Chapter 45, Battle on the Ice (Part 2) (5,600-word chapter)_3
"There is still a glimmer of hope, a gray horse will contend with it, riding with a sword, and the crown shall be bestowed upon him. He will emerge, conquering and to conquer, driving away the darkness."
"...Anyway, keeping this young man under Yurik's command is a waste, perhaps I should resort to some means..."
He didn't tell Yurik that His presence here was not because of Laine, merely that His knight happened to be passing through this place.
After panting for several dozen minutes, or possibly several hours, Laine finally managed to stand up. He did not rashly choose to descend the mountain immediately but first went to the caravan's abandoned goods, found some ham and pickles they had left behind, and started a fire to cook.
The sun gradually set in the west. The abilities bestowed by his extraordinary physique and his father's genes were quite considerable. Laine's fatigue and injuries gradually recovered. The wound on his shoulder would still take some time to heal, but it was no longer much of a hindrance.
Having eaten an entire ham, Laine took out yet another whole leg of ham. Originally, these were food supplies meant to last the caravan for more than ten days; now it was to his advantage. After cutting open the entire ham, he took out an iron pot to make soup.
Laine had no worries about the Beastman Tribe launching a surprise attack; with Tauros' head here, these beastmen were nothing more than a disorganized mob. He now only wished to fill his stomach quickly and then find a place to sleep. After two consecutive days of battle, he was utterly exhausted.
Reflecting on the tiresome and fruitless pursuit of Belte, even until now he had gained nothing, striving to speed up but always held back, engaging in numerous battles with heavy casualties but little reward, he couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Upon receiving his father's genes, he once believed he could make a significant impact, at the very least securing a territory before he turned twenty.
Since he stepped onto the battlefield at sixteen, eight years had passed. He participated in countless battles, the barbarians, greenskins, and beastmen that died by his hand possibly numbered over two thousand. Yet, he had only earned the title of a Kingdom Knight. Despite achieving his current status as a noble's adopted son being impressive, it still fell short!
Because ever since he came to this world, his father had revealed to him a secret capable of overturning the entire world.
According to his father's prophecy, this world would face destruction within several decades. By then, the world would collapse, mountains and rivers shattered, a dreadful Chaos Storm would sweep over the entire Prime Material World, and all deities would be forced into the mortal realm. The Chaos Four Gods would descend to deliver the final blow to this world.
Despite humanity's desperate resistance, the Moment of Destruction still arrived. Ultimately, the Chaos Four Gods completely annihilated this world.
"How laughable that I can't even take down a Fallen Hunter, yet dare to hope to change the fate of a world?" Laine stirred the thick soup in the pot with a spoon, sneering wryly that the novel-esque notion of a transmigrator defeating all odds was just fiction.
He just had to keep working hard, Laine silently thought. The task entrusted by his father needed to be completed promptly. Only by fulfilling his father's commission or at least part of it could his father lend him a helping hand.
The sun was setting. The soup in the pot had reached a boil, and the potatoes in the woodpile were roasted.
At this moment, a knight riding an armored warhorse suddenly appeared from the mountainside. He wore an elaborately designed kite helmet, with colorful feathers swaying in the cold wind. His body was encased in full plate armor. He held a single-handed sword burning with white flames in his left hand, and a kite shield hung by his right foot.
A large wooden crate was strapped to his back, composed of numerous smaller boxes. His armor bore his family crest—a vivid illustration of a leaping lion within an interwoven red and blue kite shield pattern.
"May I ask where you're from, friend? Could you let this passing traveler rest here with you?" The knight spotted Laine from afar and quickly confirmed from the warhammer beside Laine and the knight's badge on his chest that Laine was also a knight. "Did you just come through a battle? I have medicine here; do you need help?"
"And where do you hail from, knight?" Laine rose and replied politely.
"I am a knight of the Lady, from Connet in Brittania, on a quest for the Holy Grail." As the knight gradually rode closer, he appeared upright in appearance, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, sporting a handsome goatee, seemingly in his thirties, full of vigor, with bright eyes. His armor was decorated with golden tassels and ribbons. To show he meant no harm, he sheathed his single-handed sword. "You are injured? Did you encounter a battle?"
"...Your skills are impressive!" Laine intended to respond but gasped when the knight approached closer. The knight's horse trailed a large net filled with beastmen heads, numbering no less than thirty or fifty.
"That's the head of the Doomsday Bull? Did you kill the Beast King?" The knight also noticed the colossal bullhead set aside by Laine. "Slaying the Beast King is no easy feat! Were you responsible for the loud noise from the mountain peak ahead?"
"Indeed, I destroyed this beast for the Master of the White Wolf, and it took quite a bit of effort." Laine said, though his eyes were fixed intently on this Mission Knight.
Correctly, from the previous conversation, he could already confirm that the person before him was a Mission Knight, one who had left his homeland following the Lake Fairy's oracle to embark on his own Path of the Holy Grail.
If the moral conduct of a Holy Grail Knight could be relied upon, the standards of Mission Knights varied greatly. Some rivaled Holy Grail Knights, embodying all eight virtues, while others were only slightly better than Wandering Knights. It was generally understood that those who passed the trials and fulfilled the Lake Fairy's mission to sip from the Holy Grail were certainly honorable people.
"What a pity," the knight shrugged and sighed, "I hoped to present this Doomsday Bull's head to the Lady, but it seems I'll need to hunt for another valuable prey."
Upon hearing this, Laine breathed a sigh of relief. At least for a first meeting, this knight seemed decent. "Please sit, a guest from afar. There's nothing more comforting than sipping hearty soup on a winter's evening, don't you think?"
"Haha~ Excellent, thank you. Oh, by the way, Sir White Wolf Knight, I haven't asked your name yet?" The Mission Knight dismounted from his tall horse. Laine noted how massive the horse was, with uniform and broad teeth, carrying heavy armor without fatigue, strolling leisurely through the wintry mountains, its eyes filled with affection for the Mission Knight... As its gaze moved to Laine's stew, Laine could see the yearning in its eyes.
Such an extraordinary warhorse with human-like qualities was undoubtedly the exclusive pure-blooded Elf Warhorse of Brittania, a prized breed forbidden from export by the Knight Kingdom.
"I am Laine, 'Great Hammer' Laine, son of Norman, Lord of Autene, White Wolf Knight." Laine extended his hand.
"As I thought! I am Lorne, Lorne-Rio Cornwall, son of 'Righteous' Louis, Duke of Connet, currently a Mission Knight."