"Black Knight?"
Remedios glanced at Lock's cyan armor, unsure how he got that title, but that wasn't the point now.
To be able to unleash such a dense barrage of Sword Qi attacks, even if the power of each Sword Qi wasn't great, it was still shocking.
There were no magical fluctuations, so it was a martial art.
She herself possessed a martial art that could emit Sword Qi—Sky Slash—but that could only produce a single Sword Qi attack and definitely couldn't achieve this level.
This man before her was a formidable enemy!
Remedios inwardly braced herself, about to say something, but then heard him speak first.
"I ask you, why did you attack my team members?"
"Of course, it's because your actions disturbing the Great Wall Defense Line have violated the laws of the Holy Kingdom. As the Paladin Captain Remedios of this country, I cannot tolerate such a crime!" Remedios said righteously, without the slightest evasion in her words.
"The criminal act you speak of was committed by me alone and has nothing to do with my team members, right? Besides, I used items to heal the two people I injured, and I also repaired and restored the damaged buildings. It's not something worth fussing over." Lock shook his head, expressing dissatisfaction with her statement, "And didn't I say, I am an envoy from the Holy Domain, here to seek an audience with your Holy Queen and establish friendly relations. Is this how you treat guests? Are all of you in the Holy Kingdom so petty?"
"Hmph! All of this is just your side of the story. If people of unknown origin like you could casually meet the highest ruler of our Holy Kingdom, that would be the biggest joke." Remedios snorted coldly and said, "If you truly are an envoy, then you should politely present the corresponding notice and identification, not attract attention by attacking the defense line!"
She wasn't wrong; if it were a normal diplomatic matter, that is indeed what should be done.
"I believe the strong always have privileges," Lock said with a smile, not particularly bothered by her accusations.
"Nonsense! What do you think this place is?!"
This attitude greatly angered Remedios. If an outsider could act recklessly in the Holy Kingdom simply by virtue of their strength, it would be a slap in the face to the Holy Kingdom's authorities.
"And who do you think you are… talking to!" Lock said blandly.
Immediately, an invisible aura spread out. Remedios's heart trembled; it was that same feeling from before, only this time it was ten times more dangerous!
After the journey to the Royal Capital, Lock spent some time further refining his self-created martial art, the Sword God Domain.
Now, he no longer needed the enhancement of Yggdrasil equipment to condense Sword Qi and attack enemies on his own. Although the power would be slightly less, it was still enough to instantly kill all humans or monsters below LV30.
This trip to the Holy Kingdom was perfect for concealing his identity.
He had only held back earlier; otherwise, none of these people would be breathing.
This time, he would be a little more serious, about eighty percent of his power should suffice.
Swoosh!
A Sword Qi suddenly condensed from beneath Remedios's feet, then shot towards her cheek with lightning speed, its sharp, cold gleam faintly stinging her skin.
Faced with the sudden attack, Remedios was momentarily horrified. In her haste, she could only try her best to turn her head away. The Sword Qi grazed past, directly slicing off a lock of her short hair.
Before she could react further, another Sword Qi shot from in front of her, directly piercing towards her chest.
"Sky Slash!"
Remedios immediately swung the Holy Sword in her hand forward, activating her martial art to unleash a Sword Qi. The two Sword Qi clashed in mid-air, creating a violent explosion.
Seizing this opportunity, the female Paladin quickly rushed towards Lock.
Although she didn't know what kind of martial art this was, there was no doubt it was his technique.
She just needed to interrupt his attacks!
As Remedios rushed towards him, Lock's lips curled into a slight smile. Indeed, native warriors like her, due to a lack of long-range attack methods, would always choose to charge head-on when faced with the invisible pressure of a Sword Domain.
Remedios had just taken two steps when two Sword Qi immediately shot towards her face.
Martial Art: Defense Reinforcement!
A faint glow of a martial art instantly covered her entire body. Remedios blocked with her Holy Sword in front of her, preparing to defend against the Sword Qi attacks, but her feet did not stop moving.
Clang!
The Sword Qi shot forth, and even with her defensive martial art, the result far exceeded Remedios's expectations. The strong impact immediately brought her to a halt.
Even if she immediately stopped with a lunge, her body still involuntarily retreated backward, her feet leaving two clear marks on the ground.
So heavy!
Remedios gritted her teeth, pushing the Sword Qi away with all her might, but the next second she felt a sharp pain throughout her body.
In an instant, four Sword Qi directly crisscrossed from her front, back, left, and right, leaving four distinct gashes on her left calf, right ribs, left shoulder, and right arm. Blood gushed out.
Mmm~
Suffering the Sword Qi attacks, Remedios couldn't help but let out a muffled groan. She wanted to advance, but it was already impossible.
The most dangerous aspect of the Sword Domain was its ability to attack enemies from anywhere within its covered range. To defend, one either needed sufficiently high defensive attributes to ignore the Sword Qi, or enough speed to directly dodge all Sword Qi and reach Lock.
Clearly, Remedios couldn't do that.
One Sword Qi after another continuously attacked her body. The armor, passed down through generations of Paladin Captain Remedioss of the Holy Kingdom, sparked with each attack. Remedios was like a fish on a chopping board, only able to be slaughtered by Lock.
"Captain!"
Seeing their Captain in danger, the two Vice Captains of the Paladin Order endured the intense pain in their bodies and struggled to their feet, wanting to provide support.
Ah! *2
Lock merely shifted his gaze, and two Sword Qi directly pierced through their chests. The two wailed and fell to the ground, a large amount of blood gushing from the wounds in their chests.
"Gustavo! Isadro! Ah!"
Remedios, surrounded by Sword Qi, saw the two gravely wounded. She tried to move but was immediately pierced through her leg guard by a Sword Qi, causing her to instantly fall to her knees. The surrounding Sword Qi also vanished as she fell.
Lock spurred his Bicorn and slowly walked between the two Vice Captains.
"What are you going to do?! Ah!"
Seeing Lock walk past her, Remedios tried to stand up, but was immediately shot through the shoulder by a Sword Qi, letting out a painful cry.
"Now I ask you a question," Lock turned his horse around, looking back at the struggling Remedios, as two Sword Qi slowly condensed above the hearts of the two Vice Captains, "If I were to let you choose one of these two to live and one to die, who would you choose?"
Remedios clutched her pierced shoulder, turning around with difficulty. Her left foot was completely unable to bear weight, forcing her to squat on the ground. Her armor was covered in sword marks, and blood was slowly oozing from them.
"I won't choose! I'll kill you, you bastard!" Remedios gritted her teeth and shouted, then, propping herself up with her Holy Sword, she shakily tried to stand up.
"Wrong answer." Lock shook his head. Two Sword Qi, one after the other, first knocked the Holy Sword from her hand. Remedios inevitably fell to the ground, and then another Sword Qi directly pierced her abdomen from behind, pinning her to the ground.
Ugh!
Remedios immediately vomited a large mouthful of blood, her painful cry directly drowned out by the gushing blood, trapped in her throat.
"The price of a wrong answer is life." Lock lightly tapped his finger, and the Sword Qi suspended above Gustavo's back directly pierced his heart.
Ah!
After a few struggles, the Vice Captain died right before Remedios's eyes.
"Gustavo!!!"
Remedios let out a sorrowful cry, reaching out her hand towards Gustavo, crawling towards him with effort, causing the Sword Qi piercing her waist to carve a longer wound.
Hm? So brave?
Lock raised an eyebrow and directly used a Sword Qi to pin her crawling hand to the ground, his tone still calm, "Now, I'll change the question. Do you want him to live, or do you want these soldiers behind me to live?"
As soon as he finished speaking, dense Sword Qi immediately condensed above the fallen soldiers, and the scene became solemn.
"Captain! Don't mind me! Save everyone!" Isadro, pinned to the ground with Sword Qi at his back, shouted loudly at Remedios, blood continuously dripping from the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, Isadro deeply regretted not stopping Remedios's actions, and he felt ridiculous about his own naive ideas.
Gustavo was dead.
It proved that the opponent was not as they had imagined; not only was his strength so formidable, but he also had no qualms about so-called 'establishing diplomatic relations.'
Perhaps the opponent was just toying with them and would later slaughter the entire Paladin Order or even the Central Stronghold, but Isadro had no other options. He could only hope that the large number of Holy Kingdom soldiers and officers in the stronghold would discover the situation and quickly provide support.
Before that, he had to try to buy as much time as possible!
From the opponent's immediate killing of Gustavo without hesitation, it was clear that if the Captain didn't choose, he might act directly.
"Isa…dro!" Remedios endured the waves of intense pain in her body, looking at her Vice Captain. His face showed a smile, as if saying 'it's okay,' which made her unable to hold back tears.
"Not choosing? Then let me choose for you," Lock said kindly, but to Remedios, it sounded like the most malicious whisper of a devil.
"Stop!"
Watching the Sword Qi in the sky, poised to reap the lives of the soldiers, Remedios cried out nervously.
She didn't know whether Lock would truly spare the soldiers based on her choice or if he was just toying with them, but Gustavo's death told her one thing: this man was not joking.
Remedios clenched her fists, her gauntleted right hand making a cracking sound, "I choose…"
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