"Alright, go ahead and say what you want to say."

After the rope was untied, Karina moved her slightly numb wrists and was surprised that the other party released her without hesitation.

"Because whether you are tied up or not doesn't make much difference. Do you think you have the ability to resist?" Ciella yawned as if seeing through her thoughts.

Well, a level seven knight is not weak, but it's all relative. Any one of us here, even Tiran who hasn't fully recovered yet, can defeat you, not to mention there are two Holy Ranks here as well.

If that's the case, why did you tie me up earlier? Karina's face darkened. After all, it was an embarrassing way to be bound. Being a determined holy knight is one thing, but no one likes to feel embarrassed.

I wonder how she would feel when she finds out it was just some princess's personal interest.

"Well then, I'll just say it directly. I hope you can cancel the Martial Arts Festival."

"Huh?"

"Vera, that guy might be preparing to launch some large-scale spell, which might cover the whole city. If we can evacuate the citizens and visiting tourists in advance, it can reduce casualties." Karina clenched her hands tightly together, her expression complicated.

"Damn... has that guy lost his mind just to kill me? But even with a large-scale spell... it's not certain that it can kill me." Tiran smirked.

"No, Vera isn't under the command of Lord Brad. She directly belongs to the religious tribunal of the Holy See and is a high-ranking Judicator. Even Bishop Heinrich can't command her."

Karina gritted her teeth, "The tribunal is an extremist organization, and many of their methods have long gone beyond the church's definition of 'evil'. Because of this, when she is acting, she doesn't care about the consequences at all. As long as she can achieve her goal, it doesn't matter how many others die or get injured."

"Sounds dangerous, but why should we believe your reasons? Organizing the Martial Arts Festival requires a lot of effort, and while we consider the safety of the majority, it's unrealistic for you, a person abandoned by your companions, to make a hasty decision with just a few words."

Lucius pushed his glasses and calmly looked at Karina.

"...I don't have any evidence that can convince you. To be honest, that guy doesn't trust me at all, or anyone else for that matter. So far, only she knows the whole plan."

Karina's voice gradually weakened, "But I'm a knight, not a madman from the religious tribunal."

In Frost Forest of the northern region...

On the way to the Elf capital Alda, a man wearing a black cloak was riding a horse, a breed unique to the northern part, galloping.

Although it was already late spring, the temperature in the north was rising particularly slowly, and there were still small piles of snow on the road.

"It's really chilly."

The unexpectedly strong gust of wind made the man shiver. He shook the reins and urged the horse to go faster.

He looked unkempt, with unshaven stubble that hadn't been trimmed for days, but from the contour of his facial features, it could be seen that he would be a handsome middle-aged man if he groomed himself properly.

Unfortunately, there was a large burn mark on his left face, destroying the attractiveness of his features.

He regretted not wearing something thicker. He had indeed underestimated the climate of the north, but fortunately, Alda wasn't far away. Once he passed through the forest ahead, he would be able to see the towering giant tree that almost reached the sky.

But a second before the hooves of the horse stepped into the shade of the trees, he suddenly pulled hard on the reins. The horse reared up, neighing loudly, almost throwing him off, but finally came to a stop.

"..."

The man glanced at the ground ahead, where a faint purple arrow was stuck in the mud, with almost half of the blade buried. Judging by the force, if he hadn't stopped in time, either the horse would have been shot in the head or he would have been hit by the arrow.

"These sneaky Black Elves are not friendly at all."

The arrow had been shot so silently that even the sound of it cutting through the air was disguised. If his instincts hadn't been sharp enough, he wouldn't have been able to react in time.

Seeing that the ambush had failed, the Black Elves in the woods revealed themselves. Several consecutive bowstrings vibrated, and more than a dozen feathered arrows formed a small scale arrow rain and attacked again.

"Oh, damn, there are so many?"

He could dodge one or two arrows with his superb horsemanship, but with this number, if he stayed on the horse, he would undoubtedly become a target. The man pushed himself up with one hand from the horse's back, performed a beautiful somersault, and jumped aside. The long-haired horse left behind took two arrows and let out a painful neigh before turning around and fleeing.

"Ah... my luggage, that horse was bought from that shady merchant in the last town for twenty gold coins! You bunch of bastards!"

Suddenly realizing what he had lost, the man regretfully held his head and wailed. He threw off the long windbreaker that he had put on to look cool when he left, revealing a simple knight's uniform. He also drew his sword and pointed it towards the dark forest.

In response, another round of arrows rained down.

But this time, the man didn't dodge. He swung his sword, and a silver Chì formed a shield in front of him, deflecting the arrows.

"Addicted to flying kites, huh?" Feeling extremely annoyed, the man raised his sword horizontally and charged into the dark woods.

The lighting in the forest was dim, and the Black Elves, as wanderers in the jungle, were even more skilled at fighting in this environment than the average Elf. It was not a good choice for him as a human.

However, since he dared to do so, the man had confidence in his own strength.

Blocking several arrows with his sword, he had already locked onto the hidden positions of several Black Elf archers.

"Eight archers, plus two... are they mages? Hmph, since you dare to ambush me, don't even think about running away." The blade of his sword raised slightly, and the silver brilliance attached to it became more dazzling, building up a powerful attack.

When Lucius informed him about the investigation, he also mentioned the possibility of being ambushed on the way. But despite knowing this possibility, he still acted alone, naturally having enough confidence in his own strength.

"Bliss, a Mastonite, a level-nine knight, once served as the Grand Knight Commander of the Maston Holy Knight Order, but was expelled for abandoning his comrades and fleeing during a certain battle... Am I right?"

"Who are you?!"

A sense of crisis suddenly burst in his heart without warning, and Bliss instinctively took a step back.

He had been sensing the aura of all ten enemies since a moment ago, but the voice just now didn't belong to any of them.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. It's indeed impolite to speak without revealing oneself. [Scroll of the Ancient Adventurer]."

As soon as the voice fell, a figure slowly appeared in front of Bliss, like an image developing in an exposed photograph.

However, the speed of its appearance was somewhat slow.

"Um, please wait a moment. It seems that the teleportation effect of this item is not very effective, probably because it's too ancient." The voice sounded a bit anxious, but also helpless.

...Fucking idiot, what a clown.

A touch of fierceness flashed in Bliss' eyes as he bypassed the unexpected intruder who was currently materializing in front of him. He lightly stepped forward, swiftly making his way towards the black Elf archer perched in the tree, ready to shoot arrows at any moment.

Standing dumbly in place and waiting at a time like this would truly be foolish.

The black Elf reacted quickly as well. After exchanging a few words in a language that Bliss couldn't understand, the guy who had ambushed him swiftly retreated while the nearby archers immediately began firing at him.

Their awareness was indeed good, and their coordination was not a problem either. If there was one weakness, it would be--

"So weak!"

Bliss suddenly vanished from the sight of the black Elves. When he reappeared, he was right in front of the fleeing black Elf, who looked at him with an incredulous gaze.

Within three meters, there was no difference between zero distance and being close to Bliss, who had greatly increased his attack range through Chi-empowered sword strikes.

With a flash of his sword blade, the black Elf's body snapped in half, and blood sprayed into the air.

"#￥%......&!"

"What nonsense are you shouting? Clean your neck and wait for death!"

Bliss grinned slyly, once again locking onto the surrounding black Elves as if he were looking at nine dead men.

About a minute later.

Bliss, with a few traces of blood on his body, returned to the entrance of the forest. The guy who had suddenly appeared had finally finished teleporting and stood there intact.

"You killed them all... I say, Mr. Bliss, there are very few black Elves left. Maybe leave them a way out."

Although the teleportation process couldn't be interrupted, it also couldn't exert any influence on the teleportation destination. So all he could do was watch as Bliss efficiently killed the black Elves one by one.

"Heh, there's nothing surprising about eradicating this race with their brains fried." Bliss shrugged indifferently, as if he hadn't just killed someone.

After all, a Level 9 knight was considered advanced combat power among humans in this era. Ambushing him with just ten ordinary black Elves had no other explanation than their minds being fried.

"Then, are you here to stop me as well?"

Bliss pointed his sword at the man in front of him - or perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe him as a young man, with an Eastern face, black hair and black eyes, looking to be only sixteen or seventeen years old.

"Well... we can put that matter aside for now. I'm more interested in another matter. Mr. Bliss, the fighting style you just displayed is completely different from a traditional holy knight. It's more akin to that of an assassin, isn't it?"

The young man continued with a smile, "And abandoning your comrades and fleeing, that's not something a holy knight would do either. Mr. Bliss, you truly are an interesting person."

Interesting?

A shadow passed over Bliss' eyes, as the young man's words brought up unpleasant memories. What he said wasn't about some glorious past but rather reminded him of his bad memories.

In his childhood, his religious parents had sent him to the holy knight training camp. There, they trained in swordsmanship, studied doctrine, prayed every day. The monotonous daily life was enough to erode the personalities of most children, turning them into holy knights who faithfully adhered to the knight's code, the defenders of the Temple Church, obedient and unyielding fighting machines.

But Bliss belonged to the minority who couldn't understand why they had to give everything for justice? For the goddess? Were these elusive things worth sacrificing everything for?

That's why, when facing an overwhelmingly formidable enemy and the knight order charged towards death, Bliss stopped in his tracks.

"Tired of the whole righteous code of the holy knight, that's all." Bliss's sword trembled for a moment before steadying again. "Are you done with the nonsense?"

"Well, actually, I just thought that if you're not a rigid knight, I could negotiate with Mr. Bliss here," the young man smiled and raised a finger. "How about we make a deal?"