Unknown Knight

Marcus was very angry because he had been bullied, extorted, and even robbed passing caravans. They would kneel down and beg for mercy when they saw his tricks, allowing him to do whatever he wanted. But today's situation was beyond his expectations. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out how the sheep turned into a wolf.

Now he was in a dilemma. The retreating hooligans were lying in groups of three or five, some lying down, some leaning against each other, all of them lazily sighing on the ground, their resentment and frustration evident in their hearts. If the two brothers had not held knives to beat and kill them, these people would probably have been running back to the city of Dehrim. It didn't seem realistic to ask them to muster up the courage to charge again.

But if he retreated directly, Marcus would not only feel that he had lost face, but also that he could not accept the losses in other aspects. As the saying goes, a man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. His previous reputation and status were earned by his punches, kicks, knives and guns over the years. He had finally gotten to where he is today. If he retreated, it would not be a big deal, but his reputation would plummet. It would be difficult for him to survive in Dehrium City in the future. Several young men from other forces in the guild had been eyeing his position for a long time. Moreover, two lives were lost this time, so it was hard to guarantee that they would not take the opportunity to attack him.

He rummaged through the purse in his arms, it seemed that he had no choice but to spend money to avoid disaster. He glanced at his disappointing younger brother and suddenly became furious. He glared at him fiercely and glanced at the thugs next to him.

Yuni was squatting there, frustrated with the current situation. When he saw Marcus' angry gesture, he stood up with a tenfold evil look on his face, and shouted at the people on the ground:

"Get the f*ck up, what? Are you scared already? Get the f*ck up!"

After saying that, he kicked and punched the two thinner thugs who were still lying on the ground beside him.

Seeing the gangsters standing up, Marcus straightened his chest and said to them loudly with full arrogance:

"I, Marcus, have been in this area for more than 20 years and have never suffered such a big loss. No merchant passing by dared not to give me face. Today, not only did they not give me face, they also slapped our brothers in the face and hurt our brothers' lives. If they are idiots, we cannot let them go today.

Here are more than 20 silver coins. Take them and divide them among yourselves. When we are done here, I will give each of you two more silver coins when we return to Dehrim City."

Seeing so much money coming out at once, Marcus' heart was bleeding and his eyes were red. He glared at the thugs so hard that none of them dared to say a word. For a moment, the surroundings were very awkwardly silent.

But since it was a matter of life and death, someone who was considered to be relatively prestigious among the crowd finally spoke up boldly:

"Boss Marcus, you know that the brothers usually follow you to fight, and none of them dare to fight to the death. But today is different. The enemy's formation is very evil. Two brothers were killed in a short time just now. No one dares to fight anymore!"

"Yes, yes..."

When the people around saw someone starting to speak, they all followed suit.

"What are you afraid of? I've figured it out. The reason we didn't succeed last time was because we were too scattered and not well organized. This time, surround them first, then follow my command and charge forward together. They have fewer people and can't defend against us. As long as we charge in, we'll win, and we can share the stuff inside!"

Marcus said shamelessly.

"That's right, that's right, this is a fat sheep, there are a lot of good things in it, brothers, if you divide it up, it will be enough to eat for at least half a year or a year!"

Yuni was afraid that he could not impress everyone, so he followed suit.

After two lives were lost, Marcus' words no longer had the same deterrent effect on the gangsters as before. Some even treated him as nonsense. But when they heard Yuni's last words that they could at least eat for half a year or a year after the division, they began to have their own plans.

Although these hooligans were cowards, they were also poor people at the bottom of society. They were wondering whether Yuni's words were true or false, looking at the real gold and silver in Marcus' hands, and then looking at the four fully loaded carriages not far away, the hooligans were all interested and started to talk in a low voice among themselves.

Marcus saw that his brothers' encouragement had worked, so he drew out the saber from his waist and said viciously:

"Today, the brothers who give me face will get money and share the good things. Those who don't give me face, don't blame me for not recognizing him as a brother!"

When the gangsters saw this, they knew that Marcus had already gone ruthless. This guy was very powerful in the past and was well-known for his cruelty in Dehrium City. If they didn't agree, no one would be able to get through this hurdle today. They had to passively accept the arrangement and cheer themselves up in their hearts. The one who took over the conversation just now shouted:

"Let's do it! Brothers, Boss Marcus has always given us a lot of benefits. We must give him some face today no matter what."

When the thugs saw that someone was taking the lead, the anger in their hearts was aroused and they started to shout and clamor.

Marcus looked at the arrogant look of the gangsters and felt relieved. After giving some instructions to them, he and Yuni led the gang of gangsters to slowly surround the caravan from the left and right.

As for the caravan, although the fight just now was short, people died and blood was seen. Except for Bandak and Old John, who did not have any major problems, everyone else suffered more or less severe impacts, including Aix.

Some of them were retching, some were squatting with their heads in their hands in silence, and some were staring in a daze at the blood splattered on the shaft of the cart...

From time to time, Aix stole glances at the corpse pierced by the Bandak barrel. It was a young man in his 20s. The greatest pain in his life had caused his face to be distorted in death, and the pupils of his eyes were almost protruding from their sockets. Seeing this, he was not only scared but also felt weak.

After all, he was a young man in the 21st century, and the idea that human life is more important than anything else was deeply rooted in his heart. The death of the two people was somewhat related to him. If he had not suggested that everyone resist, and directly abandoned the goods and vehicles and fled, there might not have been any deaths.

Perhaps seeing the guilty look on Aix's face, Old John came over, patted the giant baby of the 21st century and comforted him:

"The goods in the car are directly related to the livelihood of all caravan members. It is at least three months' income for everyone. If it is stolen, some families will starve to death. We have no choice but to fight!"

After hearing what Old John said, Aix felt better. Yes, this is the ancient times, the dark Middle Ages, the productivity is low, human life is as cheap as grass, if you want to survive, you have to fight hard.

After comforting Aix, Old John looked up at the sun, then took out the newly bought bread from Dehrium City and distributed it to everyone.

"It's almost noon, let's eat something first. After this battle, we will go to Biglen Village to rest and let Old Evan make something delicious for everyone."

This kind of bread produced in the city of Dehrim looks very similar to the large black bread in Harbin, but it is dry and hard, and has no sweet taste. It can only be swallowed by tearing it off with force and chewing it slowly in your mouth. The advantage is that it can satisfy hunger and is not easy to spoil. It is a must-have food for passing caravans and travelers.

Everyone endured the smell of blood around them and ate some bread. Just as they took a breath, they saw Marcus leading the thugs towards them.

This time they did not rush forward in a swarm like before, but spread out and surrounded the caravan from a distance, attacking slowly from all sides. In this way, their numerical advantage was highlighted, and an invisible sense of oppression came over them, and the atmosphere on the caravan side suddenly became tense again.

Looking at Marcus who was leading the gangsters in the distance, Bandak's heartbeat quickened a little. He hadn't felt this way for a long time. He remembered the first time he had this feeling, he was still a teenager. At that time, he lived in a small village in a valley in the Rhodok Kingdom.

His father was an old soldier who returned home to become a hunter due to a leg injury. That was the first time his father took him hunting. He had practiced bows and crossbows for several years and thought he was very good at it, but his father kept reminding him:

"Be especially careful when using a crossbow. If you can't kill the prey with one arrow, losing it is a small matter. A bite from the beast may kill you."

In the face of his father's nagging, he nodded in response, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart. He always felt that he had practiced the crossbow for several years and had become very proficient in it. He was also very talented and was a little sharpshooter praised by the villagers. However, when a brown bear appeared in his sight, he panicked.

This was a male brown bear weighing at least one thousand pounds, which was like a huge monster to the young boy. An invisible pressure made him feel breathless. He could even hear the heavy "dong, dong" sound when the brown bear walked. It was this sound that made him nervous, his mouth dry, and his heartbeat quickened, so that he pulled the trigger before the brown bear was in the best shooting position.

“Swish—swish.”

Only two crossbow shots were heard. One was shot by him, hitting the brown bear's right front limb near the torso, and the other was shot by his father, a fatal blow to the bear's brain through its left eye.

When Bandak came to his prey and faced the brown bear lying on the ground, which was almost taller than him, he could not help but feel a trembling fear in his heart. He knew that the injured brown bear was more than ten times more ferocious than usual. If it hadn't been for his father's fatal blow, he would have been torn to pieces by this crazy beast, with no chance of escape. He felt regretful and fearful.

So from then on, whenever Bandak needed to use a crossbow, he would be patient. Only when the target was in the best shooting state would he pull the trigger, hit the vital point, and achieve a perfect fatal blow.

As the number of hunts increased, his repeated successes made his perception more profound and proficient. His crossbow skills also improved to a higher level, and he became a veritable sharpshooter in the village. Later, he even gave this state of perception a skill name, called "Deadly Endurance."

Today, when Marcus and his men charged for the first time, he also had the opportunity to use a crossbow. With his ability, he could easily shoot and kill two or three thugs. However, he knew that this would probably alarm Marcus, and they would probably use their numerical advantage to surround and trap them from a distance, and then send people back to Dehrium City to summon more reinforcements, and then they would be doomed.

It's not that he hadn't thought about striking the snake at its most vulnerable part, and shooting Marcus with one arrow, so that this mob would most likely scatter. But Marcus, an old veteran, felt something was wrong when he saw the chariot formation that Axe had come up with in a quick wit. Being cunning, he stayed far behind the crowd to supervise the battle, and moved around behind the thugs. If he rashly took out his crossbow to shoot, he would most likely miss.

You should know that bows and crossbows are not as magical as they are in movies and TV dramas. A sharpshooter can't run away as long as he aims. That is the firing rate of firearms. The firing rate of crossbow arrows is easy to dodge if it is discovered by the opponent at a certain distance.

If he fails to hit Marcus with one shot, it is very likely that the opponent will give up the attack and retreat to a siege tactic. In Bandak's view, this is the inevitable death outcome he least wants to see.

In fact, he was still judging the current situation based on his previous experience of marching and fighting. What he didn't see was that Marcus and his gang of thugs didn't carry any dry food with them, and he didn't know that many of them hadn't even eaten in the morning, and they had no strength and morale, so it was impossible for them to besiege them for a long time. Moreover, these people could be said to be all the troops that Marcus could muster.

If he knew all this, he would have just shot directly during the first wave of attacks. In this way, as long as he killed or injured two or three people, he would have made these thugs retreat and eventually flee in defeat. However, he was not Marcus, and he did not know that they could not besiege them for long, so he could only take the safest approach and kill Marcus with a surprise attack.

Marcus and the Yuni brothers led the way and slowly surrounded the car. When the encirclement was more than 10 meters away from the car formation, Marcus shouted:

"Brothers, kill!"

The gangsters roared and rushed forward, and in an instant, the two sides joined forces to fight. In the first wave of attacks, they attacked from one side, so each of them would face two or three people from the caravan, but this time they surrounded them from all sides, so in turn, each caravan had to face two or three of them. Although they had the advantage of the chariot formation, except for Bandak and Old John, the others were civilians with no experience in fighting. They were not the kind of fighters who had been on the battlefield for many years, so they inevitably panicked and became timid and gradually showed signs of defeat.

Seeing this scene, Marcus knew that he was not far from victory, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a triumphant smile.

Having experienced years of street fights, he knows that courage is the most important thing at this time. Often, as long as someone yells and takes the lead in fighting, the situation can be turned around and victory can be achieved.

Thinking of this, the guy did not hesitate. He pushed away a gangster in front of him, roared, stepped over the handlebars with a knife, and chopped at a guy in front of him. However, the last courageous act in his life was only frozen at this moment. When he opened his door wide and raised his machete with both hands, Bandak quickly took out a crossbow that had been strung from under the car, and pulled the trigger without even aiming at Marcus, using the big gun that had already been on CD time - "Deadly Endurance", hitting Marcus in the chest.

"Uh wow...!"

The last sound he uttered in his life was like a magic that imprisoned time and space, causing everyone on both sides to freeze for 0.5 seconds.