Chapter 250: It's Been A While

The sound of a horn rang out loud and clear from the direction of the Norman armies behind him…

When he heard the sound, Chen Xiaolian’s palpitating heart became at ease!

The flags of the Norman armies waved about as several 100-man teams swarmed forward like a tidal wave!

This time, the one to lead this charge was the other brother of King William, Odo and also… King William himself!

Over 200 mounted soldiers rode up like a whirlwind through the open plains, taking the lead in the charge! Behind the mounted soldiers, the infantry soldiers rushed forward.

At this moment, with the exception of the reserve teams, King William had ordered for all other soldiers to press forward, even his own personal guards!

“Inform the soldiers of Flanders and Brittany… inform our allies that this will be an all-out attack! By noon this day, our war will conclude!”

William spoke to Merlin who was beside him as he urged his horse to gallop forward.

…

On both the left and right hand side, the allied armies from Brittany and Flanders rushed out as well.

The soldiers from Brittany displayed a high level of aggression. Additionally, it could also be seen that they have a very solid amount of trust toward William. When William sent his men to display the flag for an all-out offensive, the commander of the Brittany armies did not hesitate to send his men forward!

As for his other ally, the armies from Flanders, they hesitated for a moment. However, when the commander in charge of the Flanders armies saw the deployment on the left and the middle, he furiously swore: “Madmen!” Then, he shouted out. He personally rode out and brandished his sword – behind him were 100 Flanders mounted riders and over 800 infantry soldiers!

…

This insane move by the Normans shocked the soldiers from London to the core!

The battle had only just begun! They had only had a few exchanges to test the waters.

Yet, these French invaders actually had the balls to recklessly launch an all-out attack!

They did not bother to make more moves to gauge the situation and instead launched a complete offensive?!

Was this how these French invaders go about engaging in wars?

Within an area surrounded by the shield wall was a circular formation. There, standing beneath the royal flag was a lean and fit looking middle-aged man. He stared with an expression of surprise at the soldiers swarming up the three ramps leading up the hill.

King Harold gritted his teeth.

“Damned Frenchmen! They’re all mad!”

This King of England cursed fiercely. The long red coloured cloak was dragged across the ground behind him as two servants helped to hold the tail of the cloak. A subordinate carrying a sword was kneeling before him.

“Your Majesty, we should give the orders to hold firm!”

A middle-aged aristocrat with brown hair spoke out loud. He was dressed in typical fashion for an aristocrat general and his stature was robust without being too tall (in fact, most of the stature of the people of England during this time period was not too tall). His loud voice had a thick Saxon accent, “We have the advantage in terrain! The Frenchmen need to engage in an uphill battle while all we need to do is maintain our shield wall to deplete their strength! Our strong and durable shield wall will cause them to shed their blood all over the slope, down to the very last drop!”

Harold’s face seemed rather pale – he was not a very brave man. Truth be told, Harold’s evaluation of himself was that he might be better at coming up with strategies.

“Duke of York, I think that your suggestion is very reasonable! Then, we shall proceed according to your suggestion. Have our men maintain the shield wall!” Harold took a deep breath before continuing, “Send someone to inform that Mr Nolan! It is time for him to display his abilities! I hope he does not disappoint me!”

The Duke of York had his hand on his chest as he got up. Then, he turned around and quickly left.

However, he disagreed with the last words that King Harold had said.

Nolan?

The stranger that inexplicably gained the King’s recognition?

Damn it! Just one glance is enough to tell that he is not an aristocrat!

Additionally… the Duke of York suspected that the reason King Harold would recognize Nolan was highly related to that blonde woman who kept yearning after Nolan.

That Nolan introduced himself as a warlock.

Even so… a warlock?

Humph! Nothing good ever came from encountering a warlock!

…

The middle-aged man, Nolan was standing behind the shield wall and he coldly regarded the movements occurring upon the battlefield.

The attack from all three sides came as something of a shock to Nolan. He narrowed his eyes. There was a trace of unease in his expression, which appeared akin to that of a beast.

“Did King William go crazy?” He let out a harrumph and said, “I’ve read the history about this event! This is simply not the time for him to launch an all-out offensive!”

“There is no law stating that the storyline character will act according to history,” the blonde woman sneered. “Besides, this is not the first time something like this happened to you.”

“Exchange out the [Flatlands Mire] again.” Nolan calmed down and stared at the bottom of the hill.

“Where? The left or the middle?” The blonde woman slowly stroked the long sword she held in her left hand.

“No! Exchange twice!” Nolan suddenly laughed out.

“Twice?” The blonde woman was somewhat taken aback and she said, “But, we do not have that many marks left…”

“Twice!” An expression of confidence flashed across Nolan’s face. He said, “Place it on the right and middle!”

“The right?” The blonde woman frowned. “I understand using it on the middle. After all, the number of soldiers within the Norman armies is the biggest. Since they are taking the middle route, exchanging out a spell on the middle route is quite a good thing. But the right? Those soldiers from Flanders are the weakest among the enemy camp!”

“It is precisely because they are the weakest! We’ll give them a brutal blow and have them mentally collapse! Then, they will make their exit from this battlefield early!” Nolan sneered. “Haven’t you heard of a famous line from this world? Pick soft persimmons to squeeze! 1”

…

Chen Xiaolian rushed up the hill!

Excluding his Manchester United’s 100 soldiers, there were also roughly 200 soldiers from their ally, Brittany.

Chen Xiaolian spearheaded the assault. When his team reached the top of the hill, they lowered their shields and placed it before them. Then, roaring loudly, they charged head on against the London shield wall.

Their bodies slammed forward one after another and banging sounds rang out in succession from the shield wall on the left side.

Chen Xiaolian made his move. He raised his shield and slammed head on into the shield wall. His shield and body slammed in, breaking through the shield wall!

With a boom, at least 3 shields were slammed away by Chen Xiaolian! The London soldiers holding the shields sprayed out blood as they flew backward!

After creating a hole in the wall, Chen Xiaolian hacked down with a long axe.

Head Cleaver! Impish Teeth Displacer! Ear Gouger!

Demon King of Confusion’s three moves were unleashed in this battlefield within the medieval period.

Chen Xiaolian furiously cut down the incoming spears, swords and axes. Although he did not have a very tall stature, his [B+] class strength made him a human shaped monster in this battlefield.

Within but a few breaths of time after breaking through the London shield wall, he had further broken through 3 layers of the enemy line! He was like a human siege hammer, forcibly pummelling open a huge hole through the tight defence made by the shield wall!

Behind Chen Xiaolian, more soldiers from team Manchester United and their ally, Brittany surged in through the open gap!

After hacking down a soldier wearing chainmail, the blade of the long axe in Chen Xiaolian’s hand had been flipped back. Without missing a beat, Chen Xiaolian delivered a backhand move and the back of the axe struck the head of another enemy soldier. The blow caused even the soldier’s helmet to cave in. The soldier cried out before falling down and Chen Xiaolian handily grabbed hold of the soldier’s sword. Wielding the sword in his hand, he delivered yet another backhand move, slashing out at a shield-bearing soldier who was rushing him.

A breaking sound could be heard as the shield was split into two!

Blood with an unpleasant copper scent splattered onto Chen Xiaolian’s face and he vigorously wiped them off one of his eyes. He stared forward with a savage expression.

In front of him were three London soldiers bearing shields and swords. Their courage fell and they fell back in a hesitant manner.

Chen Xiaolian ignored them. He turned to the side, grabbed onto a shield and charged to the side swiftly…

At this point in time, Chen Xiaolian was like a striker within a football team. With a shield before his body, he bulldozed his way through the enemy!

He charged horizontally!

On the left side of the hill, this human shaped bulldozer could be seen crushing all forms of opposition afforded by the formation built by the soldiers from London. Wherever he went, the hole in their shield wall would spread bigger. The situation was akin to a dam that was being battered heavily by tidal waves. It crumbled and was on the verge of breaking apart!

Lun Tai followed closely behind Chen Xiaolian. He did not utilize his Muscle Fruit skill. Even so, no ordinary soldier could put up a fight against him.

The two of them demolished the shield wall erected by the London soldiers and more soldiers from the Norman armies charged past the shield wall.

The left side of the shield wall had crumbled!

In merely one breath’s time, Chen Xiaolian had ran over 20 steps. Finally, when he heard the shield in his hand breaking into two, he tossed away the broken shield and hacked down at an enemy standing before him.

He was about to turn around when he suddenly heard an air-piercing sound coming from the front.

Chen Xiaolian subconsciously dodged to the side…

Pu!

A sharp arrow grazed past his waist!

Although it was only a graze that did not inflict any serious injury, the power behind the arrow gave Chen Xiaolian a chill!

He lowered his head and saw that the Meteor Rock [B] class protective suit had been cut open by that graze.

Other game participants!

Chen Xiaolian’s eyes flashed with focus.

Several green dots could be seen upon the radar and one of them was rapidly approaching him!

Chen Xiaolian abruptly raised his head and held up his sword with both hands.

Keng!

The huge force behind the incoming attack caused Chen Xiaolian to take one step backward.

Standing before him was a slender woman wearing leather armour and a helmet made from wolf skin. She held onto a short sword and her body maintained the posture of one hacking forward.

Seeing the black coloured hair sported by this opponent as well as the pair of familiar eyes beneath the rim of the helmet, he uttered.

“Phoenix?”

Chen Xiaolian frowned.

“We meet again, Guild Leader Xiaolian.”

Phoenix pursed her lips and revealed a smile. However, her eyes glowed with coldness. Her body suddenly curled up like a cat before dashing forward. Wielding the short sword, she closed the distance between them and was upon Chen Xiaolian in an instant. The sharp short sword stabbed toward Chen Xiaolian’s abdomen!

Keng!

Chen Xiaolian stepped aside. At the same time, he struck out with the sword in his hand and deflected the attack. Exhaling, he then shot out a kick at another London soldier who was trying to initiate a sneak attack against him from the side. His hand then flew out to grab hold of a long axe.

Chen Xiaolian wielded an axe in his left hand and a sword in his right hand and stared coldly at the young woman before him.

“That’s some fast reflexes,” said Phoenix. She took a deep breath and said, “It wasn’t that long ago that we were fighting side by side. Who could have predicted that we would end up pointing swords at each other after only such a short amount of time? Life really is full of twists and turns.”

As she spoke, her body flashed forward. Chen Xiaolian’s eyes rapidly narrowed and his right hand moved, using the sword to block the incoming attack.

Kacha!

Chen Xiaolian’s right hand felt lighter. Lowering his gaze, he saw that a large part of the sword had been cut off.

“It seems your weapon is not up to the job,” said Phoenix who narrowed her eyes. Like a cat toying with her prey, she walked around Chen Xiaolian and asked, “Where is your war axe?”

Chen Xiaolian did not say anything. He quietly discarded the sword and picked up a halved spear that some other soldier had discarded.

“Also, where is your Four-Eyed War Cat? Why aren’t you summoning it out?” Phoenix continued probing Chen Xiaolian’s state. “Come on out, little kitty!”

Chen Xiaolian twirled the axe in his hand a bit and said, “Do you know that talking in the heat of battle is a very pesky habit?!”

As he said that, his body suddenly exploded forward!

Seeing this move from Chen Xiaolian, Phoenix’s expression was quick to turn tense.

Although Chen Xiaolian had only taken two steps forward, in her eyes, Phoenix was able to notice that Chen Xiaolian’s agility had significantly increased!

In that two steps taken by Chen Xiaolian, his rhythm had become vastly different compared to before!

The abrupt change in rhythm caught Phoenix by surprise.

When he approached, the weapon he used to attack was not the long axe in his right hand but… the broken spear in his left hand!

Skill: Charging Stinger Skill!

Agility was instantly enhanced!

The tip of the spear shot past Phoenix’s cheeks who had rapidly twisted her waist. Her body was propelled back while facing the sky, seemingly at a 90° angle.

A sharp burst of air grazed her cheeks and Phoenix felt a trace of pain upon her cheeks. With a “pop”, the wolf skin helmet that she was wearing was stabbed off her and it fell to the ground. Phoenix darted aside, quickly creating a distance between the two of them.

She reached out to touch her cheek and saw redness resting upon her fingertips. A fine cut appeared on her cheeks and droplets of blood seeped out from the wound.

“Hey, don’t you know that it is a sin to scratch a woman’s face?” Phoenix harrumphed.

“Then don’t block my way,” Chen Xiaolian replied coldly.

“But if I fail this quest, I will have to enter a punishment instance dungeon. I really do not want to go there,” Phoenix answered with a faint smile.

Observing the relaxed smile on her, Chen Xiaolian’s heart tensed up… he felt a faint sense of danger.

Chen Xiaolian instinctively retreated as he moved the axe and spear in his hand to a defensive cross shape before him.

Cha!

A sharp light flashed out!

Both the spear and the axe in Chen Xiaolian’s hands were cut off!

After the sharp glow of light faded away, a cut appeared on Chen Xiaolian’s chest! Both his outer armour and protective suit had been cut!

Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and saw two identical looking fellows appear out of thin air on both his left and right side.

The Titan brothers!

“Oh, are you going to bully me with superior numbers?” Chen Xiaolian snorted.

“It can’t be helped.” Phoenix suddenly winked at Chen Xiaolian and smiled. She then said, “I am really sorry, Guild Leader Chen Xiaolian, but a quest is a quest.”

Chen Xiaolian gave a harrumph and 3 mighty looking Four-Eyed War Cats appeared beside him!

The 3 Four-Eyed War Cats appeared beside him, forming the character ‘品’. Chen Xiaolian was in the middle of their formation.

…

"Damn it!"

Seeing that Chen Xiaolian was surrounded by Phoenix and her other two team members, Lun Tai brandished the sword in his hand and rushed toward them. However, a towering figure shot out and blocked his path.

“Sorry, Lun Tai. Your opponent is me.”

It was a rough and low tone of voice; and his face was blank and rigid.

Lun Tai regarded the opponent standing before him. He gave a slight frown and asked, “Monster? Humph! Where is your monkey?”

“After killing you, I can go back and feed him his lunch,” Monster growled. He abruptly raised an iron mace with both hands and smashed it down fiercely!

Lun Tai quickly activated his Muscle Fruit skill!

In an instant, his figure swelled up as his muscles grew big. Then, he roared out and used his sword to parry the incoming hammer!

Boom!

The two huge men took a step back at the same time. However, in Lun Tai’s case, his sword became deformed after taking on the iron mace. Lun Tai could not restrain himself from frowning.

“Your weapon is too lacking.” Monster laughed out.

Lun Tai stared at Monster who was standing before him. He said, “Very well… I have always wanted to fight against you! I am satisfied with having an opponent like you. A contest of strength is what I like the most!”

As Lun Tai spoke, his body swelled up once more!

His Muscle Fruit skill was activated to its limit and his strength had been increased by … 60%!

…

“Charge forward!”

King William and Odo rode their horses until they were just beneath the hill. The mounted riders urged their warhorses to gallop swiftly up the hill.

Dense number of arrows rained down from the hilltop. King William raised his shield to protect his neck area. The full body knight armour he wore was able to easily deflect most of the incoming arrows.

He was also not worried about his warhorse. His warhorse had been given a layer of chain mail as armour.

Under King William’s command, over 100 mounted riders charged up the hill.

Behind him, the dense number of infantry soldiers had finally caught up to him. Their shields were raised up to deal with the rain of arrows; they howled loudly and rushed up the hill…

…

“Oh, he took the initiative to send himself over.”

Nolan was standing atop the hill overlooking the area directly beneath it. His eyes were staring intently at King William who was several hundred meters away from him.

Nolan sneered and said, “To think they would send such a big gift over. I feel a little bashful – kill him!”

Beside him, the blonde woman pulled her bow and shot out an arrow…

Xiu!

The arrow shot out with an air-piercing sound!

At that moment, a distortion appeared in the air and a hand gently pulled down the arrow. Next, the metal arrowhead transformed into liquid metal and flowed down the ground.

Ka.

The wooden shaft was then broken and tossed to the ground.

“Nolan… you are still as cowardly as ever, still preferring to launch sneak attacks.”

Tian Lie cast a languid gaze at Nolan.

He was wearing armour belonging to the London soldiers!

He had been part of Chen Xiaolian’s team. Who knows how he had gotten here with such an appearance.

After saying that, Tian Lie also sent a wink to the blonde woman. He smiled and said, “Oh, Akane. My dear, it’s been a while, you are still as beautiful as ever. How I’ve missed that beautiful pair of legs of yours.”

Nolan’s face turned taut!

He stared at Tian Lie who was standing less than 20 steps away from him!

“You… who are you?” The blonde woman stared intently as Tian Lie. She pulled out a dagger.

“How disappointing.” Tian Lie spread both his arms and smiled. He said, “Back then, we had some good memories together. My dear, did you forget about me? Can you please don’t point that dagger at me? That is something I gave you back then.”

Akane’s body shuddered!

The expression on her face was immediately replaced with that of shock!

“You… you…” She gripped the dagger until her fingers turned white. Her body trembled as she said, “You… you are… Sir Tian Lie? You… aren’t you supposed to be dead already?”

…

Nolan. Raw: ‘诺兰’, pinyin: ‘nuò lán’.

Akane. Raw: ‘阿佳妮’, pinyin: ‘ā jiā nī’.

1 Pick soft persimmons to squeeze. Hard persimmons cannot be squeezed while the soft ones can. Meaning: Bully only those that are weak or have good temperament. Or pick only tasks that have a low degree of difficulty.↩