Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 30: Interlude - Crossing Paths

Chapter 30 - Interlude - Crossing Paths

The night air was filled with the terrifying sounds of warcries, the sharp clang of steel, and the chilling screams of battle. Two silhouettes of women leaped over the crowd of soldiers as they slaughtered their way through the encirclement.

However, the pursuers were also musou knights. They managed to intercept the duo, forcing them into a disadvantageous 10-against-2 showdown.

The result was the two heroines’ victory at the cost of Lia’s musou energy depletion. Luckily, their breastplates and knight armor were more than enough to protect them.

After murdering 10 level 3 musou knights, they managed to slip past the encirclement. They took a short break to tend Lia’s wounds.

However, reinforcement units of Zoli appeared from the northeast, where they had come from. Lia and Lenitia kept fleeing south all night. They didn’t get a wink of sleep.

At sunrise, the pursuit never ended. Over 5,000 Avaritia soldiers patrolled the region, and every squad consisted of a level 2 or level 3 musou knight, who could detect their aura. Lia fought her way through, despite being poisoned and injured.

At noon, Lia got an arrow in her chest, and she almost collapsed. Two level 3 musou knights teamed up against Lenitia, drawing her away from her bodyguard.

A squad of archers and 100 conscripted bandits isolated Lia. They all drooled at Lia’s busty figure.

The captain of the archer squad rallied the bandits.

"Lord Zoli has given his permission. You may do anything to that woman. The princess belongs to the lord!"

The expendable bandits cheered and charged at her, even though they were regular people.

Lia gathered all her might, swinging her weapon with a fierce cry to bring down the charging yellow-cloth bandit. After cutting down 20 men, two elite archers fired two arrows and hit her arm and leg.

The bodyguard knelt on the ground. The Musou Knight Captain seized the opportunity by grappling her, pinning her to the ground. He disarmed her short sword and removed her damaged breastplate. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Lia roared in anger, unleashing her last bit of power. A tornado emerged with Lia at its center, sending surrounding archers and bandits 300 meters high. In seconds, they all fell to their deaths.

However, Lia’s ultimate move tore her leggings, gauntlets, and other armor parts to shreds. Only a few pieces of torn clothing remained.

Meanwhile, Lenitia managed to defeat two musou knights on her own with her ultimate move. Similar to Lia’s situation, her tornado blade technique destroyed her armor, clothes, and weapon after use.

They regrouped and hurried south without looting the bodies. They managed to lose the pursuers that day.

In the middle of the night, the two women rested without lighting a campfire. They tended their wounds. However, Lia gave up her spare clothes to Lenitia while she only wore loincloths.

While resting, they heard another army passing by. Lia peeked through the bushes and noticed that they wore black knight armor instead of yellow clothing.

"Invidia force," Lia informed Lenitia.

"Invidia? What are they doing here? Are they after us, too?"

"We don’t know. Let’s observe."

.

After following the trail of Crow all day, Bickar Nusus and his men discovered traces of battles and a massive tornado at a distance. They followed the clue and reached the battlefield at night, hoping to find traces of Crow.

Along the way, Bickar sensed two musou signatures not far away. Based on the energy signatures, they seemed injured. He warned the crowd.

"I sense two wind users south of here. Stay alert."

"Are they scouts, sir?" One of his men asked.

"...Probably not. Avaritia doesn’t have a wind user. They’re all earth-type and water-type."

Bickar suspected that they might be scouts from Constantia since they specialized in the wind element. The tornado earlier might be their doing, and he didn’t want to get involved in their missions.

Bickar purposefully ordered his men, as if he were dropping hints.

"Remember, we’re searching for the fire knight, and we’ve come in peace. We have no intention of harming the person!"

The horsemen gave Bickar a weird look since they already knew their objective. They nodded and maintained silence.

Bickar prayed that the Constantia’s people would get the message. He glanced at his tired warhorse and sighed.

"Return to our camp. We have pushed enough today. We’ll continue our search tomorrow. If we can’t find him, we’ll withdraw."

The horsemen turned around and fell back to their forward camp, which the support team had set up.

Bickar glanced in the direction of Lia and Lenitia. He snorted and followed his troops back.

.

After Bickar’s men passed by, Lia and Lenitia let out a long sigh of relief.

Lia suggested. "Let’s rest. I’ll keep watch."

"N-No. You rest. I’ll stay and watch. You’re in the worst condition!"

"..."

Lia wished she argued back, but she could no longer muster her strength. She collapsed and passed out.

Instead of resting, Lenitia carried Lia on her back and continued moving east the entire night.

While running, Lenitia contemplated the message left behind by Bickar. She then thought of Crow.

’Are they looking for that spy boy?’

Bickar’s pronouncement, "We’ve come in peace," served as an indication of their relationship. Crow was not affiliated with Invidia’s forces.

The suspicion of him being Avaritia’s spy remained. However, three pieces of information contradicted one another.

Firstly, a commoner could never advance to level 2 without elixir or a proper cultivation method. As a result, Crow appeared to be associated with the armed forces.

Secondly, based on Avaritia’s culture, a fire user shouldn’t have existed in their army. Crow should not originate from Avaritia even though he brought them to Zoli’s ambush site.

And lastly, Bickar just implied that Crow was not from Invidia, but they were searching for him.

Lenitia clicked her tongue and scratched her head, finding the situation puzzling.

’Was he innocent all along? Is his talent truly that great?’

After long contemplation, that was her conclusion. There was no other plausible answer.

In the end, it was her fault for suspecting Crow. He was innocent all along.

At sunrise, Lia woke up, and she felt a little better. They resumed traveling southeast.

They didn’t run into Bickar’s forces or Avaritia’s forces again. A few days later, they detected the presence of a level 2 fire knight.

They found Crow.