Chapter 166 One Step Away [5k HD Remastered Version]

Hiding in an abandoned courtyard, Dane paced around the yard anxiously.

The wooden door opened, and a servant looked around at the door before retreating inside.

Darnay could not wait to ask the returning servant: "What are they singing, what are they singing?"

The servant looked at the Duke in embarrassment: "Those refugees said you were a devil."

"I, ha, I, I am a devil?" Darnay pointed at himself and asked in disbelief, "If I hadn't taken in these refugees, they would have starved to death in the wild. I would have become a devil."

Isn't that because it's convenient for you to use the Green Piper to catch people? The servant rolled his eyes secretly.

"Let's not talk about that. What's the situation?"

The attendant answered with difficulty: "Since the city hall was breached, there have been mobs all along the way, not only from outside the city, but also from the laborers and even some craftsmen and citizens in the city..."

“…Kill all the devils and never look back!”

A clear shout was heard outside the wall, and the Duke quickly ran into the bushes in the small garden, leaving only his trembling buttocks exposed.

The attendant stepped forward helplessly and helped up the frightened duke, who turned pale: "They are just passing by this side."

"That's good, that's good." Darnay stroked his chest and said while panting, "Can we continue to hide?"

"I guess that's impossible. If they occupy the whole city, we will be forced into this small yard and won't be able to escape."

"Lowly refugees, I've been so good to them, and this is how they repay me?" Dane cursed angrily.

When had he ever been in such a situation before, being driven out of his own home and having to run around hiding?
Given the situation, Danay had no choice but to lead the knights out of the courtyard carefully and rush towards the castle.

Following the dark alley, the frightened Duke Darnay came to the side of the moat.

At this moment, thousands of refugees and mercenaries were rushing along the streets, and the whistling sounds of holy guns could be heard from time to time.

Seeing that the castle gate had been blocked by the army of refugees, Darnay immediately wanted to turn around and escape, but when he thought that the entire Jeanne d'Arc Castle was filled with the Salvation Army, it was almost impossible to escape.

Stay in the castle and wait for the church army to arrive, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

Dane even felt a little regretful that he shouldn't have run to pick up Bamanda just now.

However, seeing the current scene, he felt somewhat fortunate that he came to his senses halfway through the run, otherwise he would have been blocked there by the army of refugees.

Scattered knights were charging in the crowd, but they were much more cautious than before and did not dare to charge deep into the crowd or charge too hard.

You know, it's different from before. If you fall at this time, you won't be able to get out once the devil wind blows.

Walking on the darkest path, Duke Darnay crouched down, fearing that anyone would discover him.

But although he was afraid of being exposed, he was even more afraid of being injured by mistake, so he tried to cover up his mistake and brought twenty knights with him. However, they were discovered by the refugees before they could get close.

Although not everyone has seen the Duke's true face, at least the citizens nearby have seen it.

They hid in the house, stood by the windows, pinched their throats, and shouted to the refugees below: "The one wearing a red robe is the Duke, and that is Darnay."

The battlefield suddenly became quiet for half a second, and everyone's eyes were focused on Danai.

He hurriedly took off his red clothes, shook the reins and shouted, "Go!"

The refugees immediately rushed forward and began to curse Dane wildly, throwing mud, feces and stones at him.

Dane was lying on his horse in a desperate situation as he moved forward. Some of the knights guarding him were even hit in the neck by iron sand bullets and fell off their horses.

"Damn it, damn it." The duke was lying on the horse's back, not even daring to raise his head, as the knight next to him pulled him forward by the reins.

The beautiful white silk underwear was stained brown and yellow by feces and mud, almost turning into a yellow robe.

But most of the Holy Musketeers and soldiers of the Old Camp went to besiege the City Hall, and most of those here were local farmers from Joan of Arc.

Even though their hatred was deeper, in the final analysis, without those clockwork guns and spears, they still couldn't stop the Duke, and Dane successfully broke through the outermost barrier.

But before Darnay could breathe a sigh of relief, the shrill voice shouted again, "The one wearing yellow and white silk is the Duke, that one is the Duke."

Pulling a jacket from the servant's hand and warming up the cold excrement, Darnay shouted angrily: "Go, what are you standing there for?"

"Lord Darnay, Lord Darnay."

Amid the fighting crowd, hundreds of mercenaries formed a square formation and rushed to Dane against the crowd.

Holding the disc-shaped iron helmet on his head, a mercenary captain wearing a red or blood-stained jacket came to the Duke's horse.

"Your Excellency the Duke, we are here to pick you up."

"Okay, okay." Darnay rode over in a panic and patted the mercenary captain on the shoulder. "If I can escape this time, I will make you a baron!"

"That would be my greatest honor."

Under the gunfire of the Fran mercenaries, Dane struggled forward in the surging crowd, and the sound of clockwork guns could be heard from time to time.

Fifty yards, forty yards, thirty yards...

The place that could be reached in an instant by charging on horseback was so far away for Dane.

He could already clearly see the scene in front of the castle.

In front of the castle's drawbridge, three hundred Fran mercenaries formed a semicircular array, stabbing the refugees on the opposite side with spears.

In the narrow battle formation, every time a spear was thrust out, one man fell down; every time a gunshot was heard, several mercenaries covered their arms and bodies and screamed in agony.

But the Holy Gunners were a minority after all. Although they kept squeezing the mercenaries, they still couldn't break through their defenses.

"Bang!" A stray bullet pierced the neck of Dane's warhorse.

The duke on his horse let out a scream, and then he fell off the saddle as if he was hit by an invisible giant fist.

It was visible to the naked eye that bright red blood had already flowed all over his expensive woolen trousers.

Covering his right leg, the Duke knew he could not ride a horse. He gritted his teeth, held on to his servant's arm, and shouted to the knights.

"You guys cover the rear."

Faster, faster!
Cold sweat broke out on the Duke's forehead, and with every step he took, he felt as if a knife was cutting into the flesh of his thigh.

"The Duke is there! Kill him!"

But before they could take a few steps, hundreds of spears rushed out from the left, and it was obvious that the Salvation Army had already discovered the Duke.

The Duke was so frightened by the sound of gunfire that he fell to the ground, while the mercenary began to fight with the old battalion commander's spearman in front of him.

The crowd was moving back and forth, constantly trampling on the Duke, who was lying on the ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented. He didn't know how many feet had stepped on and kicked him.

Kneeling on the ground, crawling awkwardly between people's crotches and knees.

Dane crawled forward regardless of anything, blood flowed down his thighs to his knees, leaving marks of his kneeling on the ground.

His face was bruised and swollen, and his ankle was sprained by someone. With his butt sticking out, Dane crawled towards the last safe place.

No one could have imagined that this beggar crawling on the ground, covered in dirt and mud, would be Duke Darnay.

Looking at the increasingly clear uppers of the mercenaries' shoes, Dane clenched his teeth.

One step, just one step, and they would be able to enter the protection of the mercenaries' gun formation, just one step.

Right within reach.

"Want to escape?!"

A huge force came from his waist, and Dane's eyes suddenly turned dizzy.

After being knocked to the ground, he looked over with a grin, only to see an old priest with his upper body naked.

A broken cross was hung around his neck and his body was covered with wounds of various sizes.

"I got you!" Cosse gave Dane a creepy smile.

"Let me go." Darnay, who was furious, looked at the empty space in front of the castle gate, which was less than five yards away, and struggled frantically, "Let me go, you damned pariah."

Even though the old priest in his forties was seriously injured, the young and strong Dane was unable to break free from his restraints.

Dane punched Cosse's face madly. Old Cosse, who had always been weak, was as hard as a rock at this moment, holding Dane's waist tightly with both hands.

Seeing that he couldn't pry Cosse's hand open, Danai turned to begging: "What do you want? Whatever you want, I will agree to it. Do you want money? I will give it to you."

"Money?" Cosse said with a smile, gritting his teeth, "What money do I need?" "Then I can grant you a title. Do you like women? I have all kinds of beauties..." Danay said in almost the most humble manner.

"Hahahaha cough cough cough hahaha." Kose laughed while coughing.

"What do you think we are? What do you think we are?!" Locking the Duke's waist tightly, Cosse's eyes were filled with tears for the first time since he learned of his daughter's death. "We are not pigs, not sheep, we have feelings too! We are human beings!"

Cosse's eyes turned red, but he stared at Darnay with tears in his cloudy eyes.

"I am just a butcher. I have never read scriptures and I don't know any great principles, but I know that when the piglets were taken away, the old sow tried her best to bite people!"

The hoof of the warhorse next to him rushed over and broke Cosse's thigh, but there was no change in the expression on his face.

This middle-aged man, who had always been on the fence, hugged the Duke's waist tightly, and was extremely firm: "I have gone through so much hardship to get here. How much suffering and hardship have I endured?"

A soldier stabbed Cosse's thigh with a dagger, and he seemed to feel no pain and shouted at Darnay: "What do you think I want? Huh? What do you think I want?"

"I don't want money! I don't want a title! I don't want a woman!"

"I want to vent my anger. I want Lina and Anna to know that Papa has not forgotten your hatred. Papa will definitely avenge you!"

He sniffed hard, sucking the blood, snot and tears into his stomach. His mouth trembled as he tried to swallow all the sobs and fear back into his stomach.

"My Lord, the old sow's bite is very painful!"

The distinctive explosion sound of a musket was heard, and a knight fell off his horse first.

Dane looked up in despair. On the left side of the road, the flag of salvation representing Horn was raised high. On the right side of the road, a strong white light wrapped around the Holy Grail flag of Saint Jeanne and flowed along with the crowd.

The mercenaries' semicircular gun formation five yards away was obviously very close, but it seemed like an insurmountable barrier.

As the sound of clockwork guns rang out, more mercenaries and knights fell down. Then, it was unknown which knight started the fight, but all the knights fled in all directions into the alleys.

The guards and nobles in the castle, seeing that something was not right, actually raised the drawbridge.

"Raise the drawbridge and close the city gates!"

With the creaking sound of the capstan, the iron chain pulled the suspension bridge up slowly. The mercenaries stationed on the shore wanted to retreat to the suspension bridge, but when they retreated, they found that their feet were hanging in the air.

The mercenaries in the back row turned their heads and found that the drawbridge that served as their retreat was slowly rising.

"Bridge, look, the bridge is rising."

"We're not on the bridge yet. We're not on the bridge yet."

Some of the mercenaries who refused to give up tried to jump from the shore and grab the edge of the suspension bridge, but most of them jumped directly into the moat.

Even if someone managed to grab the edge of the suspension bridge, they would become sitting ducks for the Holy Gunners.

As the moon sank gradually over the western plains, the soldiers on the streets either fled or surrendered, were stripped naked, and taken to the dungeon.

Horn hurriedly dismounted from a distance and did not immediately check on Dane, who was pinned to the neck by two strong men with their knees, but on Cosse, who was lying on his back on the ground.

The bloody holes and wounds on his body were covered with linen gauze, but the wounds hardly bled.

"Your Majesty, has the Duke... been caught?"

Half-kneeling on the ground, Horn grabbed Cosse's hand. His voice was unusually dry: "I caught him. You caught him with your own hands. He is right there."

"Your Majesty... do you think... Lina and Anna will... blame me?"

"They are all good kids. You have caught the murderer. They will be proud of you."

"But the murderer...hasn't been caught yet...hasn't he?"

At the end of the road, the short Armand had a bruise at the corner of his eye, and it seemed that he had just bumped into something. He ran over quickly, but when he got closer, he didn't dare to get closer.

"Armand...my...my child." Cosset stretched out his hand, wanting to touch Armand's face, but his hand couldn't be raised high.

Armand immediately leaned forward. Unlike Horn, he could no longer speak a complete sentence: "Cosepapa, I'm here."

In the previous battle, Kosse had been severely wounded all over his body, and later his thigh and spine were broken by a warhorse. He was bleeding profusely and could not be saved.

"I'm sorry... Actually... I've always regarded you... ahem... as... my... biological son..."

"I know, I know. I am your biological son. You paid for me to go to a church school and helped me bribe the dean to let me out early..."

"Actually... before Lina and... Anna... were born, I... I always wanted... to have a boy... but my two little angels... after they were born... I didn't care anymore."

Holding Cosset's hand, Armand couldn't stop the tears from his eyes. He didn't know how to answer.

"Armand, my child, I haven't given you a Christian name yet, have I?" Suddenly, Cosset's words became fluent and his eyes were shining.

"No, no."

"I spent 20 dinars to ask the bishop to come up with a Christian name for me. I originally wanted to leave it to my biological son... cough cough cough, I'll give it to you."

"You say." Armand's voice trembled.

"Richelieu." Cosset glanced at Armand, then at Horn beside him, "The Christian name is Richelieu..."

"Okay." Armand wiped the tears from his eyes. "From now on, I will be called Richelieu."

Kosei didn't answer. He just stared at the sky, smiled, and slowly closed his eyes.

Armand, no, Richelieu's crying was like a flood that had been opened, flowing freely from his lungs to his mouth.

At the same moment, a hint of milky white appeared on the distant mountains.

The golden wheel of the sun jumped out from behind the mountain, dispelling the madness and bloodiness of the night.

Dawn has arrived.

The golden morning light fell on the shoulders and faces of every refugee. Everyone was injured and supported each other, but they still couldn't believe it.

Did they really defeat so many extraordinary knights? Did they really defeat the Duke? Did they really capture the entire Castle of Jeanne d’Arc?
During the Bloody Winter Riot, did they accomplish what 300,000 farmers could not do?
But at this moment, they were a little confused.

Horn strode forward with several guards escorting Darnay behind him. The black and red flag of salvation was already flying on the roof of the Jeanne d'Arc Church.

Through the windows of the citizens, Horn could vaguely see their blurry faces peering out.

Walking on the paved stone pavement of Civic Road, it is still the same street as before, but it is no longer the same street as before.

When the refugees gathered in the small square at the castle gate, those who couldn't see would stand on the roofs or climb up the trees and look over here.

Dane's hands were tied and his crotch was soaked with feces and urine.

Perhaps knowing that he was doomed to die, Dane kept cursing at Horn the entire way.

"Do you think everything will be fine if you kill me?"

"There are also the armies of the Church and Prince Condé. They will arrive in three days, and you will all die—"

He stuffed a rag into the Duke's mouth and kicked him to his knees.

"Dear believers..."

Facing tens of thousands of eyes, Horn walked behind the Duke, stepped on the Duke's back with his right foot, and lost his voice in the middle of his speech.

Most of the time, Horn knew what he should say, but at this moment, he rarely stopped talking.

He pulled out the Blood Cloud from his waist and flicked it lightly.

“Ding—Zheng—”

After the crisp sound, Horn sniffed and chuckled, not sure whether it was to himself or to the sword:
"You bastards really left me with a big problem."

He stepped on the Duke's shoulder blades and pressed his head deep into the soil. He raised the blood cloud in his hand high and said, "My fellow believers..."

The blood-covered cloud reflected the rising sun, and Horn swung it lightly, chopping off the creature's head with ease.

So easily, as if the blood all over the street appeared out of thin air.

He held the Duke's head high, letting his terrified face bathe in the sunlight.

Although Horn tried his best to conceal it, there was still a hint of crying in his voice that he himself could not detect:
"The devil has been slain!"

"We won!"

(End of this chapter)