Templar Knight

It seemed the four guards his cheap old man had sent to protect him all knew each other well.

After exchanging a few brief words, they turned to look at Allen.

Seeing the powerful reinforcements, Allen pointed at Xiulunte in the distance and said bitterly, "I'll take Sakre and rush over to chop Xiulunte down. You protect me!"

Karmet and the others shook their heads.

"Afraid of offending the Holy See?"

Sali, dressed like a thief, cut in, "The Earth Dragon Legion does not represent the Holy See. If we kill Xiulunte, it will only confirm that you, Second Young Master, are the Child of Chaos. Besides, the Grand Duke and the border troops of the First Legion will reach Outpost County within half a day. As long as we hold out until the Grand Duke arrives with reinforcements, we can retreat safely."

"Cheap old man?" A stern face appeared in Allen's mind, but he still said resolutely, "No one can stop me from killing Xiulunte with my own hands today."

"Even if we kill the commander of the Earth Dragon Legion, there are still thousands of Earth Dragon Legion soldiers surrounding Outpost County. We won't be able to break out." Sali continued with a troubled expression, "With the strength of the four of us, we can barely protect you, or take you out of the encirclement. But if we kill Xiulunte..."

Sali did not continue, but Allen understood the implication.

Still unwilling to give up, Allen walked to the Old Castle gates and shouted, "Xiulunte, come duel me! I heard you're about to enter the fourth stage of Battle Aura. What, relying on numbers? You cowardly turtle!"

Xiulunte merely smiled faintly, staring at Allen with an unreadable expression.

Allen broke out in goosebumps under his gaze, but stared right back without backing down.

Unfortunately, more and more soldiers in Earth Dragon armor ran out from behind Xiulunte. After forming up, they began advancing toward the Old Castle in orderly ranks.

Watching Xiulunte disappear into the crowd, Allen cursed in frustration and walked back.

"Damn it!" Karmet, dressed as a mage, turned pale in shock. Pointing at a ball of light behind Xiulunte, he said, "Two ascetics are summoning a Templar Knight!"

"A Templar Knight?"

Sakre was equally horrified. He explained to Allen, "The Holy See's ultimate war machine. They wear specially crafted armor enchanted with divine arts, cutting off all magical elements."

Rockhammer asked in confusion, "Steel itself blocks magical elements. How can divine arts be cast on it?"

Allen was equally bewildered. He understood that simple principle too, so he could not make sense of it.

"Idiot!" Karmet shot Rockhammer a disdainful look, then continued, "How would I know?"

Rockhammer rubbed his bald head and asked with a simple smile, "Can a knife kill it?"

Sakre shook his head. "A Templar Knight's divine arts cultivation aside, its physical strength has already reached the fourth-stage Grandmaster realm. Even if the few of us join forces, we may not be able to get close."

"Can Dina restrain it?" Allen glanced at Dina.

Sakre shook his head again. "Divine arts are not Battle Aura. Probably not."

Perhaps the troops who had come as reinforcements this time were all elites of the Earth Dragon Legion. Xiulunte did not order them to attack, only to surround the Old Castle once more.

"Can you cast that Fire Rain magma thing again?" Allen grinned viciously.

"No. The chanting time is too long. If Sali had not drawn their attention just now, and if I had not been hiding in the shadows, I would never have had a chance to act." Karmet spread his hands helplessly.

"Then why did you come out? Keep hiding and taking cheap shots." Allen glared at him in irritation.

Karmet froze for a long while, choked speechless. Yeah, why had he shown himself just now?

Even Diao Ling cast Karmet a contemptuous glance.

Karmet coughed awkwardly, pointed at Old Laixi, who was still muttering spells at the Old Castle gates, and whispered, "What spell is Master Leisi summoning? Why can't I sense even the slightest elemental fluctuation? And why has it taken so long?"

"You know him?" Allen rolled his eyes. "He's probably summoning a portal, getting ready to run."

Allen was talking nonsense. If the Old Butler had not been at a critical moment, he would have dearly loved to come over and beat Allen to vent his anger.

"Yes, I have only heard of Master Leisi's great reputation. The most talented mage in the Duchy of Rothel—how could I, as a mage, not know of him?" Karmet said with admiration. It seemed this fellow was quite the capable actor in Outpost County.

But everyone treated his words as farting. Who did not know that the Old Butler had destroyed his own cultivation and fallen from a water-element Magus to an Intermediate Mage?

The dazzling light behind Xiulunte finally faded. The soldiers outside the Old Castle split apart like seawater, hurriedly making way as a Steel Giant strode toward the Old Castle with heavy steps.

"Is that a person?" Allen jumped in fright.

That thing in the distance had two strangely shaped banners mounted behind its back. It stood at least three meters tall, encased completely in golden armor with only its eyes exposed. It carried a millstone-sized warhammer in its left hand and a door-bolt-thick broadsword in its right. The ground trembled with every step it took, creating an overwhelming presence.

Having long received Xiulunte's orders, the soldiers quickly withdrew as though fleeing a plague.

"Yes. A Templar Knight. It is human." Sakre's expression was grave as he gripped his two battered iron swords tightly.

"I'll test it." Sali, dressed as a thief, suddenly vanished. A cloud of grayish-white smoke rose from where he had been standing, and the next instant, he appeared above the Templar Knight outside the Old Castle gates.

Sali threw out a large net with both hands. As he descended, he flung a short sword wrapped in black Battle Aura straight at the Templar Knight's right eye.

The Templar Knight moved with agility utterly mismatched to its size, slashing downward through the air with its broadsword at incredible speed.

The net split in two. The broadsword's afterimage seemed to solidify, shattering the black short sword into fragments before continuing toward the just-landed Sali.

The sword shadow moved slowly, no faster than an ordinary person walking briskly. Though its momentum was terrifying, it was not particularly fast.

Allen felt something was wrong. Whether it was Sakre's Sword Qi or Xiulunte's Sword Qi, both were as swift as lightning. Why was this Templar Knight's Sword Qi so slow? Forget cutting someone—it might not even hit a nimble turtle.

Sali was less than one and a half meters tall, while the sword shadow stood more than three meters high. As the golden sword shadow loomed larger before him, Sali smiled disdainfully and turned into grayish-white smoke once more.

After delivering that slash, the Templar Knight roared, "Divine Art: Binding!"

Sali, who had vanished into the smoke, reappeared in the same spot. He had not escaped the sword shadow's attack range at all. Terror filled his face, and his body twisted desperately as though bound in shackles, yet his feet seemed rooted to the ground, unable to move even half an inch.

As the slow but overwhelmingly powerful sword shadow was about to strike Sali, Rockhammer's body swelled as he charged over. Yet even his brute strength could not move Sali in the slightest.

Rockhammer shielded Sali with his body. His hands turned red like heated branding irons as he crossed his arms before his chest, trying to block the massive sword shadow.

When the seemingly slow sword shadow collided with Rockhammer's arms, Sali and Rockhammer were sent flying backward as though struck by an invisible giant hammer.

Dina hurried over. The two were coughing up blood, their eyes unfocused, their bodies covered in torn flesh and wounds. They were clearly severely injured.

Yet the strangest thing was the golden threads covering their bodies, nearly invisible to the naked eye. Those fine golden threads were tightly wrapped around them, constricting ever tighter as they sank into their skin.

Sakre revealed a look of astonishment. "A single strike from a Templar Knight has such power?"

The Templar Knight, over three meters tall and clad entirely in golden armor, raised its broadsword horizontally and pointed its tip directly at Allen. Its hoarse voice was painfully grating. "Child of Chaos, die!"

"Posers have to die too!" Allen gripped the Dragon Slaying Halberd in reverse, his body shooting forward like a falling meteor as he slashed at the Templar Knight's right leg.