*Slap! Slap!*
Watching Grand Duke Fisablen and his several dozen riders gallop straight for the south gate, Lorist realized that two legs simply couldn't compete with four in a long-distance race. In desperation, he shouted at the retreating figure of Grand Duke Fisablen: "Fisablen, you old bastard! Are you a rabbit, running away this fast? If you've got the guts, come back and fight me three hundred rounds! Don't just run and shame your title as a third-rank Great Swordmaster! Or is your rank as a third-rank Great Swordmaster a fraud? Were you just hyped up by other people's flattery?"
These words struck a nerve. Several guards riding alongside Grand Duke Fisablen felt their blood boil. They wheeled their horses around, cursing, and charged at Lorist. Grand Duke Fisablen turned and barked several stern reprimands. Though a few guards reluctantly turned back, three others—whether they had charged too fast or simply hadn't heard the Grand Duke's orders—continued galloping toward Lorist.
Grand Duke Fisablen merely shot Lorist a cold, icy glance and paid no further attention to the three guards. After issuing a command to the south gate sentries, he let out a deep shout and spurred his horse out of the city at full speed.
The three riders bearing down on Lorist were in a triangle formation. The leading guard's longsword blazed with white blade light as he slashed downward at Lorist from his elevated position. The two guards behind him wielded long spears, their tips also glowing with white blade light, thrusting at Lorist's ribs from both sides like a pair of venomous serpents.
Lorist suddenly leaned his body backward into an iron bridge maneuver, flattening himself against the ground. The blade-light-infused longsword grazed past his chest armor by a hair's breadth, while the horse's iron hooves stamped down right beside his head, missing him by mere inches. The three guards hadn't expected Lorist to pull off such a move. Still mounted, they had almost completely lost their target. The two spears passed harmlessly over Lorist's body. He sprang up from the ground, lightly tapping the spear on his left to borrow its momentum, and in one fluid motion landed atop the horse. His sword flashed three times in quick succession, and three of Grand Duke Fisablen's guards clutched their spurting throats and tumbled from their mounts...
Lorist flipped his longsword and sheathed it behind his back. With a hook of his toe, he caught a spear that was falling to the ground and gripped it in his hand. Then, using the spear as a hook, he snagged the reins of the other two horses, pulled them back, and wheeled all three around. "Hyah!" Lorist shouted, spurring his horse toward the south gate. Now with three horses at his disposal, he had made up his mind—he would not rest until he caught Grand Duke Fisablen.
"Loose arrows!" The moment he reached the south gate, a command rang out, and over a dozen arrows flew from the top of the gate tower. Lorist looked up to see a dozen or so gate guards drawing longbows and firing at him, while another group of guards was repositioning a siege crossbow on the tower to face inward toward the city.
Lorist cursed aloud, using his spear to deflect and spin away the incoming arrows. Seeing the siege crossbow about to be turned around, he wielded the spear like a javelin, let out a great shout, and leaped from his horse, hurling the spear toward the gate tower. It flew like a bolt of lightning. *Thud, thud, thud*—three sounds rang out as three guards who had been moving the siege crossbow were skewered together like bloody gourds. The spear embedded three inches into the stone, pinning them to the gate tower. The three unfortunate guards, impaled together on the spear shaft that had pierced through their guts, let out desperate screams...
Every guard on the tower froze. They glanced at the three wretched souls, then in unison dropped their longbows, shields, spears, and other weapons, let out a collective cry, and fled in every direction—even abandoning the gate itself.
Lorist landed back in his saddle, about to spur his horse in pursuit of Grand Duke Fisablen's group, when he felt his mount stagger. Looking down, he saw that the horse had taken an arrow to the chest at some point. The animal was now sinking to its front knees, blood-tinted foam already dripping from its mouth.
Lorist had no choice but to dismount. A closer look confirmed the horse was beyond saving—the longbow arrow had sunk nearly a foot into its chest and it was in its death throes. Fortunately, he still had two horses. Lorist switched mounts and put the arrow-stricken horse out of its misery with a quick stroke before riding out through the south gate. In the distance, he could see the tiny figure of Grand Duke Fisablen fleeing in panic, and Lorist spurred forward in hot pursuit...
After more than an hour of chasing, the horses carrying Grand Duke Fisablen and his group ahead began to slow. Lorist had switched horses and pushed harder, finally closing the gap. The figures ahead, previously the size of soybeans, now appeared larger than a thumb. Lorist estimated he had cut the distance from about three hundred meters to roughly two hundred. He figured he would need to keep pursuing for a while longer—once Grand Duke Fisablen's horses were exhausted, he would catch up.
The thunder of hooves sounded from behind. Lorist turned to see the light cavalry of Count Felim's family forces, their Pegasus emblem banners flying, had caught up. What surprised Lorist was that although these light cavalry weren't numerous, they had an abundance of horses—nearly every rider had three or four spare mounts.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
A familiar voice called out. Lorist turned for a closer look and saw it was Al and Reidi. Besides their own mounts, they had five or six empty horses with them.
"Where did all these horses come from?" Lorist asked.
"We found them—over ten thousand head. They're said to be spare horses from the First Frontier Patrol Cavalry Corps. Count Felim heard you went after Grand Duke Fisablen alone, so he had us bring extra spare horses to catch up with you. He also sent Sir Bonava with a battalion of light cavalry to assist. Count Felim and the
"How are things in the royal city?" Lorist shouted back.
"I don't know, Your Highness. When I left, we had already secured all four gates. I think Count Felim probably intends to leave the royal city to Lord Bodenfeng to handle."
Lorist said no more. He pointed ahead at the fleeing figures of Grand Duke Fisablen's group and focused on controlling his horse in pursuit.
Another hour or so passed. The horses carrying Grand Duke Fisablen's group ahead were clearly exhausted—no amount of whipping could raise their speed, and they could barely maintain a trot. Lorist's group's horses were in somewhat better condition, but they too were worn from the prolonged chase. Lorist and the others switched horses once more. The distance to Grand Duke Fisablen's group had closed to about a hundred meters, and the panicked expressions on their faces were now clearly visible.
In fewer than ten minutes, he would catch those fleeing people. Heh heh, Grand Duke Fisablen, let's see where you run now. Lorist's spirits surged, and a ferocious grin crept onto his lips.
But the moment he crested a small hill at the head of the pursuit, Lorist froze. Grand Duke Fisablen's group ahead had suddenly surged forward as if injected with adrenaline, pushing their mounts to wring out the last of their strength, charging toward a grassy field not far ahead. And on that field stood nearly a hundred saddled and bridled warhorses, calmly grazing...
"What the hell? Where did those warhorses come from?" Lorist muttered under his breath, staring blankly as Grand Duke Fisablen rode up and switched to a fresh mount. Then about a hundred soldiers emerged from the field, all wearing Fisablen family standard armor. Upon seeing Grand Duke Fisablen, they snapped to attention and greeted him.
Grand Duke Fisablen didn't hesitate. He said a few words, wheeled his horse, and left—but before departing, he pointed directly at Lorist. The hundred-odd Fisablen soldiers let out furious war cries, brandishing their weapons, and charged at Lorist, who sat on horseback atop the hill.
Then, from behind Lorist, countless light cavalry surged over the hill. They drew swords and spears and launched a countercharge against the Fisablen soldiers. The hundred-odd Fisablen soldiers were stunned by the sudden appearance of so many enemy riders on the hill. They forgot to keep shouting and stood dumbfounded as countless enemy horses bore down on them. Before being engulfed by the tide of light cavalry, they suddenly understood why Grand Duke Fisablen had mounted and ridden off immediately—only they had been foolish enough to think Lorist was chasing alone, and had charged on foot...
"Why is there a Fisablen family hundred-strong patrol cavalry here?" Lorist asked, puzzled.
"Your Highness, another twenty or thirty li ahead is Dusk Lake Town. These Fisablen soldiers are likely on patrol from the town," Sir Bonava of the Felim family reported loudly, riding up to Lorist's side.
"Oh, Dusk Lake Town..." Lorist immediately recalled the intelligence relayed by Tagel. Dusk Lake Town was garrisoned by two battalions of the Frontier Patrol Cavalry Corps—roughly two thousand men—apparently directly under the Third Frontier Patrol Cavalry Corps. The Third had participated in the campaign to destroy the Merlayn Duchy the year before last and had suffered considerable casualties. They were currently below full strength, numbering around thirty-seven thousand. Grand Duke Fisablen had stationed them in the southern province to protect the vital transportation routes connecting the four central duchies with the Eastern Wasteland Province and Winston Province. Dusk Lake Town, meanwhile, was piled high with all manner of construction materials—supplies Grand Duke Fisablen had been stockpiling for building fortresses at three strategic locations.
"Pursue! Switch horses and pursue! Today I'm going to catch that old fossil Fisablen no matter what!" Lorist gritted his teeth with determination, switched mounts again, and chased after Grand Duke Fisablen's retreating figure, which had pulled another two or three hundred meters ahead. Al, Reidi, and the others followed close behind.
Twenty or thirty li flew by in the blink of an eye, and the crude timber-and-stone walls of Dusk Lake Town appeared before them. The town's sentries had already sounded the alarm horns. Grand Duke Fisablen's fleeing group was spurring their horses toward the wide-open town gate...
Lorist gritted his teeth, drew his longsword, and in a reverse stroke stabbed his horse's rump. The horse screamed in pain and lurched forward with a violent burst. The agonizing pain drove the animal into a frenzied gallop, closing the distance to the fleeing group—closer and closer.
The last guard in Grand Duke Fisablen's group had just entered Dusk Lake Town. Several sentries were heaving the gate doors, trying to close them. At the very instant the doors were about to shut, Lorist arrived on horseback. He pulled the reins, and his horse leaped forward, crashing into the gate with a tremendous *bang*. The doors burst open, and the sentries who had been pushing them were sent flying, crashing to the ground and spitting blood.
Lorist's horse collapsed as well, its head split and bleeding, struggling weakly on the ground. But Lorist couldn't worry about his mount at that moment. He leaped to the ground and, sword in hand, called out to Grand Duke Fisablen, who had just dismounted barely a hundred meters away: "Old turtle! Why did you stop running? Can't go on anymore? Surrender quietly and save yourself the trouble!"
Soldiers swarmed toward him from all sides.
Melee combat was Lorist's favorite. He steadied his breath and focused his mind, and the world before his eyes turned red once more. These Fisablen soldiers charging at him looked like mechanical puppets moving in slow motion. Lorist countercharged, sweeping past like a gust of wind, his sword flashing as he harvested lives left and right with ease and abandon...
Corpses littered the street, and blood flowed like rivers. When the space before him finally cleared and no more enemies extended weapons toward him, Lorist snapped back to awareness from his blood-red world. But apart from the Fisablen soldiers who had retreated to a distance and now surrounded him with expressions of terror, Lorist realized with frustration that Grand Duke Fisablen had once again escaped through the gate on the far side of Dusk Lake Town, accompanied by his guards and those officers in ornate armor.
"Damn it! Fisablen, you coward! Can't you have a proper duel with me for once?" Lorist roared in fury, his voice shaking the surrounding countryside...
The thunder of hooves poured into Dusk Lake Town as Al, Reidi, and Sir Bonava of the Pegasus cavalry finally arrived. The Fisablen soldiers, their morale shattered by Lorist's solo rampage through the town, wisely laid down their weapons and surrendered once their officers had fled—preserving their lives.
"Your Highness, shall we continue the pursuit?" Sir Bonava asked respectfully, standing before Lorist. He had finally witnessed firsthand the prowess of the
Lorist shook his head with some weariness—he was tired himself after that slaughter. "Forget it. Order the soldiers to secure Dusk Lake Town and mop up any remaining Fisablen stragglers. Once the follow-up forces arrive, we'll prepare to advance into the southern province. From last night until now, the soldiers are exhausted. Another pursuit at this point won't accomplish anything. Let everyone get some rest first."
"As you command, Your Highness."
...To be continued.