Chapter 18: The Farmer and the Snake

There was no conversation throughout the night, yet the three groups of travelers each harbored their own thoughts, unable to find rest. The Reima knights pondered the motives of the fallen knights, while the latter schemed to avoid or get rid of the Reima knights so they could complete their mission. Although Komer and his group were unclear about the origins of the fallen knights, they too sensed the danger posed by these unwelcome guests. Even Fran, who usually didn’t speak much, warned Komer to be vigilant about the movements of the masked knights. By dawn, not a trace of any magical beasts was found, not even any signs of ordinary wild animals.

It wasn’t until they set off that Komer realized he was still in a strange state of excitement. Ever since the battle against the pack of gray wolves, he had been in a daze, overusing his already limited mental energy to cast spells. He had thought this would leave him completely paralyzed or even cause him to suffer from magical backlash and mental collapse. Unexpectedly, when he exerted all his strength to chant the “Dance of the Golden Snake,” a spell he hadn’t truly mastered, the intense magical backlash nearly drained his brain. For a moment, Komer thought he would die from his own impulsive actions. Yet suddenly, a surge of immense mental power rose from his chest, rushing upward through his body and filling his entire mind. Countless dreamlike scenes flooded his mind, making him feel as though his scalp was about to burst.

Scenes of war, slaughter, magic, and dark arts—some seemingly never seen before, yet others eerily familiar—flashed through his mind. Puppets, skeletons, magical beasts, zombies, dragons—countless creatures that seemed to exist only in dreams danced wildly in his thoughts. Emotions of joy, excitement, and happiness mixed with pain, sorrow, and worry, along with confusion and guilt, surged like waves, pushing Komer’s mood from one extreme to another. He even found himself able to observe these positive and negative emotions swirling within him from an outsider’s perspective—sometimes chaotic and violent, sometimes calm as still water. This chaotic state persisted until the gray wolf pack was defeated and gradually subsided. Fortunately, everyone was too busy defending against the wolves to notice anything unusual about Komer, who remained in a daze.

It was precisely this chaotic state of mind that kept Komer in a semi-confused condition, even causing him to appear distracted when talking to others. Although he went to bed early, as soon as he closed his eyes, those chaotic scenes that had appeared in his mind flashed by again. With a dizzy head, Komer decided to enter a meditative state, hoping that these persistent thoughts would be filtered away. But strangely, the method that had always worked before proved ineffective this time; those scenes gradually settled like trickling water into a deep pool, emerging more clearly and completely in his memory, as if they had always been there.

In fact, Komer knew that all these inexplicable changes stemmed from that round crystal shard. That dark and cool crystal had brought him so many unexpected events, making him question whether it was wise to keep it close to him. He couldn’t understand why an item obtained from a dead thief could cause such drastic, even earth-shattering, changes in him. He had no idea, but he knew the two Rema knights who had been with him must know something. Yet not only did he dare not ask, but he also had to pretend everything was under control.

Everything that was meant to happen would happen. As the two Rema knights rushed forward, drawn by the anxious expression of a masked knight scouting ahead, Komer finally sensed a faint murderous intent coming from behind.

At the same moment, the two masked knights drew their shiny black knightly guns. Thanks to his keen senses, Komer immediately realized that the masked knights were targeting him, as well as Ilot and Puber. Clearly, this was an ambush by the people of Cyprus—no one else would attempt to assassinate him for no reason. Komer no longer had time to wonder whether it was the Grand Duke or disgruntled members of the guild who had planned this assassination. Two knightly guns were already swirling through the air, clearly intent on eliminating him in one fell swoop.

“Ilot, be careful! This guy is skilled in combat energy and dark magic—he’s a Fallen Knight!” His keen intuition allowed Komer to immediately recognize the opponent’s background. Though he didn’t understand how his enemy, who wanted him dead, could have recruited such men, their notorious reputation across the continent was well-known to most. At first, Komer also couldn’t fathom why the Fallen Knights would target him. When the opponent launched a spear attack laced with dark magic, he instantly realized that the enemy truly intended to kill them all.

Already on guard, Ilot quickly drew his thick backsword from his waist and met the spear tip, which now glowed darkly. The sword, enhanced by magical attacks, emitted a faint blue glow as it cut through the air—a result of Ilot’s years of hard work in mastering martial arts. Though he hadn’t yet reached the level of a true martial artist, for an ordinary mortal warrior, this was already an extraordinary achievement.

Wave after wave of dark halos erupted from the spear tip, creating a powerful suction force as if trying to drain the air from the space. Even the fallen leaves from the surrounding trees spun in the swirling wind currents—this was the true power of the Fallen Knights. Even during life-or-death battles against magical beasts, Jacques had never used this technique infused with dark magic, “Phantom Sky Sweep.”

When Jacques launched his spear attack with dark magic, Komer knew that Ilot’s current skills were nowhere near sufficient to match this opponent, especially since the enemy had immediately used his ultimate technique to kill them. Without hesitation, a spell flashed through Komer’s mind, and he instinctively chanted, “Flames of the Netherworld, thousands of hearts, go!”

The moment their weapons made contact, Ilot lost his fighting ability. The immense devouring power of dark magic sucked away all the internal energy he had gathered in his sword in an instant. Like a weak snake, his sword drooped limply, while the opponent’s spear tip was pushed aside by his sword. The force of the spear’s impact sent Ilot flying several feet away. Even though Ilot was clad in armor reinforced with Komer’s protective magic, the series of rolls after hitting the ground still caused blood to spray out. Suddenly, a magical fireball exploded, forming a massive web of fire. But under the overwhelming power of dark magic, the fire web was quickly consumed. Yet this gave Ilot, who had just been defeated, a chance to escape.

With his eyes blood-red, Komer no longer had any other thoughts. Killing the man who dared harm his friend was the only goal in his mind. The intense stimulus filled his mind with a desire for bloody revenge. Before the fireball fired from his hand could explode, Komer twisted his body in a strange manner, accelerating and changing direction as he rushed within ten feet of the Masked Knight. Suddenly, he roared a curse: “Dark God, I swear by the Abyssal Dragon of Darkness! With your power, the Exchanger of Demons is willing to trade in promises of light!”

To the astonishment of everyone present, Komer, facing the attack head-on, suddenly became like a storm-lashed peak. Wind blades, powerful enough to tear apart any creature, erupted from the combat energy radiating from Lu Chen’s spear. The fierce wind howled as his wide robes spun and shattered into fragments, his black hair standing upright as if in a frozen space. With slow, deliberate movements, Komer spread his hands and grabbed the knight’s spear, which was vibrating violently and generating waves of force. The collision of the two dark forces was like two counter-rotating vortices, causing severe distortions in the air with piercing screams. Dark mist dispersed, resembling the wails of countless demons from hell. As the dark clouds rose, a sinister smile, filled with a sense of vicissitudes, appeared on his youthful face, which seemed out of place for such a smile. The Masked Knight’s eyes narrowed sharply, his entire body trembling violently. Before he could even utter a sound, he twisted and rolled in a manner that defied logic, flying ten meters away like lightning.

“Go!” With this panicked shout, another Masked Knight, who had just entered the fight, didn’t hesitate. Using a smoke bomb to create a cloud of darkness, he rushed back and disappeared in an instant, leaving Fran and Bao Ling, who had barely managed to hold him off. Meanwhile, thunderous hoofbeats echoed from ahead. Realizing something was wrong, the two Thunder Horse Knights broke free from the other Masked Knight’s entanglement and rushed back desperately, but they could only just catch sight of the two figures disappearing like the wind.

The immense backlash of casting dark magic once again plunged Komer into a state of frenzy. In a dazed state, he had to silently use meditation techniques to try and control his surging urge to kill. Waves of violent emotions surged within him, causing him to retch repeatedly, and blood streaked the corners of his eyes. Forced by these uncontrollable murderous impulses, he had to give up all action and sit cross-legged with his eyes closed, relying on his meditation skills to strengthen his mental strength and suppress them. Otherwise, if he entered a berserk state, he feared he would never be able to control his mind again. Even as the sound of thundering horse hooves approached, Komer did not dare to be distracted in the slightest.