Mudhead Truck!

Lu Mingfei suddenly opened his eyes and found himself still kneeling before the altar, his undershirt thoroughly soaked with cold sweat.

"Awake?" A familiar voice came.

The old knight crouched before him.

"Quite a bit sooner than expected."

Lu Mingfei raised a hand blankly.

The scales on his skin were fading. Yet when he focused, those black scales flickered into view again.

More remarkably, it felt as if a flame were burning within him, ready to be called upon at any moment.

"This is..."

"Dragonification."

The old knight rose to his feet and said slowly,

"It seems your bloodline is more extraordinary than I imagined."

Lu Mingfei looked up in confusion and asked,

"Aren't all Dragon Communion warriors like this?"

The old knight shook his head.

"Those scales came from you, not Dragon Communion."

He said no more, merely turning and walking deeper into the church.

"Rest for the night. Tomorrow, you begin adapting to your new power."

Bracing himself against a statue, Lu Mingfei rose to his feet and suddenly realized that his perception of the world had become extraordinarily clear.

He could see every crack on a statue a hundred meters away and hear the sound of every blade of grass rustling in the night wind.

It was a little like a mutated version of Word Spirit: Kamaitachi.

As Lu Mingfei thought this, he clenched his fist and experimentally punched the wall beside him.

Bang!

Crack—

A faint cracking sound came first. Web-like fractures abruptly spread outward from his fist, and the already crumbling brick structure completely gave way.

Rumble!

That section of battered stone wall collapsed entirely.

Lu Mingfei gaped at his fist, then at the fallen wall.

"Holy shit..."

"Holy shit, holy shit..."

"I'm basically a superhuman with godlike strength..."

"No, no, no! Ah! Teacher, I was wrong! Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me!"

Lu Mingfei stood at the entrance to Fringefolk Hero's Grave, watching the mudhead truck roar toward him, turn around, and roar away again. He could not help clicking his tongue.

He touched his helmet, and its icy feel reminded him of what the old knight had said last night.

"Kid, if you want to truly master the power of Dragon Communion, you need to make a trip to Fringefolk Hero's Grave."

The old knight tossed a piece of firewood into the bonfire, its glow illuminating his wrinkled face.

"The most primordial Dragon Communion Mark is hidden there. It can help you master and strengthen Dragon Communion incantations—perhaps even one far stronger than the one I possess."

Lu Mingfei remembered nearly falling off the rock at the time.

"Old man, you're telling me to rob a tomb?"

"Bullshit!"

The old knight slapped the back of his head.

"You're going to reclaim a lost inheritance!"

"Fringefolk Hero's Grave is the tomb of General Oleg!

He and Engvall were known as the Storm Lord's twin wings, the foremost knights of the original order. Though he joined the blessed king's ranks and became a pawn of the Golden Family used to hunt those who betrayed the law, he was still a hero of old!

How could I possibly tell you to rob his grave?"

Now, standing before the tomb, Lu Mingfei watched the chariot thunder in and thunder out. His Golden Eyes were practically bulging into dead-fish eyes, yet he still did not dare set foot on the tomb path.

"If that thing hits me, I won't reincarnate into some other world even more terrifying than the Lands Between, right?" Lu Mingfei grumbled. "I don't want that kind of thing!"

Despite what he said, Lu Mingfei still took a deep breath. The instant the chariot turned around, he followed behind it and began a determined marathon campaign.

With his armor plates clanking, Lu Mingfei had only run halfway down the tomb path when he noticed that there was an alcove every so often for taking cover.

"Great!"

Lu Mingfei hurriedly turned and ducked into an alcove, hoping to rest for a moment.

However...

Splat!

A crossbow bolt flew from behind him and viciously lodged itself in his ass.

"Fuck!" Lu Mingfei spun around in pain, only to discover a ghostly soldier that should not have existed standing on the other side of the tomb path.

He angrily raised his greatsword, about to go over and slaughter this ignorant little soldier who had dared shoot Lord Lu in the butt, when the mudhead truck came roaring past once more!

Forget it!

Lu Mingfei could only continue onward through tears.

"The designer of this place was definitely a pervert!"

Who would have thought that the ghostly soldier would be in the next alcove too? Fortunately, Lu Mingfei had learned his lesson and dispatched it with a single stroke.

The path through Fringefolk Hero's Grave was incredibly long.

Lu Mingfei sprinted, hid, and cut down monsters all the way through. After countless narrow escapes, he finally saw an arched doorway at the end of the path.

Whew!

Lu Mingfei let out a long breath.

When you were seriously exploring an ancient tomb and suddenly got sent flying by a chariot—this was probably one of the Tarnished's everyday experiences.

But being crushed into a pile of meat was still far too painful and ugly a way to die. Naturally, it was best avoided if possible.

He slowly drew his greatsword and cautiously poked his head around the corner.

A half-kneeling white phantom had its back to him, clad in the familiar heavy armor of a Storm Knight.

There was only one difference: it wore no helmet. In its place was a hood that wrapped around its neck and head.

Behind the knight were a standard Storm Knight greatsword and a shield Lu Mingfei had never seen before. The shield's design was divided into four sections, depicting patterns of Dragon Communion and thorns.

Lu Mingfei recalled the old knight's words again.

"If you encounter knights dressed like you in the grave, do not show mercy. They have lost their minds. They are merely a pitiful group unable to return to the Erdtree, with only their obsessions remaining, wandering the grave day after day to guard their leader.

Killing them may be a way to help free them."

Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei no longer hesitated. He gripped the Exile Knight Greatsword in both hands and slowly entered the inner chamber.

Hearing the movement of a stranger, the phantom Storm Knight rose, drew its greatsword with a shing, equipped its shield, and turned around.

Two knights dressed alike faced each other in silence, one wielding a sword in both hands, the other holding sword and shield.

Two generations of the Storm Knights had met at last.

Though they came from the same lineage of knights, there were no greetings, salutes, or embraces when they met. There was only a fight to the death.

Lu Mingfei held his breath, the light in his Golden Eyes blazing as a storm slowly gathered around his blade.

Then he swung.

Skill: Storm Blade!

A blade formed from storm winds tore through the air and shot straight toward the phantom Storm Knight.

The knight raised his shield and blocked the gale, then stepped forward, slashing his sword straight at Lu Mingfei!

Lu Mingfei easily sidestepped the strike.

The two fought differently. The phantom knight clearly followed a sword-and-shield style, while Lu Mingfei had learned only the old knight's dual-sword techniques. His strength had been so weak that, even now, he still needed both hands to wield a greatsword.

Yet their swordsmanship came from the same source.

The instant their blades collided, sparks flew.

Lu Mingfei's storm-wreathed blade slammed heavily into the phantom knight's shield again.

Clang—

The shield engraved with Dragon Communion patterns rang sharply.

The next second, the knight stomped heavily and struck back with his shield. A howling hurricane swirled around him, shoving Lu Mingfei into a stagger.

Seizing the chance, the phantom knight raised his sword and swept it sideways.

Bang!

Lu Mingfei hastily raised his sword to block, and the impact sent him stumbling back again and again.

He shook his numb wrist, the fighting spirit in his eyes growing fiercer.

He recognized that all-too-familiar move: Stormcaller!

It was simply that the other side used a sword-and-shield variation, while he had learned the dual-sword version.