The cause of the aforementioned effects was Rein’s upgraded Level 2 Roaring Strike!
Although, to the six of them, the time from when their ears stopped ringing and vision blurred to when they regained consciousness seemed very long.
But in reality, as all six were Strengths above Level 3 Knight Attendants, their figures had only paused for about half a second.
Yet half a second, in a duel between masters, could decide far too much.
“Swoosh!”
A silver arc flashed through the air!
“Thump!!”
“Thump!!”
Several sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground echoed in quick succession.
The four chainmail-clad men, each holding various weapons, were all cut in two by Rein’s strike.
Some were neatly bisected at the waist; others, due to the posture of wielding their weapons, were diagonally cleaved; and some were split open from the elbow through the chest. Without exception, all were severed into two parts.
“Ah!!!”
Since the men cut in half were not dead on the spot, they were writhing and screaming in agony on the ground.
And because their vitality was far beyond that of ordinary people, they were likely to scream in such agony for several minutes.
The man in plate armor wielding a chain hammer was rather lucky, for Rein’s sword had just brushed past the lower edge of his helmet, decapitating him immediately, sparing him the agony of wailing on the ground.
The man with the steel shield and sword and shield in plate armor was now ashen-faced!
At this moment, his Kite Shield had been reduced to two halves, one half having fallen to the ground, the other still in his hand.
Because he had remained cautious from the start and had not attacked with full force, maintaining a certain distance, he was the only one of the six to have survived by a fluke.
He finally understood how his boss had met his end.
The opponent’s strike was something they at their level could not withstand.
Immediately, the swordsman shouted as if mad:
“Knight!”
“You must be a formal Knight!”
But the next second, he didn’t receive a reply from Rein, he was met with a powerful Leap Slash from Rein!
Rein leapt up violently and executed a Leap Slash at the sword and shield man, who only managed to block slightly with his Longsword. With a ‘clang’ sound of a huge impact, the sword broke, and the man was violently cleaved away.
“Splurt!”
Before the man had even landed, Rein followed up with a greatsword thrust, piercing directly through the gap in the neck of his plate armor and killing him.
Because of the thundering roar that Rein had just unleashed, which had startled all the elites of the Night Watchmen who were about to rescue the children, they all jumped, causing them to turn around to check what was going on.
But as they turned their heads, the sight they beheld left Matteo and the elite Night Watchmen dumbstruck!
“This…..”
They knew Rein was strong in combat, but neither during the previous extermination of the fishmen nor during the killing of the mountain-digging monster had he ever displayed such formidable combat strength!
This change in his physique was very much like a Knight breaking through his limits; no wonder those men thought Rein was a Knight.
Had it been them, they would have thought the same.
“Rein… have you advanced to a formal Knight?” asked a Night Watchman who was on good terms with Rein, with hesitance in his voice.
At this moment, Rein had returned to his normal stature, and seeing everyone looking at him with such surprise, he shook his head and said half genuinely, half falsely:
“I’m not a formal Knight yet.”
“Just now was a sort of secret technique, it’s probably because the breathing method I’m practicing is quite special.”
At those words, everyone just nodded blankly.
It seems…
It sounds like…
Alright then! Since Rein said it, it must be true!
Just now, Rein had fully utilized ‘Strength Burst’ and ‘Giant Bear Roar Level 2,’ together with his newly forged ‘Glimmering Greatsword’, he had cleared the area in just three seconds!
Not only had he shocked his fellow Night Watchmen, but he also scared the Archer who had been standing guard by the two horse-drawn carriages nearly senseless.
By the time the Archer came to his senses, he was surrounded by the group, bows drawn and aimed at him.
Having no other choice, he had to lower his weapons and raise his hands in surrender.
He definitely did not want to end up like the others who were still screaming miserably on the ground…
That was just too horrific!
The other Night Watchmen were quickly rescuing the children who had been forcefully taken away, one by one, from the two horse-drawn carriages.
Since Rein had only employed the ‘Strength Burst’ skill for merely three seconds, and considering he had improved his Constitution a bit before that, there was almost no backlash to speak of at the moment.
Thinking it over, Rein felt the miserable howls of the men were somewhat alarming for the children.
Thus, Rein approached the men and swiftly ended their suffering, while also searching their bodies.
He looked at the heavy purses in his hand, shook his head, and couldn’t help but feel disappointment.
It was a pity they didn’t contribute anything else, like a manual of Combat Skills or the like.
Indeed, why aren’t minions as good as the boss?
The reason was evident in whether they liked to study or not.
Suddenly, Rein looked intently toward the south.
In the direction of the Stuart farm, the once two-story farmhouse was now ablaze with roaring flames, which, unlike normal red or pale yellow flames, were a pale black color.
This made Rein realize instantly that this seemed to be the Black Flame Magician’s fire.
From the faint sounds of explosions, it could be inferred that the battle between the Black Flame Magician and Hamilton must be fierce.
After a moment of thought, Rein spoke in a deep voice, “Matteo, leave some people to take good care of the children; we’ll go support the adults first!”
…
Meanwhile, Hamilton was clearly at a disadvantage in the battle against the Black Flame Monk.
Relying on his agile figure and the excellent quality of his steel shield, he successfully became the monk’s live target.
That’s right!
A live target!
Anyone who saw the fight between the two would have this thought.
For now, the Black Flame Monk’s hands were both wrapped in black flames, and he wasn’t using any weapons; merely with a black flame from his left hand and another from his right, he forced Hamilton to jump up and down, not daring to directly face the tremendously powerful black flames.
The surface of Hamilton’s originally smooth steel shield had long since become pitted and dented, with two particularly deep depressions that were almost puncturing through the shield.
These two depressions were the result of Hamilton initially taking the monk’s black flames head-on!
So, after taking a couple of hits straight on, Hamilton was no longer daring to do so.
The attack power of the monk’s black flames was simply terrifying, and the strong corrosive effect it brought was even more formidable than that of the Black Flame Monk Hamilton had briefly clashed with before.
It was almost enough to penetrate his steel shield in a single strike.
Why not rush up?
Because the current distance was still manageable, Hamilton could dodge; if he continued to advance, the hit rate of the monk’s black flames would skyrocket.
During the assault, the Black Flame Monk Mort sneered, “Is this the so-called Knight of the Empire? A sheriff charged with the safety of a small town?”
“Not daring to confront my attack head-on, yet only daring to roll around on the ground like a wild boar, truly disappointing!”
“Perhaps you should change your name to Boar Knight!”
However, when a loud roar from the north rang out, Mort’s expression suddenly changed, followed by an angry curse, “A bunch of useless idiots, actually failing to deal with them.”
Since the roar was unmistakably human.
Moreover, the most important thing was that this voice was not recognizable as any of his acquaintances.
Clearly, the commotion had to be from the enemy!
The thought of losing over twenty ‘materials’ and facing punishment from the high priest made Mort entirely unsettled!
A great opportunity!
Hamilton’s eyes instantly lit up!
He took advantage of the moment Mort suddenly turned his head towards the north to unleash his Strength Burst. Like an arrow released from a bow, he charged straight at his opponent.
His muscles swelled, though not as exaggerated as Rein’s, but what was special was that Hamilton’s movement speed also significantly increased.
It seems this was some kind of balanced Transcendent trait that provided a modest boost to both strength and agility.
“Flash Strike!”
Hamilton roared, as the Knight’s Longsword in his hand seemed to transcend the limits of time and space, abruptly leaping to appear right in front of the Black Flame Monk!
Mort was shocked and furious, not expecting to be in such a predicament from a moment’s inattention.
“Seeking death!”
As Mort tried desperately to dodge, he flung two black flames heavy with force at Hamilton.
“Boom!”
First, Mort’s abdomen was pierced by Hamilton’s Knight Longsword; then, after dodging one black flame, Hamilton could no longer evade the other, and was sent flying.
The steel shield on his left hand shattered instantly, his gauntlet and arm armor both turned to charred black, severely damaged.
“Sizzle!”
Tiny black flames burned on the surface, making a fierce corrosive noise.
Mort quickly got up, clutching his stomach, but then his expression drastically changed!
Seeing the Knight Longsword in Hamilton’s hand now emitting a faint white glow, he exclaimed in shock, “Klarhest weapon?”
His abdominal wound seemed to be seared by high temperatures, emitting trickles of black smoke, and the surface skin was undergoing some bizarre change.
Mort hesitated no longer and immediately retreated swiftly toward the north, where safety lay.
But Hamilton was also without the chance to pursue.
At that moment, he was hastily beginning to remove the arm armor and gauntlet from his left hand.
Because to his horror, he felt a stabbing pain in his arm; the skin had developed several clearly burnt-black patches that were beginning to darken even more!
It seemed the black flames had an extra kind of damage to flesh.
Even a mere touch was almost too much for his Knight-level body to withstand.
Hamilton’s expression grew stern as he lifted his Knight Longsword to deal with the blackened wounds.
After slicing off the blackened parts, the stabbing pain vanished and the blood seeping from his wounds returned to a bright red.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but as he looked up to see Mort disappearing, he thought to himself, “Damn it!”
Because Mort’s escape route was headed in the same direction as Rein and the rest of the Night Watchmen were pursuing.
At this time, Rein and more than ten others, including Matteo, were moving swiftly toward the Stewart Farm, when suddenly, Rein’s heart tightened, followed by a blaring alarm!
His level 2 danger perception had never triggered such a strong alert!
Just as Rein was about to warn everyone, suddenly, a slightly staggering black figure emerged upfront!
“It’s that Black Flame Monk!” Rein’s pupils constricted sharply!
They had run headlong into the injured Black Flame Monk!
Upon seeing the monk, all the Night Watchmen’s faces changed color, immediately drew their bows and aimed at the enemy.
And at that moment, the Black Flame Monk Mort, full of fury, saw the sudden appearance of the Watchmen, his lips curling into a smug and cruel smile.
“Perfect! Just what I need to vent my anger!”