Chapter 63: Chapter 63
In truth, other than the Senior Knights raised by the Sis Territory itself, no Senior Knight was willing to rush out to this remote region to fight to the death.
However, the Sis Territory also possessed an advantage that no other place had: it was located at the easternmost reaches of the Kingdom of Helios, and to its east lay an area awaiting development that was nearly the size of an entire nation.
As long as the Sis Territory could establish a firm foothold, it could radiate outward into a vast expanse of emerging territories from here, thereby bringing brand-new developmental opportunities to the Kingdom of Helios.
Among the six nations currently on the continent, the Oz Empire was the most prosperous, followed by the Kingdom of Helios. If not for the Wastelander Prince’s Rebellion back then, the Kingdom of Helios might already be the most powerful nation on the continent.
The reasoning was something even someone like Morris, who grew up in a remote region, could understand; there was no reason the Royal Capital wouldn’t see it too. Immense, sinister intent lay hidden within this.
Once the great expansion of the eastern borders began, the Sis Territory would become the core of all subsequent plans, or at the very least, an incredibly crucial and unavoidable link. Those important figures in the Royal Capital were perhaps unwilling to see such a Sis Territory exist.
As far as Morris himself was concerned, he actually didn’t care who the Lord of Sis was. As long as they could keep the territory safe, even handing it over to a scion from the Royal Capital would be perfectly acceptable.
In fact, one very important reason he was so desperate to achieve the Senior Knight rank was this: he wanted to persuade the Lord to request aid from the Royal Capital after he became a Senior Knight.
In the past, the merchant guilds that visited the Sis Territory every year would almost always suggest relocating the Sis Territory inland or seeking help from the Royal Capital, but the Lord rejected them every time with harsh words.
In recent years, if there had been no signs of improvement in the Lord’s health, he perhaps wouldn’t have even accepted the Mailin Merchant Guild’s investment. But even then, it was limited strictly to investments; letting Royal Capital forces interfere remained impossible.
In his heart, Morris actually had quite a few complaints about the Lord’s behavior, and even within the Territory Guard, there were also many differing voices.
However, whenever someone raised doubts, the Lord or Waynes would always brush them off with the excuse that Royal Capital forces would drive out ordinary people of Eastern descent.
Morris had privately asked people from the Mailin Merchant Guild about it. The inland regions of the Kingdom of Helios did indeed harbor a certain bias against ordinary people with Eastern bloodlines, but this primarily stemmed from their fear regarding the inexplicable destruction of the Gustara Kingdom to the east of Helios.
It didn’t involve any discriminatory elements; instead, they mostly felt sympathy. Rather than calling it a bias, it was more of a reluctance to be reminded of Gustara’s sudden destruction, and thus an unwillingness to see the survivors of Gustara appear before them.
But everything had two sides. Just as there were Helios citizens who loathed seeing the survivors of Gustara, there were also those who wished to see them, and even those who spent large sums every year to hire exploration teams to venture deep into the former lands of Gustara in search of survivors.
The latter were basically descendants of the Gustara survivors who had fled to Helios a long time ago. If they could establish a connection with those people, the problems currently facing the Sis Territory might have an alternative solution.
Morris didn’t know why the Lord insisted on refusing outside help. Compared to the outcome of slowly declining toward ruin and eventual destruction, wasn’t it better to cede some interests to outsiders in exchange for greater opportunities for development?
In the past, Morris rarely pondered these questions. But now, he had already seen the dawn of the Senior Knight rank. He figured that as long as he became a Senior Knight, the Lord would surely consider his suggestion seriously!
…
“That’s about enough! Conserve some energy, stop chopping!” Morris issued a new order.
He carefully observed the clearing they had carved out, rapidly memorizing the topography and landscape of this area in his mind. He didn’t aim to remember it perfectly, but he needed at least a preliminary impression.
The reason Senior Knights could become Senior Knights was only secondarily due to sheer physical strength. Just as some Intermediate Knights had less physical strength than Junior Knights, a Senior Knight’s physical strength was not necessarily superior to that of an Intermediate Knight.
What truly earned them the title of “Senior” lay in their combat intuition, which far surpassed that of ordinary people, allowing them to perceive all information on the battlefield and even utilize it.
In a one-on-one situation, even if a certain Intermediate Knight had greater physical strength than a Senior Knight, it was almost impossible for them to defeat the Senior Knight in battle, let alone launch a successful sneak attack.
Only by combining the strength of multiple people and besieging them with Battle Formations could they have a chance at defeating a Senior Knight.
To gain such transcendent combat intuition, ordinary training was no longer effective. Aside from a very few individuals with exceptional talent, ordinary Intermediate Knights often needed to fight in life-and-death duels to achieve enlightenment.
Morris didn’t consider himself someone with outstanding natural talent. Even with Waynes’s explicit guidance, he simply couldn’t develop transcendent intuition on his own, so he chose to grasp it through life-and-death duels.
If once didn’t work, then twice. If twice didn’t work, then three times. As long as he didn’t die, he would keep going until he fully comprehended it.
…
Just as Morris was familiarizing himself with the terrain, Garrick suddenly called out in a hushed voice, “Captain, the Aberrant Beasts are coming.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a roar that mixed the howls of several different beasts echoed from not far ahead. The soundwaves vibrated, shaking the surrounding Qiumu trees so violently that their leaves rustled loudly.
Hearing this sound, Morris’s initially tense heart instead calmed down. They were just Aberrant Beasts; it wasn’t like he hadn’t killed them before. At most, this time would be closer to a one-on-one fight.
“Stay vigilant and provide cover. Until the very last moment, do not come help me! Garrick, you have the best eyesight here, don’t make a move prematurely.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Everyone shared a tacit understanding and didn’t waste words. Seeing this, Morris’s heart grew even calmer. Even though a life-and-death battle was about to take place, he felt practically nothing.
He faintly realized that his current state was already very close to that of a Senior Knight, but there was one final step to confirm: absolute trust in his own perception and intuition!
“Boom!”
In the next moment, a massive behemoth crashed through the tangled branches that Morris and the others hadn’t managed to chop down, appearing right before them. The scent of Order was attracting this chaotic monster with nine heads and three tails.
“I’m going in!”
Morris muttered, then gripped his sword with one hand and charged toward the nine-headed monster. Aberrant Beasts didn’t have fixed shapes; instead, they looked more like amalgamations stitched together from various wild beasts.
Of the nine heads of this nine-headed monster before them, three were wolf heads. The other six consisted of heads from terrestrial animals like monkeys, badgers, and leopards, as well as a completely mismatched long-snouted crocodile head.
Its body resembled that of a wolf, but it was much sturdier. It had three legs on the left side and four on the right, and two fleshy wings even extended from its ribcage, making it look incredibly awkward no matter how one looked at it.
If it were a normal beast, its legs would be its biggest vulnerability. As long as they severed or injured its legs, human Knights, with their agility, could completely secure victory.
But an Aberrant Beast was not!