Chapter 217: The Valiant Grand Knight

Henwell’s left hand wields the Dawn Greatsword, parrying a war hammer’s strike with ease. The longsword snakes around the hammer’s shaft, thrusting forward with deadly precision.

The blade pierces through the knight’s neck armor, sinking deep into his throat.

As he pulls the sword free, Henwell flicks his cloak behind him, blocking the line of sight of two knights rushing to counterattack.

Stepping forward, he leans back to dodge the twin sword strikes aimed at him, then drives both blades into the chests of his assailants.

Carrying the weight of two bodies, Henwell charges ahead, bulldozing through the cavalry pressing in from behind.

He spins, raising the Dawn Greatsword to block a heavy axe swing.

With a swift motion, he traps the axe’s blade beneath his sword, muscles straining as he yanks the axe-wielding knight close.

The Dawn Greatsword’s edge slices across the knight’s neck, carving a deep gash that sprays blood.

Clearing the corpse, Henwell lifts the Dusk Greatsword to fend off a heavy sword strike.

As he parries, the Dusk Greatsword slashes into the knight’s neck, nearly decapitating him.

At that moment, two more knights, their blades shimmering with Fighting Spirit, charge at Henwell.

Just as he prepares to meet them head-on, a sudden tug on his cloak from behind catches him off guard.

A kingdom knight grabs Henwell’s cloak, trying to pull him down.

But he overestimates his strength—Henwell remains standing, while the knight loses balance from the overexertion.

Seizing the moment, another kingdom knight lunges forward, grabbing Henwell’s cloak with all his might.

Henwell rotates his palm, flipping the Dawn Greatsword into a reverse grip to block the frontal attacker’s strike.

Then, with the blade facing backward, Henwell yanks his cloak hard.

The massive force throws the two knights off their feet, sending them flying toward  Henwell’s back.

One knight crashes headfirst into the blade of the Dawn Greatsword, the sword piercing through his chest and killing him instantly.

Another knight was kicked backwards by Henwell.

The knight’s breastplate crumples, and with the sickening sound of shattering bones mixed with splattered innards, blood spurts out through the gaps in his helmet.

The knight, stomped to death by Henwell’s boot, flies backward, crashing into several knights rushing up behind him.

Seizing the moment, Henwell charges forward, holding the Dawn Greatsword in reverse to block an incoming attack.

With the opponent’s guard wide open, he drives the Dusk Greatsword through the enemy’s neck.

A Knight Commander lunges with a sword thrust from the left, but Henwell sidesteps, using the reverse grip Dawn Greatsword to slash across the commander’s neck.

At that moment, a Battle Knight charges straight at Henwell, aiming to sever his left arm with a single strike.

Henwell tightens his grip, pressing the reverse-held Dawn Greatsword close to his arm, twisting his wrist to block the deadly slash.

He forces the Battle Knight’s longsword downward, sliding along the blade’s edge.

With his left fist gripping the Dawn Greatsword, Henwell slams it hard into the knight’s chest.

Then, swinging his arm upward, the weighted pommel of the Dawn Greatsword crashes solidly into the knight’s jaw.

As the knight’s jaw shatters and he reels in stunned pain, Henwell kicks him sharply in the back of the knee.

The Battle Knight falters, dropping to one knee.

Henwell swings his right hand’s Dusk Greatsword down, beheading the knight.

This marks Henwell’s fourth Battle Knight kill; as for how many regular knights he’s taken down, he doesn’t even bother to count anymore.

Now Henwell is isolated, cut off from his own military formation.

His Lord Iron Guards fight desperately, trying to break through, but the Golden Blade knights hold firm.

Of course, Golden Blade doesn’t have that many knights—these are the elite troops personally gathered by Duke Kolen and the nobles from the kingdom’s southeast.

Seeing Henwell leading the charge, Douglas of Golden Blade plans to concentrate his best forces to behead this Blood Hill lord.

But he quickly realizes he’s seriously underestimated Henwell.

Not only is Henwell a powerhouse himself, but the guards in dark blue armor fighting alongside him are just as fierce.

Douglas understands this is a compact, elite knight squad—not something you can crush by throwing average elite soldiers at two hundred heavily armored knights.

So Douglas calls up his personal guard, and pulls the best troops from his army.

The plan: isolate Henwell and his guards.

After the clash begins, Douglas realizes his elite numbers still aren’t enough to take Henwell down.

Duke Kolen immediately dispatches his own guards, pulling knights and retainers from various noble houses to reinforce the battlefield.

Only after bringing in about a thousand reinforcements do they manage to separate Henwell from the Lord Iron Guards.

Now, they plan to swarm and kill Henwell with sheer numbers.

But after half an hour of fighting, the kingdom commanders wear grim expressions.

Golden Blade has lost two centurions, Douglas’s own guard captain, Duke Kolen’s guard captain, and a viscount.

Five Battle Knights in total—all slain by Henwell.

On top of that, Henwell has killed over sixty knights.

Watching Henwell, surrounded yet still charging wildly, both Douglas and Duke Kolen frown deeply.

At this moment, the battlefield splits into several zones.

The Golden Blade Legion clashes fiercely with Henwell’s garrison legion.

Henwell’s Lord Iron Guards, joined by Dominic’s legion guards, fight in mixed squads against the elite knights pulled from the enemy ranks.

Meanwhile, cavalry units from both sides engage in brief but brutal skirmishes here and there.

At the center, Henwell is surrounded by over a hundred enemies.

Yet the scene around him is a massacre, utterly one-sided.

So far, no one has managed to seriously wound Henwell.

He’s still as vigorous as ever, rampaging through the crowd, with hardly any knight able to block a single one of his strikes.

This keeps Henwell constantly on the move, preventing the enemies from concentrating superior numbers against him.

Duke Kolen wants to send more troops, but Douglas stops him.

“Order this: no more attempts to surround and kill their commander. Just hold him in place,” Douglas commands.

Kolen frowns in confusion. “Why? He’s been fighting for so long—his Fighting Spirit must be nearly drained!”

Douglas shakes his head slowly. “No way. He’s not an ordinary Battle Knight.”

Kolen’s eyes widen in shock. “You mean he’s a Grand Knight?”

Douglas’s expression turns grave. “Even if he’s not, he’s damn close.”

Kolen falls silent for a long moment, then mutters, “A Grand Knight under thirty? That’s impossible!”

Douglas says nothing.

Kolen’s voice hardens. “Then all the more reason we can’t let him live! I’ll gather more men—today, we’ll pile bodies to take him down if we have to!”

Douglas replies calmly, “You can’t pile enough. If he wants to leave, no one here can stop him.”