A Great Victory

Anna stood on the city wall, heard the commotion coming from the city gate, and saw several soldiers below who had been thrown back by the impact.

Although she didn't have X-ray vision, she knew from this that the soldiers in front of her probably couldn't stop them anymore.

Anna looked up and saw a figure that was both unexpected and yet perfectly logical.

The other party was dressed in jet-black armor, completely encased inside, making it impossible to discern their appearance.

Meanwhile, the other person was standing on the roof of a small building, only 20 meters away from the city wall. When Anna looked up, the other person was also looking at her.

Anna knew that this was Morris, the lord of River Valley Territory. It must have taken at least five minutes since they started their attack.

This was enough time for Morris to don his armor and reach the city walls to stop them.

Morris watched as the guards below, their bodies covered in charred marks, groaned in pain on the ground. They clutched their wounds, but were clearly unable to stop the pain.

"Who are you?" His voice seemed to be suppressing something.

Morris's voice wasn't loud, and in this noisy environment, it almost blended into the surrounding sounds after traveling only a short distance, making it completely indistinguishable to the average person.

But Morris knew that the woman standing on the city wall was a Profession of Formal Rank, and how could a Profession of that level not hear him?

His main reason for asking these questions was curiosity; he genuinely didn't know why these people were attacking River Valley City, or what the point was.

If the other party wants to collect some resources, they can go to the workshops and farms in the River Valley Territory; there are plenty of supplies there.

Coming to River Valley City was truly a difficult and thankless task.

There is usually a lord in charge here. Everyone who comes here must find a way to deal with the knight lord who is extremely powerful among First Order Profession. Our side only has one Profession of Formal Rank, which is simply not enough to cope with.

Morris arrived early, but to his surprise, he didn't see any other Formal Rank Profession on the field besides himself and Anna.

He initially assumed the other party consisted of multiple First Order Profession, so he was cautious. However, after observing carefully for a long time, he still didn't see any other Profession.

Beyond the confusion, there was even more anger. When did a Profession of Formal Rank dare to attack a lord's town?!

Morris confirmed one last time through the Territory Resonance, and the feedback he received was that there were no other First Order Profession here besides the person in front of him. Then, he pushed off with his back foot, flew into the air, and drew the greatsword from his back.

A powerful force was also gathered on the greatsword, and invisible air currents flowed around it. Morris launched Combat Technique in mid-air, which was the [Sky Strike] that Fran had also learned.

The way Morris used it at this moment was naturally much stronger than Fran's when she was still an apprentice and at most had the Rune Warrior Profession.

However, Anna could easily withstand this powerful, top-down Combat Technique.

Anna's quick thinking had already made her realize that she absolutely could not fight Morris head-on at this moment. Even with the equipment Fran had given her, her strength was too weak.

This is a difference in raw skill that is difficult to compensate for with equipment. After all, this isn't a game where wearing equipment doesn't directly increase your base stats.

Anna pushed off with her calf, her body moving backward in the momentum, her other leg poised to land at any moment. She was confident that this Combat Technique would not hit her.

However, Anna clearly lacks experience in fighting Profession knights, because despite her agility, it is unlikely that the blade will be able to hit her.

But who stipulated that Formal Rank Profession can only inflict damage through their swords when unleashing Combat Technique?

Morris's greatsword slammed straight into the ground, and from the point of impact, several cracks appeared in the city wall's bricks, extending behind Anna.

Anna was still in mid-air when she was thrown backward as if struck by a heavy hammer, crashing into the city wall.

She quickly recovered from leaning back, recalling the attack she had suffered.

"Is this what a Knight Lord is like? I've never seen anyone unleash Combat Technique that can cause damage even if it misses..."

The Formal Rank Profession Anna had seen before were mostly Adventurer and Mercenary. Their primary enemies were Magic Creature, so their Combat Technique were designed to maximize power.

However, for a Territory Knight, while dealing with Magic Creature is important, fighting against other Territory Knight is even more crucial.

As long as they excel in martial arts, they will naturally receive more rewards, so their Combat Technique are designed with other Territory Knight in mind.

Morris was quite surprised to see Anna being swept away by the aftershocks of his Combat Technique, only to crash into the city wall, with cracks appearing in the stone bricks behind her.

After all, he hadn't held back at all, using his full strength. Even the aftershocks of his Combat Technique would be difficult for a non-lord Profession to withstand.

After all, with the advantage of having territory to rely on, and standing on his own land, his physical abilities already far surpass those of ordinary Profession.

Based on his observations, Anna was quite agile, but her strength was a real weakness, especially compared to a Formal Rank Profession.

Although the aftershocks of his Combat Technique couldn't directly defeat a professional Profession who wasn't skilled in strength, being hit by that attack would definitely not be pleasant.

But now, when he looked at Anna, he saw that she seemed completely unharmed, pointing the gleaming sword at him.

"Snort!"

Seeing Anna like this, a hint of contempt flashed in Morris's eyes. No matter what, he was a lord who was above most First Order Profession.

An ordinary Profession dared to point his sword at him after witnessing his strength.

Morris decided not to delay any longer and rushed towards Anna like an arrow released from a bow.

Anna smiled slightly. She hadn't used the sword Fran had given her yet, so Morris didn't know how powerful it was.

Faced with Morris's attack, she stood still, her weapon suddenly dropping as she waited for an opportunity to Morris.

Morris closed in on Anna quickly, and when he was only five steps away from Anna, he brought his greatsword down from above.

He didn't use any Combat Technique because he was confident that Anna couldn't withstand the attack based solely on physical strength.

Three steps!

Based on Morris's decades of combat experience, he had almost won. Anna was still standing still, not making a move. Under these circumstances, given the speed Anna had just demonstrated, she absolutely could not avoid this attack.

Anna clearly had no intention of dodging the attack. As Morris continued to approach, his greatsword about to strike her shoulder, she moved.

Whirlwind Slash!

Anna moved the sword horizontally with her right hand, her aura instantly rising to the weapon. A silver arc of light shot out from half of the greatsword's blade and embedded itself deeply into the black armor.

The trail of silver light disappeared for a moment, but soon shot out again from the other side of the armor.

Morris paused, his wrist felt lighter, and a warm sensation in his chest made his movements slightly slower.

Taking advantage of the moment, Anna dodged to the side, causing Morris to move forward with the momentum. She flicked off the bloodstains on her longsword, turned around, and launched an attack.

"Ah?!"

Morris let out a low growl of confusion; he didn't understand what was happening, but then a surge of resentment welled up inside him.

He glanced at the broken sword in the corner of his eye, and the other half lying on the ground, a red mark stained his chest.

"What is this..."

Anna didn't give Morris time to ask questions; she knew that once the lord knew about her situation, it would be difficult for her to understand him.

So, taking advantage of this moment, she thrust her longsword directly towards the back of Morris's neck, where a black metallic sheen shone. Morris's helmet protected this area well, but it was useless against this sword.

The longsword made a crisp 'click' sound as its tip pierced the black armor, with a small portion of the blade disappearing inside.

If Morris had hunched his shoulders back, he might have had a chance to fight again, but unfortunately, Anna had already seen the black figure fall to the ground.

She ran up and fiercely twisted the sword against the heart and brain area several times. Only when she saw that the black armor hadn't moved for half a minute did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"This sword is amazing! I thought it would be a bit of a hindrance against a lord's body, but it feels like cutting tofu."

Anna looked at the longsword she had pulled out, still bearing traces of blood, its silvery white slightly faded.

"Not bad, I didn't have to use the Shield Spell Ring."

Anna's Shield Spell Ring hadn't activated yet; the damage from the attack she had just received had been mostly absorbed by the leather armor hanging on her chest, not enough to trigger the Shield Spell.

After that, because her longsword was so sharp that she killed Morris in the blink of an eye, she didn't need to use her Shield Spell Ring.

"This sword should sell for at least 700 Gold Coin. I miscalculated last time."

After this battle, Anna raised the value of her sword by more than double, a trend that was already evident when she used it to defeat the knight.

Boom!!

A loud explosion pulled Anna back to reality. She looked down and saw that the gray-robed cultists had brought cannons into the town and were bombarding the lord's castle along the streets.

"We need to go down and stop them. The lords here are all dead, so there's no point in those people resisting. It'll be quite a hassle to deal with them later."