Ch 277: With Great Power Comes Great Power. （fog）

Because he needed to infiltrate, Bal did not bring his longsword. After all, his longsword was rather special and eye-catching; anyone with discerning eyes could tell that his sword was different from a standard sword. Now Bal held a weapon in each hand, prepared for a quick battle.

“I’ve seen your face. The Kingdom declared you dead, but unexpectedly, you’re still alive. Silver Saint Hound, Bal.”

Erdos attacked first. Under the cover of the brainwashed children, he charged toward Bal. Bal continuously retreated; he did not want to injure the children. Finally, he seized the moment when Erdos revealed himself and kicked him out of the crowd.

“To think that the people of God’s Country actually know my nickname from my time in the army, it’s quite surprising.”

Bal began his counterattack. He enhanced his body and charged at the kicked-away Erdos at incredible speed. Erdos steadied himself, discarded his standard sword, and drew a scimitar from his back, blocking Bal’s attack.

“Humph, you are a man feared by all countries.”

“Hilarious, I’m not planning on participating in a war against humanity; that’s meaningless. I don’t know why, but it seems everyone is targeting me.”

Erdos angled his blade, causing Bal’s dagger to slide to the side. He took advantage of Bal’s forward lean to turn around and prepare to attack Bal’s back. But Bal did not give him the opportunity; he used his hands to support himself on the ground, performing a spinning kick to knock Erdos’s scimitar away. At this time, the children were also closing in, so Bal had to create distance between himself and Erdos.

“The world’s youngest Sword Star, possessing superhuman speed, strength, magic, and intelligence, why do you think you can stay out of it?”

Erdos once again hid among the crowd. He assumed that Bal would not dare to harm the children. In reality, Bal could have easily knocked the children unconscious, but if he did so, the unconscious children might become leverage for Erdos to blackmail Bal. Therefore, Bal could only dodge and fight, because the children were still useful to Erdos, and Erdos would not harm them.

“So those politicians have something wrong in their heads. From the time I started school to joining the army, my biggest wish was to marry a wife and live a peaceful life.”

“But the politicians won’t let you off so easily, will they?”

Erdos darted out from the crowd. The moment he extended his scimitar, Bal seized his arm and threw him away. Then, a flurry of throwing knives flew towards Erdos. The throwing knives pierced Erdos’s hands, nailing them to the ground, while the others embedded themselves in Erdos’s chest and abdomen. Bal took this opportunity to knock the children unconscious. After laying the children flat on the ground, he turned towards Erdos.

“But I did manage to escape for a while. The Kingdom thought I was dead, and other countries also received the news of my death from the Kingdom. During my year-plus of living in seclusion, I married a wife, had a child, and got a pet. I truly lived the life I wanted, and after this incident, I can return to that warm and peaceful life.”

Bal crouched down. First, he severed the tendons in Erdos’s hands and feet to render him combat-ineffective. Then he held a short sword to Erdos’s neck.

“I have no intention of becoming the world’s focus. These dirty schemes and politics aren’t suitable for me.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”

“What are you laughing about?”

“Do you really think you can stay out of it for life? Do you really believe you can protect your own life? What a joke! In the torrent of time, no one can remain untouched. God’s Country and the Kingdom will eventually clash, or rather, this continent will eventually be engulfed in war. By then, the people you cherish, the life you want to protect, will all cease to exist!”

“Is that all?”

“Why are you so unmoved?”

“Because my life can only be controlled by myself.”

“Humph, go ahead. I’ve already lost.”

“Quite refreshing.”

At that moment, the entire castle began to shake. Bal lowered his center of gravity; the shaking quickly stopped.

“What happened?”

Bal looked at Erdos on the ground; Erdos also had a face full of surprise.

“How would I know? Didn’t you do it?”

“I came to rescue people, not to slaughter them like your subordinates. Don’t think of me as so evil, okay?”

“Forget it, hurry up and do it; I’m a dying man.”

“Alright.”

Bal walked in front of Erdos. He used his short sword to behead Erdos. This was his way of showing respect to his opponent – a quick death without suffering.

As Bal put away his weapons and retrieved the throwing knives from Erdos’s body, the ground began to shake again. This time, the shaking was more violent than before. After the shaking stopped, Bal contacted Phia through his bracelet.

“What happened?”

“An army is attacking this castle. They are using powerful military magic and catapults to attack. How are things on your end?”

“The children were brainwashed, and I’ve killed Erdos. Come and help me take the children away.”

“Okay.”

The contact ended, and the next second, Phia teleported to Bal’s side. Bal pointed at the twelve people lying on the ground.

“It’s them. Teleport them to Guangyue Town first, find a place to lock them up, and remove their brainwashing.”

“Okay, help me gather them together.”

Bal helped Phia gather the children and the commissioner together. Phia immediately drew a large-scale teleportation formation. Then Bal asked Phia for his longsword and stepped out of the formation.

“What are you going to do?”

“This battle can’t start yet, at least not until we’ve taken the orphanage children away. I’m going to stop the Kingdom’s army.”

“Then be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back safely.”

“I’ll come to help you after I’ve removed their brainwashing.”

“Mm.”

Bal put on the helmet that Erdos had knocked off, and carrying his longsword, he walked to the center of the castle’s open space. At this time, the castle’s soldiers were using bows and arrows to defend against the distant army’s attack from behind the city wall.

“Listen to me!”

Bal shouted in the middle of the square, and everyone in the castle looked at Bal.

“Lord Erdos has been assassinated by an assassin! We can only rely on our own strength to withstand this attack! Where is the messenger?”

Not long after Bal finished shouting, a soldier wearing light leather armor came to Bal’s side.

“I am the messenger.”

Bal patted the soldier on the shoulder.

“Kid, your mission is to go to the nearest military camp for reinforcements. Hurry. If Menanxiburg falls, the people behind us will suffer.”

“Yes! I guarantee I will complete the mission!”

“Go.”

Bal watched the messenger leave. The messenger first took a pigeon from the pigeon coop, and he placed a note in a metal tube attached to the pigeon’s leg. The messenger released the pigeon, and then he himself mounted a horse and left through the gate near the mountain side.

“Logistics! Who is the logistics manager!”

Bal continued to shout, and after a while, everyone in the castle came before Bal. They wore different uniforms and were lined up according to their work.

“Logistics, go get all the arrows and send them to the city wall, and then you will assist the medical personnel in rescuing the injured soldiers.”

“Yes!”

The logistics troops ran directly into the storehouse. Each of them carried several quivers filled with arrows from the storehouse towards the city wall.

“Medical, you are responsible for treating the wounded. Bandage the lightly injured, and you handle the seriously injured as you see fit.”

“Yes!”

“The rest of you, each of you carry two quivers, take your weapons, and prepare to replace the brothers on the city wall.”

“Yes!”

After giving all the instructions, Bal took a barely passable bow from the storehouse, with two quivers hanging from his waist. He went to the city wall and looked at the distant army, then couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

“To think that my first time commanding troops would be under these circumstances.”

After saying that, Bal drew an arrow from his quiver, aimed at the commander of the catapult unit, took a deep breath, and shot his first arrow. The arrow left the bowstring and drew an arc in the air. Although it lacked the speed and power of Grey’s shots, it was enough to kill.

The arrow fell towards the commander of the catapult unit, striking the commander directly in the head. The soldiers guarding the city were excited by this. Then Bal drew his bow again, this time aiming at the commander of the magic unit. He infused magic into the arrowhead. The arrow flew out like a meteor, and Bal shouted at the same time.

“Stalla!!”

The meteor-like arrow instantly pierced the magic unit’s magic shield and plunged straight into the magic unit commander’s brain.

“Good shot!”

The surrounding soldiers cheered, and they followed Bal’s example and shot a rain of arrows at the distant army. At this time, Bal silently went down from the city wall. He placed his bow and arrow and quiver on the city wall and ran towards the Kingdom’s army with the magic bombs he had previously collected. These magic bombs had been tampered with by Phia before, and only he or Phia could infuse magic into them to detonate them.

“Hero Bal, reporting.”

Bal muttered softly, drew his longsword, and quickly ran toward the Kingdom’s army.