The knights stepped back a step as they saw the grotesquely writhing creatures.
It wasn't out of fear. It was because an instinctive, inexplicable sense of aversion arose.
They recalled what Ghislain had said.
"A, mutants? What's that?"
"Whatever it is, I don't even want to look at it."
Ghislain pointed his sword as he explained.
"Strange energy is spreading here. These creatures are influenced by that energy. They're not particularly strong, so it shouldn't be difficult to deal with them."
When the knights focused their minds at his words, they could indeed feel a subtle energy permeating the surroundings.
It was an ominous and unpleasant energy. The energy was slowly trying to seep into their bodies.
Simply breathing caused the energy to naturally enter their bodies. Startled, the knights exclaimed.
"What is this energy?"
"If you don't concentrate, you wouldn't even notice it, huh?"
"Damn, it feels like I've already breathed in a few gulps of it."
As the knights made a fuss, Ghislain clicked his tongue and continued.
"That level of exposure won't affect you, so there's nothing to worry about. If you go to a place without this energy and practice mana cultivation or spend some time there, it'll naturally dissipate. It's dangerous for ordinary people, but for those who handle mana, it's not a serious threat for a short time."
"How do you know all this, my lord?"
"I know everything."
"Ah, yes…"
The knights just nodded. It was always like this, so they had no grounds for rebuttal. Although the "I know everything" statement grated on them a bit, their lord really did know everything.
"In any case, it's nothing to you all, so there's no need to be scared."
The mutants were faster and stronger than ordinary people. But at best, they were only on par with trained soldiers.
If their numbers were large, they could be a threat, but they were no match for the knights here.
Vanessa spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
"I, I'll clean them up."
It was better to get rid of disgusting things quickly. Gathering her magic to ensure not even the corpses would remain, she stepped forward.
However, Ghislain stopped her and turned to the knights with a grin.
"You'll see them often from now on, so you all need to get used to them, right?"
It was an order to handle them immediately. Kaor and the knights picked up their weapons and charged forward with reluctant expressions.
Chhchhchhh...
The mutants let out grotesque noises, extending their tentacle-like limbs toward the knights.
Gordon shouted as he slashed at a limb lunging toward him.
"Damn it! This is disgusting! Their blood is green!"
The sensation at his fingertips was utterly repulsive. In terms of grotesqueness, not even Palors and Greggs from the Forest of Demonic Beasts compared.
And there was another problem.
Hisss!
"Huh? What the? What's this!"
Knights hit by the splattering mutant blood recoiled in horror.
They were all wearing cloaks over their armor. Wherever the mutants' green blood splattered, the fabric emitted a pungent smell and began to burn away.
Ghislain, observing the scene, remarked.
"Their blood is acidic poison. It'll hurt if it touches you."
"You should've told us that in advance!"
"Who explains everything during a battle? You'll encounter all kinds of monsters in the future, so always be cautious."
"Damn it!"
Ghislain only withheld information when he knew the knights could handle the situation. Although it usually involved considerable pain.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The mutants, being no more than ordinary soldier-level opponents, soon had their heads(?) split open and collapsed. Their numbers were also relatively small, so it didn't take long for the knights to eliminate them all.
Hiiissss!
The mutants' blood seeped into the ground, releasing a pungent smell.
Lucas muttered as he watched this.
"Wow... This would be really tough for regular soldiers to deal with."
Though the mutants were weak in combat, their venomous blood was the issue. While not a serious threat to knights, for those without mana, even inhaling the fumes could cause breathing difficulties.
Prolonged exposure to the smell would undoubtedly lead to severe poisoning.
Having dealt with all the mutants, Ghislain led the knights toward the old man's house.
The old man, already aware that the village had been attacked, was standing in front of his house.
Ghislain looked at him and asked.
"Are you the one in charge?"
"Yes, I'm the village chief."
"You've had a hard time pretending to be ordinary. Ravier is inside, isn't he?"
"..."
The old man gritted his teeth. They'd been tracked down after all. One of the Church's most critical operations was now in ruins.
The old man glanced around. He recognized the emblem etched onto the knights' chests and the flag carried by the soldiers surrounding the village.
Even an old man in this remote village recognized the emblem of a famous noble.
"You're Count Fenris?"
"That's right."
"I thought you were only at odds with the Duchy. I didn't expect you to track us here… We should've dealt with you earlier."
"It's already too late, isn't it?"
Ghislain smirked mockingly.
The reason he could thwart the plans of both the Duchy and the Salvation Church was thanks to information from his past life. Since his enemies didn't know he had regressed, they had no reason to pay him much attention.
The old man glared at Ghislain and spoke.
"God's will shall punish your arrogance."
Gwooooh!
Suddenly, the old man's body began to grow. He had also mastered the mana cultivation technique used by the crusaders.
"Kaaargh!"
The old man let out an inhuman screech as his eyes turned crimson. Yet, the knights simply watched in amazement.
"Oh wow, so that's the monster."
"This is my first time seeing one transform up close."
"I've never seen it before either. It really does get stronger all of a sudden. Kind of reminds me of us."
It was a monster surrounded by endless rumors. Some had seen one from afar during the battle with Harold, but most had been too busy fighting Desmond's army to get a proper look.
Even those who had seen one before were now seeing it up close for the first time, reacting with awe as if meeting a celebrity.
The lack of tension even managed to throw off the now-transformed old man.
"Kraaaargh!"
Half-losing his sanity, the old man charged at Ghislain. The knights immediately moved to block his path, swinging their weapons.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"What the?!"
The knights who had thrust their swords were shocked. Unlike the mutants, their swords didn't penetrate the old man's body properly.
"Kraaaargh!"
Letting out a monstrous scream, the old man knocked away the swords near him with his fists. Then, he kicked one of the stunned knights in the stomach.
Thud!
"Urgh!"
The knight who had been struck flew backward, his armor dented to the point of caving in.
Faced with such overwhelming strength, everyone instinctively took a step back.
"Damn it! Move aside!"
The self-proclaimed "genius of spearmanship," nicknamed "the lonely whiner," Lucas, swiftly closed in and thrust his spear into the old man's abdomen.
He poured as much mana as he could into the attack.
Thunk!
"Oh?"
It went in but not very deep. Lucas raised his head to meet the massive old man's gaze.
"This is insane…"
Thwack!
"Urgh!"
Barely raising his arm to block the attack aimed at his face, Lucas was sent flying.
Rolling across the ground, he screamed.
"Aargh! I think my arm's broken!"
Indeed, one of Lucas's arms was visibly bent. This time, it wasn't an exaggeration.
"What kind of strength…"
The knights, stunned by the absurd power, backed away further. Their attacks didn't seem to work, and the old man wielded devastating strength.
Had the old man been wielding a weapon, several of them might already be dead.
The monsters known as crusaders were said to grow stronger depending on their original level before transforming.
At the very least, this old man seemed to have been a skilled warrior on par with a mid- to high-level knight. Unlike other monsters, he seemed to have retained some of his sanity as well.
Ghislain smirked as he observed the old man.
"No wonder you were in charge of this village."
It made sense; he must've had the necessary skills to oversee this place.
While he acknowledged his opponent's strength, he was unimpressed by the knights' reactions.
This was an opponent they could've taken down even without completing their mana cultivation through the Dragon Heart Fragment. Yet, they were letting the enemy's momentum overwhelm them.
They missed opportunities due to their panic when their attacks failed to work.
As Kaor, snorting heavily, prepared to charge in, Ghislain stopped him and said.
"Get a grip. You need to get used to dealing with opponents like this."
With just a single sentence from Ghislain, the knights snapped to attention. They knew that if they kept showing such foolishness, they'd face hellish training upon their return.
A fierce killing intent began to emanate from their eyes.
"Kraaaargh!"
The old man, seemingly displeased by the scene, became even more ferocious, attacking everything around him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The knights, now focused, were no longer caught off guard as they had been initially. Despite the jarring impact shaking their bodies, they raised their swords to block the old man's attacks.
Taking advantage of the openings, other knights attempted to counterattack.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Their swords still didn't penetrate properly, as if they were striking with blunt weapons. However, the knights didn't panic. They immediately swapped positions with those behind them and continued their assault.
They had trained extensively in coordinated tactics to take on powerful opponents.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Once they found their rhythm, the knights unleashed their mana without reservation, relentlessly pounding the old man's body.
"Kraaaah!"
The old man, now a monster, flailed his fists wildly. His immense strength and speed sent several knights flying, but it didn't matter.
With 200 knights taking turns attacking him nonstop, the old man gradually began to retreat.
"Use axes!"
At someone's shout, the knights dropped their swords and pulled hand axes from their waists.
Axes weren't typically weapons knights would use, but having trained under Ghislain, they equipped themselves with all sorts of weaponry regardless of convention.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Mana-infused axes rained down on the old man's body without mercy.
"Kraaaah!"
The monster's sturdy defenses were ultimately dependent on his mana. Even if he didn't feel pain, the mana protecting his body was continuously consumed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The relentless battle between the knights and the monster showed no signs of ending. The knights gritted their teeth and unleashed explosive bursts of mana, causing more and more wounds to appear on the old man's body.
"The weapons are finally getting through!"
"Keep hitting him!"
"Kill him!"
Just as the old man, now devoid of reason, had succumbed to madness, so too had the knights.
These men were toughened by harsh lives. Immersed in battle, their stubborn resilience was fully unleashed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With over a hundred knights still standing after their comrades had fallen back, they continued to attack as one.
The old man's body rapidly lost its mana and began to deteriorate, resembling little more than a ragged heap.
"It's almost over!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Kraaaah!"
No matter how strong he was, the old man couldn't handle 200 knights on his own.
With his mana nearly depleted, his body began to split open with every blow from the axes.
"Move aside!"
Gordon, his muscles bulging grotesquely like a beast's, charged at the old man. If there was one thing Gordon excelled at, it was raw strength, unmatched among the Fenris knights.
Closing the distance, Gordon grabbed the old man's face with a savage grip and brought his axe down on the old man's neck.
Slash!
"Grrrk!"
The old man raised an arm to grab Gordon, but the other knights seized his limbs, holding him in place. Completely drained of strength, the old man could no longer move properly.
Gordon didn't miss the opportunity and relentlessly hacked at the old man's neck.
"Die! Die! Just die already!"
Gordon poured every last ounce of his strength into the blows, sweat streaming down his face.
The monster was unbelievably tough. Even considering his exceptional strength compared to other monsters, fighting him was exhausting.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Grrrk…"
With one final blow from Gordon's axe, the old man's head separated from his body. At last, the knights collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Wow, that was one tough bastard."
"What would happen if hundreds of these things rampaged on the battlefield?"
"What else? We'd all be dead."
Fighting 200 knights single-handedly for that long—it was terrifying just to think about.
In terms of sheer strength, he was comparable to the finest sword of an entire region. If there were hundreds like him, the battlefield would be devastated.
Of course, monsters that strong weren't likely to be common. But it was equally unlikely that he was the only one.
As the knights murmured among themselves, Ghislain chuckled and stepped forward.
"Well done. But why are you so scared? If all of you were as strong as that thing, there wouldn't be any problems."
"…."
The knights avoided his gaze, unable to respond.
If all 400 Fenris knights became as strong as that monster, there really wouldn't be any issues.
Of course, getting to that point would involve enduring grueling, hellish training.
Leaving the resting knights behind, Ghislain strode toward the old man's house.
It was much larger than the other homes. As he approached, he called out.
"If you're done watching, come out."
Creak…
The one who emerged from the doorway was Ravier, who had been hiding and recuperating.
With a cold expression, Ravier glared at Ghislain and asked.
"How… How did you even find this place?"
"You led me here, didn't you?"
"There were no signs of pursuit."
"That's what you think."
"…"
Ravier had fought elves and soldiers from other territories on his way here, taking great care to avoid detection.
With his skills, he was confident in sensing any presence around him. Before entering the village, he had checked multiple times to ensure there were no pursuers.
Yet, here Count Fenris was, standing before him. Ravier couldn't believe it.
"Who are you?"
There was no point in asking how they tracked him down. A more fundamental question was needed.
To Ravier, Ghislain's very existence was incomprehensible.
Ghislain smirked.
"You don't need to know. Your role ends here. Thanks to you, I've learned something useful."
Ravier let out a twisted smile of his own.
"Whatever you've learned, it changes nothing. Our grand plan is already complete."
"No, things are going to change a lot now."
Yes, they would definitely be different from his past life. At the very least, he could close half the rifts himself.
Seeing Ghislain's confident expression, Ravier gathered his strength.
"I have no choice. I will use all my power to kill you here."
There were too many enemies for him to handle alone. But he couldn't abandon this place. Even if it cost him his life, he would do whatever it took to kill Count Fenris and protect the plan.
Gwooooh!
As Ravier gathered his strength, he suddenly froze. He sensed someone behind him.
Shink!
[T/L: Please support me and read 385 extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]