Night Ranger

The carriage slowly moved up the hill.

A knight pulled on the reins and the first rate steed immediately stopped.

”Oren, what happened over there?”

Daniela who was bored to death was trying to see what happened to White River Valley’s pumpkin fields from her open window.

The Head Knight Oren said with a serious expression, ”Looks like an adventurer riot.”

”On our way, we heard that Baron Marvin issued a wilderness clearing order and recruited many adventurers.”

”But this kind of situation would usually attract too many adventurers, and they aren’t the type of people to stay calm.”

Daniela excitedly asked, ”You mean, people are looking for trouble?”

Oren helplessly said, ”It is indeed like that.”

”Baron Marvin seemed to be short on manpower, the guards behind him are lacking. Even if he pretty skilled, he is alone.”

”Young Miss, how about…”

Daniela coldly snorted, ”He made me wait outside his territory for so long and there wasn’t even a grand welcoming ceremony. I’ve yet to forgive him! You actually want to go help him?”

”You are family after all,” Oren firmly said. ”Could you have forgotten Cridland family precepts?”

Daniela’s expression changed. ”Oren, you are almost as annoying as my dad.”

Oren laughed, reassuring, ”I wouldn’t dare, everything is for Young Miss to decide.”

Daniela squinted, looking in the distance.

Marvin was only one man on that pumpkin field, apparently scolding the adventurers.

Those adventurers didn’t retreat, and from their vantage point, they could see that some adventurers hidden behind others had already taken out their weapons.

”They want to harm Baron Marvin,” Oren solemnly observed.

”Young Miss, please give the order and we will hurry over. There should still be enough time.”

They were first grade Knights from the North. Oren was certain they could scatter that group of adventurers with a charge.

Daniela also realized that point.

She bit her lip and muttered in dissatisfaction, ”Well, it would be annoying if he truly died to these adventurers.”

”That would make me a widow.”

”Oren, take ten men and charge. Scatter these adventurers.”

Oren nodded and was about to pick the men.

He hadn’t expected a frightening killing intent to be emitted from the pumpkin field!

”Clang!”

All the Knights couldn’t help but draw their swords!

This was an instinctive reaction to danger that had been drilled into them!

”What’s going on? Oren?”

Daniela was shocked.

Oren was startled. ”These people… Who are they?”

The nineteen Dark Knights appeared out of nowhere.

They were each carrying a two handed greatsword. Their movements were identical as they charged toward the adventurers!

They had appeared in a split second. An indescribable pressure affected everyone in the surroundings.

Even the Knights on the hill were affected, causing their reaction.

But in reality, the power of these warriors wasn’t targeting them.

The Dark Knights’ pressure was targeting those reckless adventurers!

”Even the incidental killing intent is so heavy…” Oren dazedly looked at those Dark Knights who were like sharp blades piercing through the group of adventures, casually slaughtering them. He mumbled, ”This kind of killing intent… How many people did they kill!”

As for Daniela, she was dumbstruck.

Marvin obviously only had nineteen people, but it looked like an army.

Each Dark Knight’s body was carrying the remaining brave souls of their fellow soldiers who had died on the battlefield during those days.

Thus, every time they attacked, the enemy would have to face the pressure from the wills of countless souls.

This pressure might be a lot inferior to a Dragon’s might, but it was enough to make ordinary people lose their ability to resist.

They couldn’t stop.

They were natural killing machines!

...

Dark greatswords were slashing through that crowd, as the warriors were wantonly slaughtering the reckless adventurers.

Gru and the other guards froze.

The Mysterious Lord Marvin, who knew when he had hidden such an army away?

As for those adventurers, 80% of them lost control of their bodies right at the start!

[Brave Souls Pressure]: Enemies will undergo a high willpower test every three minutes. Failing that high willpower test would make them panic and lose control over their bodies.

This was the strength of the Dark Knights!

Marvin coldly looked at the scene.

The adventurers were howling in grief, begging for forgiveness, but the Dark Knights didn’t care about this.

They could only slaughter.

They were born to slaughter!

Even if an adventurer knelt on the ground, discarding his weapon, they still wouldn’t hesitate to slash down.

They were drenched in blood.

They didn’t know what stopping meant.

Because the order Marvin gave them was – Leave no one behind! –

...

This was a completely one sided fight.

Nineteen people against a hundred. But the nineteen didn’t suffer the slightest bit of damage while those hundred people were being slaughtered as they tried to make a run for it.

When the fight between both sides began, the battle was completely one sided!

This was because of the powerful [Brave Souls Pressure].

These nineteen people were clearly only 2nd rank Armored Fighters, but they had dexterity on par with Rangers, the Strength of high level fighters, and the nature of the grimmest murderers.

Their fighting style was very simple and cruel. It was to kill the enemy at all cost.

The adventurers fled in disorder.

Escape was their only choice.

Regardless of what kind of game they were playing before, under this absolute strength, they were already scared witless.

They also couldn’t understand, from where did Marvin get this group of frightening killing machines!

But only Marvin knew that these seemingly 2nd rank warriors were once Legend powerhouses!

They followed the Night Monarch in helping humanity and other livings being to resist the monster powerhouses of the malicious wilderness.

They were a corps at first, personally founded by the Night Monarch.

They were born with a goal, and that was to kill!

Killing all kinds of monsters during the wilderness’ Eternal Night.

At that time, there wasn’t a clear division of planes. There would be frightening Celestial Beasts every few days on Feinan. Beholders and other monsters would also come by!

The Dark Knights were thus born in order to protect Feinan.

But their way of protecting was different. They chose the path of slaughter.

To kill every enemy to protect their own backs. This was the goal of the Dark Knights.

...

At first, the Dark Knights Corps had a total of ten thousand people.

During the endless battles in the Eternal Night, people kept dying.

Their bodies died but their brave souls were everlasting. That was the law created by the Night Monarch.

Whenever a Dark Knight died, his soul would be attached to his comrade, on his fellow soldier’s body!

They would keep fighting alongside their comrade-in-arms.

Guarding Feinan together.

As the battles kept happening, the Dark Knights’ numbers kept decreasing.

In the end, when the battles were over, only nineteen of them were left.

These nineteen carried the brave souls of ten thousand martyrs from ancient times.

Thus, they were invincible.

But when the battles ended, the Night Monarch left this world.

The Dark Knights whose sole purpose in existence was to slaughter would lose control over their abilities without the Night Monarch’s control. They would turn into a group of slaughtering monsters!

In order to protect their own families, they sacrificed themselves.

They entered the Eternal Night Kingdom after the battles ended.

They froze themselves in the Sea of Darkness, slumbering for eternity.

They made a pledge. Only if this world faced a true frightening disaster and if the Night Monarch’s heir came to the Sea of Darkness, would they rise up once again.

These remaining nineteen Dark Knights would follow the heir to battle!

They were born to protect Feinan, slumbered in order to save strength, and now, once again awoke with only one purpose.

That was to protect the continent they once protected.

For this purpose, they wouldn’t hesitate to do anything.

Even if their power was restrained quite a bit due to the passage of time.

The former Legends were now merely at the 2nd rank.

But Marvin knew that with time, their power would once again return.

In at most five months, they would have recovered to Half-Legends.

As for whether they could return to being Legends once again, who knew.

He could order them through the Eternal Night Imprint.

With these Dark Knights, his territory had a real foundation!

They could freely travel from the Eternal Night Kingdom to and from Marvin.

Thus he could directly summon them from the void.

...

In a short eight minutes, a bit over a hundred adventurers were cleanly killed.

Rivers of blood flowed on the pumpkin field.

Those few farmer families were thoroughly terrified. Fortunately Marvin was protecting them, because ordinary people would definitely not be able to handle such cruel methods.

”You clean up the dead bodies,” Marvin told the guards.

”Gru, go to the only road people can take from the Spider Crypt to White River Valley and set up a checkpoint.”

”From now on, every adventurer wanting to enter White River Valley must go through a check.”

”If there are troublemakers.”

”Kill.”

Marvin said this casually.

But it terrified Gru and the other listeners.

”Lord, isn’t it too ruthless?” Gru cautiously asked.

Marvin pointed at the ground. ”This is my territory.”

”This is the place I want to protect. Whoever dares mess around will drop dead. It’s that simple.

”Alright, these hundred or so adventurers, go borrow a few oxcarts and gather those bodies at the side of the checkpoint.”

”I want to make a [Crimson Cross].”

Marvin’s tone was firm and resolute as he declared, ”From now on, I don’t want there to be any adventurers that dare to cause trouble in my White River Valley.”