Shabel Tigers and the Holy Knight
The middle-aged man and the mercenaries swallowed dryly.
A Shabel Tiger carrying humans?
A monster known to be as hard to tame as a Wyvern after that?
The intelligence of a Shabel Tiger is high, its maternal instinct fierce. They don't form packs and only the strongest are tamed.
It was an astonishing sight to see the Shabel Tigers mounted by humans when ogres and trolls had been expected to charge out first.
Jin Chen and the bandits had black hair, but he only realized that now.
The middle-aged man dismounted and shouted,
“Who the hell are you kids?!”
“Can’t you tell? They’re bandits.”
“You’re serious? You’re saying you believe that?”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“You want to keep fighting till the end, huh?!”
“What if I just keep fighting?”
Jin Chen’s reply made the middle-aged man twitch his eyebrows and draw his sword.
SWISH!
A faint brown aura flared like flames and wrapped the blade.
Anyone could see he was a Sword Master.
“This is your last warning. Retreat!”
“No, these guys just don’t listen even when you say nice things every time.”
Jin Chen’s calm demeanor made the middle-aged man’s eyebrows twitch.
He knew the man was a Sword Master and still felt no fear.
The middle-aged man spoke in a cold, low voice,
“Who sent you?”
“Who sent us? We walked here on our own two feet.”
“You’re seriously claiming you’re just bandits?”
“Ah, forget it. What’s the point of dragging this out? It’s just a waste of time. Let’s start already. Muscles!”
At Jin Chen’s call, the massive Shabel Tiger leaped forward carrying Muscles.
“Yes! Chaeju Hyung!”
“You take care of this old geezer.”
“How far do I need to go?”
“Just make sure he can’t get up.”
“Got it. I’ll break his legs.”
“…I’ll just leave his legs alone if I can.”
“That’s a shame. I was hoping to use my strength for once.”
Muscles licked his lips as Jin Chen shook his head and continued,
“Just beat the crap out of them lightly. There are things we need to check.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good. Then let’s go!”
“WAAAAAHHHH!”
The bandits roared and charged forward on the Shabel Tigers. The middle-aged man’s face hardened as he tried to block them.
That was when—
KRUUUUUUM!
The giant Shabel Tiger dropped right in front of him.
“You’re mine.”
Muscles’ reply. The middle-aged man swung his sword instead of answering.
SWISH!
The blade, heavy with aura, slashed toward the Shabel Tiger’s neck.
KWAANG!
The middle-aged man was blasted backward by the massive explosion.
“Kruuugh…”
Muscles stepped in front of him.
“Make sure you hold back. Or Chaeju Hyung will punish you.”
“What nonsense—!”
The middle-aged man raised his sword again before he could finish.
KWAANG!
He barely blocked the axe. But the axe was already coming down toward his head.
THUD THUD THUD THUD!
It kept coming.
How the hell was the axe moving so fast? His head was spinning.
Not to mention—
He was breathing aura and somehow blocking it?
The middle-aged man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he blocked the attack.
It finally clicked.
The blood-red aura on the axe.
A Sword Master!
The middle-aged man was even more shocked when he heard the mercenaries’ screams nearby.
“KYAAAAK!”
“KUUUGGH!”
At the same time, the bandits’ movements among the mercenaries were incredible.
SWISH! SWOOSH!
Movements no bandit should have been able to make.
And the techniques held in each weapon were even more unbelievable.
They definitely weren’t ordinary people!
Thinking that, Jin Chen bit his lip when he realized something else.
“Thinking about something else while I’m right in front of you?”
“What?”
“The only person who can think about something else with me right here is Chaeju Hyung!”
SWISH!
The aura on the axe blade suddenly took shape.
Aura Blade!
The middle-aged man hastily released his own Aura Blade and tried to smash the axe down.
KWAANG!
“Kruugh!”
The middle-aged man was blasted backward like a snapped string.
I got pushed back? He looked in his thirties at best.
And that blood-red Aura Blade exuded an even more terrifying aura!
The middle-aged man froze in shock when Muscles kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Come at me!
The middle-aged man gripped his sword tighter and summoned another Aura Blade.
I’m not losing this time!
That was when—
WHOOSH!
A streak of orange light fell from the sky.
KWAANG!
It exploded right where it was supposed to hit Muscles.
At the same moment, someone landed in front of the middle-aged man.
An old man in silver armor.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine, Sir Herman.”
“I wasn’t trying to interfere. I had no choice—I had to jump in because you were using an aura I’d never felt before.”
“I felt it too.”
“It wasn’t just you. Everyone else here is far past Sword Expert. And more than half have black hair.”
The middle-aged man scanned the surroundings with a grave expression.
The mercenaries who had been falling were now holding their own against the bandits’ attacks.
Thanks to the help of the gray-robed men who had joined them.
The middle-aged man asked with concern,
“Who are they?”
“I think they’re either mages connected to the demons or…”
Herman opened his mouth to reply when Jin Chen and Muscles, carrying an axe on their shoulders, stepped out of the dust from the explosion.
“I could have stopped that.”
“And then you’d have gone crazy.”
“I told you I’m all better now, right? I reached 108th level in the Flowing Blood Art.”
“Your personality of charging in like a rhinoceros hasn’t changed, kid!”
“Ah! Hehe.”
Muscles scratched his head with a simple laugh.
Jin Chen smirked and looked at the middle-aged man and the old man called Herman.
“And that old guy’s aura is weird. It feels like it’s the opposite of yours. You handle him. Don’t just stand there and turn the area into a battlefield.”
“That’s too bad. I wanted to fight that old man…”
“Hey! I said call me ‘trash’ if you’re not garbage!”
“But Chaeju Hyung called him an old man.”
“That’s different because it’s me. Are you stronger than me?”
“No.”
Muscles looked down sadly.
Jin Chen patted his shoulder and said,
“If you try as hard as this, you can become like me. Today you can play with that old man. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it!”
Muscles smiled brightly again, the way he always did when he was down, and looked at the middle-aged man.
“Let’s start again!”
KWAANG!
Muscles charged straight at the middle-aged man, kicking the ground with no regard for anything.
Herman swung his sword with a stern face.
SLASH!
“Are your ears getting deaf from old age? You said the opponent was me. Did you not hear?”
Herman’s face turned serious.
Just moments ago the handsome guy had been in front of him. Now he had his arm pinned.
Jin Chen smirked and continued,
“This is their fight. Let’s step back a bit.”
BOOM!
The short explosion blasted Herman backward like an arrow.
He braced his legs firmly and slowed down.
He looked at the fist mark on his stomach and sighed.
“Hmm… Are you a great existence?”
“Everyone thinks that.”
“You’re not really a dragon, are you?”
“If I say no, you should get it. Comparing myself to weaker people is something my pride can’t take easily.”
“Then… only one thing remains.”
Herman reached out and his bracelet began to vibrate. It turned into a massive shield.
Herman gripped sword and shield, channeling aura, and spoke,
“You’re someone connected to the demons.”
SWOOSH!
Orange light swirled around his entire body.
Jin Chen crossed his arms and observed the aura.
“Hmm… Is it just smoke? Or is it real?”
“I am the Executor of the Dawn Goddess, Herman. I’ll give you one last chance. Reveal your true identities.”
“We’ve already revealed them and you’re still saying ‘identity, identity’?”
Jin Chen slowly lowered the axe on his shoulder and continued,
“And we’ve already started fighting each other. What does that matter? The winner can ask questions!”
SWOOSH!
Black demonic qi began to erupt wildly from Jin Chen’s body.
Herman clenched his teeth against the overwhelming qi and shouted,
“My guess was correct!”
“It’s not that my guess was right. I adjusted mine to match yours, kid. That way you’ll fight with everything you have!”
“Evil of the world! You who inherited the demonic qi! As Executor of the Dawn Goddess, I shall judge you……”
FLASH!
Herman closed his mouth and raised his shield.
At that moment the aura made of black demonic qi exploded.
KWAANG!
“You talk too much. I just wanted to fight nicely!”
FLASH!
Jin Chen’s body vanished as if erased, and he appeared above Herman’s head.
He lifted the corner of his mouth and raised the axe overhead.
SWOOSH!
An enormous Aura Blade formed above the axe and swung down toward Herman.
“HOLY SHIELD!”
SWISH!
An orange barrier formed and blocked the Aura Blade.
KWAANG!
The massive explosion shattered the shield into pieces.
“Kugh… How is demonic qi like this!”
“It’s not demonic qi, dummy.”
“You can’t mean the Demon King’s?”
Jin Chen, who had suddenly appeared in front of Herman, swung the axe sideways and said,
“What Demon King? You’d have to be at least a divine being for the tiers to match!”
“You who are stained with demonic qi! Repent!”
Orange light burst from Herman’s body and exploded on the spot.
KWAANG!
An instant explosion covered Jin Chen.
Repentance Magic.
One of the divine punishments the Executor could unleash.
The soul stained with demonic qi could never escape this magic!
Thinking that, Jin Chen looked around when—
CRUNCH!
“There’s quite a bit of foam on this. It looks less impressive than I thought.”
Herman stared at Jin Chen gripping his own neck and his eyes widened.
“How did you block Repentance Magic?!”
“What do you mean? I just blocked it.”
“You, who dares to block the Goddess’s judgment with demonic qi?”
Jin Chen grinned and said,
“Your god must be weaker than me.”