Task Complete, the Prismatic Dragon Scale That Detected Malice

Leo watched while using four Eyeball Cubes to determine the situation around him.

Suddenly, a faint shadow caught Leo's attention.

Only a tiny portion of this shadow's body was exposed above the sea.

That small portion had the texture of stone and looked very much like a Stonefish.

Leo realized something was wrong.

There was probably more than one Stonefish here.

With that thought, Leo began to stand guard in his heart.

Ahead of the ship.

Aifel and the others had already surrounded the Stonefish.

The Stonefish sensed the approaching knights and began swimming about restlessly.

Then, the Stonefish flicked its tail slightly.

Amid the waves, seawater crashed against the knights' bodies.

Some knights were scattered in all directions by the impact.

However, quite a few knights still managed to remain where they stood.

The knights did not hold knight lances in their hands, but greatswords.

Aifel raised the longsword in his hand and said, "Brave knights, the time has come to prove our glory and justice!"

As Aifel spoke, he swung his longsword and charged forward, slashing down at the Stonefish's body.

However, the longsword became stuck in the Stonefish's stone-like scales.

Aifel did not care. He activated his Knight Breathing Technique, pulled out his longsword, and slashed down again.

The other knights followed suit, continuously swinging their greatswords down at the Stonefish's body.

Kairila did not make a move. She held no weapon either, seemingly waiting for the right opportunity.

Though the Stonefish was unharmed by Aifel and the others' successive ineffective attacks, it was enraged.

The shadow beneath the seawater gradually expanded.

The Stonefish's stony scales gradually rose above the water.

When the Stonefish's head emerged above the sea, it opened its huge mouth.

Rows of dense shark-like teeth were revealed.

It bit toward the Aifel knight closest to it.

The Aifel knight used his longsword to block.

The Stonefish's teeth could not bite through it.

Though the Stonefish's sharp teeth could crush hard metal, the Aifel knight's longsword had been strengthened by the Knight Breathing Technique.

At that moment, Kairila rushed forward.

Silver-white energy appeared around Kairila's body. She reached toward the Stonefish's tail, exerted force, and yanked it up.

Though the Stonefish was enormous, a knight's strength was not to be underestimated.

Under that force, the Stonefish's entire body was dragged out of the sea.

Kairila shouted, "Wizard Seedling, attack immediately!"

However, they did not see Leo at the bow.

A knight noticed Leo's movements and said, "Wizard Danville ran toward the stern just now."

Upon hearing this, Kairila's eyes split wide with rage. Her voice trembled with dissatisfaction. "Damn it, Wizard Seedling, what are you doing?!"

At that moment, the Stonefish shook Kairila off and dove back into the sea.

This time, not only did Kairila look grim, but even Aifel's expression was somewhat unsightly.

It had been such a good opportunity. Aifel did not know why Leo had not acted.

However, at that moment, the ship swayed slightly.

"Captain Aifel, this is bad! There's another Stonefish attacking our ship!"

"This is bad."

Aifel's expression changed.

At this time, all the powerful knights were at the front. There were no knights elsewhere to stand guard.

At that moment, a voice shouted, "Captain, don't worry, you still have me!"

John stood at the stern. When he saw the Stonefish, his gaze burned with passion. This was the moment to prove his ability.

John leaped out fiercely, landed on the sea, then stood steadily upon the water and charged toward the Stonefish.

"Magical creature, take this!"

John swung the longsword in his hand and slashed it against the Stonefish's body.

Immediately afterward.

With a sizzling sound, his longsword actually cracked apart.

John stared at the longsword in his hand in shock.

Aifel shouted, "John, don't court death! Get back onto the ship! Just protect the rear of the ship and wait for our rescue!"

Kairila said irritably, "John, you idiot! An Ordinary Knight shouldn't jump into the sea. Get back on the ship now!"

No one thought highly of John.

John's fury immediately surged.

"So what if none of you think highly of me? I'll prove myself!"

John waved the longsword in his hand and slashed down fiercely once more.

However, the next moment.

Leo's voice sounded behind him.

Leo said, "Well done, John."

Leo leaped high from the ship, raising the longsword formed by Arcane Hand in his hand.

From above the Stonefish, he slashed down with his sword.

Mental Radiation erupted.

The part struck by Leo directly shattered.

However, Leo did not press the advantage with his longsword. Instead, he dispelled Arcane Hand, then cast Arcane Hand once more.

This time, it was a trident.

Leo gripped the trident in one hand and thrust down with all his strength.

Empowered by speed, this thrust pierced straight through the Stonefish's body.

The Stonefish let out a roar.

Blood dyed the seawater red.

Leo activated Basic Body Fortification.

Then, Leo lifted the Stonefish with force and hurled it into the sky.

He raised the trident in his hand.

As the Stonefish fell, it was directly impaled by the trident.

Leo raised his other hand and supported the Stonefish's body.

After shaking for a moment, the Stonefish stopped moving.

"Dead... it's dead."

Everyone was stunned, frozen in place.

Watching this scene, John unconsciously bit his lower lip. Blood seeped from it. He clenched his hands so hard that his nails seemed about to sink into his flesh, his face overflowing with unwillingness and anguish.

Leo shook the trident in his hand and looked toward the Stonefish charging straight at him from ahead.

The Stonefish that had been fighting Aifel and the others had sensed that Leo killed the other Stonefish and had come running over for revenge.

Leo was utterly fearless. He swung the trident in his hand and hurled it directly at the oncoming Stonefish.

That Stonefish knocked the trident away with its tail and opened its huge mouth at Leo.

Seeing this, Leo smiled and said, "Brother, you're a little stupid."

The next moment, Leo used Arcane Hand again. A spear appeared in his hand, and then he thrust it out, piercing directly through the Stonefish's mouth.

If this Stonefish had not opened its mouth, Leo would have found it harder to deal with.

But once it opened its mouth, killing it became much easier for Leo.

After letting out a miserable howl, this Stonefish also died.

Blood dyed the ocean red.

Leo returned to the ship.

Aifel and the other knights all looked at Leo with worship in their eyes.

At this moment, Leo was like a war god.

Even Kairila could not help sighing. "Aifel, you were right. Even among Wizard Seedlings, there are outstanding people like Wizard Danville."

Her attitude toward Leo had already risen from that toward an ordinary Wizard Seedling to one approaching the level of a true wizard.

The light had vanished from John's eyes.

Compared to Leo, who was like a war god, his own performance had been nothing more than a clown acting as a supporting role to amuse the audience.

Hughes's face was filled with excitement as he shouted, "Danville, you're incredible!"

On the ship, Nova and the other two were also somewhat surprised.

Nova sighed. "That was Basic Body Fortification, wasn't it? I didn't expect him to learn two spells in just over a month."

"Not just that," Fula said. "His Arcane Hand has already reached a very high level of proficiency. During that battle, he actually cast several different variations of Arcane Hand in succession."

"With that level of proficiency, even I would find it difficult now to cast an Arcane Hand better than his."

Kamon said nothing. He had always looked down on Leo, but after watching Leo's performance just now, he could only think... perhaps Leo really was exceptionally talented in battle.

After Leo killed the two Stonefish, the knights began the recovery work.

The remaining task of dealing with the corpses belonged to the knights.

Leo returned to the ship.

His clothes were spotless.

There were no wounds on his body.

He looked as though he had merely done some trivial, inconsequential thing.

However, no one noticed.

Leo held several scales in his hand, one of which emitted colorful light.

[Prismatic Dragon Scale]

Quality: Inferior

Effect: A scale from the ancient dragon species Rainbow Dragon, possessing the ability to detect malice

Cost: 500 Refinement Points