Chapter 67: Chapter 9: Acquiring the Divine Weapon · Frost Rune Sword
After Hilude handed over more than thirty Snow Mist Pearls to Su Li’s Armed Attendant Harry, he took out over fifty Gold Coins from his bosom.
"My Lord, after we killed a large number of Snow Corpse Demons, we braved the snowstorm and reached a mountain cave at the summit. Inside, there was a powerful White Bone Knight guarding the treasure within the cave. These Gold Coins are what we found inside."
Gold Coins are not scarce in the Territory right now. Su Li generously waved his hand and said, "These are your spoils of war, and you deserve a share. Take out ten Gold Coins as your reward and divide them among the four of you."
In this world, Knights are part of the ruling class and have certain privileges.
Apart from having to pay taxes on wages and manor production, Lords generally do not tax such spoils and rewards.
Therefore, nearly three Gold Coins per person is a decent income for Elite Knights, as they need to maintain their weapons and armor, feed their warhorses, and support several Attendants, which adds financial pressure.
The four Knights all appeared invigorated, their weariness from the journey lessening considerably.
Hilude then retrieved an extended Knight’s Heavy Sword from the saddle of his warhorse and presented it with both hands to Su Li, saying, "My Lord, this is our greatest find within the cave. It is the sword of the White Bone Knight, who stood nearly four meters tall, riding a Nether Warhorse with flaming hooves, wielding this Frost Rune Sword, putting immense pressure on us."
"Under its command, the war sword emitted a layer of silvery moonlight. In its full force strike, it can freeze a target directly. Without Lady Amorri generating an Ice Attribute shield to protect us, we might have suffered serious injuries in this battle."
Su Li gripped the sword hilt and lifted it. A wave of coldness rushed from his palm to his scalp, making his entire right hand feel numb.
As expected of a powerful Knight’s Rune Sword, it felt like no one below the Elite level could wield this Divine Weapon.
Su Li waved his hand, returned the longsword to its sheath, and asked, "Hilude, can you wield this sword?"
Hilude shook his head and said, "I cannot either, my Lord. This Frost-attributed Rune Sword is best held by an Elite Knight with a Water Attribute to avoid the backlash of the runes on the sword."
Knight Oerstein examined the longsword and introduced it to Su Li, "This sword is inscribed with Double Runes. Through the azure engravings on the blade, one can roughly determine they are the War Prayer and Frost Bite. If a Knight without a Water Attribute bloodline uses it, they are easily susceptible to the backlash of Frost Power."
He is a devotee of the Sun Goddess, outstanding in wisdom, knowledge, and insight, and explained to Su Li, "The War Prayer allows Elite-level or higher Water Attribute bloodline Knights to be blessed with scripture protection while wielding this sword. Frost Power freezes one’s own wounds and accelerates healing with Water Attribute, reducing fatigue."
"Frost Bite causes opponents to be eroded by frost and snow, making their movements stiff and sluggish while increasing the severity of wounds. If an Elite Knight utilizes their powerful bloodline strength for a full-force strike and hits the target with the longsword, it will temporarily freeze the opponent."
Su Li asked, "Such powerful effects? How long can it freeze monsters?"
Knight Oerstein, having witnessed the power of Frost Bite from other Knights in past battles, said, "The freezing time depends on the opponent’s strength—the weaker they are, the longer they are frozen. Inferior Horned Beasts, Kobolds, if hit by Frost Bite, are permanently frozen, without any defrost time. Whereas powerful and violent creatures like Great Horned Beasts or River Giants are generally frozen for a few breaths."
A few breaths? That’s already very potent, unless one encounters a powerful Giant leader, requiring Knight Oerstein to duel for a long time to slay them. Otherwise, against regular Horned Beasts and Ogres, a full force hit could deliver a devastating blow in those couple of breaths.
So Su Li surveyed the area. The only Elite Knight suitable for this Rune Sword was Amorri, a well-endowed but cool-tempered Female Knight. After all, the Territory had only eight Elite Knights, two of whom had Fire Attributes.
Su Li then said to Amorri, "Knight Amorri, step forward."
Amorri had anticipated what would happen. Even with her cool temperament, her breathing grew warmer.
She immediately dismounted from her warhorse and knelt on one knee before Su Li, saying, "My Lord, I am ready to offer my service at any time."
Su Li placed the Frost Rune Sword on her shoulder, saying, "I grant you the right to wield this Rune Sword. Its power will be closely linked to your honor. I hope you will use it to vanquish all monsters threatening our Territory, protecting our home and land."
Amorri’s breathing instantly became heavy and rapid. A dual-rune sword was truly bestowed upon her!
Thrilled beyond belief, she had previously been sold as a slave and had little sense of belonging to the Territory, especially one still so newly founded and poor, not befitting an Elite Knight’s status.
Yet now, she only felt a surge of excitement spreading throughout her body, incredibly grateful for the Lord’s generosity and trust. She accepted the Rune Sword with both hands and solemnly pledged with a fist to her chest.
"In the presence of the Divine Spirit, I, Amorri Fengling, with my sword, my blood, my honor, swear this oath. Wherever and whenever, I shall uphold the knightly virtues of loyalty and dedication. As long as there is breath in me, I will use it to safeguard our Territory, your honor, and our faith."
Su Li nodded with satisfaction. The divine spirits of this world overlook all living beings, and oaths still hold significant value.
The most important thing is there’s no dark scene like Sima Yi farting towards the Luo River; the knights value oaths highly and will strive to fulfill them once sworn.
Then Su Li waved his hand contentedly, allowing Amorri to stand up and join the ranks for rest and recovery. The whole army prepared to enter the Jinke Mine, to take down this massive iron ore vein.
The target of this battle is the kobolds hidden in the deep mountain mines, which is admittedly not easy to tackle. Such terrain is not suitable for the knights to charge freely, and sending in walking knights to clear it slowly would take too long. Su Li doesn’t want the army to be away for too long, leaving the territory vulnerable.
Thus, Su Li decided to personally command this battle. This calls for a bit of Eastern strategy and wisdom, not just brute force.
Under Su Li’s command, Hilude took off the Vibranium Rune Armor and wore only a tight white robe for knight’s training, showcasing her beautiful curves and figure to the fullest.
She then led a hundred armed attendants straight into the Jinke Mine, with the target being the kobold-occupied mine pit.
Her brazen march, like a spoiled noble lady unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth, perfectly matches the pride and arrogance of a great noble’s child before they’d experienced any setbacks in the Border Prince’s Territory.
Frederick and Knight Oerstein both crossed their arms, placing them on their chests, looking towards Hilude advancing in the distance.
The two of them led the main forces of Hesse Territory’s knights, hidden on two small stone mountains to the south of the Jinke Mine. When Hilude draws out the kobold tribe, they will launch a surprise attack from the rear.
The two had starkly different attitudes towards the Lord’s tactics. Frederick believed these tactics were vile schemes, ambush operations, no different from contemptible beastmen and goblins.
But the military commander Knight Oerstein greatly appreciated it. He was a follower of the Sun Goddess, and like the Flame Sun Knight Order, they lived and had attitudes more flamboyant and stylish than other knight orders, even studying war stratagems generally scorned by knights, and learning archery and other skills traditionally despised by knights, such as using a reflective shield to interfere with enemies using sunlight reflection—something not acknowledged by many knights.
The followers of the Sun Goddess’s training not only included combat; during leisure, they would discuss tactics and strategic ideas together, including developing skills to use stone-throwing vehicles and cannons.
Watching Hilude gradually lead her forces to the entrance of the Jinke Mine, Frederick turned to Knight Oerstein and asked, "Do you think Hilude can successfully lure out the kobold tribe?"
Knight Oerstein raised his chin proudly and said, "Of course, don’t you see who taught her, a follower of the Sun Goddess? She has excellent talent, and such a simple war stratagem, she can definitely complete with ease."
But in fact, at this moment, Hilude ahead did not have the strong confidence that Knight Oerstein had.
The Lord made her take off her armor, dressing up as an arrogant daughter of a duke, a conceited imperial princess, to provoke this kobold tribe.
This gave her no confidence at all, as princesses and dukes were too far removed from her experience. She had never seen them and had no idea what they were like.
She could only follow the fictional image in knight novels, proudly raising her chin, holding a luxurious noble single-handed sword, leading the troops in an imperious manner to the mine pit.
The kobold tribe had kobold archers on guard at the mine pit gate and spotted the troop from afar.
Hilude’s strategy worked even better than she had expected because... the kobolds didn’t know what human princesses or nobles looked like; anyway, the legendary willful and arrogant image matched Hilude too well at this moment.
More crucially, Hilude’s appearance was too dazzling, whether it was her outstanding beauty or her unparalleled physique; just like a princess, radiantly captivating, exceptionally distinguished, making the kobolds firmly believe this was indeed the pampered offspring of a great noble who had just arrived at the Border Prince’s Territory.
So when Hilude shouted that she was the sole supreme ruler from the Gray Mountain Range to the Brionne River Valley, from the Bloody Highlands to the Blood Pine Forest, the kobolds laughed sharply.
Hilude’s face flushed in their mocking. She really thought she might have performed poorly, so she furiously shouted, "You dirty monsters, I’m going to chop you all into pieces with my sharp sword and feed you to the dogs."
"Feed the dogs?"
"Feed the dogs!"
The kobolds were instantly enraged by this remark, screeching and yelling to teach these arrogant humans a lesson.