Slaying

The hot-tempered Rello found it increasingly difficult to control his anger. This was a common flaw among high-ranking dragonmen: anger strengthened their power, but also made it difficult for them to think. Quite a few powerful dragonmen had fallen into traps and died because of it.

This was also one reason why high-ranking dragonmen had never been numerous in Moran. Those dragonmen who had truly lived for ages were mostly genuine powerhouses who had learned to overcome their own flaws.

The prolonged inability to take them down made Rello increasingly irritable. He could no longer suppress the urge to twist off the heads of those three little bugs. Finally, he let out a roar and suddenly accelerated toward Warren. Warren could not dodge in time and was knocked down headlong. He could only raise his shield to block Rello's descending battle axe. Yet Rello completely ignored Ronan and the Shadow Garrison knight's attacks, focusing solely on Warren. He did not even react when the Shadow Garrison knight thrust his sword into his relatively soft abdomen.

When the second attack came down, Knight Warren's shield finally shattered. Warren was struck so hard by Rello's immense strength that he could not get up. Seeing his shield break apart, Warren steeled himself and turned sideways, meeting Rello with the thickest armored section of his shoulder. The huge axe struck Knight Warren's left shoulder directly, embedding itself deep in the shoulder guard.

The blunt huge axe failed to cut through the shoulder armor, but the crushing force behind it still seriously injured Warren. Ronan even heard the sound of bones cracking. With a fierce look in his eyes, Knight Warren raised both hands and gripped the axe handle, refusing to let Rello pull it free.

During the deadlock, the Shadow Garrison knight seized the chance to circle behind Rello and viciously slashed the tendon just above his ankle. With his tendon damaged, Rello's right leg gave out, and he dropped to one knee sideways. But the Shadow Garrison knight was also struck in the head by Rello's tail. His helmet was beaten out of shape, and he collapsed to the ground, his fate unknown.

At that moment, Ronan circled to the front. While Rello was using both hands to wrestle Warren for the axe handle and was kneeling at an angle with his right leg powerless, Ronan gripped the blade with both hands and repeatedly hammered Rello's head with the counterweight ball at the end of the hilt. The successive heavy blows left Rello completely dazed.

With another heavy strike, Rello finally released the axe handle with both hands and was knocked down by Ronan. Ronan stepped forward, gripping the blade near the crossguard with one hand and the hilt with the other. Straddling Rello, he drove the sharp, spike-like crossguard deep into Rello's eye as he groggily shook his head.

The blinding pain made the stunned Rello release a miserable roar. Both his claws seized Ronan's shoulder armor. The tremendous force born of agony even crushed deep claw marks into Ronan's pauldrons. Enduring the pain, Ronan pulled out the crossguard, turned the sword downward, gripped the middle of the blade with both hands, and drove it down viciously, straight into Rello's wide-open mouth.

"Mmgh, mmgh, mmgh!"

Rello let out a muffled nasal sound, and the strength in his hands abruptly increased. His sharp claws even pierced Ronan's armor. Ronan cried out in pain, then endured the agony and forced the greatsword a little deeper into Rello's mouth. He twisted it from side to side. A moment later, Rello finally stopped struggling. The claws clutching Ronan's shoulder armor fell limp, and the powerful dragonman finally drew his last breath.

Seeing this, Ronan also breathed a sigh of relief. Then he weakly released the blade. Nearby subordinates hurried over and helped him remove the warped shoulder armor that had been pinching into his shoulder muscles. Once the pauldron was removed, Ronan immediately felt much lighter and looked to the side.

Warren and the Shadow Garrison knight had also been protected by the soldiers. The Shadow Garrison knight was not dead, merely unconscious with a mild concussion. Warren, meanwhile, had suffered a severe fracture in his left shoulder and could no longer exert any strength.

The battle was nearing its end. Most of the bandits had been killed, and Warren had already dispatched men to pursue those who fled. At the moment, Warren was listening to his subordinates' report.

"Commander, we eliminated a total of 375 bandits and captured 24. Several knights have led men after those still fleeing. Our mercenaries suffered 165 dead and over 200 wounded. Forty-three Shadow Garrison soldiers died, most of them killed by the dragonman. We searched the bandits' bodies but found no sign of Krantuman. He must have escaped. But we captured this man!"

As he spoke, Knight Warren's adjutant stepped aside, revealing a scar-faced man behind him, forced to kneel by two guards. The scar-faced man continued struggling as he raised his head and glared viciously at Warren.

"'Scar' Holden, is it? Escort all the prisoners back to town for interrogation. Burn the bandits' corpses on the spot, and bring this dragonman's body back as well."

Warren walked over and pointed at Rello's corpse. Then he patted Ronan, who stood beside the body, and said:

"You did well. You were brave, and you are very strong. I will truthfully report your contributions to Bishop and fight for additional rewards for you."

"Then thank you in advance, sir," Ronan replied with a smile.

After giving Ronan one final nod, Warren led his men down the mountain. His injuries needed treatment as soon as possible, so he temporarily left matters here to his adjutant.

That night, Ronan applied the Wound Salve obtained from the previous mission to the injured soldiers, then lay down on his bed and fell into a deep sleep. This had been the largest and most difficult battle Ronan had fought since coming to this world. The pressure Rello had placed on him was also the greatest he had ever experienced. Although, with the system's help, Ronan had gained the combat skills and experience of the Great Serpent and the Warden from Glory of the Saber, he still lacked real combat experience. For an ordinary person who had lived in a peaceful society in his previous life, this was truly a difficult challenge.

Meanwhile, in the church, Warren—his wounds already treated, dressed in white casual clothes with a brace on his shoulder—was reporting the day's battle to Dorodamenro, the Bishop of Ravenwood Town. Dorodamenro's medium-length sky-blue hair fell loosely over his shoulders, and his eyes were a clear blue as well. His features were exquisite, his lines soft, and a faint smile always rested on his lips. If someone who did not know his gender saw him for the first time, they would likely mistake him for a stunning beauty with a regrettably flat figure. Dorodamenro's ears were pointed and tilted upward. He was actually an elf.

"Bishop, we failed to capture Krantuman. He was extremely cunning. But we captured another notorious bandit, 'Scar' Holden. From him, we learned that this matter is far from simple. We also encountered a dragonman during the battle!"

"I have already examined that dragonman's corpse. He was strong, but young—likely a newly advanced dragonman warrior. After all, most powerful dragonmen are well known. If one of them were discovered, it would be easy to use the evidence to accuse the Moran Kingdom. The Moran Kingdom does not want to leave itself open to accusation, so it sent this dragonman here. Even if he were caught, they could claim he was an unaffiliated dragonman. It seems the Moran Kingdom has discovered Daisy's identity. After all, she is the only one in Ravenwood Town capable of drawing the Moran Kingdom's attention."