Chapter 84: The Second Component
Robin actually had not expected it.
This time, he had unexpectedly discovered another component.
His current sensing ability was actually quite limited.
The first time he discovered the component, it had been a kind of instinctive repair or completion. Moreover, he already had half of the sword hilt, which was why he could sense the other half.
But after that, he had not sensed the location of the second component, until today.
...
The second component of the Demonic Sword!
Akar’s expression became quite serious. “Do you know where it is?”
“Judging from the range of the sensation, it should be within the Eaglehead Mountains,” Yam said grimly.
Hearing Yam say this, Akar’s expression also turned grim.
Because both brothers knew that ever since they retrieved the first component, their father Ion had once taken the sword and traversed the entire White Mountain Territory, but had never discovered anything.
So, their family had long concluded that the other components of the sword would not be within the boundaries of the White Mountain Territory.
Thus, Yam’s family had always treated the search for the sword's components as a long-term goal, never intending to rush it.
But now, without any preparation, they had suddenly discovered the second component of the Demonic Sword nearby. Naturally, this made them realize something was wrong.
After all, they trusted their father deeply and firmly believed that Ion, who had once carried the sword across the entire White Mountain Territory, could not have made such a basic mistake.
So what was different now compared to when their father had searched the territory?
The answer was: the army from the County of Fertile Plains had invaded the White Mountain Territory.
Therefore, the brothers immediately realized the problem: the second component of the Demonic Sword had already been acquired by someone, and that person was carrying it right now!
“Shall we go take a look?” Akar asked tentatively.
“We have to,” Yam nodded. “Even if we can’t get it back now, we must find out who has the component.”
“Can you find out?”
The first time the component had been sensed, it was Ion who held the sword. At that time, most of the blood in his body had evaporated, but this misfortune had stimulated his bloodline strongly, greatly enhancing his strength.
This time, the one sensing the component was Yam.
So Akar didn’t quite understand what this sensing process was like.
“I can’t quite describe it,” Yam thought for a moment, and then a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. “It was just a feeling... When I approached the northeast side of the village earlier, I suddenly felt a very strong pull, as if something there was calling to me, urging me to go over. And the Demonic Sword also started to tremble violently, almost as if it were out of control. Then I suddenly understood, that was the component of the Demonic Sword calling to me.”
Upon hearing this, Akar suddenly began to check Yam’s body. “Did anything happen to your body?”
“No,” Yam replied, looking a bit curious as well. “Father once said his blood was evaporated by half and he nearly died. But I didn’t feel anything like that just now. I only felt a bit dizzy. If I hadn’t lost my balance and caused some noise when I fell, I wouldn’t have even been noticed by the village guards.”
“Strange.” Akar looked puzzled. “Was there a difference between the two sensing instances?”
“I can’t say,” Yam shook his head slightly.
But soon, he added, “I also interrogated some information.”
“The soldiers stationed here are militia conscripted by the Western Wind Territory. The two Bloodline Knights originally stationed here were Molly Karco and Nail Spencer. Two days ago, they suddenly led the private soldiers of the Lord of the Spring Breeze Territory into the Eaglehead Mountains. It’s said they went to rendezvous with the Lord of the Spring Breeze Territory, leaving only these militia behind.”
“Molly Karco...” Akar frowned slightly. “Is that the ‘Blood Knight’ Molly?”
Yam nodded.
To gain a recognized title from others was an honor for any Bloodline User.
But most of the time, Bloodline Users who had earned such titles were at least Fourth-Tier in strength. In fact, many Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users had never received any such honorary titles.
Especially for people like Yam and Akar, one who had earned the dual titles of “Red Eagle Knight” and “Red Eagle Sword,” and the other who had received the title of “Blazing Bow” not only were they unique within the Red Eagle Territory, but even in the neighboring Fertile Territory and Cold Ridge Territory, they were unmatched.
This uniqueness referred to the fact that they had earned honorary titles while only being Second-Tier, not that these territories had only two such honored individuals.
Still, the honor the two of them held was based on their strength being merely Second-Tier, and so it was more about the outside world’s high expectations for their future.
But the “Blood Knight” Molly Karco was different.
Even in the surrounding territories, she was a figure others found deeply intimidating, saying she was the strongest among Third-Tier Bloodline Users might be an exaggeration, but saying she was the strongest Third-Tier Bloodline User among the nearby territories wouldn’t meet much objection.
Among Third-Tier, those with better brains than her couldn’t fight as well; those who fought better weren’t as willing to risk their lives; those more willing to risk their lives weren’t as mad as her; and those more insane weren’t as sharp.
In fact, the Western Wind Cavalry Regiment’s fearless combat style had only been instilled after she became its true commander, it was also thanks to her that the Western Wind Cavalry Regiment gained fame.
There were even rumors that Count Shuvaric had once sought marriage between his son and the Karco Family for her hand.
But the moment it was revealed that her awakened bloodline power was the Bloodthirsty Beast, they gave up on the idea.
“The component of the Demonic Sword… could it be with her?” Akar suddenly said.
“I hope not,” Yam let out a light sigh. “Otherwise, it’ll be quite troublesome. At least, with our strength, if she’s alone, we might have a chance. But she has another Third-Tier Bloodline User with her. So if we run into her, we may need to avoid detection entirely.”
Akar fell silent.
He knew that Yam’s words represented the best-case scenario.
In reality, even if they could use the Demonic Sword’s unknown sharpness to kill her in their first strike, a Third-Tier Bloodline User could still drag one of them down with her. If they were unlucky, both could die.
So avoiding her was the best course of action.
It was just...
“Although the Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline is very powerful, it has a flaw, it’s prone to triggering a berserk state, forcing a life-and-death battle with the enemy. So unless one is training death warriors, no one would normally choose the Bloodthirsty Beast as their awakened bloodline power,” Akar said in a deep voice.
“But based on what we’ve heard, even when Molly enters such a berserk state, she can still maintain a degree of reason. As long as she fully vents her inner emotions, she can regain clarity.”
“Considering the uniqueness of the Demonic Sword, its components must have special effects. So we have every reason to believe that the component we’re looking for is on this Blood Knight.”
Yam exhaled heavily and patted Akar on the shoulder. “I know too, but what if...? Also, the way they rushed into the mountains so suddenly means something must have happened. Maybe it’s because Father and the others are breaking through toward this direction. So no matter what, we have to check it out.”
Akar nodded and said nothing more.
But the way he gripped his longbow already showed his stance.
After quickly tidying up, the two immediately set off in the direction Molly Karco and the others had left.
...
At the same time.
Inside a mountain path in the Eaglehead Mountains, Molly, who was struggling forward with her soldiers, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She turned her head in confusion, looking back in the direction she had come.
At the end of that road was the already scorched Mountain Ridge Village.
Just now, she had inexplicably felt a suffocating sense of fear emanating from that mountain village.
“What’s wrong, Lady?” The burly and strong Nail saw Molly suddenly halt. He signaled the soldiers to continue climbing and then stood beside Molly, alert to the surroundings. “Did something happen?”
Molly touched her earrings.
They were a pair of golden dangling earrings, appearing as if two tiny golden longswords hung beneath her earlobes. The tips of the swords held two thumb-sized red gemstones, making them look like longswords piercing a heart.
These earrings were her mother’s keepsake.
She treasured them dearly.
Everyone believed she treasured them because they were a memento from her mother.
But only she knew that after awakening the Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline, she avoided its backlash solely due to the protection of these earrings. This made her acutely aware that the two red gemstones on these earrings were far from ordinary.
As a child, she had heard her mother say that she once wanted to crush these gems to adorn a necklace.
But no matter what method she used, she couldn’t break them. Eventually, she had them made into these dangling earrings instead.
And it was only after receiving these earrings that Molly felt a powerful urge for bloodshed.
So, defying her family’s plan to choose a common wind-type magical beast from the County of Fertile Plains as her awakened bloodline, she picked a magical beast on the bloody path of ascension as her bloodline power.
With remarkable talent, she quickly advanced to a Third-Tier Bloodline User.
Among her peers in the Karco Family, she had the best potential.
Although the Bloodthirsty Beast’s reputation prevented her from inheriting the headship of the Karco Family...
Molly no longer cared.
She knew that as long as she had these earrings, she would eventually break through to the Sixth-Tier and create a new Karco Family bloodline of her own.
But now.
Molly suddenly felt a sense of crisis, someone was coming to take her earrings. This feeling instantly ignited her killing intent.
As if responding to Molly’s madness, the red gemstones on the earrings began to emit a faint glow.
Then, a flash of crimson flickered in Molly’s eyes, and her boiling killing intent gradually calmed down.
“It’s nothing.”
Molly shook her head slightly and said hoarsely, “Let’s keep moving. Time is running out. Lord Harris has begun closing the net. It’s time for us to end this farce and withdraw from the Eastern Mountain Territory and White Mountain Territory.”