164 episodes
“Patience.”
Ethan looked at the Iron Blooded Knights and smirked.
The knights’ armor was smashed everywhere.
His body was also severely damaged.
Despite this, the Iron Blooded Knights continued to attack Ethan.
Even if his teammates fell, he never stopped attacking.
Ethan leisurely avoided those desperate attacks.
“Isn’t the reason you’re holding on to me like this because I’m waiting for your manager?”
“… … !”
The iron-blooded knights were surprised at the words that penetrated their innermost thoughts.
Among the knights escorting the transport, there was no Hugo.
And Ethan knew why.
This must have been the strategy of the Iron Blood Knights in the first place.
Gold transport was used as an attractive bait, but that was not all.
When all the Iron Blood Knights were put into gold transport, it was obvious that the Iron Knights would aim for the empty Nord Gold Mine.
However, Hugo, the leader of the Iron Blooded Knights, must have been waiting there.
That was Hugo’s trick.
Ethan laughed and muttered.
“Your commander must have said that you alone can fulfill your mission as a transport unit. But what about this?”
Ethan blocked the attack that was aimed at his side and counterattacked.
The knight was attacked by Ethan and fell out.
In the end, all the knights were miserable crawling on the floor.
“I don’t think you can stop me.”
“ね!”
The Iron Blooded Knights were indignant.
On the other hand, I was afraid of Ethan’s words.
It was because he had already felt the difference in skill to the point of being desperate.
It was because the corner he believed in until the very end had disappeared.
“Everyone, get up!”
But wouldn’t the name of the knight of the knight kingdom Miles cry only after giving up?
Even if he vomited blood and was crippled, the Iron Blooded Knights got up again.
His body was tattered, but his eyes were full of life.
Ethan looked at the scene with a tired face.
“Ha, have you survived well so far, or did I keep you alive? You will have to think about it.”
However, it was not the iron-blooded Knights who had been torn apart to answer that question.
“It must have been saved.”
Their leader was Hugo.
* * *
At some point, Hugo suddenly appeared in front of Ethan.
When Hugo reached Ethan’s face, he tried to cut Ethan down at once.
The sword, swung with all its might, cut through the air.
Ethan blocked the sword with his broken girdle.
Kang!
The metal collided against each other and made a loud noise.
Hugo appeared blankly, but Ethan said as if he was waiting.
“I know.”
Hugo was laughing out loud in madness.
“You did a funny thing to my men.”
However, his anger was still in his attacks on Ethan.
Ethan amplified his divine power with divine magical power and hurled his fist at Hugo from the front.
Ethan’s fist clashed with Hugo’s sword.
It sounded like a sword hitting the wall.
“Ugh!”
Hugo could not withstand the destructive force of his fist and fell far away.
Ethan looked down at Hugo and said.
“You have to be straight. Are you having fun? As a priest, he showed great generosity.”
“You cheeky kid!”
Hugo looked at Ethan.
Ethan was a tougher opponent than I thought.
“If you’re pushed by a priest, wouldn’t it make sense for a knight to lose face? So please do your best.”
At Ethan’s provocation, Hugo immediately blew up the new model without even responding.
In Hugo’s mind, he had no choice but to destroy Ethan.
* * *
that play!
The sword and the gauntlet collided and fought fiercely with each other.
The two metal weapons encountered screamed.
After letting go of the fist, Hugo quickly stepped back.
‘Never let them come close!’
Ethan’s fists are powerful one by one, but their range is short.
Hugo took full advantage of the sword’s strengths.
Swinging the sword at a distance from Ethan, he did not give Ethan a chance to dig.
“Is the commander of the Iron Blooded Knights fearful of priests?”
Ethan laughed at Hugo’s defensive appearance.
But Hugo did not readily respond to the provocation.
He just silently focused on defense and tried to find a gap in Ethan.
Considering that he had been actively attacking at first, it was a surprising appearance.
“… … .”
But Hugo wasn’t actually attacking.
‘You mean the rumors in Central weren’t false?’
A cold sweat broke out on my back.
Hugo couldn’t find a hole in Ethan.
First of all, he had a big problem.
Pot!
Hugo barely avoided Ethan’s attack.
‘What does that mean?’
Gwon-gap rubbed his cheek, causing a small scratch.
He avoided being punched in the fist, but did not completely avoid it.
‘damn! The only thing you can do is avoid your fists.’
What bothered Hugo was Ethan’s explosive speed.
Obviously, the two of them were fighting at the same speed, but at some point the speed increased explosively.
It would have been better if Ethan had only relied on fast attacks from the start.
Because it is familiar to your eyes, you can see the trajectory of the attack to some extent.
Besides, if you focus only on speed, there will be gaps sooner or later.
‘He knows how to use his speed well!’
While matching the attack speed of the two, only when Hugo had a momentary gap, he swung an explosive fist with certainty.
Then the speed was unfamiliar to the eye, so of course it was invisible to the eye.
Hugo had to dodge his fists only by feeling.
‘How the hell do you do that kind of movement?’
Of course, Hugo didn’t know.
That Ethan is amplifying his speed through divine magic.
‘Besides, the right arm is not a human arm.’
Hugo spilled Ethan’s right arm.
Already he had dealt numerous blows to Ethan with his sword.
Even if he was wearing gauntlets, a direct impact had to be transmitted to his arm.
But Ethan’s arm still looked intact.
‘Those who master kwongakju spend their entire lives training their hands and feet.’
The feeling of Hugo was different from that.
It wasn’t just that he was strong or strengthened his arms with mana.
‘The strength of the arm itself is different from that of a human!’
Even if it was strengthened to the limit with divine power, a human arm could not be that strong.
Above all, Hugo knew how the Paladins used their Holy Power in battle.
Therefore, he knew well that Ethan’s method was different from that of the general paladins.
‘Besides, at this age and at this level? A monster.’
In order to win against Ethan, we had to not let the battle go on like this.
Hugo finally made a decision.
‘Throw the odds.’
He was currently being pushed by Ethan.
Disgruntled, Hugo decided to admit it.
All Hugo could do right now was to risk everything he had and deliver a special blow to Ethan.
Because that was the only possibility.
Then Ethan said.
“Are you trying to win at once? that’s good But let me ask you one thing.”
Ethan seemed to be playing with Hugo from start to finish.
“I am alone here.”
And that ominous foreboding did not go astray.
“Then, where is the Knights Templar that originally led the raid?”
At that, Hugo opened his eyes.
mind is confused
He was sure that his enemies would fall into the trap he had dug.
He never imagined that the enemy would take advantage of his trap.
So I couldn’t help but be shocked.
‘Stand, maybe?!’
But that was Hugo’s fatal mistake.
“It’s stupid.”
Ethan’s new model flew.
Ethan arrived in front of Hugo in the blink of an eye and slammed his fist into Hugo’s chest.
“Uh-huh!”
Hugo bounced off with a loud bang.
He barely protected his body with mana, but that wasn’t enough.
It was impossible to absorb all of Ethan’s destructive power.
So Hugo fell on the floor and couldn’t get up for a long time.
On the other hand, Ethan approached Hugo leisurely.
Hugo looked up at Ethan like that and asked in frustration.
“Hey, why the hell is the priest here?”
“Because if you stay in the fortress, your body gets itchy.”
“What nonsense… … !”
Hugo was absurd.
It was natural.
Ethan was the one who figured out the cure for the green death that plagued Miles.
It shouldn’t have been sent back to such a dangerous place.
It was an existence that had to be escorted in a safe place.
Above all, Hugo couldn’t believe that Ethan had such power.
Hugo staggered as if he was about to collapse.
Ethan walked up to him and said in a low voice.
“Anyway, this time you have to be the bait.”
It was a declaration that foreshadowed the misfortunes of Hugo and the Iron Blooded Knights.
* * *
The news of the occupation of the Nord Gold Mine immediately reached the Haup estate.
“Did you hear that? The fact that the Iron Blood Knights were all captured by the Steel Knights.”
“Nonsense. How great is the skill of the knight commander there?”
“Is it real? If you don’t believe me, ask other people.”
The morale of the conscripted soldiers was also broken.
“If the Knights Templar suffered so in vain, we would die without a click later.”
“Shake. I didn’t even see the face of my newborn baby. What kind of sickness is this!”
“Didn’t you say not long ago that the conquest of the fortress was just around the corner? But what is this? I want to go home.”
Since all the Iron Blooded Knights, which are also the pride of the Haup Territory, were captured, it was natural for the rumors to spread.
Due to rumors, the atmosphere at Haup’s estate was chaotic.
“What are you going to do?”
David, Lord of the Haup, asked the bookkeeper.
“… … .”
But the bookkeeper remained silent.
He seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
But David didn’t even like that.
Are you saying that the plan you came up with that thought made things happen?
“It’s just the Iron-Blood Knights! The entire Knights Templar that I have barely raised for decades have been captured!”
David slammed the armrest of the chair over and over again.
The bookkeeper then opened his mouth.
“The Nord Gold Mine pays most of our military funds. Considering the value, it was not easy to give up.”
“Are you ignoring my knights now? Even the Iron Blood Knights were worth it!”
The bookkeeper tried to appease David.
But the words didn’t work for David, who was indignant.
He only roared like a horned bull at the loss of his loyal knights.
‘You’re ignorant.’
The bookkeeper looked at David with distasteful eyes.
David had no thought of losing the Nord gold mine.
He was only obsessed with the fact that the Knights, a symbol of his power, were captured.
‘War is not about the knights, though.’
War was about money.
In the eyes of such a bookkeeper, David was just an old man obsessed with self-righteousness.
“I should have put other forces other than the Iron Blood Knights, as I said! Then I wouldn’t have suffered such humiliation!”
“At that time, sending the Iron Blood Knights was the best. A stronger enemy has appeared, so the plan has gone awry.”
David’s eyes gleamed at those words.
“What? So you mean my knights were weak?”