunting ground, the men were already exhausted. They had been rushing about for a few days before arriving in West Hill, and before they could rest, they were running around again for such a long period of time. Seeing the hunting ground’s entrance from afar, the Flaming Warriors’ chieftain finally felt slightly relieved.

Suddenly, a group of fifty cavalrymen came galloping towards them, and stopped fifty feet away, blocking the entrance.

"Halt! This is Tulip’s private hunting ground, how dare you trespass! Do you wish to die?!"

The Flaming Warriors’ gaze fell on the men. They realized that these cavalrymen looked extraordinarily tough, and each of them was not wearing the Imperial Guard’s armor. Instead, they were clad in black armor with a helmet resembling a wolf head, and in their hands were long, oddly-shaped scimitars! Each of them had a murderous look on their face. Although there were only dozens of cavalrymen lined up here, an oppressive aura radiated from them as though standing in front was a mighty army!

The Lightning God’s Whip! They were the legendary ‘Wolf Fang’ of the Lightning God’s Whip!

The chieftain of the Flaming Warriors took a deep breath and said, "We are the Flaming Warriors of the Church. I am the Church’s First Class warrior, Honorary Assistant Regiment Commander Strehl..."

"I don’t care whatever group you are. This is not a place where you can trespass. Get out of here immediately!" the leading officer of the Lightning God’s Whip roared.

Swoosh!

After a neat swoosh sound, fifty Wolf Fang warriors simultaneously drew their scimitars, and fifty battle horses moved one step forward at the same time.

The smell of death was in the air!

This was a genuine murderous aura! This kind of aura could not be acquired from the training field! It was cultivated as a result of the experience of life and death in real battlefields and bloody fights.

"Wait...wait a minute!" Assistant Regimental Commander Strehl shouted frantically, "I’m from the Church! I need to meet Marquis Rody for something urgent! Please..."

The officer of the Lightning God’s Whip glanced at him with the corner of his eyes and interrupted coldly, "Marquis Rody and Miss Nicole are hunting! Right now, this place is under warzone control! His Excellency has given orders that no matter what, nobody is allowed to enter and disturb him before sunset today! Leave immediately!"

"But..." Strehl panicked.

A chilling light flashed in the eyes of the Lightning God’s Whip officer. He suddenly shouted, his voice icy cold, "Wolf Fang!"

"Kill!" Fifty cavalrymen bellowed at once, and fifty scimitars were held high in the air! They were prepared to charge forward!

"Those in front listen carefully! According to the Empire’s war zone rules, I demand that you leave within ten seconds! If not, you will be killed! One!"

Swoosh!

Once again, fifty battle horses took another step forward simultaneously!

"Two!"

The cavalrymen bent down, the eyes beneath their helmets glinted with a bloodthirsty look!

"Three!" The officer of the Lightning God’s Whip roared, "Attention Wolf Fang warriors! Target ahead, kill without mercy!"

The men from the Flaming Warriors finally could not stay still anymore. One of Strehl’s men gently nudged him and said in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, we better...We cannot afford to provoke these Wolf Fang warriors, they are a bunch of blood-thirsty lunatics!"

Strehl’s heart burnt with rage. He replied stubbornly, "I’m a First Class Warrior of the Church, I don’t believe they can defy the laws!"

The Lighting God’s Whip officer across him roared, "Four!" He paused, and then bellowed, "Advance!"

Hooves clattered!

Fifty Wolf Fang warriors lined up orderly in a charge array and began moving slowly. The horses’ hooves started to trot, gradually closing in on the panic-stricken Flaming Warriors!

The oncoming intense ferocious aura caused Strehl to finally come to his senses. The opponent meant business! These Wolf Fang warriors were not like the other armies of the Empire! There were already rumors saying that this troop was the Lightning God’s Whip’s most mysterious elite troop! According to the legends, they could crush the Roland’s powerful Holy Knight Regiment, causing the latter to abandon their helmets and armors. Now with only twenty men, if they really engaged in a battle, it was possible that they would be wiped out clean in less than a moment!

"Five!"

Seeing that the opposing cavalrymen gathered speed, Strehl gave out a long sigh and yelled, "Retreat!"

The twenty men of the Flaming Warriors were already scared out of their wits. Before the commanding officer’s voice died away, they had already turned around their horses and sped off.

A roar of laughter came from the Wolf Fang warriors behind. The officer of the Lightning God’s Whip sneered. "Bullshit Flaming Warriors! Turns out that they’re just a bunch of garbage!"

In the hunting ground, at the same lakeside, Rody lay on the grass comfortably, looking up the sky in silence.

Nicole was sitting beside him. She could not help but asked, "Rody, is it really appropriate for you to do so?"

"Why would it be inappropriate?" Rody smiled, "We’ve already decided to sever the relationship with the Church anyway! The Rolands up north were too occupied, they won’t have the time to bother us. I think that Old Skeleton wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of the empire’s centuries-old lurking danger at one stroke!"

Mouse stopped meditating and opened her eyes suddenly. She laughed. "All right, Nicole. You don’t have to worry about these things for Rody. Although this guy looks honest usually, if he is up to mischief, I’m afraid we are not his match at all."

Nicole sighed. "But there are two thousand men from the Flaming Warriors, and in West Hill, we only have the soldiers from the public security force, are they able to suppress them?" She paused here and turned to look outside the hunting ground. "Right now, the men from the Flaming Warriors must be here looking for you."

Rody flashed her a smile. "They won’t be able to enter."

Nicole smiled bitterly. "Are you sure? The person who came must be someone important in the Church. Will the Lightning God’s Whip dare to stop them?"

Rody sat up. An arrogant look appeared on his face, and he said without much emotion, "I’ve personally brought this troop of Wolf Fang warriors to the battlefield! I dare say that, wherever the Tulip’s battle flag points, even if the opponent is the Pope, their hooves and scimitars will charge forward without hesitation! Humph! Those second-class followers of the church, it is best if they just get lost. If they refused to leave, they should be dead by now. The scimitars of the Wolf Fang warriors can make do with an extra few drops of blood!"