Impossible?

"Oh, My Lady, did you hear? That good-for-nothing second son was assigned to the Land of Misfortune! He's truly unlucky!" Lina had caught wind of the sensational news once again and hurried to report it to her mistress.

However, Stella had already been practicing in her boredom and only emerged from her meditation upon hearing Lina's exclamation. "What good-for-nothing second son?"

"My Lady, the good-for-nothing second son is Nalant of the Berick Family. That Nalant is already sixteen and hasn't even advanced to a Bronze Knight; he's the most useless one in the Tulip City noble academy!" her personal maid, Lina, immediately explained. "I never expected him to be so unlucky as to be assigned to the Land of Misfortune!"

"Hmm? Assigned to the Land of Misfortune?" Stella finally felt a flicker of interest. She was well aware of the reputation of the Land of Misfortune, and she couldn't help but prick up her ears to listen to the commotion in the hall.

"This humble one, Thomas, steward of the Storm Territory castle, pays respects to the Earl!" Thomas arrived in the conference hall, led by the guards.

"Rise! Why have you come to Tulip Castle this time, and where is the civil official of your Storm Territory?" The Earl frowned slightly, seeing that Thomas had arrived alone.

"In reply to Your Lordship, the civil official, Lord Anthony, is dead!" Thomas answered in a calm tone.

"Hmm? Dead?" This response was quite unexpected for the Earl.

Aldin and the group of civil officials also revealed expressions of shock.

"Why did he die? Anthony was a noble knight!" A moment later, Aldin finally reacted and immediately spoke up to question him.

Anthony was the one he had sent to deal with Nalant, and he had even been equipped with five guards; how could he have died so easily?

"In reply to the Viscount, Sir Anthony was killed by Dark Creatures. The Storm Territory suffered two attacks from Dark Creatures a while ago. During the second invasion, the number of Dark Creatures reached twenty-eight! Among them were one Hellhound, one Headless Knight, and Skeleton Soldiers..."

"Hiss! Two waves of Dark Creatures, with one reaching twenty-eight! And there were even Tier 2 Hellhounds and Headless Knights... It truly lives up to the name of the Land of Misfortune!"

"Sir Nalant is truly unlucky..."

As Thomas's words fell, everyone present was shocked.

Twenty-eight Dark Creatures—that was a force capable of wiping out a small town. Without seventy or eighty guards, it would certainly be impossible to resolve.

Most importantly, the Hellhound and the Headless Knight were entities that only a Title Knight could handle.

Of course, while shocked, everyone couldn't help but mourn for Nalant... The Land of Misfortune, indeed! If Nalant could survive for three years, let alone win the competition, they would consider it their loss.

"There were even a Hellhound and a Headless Knight? What were the casualties in the Storm Territory?" the Earl asked, frowning slightly.

"In reply to the Earl, apart from Sir Anthony being killed by the Dark Creatures, more than ten guards died in battle. As for the commoners, there were no casualties!" This was what Nalant had specifically instructed him to say; after all, claiming that not a single guard had died would be too unreasonable.

"Hmm? The casualties were so light!" The Earl was still surprised upon hearing this.

Of course, he didn't wish for everyone in the Storm Territory to die, but given the number of Dark Creatures, he felt that with Nalant's military strength, it should have been impossible to win.

"Impossible. Twenty-eight Dark Creatures invaded; how could the casualties be so light? Could it be that the four previous barons who possessed Battle Qi were not as capable as this cultivation-waste Nalant?" Aldin immediately sensed a loophole.

The previous barons couldn't handle twenty-eight Dark Creatures, and he didn't believe a good-for-nothing second son could solve it—especially when the Anthony he had sent had died.

He felt this must be a conspiracy. It was very likely that this Dark Creature invasion was fabricated to cover up the fact that Nalant had plotted against Anthony.

"Sir Aldin's words seem to have some merit! The previous barons all died in battle, and that Nalant doesn't even have Battle Qi; how could he have survived, and with such light casualties?"

It wasn't just Aldin who didn't believe it; even the civil officials were full of suspicion. With that many Dark Creatures, if they were in their own territories, none of them would have the confidence to hold them off.

However, facing the skepticism of the crowd, Thomas remained unfazed.

He said unhurriedly, "My Lord, Lord Nalant is already a Title Knight. Moreover, this invasion of Dark Creatures happened to occur at the castle gate. Lord Nalant took the lead and personally slew the Hellhound and the Headless Knight, which is why the guards were able to eliminate the remaining Dark Creatures under Lord Nalant's leadership!"

"My Lord, we have brought the bones of the Headless Knight and the Hellhound; they are in the carriage in the castle courtyard. This humble one can have the guards bring them in!"

Nalant had long anticipated that Aldin would not easily let go of the matter of Anthony's death, so he had brought the bones of the two Tier 2 Dark Creatures to silence the suspicions of the crowd.

"Have someone bring the bones in!" The Earl was also curious about the truth of the matter.

A moment later, with the Earl's permission, Quick and the others brought the two complete skeletons of the Dark Creatures into the conference room.

"It's actually true; these are indeed the bones of a Hellhound and a Headless Knight!"

"That Sir Nalant is too powerful! Why did everyone say he was a waste before?"

"It must be luck! Didn't you hear that these Dark Creatures landed at the castle gate? Dark Creatures are easiest to deal with when they first land!"

When the two massive skeletons appeared, no one dared to doubt it anymore.

Even the Earl above nodded after seeing them. He was clearly quite appreciative of Nalant's ability to take down these two Tier 2 Dark Creatures. Although there was an element of luck involved, having the courage to face Tier 2 Dark Creatures was already a sign of great mettle.

"Wow! My Lady, is that good-for-nothing second son so powerful now? He actually killed so many Dark Creatures!" Behind the stone pillar, Lina covered her small mouth in surprise. For someone like her, who lived in the safest part of the Earl's territory, Dark Creatures were like beings from another world.

However, people like them, who lived in long-term stability, were increasingly fearful of Dark Creatures.

"Hmm, this second son does have some ability. From what you just said, he should have only advanced recently!" Stella was intrigued.

Back at the academy, many noble children had slain low-tier Dark Creatures like Hellhounds, but those noble heirs were either high-tier Bronze Knights or Silver Knights. She had truly never heard of a mere low-tier Bronze Knight doing such a thing!

"Nalant is quite excellent. He is worthy of being Andrew's heir; to be able to resolve two Tier 2 Dark Creatures at such a young age!" The murmurs below gradually faded, and the Earl spoke in a deep voice.

"Thank you for the praise, My Lord. This humble one will certainly convey it to Lord Nalant upon returning!"

Bang!

"Aldin, you piece of trash, where are you? I'm going to cut you down today!" Just at that moment, the previously closed hall doors were suddenly kicked open. A burly, hulking man walked in, glaring with rage, carrying a giant axe weighing dozens of pounds in his hands—his presence was truly terrifying!