Crushing

"..."

Looking at the two mangled corpses before him, then at Hidden Dragon lying nearby with an innocent look in its eyes, Sunan could not help twitching the corner of his mouth.

Through his connection with his Magic Pet, he roughly understood what had happened.

The moment the two assassins climbed over the courtyard wall, they were discovered by Hidden Dragon, which had been sleeping in the courtyard.

At first, it had merely watched them curiously. It was not until the two approached the corridor and drew their weapons that it classified them as enemies and launched a fierce attack. The result was that it used too much force and killed them both outright.

"...Remember to leave one alive next time."

Sunan patted Hidden Dragon on the head and turned his attention back to the two corpses.

Judging from the density of their muscles and the strength of their bones, both men had been Formal Knights, and at least Advanced Knights.

There was only one obvious mastermind who had both the motive and the means to send two Advanced Knight-level assassins at once.

"Since they sent people after me, they probably did the same to Big Brother."

Sunan looked toward the main building and spread out his senses. Sure enough, he faintly heard a burst of commotion.

He narrowed his eyes and cast a spell, placing a Shield Spell on himself. A layer of azure radiance appeared around him, and he shot out of the courtyard with the swiftness of the wind, heading for the main building.

Behind him, Hidden Dragon let out a shriek, leaped forward, and vanished into the night.

In the courtyard before the main building, the clash of steel rang out without pause.

Led by Brad, more than a dozen knights and an equal number of Blackrock Panthers were surrounding and attacking a tall, burly middle-aged man.

Although they outnumbered him, Brad and the others were instead at a disadvantage.

Under the moonlight, a faint, almost imperceptible glow could be seen flickering over the middle-aged man's body.

The weapons of the surrounding knights struck that glow, yet not only could they not break through it, the recoil left their palms aching.

Meanwhile, with a casual strike, the middle-aged man could send a knight flying.

Among them, only Brad could barely block the enemy's attacks head-on with his shield.

They could only barely hold him off by relying on their advantage in numbers.

Not far away, Kei was locked in fierce combat with an assassin wielding a black sword, and it was clear that he was gradually being forced into a disadvantage.

If not for the Blackrock Panthers' fearless attacks, which kept the assassin somewhat restrained, the situation would likely have been even worse.

This was the scene Sunan saw upon arriving in the courtyard.

"Two Grand Knight-level assassins. What a grand display."

With a sweep of his gaze, Sunan immediately made a rough assessment of the assassins' strength, and a faint doubt arose in his heart.

Owen only had one Grand Knight under his command. Where had he hired two Grand Knight-level assassins?

These days, a Grand Knight could be treated as an honored guest in any territory. There was no way they would become lowly assassins.

But now was not the time to think about that. Sunan's gaze sharpened as he said in a low voice, "Everyone, fall back!"

The moment his words fell, Brad and the others abandoned their opponent without hesitation and retreated in unison.

The Middle-aged Knight was startled by the sight and frowned as he studied Sunan.

He could clearly sense that the instant this young man appeared, the more than dozen knights attacking him had visibly brightened, their morale soaring.

Clearly, this newcomer was no weakling and had given them tremendous confidence.

For this young man to command such obedience and respect from more than a dozen knights, including a Peak Knight, his status in Blackstone City could not be low.

At once, the Middle-aged Knight thought of Sunan, the one rumored to be a wizard!

Seeing the other man's young face, he became even more certain.

"A wizard?"

The Middle-aged Knight narrowed his eyes, his expression turning solemn.

Others might think wizards were merely charlatans playing tricks, but he had come across certain secret intelligence and knew that true wizards were mysterious and powerful beings.

As for whether the Sunan before him was a true wizard?

Perhaps the two Advanced Knights sent to assassinate Sunan could have answered that question.

The fact that Sunan had appeared here while those two had yet to show themselves was enough to reveal their fate.

Without question, this was a powerful opponent!

The Middle-aged Knight took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his sword, staring at the indifferent-faced Sunan as though facing a formidable enemy.

Yet in the very next second, it was as if he had been violently struck by a speeding carriage. His whole body flew away like a cannonball, crashing toward a stone wall dozens of meters away.

Boom!

Broken stones flew everywhere, and dust billowed into the air!

The knights watching nearby were all shocked, their eyes wide with disbelief.

What had happened?

Why had that guy suddenly been sent flying?

Only Kei and the Black Sword Knight vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

At the instant the Middle-aged Knight was sent flying, they clearly saw a patch of space distort slightly, outlining the form of a gigantic beast.

It was obviously that beast which had attacked the Middle-aged Knight.

The Black Sword Knight's expression turned horrified.

What kind of monster was that?

It could even turn invisible?!

Before he could figure it out, a shrill scream suddenly rang out from the swirling dust. A figure then burst through the dust like a gust of wind.

It was the Middle-aged Knight.

But he now looked utterly miserable.

One arm hung limply at his side, bent at an unnatural angle. A row of curved, bloody holes marked his chest and abdomen, looking like wounds left behind by some savage beast's bite.

His entire body was drenched in blood, and he was in a wretched state.

"Damn monster!"

The Middle-aged Knight roared with a twisted expression. Then, as though he sensed something, he suddenly swung his sword behind him.

But the strike missed.

The next second, a massive figure revealed itself on the other side. The giant claws on its forelimbs extended sharp, hooked talons, piercing straight through the Middle-aged Knight's body in one blow.

It then leapt high into the air, viciously pinned the Middle-aged Knight beneath it, opened its bloody maw to reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth, and tore his body into several pieces in just a few bites.

The bloody sight sent chills down everyone's spines.

Brad and the others swallowed in unison, staring at the gigantic beast with awe.

Even though its body had more than doubled in size, they still recognized it. The beast before them was the Giant Lizard Sunan had brought back from the Blackscale Lizardmen.

They just had no idea why it had become so enormous, or how it could turn invisible and appear and disappear like a ghost.

Its terrifying combat power, capable of effortlessly crushing a Grand Knight, was more than ten times greater than before!

At some point, Kei and the Black Sword Knight had stopped fighting. Both stared at Hidden Dragon in shock.

Yet beneath Kei's astonishment was also a hint of delight.

The Black Sword Knight, on the other hand, was simply terrified out of his wits.

What had seemed like a foolproof assassination operation had gone wrong from the very beginning.

The intelligence had never mentioned that the target was guarded by such a large number of knights and knight-level monsters.

Especially those strange black panthers. Neither of them could sense the creatures' presence at all, so the moment they infiltrated the place, they were discovered before they could even make a move.

If that were all, it would merely mean a little more effort; completing the mission would still not have been difficult.

But what was this terrifying giant beast supposed to be?!

The intelligence had never mentioned that there was such a powerful and horrifying creature in Blackstone City!