77: Chapter 77 The Chase in Mount Elbrus! Fury! A Choice!

Outside Mist Whisper Town, on Mount Elbrus.

Count Farrell burned his source battle qi, fleeing desperately toward the depths of the mountain range.

Every breath carried a searing, bloody scent.

The source fire wound on his chest felt like a branding iron.

Every heartbeat brought tearing, excruciating pain.

Aria's source fire had not only severely damaged his body but had also injured his battle qi source and soul!

His eyes were filled with the panic of surviving a disaster and bone-deep lingering fear, and even more, endless malice was growing wildly.

It's over!

The Farrell Family's centuries of foundation, everything he had painstakingly managed, was finished!

Once the Church confirmed his crime of participating in the evil god's sacrifice, the Farrell Family would surely be uprooted, their house raided and clan exterminated!

The Church's Inquisition would not let them go!

When it involved an Inquisition, neither the Empire nor Grand Duke Theodore Witton had the ability or willingness to interfere with the Church's decision.

"Inquisition, Imperial Tribunal..."

"Aria Windsor..."

"He had completely underestimated the other party!"

His teeth chattered, and hatred gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

But... he couldn't die yet!

As long as he escaped, escaped abroad, he still had a portion of wealth secretly transferred beforehand, and other hidden backups.

He was a Great Knight; even if severely injured, as long as he found a place to hide and slowly recover, with the strength of a Great Knight, he could regain his footing anywhere.

Perhaps even... make a comeback!

Yes, as long as he escaped...

He identified the direction and struggled to continue running wildly.

However, just then—

An air fluctuation that almost merged with the mountain wind came from behind him.

A silent arrow, like a ghost, broke through the air and struck his protective battle qi.

Pfft!

The power contained in the arrow and his protective battle qi annihilated each other, dissipating into nothingness without causing substantial damage.

But that cold killing intent and the precise grasp of timing made the hair on his body stand on end!

"Who?!"

Count Farrell, like a frightened bird, turned around abruptly.

His sharp gaze instantly locked onto the shadow of a protruding rock behind the mountain path.

A figure slowly walked out from the shadows.

Wearing ordinary deep gray tight-fitting clothes, with an unfamiliar face, an aura around that of a Peak Knight, and holding a translucent light blue longbow in his hand.

Not someone from the Church.

Count Farrell breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But immediately—

A sense of absurdity at being offended and a surge of fury welled up in his heart!

When did he, the dignified Count Farrell, a Great Knight-level powerhouse, fall to the point of being chased by a mere Knight-level existence?

Did he look so miserable and weak that even such a stray cat or dog dared to come and pick up scraps?

Did the other party not know the uncrossable chasm between a Great Knight and a Knight?

Even if he was severely injured to this extent, with less than ten percent of his battle qi remaining, he was not someone a mere Knight-level existence could provoke!

This was seeking his own death!

He looked at the other party with cold eyes.

The Great Knight's spiritual power easily penetrated the other party's thin battle qi disguise, seeing the real face underneath.

An excessively handsome face.

He seemed to have some impression... Right, it was a baron from a remote little territory in Gino County.

White Cliff Territory's... Rowan Flynn?

He was a bit puzzled; why would a country bumpkin baron who had nothing to do with him come to hunt him down?

Also, the other party was actually a Peak Knight.

He remembered the information showed that the other party was only twenty-two years old!

"Baron Flynn of White Cliff Territory?" Count Farrell's voice was somewhat distorted due to his injuries and emotions. "You... why are you hunting me down? How dare you?"

Upon hearing this, Rowan realized that the other party had easily seen through his [Shape-shifting].

It seemed that under a Great Knight's spiritual perception, this excellent-level trait was indeed difficult to be effective.

He no longer wasted battle qi to maintain it, and his face rippled like water, returning to its original appearance.

He spoke softly, his voice drifting in the mountain wind:

"According to the 'Church of Dawn Inquisition Ordinance' and Article 17 of the 'Imperial Nobility Code' supplementary amendment."

"Any imperial citizen and legal clergy member has the right to track and report imperial nobles confirmed to have committed serious crimes such as [colluding with evil cults, blaspheming gods, endangering the Empire], and when they resist or flee, they may take necessary means to stop them depending on the situation."

"Those who successfully stop or capture them will be given corresponding rewards by the Church and the Empire based on their contribution, including but not limited to merit, gold coins, Breathing Techniques, and even... territory and titles."

Count Farrell was silent after hearing this.

He looked at Rowan's young face, feeling the solid aura on the other party that exceeded an ordinary Peak Knight.

He also associated it with the silent, uniquely powered arrow from just before...

A terrible thought suddenly flashed into his mind.

The reason he could recognize this face at a glance was because he had only recently seen the other party in intelligence files.

The information of everyone who had recently had conflicts with his son, Ravenna, had been placed on his desk by the butler.

He knew his son had specifically sent tax officials to check taxes in the other party's territory.

But at the time, he had immediately ruled out the suspicion that the other party had killed his son.

Just two hundred gold coins, was it worth it?

He didn't have the heart for it, nor the guts, let alone the strength!

Now it seemed...

"It was you... who killed Ravenna?" Count Farrell stared fixedly at Rowan, his voice hoarsely terrible. "Peak Knight... Good, you hid it so deep!"

"It seems that because I haven't made a move in Gino County for a long time, all sorts of ignorant stray cats and dogs dare to jump out!"

A twisted and cruel smile appeared on his face.

But his eyes were burning with madness and killing intent!

"Do you think a severely injured Great Knight is something you can covet? Today, I will let you see with your life the uncrossable gap between a Great Knight and a Knight!"

Before the words fell.

His right hand, which was hanging by his side, pushed out violently!

"Boom—!"

Centering on his palm, the majestic dark golden battle qi roared out like a breached flood!

The air was torn apart with a shrill scream!

Wherever it passed, the ground was plowed open as if by an invisible giant plow, creating a hideous gully stretching over a hundred meters!

The speed of the battle qi torrent exceeded the speed of sound, like a whip of death, intending to completely suppress and kill Rowan in front, along with that space!

However, Rowan would not take it head-on!

He retreated directly!

He had already understood before that the Great Knight's battle qi manifestation also had distance restrictions.

The other party was now severely injured, and his weapon had been knocked down by Aria, so as long as he avoided the range of the other party's external battle qi attack, he couldn't be hit.

Rowan, with a lightness that defied common sense, floated back more than ten meters, dodging this attack!

Count Farrell's attack missed, and shock flashed in his eyes.

His Great Knight's discernment was so sharp that he instantly recognized the characteristics of this movement technique.

"Wind Falcon Breathing Method?!" He exclaimed, then associated it with more. "Your disguise just now... was the Shadow Demon Breathing Technique? And now it's the Gladstone's Wind Falcon Breathing Method?!"

"Did you kill Gladstone too?!"

"That's it! I remember that idiot Gladstone had some old grudges with you! Was the Mist Castle incident your doing?!"

"Then, when the Blood Thorn Knight Ulysses died... it must have been you too!"

He stared fixedly at Rowan, as if looking at a monster.

"You... have cultivated multiple Breathing Techniques?!"

"How is this possible?! The conflict of battle qi should have made you explode and die long ago!"

Rowan was about to speak, trying to delay time again.

But Count Farrell was, after all, a Great Knight who had experienced many storms. After the initial shock, he quickly calmed down.

He realized that the young baron in front of him had strange means and swift movement techniques. As he was now, it was not easy to kill the other party.

If he continued to entangle, it would only worsen his injuries. What if the Church people solved the trouble in Mist Whisper Town and chased after him...

He just felt a bit regretful—

Back then, with the Blood Thorn Knight, because of the deaths of the Red Maple Knight and the Iron Thorn Knight, he had already been targeted by the Church and couldn't act rashly, so he even specifically wrote a letter asking Gladstone to be more restrained...

Thinking of this, a flash of decisiveness crossed his eyes. He turned around abruptly, turned into a dark golden stream of light, and rushed frantically towards the predetermined direction without looking back!

He made up his mind to use his protective battle qi to resist Rowan's attack. If the other party dared to continue chasing, he had plenty of ways to deal with him.