Chapter 105: Display of Power
Chapter 105: Display of Power
"Ryan, this is the Night Watch oath. It's a pity that you haven't had the chance to pledge your loyalty before facing such a difficult battle," Mateo, the short man beside him, whispered.
Mateo's face was flushed, his eyes gleaming with excitement. The act of the Night Watch reciting their oaths had greatly inspired him.
Ryan nodded, his heart stirred, but he chose to remain silent.
"Hmm?" In the distance, Mort, the cloaked figure who had just turned to leave, stopped in his tracks. He raised his head, his mouth twitched, and his expression darkened as he glared at Hamilton and the group of Night Watch members.
Had the sheriff of Flash Gold Town lost his mind?
Why not just go back and get a promotion and a raise?
You've even given them your subordinates' children!
What do you care about the offspring of those commoners?
Is it worth risking your life for them?
Truly, a fool brainwashed by the Empire!
"It seems you're going to disappoint me. How foolish!" Mort, the cloaked adept, said with a dark expression.
Suddenly, a black flame appeared in Mort's hands, and he directly ignited the two Blood Hand Gang members standing nearby.
"Ahhhh!"
The two men writhed in pain on the ground, but after a few seconds, no more sounds came from them. Their bodies lay motionless, burning like a bonfire, and a pungent odor instantly filled the air.
Seeing the opponent's display of power, Ryan and the other Night Watch members' faces changed abruptly.
Ryan's heart trembled. This was the third time he had witnessed the application of this mysterious side energy particle.
The previous two instances were Anna's mystic charm with its green glow and Ragle's arm with its black aura, and this time, it was the black flame of their opponent.
All three had immense power, but with completely different effects.
"You all go after those two carriages. Leave this one to me!" Hamilton said solemnly, his gaze fixed on the cloaked man without turning his head.
"Sir, let's take this guy out together first," several elite Night Watch members said, raising their bows.
Although the opponent's attack was bizarre, they believed that with the range of their bows, they could still injure him.
"No! Go save the children. That's an order!" Hamilton waved his hand.
Only Hamilton knew that the opponent's bizarre black flame could directly attack from a distance, and his subordinates wouldn't be of much use here; they would only serve as cannon fodder.
"Yes, sir!"
"Be careful, sir!"
". . ."
Ryan remained silent, glancing at the cloaked man and then at Hamilton before following Mateo. They bypassed the wooden fence of Sterwin Farm and set off to chase after the carriages.
Mort, the Black Flame adept who remained at the scene, looked at Hamilton with a curious and scrutinizing gaze and said, "You seem confident."
"Why do you think you can withstand me? And that your Night Watch subordinates can save those people?"
At that moment, a figure flashed through Hamilton's mind—the image of the Mountain Borer being cut down by a sword. He smiled and said, "Then let's make a bet."
"I'm betting I can!"
Before the opponent could respond, Hamilton dashed forward like a silver lightning bolt, sword and shield in hand, charging towards the cloaked man.
The two carriages were traveling along a small road leading northeast.
At this moment, the Hammerman turned his head and saw something unbelievable.
"You shameless black-skinned dogs dare to chase after us! I knew Mort was too kind to you!" he shouted.
"In my eyes, a dog is a dog. If you beat them hard enough, they'll run away!"
"I'll take care of them. You go ahead."
The Hammerman pulled the reins of his horse and changed direction.
"Should I go, boss?" asked a tall man holding a chain hammer.
"No need. I'll be back soon," the Hammerman waved his hand confidently.
"Alright! Be careful, boss," said the others.
"Don't worry. They're just black-skinned dogs. I'll send them back to the embrace of the Goddess, but I don't know if she'll take them, hehe!" The Chainman lowered his faceplate, transforming into a metal lump, and charged towards the Night Watch members.
"Shoot!"
Seeing the enemy charging towards them, the twenty-odd Night Watch members knew the enemy was confident in his abilities.
"Ding ding ding!"
Indeed, most of the arrows hit their target, but the powerful defense of the Chainman's full plate armor blocked all the attacks.
"He's a Knight Squire, and not an ordinary one!" Mateo's pupils constricted.
He knew that if the opponent was a Knight Squire, it would be troublesome.
Knight Squires, with their strength and agility reaching the upper levels of Knight Squires, were at the peak of ordinary people, just one step away from becoming Ranked Knights. Therefore, their attire was similar to that of Ranked Knights, also wearing plate armor.
This gave them formidable defense, rendering the Night Watch members' arrows almost ineffective. To defeat the Chainman, they would have to engage in close-quarters combat.
It was clear that the Night Watch members in leather armor would suffer heavy casualties in order to take down a 'Tin Can'.
Moreover, Mateo could see that the Chainman's movements to dodge the arrows were incredibly relaxed and natural.
This reminded him of a saying, though he couldn't recall who had said it:
"Even among Knight Squires, there are differences."
The reason was that some Knight Squires, due to the difficulty in finding the corresponding advanced potions, stayed at this level for a long time, thus achieving extremely high levels of skill in various arts.
These Knight Squires were the most challenging to deal with!
"Let's do this!"
Mateo put away his bow and was about to draw his longsword, but a strong hand stopped him from unsheathing it.
"Mateo, leave this to me. You guys keep up with the carriages," Ryan said, turning to face the group with a calm expression.
"Ryan..."
"Trust me! He may be strong, but is he stronger than the Mountain Borer?"
Hearing these words from Rain, several Night Watch members who had participated in the battle looked exhilarated.
Mateo looked into Rain's determined eyes and nodded heavily, saying, "Alright! But Rain, be careful. There's a difference between a Knight Apprentice and a Knight Squire. This guy is probably the toughest one to deal with!"
"But I have faith in you! Show him what we Night Watchers are capable of!"
"Good!" Rain glanced at the approaching figure, then at his attribute panel, where his strength, constitution, and agility had all reached 12 points. He thought to himself, 'Different? Perhaps.'
Waving his hand at Mateo and the others, Rain signaled them to go around, while he dismounted and faced the charging Hammerman.
Rain's disadvantage was that his opponent wielded a two-handed great hammer, which, although not a piercing break-armor hammer, posed a significant threat to the defense of his Knight Plate Armor.
The 'Radiant Greatsword' in Rain's hand, despite being exceptionally sharp after infusing Star Iron, was unlikely to cleave through the thick Knight Plate Armor in one strike.
Kave, upon seeing a similarly armored but significantly smaller man blocking his way alone, couldn't help but smirk.
"Hey! There's a different kind of Black Night Watch!" Kave noticed Rain's black leather armor on his unarmored arm, identifying him as a member of the Night Watch.
"I'll finish you off in one move, and then turn all those Black Night Watch into dead dogs!"
The distance between them quickly closed, and when they were less than five meters apart, Kave swung his great hammer from top to bottom, aiming at Rain's plate helmet.
"Clang!!"
Sparks flew!
Rain's Radiant Greatsword firmly blocked the heavy hammer's strike.
At Level 5 of the Grizzly Sword Technique, Rain skillfully positioned his sword to deflect the powerful blow, striking just below the hammerhead on the metal handle.
With a 50% Power Surge, Rain's strength reached a level of sixteen or seventeen points, comparable to that of a full-powered Ranked Knight.
Kave was astonished to see Rain effortlessly receive his attack.
Although Mateo had already set off to follow the carriage, he left three elite Night Watch members behind to support Rain in case he couldn't handle the Hammerman.
"Mo Han, you guys continue the pursuit. I'll take care of this!" Rain said calmly.
"Alright! Rain, do your best! We believe in you!" Mo Han looked at Rain, understanding that they couldn't interfere in Rain's battle with the Hammerman. He nodded and immediately signaled the other two elite Night Watch members to continue chasing the carriage.
Kave was infuriated to see Rain ignoring him, fighting while casually conversing with his comrades.
This situation usually only happened to him, but now the tables had turned.
"Excellent! You've thoroughly enraged me! I'll turn you into a dead dog!"
"Sweeping Great Hammer!"
Kave suddenly retreated and then charged at Rain again, sweeping his great hammer horizontally from left to right.
"Buzz!!"
The strike was incredibly fast, and the air hummed with a buzzing sound from the hammerhead's motion alone.
Rain realized that this was probably a secret technique from the opponent's hammer skills.
If it struck any part of the body, even with his thick Knight Plate Armor, the shockwave alone could severely damage that body part.
The plate armor wouldn't provide much protection against such a powerful impact!
"Do you know why I let them go?"
"Because I don't want to hide anymore!"
A deep voice echoed from beneath Rain's knight helmet.
Suddenly, Kave had a bad premonition.
In the next instant, he saw the short man before him expand like an inflated balloon, his slightly loose Knight Plate Armor now comically stretched, as if a burly man wearing child-sized clothes.
But Kave couldn't laugh at this.
In a flash, Rain, with his 'Power Surge' at full power, possessed 24 points of strength and once again blocked Kave's secret technique, 'Sweeping Great Hammer', with the sturdy part of his sword near the hilt.
"Clang!!"
The counterforce was so great that it cracked Kave's plate gauntlet!
"How is this possible!"
"You're not even a full-fledged knight, how can you be this strong?!" Kave's eyes bulged, his mouth agape, filled with astonishment. He had fought against full-fledged knights before, and even they couldn't block his attack so easily!
That last strike was a secret technique!
A secret technique!
Not only did Rain block it with a simple defensive sword technique, but he also cracked Kave's plate gauntlet!
Seizing the moment, Rain unleashed a powerful slashing strike from a 45-degree angle above, cleaving the air with a beautiful silver arc.
It was a satisfying strike.
Kave desperately raised his great hammer to block.
"Sizzle!!"
Sparks flew!
A sharp metallic grinding sound filled the air.
Both of them froze in place.
As the evening sun set, a gentle breeze blew.
"Clang!!"
The great hammer fell to the ground, its iron handle cleanly split in two.
The next second, a blinding fountain of blood gushed from the gruesome sword wound that ran from Kave's left shoulder to his right hip, soaking his thick Knight Plate Armor.
Then, two consecutive thuds echoed.
Kave's body, encased in thick Knight Plate Armor, fell to the ground in two pieces. It turned out that the great hammer's block and the thumb-thick Knight Plate Armor were no match for Rain's 24-point power surge, which cleaved through them all.
At that moment, Rain shook the greatsword in his hand and looked at Kave, saying softly, "Dead dog? Yes, indeed a dead dog."
(End of Chapter)
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