Whoosh!
The movent of the blade was invisible.
The light trail drawn by the blade was like the wind itself, and its force carried the power to shake the ground beneath it.
Those who are called knights in this world are said to move as swiftly as the wind and strike with the force of lightning.
As this saying goes, their movents are the wind itself—like a gust of wind—and it would not be surprising if the human body, made of soft flesh and cloth, was torn apart like a piece of at.
However...
Boom!
“!!”
No matter how strong the wind or how fierce the lightning, one cannot shake a mountain that stands firm.
Crunch!!
The blade tried to tear through the enemy’s flesh, sparking as it struck, but the skin, as solid as iron, did not yield to even the slightest wound.
“Grrr...!!”
“This... this monster...!!”
Five half-breeds, no less powerful than high-ranking knights, were snarling, their veins bulging in anger.
They had lost their composure. It was a critical mistake, but in such a situation, it was nearly impossible to maintain calm.
And it wasn’t surprising.
“-You should have trained more.”
Ihan took the full force of their strikes without even using a shield, and the five blades barely made a mark on his skin.
Golden Body.
It was now a signature technique of Ihan’s, one he could perform naturally, like breathing.
In the past, his defense had been as firm as rock, but now, it was as solid as steel. His Golden Body could not be pierced by ordinary blades.
If they wanted to even scratch him...
“Even if you can’t use sword energy, you should at least use sword intent.”
Well, even if they could use sword energy or intent...
Thud!
When the ti ca, he wouldn’t just take it passively...
Ihan swung his arms with force, as if he were wielding a hamr. His arms, filled with imnse power, crushed the swords aid at him, bending them like cans.
This alone would have been terrifying to his opponents.
Whoosh!
In the next mont, his shield-bearing arm pierced through the air, charging forward like a spear.
It wasn’t just a simple punch; it was a powerful thrust that released the force of his entire body!
A massive gust of wind shot out in all directions, and the creatures that had sward around Ihan like moths to a fla were all flung away.
Boom!
Like being hit head-on by a buffalo, all the half-breeds were sent flying into the air.
The force of the blow, powered by the montum of his Hundred-Step Strike, was enough to make the half-breeds unable to withstand it.
Especially the one who had been hit directly by Ihan’s shield...
Boom!
Its head was completely obliterated, spewing blood in all directions.
The others had lost limbs, arms or legs, and were scattered, barely hanging on.
Thud.
“Whew!”
Ihan took a deep breath, his body cooling down as the heat of battle subsided.
And as he did, the owl, watching from a distance, spoke in admiration.
[Knight, you really are strong.]
“Thanks.”
[But you fight so cruelly. You don’t fight like a knight, but more like an ogre or a troll.]
“...Pick one, praise or insult.”
[Huh? I was praising you!]
“Where’s the praise?”
The owl’s praise didn’t sound much like one, but Ihan surveyed his surroundings.
The fifty half-breeds that had charged at him were either dead or severely wounded, lying unconscious or in critical condition.
If left unattended, so might die from blood loss.
In reality...
[Annihilation.]
It was an overwhelming victory.
Ihan had single-handedly wiped out fifty high-ranking half-breeds, a truly remarkable feat.
If this had been made public, it would have been a legendary achievent, drawing admiration from many.
But, having already defeated a hundred knights before, Ihan felt no great sense of accomplishnt.
What’s more, compared to the blood-sucking undead, these creatures were weak and pitiful.
Defeating them didn’t bring him any sense of achievent—it felt more like exterminating moths.
...But most importantly...
“How long are you going to keep watching, you four?”
Ihan, still irritated, addressed the four people watching his battle.
Whoosh!
“Hmm...”
The low growl that escaped from Ihan, louder than a lion’s roar, made the four of them take a step back.
“...Scary, really.”
They were clearly sweating profusely, unsure whether it was genuine fear or just exaggeration, but Ihan was already preparing to shoot arrows at them if needed.
He had made preparations to kill one of them for sure.
But in an instant...
Flinch...
Ihan’s eyes caught sothing.
The woman’s fingers twitched like a worm, moving in silence.
And the next mont...
Boom!
An explosion erupted right where Ihan had been standing.
It was like a dynamite blast.
Thud!
The force was so powerful that it sent the scattered half-breeds flying, their bodies torn apart in the process.
A perfect example of a two-for-one kill.
Fortunately...
“Ouch...”
Ihan had already moved far away before the explosion, managing to avoid the blast.
...Though his clothes had been slightly burned.
“Number 8, did you get a lot of information from that guy? You know my abilities? Heh, but knowing doesn’t help you avoid it... you’re annoyingly impressive.”
Daina, the 7th Apostle, couldn’t help but admire Ihan, having seen soone avoid the explosion for the first ti.
“Shut up, I’m avoiding it because I’d die if I didn’t.”
Ihan didn’t feel the slightest joy from the praise.
No matter how immune he was to blades, there was no way he could withstand the heat of an explosion.
‘Maybe I could survive thirty tis, but getting hit is never fun.’
Taking damage continuously would be a significant blow.
“...A Class 2 Dangerous Monster: Lava Salamander’s Ember.”
The Lava Salamander, a creature that swims through lava and feeds on fire.
It had another na...
Salamander.***
It’s a sowhat obvious fact, but the Black Moon, to which Ihan had once belonged, was undoubtedly a crazy mad scientist group.
They gathered children under ten years old and repeatedly perford insane experints, injecting them with the essence of monsters thousands, even tens of thousands of tis.
Logically speaking, would injecting a human with spider DNA give them the abilities of a spider?
No. That’s impossible.
It would either have no effect or cause so side effects...
But these lunatics didn’t care if side effects occurred. They kept injecting the essence of monsters into children, and eventually, they succeeded.
They literally kept trying until it worked, and sotis, a few successful test subjects appeared.
Out of a thousand, maybe one would succeed, and even those who succeeded often died shortly after, so it was like surviving against odds of thousands to one. The ones who were considered "successes" were called "Numbers."
Number 7... The woman now known as the 7th Apostle was one of them.
‘She must have mastered the power of the salamander by now, huh?’
The salamander, or Lava Lizard, was one of the rare monster species found in lava regions. So scholars even said that the Lava Lizard was closer to a spiritual entity than a monster, but due to its danger, it was classified as a monster on the continent.
Boom!
These creatures, like lizards living off lava, had a peculiar constitution. It was honestly sowhat cute that their bodies could heat up to hundreds, even thousands of degrees in real ti.
As long as you didn’t provoke them, it wasn’t an issue.
However...
Boom!
...The ash they expelled was no cute matter. It had explosive power on the level of dynamite.
That was the dangerous part of the Lava Lizard.
It mixed invisible nitroglycerin into the air and detonated it.
It was essentially a living bomb.
...So kingdoms had tried to capture Lava Lizards as weapons, but in one instance, the lizard went berserk and destroyed the palace, killing the king and many high-ranking nobles in the process.
‘That says it all.’
The danger was indeed top-tier.
But now, a human, an assassin no less, was wielding the power of the Lava Lizard.
It was, truly...
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
...An living explosive weapon.
Ihan moved at high speed, dodging quickly.
He couldn’t predict when the spark might fly, so he kept moving fast. His expression grew more serious.
“What the hell...? Why is this more complicated and dangerous than Number 4?”
In the past, the explosive power was like fireworks, and the ability itself was nowhere near as freely controllable.
How did this beco such a dangerous entity? Wasn't this person who used to be beaten by soone with ogre-strength?
As these questions ran through his mind, the woman provided an answer.
“Number 4? Hmm, while he was holed up in the tunnels for years, I didn’t exactly sit around doing nothing. And really, numbers don’t an much, right? Sure, in the past, we went by ranks, but... this is pretty outdated info.”
She answered kindly, showing her power once more.
Whoosh!
Every ti the woman flicked her fingers, explosions burst out of thin air, and soon...
Whoosh!
Flas erupted, surrounding Ihan.
...It was yet another new ability.
“This is the 'Fla Net.' If you touch it, even you would get pretty burned.”
“......”
“Ah, I guess it's impossible to block with that, huh...?”
The woman flinched.
The net of flas enveloped Ihan, but as he drew a dagger and prepared to kick it, a sudden chill crept into the air.
Even though she could unleash an explosion, she sensed that her head would be pierced at the sa ti, and she felt the coldness of death, forcing her to stop moving her fingers.
So, instead...
“You should stop playing around and help.”
She called for her allies.
She didn’t want to die.
At her request...
“...We don’t want to die either.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to provoke an angry beast?”
“Daina, you’ll die like that.”
“...Should I prepare a ritual for you to die?”
Her plea for help, fearing death, was t with cold responses.
But despite their words, they slowly took out sickles, whips, and shields. Just as the survival chances began to increase...
“—You slow bastard, get up already.”
“!!?”
...Just after his words ended, a spear aid directly at her head was visible.
Boom!!
***
Whooosh!
Despite the world being a watercolor landscape with no dust storms, a thick, dusty air spread through it.
The knight’s spear, his eyes burning with determination,
Crunch!
“Ughhh...!”
“...You blocked my spear?”
The incredible defensive ability of the man with the shield, Dent, t the shockwave.
Of course,
Crack!
Dent’s arm, which blocked the spear, was not spared, but...
Blocking it was already a struggle.
And, as expected, Raq de Duron didn’t let this go. He thrust the spear again with an even fiercer montum!
“...Oh? This isn’t good.”
Ihan muttered belatedly, but Raq didn’t understand what he ant as he swung the spear.
And then...
Boom!
The next mont, it wasn’t the spear that flew—it was Raq’s body.
Thud!
“Are you alright, Hulang? What a strange thing. You flew so easily, haha!”
“...Don’t laugh.”
Maximus, with his sharp tone, was genuinely concerned but had a knack for irritating people. His words only fueled Raq’s anger.
And to add fuel to the fire...
“You idiot, can’t you see? Those people have all kinds of mystical powers. The woman’s got the Lava Lizard’s power, and that guy’s like an Impact Dial or sothing.”
“...What’s that?”
“Ah, it absorbs the shock and then returns it double?”
“......”
“Yeah, it’s pretty overpowered...”
“...Couldn’t you have said that earlier?”
“Who told you to take a nap instead?”
“......”
In the end, Raq had no retort, and he fell silent.
This situation showed the stark reality that the hero’s cliché entrance was sothing only possible in a play.
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