kingdom of nations

Chapter 72 To Egypt! (3)

Longinus heard someone yelling vile.

Of course, a sneak attack is indeed a despicable act, not to mention that the attack was on the man's most important position.

What could he do, after days of fasting and a night of forced sleep on the cathedral's flagstones, when he woke he was hungry, thirsty, and hungry, having only drunk a few quick gulps of water.

And he was only wearing leather armor - Cesar picked out a complete set of chain mail from his spoils and gave it to him, but he kept it in the box and didn't wear it. Now it was too late to regret it.

He now had to face three knights who were not only wearing chain mail but also had steel plates fixed in important positions. Moreover, they were fully armed, while he only had a short sword and a dagger.

And if it were up to him, the guy who took a silver coin as a huge reward, in order to facilitate what he did next, lifted up the chain mail that was up to his knees, tucked it into his belt, revealing a large area of ​​white thighs and "short trumpets" barely covered by his linen long shirt, and even forgot to put down his sword when he raised it. Wasn't this a blatant temptation for him to commit a crime?
—as they would certainly say, that they had sinned because this Saracen girl had seduced them.

Longinus was always willing to accept good advice. Moreover, he had been fighting against those vile thieves for a long time and didn't care about his reputation at all.

While bending down to pick up the silver coin, he rolled forward and landed between the knight's legs. He took advantage of the situation to pull out his dagger and hit him with it.

The shameless and stingy bastard suddenly let out a long howl, like a wounded mule, shouting desperately with his throat straight. Longinus, who had crawled behind him, immediately jumped up and stabbed him in the back of the neck.

The monk also seemed to have been on the battlefield. Although he screamed, he still remembered to lift the Saracen girl up and shield her in front of him. He grabbed her hair tightly and pulled it down with all his strength, causing the girl to show a look of pain on her face.

She was shouting something, but unfortunately no one could understand her. She soon realized this and struggled even harder, kicking and grabbing with her hands, not caring about her own safety at all.

But no matter what she did, she couldn't do anything to the guy behind her, and the same thing happened when she was captured. The disparity in physical strength between men and women, coupled with the age difference (she was probably only thirteen or fourteen), and the stark difference between her linen robe and her chain mail, doomed her to be a weak prey rather than a hunter.

But the turning point came in an instant. Perhaps worried that using the girl as a shield alone would not be enough to intimidate Longinus, the priest drew his small dagger and placed it across the girl's neck, hoping to scare him away.

He failed to see the sudden burst of joy in the girl's eyes. She almost couldn't wait to rush towards the sharp blade that was flashing with cold light. Longinus could even hear the sound of skin, blood vessels and thin muscles being torn under the cold metal.

The crack was so deep and so big that even if someone cut it on purpose, it might not be as horrific as it is now.

The girl's head tilted back and blood spurted out. The priest suddenly found that the body in his hands became heavy and tilted to one side. The hair in his hands also became hot, wet and slippery. Only then did he realize that he had lost his biggest bargaining chip.

Longinus did not hesitate. He gripped the dagger tightly and stabbed it into the girl's chest, penetrating her body, and then piercing through the priest's stinking skin, connecting this most beautiful body with the most ugly body together.

His eyes were red, he drew out his sword while panting, and then couldn't help but curse.

Because he saw that the third knight had stood up from the ground, with a light floating around him that was not that thick, but was indeed there - he was a blessed knight.

"Don't those saints in heaven have eyes?" Longinus sighed exactly the same as Caesar once did, and raised his sword.

After just one collision, the experienced wandering knight knew that something was wrong.

He had no way of resisting this knight of brute strength and energy.

Longinus felt weak.

He knew it was a symptom of fear, but he had to pull himself together—he could imagine what the only surviving knight would say if he died here.

He would only say that he and his companions heard the screams of a Saracen woman on the road, and when he rushed over, he found a wandering knight about to rape her. He and his companions shouted to stop him, but were insulted and attacked by the evil man. They had no choice but to fight back and kill him.

Everyone knew that he was Cesar's servant. If this happened, not only would his death be unjust and inexplicable, but Cesar's reputation would also be affected. It was already difficult for him to gain a foothold by Prince Baldwin's side, and Longinus did not intend to cause him more trouble.

He thought that he should at least die together with the knight, but it was too difficult to do so. He could only keep fighting with the knight. The opponent's double-edged sword was as heavy as a long hammer with blades on both sides. As long as it hit any part of his body, it could tear open the fragile leather armor, along with the tendons and bones inside.

His short sword and dagger could barely hold back, preventing him from even approaching the knight. Even if he did, they wouldn't pose a fatal threat to a man clad in chainmail. He could only frantically scurry around in the small space, dodging the knight's increasingly ferocious attacks while racking his brains to find his weakness.

Longinus tried several times to leave this overly cramped space - some people would mistakenly believe that a narrow space is more advantageous for people holding short weapons. In fact, if the other party is fully armored, it would be no different from a bare-handed man fighting a giant bear - the knight also noticed this and was able to intercept him accurately every time.

Longinus was panting and his legs were getting heavier.

The knight seemed to have noticed this as well. He showed a ferocious smile in the shadows and swung his sword from top to bottom. He could almost see this arrogant boy falling to the ground with a wail, blood gushing out, skin torn and bones broken.

He did hear the sound of something breaking, but it was not Longinus' neck or shoulder that was broken. At the critical moment of life and death, the wandering knight made an unimaginable decision - he placed his dagger across his shoulder, the place that was about to be hit by the double-edged sword.

This self-destructive behavior actually allowed him to find a way out of the desperate situation. The double-edged sword, wrapped in the breath of death, chopped directly on the dagger. The dagger broke, and the jumping sharp blade scraped off a large piece of flesh on the neck. Blood flowed, but no vital parts were injured.

Longinus' left shoulder collapsed suddenly, but at this time the dagger in his right hand had already stabbed the knight's thigh.

But unfortunately, as he had expected, the chain mail was a good defense against the dagger's stab. The layers of small iron rings only made the knight feel a pain, but no bleeding. He grunted in anger, raised the double-edged sword, and stabbed it into the gap on his side.

His judgment was correct, but Longinus had already taken this opportunity to roll away from him in a mess and rushed out the door.

For a moment, many thoughts flashed through his mind, but he found that none of them were of any use. He only felt regret, very regretful. He should have been in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, praying honestly and seriously instead of sleeping there.

If he could have a vision of a saint, he might not be so passive now.

He even thought about whether he should jump into the well directly. Although suicide is a sin that cannot be erased, he immediately gave up the idea. If he committed suicide, the knight would only say that he was a coward, a coward, and a sinner, and people would not believe Cesar's words.

No, wait, he can also hide in the well.

Even if the knight cut the rope, he would still be able to float in it for a while. His thin figure and leather armor were an advantage now—a large man would not be able to fit into the narrow well, and there was also a possibility that the knight would throw stones at him. But Longinus did not care about that. He ignored the pain and ran towards the octagonal stone well, quickly grabbed the rope and jumped down.

The knight saw it too, and guessed why he did it. He roared and rushed towards the well, but at this time he saw only ripples in the well. The damned guy was holding the rope, looking up at him. He did cut the rope, but what was the use?
After staring at Longinus with a chilling gaze for a moment, the knight raised his double-edged sword. Throwing it down might have killed him, but the knight didn't want to lose his most valuable weapon before the battle began, so he shook his head and turned to search the ruins for stones and bricks.

Longinus waited in fear. He struggled to take off the wet leather armor from his body and put it on his head, hoping that he would not get a bloody head so soon.

He waited for a long time, and the knight's footsteps seemed to be always lingering around. Is it so difficult to find a stone? Longinus muttered.

But then he was filled with joy, for he heard the other man's cry of terror. He was shouting—Saracens.

Then he heard a steady voice say, "Yes, a Saracen."

They began to fight, and the sound of swords clashing was endless. Longinus was worried and disappointed. If the knight who came was an upright one, he might have a chance to survive.

But since it was a Saracen who came, he would not save a Christian. The only consolation was that if the Saracen had killed the knight he would have killed him too, or if he had left him to drown from exhaustion.

When he was found, they would simply assume he had been killed by a Saracen, and his young master would not be implicated in his death.

Longinus listened nervously, but being in the well, he could only hear the chaotic and tiny sounds. Judging from the knight's particularly loud shouts, this Saracen was not an easy opponent to deal with and was quite calm.

Apart from declaring his Saracen identity, he said almost nothing and just attacked.

Although Longinus's strike to the knight's thigh hadn't caused a fatal wound, it had hampered his movement. The shuffling footsteps were caused by him, and the Saracens must have noticed this and taken advantage of it.

The knight retreated to the edge of the stone well. He might have thought that he could rely on this solid barrier to fight back or hold out, but it seemed to be of no use. It only allowed Longinus to hear more clearly. He heard the knight begging, and heard the knight say: Let me pray, let me pray, don't let me go to hell.

But the Saracen only said, Did you make the Saracens pray?

What followed was the sound that Longinus was extremely familiar with: the sound of swords piercing flesh and the last sigh of mankind. He hoped that the Saracen would not discover him, but the opposite happened.

A moment later, heavy footsteps came closer and a head appeared at the mouth of the well.

Longinus suddenly remembered that he had also stuck his head out of the well in the same way, deliberately scaring the young master and Prince Baldwin, so this was really retribution.

He could not see the Saracen's face or expression, and the other party just glanced at him and turned away - he could only wait for the final judgment.

When the Saracen appeared at the mouth of the well for the second time, he thought he was going to die. Unexpectedly, the other party just threw out a strong rope and asked, "Can you still pull the rope?"

Of course, Longinus couldn't pull him up, but he could wrap the rope around his waist, then he pulled the rope, signaling the other party to pull him up.

The Saracen really pulled him up, and Longinus climbed out of the well with one hand, fell to the ground, and then fell down, stretched his limbs and gasped for breath.

Fortunately, it was September and the wind still carried the heat of the day, so he didn't shiver from the cold.

The Saracen took out a leather bag from his waist, unscrewed the opening and put it to his lips. He smelled the sweet fragrance of honey, immediately leaned over and drank a few mouthfuls desperately.

Then the Saracens actually dragged him up and made him lean against the wall of the well. "I saw the body of the girl," he said. "Tell me what happened here?"

Haven't you already guessed it? Longinus grumbled in his heart, but he didn't dare disobey this man. Besides the fact that this man could save him or kill him, he also looked like a superior, and his tone was firm and majestic, forbidding disobedience.

Longinus thought about it and told everything that happened after he came here.

That's right, he was careful not to reveal his identity. He didn't say that he was Cesar's servant, nor did he say that he was here to hold a selection ceremony. He was just a wandering knight who occasionally walked here and wanted to drink some water, but found that a shameful crime was happening here.

"A crime?" The Saracen raised his lips slightly. "You think it's a crime too."

"I didn't think so before," Longinus said honestly, "but I followed a kind master, and to him, this was a crime. At all times, the strong should protect the weak, not bully them."

"But she's a Saracen."

"What difference does it make? I don't think a girl under five feet tall could have beaten three knights to death with a bucket."

He heard a merry laugh. "You see, as the old Eastern proverb says, things resemble their owners.

Knight, you are a glass of muddy wine. If you add honey to it, it becomes a rare and fine wine. If you add aconite to it, it becomes a bottle of deadly poison.

He stood before Longinus and said, "You are lucky to have a good master."

Without waiting for Longinus to ask about his origins and identity, he walked straight into the ruined bathing hall and heard the man praying in the Saracen way.

Then he saw the other man wrap the girl in his black cloak, put her on his shoulders, and gradually disappear from Longinus's sight.

Longinus immediately fell asleep, or rather fainted.

When he woke up again, he felt the light was dazzling. He wanted to raise his hands to block it, but found that he could not move.

"Longinus?" someone extended his hand to him.

(End of this chapter)