Chapter 129: Why Are You Taking Off Your Armor?
Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Why Are You Taking Off Your Armor?
Just as the Retirement Preview had foreseen—after a brush with death, Wendy finally awoke from her obsession with power.
Inside a simple stone-and-wood cottage, a flickering candle illuminated the dim interior. Wendy sat quietly at a table, her expression serene as she calmly recounted intelligence about the Northern Lands to Wang Xi.
Among the details was a mention of Wang Xi’s former fiancée, Lady Sierra.
When Sierra had failed to bring him back, her father, Count Bato, flew into a rage. No one knew what kind of internal struggle Sierra endured, but she ultimately broke off the engagement, refusing to marry into the distant Northern Lands. This indirectly caused the peace talks to collapse, and the Northern People launched a major offensive against the Northern Kingdom that winter.
Of course, this was just the public excuse.
As a Yatar under the Great Chief, Wendy knew the inside story.
The Northern Clans had apparently been coveting the Northern Territory for a long time—not for the land itself, but for something within it.
Recently, the clan chiefs had acted as if they’d gone mad, turning their covetous desires into action. The story was that the Chief Northern Shaman had received guidance from an Ancestor Spirit, which called for mass slaughter to bring Extraordinary Power to the Northern Lands.
Hearing this, Wang Xi more or less understood.
’What bullshit Ancestor Spirit guidance.’
’It was most likely the corruption getting to their heads, making them lose their minds. Controlled by brutal, bloodthirsty impulses, they started the war in the Northern Territory.’
’So childish, and so much like a Fairy Tale.’
’It’s just not very logical.’
"The Northern Clans’ elite forces are not in Randall. They went to the countryside fifty kilometers northwest, near Nicholson Lake."
Wendy said in a low voice.
"The thing the Northern high command wants is supposedly there... After Count Bato was killed, they executed the other members of the Crawford Clan one by one, and finally, they captured Sierra. They plan to use her as a living sacrifice in some kind of ritual."
"Gai." The woman, her hair disheveled, looked up at the young man across the table.
She hesitated slightly before speaking:
"You and Sierra have known each other since childhood, and she was once your fiancée... In the end, she didn’t marry into the Northern Lands. For the sake of your past connection, could you... save her life while you’re at it?"
Wang Xi glanced at her.
Initially, when he was locked in the dungeon, Wendy had tried to fight him in close combat and even brought Sierra to watch from the outside... And now, Wendy was turning around and asking him to save Sierra.
He had thought the two shared some deep-seated hatred, but it now seemed it was just Wendy’s intense jealousy acting up.
Humans aren’t black-and-white creatures, purely good or purely evil; they are complex collections of contradictions... Take Wendy, for example. Was she a villain? Of course. But compared to the atrocities of the Northern Lands, the small bit of conscience she had left served as an ironic contrast.
"We’ll see."
Wang Xi’s tone was flat and noncommittal.
He held no grudge against Sierra, but they didn’t share any deep bond either. They were merely strangers who had known each other for a long time.
If he happened to run into her, saving her would be a simple matter. But he wasn’t about to go to great lengths just to rescue her.
This might be a Fairy Tale World, but being a hero saving a damsel in distress wasn’t necessarily a good thing... Besides, Wang Xi was no prince, and Sierra was no princess.
He was merely a passerby.
A traveler who lived by the principle of "doing as he pleased, without crossing the line."
According to the information stream from Kaos, the projection known as "Gai Farrell" was just a vessel for Wang Xi’s will, forcibly inserted into this world.
An existence fabricated out of thin air.
Before his arrival, this person had never existed in the Fairy Tale World... Only after he descended did the world gain a historical trajectory that was never meant to be.
This showed just how powerful Kaos was.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call its methods those of a creator.
...
...
"Gai, I’ve told you everything I know."
Wendy said, her head lowered.
"What do you plan to do with me?"
"If I let you go, will you return to the Northern Lands?"
Wang Xi asked.
Hearing this, Wendy’s face went blank.
’Return to the Northern Lands?’
’What’s the point...’
Once she gave up her pursuit of power, all she felt for the Northern Lands was loathing and disgust.
She had thought that by leaving Randall, a place that constrained her, she could finally make her mark in the Northern Lands. But all she saw and heard there was a Purgatory on earth.
She didn’t want to be with a group of madmen any longer, but as a former traitor, she had no right to return to the Stag Kingdom... As things stood, there was no turning back for her.
Before her lay nothing but a vast, dense fog.
"I’m not going back."
Wendy said dispiritedly, a self-mocking tone in her voice:
"I don’t know where to go either. Maybe I’ll just find a place to live in seclusion, or wander around."
"Assuming you’re willing to let me go."
She looked up calmly, ready to accept any fate.
Even if the young man ran his sword through her heart right now, she had nothing left to fear.
"I can’t let you go."
Wang Xi said, shaking his head.
"I understand." Wendy said, unbuckling her armor and letting it fall to the ground with a CLANG. Underneath, she wore only a set of white cotton clothes, which, like snow draping over mountains, could not hide the steep rises and falls of her figure. "Come on."
She took a deep breath and stood up.
"Come on and do what?" Wang Xi glanced at her.
"Kill me."
"Oh, so that’s what you meant."
Wang Xi paused for a moment.
"Then why did you take off your armor?"
"To make it easier for you to stab me, of course."
Wendy’s pretty brows furrowed slightly as she pointed to her heart.
"Since I was defeated by you, I no longer have control over my own destiny. At the very least, I can choose how I die... Finally, please grant me a Knight’s end. Let me meet death with the dignity of a Swordsman."
"..."
Wang Xi stared at her, his expression blank.
’So she wants to die a noble death.’
’She made it so dramatic.’
He couldn’t be blamed for misunderstanding. It was mainly because this woman, Wendy, had a history. Her words always seemed to carry a double meaning.
"I never said I was going to kill you,"
Wang Xi said lightly.
Wendy couldn’t help but be taken aback.
’He won’t let me go, but he won’t kill me either. What exactly does Gai want to do...’
Wendy’s beautiful eyes darted about, and she seemed to understand.
She bit her lip, bent down, and knelt, lowering her head.
"What are you doing now?"
Wang Xi’s heart skipped a beat. He asked in a deep voice,
Wendy, still on one knee, lifted her puzzled face and asked hesitantly:
"Lord Gai, did you not intend for me to pledge my loyalty and become your attendant Knight?"
Her eyelids slowly lowered again.
"Beyond that, I can’t think of any other reason you would have for keeping me alive."
"..."
Wang Xi took a deep breath.
’If you’re going to pledge loyalty, then pledge loyalty. Why are you getting so close?’
"You’ve misunderstood. That’s not what I mean."
"Then... what do you mean?"
"The Kingdom is in need of people right now. I will take you back to Daphne and let Her Majesty Queen Xianna personally decide how to handle you."
Hearing this, Wendy was slightly stunned.
Her mind raced, and she quickly understood his reasoning—Gai was still sentimental after all. To save her life, he was deliberately using Queen Xianna as a shield, to avoid giving others a reason to criticize him or become the subject of gossip.
A wave of warmth washed over her heart at this thought.
The frosty look between her brows gradually melted away, and a soft curve unconsciously appeared on her lips.
She then lowered her head obediently, her voice as soft as if she were afraid to disturb the moment:
"Thank you, Lord Gai."
...?
...
...
After getting the intelligence from Wendy,
Wang Xi decided to travel light and strike fast.
According to her, the Northern Elite gathered fifty kilometers to the northwest numbered just over a hundred. What was surprising was that the chiefs of the Northern Clans were among them!
The only ones to watch out for were the accompanying Shamans. As Casters unique to the Northern Lands, they wielded Extraordinary Power that could not be underestimated.
Wang Xi made the following arrangements:
He left the Mechanical Puppet Legion and the Monster Legion in Randall, placing them under the command of Kate the Wolf Hunter.
Their mission was twofold: to retake Count Bato’s Castle on the hill and to mop up the remaining scattered Northern soldiers in the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, he himself took Pinocchio, Goddalir, the Demon Wolf Squad, the Witch Squad, and the two Witches and headed straight for Nicholson Lake.
Of course, Wendy, as the "prisoner," also went with them.
「A short while later.」
A candy carriage sped across the snow, flanked by some twenty young men and women on horseback.
’The Northern People really are insane.’
Wang Xi mused to himself as they traveled, sitting inside the carriage with his right elbow resting on the windowsill.
’Otherwise, why would those guys dare to take such a risk, venturing out of their safe zone... a group of chiefs following the so-called guidance of an Ancestor Spirit, gathering in enemy territory to hold a sacrificial ritual.’
’They really aren’t afraid of being wiped out in one fell swoop.’
’Fine by me. It saves me a trip to the Northern Lands. I’ll just carry out a Beheading operation right here.’
A cold glint flashed in Wang Xi’s eyes as his knuckles tapped unconsciously on the windowsill.
...
...
Fifty kilometers wasn’t exactly far.
「Four hours later.」
「Night had fallen.」
Wang Xi and his group slowed their pace, passing slowly through a dense forest until they reached the shore of Nicholson Lake.
A cold moon hung above the treetops, its light shattering into pale, fractured patches on the frozen lake’s surface. Withered ancient trees reached their gnarled branches into the sky like the skeletal arms of dying giants.
Decaying leaves and damp moss were nowhere to be seen, leaving only a blanket of white snow. The occasional call of an unknown bird echoed briefly before being swallowed by the immense silence.
"Stop."
Wang Xi lifted the curtain, observing the outside, and spoke abruptly.
Bev silently raised a hand.
With a surge of Magic Power, the candy carriage came to a halt. The accompanying Demon Wolf and Witch Squads also pulled on their reins, and everything fell silent.
"Gai, did you see something?"
Goddalir, sitting beside him, couldn’t see the outside clearly and asked in a low voice.
"Mm." Through the window, Wang Xi saw the faint flicker of firelight and moving figures on the wide lakeshore—a bonfire, and the Northern People gathered around it. "I’ve found them."
"We’re getting out. We’ll approach on foot,"
he said, getting up first.
Before long, the group was moving on foot, stealthily making their way through the bushes and along the lake’s shore toward the firelight.
A giant bonfire, several meters in diameter, was surrounded by rings of fur-clad Northern Warriors.
They were waving their arms and stamping their feet, wailing and chanting in a way that seemed to be part singing, part praying. It was very strange.
In the innermost circle were five or six tall men with braided hair. They wore necklaces strung with animal skulls, their chests and faces were covered in tattoos and paint, and their furs were larger and more ornate.
[Chief of the North Snow Wolf Tribe (Moderately Corrupted) · Kawu Creek (Arch-Nemesis/Three Stars/Legend)]
[Chief of the North Bear Tribe (Moderately Corrupted) · Derek Leo (Arch-Nemesis/Three Stars/Hero)]
[...]
These were the clan chiefs.
In addition, there were four women—one old, three middle-aged—draped in snow-white wolf pelts and wearing ornate feathered headdresses. They were all bowing toward the bonfire, muttering incantations.
[Chief Northern Shaman (Heavily Corrupted) · Mase (Arch-Nemesis/Five Stars/Elite)]
[Northern Shaman (Heavily Corrupted) · Pamela (Arch-Nemesis/Four Stars/Elite)]
[...]
From thirty or forty meters away, Wang Xi raised a hand, signaling for the others to halt as he carefully observed the situation.
Besides the Northern leaders and Shamans, there were nearly a hundred other Northern Warriors, all of them elites.
The weakest among them were One-Star Elites and Whiteboard Two Stars.
Mixed in were twenty to thirty Three-Star Elites.
Over a dozen Whiteboard Four Stars.
And three Four-Star Elites.
’No wonder they dared to venture so deep into the Kingdom’s territory. This must be the most elite fighting force the Northern Lands have,’
Wang Xi thought to himself.
His gaze swept over the scene, and he paused, slightly stunned.
He saw a tree. A black tree.