Chapter 32: Outrageous Rumors!

The wind whispered.

After Deng Ken shot and killed the Germanic barbarian priest with a single arrow, he gradually began to feel something different; he seemed to faintly perceive the surging of magic.

In the God's Eye view, a small segment of a blue mana bar appeared in the projection screen.

"So short?"

Compared to Deng Ken's health bar, which was more than twice that of an ordinary person, the unlocked mana bar was only a tiny sliver, easily overlooked if one didn't observe closely.

"Does everyone have so little magic? Or is it just me who has this tiny bit?"

After entering the forest, Deng Ken stopped to feel it for a while. When he closed his eyes, he could truly perceive the flow of magic within his body, but as soon as it made contact with the outside world, the magic seemed to become sluggish and lazy, like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish the next second.

"Can I cast spells? No! I don't seem to know any spells yet."

Deng Ken tried to mobilize the magic within his body; invisibly, a breeze seemed to sweep past, lifting fallen leaves a meter high, and then his mana bar was completely exhausted.

This is too weak!

If this is the spellcasting ability of an ordinary priest, then the witches are indeed dangerous supernatural existences; at least they can still perform some decent trick spells.

Deng Ken felt it wasn't that he was incapable, but that there was something wrong with this world.

Yes.

It's all the world's fault!

— "Lu En Mastery (Mysticism): Mystical knowledge originating from the Norse pantheon. Unlike ordinary writing, the runes mastered by priests possess certain supernatural powers. You can now read and master some simple runes."

In Norse mythology, Odin, the All-Father, hung himself from a tree for nine days and nine nights in search of higher wisdom, pondering the mysteries of the universe. When he descended from the World Tree, he grasped the secrets of the runes.

Runes can be regarded as a type of spellcasting material (runic symbols).

Raven Queen Su Lisi once said that true magic requires the assistance of rituals, tools, external forces, and other factors.

If one is a priest of the Church, then the most necessary thing is devout faith. But most of them also lack spellcasting ability; the monks of the Order of Hidden Cultivators must rely on holy relics to cast true spells. In Deng Ken's view, this should be the difference between a priest and a warlock; a priest's power largely originates from faith in a deity.

Eastern arts are similar; part is one's own mana, and part is borrowed through rituals. (Such as Taoist ritual altars inviting deities.)

As long as the mana bar is unlocked, then everything that follows is easy to handle.

Deng Ken also only had the physique of an ordinary person at the start, but now he is even more formidable than a barbarian berserker.

He checked the strategic map in the God's Eye view and was surprised to find that those released captives and slaves hadn't gone far, and some even stayed at the edge of the forest.

"We cannot just leave like this."

That burly warrior with a fierce expression and a whip scar on his face said, "The ranger who saved us might not be out of danger yet; we must stay here to provide support."

Sarmatian rider.

After their own tribal clans were destroyed, they became part of the Empire and served the Empire for over two hundred years.

These people are loyal mercenaries, with a reputation much better than the barbarian auxiliary legions.

That British legion infantryman hesitated, "He said we don't need to help."

The Sarmatian rider shook his head, "Then you go first; I will stay behind alone. In case he is pursued by the Saxons, I can still help a little."

This man is a real hero!

Those fleeing slaves and captives hesitated for a moment, and actually, four or five people decided to stay with him.

A breeze swept through the mountains and forests, making many people shiver with cold.

By the time Deng Ken approached their position, most of the slave captives had already left, but that British legion infantryman had actually stayed behind. He held a short spear, climbed a tree to look at the fire in the distance, and whispered, "A fire has started."

"The Saxons are in chaos; they shouldn't be able to stop that ranger."

At this moment.

A low male voice sounded in the darkness: "Why haven't you left yet?"

That Sarmatian rider gripped his battle axe alertly. Only after seeing Deng Ken's silhouette in the darkness did he breathe a sigh of relief, bowing his head respectfully: "We were afraid that you, my lord, would be pursued by those barbarians, so we intended to stay and help you."

Deng Ken stepped out of the shadows and couldn't help but take another look at the other party.

Gutsy!

He smiled and said thoughtfully, "What are your plans next?"

The captives present looked at each other. Before the British legion infantryman could speak, the Sarmatian rider said in a deep voice, "Revenge! Take back our homeland!"

"Whoever can lead us against the Saxons, we will follow!"

He had become completely disappointed with Duke Pan Nuoni.

Over three thousand people fighting a thousand, the defeat was so tragic that the army was almost completely wiped out.

This defeat directly caused many people to turn toward King Yu Se.

Regardless of anything else, the Great Dragon Head Yu Se is quite capable in battle; at least he can trade blows with the Saxons and doesn't get defeated time and time again.

Deng Ken pondered, "I am currently recruiting men, preparing for a counterattack on Southampton."

The Sarmatian rider's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and without hesitation, he knelt on one knee: "In the name of the ancestral dragon flag, I, Han Pu's Ke Li Gang, am willing to follow you, my lord!"

He didn't care about the others present at all and directly became a green-marked unit.

At this, the other captives present were a bit at a loss. They didn't know who Deng Ken was; even if Duke Pan Nuoni was bad at fighting, they were more inclined to go and rely on King Yu Se.

Interesting.

Deng Ken looked down at Ke Li Gang kneeling before him. The other party had five or six whip scars on his body, and there were bullet-hole scars on his bare chest; he looked like a battle-hardened rider.

Even though he was still carrying wounds, he was still as fierce as a vicious wolf.

The Sarmatians are indeed fierce!

Deng Ken seemed to think of something and directly ignored the others who were hesitating. With a clang, he drew the Oathkeeper from his waist. Under the bright moonlight, the Damascus steel blade was chilling, its edge gleaming, murderous intent pressing. Deng Ken placed the blade flat on the shoulder of the kneeling Sarmatian rider.

"Humility, Compassion, Valor, Sacrifice, Honor!"

Deng Ken only said these five words, then his gaze, deep as an abyss, looked directly at Ke Li Gang before him. That pressing gaze made this fierce rider feel awe, but he still bravely raised his head and chest, his back straight, his expression excited, trembling slightly, as if he had realized something.

Deng Ken looked around, raised his hand, and slapped him across the face. A crisp sound rang out, traveling far in the night sky. His expression was solemn and grave as he said in a deep voice: "I, Deng Ken, from Pannonia of the Empire."

"Lord of Southampton."

"Ally of Duke Pan Nuoni! Leader responding to the covenant to help the British resist the invading barbarians! The one who shot and killed the King of Kent at Ting Ta Zhe!"

"In the name of God and the gods, I dub thee a knight!"

In the dark forest.

The other captives present were stunned on the spot, especially that British legion infantryman, who had an expression of annoyance and shock.

The information shock in an instant was too great.

He is a lord?

An ally found by Duke Pan Nuoni? Reinforcements sent to ask for help from the Empire? The King of Kent was also shot and killed by him?

No wonder the barbarian soldiers in De Wen Town were so panicked.

Before the others could react, Ke Li Gang had already stood up excitedly and stood directly behind Deng Ken, as if he were a personal guard knight protecting his lord.

Regardless of whether the others believed it or not, he had already believed it.

A fierce man who dared to break into a town occupied by Saxons alone had no need to fool them with such matters.

The British legion infantryman hurriedly knelt on one knee, and the other captives also reacted, kneeling on one knee, looking at Deng Ken before them with anticipation.

But there was no "then."

Ke Li Gang was the first person to swear allegiance to Deng Ken, and he was very brave, which is why he was dubbed a knight. The other captives were just ordinary soldiers in his eyes, not worthy of being dubbed knights at all. One must know that dubbing a knight meant giving a large piece of land in reality.

Don't let Southampton not even be taken yet, and the land under his name not be enough to distribute.

Deng Ken looked at the other captives and said indifferently: "Since you are all willing to follow me, then follow Ke Li Gang to Cornwall."

"My fleet will transport food and weapons from Carthage in a few days."

After speaking, he looked at Ke Li Gang, who was standing tall beside him, and ordered in a deep voice: "I still have an imperial private legion in the Gaul region, about three hundred people; some of them are temporarily conscripted soldiers."

"Since you have been dubbed a knight, then reorganize and train them on my behalf."

The Sarmatians are the legion instructors of Britain; the military tradition of the Empire is for them to train cavalry and occasionally train infantry.

As long as the dragon head flag appears on the battlefield, there will definitely be an elite cavalry unit.

In the future, the cavalry can carry the imperial dragon flag.

"Yes, my lord!" Ke Li Gang struck his chest with his right fist without hesitation.

Hu.

It wasn't until Ke Li Gang left with the other captives, who were full of disappointment, that Deng Ken had time to continue pondering his pitifully short mana bar.

The human avatar was born as a blacksmith's apprentice.

He had already thought of this scene, just didn't expect it to be used here.

It counts as buying a horse's bones with a thousand gold.

Dubbing knights in this era is all about real power, unlike the Middle Ages where knights were everywhere, with many knights having only a name, and foot knights. The knights dubbed now all need to be given land, roughly equivalent to the titles of the Qin and Han dynasties, directly linked to land, although not very large, but it is also the level of a small landlord.

Deng Ken is also not prepared to take too big a step. His plan is to divide the classes of knights, free men, and tenant farmers, and minimize the influence of slavery as much as possible.

In the current era, abolishing slavery is simply impossible; just try to reduce the number of civilians being exploited into slaves.

"Sure enough."

"I am no different from the people talked about on the internet in my past life; I want to be an emperor, but I don't want to be busy with government affairs and managing the country every day."

"To put it plainly, I actually just want to be a carefree prince with the authority of an emperor but without having to manage things."

Deng Ken truly started to build his foundation, but instead, he was glad that he had Su Lisi, An Ni Ya, and Xi Wei Lu around him, because if he had to do it all by himself, he wouldn't know how many trivial matters he would have to be busy with.

This time he brought two quivers of arrows, about 120, and left them near a tree hole in the mountains and forests; now he has to go and replenish his arrows.

Morning light spilled down.

This town named De Wen was in chaos, and there were traces of a fire not far away.

Blood Axe Ni De Long was so angry his eyes were bloodshot, watching his soldiers carry out the corpses of his clansmen one by one. Placed at the very front was the barbarian priest, shot through the throat with one arrow and the forehead with another, dying on the spot. The other corpses were similar, shot in vital points by arrows, and two had their heads exploded by throwing axes, their skulls split open.

"It's that imperial knight!"

Deng Ken was too conspicuous on the battlefield; someone remembered that knight with superb archery.

Blood Axe Ni De Long's voice was low: "Is it just him alone?"

A centurion on the side said: "It should be."

"But he released some captives and slaves."

Coming when he wants and leaving when he wants.

That man is like a monster, sneaking in, slaughtering, and immediately retreating, without even leaving a shadow.

Without high walls and fortresses, he simply cannot be stopped.

Blood Axe Ni De Long's expression was incomparably solemn, looking at those soldiers with terrified expressions and shaken morale, not knowing what to do for a moment.

This is killing his way to the door alone!

He could only roar: "Strengthen the guard!"

"Double the number of people patrolling the watchtowers!"

Intuition told him that that man might come again tonight.

Just one night of slaughter, and rumors spread in De Wen Town. Whether it was the British they had conquered and enslaved, or the migrating Germanic barbarians, they all rumored the appearance of a ghostly ranger like a nightmare, who snuck in silently, carrying the flames of revenge, killing many Saxon soldiers, and then leaving calmly under the cover of night.

Because the King of Kent had suddenly died violently not long ago, many factors combined to make the rumors spread more and more intensely.

As for the rumors of the British, they were even more outrageous.

They said that the ranger was an elf, which is why he could appear and disappear unpredictably. He was the Elf Prince of the British Isles, the son of the Fairy King Oberon and Titania, because the Saxons invaded and slaughtered the British, causing the legendary fairies and spirits to be unable to watch any longer.

Thus, they sent this Elf Prince, who transformed into a human, to help them resist the invasion of the Saxon barbarians.

Of course, this outrageous rumor had another version, saying that the ranger came from Avalon in the mist, and he was the offspring of one of the fairies of Avalon. There were even rumors that he was a descendant of Queen Maeve, the queen in ancient Irish mythology, known for being brave in battle and having many lovers.

In the messy rumors, the British all coincidentally linked Deng Ken to legendary mythological figures.

Because they had suffered too much for too long.

The Germanic barbarians had ravaged them for decades, and suddenly such an awesome figure appeared; it was hard for them not to have some association with the mythology of the British Isles.

Among the many rumors, the one with the highest support and recognition was that Deng Ken came from Avalon and was the prince of the Fairy King Oberon, which could be considered a fusion of two outrageous rumors.

As for Deng Ken actually coming from the Empire?

That doesn't matter.

There is an even more outrageous rumor in the British Isles, which is that the Fairy King Oberon is actually the son of the Imperial leader Gaius Julius Caesar. When Caesar conquered the British Isles, he met a goddess of the mythic age in the wild, and this goddess respected by the natives made Caesar fall in love at first sight, thus giving birth to the legendary Fairy King Oberon.

Official history is not necessarily correct, but unofficial history is definitely wild enough!

Caesar was originally a romantic figure; when he conquered Egypt, wasn't he seduced by the Cleopatra? So why couldn't a fairy of the British Isles make him fall in love?

Of course, this rumor is not recognized by the Empire, because Caesar's legitimate heir is Octavian.

What kind of ghost is the Fairy King Oberon?

Night fell.

Deng Ken found a big tree to lean against and doze off, and it wasn't until the night grew deep that he walked out of the forest.

He didn't know about the outrageous rumors about himself yet; he just intended to harass the enemy, harvest some heads by the way, and further improve his basic combat skills. With his current physique, going out to fight guerrilla warfare alone, unless he encounters legendary figures, he basically doesn't need to be afraid. As long as he isn't greedy and avoids the enemy's main force, it is very easy to leave.

Deng Ken currently fighting a mammoth war elephant alone is probably still a bit difficult; he is about 0.6 times the strength of an Elf Prince.

After all, the combat skills and agility shown in some segments of the Elf Prince are not like a mortal's, even more exaggerated than a three-star Witcher.

"I don't know how strong those legendary monsters are."

"Beowulf also risked his life facing a giant, right? I still have to develop a bit more!"

Deng Ken currently doesn't feel weak facing ordinary people, but he feels a bit weak regarding things related to giants.

The trolls of the Middle Ages are not the kind of trolls in the past life's Warcraft game; they are mythological monsters with a certain blood relationship to giants.

Strictly speaking, they should be translated as "Giant Monsters."

Cave giants, man-eating trolls, trolls, Thor giants, etc., all refer to the same type of creature.

They are the prototypes of trolls in Dungeons & Dragons, very difficult to kill. The image of this monster in rumors is very close to the special unit troll in Heroes of Might and Magic.

Even in Dungeons & Dragons, the challenge level of this monster is at least 8 or above, even harder to deal with than many adolescent dragons. (Benchmarking cave trolls.)

If Deng Ken really wants to fight, he probably still has to ask Raven Queen Su Lisi to help.

Moreover, in the legend, Beowulf didn't fight alone; he also brought a whole team of elite soldiers.

A dark night for murder.

Deng Ken looked at the patrol guards in De Wen Town, which had more than doubled, and didn't panic at all, quietly waiting for midnight, the time when the enemy felt tired.

As long as the enemy doesn't retreat, he will keep harvesting heads.

Anyway, he can retreat to the Cornwall region at any time.

However, today is still a bit different. When Deng Ken started slaughtering at midnight, a figure invisible to the naked eye suddenly appeared in mid-air.

— Valkyrie.

This was the first time Deng Ken saw her outside the battlefield. The Valkyrie with bird-wing silver helmet hovered quietly above the town, as if waiting for Deng Ken to earn her performance in Valhalla.

"No."

"Has my reputation really reached Valhalla? Are Valkyries specifically guarding here?"

Deng Ken was surprised in his heart, but his hands didn't stop. He shot and killed a patrol soldier with one arrow, then exploded the head of the next enemy with a throwing axe. His silhouette jumped down, the Oathkeeper drew a cold light, directly beheading the Saxon infantry axe-man.

In the God's Eye view, the Valkyrie's phantom was circling above him.

As soon as Deng Ken left, the Valkyrie flew down to take away the soul of a barbarian warrior. Ever since meeting Deng Ken, the performance of Valhalla has been rising rapidly.

………………