The darkness of the night in the 'Whispering Gorge' was freezing and eerily silent. Only the sound of the wind howling through the narrow pass could be heard, sounding just like the whispers of ghosts its name suggested.
Lloyd Weston rode his horse along the narrow path, flanked by Frank on horseback, while Sylvie leaped nimbly through the branches above to act as their scout. The freezing air turned the young baron's breath into white mist. His weak, original body began to protest with aches and pains, but he forced himself to endure it.
"My Lord... I smell smoke and the stench of blood," Frank spoke up amidst the darkness. The giant youth gripped his trident tightly, his eyes scanning the dense forest. "It happened recently. The scent is very fresh."
Lloyd nodded. He raised a hand to his temple, concentrating to carefully activate the system.
"System... open [Mini-Map] , 100-meter radius."
Ding!
[Mana Remaining: 35/100]
A semi-transparent holographic window appeared in his field of vision. Lloyd found the map covered in rapidly blinking red dots scattered deep within the gorge ahead. They weren't clustered together, but spread out in a semicircle—as if they were encircling their 'prey.'
"The tracks are over here!" Sylvie's voice called out from a low branch ahead.
Lloyd and Frank rushed over to investigate. The sight illuminated by the dim moonlight revealed a long scorch mark on the ground. Two massive oak trees had been cleanly severed by an unnaturally smooth cut. Scattered nearby were poisoned darts and the crushed remains of crossbows.
"Cuts like this aren't the work of monsters..." Sylvie jumped down to inspect the slash marks on the trees, her emerald eyes widening slightly. "The residual mana on these cuts... it's incredibly sharp and fierce. Whoever sliced through these trees with a single sword strike must possess physical strength on par with Frank."
"Looks like our target is using 'Kite and Run' tactics—fighting while retreating to avoid being ganged up on..." Lloyd muttered, his gamer vocabulary slipping out as he analyzed the battlefield. "But she's being herded into a narrow gorge. Once she hits a dead end, she'll have nowhere left to run... Let's hurry!"
The three of them quickened their pace, heading deeper into the valley. The further they went, the stronger the metallic stench of blood and the sound of clashing steel became.
Finally, they reached a rocky outcrop overhanging a wide clearing. Lloyd raised his hand, signaling everyone to stay low and observe the situation below.
The sight unfolding beneath them made even a former World Champion like Lloyd secretly gulp.
Amidst the rubble of boulders, a solitary young woman was making a desperate stand against a group of over ten Black Bounty Hunters!
She wore silver knight's armor that was now covered in cracks and bloodstains. Her shoulder-length, raven-black hair whipped around with the momentum of her swings. Her right hand tightly gripped a massive black Greatsword, nearly as large as she was. The blade pulsed intermittently with a deep purple magical aura.
Elisa Blackwood, the former Captain of the Magic Knights of the Veltine Empire!
"Just surrender, Lady Knight!" shouted a hulking man in pitch-black leather armor, seemingly the leader of the bounty hunters. He swung an iron chain tipped with a vicious hook. "The paralyzing poison from our darts has already reached your heart! The more mana you use, the faster it spreads! Let us take your head for a good bounty, and save yourself the agony!"
"You lapdogs of corrupt nobles... don't you ever expect me to bow my head to the likes of you!" Elisa spat back through gritted teeth. Her voice was hoarse but filled with unwavering resolve. The female knight's eyes burned with the fire of vengeance and pride.
Clang!
Elisa swung her black sword, expertly deflecting three iron arrows shot from her blind spot. She then lunged forward with a speed that defied her severe injuries, slamming her heavy blade into the dirt!
"Mountain Shattering Sword Wave!"
BOOM!!!
The dark purple aura exploded into a crescent-shaped shockwave, sweeping up boulders and blasting the three bounty hunters in its path into the cliff face, leaving them coughing up blood! The massive area-of-effect destruction was exactly what Lloyd expected from a Vanguard hybrid class.
However, the moment the skill was unleashed, Elisa's body collapsed, her knees crashing to the ground.
She coughed up dark blood. The paralyzing poison was severely ravaging her nervous system. The mana enveloping her blade flickered and dimmed.
"She's at her limit! Pin her down with the Anti-Magic Chains!" the bounty hunter leader barked ruthlessly.
Four bounty hunters burst from the shadows. They hurled heavy iron chains inscribed with mana-suppressing runes, tightly binding Elisa's right arm and both legs! The knight struggled, but her strength was almost entirely spent.
Up on the cliff, Lloyd ground his teeth. He knew that if they pulled those chains taut, Elisa wouldn't survive.
"System... inspect target unit 'Elisa Blackwood'," Lloyd commanded internally, willing to sacrifice his meager remaining mana to confirm her status.
Vwoosh!
[Mana Deducted: 10 points]
[Mana Remaining: 25/100]
A golden data window flashed over the struggling knight below. The information displayed made Lloyd's heart race.
[Target Unit Data]
Name: Elisa Blackwood
Race: Human
Age: 24
Current Profession: Wanted Fugitive (Level 45)
[Hidden Talent]
Grade: UR (Ultra Rare)
Talent Name: Heart of the Spellblade
Status: [Abnormal Status Afflicted: Severe Paralyzing Poison (Continuous HP Drain) ]
[UR Talent Description]
Can infuse any elemental magic into her weapon, increasing physical and magical damage by 500%. Possesses supreme leadership skills; when commanding an army, grants a 50% defense buff to all allied units.
"U-UR Grade?!" Lloyd's eyes widened so much they nearly popped out of his skull. "This isn't just a normal hero, this is a legendary unit you couldn't easily get even with a hundred thousand gacha pulls! Those idiot barons kicked someone of this caliber out of the army?!"
His outrage at the injustice, mixed with a gamer's sheer greed at seeing a top-tier unit about to die, pushed Lloyd beyond the point of watching idly.
"Frank! Sylvie!" Lloyd whispered his orders with absolute sharpness. "If we let her die, the Verdant Territory has no future... We intervene, now!"
"Understood, Sir! / You got it, Commander!" they replied in unison.
Down below, the bounty hunter leader swaggered toward the chained Elisa. He drew a poison-laced dagger, preparing to decapitate the knight and claim his reward.
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"This is the end of the line, great Magic Knight..." He smirked, raising the dagger high.
"I'll hunt you down and kill you... in hell..." Elisa gritted her teeth, staring death in the face with unyielding eyes.
But before the dagger could slash her throat...
Thwip!!!
An emerald-fletched wooden arrow tore through the air from the cliff above, breaking the speed limit! It wasn't aimed at the leader, but directly at the 'Anti-Magic Chain' pinning Elisa's right arm!
CRASH!
The mana-infused arrow struck the chain's link with pinpoint accuracy. The massive kinetic impact shattered the iron link to pieces!
"What the—!" The leader froze, his dagger stopping mid-air.
"Iron Fortress!"
A ferocious roar echoed from above. Frank vaulted off the five-meter cliff, his giant frame slamming into the earth like a falling meteor!
BOOM!
Dust and debris flew everywhere. The golden glow of an SSR-grade talent flared brightly, enveloping both Frank and Elisa. The shockwave from his landing sent the bounty hunters holding the chains tumbling in all directions.
"Who the hell are you?! How dare you interfere with the Black Bounty Hunters!" the bandit leader bellowed, hastily leaping back to regain his footing.
Frank slowly rose to his full, towering height, shielding the collapsed Elisa behind his broad back. He gripped his trident tightly, the grayish-blue eyes of the former farmer glinting with a murderous aura.
"I am the Guard of the Verdant Territory!" Frank declared thunderously. "And you... have dared to pull the tiger's whiskers within my Lord's domain!"
Elisa blinked sluggishly. The poison blurring her vision also muddled her thoughts. The knight strained to look at the massive back of the young man standing before her... Who are they? Why would someone suddenly rescue a fugitive with a national bounty on her head?
Swoosh!
Lloyd, clad in a faded noble's cloak, dropped down gracefully, landing silently on a low boulder behind Frank. His posture exuded an aura of elegance and absolute calm. Though physically the weakest one present, the commanding presence he radiated made everyone freeze.
"Capture their boss for me, Frank," Lloyd stated flatly. "As for his underlings... Sylvie, box them in. Don't let a single one escape!"
"Roger that!" Sylvie's voice chimed from the darkness, accompanied by three more arrows that plummeted down, piercing the chests of three bounty hunters who were trying to flee!
Lloyd's sudden intervention had completely flipped the battlefield on its head!
"Who are you?!"
The Black Bounty Hunter leader roared. Seeing Lloyd's noble attire, his scarred face twisted with a mix of fury and paranoia. "You're a noble! Why are you interfering with an Imperial Court target?! That bitch has a 5,000 gold coin bounty on her head!"
"Five thousand gold coins, you say..." Lloyd scoffed, his eyes turning ice-cold. "Such a paltry sum... could never buy my vision."
In his mind, the former World Champion was calculating furiously. A UR unit like Elisa, if converted to in-game value, was a priceless asset! Letting her get 'last-hit' right in front of him would be the ultimate disgrace for a base-building player!
"System... activate [Micro-Management] again," Lloyd commanded through gritted teeth, despite his body's heavy protests.
Ding!
[Mana Deducted: 15 points]
[Mana Remaining: 10/100 - EMERGENCY WARNING: Body entering Overload state!]
Bright red blood began to trickle from Lloyd's nose. A pain that felt as though his skull was splitting apart surged through him, but he forced a smile. He transmitted commands directly to Frank and Sylvie via his consciousness, his vision perfectly synchronizing with theirs as one.
"Frank! Strike his left knee! Sylvie, suppress the escape route at three o'clock!"
"Haaah!" Frank roared, receiving the command purely on instinct. Without wasting a single second to change his stance, the giant youth lunged forward, spinning his trident in a low sweep aimed right at the bandit leader's knee with a speed that defied his bulk!
CRACK!
"Aaaargh!" The bounty hunter leader shrieked as his left kneecap was shattered to dust in a single blow. His massive frame crumpled to the dirt, the iron chain flying from his grasp.
Seeing their boss go down, the remaining four lackeys prepared to bolt, but Sylvie's emerald arrows rained down, pinning the ground right in front of their feet in all directions—flawlessly sealing off every escape route.
"Take one step, and I'll put a hole straight through your skull!" the elven girl's cheerful yet murderous threat echoed from the darkness.
The once-arrogant death-row bounty hunters dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in sheer terror. They had never faced a force with such flawless, seamless coordination before!
With the situation under control, Lloyd instantly deactivated [Micro-Management] . He wiped the blood from his nose with his sleeve before slowly approaching the knight slumped against the rocks.
"Don't... come any closer..."
Elisa Blackwood forced her black greatsword up, pointing it at Lloyd with a trembling hand. Her eyes were glazed over from the paralysis, but her killing intent and fighting spirit still burned brightly. "Veltine nobles... I trust none of you... You're all just wolves in sheep's clothing... hoping to use me, only to betray me later..."
The former Magic Knight Captain had been betrayed by the people she trusted most. Her emotional scars ran far deeper than her physical ones. Recruiting her required more than just force or sweet talk.
Lloyd stopped in his tracks. He raised both hands to chest level, showing he was unarmed and meant no harm.
"My name is Lloyd Weston, Lord of the Verdant Territory," Lloyd introduced himself, his tone gentle yet authoritative. "And I am not here to hand you over to the authorities... Elisa Blackwood."
Elisa paused slightly. "You... know my name?"
"I know much more than your name." Lloyd met her clouded gaze. "I know you stumbled upon the supply embezzlement ring. I know you intended to expose the truth. And I know... those two-faced nobles pinned their crimes on you to cover their own vile tracks."
Elisa's eyes widened, her pale lips trembling. For weeks on the run, not a single soul had listened to the truth from her lips. Everyone only saw a traitor with a massive bounty.
"If you know the truth... then why do you dare save me?" Elisa asked warily. "Saving me means you're making an enemy of the high nobles in the capital."
"Because I'm about to be targeted by them as well." Lloyd chuckled softly in his throat. "My territory is under threat. I need someone with skill, experience, and most importantly... I need someone who harbors a 'grudge' against the injustice of this Empire, to help me forge a new kingdom."
Lloyd lowered his hands and extended his right hand toward the female knight.
"Within the Veltine Empire, you may be a traitor with no place to belong..." The young Baron's eyes shone with absolute sincerity and power. "But in the Verdant Territory... I offer you the position of 'Military Commander.' Become my sword, and I shall be your shield. I swear that no one on this continent will ever dare lay a finger on my people."
Those words struck Elisa's battered heart with full force.
It wasn't the empty boasting of a foolish young noble. The aura of leadership radiating from Lloyd felt eerily similar to the legendary 'Great Generals' she had dreamed of following in her youth.
The black greatsword in Elisa's hand wavered before plummeting to the dirt. Clang!
The crushing tension she had carried for weeks completely shattered, alongside her physical limits. The paralyzing poison had finally overwhelmed her nervous system entirely. The knight swayed, collapsing forward.
Lloyd immediately dashed in, catching Elisa's unconscious body in his arms. Her armor was freezing cold and reeked of blood, but the status bar floating above her head displayed a message that made Lloyd grin from ear to ear.
Ding!
[System Update: Unit 'Elisa Blackwood' has accepted your aid.]
[Loyalty Status: 60/100 (Basic Trust) ]
[UR-Grade Unit Successfully Acquired for your forces!]
"Got her... Mission accomplished," Lloyd muttered in relief. His headache seemed to dull significantly upon seeing such a rewarding outcome.
Frank rushed over to help support her. "My Lord, she's passed out. The poison is severe; we must hurry and take her back to Elder Aura for an antidote right away!"
"Right. Frank, load her onto your horse..." Lloyd commanded while wiping his nosebleed. "Sylvie, come down and help tie up the remaining bounty hunters. We'll take them back to the territory to interrogate them."
Sylvie glided down from the branches with graceful elegance. "You got it, Commander! My, my... getting such a pretty female knight to join our party... I hope you won't forget about your trusty sniper now," the elven girl teased playfully.
Everything seemed to be wrapping up perfectly. The mission to rescue the legendary unit was a resounding success. The Verdant Territory was about to gain the strongest military commander possible.
However... just as Frank was lifting Elisa's body onto the back of his horse...
Rumble... Rumble...
The ground beneath the Whispering Gorge began to tremble faintly!
It wasn't an earthquake. It was the vibration caused by a massive number of horse hooves charging at full speed. The cacophony of clashing steel echoed against the cliffs, sounding as if a vast army of grim reapers was on the march!
Sylvie's ears twitched sharply. The previously cheerful elven girl's face went deathly pale in a fraction of a second. "My Lord! Frank! People are coming... a lot of them! Not just ten or twenty... there must be more than fifty!"
Lloyd's eyes widened in shock. He whipped his head toward the gorge's entrance—their only escape route.
Dozens of torches flared to life in the darkness. The blood-red flames reflected off the pitch-black armor of the 'Cavalry Unit' standing in formation, completely sealing off the entrance to the gorge!
On the war banners fluttering in the wind, a bloodthirsty wolf crest was emblazoned... the true emblem of the Black Bounty Hunter Guild!
"Did you fools honestly think... that prey worth five thousand gold coins would be hunted down with such a pathetic number of men?"
A deep, raspy voice boomed from a gargantuan man riding a heavily armored warhorse at the front of the formation. He wore an iron mask that covered half his face. The menacing mana radiating from his body was so intimidating that Frank's horse instinctively took a step back in fear.
The masked man pointed his massive sword straight at Lloyd's group, his gaze utterly ruthless and devoid of mercy.
"Leave the traitorous knight behind... or we'll grind you into mincemeat right alongside her... Make your choice, you pieces of trash!"
Lloyd's temples throbbed violently. His single-digit remaining mana was completely insufficient to activate [Micro-Management] to turn the tables again. The enemy's massive reinforcement squad had perfectly sealed off any chance of survival!
The true disaster... had only just begun!
(End of Episode 16)