we easy To easily defeat

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Quickly check on Master Hilton!"

The mercenary guards, well-trained, immediately formed a defensive formation, surrounding Hilton's carriage.

"Master, are you alright?"

Inside the carriage, Hilton was drenched in cold sweat. The arrow was less than two centimeters from his throat; he could taste the rust on the arrowhead if he just moved his tongue. Fortunately, the arrow got stuck at the last moment. Otherwise, Hilton's brainstem and throat would have been pierced together. Terrified and furious, he yelled.

"Who!! Who!! Which beast tried to harm me? Don't they know I'm a friend of Lord Melan?!"

"Master, we haven't found any enemy traces."

"Then hurry up and find them!"

"Find what?! Your grandpa's here!"

"Wh—"

The mercenary captain was astonished to find that the bushes beside him were speaking!

"Ambush!"

As soon as the words fell, a large number of people suddenly emerged from the surrounding bushes, trees, and even the pits. They wore uniform armor and round helmets, wielding long spears and charging towards the mercenaries guarding the carriage.

"Royal Army!"

"Why is the Royal Army here?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you!"

The mercenaries were caught off guard by the sudden attack, and the uniform armor of the enemy made them even more suspicious. 

For a moment, they didn't know whether to fight back. After all, they were mercenaries, paid to do a job; there was no need to risk their lives.

Fighting with government soldiers was rebellion; their whole families could end up on the chopping block.

However, the next moment, they knew they had no choice. A figure slowly emerged from the depths of the forest. Tall and strong, with a serious expression, his full beard made him look quite old. Roland held an ordinary knight's sword in his right hand and a shield engraved with a crimson rose in his left. Today, he was the Rose Knight.

The mercenaries knew that this knightly order, famous throughout the continent, would never let anyone involved in the slave trade go. The Rose Knights' campaigns were always accompanied by the most brutal and bloody suppression, the only way to scare those vicious human traffickers. Surrender was pointless; they could only fight to the death!

"Damn it, I'll fight you!"

A mercenary with a red headscarf raised his weapon and charged towards Roland.

Roland didn't move, only watching the moth flying into the flame with cold eyes.

The next moment, he flicked his wrist, and a golden sword light flashed past.

The mercenary with the headscarf froze; his raised sword seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand and couldn't fall. The red headscarf split in two and slowly drifted down.

"You… are…"

Before he could finish, his body split in two and fell to the ground, blood and flesh splattering.

Martial Skill: [Arc Flash]

"Golden Knight! He's a Golden Knight!"

The experienced mercenary captain immediately recognized this highly representative martial skill. [Arc Flash] is known for its ultra-high-speed slash; the opponent is already hit before they see the sword light. This is one of the Golden Knight's most lethal martial skills, and also one of the hardest to master.

The mercenaries, a rabble of bullies, seeing the enemy's invincibility, immediately scattered, leaving Hilton, their charge, behind. However, in Siegfried's plan, no one from the Hoover Trading Company would leave this forest alive today, except for the slaves.

"Knight's Charge!"

A valiant and spirited shout came. Then, several figures flew into the air in a haphazard manner. Katarina, holding the Rose Knight's shield with both hands, stood alone, blocking the mercenaries' escape route.

"Just one person, let's all go together and take her down!"

The mercenaries, eager to escape, swarmed her.

"Hmph!"

Katarina snorted coldly, dodging a mercenary's slash. With a flip of her wrists, she brought the shield down from above.

The mercenary's head was smashed to pieces as easily as a watermelon. Just as she turned to deal with the next enemy, she found that these cunning mercenaries, using their fallen comrade as cover, had already bypassed her and fled.

Katarina's eyes turned cold. She took a deep breath, her chest rising high.

"ROAR!"

Her war cry resounded like thunder! The fleeing mercenaries nearby seemed to be possessed, involuntarily turning their heads, their eyes fiercely fixed on Katarina, slowly gathering around her again.

Martial Skill: [Provocative Roar]

The mercenaries desperately wanted to escape, but under the influence of this martial skill, their bodies uncontrollably felt hatred and a desire for revenge towards Katarina, as if she were their father's murderer. Everyone raised their weapons and attacked the female knight from different directions.

Katarina stood still, unmoving, slamming the Rose Knight's shield to the ground. Bang, a huge shield phantom flashed past.

An invisible barrier covered the female knight's entire body. Clang! The mercenaries' weapons struck Katarina's waist, abdomen, and even head, but the sound was like the clash of gold and iron. At this moment, the female knight's whole body had become as hard as her shield!

Martial Skill: [Impregnable]

The mercenaries' hands were almost numb from the shock, but under the influence of [Provocative Roar], they continued to attack recklessly.

"Oops, trouble…"

Katarina froze, a few drops of cold sweat trickling down her forehead. The effect of [Impregnable] only lasted for a moment; after the effect ended, the user would be in a two-second stalemate. She was now like a naked piglet, ready to be slaughtered, unable even to block.

Just as the swords were about to strike, Katarina desperately thought about how to explain to Roland that she had lost.

At that moment, a gust of wind roared past, knocking the mercenaries around Katarina to the ground. Roland walked slowly, twisting his sword-holding wrist. The blow had to repel the mercenaries without injuring his student, which had been quite taxing.

"Teacher!"

"How many times have I told you, don't use [Impregnable] without companions nearby. Why can't you learn?"

Roland glared at Katarina, this girl's head was harder than his own when he was young. But the knight class was such that the harder the head, the more likely they were to succeed. He raised his left-hand shield, crossing it with his right-hand sword in front of him. This was the Rose Knights' formation salute, usually only used for the dead.

"Atone for your sins, beneath these blooming roses!"

...........................

"This guy is even more melodramatic than I am?"

Siegfried watched the entire battlefield from a tall pine tree, occasionally commenting on the fervent Roland. He had a longbow on his back; he had sniped Hilton's carriage from here. That's right, Mr. Siegfried also knew how to shoot arrows; he was the ace of the archery club in high school. He didn't have to worry about shooting Hilton dead in the carriage; his arrow was just a signal to start the attack.

[Your Archery Proficiency has increased, current proficiency 58%]

Shannon, the system, made a rare appearance, its functions mostly covered by the travel guide. Sometimes Siegfried would even forget he had a system mother.

"It's about time, I should rendezvous with Yang Jing."

He smoothly slid down the tree, throwing the longbow to Bobo, the guard watching below.

"Sir, you are truly the future hero, not only capable of scheming but also of shooting arrows. Truly a combination of beauty and wisdom, the embodiment of heroism and chivalry, I admire you wholeheartedly."

Bobo immediately started flattering, but this guy's cultural level was clearly insufficient; Siegfried's temples throbbed from the praise.

"Alright, shut up."

"Yes, sir!"

Siegfried looked at the fawning guard:

"Do you know why I brought you here?"

"I know, I know. I'm here to be your personal servant."

Bobo scratched the slightly itchy scar on his face, chuckling.

Siegfried didn't reply, turning around expressionlessly.

..................

"Aaaaaah!"

"What's wrong? What happened? Uh, puf…"

"Who! Come out! If you're a man, stand up and fight honourably… puf!"

One mercenary after another clutched their bleeding throats and fell powerlessly, the gushing blood almost forming a stream. Since the attack ten minutes ago, this eerie scene had been playing out non-stop. Until now, they still didn't know what their enemy looked like.

The Hoover caravan had hundreds of people, and the forest path was extremely narrow and long, so the distance between the head and tail of the team was more than a hundred meters.

Roland and Katarina alone couldn't possibly wipe out all the enemies, so Siegfried split the team into two groups. Roland and Katarina, with all their forces, attacked the most heavily defended head of the column, aiming to capture Hilton alive.

The remaining enemies at the tail of the column would be dealt with by Siegfried and Yang Jing alone.

At this moment, Yang Jing transformed into a shadow, constantly leaping among the trees. The forest, with its abundant shadows, was the perfect battlefield for an assassin master!

She merged with the shadows, moving across the battlefield at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye. Only the pink plum blossom on her left shoulder was the only thing the mercenaries could barely distinguish. But seeing that plum blossom wasn't good news, because it meant you were already dead.

"Ah!"

"Ugh!"

More and more mercenaries fell inexplicably. At first, they could see a black shadow flash past, but now they couldn't even see a shadow. The mercenaries weren't stupid; they discovered that with each teammate's fall, the shadow's speed increased!

"It's an assassin master!"

"Damn it! How could there be an assassin master here?!"

Assassin Master Exclusive Martial Skill: [Moment of Assassination]!

Yang Jing, wielding the Youlan sword, mercilessly cut through the necks of the mercenaries like reaping wheat. Her face was expressionless, as if she wasn't the one killing.

This was a tough job; she had to single-handedly eliminate these twenty-odd mercenaries at the rear. What? You ask about her teammates? Her teammates are watching the show from the trees.

"How could this be? How could this be?!"

Unknowingly, everyone had been killed. The last mercenary, looking at the corpses on the ground, helplessly roared.

"Who are you? Why are you killing us? Why?!"

"You can ask the King of Hell about that, if this world has one."

A playful voice came from behind. The mercenary was about to turn around and strike when a sword point pierced through his chest. He looked down and saw the sword tip covered in blood, dripping onto the ground, painting blood blossoms.

"Ugh…"

The mercenary spat out blood, the light in his eyes rapidly fading, and he collapsed limply into the pool of blood. Until the end, he hadn't seen any enemy.

As the mercenary fell, Siegfried's figure, shrouded in a black robe, emerged from behind. He held a short sword, blood slowly rolling from the blade to the hilt, slipping into his palm, wet and sticky.

Siegfried glanced at the corpse on the ground; this was the first time he had killed someone. But whether it was the shocking scene of heads rolling at the auction or the atmosphere of the battlefield, he didn't feel any intense emotions about the corpse at his feet, surprisingly calm.

As if this body had long been accustomed to fighting and killing.

Ahead, Yang Jing's figure slowly emerged from the shadows. Siegfried didn't bother to think any more, wiped away non-existent sweat, put on the special smile after successfully taking a head, and walked towards Yang Jing, who was emerging from the shadows.

"Wow, that was a tough fight."

"…"

Yang Jing looked at him with disdain.

"We're so amazing!"

"......"

Yang Jing looked at him with extreme disdain.

"We just slaughtered twenty-eight people!"

"............"

Yang Jing looked at him with the same disdain as she would look at kitchen scraps.

"Ahem, let's go join the main force."

He awkwardly changed the subject, before he got beaten…

At the front of the caravan, Roland and Katarina had already dealt with all the enemies. The remaining mercenaries, having lost their will to resist, threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically.

"Please spare my life, I'll do anything, anything!"

The slaves looked at this scene, a hint of surprise on their numb faces. It turned out that these high-and-mighty mercenary masters also had times when they were as humble as themselves.

"Hey! We're here!"

Katarina was the first to see Siegfried and Yang Jing, waving her hands in greeting. Roland looked in the direction of the voice.

In the distance, the man was in a black robe, smiling; the woman was in black tight-fitting clothes, cold and aloof.

The warm spring sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, painting mottled golden shadows on the two of them, while behind them lay a large number of corpses.

Two completely different atmospheres were intertwined in the same space and time, chilling people to the bone. They walked leisurely, unhurriedly, as if they were the protagonists of this world.

Roland was astonished to find that there wasn't a single speck of blood or even dust on these two! Even he, as strong as he was, would inevitably get a little bloodstained after a battle. His heart trembled involuntarily, his voice trembling.

"This… is… the hero's team…"