168: Chapter 168 Lucky Star

The biting cold wind whistled, carrying with it several soul-chilling beast roars.

On the deep snow, which was over ankle-deep, five Full Knights stood in a standoff against three massive figures.

Three pairs of bloodthirsty eyes stared intently at the five Full Knights before them, filled with endless killing intent.

They had assumed that the previous beast horde attack would deplete the stamina of the five humans who posed the greatest threat, thereby increasing their own chances of victory.

But who would have thought their fighting spirit was so astonishing? Even after being injured by them—who were stronger—they did not retreat a single step, remaining at the very front of the caravan to protect it.

Facing the sharp gazes of the five Full Knights, the three magical beasts hesitated for a moment.

Although their keen senses told them that the five Full Knights were certainly no match for them, they were not weak enough to be easily crushed.

If they couldn't land a killing blow, they would inevitably face a desperate counterattack, making injury a highly probable outcome.

Getting injured in this kind of weather was certainly not a good thing for creatures like them.

Their hesitation was clearly seen by the five, causing their hearts to lift slightly.

One of the knights whispered, "Everyone, don't rush. Although they are stronger than us, their strength is limited."

"As long as we coordinate with each other, we definitely have a chance to kill them. Even if we can't kill them, there is a high probability we can escape."

Hearing this, the other four Full Knights nodded in agreement.

This strong mental fortitude was honed through the devilish training they had undergone under Red, as well as through field combat assessments.

If they couldn't remain calm in the face of danger, they could hardly be considered qualified knights.

As a fierce cold wind swept by, the three magical beasts, having hesitated for a while, decided to strike.

After all, the atmosphere had already been built up to this point; if they retreated now, wouldn't that show they were afraid?

What would the surrounding beasts think? They would surely become a laughingstock among other magical beasts in the future.

Roars vibrated through the air as the three magical beasts tensed their legs and lunged at the five Full Knights.

Seeing this, the five, who had already anticipated and prepared for this, gripped their longswords and quickly moved their bodies to dodge the pounce.

Then, they formed a pincer movement and launched a storm-like assault on the three magical beasts.

Although the snow was deep, it didn't affect them much, and their movements remained agile and swift.

The surrounding beasts were not idle either. Seeing that the greatest threats were being pinned down, they immediately let out bloodthirsty growls and charged at the rest of the caravan again.

"Not good!"

Bradley's expression changed, and he exclaimed, "Without the help of the five knights, those hired guards will absolutely not be able to resist so many beasts."

Beside him, Ulysses gritted his teeth, showing an expression of unwillingness.

As someone who had been striving toward the path of knighthood, he understood the battlefield situation very well. If things continued like this, they would definitely die here.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shift his gaze to the five Full Knights, his eyes filled with immense hope, wishing they could defeat the three magical beasts.

Unfortunately, hope was just hope. The five Full Knights had already lost a lot of stamina from the previous siege by the beast horde.

Now, facing magical beasts that were stronger than them and in peak condition, it was already quite impressive that they had held on until now.

Unless the three magical beasts made a mistake, they had absolutely no chance of killing them.

In the nearby forest area, Lister led nearly ten knights, taking in every scene.

Through divination information, he had long known that Bradley and the others would be attacked, so he had brought people here early to wait.

The divination information didn't actually give him the exact location, but through Raymond's reconnaissance, he had easily tracked them down.

As for why he didn't intervene immediately, it was because he wanted to train those five Full Knights.

He wanted to see how far the five Full Knights could go in such an emergency.

So far, he was very satisfied. Whether in terms of combat coordination or fighting spirit, there was not much to criticize about the five of them.

Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly intense, Lister knew he couldn't let it continue and gently raised his hand to signal.

Red and the other knights beside him immediately understood and spurred their horses toward the caravan.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~

Sharp piercing sounds rang out one after another, and several cold flashes streaked through the air. The three magical beasts that were fighting the five Full Knights were instantly decapitated, unable to even let out a whimper.

The sudden scene shocked everyone and every beast present, and they all looked toward the direction the sound came from.

Accompanied by heavy and powerful hoofbeats, Red and the others rode their warhorses, charging into the beast horde like iron tanks.

Amidst the flashing cold steel, before the beasts could react much, the small battlefield centered on the caravan was instantly surrounded by beast corpses, and blood, like tomato sauce, stained a large expanse of white snow Red.

Such overwhelming strength made everyone present feel their blood boil; for a moment, even the cold air seemed much warmer.

Among them, Ulysses, who dreamed of becoming a knight, was so excited that his face flushed Red.

This was the first time he had seen such powerful knights fighting from such a close distance; the impact was far greater than when he watched magical beasts giving birth.

At this moment, his resolve to become a knight became even firmer.

However, compared to Ulysses and the others, Bradley was much more composed. Although Red and the others had saved them, he still maintained a certain level of wariness given their unknown identity.

But this wariness soon dissipated, turning into infinite surprise.

"Lord Red, you arrived just in time." One of the Full Knights who had just been fighting the three magical beasts said with joy on his face.

Red nodded slightly without saying much, and then he and the other reinforcing knights spurred their horses to clear a path as Lister rode over slowly.

Upon seeing him, the five Full Knights immediately saluted and greeted him.

"Lord Lister, greetings to you."

"Greetings to you."

Nodding slightly, Lister wore a gentle smile and praised, "You performed well. To be able to remain calm in the face of powerful enemies—it seems my previous investment in you was not in vain."

"You have worked hard on this escort mission. After returning, go to Thomas to receive your corresponding rewards."

"Thank you for your grace, Lord Lister." The five Full Knights thanked him loudly, their faces filled with joy.

At this moment, Bradley, with Ulysses in tow, rode his horse to a spot not far in front of Lister.

"Bradley Mandy, accompanied by my young son Ulysses Mandy, pays respects to Lord Lister Howard." The two dismounted and bowed respectfully, and the other family members and attendants followed suit.

Leaping off his horse, Lister stepped forward quickly to lift the hands of the two who were bowing, and with a smile as gentle as a spring breeze, he said, "Lord Bradley, Ulysses, and everyone of the Mandy Family, welcome."

"From now on, you are part of my Ironthorn Territory, so there is no need to be so reserved."

"You have also had a hard journey. Let us hurry back; the welcome banquet prepared for you is already ready."

Seeing Lister's demeanor, everyone was immediately surprised, unable to help but marvel at his approachability.

Especially Bradley and Ulysses, who showed expressions of being flattered and said gratefully, "Many thanks for your kindness, Lord Lister!"

Soon, after cleaning up the battlefield and loading all the magical beast and beast corpses, the caravan slowly began to move again.

The rest of the journey was extremely smooth. The pairs of prying eyes that had originally existed in the forest dared not pry any longer, fearing they might attract the favor of the Grim Reaper.

Soon, everyone walked out of the forest, but what met their eyes was not deep snow, but a flat road where the snow had been cleared.

Bradley knew that this must have been done by people arranged by Lister, specifically to make their caravan's travel more convenient.

For such a meticulous and thoughtful gesture, he was not only moved but also deeply impressed.

Beside him, Ulysses had a look of wanting to say something but hesitating.

Lister smiled slightly and said, "Ulysses, is there something you want to tell me?"

Seeing his thoughts were seen through, Ulysses finally couldn't hold back and prepared to speak, but when the words reached his lips, he changed his phrasing.

"Lord Lister, why are your knights all so powerful? I feel they are even more powerful than the knights serving many Viscount Territory lords, even though you are only a Baron—"

Before he finished, he suddenly realized he was about to say the wrong thing and quickly stopped.

Bradley's expression changed, and he scolded, "Ulysses, what are you saying? Quickly apologize to Lord Lister."

"You are being too serious, Lord Bradley." Lister waved his hand dismissively and smiled, "Daring to speak the truth is a good thing. I quite like this frankness of Ulysses."

"And isn't this genuine personality exactly what a future knight needs?"

"A future knight!" Bradley and Ulysses were stunned, not understanding the meaning behind Lister's words.

Lister maintained his calm smile and said, "Ulysses, do you not wish to become a real knight?"

A real knight!

At this moment, the two instantly understood what Lister had just said, and both immediately showed expressions of immense excitement.

Moreover, compared to Ulysses, the emotion on Bradley's face was even more intense.

Although he had only met Lister a short while ago, he could already feel that Lister was not the type of person to joke about such serious matters.

Since Lister had brought it up personally, it naturally wouldn't be without purpose.

Since the founding of the Mandy Family, the desire to have their own knights within the family had been extremely intense.

Now that the opportunity was right before him, he naturally could not let it pass.

The moment the words fell, Bradley said eagerly, "Yes, of course he wants to. Becoming a knight has been his dream since he was a child."

"I hope Lord Lister can give him this opportunity. The Mandy Family will absolutely not disappoint your grace."

Ulysses did not expect his father to be so excited; this was the first time he had seen it since he was born. For a moment, the excitement on his face dissipated quite a bit.

Lister said with a sincere tone, "Lord Bradley, there is no need for this. This is not a matter of grace. Anyone who is truly loyal to me will have the opportunity to become a knight or other types of transcendent beings."

"The reason I brought it up just now is because I saw the eagerness and firm heart to become a knight in Ulysses' eyes."

"And through my observation just now, I found his foundation is very good; he is definitely very suitable for the cultivation of the knight's path."

Lister's words were not an exaggeration made to win their hearts, but his true inner thoughts.

Of course, the part about his observations naturally contained a fair amount of embellishment; after all, although his strength was good, he didn't have a third eye and didn't have the ability to directly determine a person's talent.

The reason he said this was because the divination information from a few days ago clearly stated that Ulysses had strong talent for knight cultivation and would be at least a Golden Knight in the future.

With such a talented individual, he naturally could not let him go.

For Isabelle, this time, she not only helped him gain a vassal family but also gained a Golden Knight.

While feeling grateful, he also somewhat suspected whether Isabelle was his lucky star; otherwise, how could he encounter so many good things?

Hearing Lister say this, Bradley was even more overjoyed, although Lister didn't say what level of knight Ulysses would definitely become in the future.

But he could still hear the intense joy of gaining a talent in Lister's tone.

It was evident that Lister's regard for Ulysses was by no means as simple as he described.

At this moment, Ulysses, who was on the side, also recovered from his indescribable excitement and hurriedly dismounted to salute, saying, "Thank you for your appreciation, Lord Lister. Ulysses will definitely not disappoint your high expectations."

Nodding with satisfaction, Lister did not continue this topic.

Soon, the massive caravan slowly drove into the territory of the Iron Thorn Territory Branch.

The Western Frontier fortress city, Coridinglo.

Not long after a Magic Cloud Eagle flew into the Earl's residence, a furious roar with immense oppressive pressure quickly emanated from the Earl's office.

"Beast Tribe, do they not want to live anymore!"

Looking at the contents of the letter that had just arrived in his hand, even the usually composed Theodore couldn't help but tremble slightly with anger.

He didn't expect that only two days after the news of the large-scale invasion of the Orc Race from the Northern Territory reached him, the Beast Tribe outside the Western Frontier Territory would take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

And the targets of the sneak attack were the lords of the Western Frontier Territory. Although those lords had reacted quickly and organized a defense at the first opportunity.

But several of the lords closest to the defense line were still destroyed by the powerful offensive of the Beast Tribe and turned into ruins.

In the past, the Beast Tribe would absolutely have slaughtered all the official forces of the human territory, but this time they did not do so.

Instead, they spent quite a bit of effort to capture those lords alive, using them as bargaining chips to exchange for benefits.

This approach made it very difficult for him, the Earl of the Western Frontier, to handle. Although most of those lords were descendants abandoned by their families, there was still a blood relationship after all.

Even with his power and prestige, he didn't fear them, but too many mosquitoes were still annoying.

"What a bunch of useless fellows!"

Spitting out a curse in frustration, Theodore ordered loudly, "Order Montgomery to come immediately."

"Yes, Earl."