However, the same heavy blow only managed to slightly break the count's defenses.
Xilǐ'er had no doubt that his attack could seriously injure a count on the spot, but looking at Bennett in front of him, he began to wonder if the other man had some trump card that he was unaware of. Otherwise, how could the gap between counts be greater than the gap between a count and a dog?
Although the spear, its bone armor shattered, had lost most of its kinetic energy, it continued to move forward, attempting to pierce through the Blood Corpse in front of it.
Bennett's large hands grabbed the gleaming silver spear without hesitation, his four hands coming together in pairs, instantly rendering the spear unable to advance any further.
Xilǐ'er made the most appropriate response in an instant. He released his hands and let go of the spear. As he fell with the Radish he was riding, he drew the knight's sword from his waist and slashed down along the spear towards Bennett's arms.
Bennett's flesh immediately began to writhe in resistance, moving a set of bone armor from his elbows to his palm, which was in the path of the knight's sword, attempting to block the attack with the bone armor as before.
However, Xilǐ'er's response once again exceeded Bennett's expectations. After seeing him change the position of the bone armor, the silver-armored knight in front of him once again released his weapon, letting his body on horseback fall, and continued to close the distance between them.
Is this an attempt to turn tail and escape? A mocking voice came from Bennett's lamprey-like mouth:
"You defeated knight, it would have been your misfortune to have been born under my command..."
"Bang!"
Bennett was met with a simple yet powerful strike.
The warhorse, clad in metal armor, and the unarmed knight made no attempt to slow down, slamming straight into Bennett. The tall, robust vampire count was instantly sent flying...
Since joining the Second Holy See, Xilǐ'er has exchanged almost all of his salary, subsidies, and bonuses for fine iron to replenish his own resources.
After a period of overeating, Xilǐ'er and Radish's armor has become even thicker. At this rate, the entire armored man and his horse will soon become solid metal creatures...
This dietary habit also made Xilǐ'er and Radish a veritable semi-transporter. At this moment, the man and the horse were almost like a moving interdimensional transport vehicle, and because of their small size, they were even more deceptive.
Having been hit head-on by this thing, even with the bone armor protecting him, Bennett was speechless for a moment.
The vampire count flew several meters, crashed to the ground, rolled twice, and then returned to his previous state.
Bennett stared coldly at Xilǐ'er, wondering why the knight had such a powerful impact.
He never expected that the silver-armored knight would charge at him in such a way, but now it seemed that neither the knight nor his horse were simple opponents.
That headbutt from the horse would have broken the neck of a normal warhorse long ago...
Bennett tried to say something, but instead spat out a mouthful of blood.
At that moment, Xilǐ'er's words drifted into his ears on the evening breeze:
"I am Xilǐ'er, the Knight of the Eternal Domain. It is your honor to die by my spear."
Eternal Domain?!
Bennett's pupils suddenly contracted. He hadn't expected that while he was gathering his army to attack the Tree Worship Church, a knight from the Eternal Domain would suddenly appear before him.
Could it be that these two sides have already reached a cooperation agreement in recent decades? Why isn't that damned [ Aluode ] saying anything?
No, he had to survive. He had to report this intelligence to the Marquis and even the Grand Duke. He had to survive the knight in front of him and the swarm of leeches that were biting him relentlessly!
Swallowing half a mouthful of blood, Bennett's crimson eyes fixed on the knight before him:
"I will tear your helmet apart and witness the death of the coward within your armor!"
Xilǐ'er pulled the silver spear from the ground and pointed it at the Count:
"Come!"
On the battlefield, the players at the forefront almost simultaneously did the same thing—grabbed their hair.
They were confused. The boss's transformation was over, so why hadn't the battle started yet? They couldn't even see a single health bar...
[ Easily Soluble in Water ] Ask a stranger nearby:
"Dude, why aren't you charging anymore?"
The man turned and answered:
"I see the guy in front of me has stopped."
So [ Easily Soluble in Water ] patted the player in front of him again:
"Dude, why aren't you charging anymore?"
The player shrugged:
Do you know [ Western Sharpshooter ]?
[ Easily Soluble in Water ] Shaking head:
"I don't know him."
The player picked up a piece of meat from the ground and slapped it into his hand.
"Now that you know him, remember him: a warrior who dared to confront vampires head-on with a rubber band gun."
"It's probably a difference in customs. In my hometown, we don't usually call someone an idiot that."
Looking at the broken bones and tattered flesh in his hand, [ Easily Soluble in Water ] asked in confusion:
How did he die?
The player gestured with his lip towards Bennett's heavy punch:
He went up and grabbed a small pistol to provoke them, then got his hand smashed with a casual punch.
"So what are we waiting for now?"
"I guess the battle isn't over yet. It should be our turn soon, since the health bar isn't even lit up, which means we arrived too early."
"So that's how it is. Why didn't they just say the intro wasn't over yet? This official team is really something..."
In a sense, their guesses were not wrong.
Ed certainly wouldn't actively restrict players from attacking Bennett, but if they died from some unknown area-of-effect attack or were instantly killed after drawing aggro, that wouldn't be his problem.
Players' long-standing trust in the official team has led them to believe that this is not a sign of imbalance, but simply that the cutscenes are not yet over.
They simply felt that the developers had gone to great lengths to enhance the game's immersive experience.
Will a pop-up window appear saying I can't die before the battle even begins?
Having confirmed this to each other, the players, after a few unlucky ones had died, gathered around the BOSS, forming a defensive circle around Xilǐ'er and Bennett, waiting for the two to settle their differences so they could enter Harvest.
However, following normal logical reasoning, since the developers want players to experience the thrill of fighting bosses, no matter how powerful Xilǐ'er was in the past, he is bound to lose this battle.
So, while the players were prepared to join the battle and take over at any moment, they verbally cheered for Xilǐ'er on the battlefield, much like the spectators around the Rome Colosseum. Some even deliberately stirred things up by shouting "Go Bennett!"