Free Web NovelChapter 516: Chapter 288: A Rider Worth a Thousand
Phil’s Legion traveled through the night, moving with the speed of a whirlwind as it swept toward Northwest City.
At the head of the cavalry, Fang Zhen rode his Red Hare Warhorse alongside Osetis, leading the vanguard of the Divine Rune Warriors as they galloped toward Northwest City.
After marching for half an hour, they arrived at Northwest City.
Dark clouds roiled across the sky, laced with the faint rumble of thunder. A grim, murderous aura hung over the land, giving the impression that the heavens themselves were about to bear down and crush the city.
Phil’s Legion halted its charge before Northwest City.
Fang Zhen gazed at Northwest City. It was a formidable sight, with walls towering over fifteen meters high and an imposing, majestic aura. The quality of its architecture was also high.
A conservative estimate would put the city’s population at five to six hundred thousand—an incredibly high number for the era. But now, the inside of the city was a living hell.
Even when not hunting to fill their bellies, demons would slaughter any being they perceived as benevolent. The entire city had been massacred.
The remains of the populace had become the demons’ snacks and food.
Fang Zhen’s eyes fell upon the magnificent city sprawling across the plain, his gaze settling on the central gate and the surrounding walls.
The cost to build these walls must have been immense. The gate alone was massive, standing over ten meters tall and eight or nine meters wide.
The gate was now shut tight. A few Little Demons and other fiends loitered at the base of the city walls.
The sight of the gate reminded Fang Zhen of the legendary Ghost Gate; it was just as colossal.
Furthermore, it possessed a faint reddish hue. This must be the wood of the gate that Duke Phil had mentioned, the one that had undergone Divine Rune Etching.
As they all looked at the gate, Belfort, the noble who had previously clashed with Fang Zhen, shot him a look that was both skeptical and provocative.
Osetis, commander of the Divine Rune Knight Order, also looked at Fang Zhen, about to say something.
But before either of them could speak, Fang Zhen shot forward. Man and horse became a blur, charging alone toward the massive gate.
Compared to the gate, Fang Zhen seemed utterly minuscule, like an ant before a great elephant. It was a picture of powerlessness.
And yet, as he galloped, the sound of his Red Hare Horse’s hooves striking the ground was like the beating of war drums, a thunderous RUMBLE.
Incredibly, this lone rider gave off the impression of growing larger and more imposing with every stride.
It was as if this ant was no ordinary insect, but a divine one, capable of felling the slumbering elephant that was Northwest City with a single bite.
The sight left the Divine Rune Warriors behind him utterly dumbfounded.
They were valiant warriors who did not lack for courage.
But courage has its limits, its different levels.
A suicidal charge like Fang Zhen’s was beyond their comprehension. They could only gape in astonishment, not knowing whether to follow or what to do.
"Is... is he just trying to play the hero?"
"Can he actually do it?" many of the Divine Rune Warriors wondered, some even muttering the words aloud.
Osetis stared intently at Fang Zhen.
’He didn’t know if Fang Zhen was a conceited fool, driven by nothing but reckless bravado, or a true powerhouse, one whose spirit and martial might were both strong enough to face an entire Demon Legion.’
As he rode, Fang Zhen could feel the jarring gait of his Red Hare Warhorse beneath him and the tremors in the gravel outside the city.
He could smell the coppery tang of dried blood that still permeated the air.
He could feel the wind whipping against his face as he galloped.
It was only when he was about a hundred meters from the wall that Fang Zhen truly felt the city’s scale. It hadn’t seemed so imposing from a distance, but from down below, it was absolutely immense.
Northwest City loomed like a colossal Demon God, casting its shadow over everything below. In its presence, his own body seemed insignificant.
However, this did nothing to shake Fang Zhen’s confidence. On the contrary, it only fueled his desire for a challenge.
Fang Zhen let out a low roar. He brandished his Thunder Spear, and Thunder Power began to gather upon it.
Fang Zhen could feel that this Thunder Power was at least twenty times stronger than when he had first arrived in this world and first used the Thunder Spear.
Before, the lightning had resembled mere Electric Snakes. Now, the electricity coiling around his spear looked like furious pythons, or even flood dragons—Thunder Dragons.
These Thunder Dragons grew larger and larger, becoming more and more exaggerated as Fang Zhen closed in on the wall. They eventually stretched for more than ten meters.
The crackling, roaring energy erupting from his spear made Fang Zhen himself appear gigantic.
A single man now looked like a Thunder God, wreathed in more than ten writhing, azure Thunder Dragons.
He alone was like an army, a legion. He was like the Hammer of the Thunder Sword, swung by a colossal deity, crashing toward the city gate.
Behind him, Duke Phil’s legion was completely stupefied.
Neither the Divine Rune Warriors nor the regular soldiers in the rear had ever witnessed such overwhelming offensive power.
Not even Osetis, commander of the Divine Rune Knight Order, could command such might.
"Is... is that the power of a mortal?"
Seeing Fang Zhen’s awesome, ferocious might, even Osetis was stunned, to say nothing of the ordinary Divine Rune Warriors under his command.
