"Luther! Behind you!"
Sarrientus's hoarse warning snapped Luther back. He pulled the chainsword from the monster's gushing neck, relying on his knight's combat instincts to spin and parry the sneaking claws. The collision produced a shower of sparks.
But just then, the bolt pistol in Luther's left hand was already aimed at the monster's soft underbelly.
Bang! Bang!
The blazing bolts exploded in the monster's belly, creating two clouds of crimson mist.
With a howl, the monster crashed to the ground, shaking the earth.
The gunfire gradually grew sparse, finally ceasing altogether, leaving only the smell of gunsmoke and blood lingering in the forest.
Luther removed his blood-smeared helmet. He knelt on one knee before a stunned little girl, his voice gentle as he soothed her. "You're safe now. Go home."
The little girl stared blankly at Luther, tears welling in her eyes.
Her gaze swept over the bodies strewn around them, and she finally couldn't hold back her sobs.
"Daddy... Mommy..."
Her young voice was filled with despair. She didn't understand why this had happened.
Luther looked at the knights around him. They were tending to the wounded villagers among the ruins.
But the little girl's parents had already died protecting her in the monster's first wave.
Luther looked at the devastated village of Chisano, silently clenching his fists. They had been too late.
But what else could they do?
Aldurukh couldn't shelter all the commoners, and the land was too poor for farming.
They could only scatter the commoners like dandelion seeds across the forest around Aldurukh, clearing large fields for cultivation.
Although the Order built roads connecting the villages, and each village had fully armed knights stationed, and three-meter-high log walls for defence, it was still a drop in the bucket against the monsters.
The village militia couldn't threaten the monsters. They could only act as scouts, alerting the village knights when they spotted monsters.
But the village knight had also died in the first wave.
There had been too many monsters. He had done his best.
Once upon a time, Luther's life was exactly like this little girl's.
When he was eight years old, his parents died protecting him from a monster attack.
His adoptive father, Aenorod, had rescued and adopted him from the monster's jaws, giving him the chance to join the Order.
Now he was a knight, yet he still couldn't save the girl's parents.
It felt like another cycle beginning anew.
The war between humanity and monsters had lasted millennia, and would continue. Such cycles would keep happening.
Luther gently wiped the blood from the girl's face. "Child, what's your name?"
"...Ni... Nina..." the little girl sobbed.
"I am Sar Luther. Nina, do you have any other family?"
"No more. The monsters... killed Mommy and Daddy..." The girl trembled, crying even harder.
Luther gently gathered the girl into his arms. "Then, from today on, you are my daughter."
Just as his adoptive father had adopted him on a rainy night ten years ago, he resolved to adopt the girl.
His own child was due soon, and would just happen to need a big sister.
"There are more monsters in the forest!"
Several militiamen were voluntarily heading towards the gap in the wall to stand guard, but the sight of the monsters' silhouettes in the forest drained the colour from their faces.
Luther gently pressed his hand on the girl's thin shoulder, his voice serious. "Stay in the house. Lock the doors and windows. Don't come out no matter what you hear!"
After giving these instructions, he drew his chainsword and turned towards the wall.
Outside the wall, the sight of dozens of monster silhouettes made Luther's heart tighten.
Their squad had only five knights left, and most of their ammunition was spent in the previous fighting.
Without reinforcements, they were likely doomed!
If they abandoned the villagers now, they could ride for Aldurukh and possibly escape, but the villagers would surely die.
But they were knights!
The Order had knights who died fighting, not knights who fled to survive!
"Run!" Sarrientus shouted, his voice hoarse. "The militia will stay with us to hold them off. The rest of you, run for Aldurukh now! We'll slow the monsters, but not for long!"
The villagers' faces were ashen. They all knew the score.
They were dozens of leagues from Aldurukh. Even if the knights could temporarily hold off the beasts, how could they, mostly elderly, women, and children, outrun Caliban's apex predators?
They would be caught halfway, crushed in monstrous jaws.
"Take Nina!" Luther grabbed a villager's arm, pointing at Nina.
Then he released the villager and turned to face the forest.
He had thought he would return laden with honour. Now he had no shortage of honour, but he might not leave alive.
"Forgive me, Fiona," Luther murmured.
Sarrientus's voice was low. "Luther, you go protect the villagers."
Luther looked at the master in shock, then firmly shook his head. "The Order has no knights who desert in battle."
Why was he the one to protect the villagers?
Because his wife was pregnant. Everyone was looking out for him. But Luther didn't need this special treatment.
He was a knight too.
It didn't matter. Even if he died, the Order would take care of his widow.
His pension was generous enough to ensure his child grew up safely and followed in his footsteps to become a new knight.
Even if he died here, his child would look up to him as a role model.
Luther raised his chainsword high. "Let them come!"
"ROAR!"
The forest echoed with the monsters' roaring. The knights stared intently at the forest, their nerves taut.
Duty kept them here. But facing dozens of monsters, tension was an instinctive reaction.
However, Sarrientus's brow was deeply furrowed. "Something's wrong."
He had fought monsters for decades. He couldn't mistake their roars.
But these roars weren't just roars of aggression. They seemed tinged with pain.
They were the ones in danger. What were they hurting about?
THOOM!
A deafening crash interrupted their thoughts. A massive monster flew through the air like a boulder launched from a catapult.
Sarrientus's pupils contracted. He instinctively wanted to dodge, because the monster's trajectory was headed straight for them!
"Look out!"
Luther dashed to the front of the group, his chainsword roaring, ready to meet the charging beast.
But just as the monster was about to hit them, the air five meters away suddenly rippled.
The monster slammed into an invisible wall, crashing to the ground with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Before the dust had settled, Luther's gaze was already locked on a sight deep in the forest.
Through the dappled shadows, he saw a blonde youth riding on the back of a monster. The scene was eerily chilling.
There had been knights who tried to tame monsters, but all had failed.
Monsters were different from cattle, sheep, or horses. They couldn't be tamed. Even their meat was poisonous, causing mutation.
If someone could tame monsters, they definitely weren't normal!
Perhaps he was the one driving these monsters to attack the villages!
But his assumption was overturned the next moment.
Because something even more horrifying happened before his eyes.
The blonde youth was gripping the monster's head with both hands. Amidst a sickening crack of breaking bone, he tore the grisly head clean off its neck!
Blood gushed out like a waterfall. The monster's corpse fell limply. The youth had already sprung towards another monster.
Luther felt his throat tighten. His hands gripping the chainsword trembled involuntarily.
What had he just seen? Was that a human?
"Could I borrow a sword?"
Luther's nerves were taut. An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded beside him without warning.
He instinctively gripped his chainsword hilt, but froze when he saw the newcomer.
The stranger had managed to appear behind them silently. If he wanted to kill them, it would be effortless.
He had just come to borrow a sword. If Luther dared to attack, they were surely dead.
"Use mine." Sarrientus suddenly spoke, handing his power sword to the stranger.
"Thank you."
Caelan took the hilt and tossed it to the youth in the forest. "Catch, Lion!"
The blonde youth turned, caught the hilt, and with a flick of his wrist, plunged the blade into a monster's neck, cleanly carving a perfect ring of blood.
Before the monster could fall, Lion grabbed its grisly head and used it as a weapon, smashing it into another monster trying to sneak up on him.
With a dull thud of skulls colliding, the monster staggered, dazed.
Lion closed in, the blade instantly finding its mark.
His movements were fluid, as precise as an artist performing the art of killing!
Cold sweat beaded on Luther's forehead. He had never seen such lethal violence.
He couldn't discern any specific style or technique in the youth's fighting. It was pure combat instinct, as fierce as a beast.
Even armoured knights were not as clean and efficient in their fights with monsters.
If he were to fight the youth, he would likely be cut down before he could even raise his weapon.
'That youth was no normal man!'
'Who were they?'
Sarrientus narrowed his eyes. "I am Sarrientus, training master of the Order."
Caelan replied, "Caelan Octavian. He is Lion El'Jonson."
"Need any help?"
"No need. Just watch. This is his trial."
Sarrientus asked, "A knight's trial?"
The knight orders of Caliban shared the same tradition. Every squire must hunt a monster to prove themselves worthy of knighthood.
"He is not a knight. But every fight for him is a trial."
Lion was also a battle-frenzy fighter. He hated others stealing his kills.
Although Caelan's psychic hand could crush all these monsters with a single slap, he chose to unleash the cat instead.
Lion was enjoying himself, fully immersed in the fight.
"Luther, go bring the villagers back."
Luther tore his gaze from the blood-soaked youth. This time, going to get the villagers wasn't desertion.
These monsters wouldn't last much longer.
Caelan looked at the knight. "You're Luther?"
Luther placed his right hand on his chest and saluted the stranger. "Sar Luther, knight of the Order."
Caelan asked, "Are there any other Luthers in the Order?"
Sarrientus answered, "Luther is not a common surname. As far as I know, he is the only one."
Caelan asked, "Luther, are you married?"
He had wanted to ask if Luther's wife had died, because in the original history, Luther's wife had died in childbirth shortly before he adopted Lion.
But asking that outright would be too obvious and easily mistaken for a provocation.
Caelan was not Lion. He understood tact.
Luther replied, "I was married two years ago. My wife is about to give birth. Forgive my boldness, but you seem to know me?"
Caelan gave a half-true, half-false explanation. "I am a psyker. I have seen you in my visions."
'Then why ask if I was married?'
'And what was a psyker?
'What else had he seen in his visions?'
Luther didn't understand. But he still had a duty to perform. He had to quickly escort the villagers back to the village.
Before, the village was dangerous. Now, the wilderness was more dangerous.
As a squire brought his warhorse, Luther mounted and rode off after the villagers.
Sarrientus asked, "Lord Octavian, do you belong to any knight order?"
"We haven't joined any order yet. Would the Order welcome us?"
Sarrientus's expression was serious. "Then, on behalf of the Order, I welcome you both!"
Though Caelan and Lion's origins were mysterious, a hero's origins were irrelevant.
The Order already gathered knights from everywhere, fighting for a common ideal, not relying on bloodline inheritance.
Moreover, Lion had already demonstrated astonishing strength. Their joining would only make the Order stronger.
Even if they had other motives for joining, the Order couldn't stop them.
Regardless, Caelan and Lion were their saviours. They could not be ungrateful.
Better to bring them into the Order than to let them scheme in secret.
Even if they had other plans, they would be hard to conceal under the watchful eyes of the Order.
He wasn't worried they were spies from other orders. Who would be stupid enough to send someone like them as a spy?
As the last monster fell with a whimper, Lion, drenched in blood, walked slowly towards the village.
His blonde hair was matted with gore. Shreds of flesh and viscera clung to his clothes. Every step left bloody footprints on the ground.
The knights unconsciously backed away. The youth before them was even more terrifying than the monsters.
Those were Caliban's apex predators, and Lion had slaughtered them like pigs!
Lion stopped before Caelan, raising his blood-streaked face. "I need a bath."
Sarrientus, taking the hint, instructed a nearby militiaman, "Fetch a basin of water for our young hero."
"Here." Lion handed back the power sword. Blood from the hilt was dripping down the grooves.
Sarrientus silently took the blade, which should have been spotless. Its current sorry state was a desecration.
Lion had never even activated its disruption field, just swinging it with brute force.
Although Sarrientus's expression remained calm, he had been secretly terrified during Lion's fight.
He wasn't worried Lion would be hurt. He was afraid Lion would break the sword.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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