Chapter 127
The best adjective to describe the situation as a whole was the word ‘scorched’.
The massive beam of energy didn’t leave anything in its wake. The horde of undead vanished and scattered like dust in the wind. The beam was massive as it had a radius of a hundred meters, and it destroyed everything in its path.
Bear stared blankly at the scorched earth, and he eventually shattered the oppressive silence with a mutter, “Was that a Unique Skill?”
Unique Skill.
A Unique Skill was also called a Vision, and unlike Aura, a Unique Skill was unique to the individual after reaching a certain realm.
One example of this is a prestigious family’s swordsmanship technique.
If an individual was used as an example, then it would be Valmont, whose swordsmanship was as fast as a meteor that the technique was given the moniker ‘Shooting Star’.
“It still doesn’t make sense even if it’s a unique skill.”
“This is the first time I've seen something like this. Could it be that he’s a descendant of a fallen noble family? Anyway, it doesn’t make sense for him to be working as a mercenary!”
“Look!” Someone exclaimed, attracting the eyes of everyone else. Then, they saw in the distance that the lesser undead, such as the skeletons and the ghouls, had been wiped out. Out of the numerous undead, only three Dullahans remained.
There were a few undead who didn’t directly perish from the beam, but they still couldn’t escape the fate of dying once more as they started disintegrating right in front of the mercenaries’ eyes.
Common sense told them that an attack’s power would weaken the farther its range, but this new guy had proven them wrong.
Crack.
There was a crumbling noise, and after annihilating the rest of the enemies, Eiden—no, Akshuller approached Joshua. As expected, Akshuller was strong. He was strong enough to kill the remaining Duhallans unscathed. He was definitely equal to a high-ranked Knight.
In order to handle one Dullahan, it was said that at least four B-Class Knights should use synchronized skills. And they must not be entry-level but should have at least mastered the aura to some extent.
“I have never heard that His Grace Agnus has a vision skill that could devastate such a huge area…” Akshuller trailed off as he cast a curious glance at Lugia in Joshua’s hand and remarked, “You have such strange spear arts as well.”
“All I can say is that you should not stick your nose into someone else’s business if you don’t want to get hurt,” Joshua responded with a cheeky grin.
“It doesn’t matter even if it hurts, I just want to know if the rumors from Reinhardt were false.”
Akshuller grinned. He turned toward the others and exclaimed, “Without their leader, the remaining undead are nothing but a bunch of bubbles you can pop! Prioritize your safety and make sure to be careful!”
“Stand watch!”
“It really feels good to have the manager with us.”
“There’s also that mage and the new talent! It’s just a 2-star and it’s frustrating for me, but isn’t this just free money?”
The mercenaries came to their senses and started muttering to themselves while moving to act on Akshuller’s instructions.
Clang!
A few moments later, the mercenaries and the remnants of the undead clashed.
***
At this moment, Marquis Crombell’s vast army was steadily closing in on Aiden Gorge.
It was still early dawn, yet someone was already causing a ruckus in the Pontier Family’s grand training hall.
Clad in a silver full plate armor, Baron Ashbal cried out. “What kind of nonsense is this? Is this training supposed to help us stop the Crombell Family?!”
The Pontier Family had a total of five knight divisions.
Baron Ashbal was the Commander of the 1st Knight Division.
He was a B-Class Knight at the summit of his class, so he could be considered to be the strongest person in the Pontier Family.
“Marquis Crombell’s troops will arrive in three days, do you really think that we will be able to defend the gorge in this condition?”
“No!”
“I’m going to lose my mind at this rate! The family is like a candle in the wind, and we’re also under the mercy of a mere woman!” Baron Ashbal exclaimed with a scowl. He really looked like he was having a mental breakdown.
“Are you referring to Lady Charles?”
“...!” Baron Ashbal turned toward the voice. “You…!”
The owner of the voice, Icarus, shook her head and said, “I came to check up on things.”
As usual, Cain was standing behind her with a cheeky grin.
“As you said, we’re like a candle in the wind. Pray, tell, do you intend to create a division of forced conscripts?” Icarus asked with a frown.
At that, Baron Ashbal revealed a sardonic smile and snarled. “Go away, bitch.”
“...!” Icarus’ eyes widened at that response.
Baron Ashbal continued in a low voice. “We were in front of the other family leaders, so I let you run your mouth, but do you really think that you’re qualified to speak to me, you bitch?!”
He said that in a subdued voice, but since the training hall was quiet, every knight of the 1st Division heard Baron Ashbal’s words.
“Who is that lovely lady?”
“She looks like Lady Charles’ guest—ah, she could be Icarus.”
“Icarus? The brilliant strategist of the Imperial Academy? Wait, I didn’t expect Icarus to be a woman.”
“Is that Sir Cain?”
The knights' attention, which had been raised, quickly turned from Icarus to Cain.
Cain had long become a familiar sight to the knights. After all, Cain had spent the last three days practicing with them at the Pontier Family’s request, and with his snarky, sarcastic, and easygoing demeanor, he fit right in with them.
Cain wasn’t really that familiar to them, but he seemed extraordinary, and he always had a word of advice to the knights who had run into issues while they were training, so the knights were grateful to him.
The knights familiar with Baron Ashbal's personality were concerned that Cain might get caught undeservedly in the sparks of Baron Ashbal’s anger.
“What you said…” Icarus was about to say something.
However, Cain stepped in front of Icarus and said, “You went too far.”
Icarus was surprised when Cain stepped in front of her. However, Cain didn’t have the usual playful and easygoing look on his face as he stood in front of Icarus.
“Sir Cain?” After hearing Icarus’s comments, Baron Ashbal frowned. He hadn’t been at the Pontier Family’s training hall thanks to the meetings in the past few days, so he couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you?”
“My name is Cain, and I am serving Lord Joshua Sanders.”
“...!” Baron Ashbal’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing that. “Joshua Sanders? Are you talking about that kid—Baron Joshua Sanders?”
“Oh? So he serves Baron Joshua. I knew he wasn’t just any old knight, but…”
“Isn’t Baron Joshua only a title holder? I haven’t heard of the news that he got a personal knight.”
The knights weren’t overly worried about Cain’s identity because he and Icarus were Lady Charles’ guests.
Honestly speaking, they didn’t really care. Setting the bare minimum of courtesy aside, Cain had already proven his abilities to the knights. Cain had also been getting along with them just fine.
However, Baron Ashbal’s eyes quivered upon hearing Cain’s words. He seemed to have realized something as he muttered, “Are you trying to say that—no, are you trying to hint at us that His Grace Agnus has decided to support us?”
“...!” At that, the eyes of the knights flew open. They also arrived at the same conclusion as Baron Ashbal. This was no longer a question of Joshua’s support, even though he was known as an unparalleled monster throughout Avalon. What mattered the most was the fact that Joshua’s father was the Avalon Empire’s pride, as well as one of the great Nine Stars.
In addition, Duke Aden von Agnus was also the idol of every knight.
“Unfortunately…” Cain could also see the conclusion Baron Ashbal had reached, and he shook his head in response and said, “We have come here under the orders of my lord. His Grace Agnus is completely uninvolved.”
“Oh...”
“Damn it.”
The knights sighed in regret.
Joshua Sanders was a monster in his own right, but not even he could turn the tides in the favor of the Pontier Family. After all, the terrifying Mercenary King Barbarian, who was one of the Twelve Superhumans, was on their enemy’s side. The Mercenary King was absent, but no one knew when he would reappear to start another carnage.
Weren’t the casualties on the Pontier Family’s side enough evidence to convince the Pontier Family that the Mercenary King could only be vanquished by an opponent vastly stronger than him?
Baron Ashbal chuckled and said, “So, is it because of pity or to save his reputation?”
“What?” asked Cain.
Baron Ashbal shrugged and said, “His Grace Agnus has been a long-time friend of our family, so it’s possible that he sent us help because he’s worried about how the other noble families will look at him otherwise.”
“However, he’s also afraid that some noble families might abandon the Agnus Duchy’s side, so he’s pretending like there’s nothing going on while secretly handing the hot potato over to someone else, and as we can see, His Grace Agnus sent his child.” Baron Ashbal smiled.
Cain’s figure stiffened when he realized what Baron Ashbal was trying to say.
Baron Ashbal met Cain’s gaze with the same smile on his face as he continued. “Joshua Sanders then used the Masters’ Battle as an excuse to send you and the useless one here. And afterward, he must have felt like he had already done everything, and he is definitely using that to console himself.”
“Even if you’re a vassal of the Pontier Family…” Cain finally opened his mouth. He coldly stared into Baron Ashbal’s eyes and said, “I won’t let you badmouth my Lord.”
“Oh?” Baron Ashbal ridiculed with a chuckle. “Is that so?”
Cain's eyes grew colder.
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