Chapter 235: The Underground Fortress at the End
The battle ended so easily.
It was settled with a single charge.
Compared to the Ravenston Rangers and Rhodoks’s sniper crossbowmen, it was clear that these heavy cavalry soldiers’ combat methods were more direct and decisive in the battlefield.
Thus, they became the victors.
Although the demonized creatures were several times stronger than the wild beasts.
In the eyes of humans, they were just terrifying nightmares of the peasant and armed militia.
Ordinary knights with a little training of infantrymen could eliminate the demonized creatures that invaded the estate. From this, it could be seen that the combat strength of these demonized creatures was not much of a threat compared to the real combat troops.
Not to mention Kant’s heavy cavalry troops. They could directly crush them in such a narrow space.
Moreover, they were all heavy cavalry units with knight-level strength.
These demonized creatures were as pitiful as innocent children. Before they could even retaliate, their bodies were pierced by lances, their spines were cut off by sharp swords, and they were trampled into a pile of mud by the heavy horse hooves.
For Kant, this battle was as easy as pie.
He was the victor in the ancient passage.
The only thing that could pose a threat and trouble to Kant and his troops was probably the savage demonized creatures that he had encountered on the mountaintop. This was the enemy that Kant was worried about.
After mastering extraordinary powers, even the demonized creatures were quite terrifying.
In terms of combat power, it was a qualitative improvement!
As for these ordinary demonized creatures, Kant reached out his hand with an expressionless face. He took out a linen cloth and carefully wiped it clean. His knight’s sword was already stained with pitch-black blood.
His eyes were filled with deep disdain.
He did not take them seriously at all.
In this battle, not to mention his most commonly used [ intimidation ] , he did not use it.
Even the newfangled [ commanding power ] , which could increase morale, was still pinned on his waist.
Kant’s two great war treasures would only be used when he encountered a difficult opponent.
These magical creatures could not even block the charge of the heavy cavalry with the status spell [ sharp golden blade ] . Kant did not need to do anything unnecessary and even used these two great war items to assist in battle.
Although it was easy to use, it was not necessary for Kant.
Thinking of the mage apprentices’ spellcasting, Kant turned his head and looked at them. He was not stingy with his praise. “Well done. I need you to maintain this status.”
“Yes, my Lord!”
The mage apprentices immediately responded, each of their faces filled with joy.
Kant, who belonged to the Supreme Liege, praised them. It was even more exciting than the king of the Enfath Empire praising them. This was a joy that came from the soul.
Kant’s expression returned to calmness, and he reminded them, “Calm your heart, we should go.”
“Understood.” The mage apprentices nodded.
However, after the battle ended, the Swadian man-at-arms, who were originally arrogant and had a hint of arrogance, became much friendlier towards these mage apprentices. After all, in the battle just now.., their ability to unleash the destructive power of their charge was greatly related to the casting of spells by these mage apprentices.
It could make their charge more destructive, their lance sharper, easier to pierce through the enemy’s body, and their longsword more powerful. It simply gave them an additional armor-piercing attribute.
If they did not encounter a magic creature, but an enemy, this was the guarantee of being able to break through armor!
Spells that made weapons sharper were really popular with them.
This was also one of the reasons why Kant considered bringing along these wizard apprentices.
They could sense the distance and number of enemies, and could cast spells to increase the passive ability of the troop class. These wizard apprentices were well-deserved to be the elite troop class of the Enfath Empire.
Although they were still young, they had already shown their important role.
“Let’s go!”
Kant gently squeezed the horse’s belly and continued to lead the team forward.
The rumbling iron cavalry continued to advance.
However, as they continued to go deeper into the ancient passage, the number of demonized creatures they encountered decreased by a lot.
Along the way, they started a fire and roasted their clothes that had already cooled down. At the same time, they boiled hot water and heated the food that they had prepared. They barely managed to make ends meet.
They had already entered the ancient passage for close to 10 hours.
It had been close to half a day.
But as Kant and the others advanced, they still did not find the end of the road.
They just walked straight ahead aimlessly.
It was still the same 20-meter-wide subterranean river on the side and the relief sculptures of warriors on the stone walls. Other than the marks on the top of their heads, it was almost indistinguishable from the entrance road.
It was exactly the same.
Kant was solemn, and the movement of his horse slowly slowed down.
He held a torch in one hand.
He looked at the eternal darkness in front of him, and his face was somewhat depressed.
Ten hours of horse riding was enough to cover half the distance from Oasis Lookout to the desert posthouse, but there was still no change on this road, which made him somewhat uncertain, did he encounter some trick from the ancient gods and lost his way? Was it some kind of spell like ghost beating the wall?
Otherwise, how could he not encounter any buildings after such a long distance? Even if it was a huge karst cave or signs of collapse, it would let him know that he was not spinning on the spot!
Out of the 30 torches he brought, there were still 20 left.
In the entire heavy cavalry unit, only the torch in his hand was used as a guide, and the last one was used as the end.
Otherwise, they would lose their light and be completely lost in the darkness.
The mage apprentices followed closely behind Kant.
Seeing that his Lord slowed down his horse’s pace and tightly wrapped up the linen mage robe on his body, he was shivering from the cold on the horse’s back. He could not even care about his numb legs and hurriedly asked with a trembling voice, “Lord… Lord, what’s wrong… we…we didn’t sense any enemies ahead.”
“It’s not because of that.” Kant could not help but frown when he saw how miserable they were. “I’m wondering if we should go back. After all, we’ve already walked too far along this road.”
“Go… back?” The mage apprentices looked at each other with trembling eyes.
They saw the joy and surprise in each other’s eyes.
Not to mention them, even the Swadian heavy calvary behind them had a layer of frost on their eyebrows under their helmets. The chain armor on their bodies was extremely cold, and they could not withstand the cold underground.
They all wanted to go back.
But they did not dare to say it out loud.
Now that Kant brought it up, they all nodded subconsciously with a helpless look on their faces. They felt helpless towards this ancient road that led to an unknown place.
The environment here was so harsh that it was even colder than the night in the Nahrin Desert.
“In that case, let’s go back.”
Kant rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
He had already been in the ancient passage for so long, yet he was not mentally prepared.
Similarly, he did not have enough resources.
It was better to go back directly, prepare more resources, and then explore again.
But just as Kant was about to turn the horse around, the leading mage apprentice gulped, his voice trembling, he said with some surprise, “No… but… my Lord, it’s far away in front of us…we feel that there seems to be… a very… very evil existence…”
“Very evil.” Kant frowned.
“Yes… Yes.” The mage apprentice was so frozen that he could not speak properly.
But he closed his eyes and carefully sensed for a moment before reporting to Kant again, “I can confirm that the very evil existence… is about a thousand meters away… but… but it seems that its vitality is very dim!”
“Dim?” Kant frowned even more.
The distance of a kilometer was very close.
It would not take more than ten minutes to get close by riding a horse.
He made a decision in his heart, he ordered the mage apprentices and heavy cavalry in a deep voice, “Get your spirits up, light a bonfire and replenish your strength. Later, we’ll go over to take a look. If we don’t find the evil existence that the mage apprentices said was already dim in vitality, we’ll return quickly!”
“Yes!” Everyone responded. They barely got off their horses, but their movements became stiff. It was obvious that the long galloping of their horses and the cold environment made the blood in their legs not flow smoothly.
As they walked, they used firewood and charcoal to light the bonfire. Only when the temperature was high did the coldness in their bodies dissipate.
They placed the water sack that was already covered in frost next to the bonfire and heated it up.
Everyone quickly shared their food and fed the warhorse that accompanied them with grass and hot water. Finally, they were fully prepared and regained some energy before they got back on their horses and followed Kant’s lead, they raised their torches and rushed a kilometer ahead. They were all planning to end the battle as soon as possible. If they did not notice the situation, they would immediately retreat.
However, their plan was clearly miscalculated. Even Kant did not expect that as they got closer, traces of white light would appear in front of them. Although it was weak, it still carried a perceptible light!
This made them, who had already adapted to the darkness, immediately sense it.
If there was light, it meant that there was an outside world!
They were finally about to leave this ancient passage and find a new exit.
“Wait!”
However, Kant raised his hand and signaled for everyone to stop moving forward.
The violent tremors of horses’hooves immediately disappeared.
Everyone reined in their horses and stopped moving forward. They stood at the same spot and looked solemnly at the small amount of light in front of them.
It was a five-meter-high and ten-meter-wide exit. It could be considered as one with this ancient passage. However, the so-called light was not real sunlight. Instead, it was tiny glowing moss and mushrooms that were growing in the huge cave at the end of the passage, they were densely packed together, forming a faint light that was similar to the moonlight at night.
And in the faint light, a magnificent fortress was standing there. From nearly a thousand meters away, Kant could clearly see that the fortress was built in the karst cave and the rock wall. There were arrow towers and towers everywhere.
It was a fortress that was not inferior to Drondheim’s castle!
“What is this situation?”
Kant narrowed his eyes slightly.
He gradually adapted to the vision of the faint light in the distance, and his face was somewhat solemn. “I thought it was surprising enough that demons appeared. I didn’t expect that there is even an underground city now?”
That’s right, the fortress in front.
It was built underground, completely relying on the natural space of the karst cave and the mountains..
An underground city!