65: Chapter 65 Crimson Pursuit! A Stunningly Beautiful Female Knight! 88 points!

They had successfully escaped from Red Maple Castle.

But the pursuers were also coming extremely fast.

The sound of hooves thundered in pursuit from behind.

The leader, riding a magnificent black horse and clad in dark red half-plate armor, radiated a chilling, blood-curdling aura. It was none other than Knight Anthony, who usually handled all affairs in the castle!

A look of extreme cruelty played on his face, and crimson light danced in his eyes.

"Where are you two little lords heading? The night is so deep, and the mountain roads are not easy to walk."

Anthony's voice traveled from afar, laced with mockery and killing intent.

The two fled for a while, only to finally realize they could not escape.

"Run separately!" Mira roared at her younger brother, simultaneously drawing her sword, turning her horse around, and charging head-on toward the pursuers!

She wanted to buy time for her brother.

"Sister!" Griffin shouted.

But he also knew this was the only way for one of them to survive, so he gritted his teeth and continued to charge forward.

"Seeking death!" Anthony sneered, not even bothering to pay attention to Griffin, who was fleeing to the other side, as he charged straight toward Mira.

He also drew his sword—a two-handed longsword with a dark red blade that looked as if it had been gorged on fresh blood.

The two horses crossed, and their sword lights collided!

Clang!

Amidst the piercing clash, Mira's entire body shook violently, her tiger's mouth split open, and her sword nearly flew from her hand!

The gap between an Official Knight and a Senior Knight—especially one who practiced an evil Breathing Technique—was simply too vast!

Her warhorse was also intimidated by the opponent's fierce, bloody battle qi, rearing up and throwing her off its back.

Mira rolled on the ground, knelt up, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, and stared fixedly at Anthony, who was slowly approaching on horseback.

She saw that on the other side, several pursuers had already entangled Griffin; her brother was resisting desperately, but he was in constant danger.

"Red Maple Breathing Technique? Hmph, flashy but impractical." Anthony glanced at the red battle qi rising on Mira's sword like maple leaves and sneered disdainfully.

Immediately after, his dark red battle qi erupted violently, and a thick, bloody, and brutal aura permeated the air, faintly mixed with the auditory hallucination of painful wails:

"Let me show you what true power is! Crimson Blood Slash!"

He charged forward on his horse, his dark red longsword whistling through the air as it slashed directly toward the top of Mira's head!

Before the sword even arrived, the nauseating stench of blood and the chilling killing intent that pierced to the bone made it difficult for Mira to breathe.

Mira shouted sharply, pushing her remaining Red Maple Breathing Technique battle qi to the limit, swinging her sword to parry while rolling to the side.

Boom!

The dark red longsword struck the ground, blasting out a shallow crater as dirt and withered leaves flew everywhere.

Although Mira dodged the direct hit, she was caught by the aftermath of the sword qi, spitting out another mouthful of blood as a sharp pain from a fractured bone shot through her left arm.

"Griffin!"

She looked anxiously in her brother's direction, only to see Griffin's thigh pierced by a pursuer's spear, falling with a scream, and then being slashed in the back by another person!

"No—!!!" Mira let out a heart-wrenching wail, her eyes instantly bloodshot.

"It seems I don't need to do it myself." Anthony turned his horse around leisurely, watching the tragic scene of her brother being hacked to death not far away, a look of sadistic enjoyment on his face:

"Deep sibling love? Truly touching."

"Rest assured, I'll send you to join him soon. Your blood is still quite pure; perhaps it's qualified to become a high-quality sacrifice..."

Extreme grief, anger, despair, and the shock of witnessing her brother's tragic death drove Mira completely mad.

She recklessly burned the last of the battle qi in her body.

Her Red Maple Breathing Technique battle qi became violent and unstable, faintly tinged with a hint of blood color.

Like a wounded tigress, she roared, dragging her injured body, and pounced toward Anthony again!

She had completely ignited her life seed, leaving only the determination to perish together.

"A dying struggle." Anthony's eyes turned cold, losing his patience for playing around.

The longsword in his hand suddenly erupted with dark red light, like a cascading waterfall of blood.

Just at this moment—

Under a small hill hundreds of meters away from the battlefield, a passing carriage quietly stopped.

The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing Rowan's calm face.

He was on his way back to White Cliff Territory when he heard the fierce fighting and screams ahead, so he signaled the coachman to stop and silently leaped up the hillside to observe.

He narrowed his eyes, his Insight trait quietly activating, instantly taking in the entire situation on the battlefield.

A red-haired female knight, appearing to be in a state of madness, was launching a charge.

A dark-armored knight with a chilling and powerful aura was swinging his sword to meet her.

As well as the corpse of a young man not far away and several red-armored Apprentice Knights cleaning up the battlefield.

When his gaze fell on Knight Anthony and he sensed that familiar dark red battle qi fluctuation, full of blood and brutality, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Crimson Breathing Technique!

He had once refined the Blood Rage trait from it; it was quite useful and suitable for bursts of power.

However, another person from the Crimson Knights?!

And it looked like they were hunting down others?

He did not hesitate any longer.

The silver star ring flashed with a faint light, and the crystalline frost speaker longbow was already in his hand.

An extreme cold star-fall arrow seemed to condense from the void and automatically nocked onto the bowstring.

With a simple aim, under the Frost Heart Realm, Knight Anthony's heart, slightly exposed due to his confidence in victory, was like a bright lamp in the night within the vision of Insight.

The Wind Breath trait attached to the arrow shaft, and the Frost trait was compressed to the extreme at the arrow tip.

The bow was drawn like a full moon.

Wind Breath · Winter Veil · Silent Funeral!

He released the string.

Silent!

The moment the arrow left the string, it seemed to disappear completely from sight; there was only an imperceptible trace of Frost that pierced through hundreds of meters of space at an extreme speed!

Below, Knight Anthony's cruel smile had not yet faded, and the dark red sword light he had swung was about to engulf Mira.

Pfft—!

A soft, dull thud.

Knight Anthony's movements froze abruptly.

He looked down, looking in disbelief at the bowl-sized hole that had suddenly appeared in his chest.

The edges of the wound were quickly covered by crystalline Frost.

Through the hole, one could see the sparse fallen leaves behind him.

There was no gushing blood; the wound and everything inside had been completely frozen by the extreme cold the instant the arrow pierced through.

But he didn't understand?

What was this?

What did this count as?

Who was it?

A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

But it was just the final flicker of life.

The dark red longsword in his hand clattered to the ground.

Then he struggled to lift his head, looking toward the hillside where the arrow had come from, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.

But only biting cold air spilled from his mouth.

Immediately after, the crimson light in his eyes was completely extinguished.

His burly body swayed, then crashed down from the horse's back, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The dying Mira's pouncing motion also froze in mid-air.

She looked blankly at Anthony, who had suddenly dropped dead.

Then, following the direction of his dying gaze, she looked toward that distant hillside.

Extreme shock and the weakness brought on by severe injury and blood loss overwhelmed her in an instant like a tide.

Her vision went black, her sword slipped from her hand, and her body fell backward softly, completely losing consciousness.

On the hillside, Rowan flicked his fingers repeatedly.

The frost speaker rang out clearly, piercing through the remaining stunned red-armored Apprentice Knights one by one.

Throughout the whole process, his expression was calm, as if he were just doing it casually.

The battlefield fell completely silent...

Only then did Rowan step down the hillside and arrive at the center.

He walked to the side of the unconscious red-haired female knight.

Insight scanned her injuries; they were severe, but there was no immediate danger to her life.

When his gaze fell upon the woman's face, which was hard to conceal its stunning beauty even in unconsciousness, and that long hair that looked like burning flames, the system panel automatically appeared:

[Rating: 88 Points]

Rowan's pupils constricted almost imperceptibly.

88 points.

Only 2 points away from the 90-point threshold for a top-tier beauty.

Moreover, he already knew that the system rating was not fixed; it could increase with changes in strength or encounters.

He realized that he might have... struck gold.

Such a high rating, combined with her currently meager strength.

He could almost conclude that she must possess some kind of unactivated extraordinary potential.

If he could find a way to nurture her to 90 points and then have her keep bearing his children, that would be extremely cost-effective.

Thinking of this, Rowan no longer hesitated, bent down, and carefully picked up the unconscious female knight in his arms.

The woman was lighter than he had imagined; her body under her hunting attire was robust yet soft, carrying the scent of blood and a faint smell of sweat, along with a hint of fresh fragrance similar to maple leaves.

Carrying her, he walked back to his carriage.

He gave simple instructions to the coachman, placed Mira on the soft cushions inside the carriage, and fed her a dose of high-level healing potion he had kept in his silver star ring.

Inside the carriage, looking at the female knight's bright, imposing, and stunning face, Rowan thought for a moment.

He then got out of the carriage again, returned to the battlefield, dragged back the corpse of the young man who was already dead, and hung it under the carriage chassis, preparing to take it back, as it might be useful.

The carriage started, rolling over the autumn night mountain road, heading toward White Cliff Castle.

Inside the carriage.

The woman's weak breathing gradually stabilized.

...