Hakan looked toward the source of the sound, but the night was pitch-black, and he couldn't see a thing.
"Wh-what was that?"
Boc was terrified. He was no warrior and wanted nothing to do with fighting and killing.
"I don't know. Maybe someone was attacked by some beast."
Hakan hesitated. Night had already fallen.
The Lands Between were dangerous at night. Many beasts roamed the wilds, and legends told of strange things that only appeared after dark.
Logically, they shouldn't go check it out.
But the tasks Bai Shi had given them included patrolling. If something was happening nearby and they didn't investigate, it would be hard to justify.
Besides, there seemed to be nothing to fear. They had so many of their comrades here.
They didn't all need to go. With a few dozen men, there was no enemy in Limgrave they couldn't handle.Hakan called over thirty or forty of his comrades and told the rest to take Boc back to the camp to rest.
He prepared to investigate, to see if he could rescue the unlucky soul who had been attacked.
But they didn't let their numbers make them careless. Where before only a few men shared a torch, now almost everyone lit their own.
The firelight illuminated the night and dispelled the faint unease in their hearts.
Hakan quickly ran from the front of the group to the back, confirming that everyone was ready before giving the order.
"Everyone ready? Let's go and see what's happening."
The large party hurried toward the source of the screams. In the light of the torches, the Kaidan Sellswords watched each other's backs for any potential danger.
To their surprise, following the screams led them to the main road.
Hakan's expression soured. There were braziers on both sides of the road; ordinary beasts wouldn't casually attack travelers here.
It was either a terrifying beast like a Runebear or villains arrogant enough to attack people on the main road.
Even if they could take them down, these kinds of enemies could still cause casualties among their ranks.
However, when Hakan and his men arrived, they realized they were wrong—terribly wrong.
This was not an enemy they could handle at all.
Even if they brought the rest of their comrades, it would only add to the body count.
Four figures clad head to toe in pitch-black armor, their great steeds similarly draped in black, were slaughtering indiscriminately on the road.
They patrolled the main road, just so they could find more Tarnished.
They charged relentlessly through a group of several hundred Tarnished, and the ground was already piled high with corpses.
The Kaidan Sellswords had traveled far and wide. Their information wasn't always the most up-to-date or accurate, but they were well-versed in all sorts of rumors.
They quickly matched the identity of their opponents to one such rumor.
They were the nightmares that stalked the fearful.
The reapers who extinguished courage in the dead of night.
They were the Night's Cavalry.
Rumored to be powerful knights who followed the Fell Omen, riding funerary steeds—the reapers of the battlefield.
It wasn't that no Tarnished fought back, but their weapons often hadn't even landed before they were sent flying into the air, crashing heavily to the ground, their fate unknown.
The Night's Cavalry were too strong. The Tarnisheds' will to fight was crushed in their first charge.
Yet the Night's Cavalry showed no mercy to the fleeing Tarnished, using their cavalry's mobility to hunt them down one by one, clearly intent on slaughtering every last one.
Hakan swallowed hard, suppressed the fear in his heart, and commanded the Kaidan Sellswords to advance and interfere, to help the Tarnished escape.
Then, Hakan whistled to the sky, and a Stormhawk circled above his head. Without taking out paper and pen to write a message, he shouted directly at the Stormhawk:
"Fly back to Stormveil! Find Bai Shi or the Crucible Knights, anyone! Just bring them here!"
The sellswords were only a bit stronger than Godrick's soldiers. Against knights, they could only rely on mobility to wear them down.
Although Hakan was a bit stronger, he was only at a level where he could barely defeat a knight on foot.
And as for the Night's Cavalry, even if they were slightly weaker than the Tree Sentinel he'd seen the other day, given enough time, they could still wipe them all out.
Besides, it wasn't even certain who was stronger, the Night's Cavalry or the Tree Sentinel.
Seeing the Stormhawk fly into the sky, Hakan breathed a sigh of relief.
But in the next second, a tragic cry echoed from the pitch-black night sky.
The Stormhawk from just now seemed to have been hit by something. It plummeted from the sky and fell at Hakan's feet, motionless.
The white wolf snarled and growled in one direction. Hakan looked over and saw a pitch-black figure slowly appear on the hillside, followed by a second, and a third...
Six more Night's Cavalry had arrived.
When the Kaidan Sellswords arrived on the battlefield, the Night's Cavalry spotted them immediately and contacted their nearby companions through some secret means of communication.
They had come with an important mission this time and could not leave any witnesses.
If it were only the four of them, some of the mounted Kaidan Sellswords might have slipped through the net.
Without any communication, the Night's Cavalry charged down the hill in perfect unison, their primary target the Kaidan Sellswords.
Hakan's heart went cold. He raised his greatsword and charged toward the Night's Cavalry.
—
Against overwhelmingly superior strength, any struggle was futile.
Soon, only Hakan was left on the field, struggling to hold on. His warhorse and the white wolf were severely wounded, lying on the ground on the verge of death.
They had given their all to kill one of the Night's Cavalry, but the remaining nine were an insurmountable obstacle.
One of the Night's Cavalry stood opposite Hakan. His horse had been injured earlier and could no longer be ridden.
The other Night's Cavalry paid Hakan no mind, turning away to clean up the battlefield.
They searched for enemies who hadn't died on the spot and finished them off one by one.
"Hah... hah..."
Hakan felt he was doomed today, but if he could take one more with him before he died, that wouldn't be so bad.
So he focused his mind, carefully observing every move of the Night's Cavalryman opposite him.
"Why did you come to Limgrave? Who sent you?"
His opponent ignored him, silently swinging his halberd as he attacked Hakan.
Hakan blocked the upward strike with his greatsword, the immense force nearly sending both him and his weapon flying.
Just as Hakan felt a moment of relief for blocking the blow, a gray phantom appeared behind the Night's Cavalryman, repeating the same motion and striking the same spot.
Hakan's greatsword snapped in two. His breastplate was pierced, leaving a gaping wound.
Hakan fell to his knees in disbelief.
What was that gray figure that had suddenly appeared?
Before he could find an answer, his consciousness began to fade.
But in the final moment before his consciousness faded completely, he felt a terrifying pressure.
And an angry voice.
"Night's Cavalry, you're finished..."