Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but Warhammer 40k

The square was completely silent.

Hundreds of eyes stared at the empty stake, with only the crackling of the still-burning firewood.

Father Derek rushed to the edge of the wooden platform, not even bothering to pick up his prized holy book that had fallen to the ground.

"He really is a henchman of the evil god! An accomplice of the devil!"

The priest's voice trembled. He had lived most of his life, visited Stone Castle, and seen the knights' weapons that seemed like divine punishment, but watching a living person vanish from the fire in broad daylight was truly a first for him.

He couldn't help but suspect that brat Henry really was a devil, and that this devil had lived in their town for so many years without anyone noticing!

He grabbed Tom, a peasant soldier who was still in a daze below the stage.

"Arrest him immediately! Seal off the entire town! He can't have gone far!"

Immediately afterwards, he grabbed a nimble young man from the crowd and shook his collar forcefully.

"Go to the church backyard and fetch my fine horse! Quickly! Go to town and find the knight! Tell him that a true heretic has appeared in Whitehead Dock Town! A true demon!"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

Some screamed, some prayed, and the peasant soldiers, spear in hand, wandered aimlessly around the square like headless flies.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the miller's house.

  

Henry opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling and a familiar room, except that his vomit from his drunken stupor was gone.

Instead, a faint lavender scent wafted in the air.

He looked around at the familiar wooden ceiling and the linen sheet embroidered with small floral patterns next to him.

"So, the Savior's Dry Wine, just like in the game, is for me to save my progress?"

Henry let out a sigh of relief, got up from the ground, and dusted himself off.

"They really did send me back to the save point from last night, but the time hasn't changed." Henry turned to look out the window; it was daytime.

Just then, a series of intermittent sobs reached my ears.

In the corner of the room, Salia was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, crying her heart out.

All the young people in town thought Henry had been chased out with a broom after his failed confession yesterday. Only Henry and Salia knew that they had secretly made a promise to each other in this house last night.

Had it not been for the sudden trial of heresy, Henry had planned to ask the miller for his consent to the marriage the next day.

Salia had also prepared her most beautiful clothes in advance, a wreath woven by Henry himself, and a ballad praising beautiful love.

Now, her beloved boy has been burned at the stake.

She didn't even dare to go to the square for one last look.

Henry tiptoed over.

He reached out and covered the girl's eyes from behind.

"Guess who I am, woof."

The crying stopped, and without the slightest hesitation, Salia opened her mouth and bit hard into the hand that was covering her.

"hiss--"

Henry gasped.

But instead of pulling his hand away, he embraced the girl.

The girl turned her head, her eyes red and swollen, with tears still clinging to her face.

Upon seeing the familiar face before her, she froze on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, a hail of fists rained down on Henry.

"Bastard! Bastard!"

Salia was crying and hitting the hammer at the same time.

Henry let her hit him, his nose filled with the fragrance wafting from the girl's hair.

"She's so cute," Henry thought.

When she was tired of hitting him, Salia finally stopped. She grabbed Henry's sleeve and looked him up and down, making sure he was unharmed and completely unharmed. Finally, reason prevailed, and she understood Henry's current predicament.

"You escaped from them, but the priest won't let you get away with this."

"We can't stay in town anymore." Salia bit her lip, grabbed Henry, and started walking outside. "Before they realize what's happening, let's pack our things and run away. To the north, to the wastelands where even the church can't reach."

But how could a young girl possibly sway the strong young man, Henry?

He grabbed the girl's wrist with his other hand, lowered his head, and kissed her lips in her dazed gaze.

Henry stepped back after a long while.

"The most beautiful star in the sky, how can I bear to let you suffer with me? Besides, you have a family. Although I hate your father, I shouldn't watch him suffer because of me. I'll leave now, and you won't be implicated."

He looked into Salia's eyes and spoke.

"When I come back, I will prove my innocence and then marry you in style, like a nobleman."

Salia panicked; her face was already streaked with tears, making her even cuter.

"Are you crazy? The priest will definitely go to the city for help! They'll send fully armed knights to arrest you!"

"What knight?"

Henry raised an eyebrow.

"I am Henry. Don't you believe me? There's nothing in this world that I can't do. Just stay here and wait for me to come back."

The girl was not given a chance to speak further.

Henry turned around, opened the window, and skillfully climbed down the grapevines outside.

Salia was left standing by the window, watching the scoundrel disappear into the grove of trees outside the mill, unable to come to her senses for a long time.

The town of Baitouwo is in complete chaos.

Henry slipped through the grove of trees outside the mill and, under the cover of night, made his way back to his blacksmith shop. The streets were now teeming with peasant soldiers wielding pitchforks and spears, resembling a swarm of wasps that had been disturbed.

He climbed over into the backyard, cleared away a pile of rusty, discarded horseshoes in the corner of the cellar, and dragged out a huge wooden crate.

Inside lay a set of gleaming silver plate armor.

Even before he realized he had arrived in 15th-century Europe, he had already begun preparing for his travels around the world. This outfit was the stuff he had secretly accumulated over the past two years while taking advantage of his old trade as a blacksmith.

Although this world is somewhat strange, with its elusive nobles, bizarre beliefs in the divine emperor, and strict controls on residents' movement, Henry believes that Bohemia, Scarlitz, and other familiar places from his previous game are probably still there.

Having understood the course of history, he is sure to make a name for himself.

After getting dressed, Henry stuffed all the medicines on the shelf, such as marigold ointment and savior liqueur, into his pouch, drank a bottle, and then led out the mare from the stable in the backyard.

The horse was left by my father; it's called Little Gray.

Although its name is Little Grey, it is actually an old chestnut horse that, besides eating hay, is best known for snoring.

"Buddy, you're on my plate today."

Henry patted Little Grey's neck and mounted his horse.

At the same time, a semi-transparent panel that only he could see popped up on his retina.

Henry knew he was different from the others from the moment he arrived. He not only carried memories of his life in another world, but also had a system in his mind similar to the interface in the game Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

He was born with the ability to create medicines with magical effects using some ordinary recipes. Although he couldn't find the herbs in the system in Baitouwo Town, he still managed to come up with a few correct recipes after several years of experimentation.

On the other hand, the system granted him the ability to summarize his life experiences into talents. However, unlike the original game settings, he discovered that the talent skills in this system could be repeatedly upgraded and their effects accumulated.

Henry didn't hesitate to invest all the skill points he had accumulated over the years into the "Desperate Measures" talent.

A passage of text immediately came into view:

【burn one's boats】

The best way to fight is to win with superior numbers. Unfortunately, fortunes change, and sometimes you'll find yourself outnumbered, with no choice but to remain calm. Utilize your weapon skills and physical advantages to compensate for your numerical disadvantage.

When outnumbered, you gain a 2-point bonus to Strength, Agility, and Combat Skill.

The light flickered.

The talent icon on the panel lit up three times in a row.

For Henry now, facing the overwhelming horde of townspeople chasing and intercepting him, this was undoubtedly the perfect trigger condition.

Three layers of "Desperate Measures" stack up for maximum effect.

His Strength and Agility increased from 6 to 12, and his Combat Skill, which was originally 1 point, increased to 7.

With his innate talents combined, his strength and agility have now increased to twice that of an average person. The resulting qualitative change makes him feel like he could walk around a crowd even with his eyes closed.

"stop!"

"He's here!"

"Heretics are in the blacksmith's shop!"

As soon as he rushed out of the backyard, several sharp-eyed peasant soldiers spotted Henry riding on horseback.

Leading the group was Tom, the peasant soldier who had been chatting by the stake earlier. He held up his spear, looked at the fully armed "tin can" in front of him, and then at the wooden pole in his hand, the tip of which was rusted, and fell into deep thought.

"Is this Henry?"

"He looks like a knight."

"Have you ever seen a knight? What knight rides an old mare?"

"So, is he actually Henry?"

"Who cares who he is? The priest said, take him alive!"

A dozen or so peasant soldiers swarmed around them, their pitchforks and spears blocking the street in front of them.

Henry laughed, spurred his horse on, and Little Grey let out a long neigh before charging straight into the crowd.

Three long spears came thrusting towards them.

With twice the agility, these burly men, usually hardworking farmers, moved as slowly as if strolling through mud. Henry didn't even draw his sword; he simply turned his body casually on horseback, and the sharp spear tips slid past the edge of his plate armor.

"Ouch!"

"Don't push me!"

Henry grabbed the wooden handle of a pitchfork and, using the momentum of his charge, pulled it to the side. The farmer lost his balance and knocked over his three companions behind him.

The combination of twice the strength and twice the combat experience made him like a slippery eel, dodging and weaving through the dense encirclement. Little Gray seemed to sense its master's composure as well, and it took off running wildly down the muddy streets.

The sounds of clashing weapons and the shouts of the townspeople filled the air.

By the time the peasant soldiers scrambled to their feet, a man and a horse had already broken through the defense line.

All that remained were mud splatters kicked up by the dust.

Watching the silver figure disappear into the distance, Tom rubbed his sore shoulder and stood there, stunned.

"Should we continue the pursuit?"

"How do I pursue her?"

"Run on foot?"

"Can you outrun a horse? Why are you chasing after it?"

The group exchanged glances and, with perfect understanding, dropped their pitchforks.