Knight: from Apprentice to the Almighty

Roland faced the dozens of roaring Shahua Fishmen without a hint of fear in his eyes.

Without a single chant, flames instantly erupted from his fingertips. With a flick of his wrist, a compressed, orange-red fireball shot forth.

BOOM!

A blinding flash of fire erupted with a deafening roar, filling the air with the nauseating stench of burning flesh and hissing steam.

The upper torsos of the foremost Fishmen, along with the Bone Blades they held, were instantly vaporized, leaving behind only charred bone fragments and splattering slime.

The shockwave sent nearby Fishmen flying, shattering their Scales and flinging them into the churning waves.

SHING!

A clear, metallic ring resounded as the Secret Silver Longsword was drawn.

"Tress! Close your eyes!"

Although the Pikachu didn’t understand why, she had come to trust Roland deeply over their time together, so she closed her eyes without hesitation.

The next moment, as Magic Elements flowed into his Consciousness Shallows, a dazzling orb of light materialized out of thin air and began to circle around Roland.

With no teammates to worry about, Roland could finally unleash the [Dazzling and Enchanting] Trait, granted by his [Juggler] Profession, to execute his original strategy.

The moment the orb of light appeared, the crimson glow in the Shahua Fishmen’s eyes began to fade. But in the next instant, it was replaced by a rabid lust for carnage.

Their movements faltered for only a moment.

An ordinary person might not have noticed the momentary pause, but for Roland...

He sidestepped like a phantom, easily evading three rusted Fish Spears thrust at him simultaneously.

A flash of his blade followed. There were no flashy techniques—only peerless speed and precision.

The grotesque head of the foremost Fishman, along with the Bone Blade it raised high, sailed silently into the air.

Foul blood fountained from its severed neck.

The headless corpse staggered forward two more steps before it crashed to the ground.

Roland’s advance never faltered, his sword moving in tandem with his steps.

A Fishman tried to smash him with a bone club, but with a deft flick of his wrist, Roland’s blade precisely struck the handle.

The heavy bone club flew from its grasp. Following the motion, the Longsword swept back, easily severing the thick arm that had held it.

But the Fishman with the severed arm seemed to feel no pain. Driven by a mad obsession, its remaining claw still slashed viciously toward Roland’s leg.

The desire for Destruction in its scarlet eyes did not diminish. Instead, fueled by the bloodshed, it burned even brighter.

"Hmph!"

Roland snorted, his left foot stomping down like a War Axe!

CRACK!

With a sickening crunch of bone, the Fishman’s skull and neck were utterly crushed. It fell silent.

But this death-defying frenzy was no isolated incident.

On another side, a Fishman with half its shoulder sheared off by Roland, its organs faintly visible, dragged its mangled body forward and lunged for his back, its massive, fang-filled maw agape.

But a flash of silver light silenced it.

Flame and swordlight flashed and weaved across the beach.

The combination of his efficient combat skills, powerful physique, and devastating [Flaming Arrow]s made the siege feel less like a battle and more like a precise, brutal butchering.

Yet, Roland’s brow only furrowed deeper.

The problem wasn’t the individual strength of the Fishmen, but their sheer numbers, their frenzied charge, and their utter disregard for pain and death.

Seeing this, Roland stopped holding back.

He instantly activated his various Professional Traits and engaged his Breathing Technique.

As searing Fighting Spirit coursed through his body, his Sword Techniques grew even more relentless.

With Tress’s aid, he unleashed a nearly endless barrage of [Flaming Arrow]s.

However, just as he carved out a small clearing in the frenzied green tide, the sea before him erupted once more.

More scarlet eyes lit up beneath the murky waves as dark green figures leaped onto the shallows, roaring.

They trampled over the shattered corpses of their kin and still-Burning scorch marks, advancing wave after wave like an endless tide.

The entire coastline seemed to be completely submerged by a tide of crazed green and glaring crimson.

’I can’t get bogged down here!’

Witnessing this, Roland made an instant decision.

After his earlier ordeal drifting at sea, neither his Spiritual Power nor his physical stamina had fully recovered.

If he remained bogged down on this beach, it was only a matter of time before he was completely overwhelmed and killed by the sheer number of Fishmen.

At this thought, Roland couldn’t help but recall the sight of Transcendents like Gandar and Becker slaying Demons.

’If only I had that kind of power...’

The thought was fleeting and didn’t affect his movements in the slightest.

The next moment, Roland’s Sword Momentum suddenly became fiercer and faster.

He no longer tried to force his way toward the small boat. Instead, he used a [Flaming Arrow] to create a wide-area explosion and a cloud of smoke in front of him, then swiftly retreated.

The Shahua Fishmen had blocked his advance only through the sheer weight of their numbers, which poured endlessly from the Deep Sea. They were in no position to stop his retreat.

Scorching Fighting Spirit gathered in his legs. In a matter of breaths, Roland had already sped past the fishing village and was racing deep into the Land of Mist.

Roland let out a long breath and dispelled the Light Technique that surrounded him. He glanced at the Pikachu still clinging tightly to his shoulder and chuckled.

"Okay, Tress. You can open your eyes now."

"Mmm..."

Tress murmured in reply, slowly opening her eyes to scan her surroundings warily.

Only after confirming there were no signs of the rampaging Fishmen did she let out a sigh of relief. She set her butterfly-like wings vibrating again and floated lightly in the air.

"Gods above, Roland! You’re so strong! You actually fought your way out of that horde of monsters!"

Her voice was light, filled with the relief of having survived.

"I knew I chose right! Only you can save my home..."

Halfway through her sentence, the Pikachu suddenly remembered her scattered companions. Her small head drooped, and her voice trailed off dejectedly.

"Alright, don’t dwell on it..."

Tress wore her heart on her sleeve. Roland understood immediately and comforted her gently.

"Your companions will be fine."

"Mm-hmm, I know, Roland. It’s just... never mind..."

She shook her head listlessly and decisively changed the subject.

"What should we do next?"

At her question, Roland surveyed their surroundings.

They were now in a stretch of sparsely vegetated woodland.

An impenetrably thick fog obscured their vision, allowing them to only just make out the swampy terrain at the edge of the woods.

"Do you know where this is?"

"Umm..."

Tress slowly floated higher, looking around carefully for a moment before replying with some uncertainty.

"This... looks like the Cyan Moss Swamp. When I left before, you could get out of the Land of Mist just by heading north for a while. But now..."

"Cyan Moss Swamp?"

The name sounded faintly familiar to Roland.

After a moment’s thought, he recalled where he’d heard it.

Back at the Adventurer’s Guild in the River Domain Kings’ Capitals, the quest he’d taken regarding the Bear Goblins had the Cyan Moss Swamp as its destination.

’So that means... there might be Bear Goblins around here?’

At this thought, Roland couldn’t help but frown.

Although the beach was now swarming with Fishmen, there had been no sign of them when he first arrived.

Clearly, they didn’t live there. They had simply been drawn by the commotion from his fight with the Ghost.

Therefore, once he was out of the Fishmen’s sight, the horde of monsters would probably leave the beach before long. Then he could just go back and leave on the small boat.

He told Tress his plan.

The Pikachu didn’t object.

They exchanged a few more words and were about to find a place to rest and recover their strength when...

RUSTLE...

A faint sound suddenly drifted from deep within the thick fog, like the crunch of damp leaves and twigs underfoot.