Banished Knight

Edgar hurled his halberd, striking the Confessor down to the ground. The cloak tore apart in the storm, and scratches instantly covered the armor on her back.

Unfortunately, a panicked strike failed to draw upon Edgar's full strength, otherwise the blow should have pinned the Confessor straight through to the ground.

Edgar leaped down from the rampart, using the cushion of the Misbegotten corpses to land steadily and shield Lucian.

By this time, the Confessor also scrambled up from the ground, pulling back a few steps to widen the distance.

Edgar picked up his halberd. He had heard the Confessor's words just moments ago, and figured the blind girl referred to Irina.

Edgar did not look back. Staring at the Confessor opposite, he asked:

"Irina... is she all right?"

Lucian knew he was asking him.

"Irina is outside the castle right now, and she won't be in danger for a while."

"It was the fellow in front of you and her accomplices who sneaked into Castle Morne and incited a rebellion. One of their targets was Irina."

Edgar nodded. He had long sensed there was inside information behind the rebellion within the castle, otherwise those Misbegotten would not have staged such an organized, collective uprising.

He simply had not expected their target to turn out to be Irina.

Since the mastermind had appeared before him, little more needed to be said about what must be done now.

Edgar gripped the Sacred Seal in his left hand. Golden radiance gathered upon him, and faint ripples surfaced on the ground.

Seeing this, the Confessor knew Edgar was about to cast an incantation, so she drew a small black crossbow and fired at him.

Yet Edgar had long guarded against her, knocking the bolt away with a single strike.

As the incantation took effect, the wounds on Lucian's body stopped bleeding and slowly grew granulation tissue.

Even so, that was all it achieved, for this was merely a very basic healing incantation.

Incantation - Heal.

Having finished healing Lucian, Edgar grasped the halberd with both hands and lunged fiercely toward the Confessor.

The Confessor spun her Twinblade, striking the halberd with one end to discharge a portion of the force, then immediately revolved in the reverse direction to parry the axe-blade of the halberd with the other end.

Just as she felt this castellan was nothing special, a storm erupted from the halberd, instantly slicing fine, intricate gashes across her face.

The Confessor quickly closed her eyes and stepped back to prevent her eyes from injury.

Edgar brandished the halberd where he stood, summoning a storm.

The halberd spun along the flow of the storm, continuously accelerating, and then swept fiercely toward the Confessor.

The Confessor had just opened her eyes when the halberd was already close at hand. In her panic, she had no choice but to hold the Twinblade vertically at her side, attempting to block the blow.

However, the strike carried overwhelming force, instantly blasting the Confessor and her weapon flying away.

The Confessor slammed against the wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Her hands trembled unceresingly, almost failing to hold onto her weapon, and the iron Twinblade was bent right in the middle.

The Confessor was already sweating profusely, unlike the other Confessor who had accompanied them.

That one was an Assassin skilled in assassination incantations, whereas she herself was a warrior focused on frontal combat while harassing and ambushing with a crossbow.

This unremarkable castellan was actually capable of suppressing her to the point of leaving her utterly defenseless.

Edgar's onslaught had not yet ended. He leaped high into the air with the storm swirling around him, carrying him in a rapid dash right before the Confessor as he thrust his halberd at her.

The Confessor rolled away in a wretched scramble, and the spear-tip of the halberd sank deep into the ground, smashing out a large crater.

The moment it struck down, the storm erupted from the halberd once more, interrupting the Confessor's roll and blowing her aside.

Edgar pulled out the halberd, smoothly twisting his body to drive the halberd along. The halberd wrenched up from the earth, swung in a huge arc, and chopped down from above.

The Confessor now lay flat on her back on the ground, holding the Twinblade with both hands to block Edgar's slash with the hilt.

The Twinblade snapped in response, and the axe-blade cleaved into the Confessor's shoulder, directly shearing off her left arm at the root.

"Agh—!"

Blood spurted in a torrent. The Confessor possessed no further will to fight, and under the close-range observation at this moment, she finally recognized the castellan's equipment.

Though he wore no helmet and the dragon horns on his shoulders had also vanished, that cold silver armor was indeed the armor of a Banished Knight!

That made it unsurprising, for Banished Knights were first-rate, formidable knights.

Edgar swung his halberd once more, intending to chop off the Confessor's other arm. He did not plan to kill her right now; he meant to interrogate her about what their exact intentions were.

At that moment, however, a handful of powder was scattered before Edgar, instantly obscuring his vision.

Seeing that the Confessor was about to meet her end on the spot, the final accomplice appeared.

Seizing the opportunity, the Confessor escaped, drew out a Flask of Crimson Tears, and drank it down. This was a Tear bestowed by the Two Fingers, and their group possessed only a single flask in total.

To Lucian's surprise, beneath the black robe of the last fellow to appear was a heavy yellow apron, embroidered with Erdtree designs.

This served as proof representing the secret arts of the Apothecary Perfumers.

This final human fellow turned out to be a Perfumer.

"Perfumer..."

Edgar lowered the arm he had held before his face. Aside from blocking his vision, the powder from moments before seemed to have no other effect at all.

"Hah, what are you standing there stunned for? Why didn't you bring that guy over too!?"

Seeing the Perfumer rush over, the Confessor's courage flared up again.

The Perfumer glanced coldly at the Confessor.

"Under the pretext of liberating the Misbegotten, you tricked me and Singh into coming here, only to carry out this inhumane massacre."

"We no longer have any need to follow your orders. Saving you just now was our final mercy."

Lucian thought for a moment and suddenly recalled a special spirit ash from the game: Perfumer Tricia.

That was a perfumer dedicated to curing blights like the Misbegotten and the Omen.

It seemed the perfumer before him was also one of that faction, and Singh was likely the name of the Leonine Misbegotten.

The giant Leonine Misbegotten also leaped down from the high wall.

An iron greatsword stabbed into the ground as it stood beside the Perfumer.

Edgar was a bit confused, but it looked like these two groups were no longer in cahoots now?

Yet the Leonine Misbegotten still brought him no small amount of pressure. Although it had lowered its sword, it remained extremely dangerous—that was his intuition as a warrior.

Facing Edgar, however, the Perfumer knelt directly and began to confess.

"I am the perfumer Evan. I once studied under Master Tricia and inherited her dying will, wanting to free the Misbegotten from oppression, and during my travels, I met Singh, who shared my ideals."

"This fellow told us that at Castle Morne, a vast number of Misbegotten were being brutally tortured and killed, waiting for us to rescue them."

"We originally intended to lead them straight out, but after gaining their freedom, those hundreds of Misbegotten refused to listen to commands entirely and began a wanton massacre."

"Faced with so many Misbegotten, the two of us had no way to stop them, and they even nearly killed us."

"We caused this disaster. I know saying this is useless now, but please, at least let me treat the surviving residents."

With that, he lowered his head deeply.

"If you feel this is unforgivable, you can cut off my head right now, and I will have no complaints."

Singh the Leonine Misbegotten also lowered its head, reaching it out in front of Edgar.

Yet behind them, the Confessor, who appeared to have no strength left to resist, quietly pulled out a branch glowing with a peculiar light.

Heh, the Two Fingers' orders must be carried out.