Chapter 128 -: 127 Saving the queen.[4]
"Catch them! Catch them! Don’t kill them! Capture them alive!"
The pursuers shouted loudly as they chased Julius and Rosalina without stopping.
They were dead set on grabbing the queen.
Rosalina frowned softly and looked back.
"But how will you kill them?" she asked, her voice a little worried.
The horse galloped deeper and deeper into the thick forest.
Tall pine trees stood all around them, their branches heavy with bright white snow.
The air felt cold and fresh, and the trees looked beautiful in the soft winter light.
Julius turned his head slightly and studied the trees.
These pines were a bit different from the ones he knew on Earth.
At the very top of each tree, there was a strange box-shaped cluster of needles and cones.
As he was observing the trees, suddenly, a memory clicked in his mind.
It wasn’t from his own life on Earth, it came from this world’s Julius.
When he was a little boy, his family had gone on a trip to the hills.
Back then, young Julius had been excited to play with fire.
He had lit a small spark near one of these special pine trees... and it had exploded like a bomb!
Even though the trees looked peaceful and covered in thick snow, one tiny flame could make the whole thing burst into a fiery blast.
These trees were known as the explosive pines. They were....a fire path resources and could be used in making mid grade fire path treasures.
A wicked idea popped into his head the moment he realised it.
Julius let out a creepy little laugh.
His grin stretched wide under the helmet, turning into a mischievous, almost evil smile.
"Whoa!" Rosalina stared at him and froze for a second.
"What’s with that creepy smile?" she muttered. It looked like he was planning something really evil.
"Oi!" she called out, poking his armored side.
His thoughts snapped back. "Uhh... you called?" Julius asked, still looking at her through the small eye slits of his helmet.
"Yeah..." Rosalina nodded, her brows pulling together in a cute little frown.
"What were you thinking? You were smiling so creepily!"
"Hehehe..." Julius laughed again in that playful, wicked way. He looked at her with warm, loving eyes.
"No matter what body you’re in, and no matter where we are... you will always be mine."
He paused, his voice turning softer for a moment as he gazed at her.
"Even if you change bodies, ugly or beautiful, you still belong to me. That’s what I believe."
His gentle tone suddenly shifted. Anger flashed in his black eyes as he remembered the soldiers’ words.
"Those guys said they would hand you over to the prince... They looked at what is mine. They must die!!"
Julius muttered the last part with dark excitement.
He reached one hand into a small pocket hidden in his golden armor.
His fingers closed around a simple lighter, the kind every knight carried for emergencies.
"I will kill them all!" he declared, his voice full of fun, wicked energy.
...
...
Meanwhile, the hundred knights chasing behind them roared with excitement as they galloped past the tall pine trees.
Their horses kicked up clouds of snow, and the men shouted and laughed loudly, full of wild energy.
"Once we hand that bitch over to the prince, we’ll get the highest reward in the war! Hahaha!"
The captain rode at the front, his face twisted with greedy joy.
He was already dreaming about the piles of gold and land he would receive.
But more than that, he was thinking about the women he could have.
"Kekekke... Once I get a big territory in the empire, I’ll have as many women as I want!" he whispered to himself.
It was his lifelong dream, to sleep with a different woman every single day.
He licked his lips slowly, his eyes shining with ugly lust.
"It’s a pity I have to hand that queen over to the prince with her body still pure. It would have been so much more fun to taste a beauty like her first..."
His face became truly disgusting, eyes narrowed, mouth hanging open, drool almost dripping from the corner of his lips.
If any normal person saw that look, they would feel sick and want to vomit.
"Kekekekekekek!"
He let out another loud, creepy laugh that echoed through the snowy forest.
Then he raised his sword high in the air and roared to his men:
"Soldiers! Capture them!!! Faster!"
The knights cheered wildly and urged their horses to go even quicker.
They rushed forward like hungry wolves, completely unaware of the danger hiding in the beautiful pine trees around them.
"There they are!"
One of the soldiers shouted excitedly not long after they passed deeper into the pine forest.
He pointed ahead with his sword. "I see the queen’s horse and her knight!"
The captain’s eyes lit up with a greedy shine the moment he spotted them.
A wide, nasty grin spread across his face.
"Soldiers! Draw your bows!" he commanded loudly.
He reached to the right side of his saddle, pulled out a strong bow, and quickly nocked an arrow.
He raised the bow high, pulled the string back with a wicked grin, and aimed carefully.
"Soldiers!! Make sure you..."
Before he could finish his order, a strange burning smell suddenly filled the cold air and hit his nose.
Sniff... sniff...
He wrinkled his nose and sniffed again. A smoky smell drifted through the forest.
"What the...?" he muttered, confused. "A smoky smell in a place like this?"
He looked around quickly, searching for any sign of fire. His eyes scanned the tall pine trees covered in thick white snow.
"Huh?"
It didn’t take long for him to notice small, glowing embers flickering at the very top of the nearest pine trees.
He frowned, confused. "Where did those come from..."
Before he could finish the thought, the tiny embers suddenly flared brighter.
BOOM!!!!
A massive explosion ripped through the forest all around them. Fire burst out from the pine trees like bombs going off one after another.
The blast swallowed the entire battalion of knights in a roaring wave of heat and flames.