Chapter 22: The Stage

There was no doubt about the strength of a Knight.

Especially for some geniuses, they were truly astonishing!

Of course, people called ‘geniuses’ like this only appeared among Nobles or within the Royal Family—the emphasis on Bloodline was not baseless.

After all, the stronger the combination of Bloodline, the more likely it was to produce a ‘genius’, which was a widely recognized fact, just like King of City.

He awakened on his own at the age of six, without needing the so-called ‘Knight’s Baptism’!

While this was being discussed in every Kingdom and Duchy in Goedz, it also became a trend for everyone to imitate—everyone knew that King of City’s Mother was his own aunt.

The result of inbreeding was naturally obvious; there were few successes and countless failures. Even if the successes were the center of attention and radiant, the failures died in obscurity—both Nobles and the Royal Family valued their reputation greatly, so they would not allow Bloodlines that disgraced such reputations to appear.

However, this was not what Dean cared about.

He knew deeply that since he had made his choice, he would face such enemies in the days to come, and even King of City would become his opponent. But for now, he only needed to face one Knight who was not that much of a genius or outstanding—

Whoosh!

When Dean pulled the trigger, the tensioned arrow was activated by the mechanism and shot out. In the powerful sound of tearing through the air, the arrow, wrapped in layers of snowflakes, shot straight toward the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander.

“Haaa!”

A shout came out of Potts’s mouth. The arm holding the Longsword thickened visibly by a margin, making the already strong body look even more bulky. The swinging Longsword not only gained immense Strength, creating a whooshing wind, but its speed also increased drastically.

The blade collided with the arrow—

Ding!

A very crisp sound instantly rang out in the forest!

The arrow shot from the Crossbow, which could pierce armor made of two layers of cured cowhide, was simply cleaved away with one slash.

Potts fell from mid-air and landed a few feet down. After his body shook slightly, he finally stabilized his footing—Undoubtedly, although the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander had cleared away the Crossbow arrow, the momentum of his leap had also been hindered. Moreover, clearing the Crossbow arrow while in mid-air had an effect on the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander.

After all, the main reason why abilities like ‘Power Burst’ were not valued by true Nobles or the Royal Family was that the burst time was too short, and there were aftereffects—depending on one’s physical quality, there would be a period of weakness of varying durations.

Potts, as the user, naturally understood this. Therefore, after stabilizing his stance, he prepared to leap again to grab that hateful little Noble—’Break your limbs and hang you up in the Snowplains Dense Forest to freeze!’ Potts was not speaking idly.

However, just as Potts was about to leap but hadn’t yet, a roar like that of a fierce beast suddenly rang out—

Roar!

A huge white figure burst out of the Dense Forest.

“Snow Bear!”

Seeing the figure, Potts immediately let out a startled cry.

As everyone knows, in the Four Northern Counties of the Emerald Kingdom, Vauban County borders the Snowplains Dense Forest.

But in reality, only the Tier Territory within Vauban County was truly adjacent to the Snowplains Dense Forest. The other four Territories, if judged by standard maps, were almost one hundred kilometers away from the Snowplains Dense Forest; as for the actual distance? It was even farther.

Therefore, among everyone in the Emerald Kingdom, the people of Tier Territory were the most familiar with the Snowplains Dense Forest; because the people of Tier Territory, which bordered the Snowplains Dense Forest, found all their livelihoods within it; so, hunters and woodcutters became the true jobs of the people of Tier Territory.

You say farming?

For Tier Territory, where winter lasted for more than six months a year, large-scale farming was completely unrealistic. Only a small portion of the fields belonging to Baron Tier had some cold-resistant crops.

However, there was only one Baron in Tier Territory.

The livelihoods of the remaining people of Tier Territory were all in the Snowplains Dense Forest—precisely because of this, every person in Tier Territory knew the dangers of the Snowplains Dense Forest. Snow Wolves, Barbarians, bandits, and wanted criminals constantly bred in this forest. As a result, when people from Tier Territory entered for hunting or logging, they had to travel in groups. If they were alone, it was practically asking for death.

However, compared to these terrifying existences, there was another existence that made even the grouped-up people of Tier Territory feel fear.

That was the Snow Bear.

With white fur, a body length of over fourteen feet, and a weight equivalent to several Warhorses!

Such a massive body brought unmatched Strength. Its claws, comparable to a Knight’s round shield, possessed enough power to make a true Knight pale with fear—in short, even a true Knight could not compare to the brute strength of a Snow Bear.

Knights who had once tried to change this rumor all left in disgrace.

After breaking nearly all their bones and tendons, even after treatment, their careers as Knights had to come to an end.

So, Potts, the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander who possessed true Knight strength, instinctively let out a startled cry when facing the charging Snow Bear.

Although not a native of Tier Territory, Potts, who came from another Territory in Vauban County—the Ruler Territory—naturally understood the terrifying nature of Snow Bears.

Although Potts had a sincere and trustworthy face, when facing danger, he would never advance into it head-on.

Running away… or rather, retreating, in Potts’s opinion, was the most correct choice at this time.

However, Dean in the tree would not let such a thing happen.

Whoosh!

Snap!

As soon as Potts made a move, an arrow appeared by his feet, and the two arrows that followed immediately afterward deprived him of his best chance to escape.

“Dean!!”

Looking at the Snow Bear that completely revealed its massive figure, Potts’s cry at this moment was like the cold wind blowing through the Far North, not only bone-chillingly cold but also carrying a ferociousness that plundered Life.

“I am here, Your Excellency!”

Compared to Potts’s cold and tyrannical cry, Dean’s response was enthusiastic at this moment. He spoke softly: “Are you not satisfied with the closing stage I arranged for you? Dying while competing with a Snow Bear is not shameful for a Knight. Even if your Corpse is gnawed until it is incomplete, I will definitely bring your deeds back to the Ferrchelen Knight Order! You say… which title suits you better, Potts who overestimates himself, or Potts who has lost his mind?”

The gentle voice became increasingly vicious, causing Potts’s breathing to quicken again due to anger.

“Maybe it’s not me who dies!”

Facing the pressing Snow Bear, Potts, who was slowly retreating, even began to lose strength in his retorts.

“Is that so? The result won’t be long. I believe we both have such patience!”

Dean smiled. He raised his bow and aimed an arrow at Potts again, but did not shoot immediately—just as Dean said, he had such patience.

However, Potts did not. After seeing Dean’s movement in his peripheral vision, the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander no longer had that arrogant demeanor from before. He even lost all dignity and shouted loudly: “Dean, you cannot do this. I was only forced by that gentleman to intervene in your conflict, and also…”

Clearly, by this time, Potts did not dare to treat Dean as an ordinary little Noble anymore!

How could an ordinary little Noble achieve something like this now?

Undoubtedly, he had been used as a gun, intervening in a conspiracy vortex he could not have imagined. Furthermore, he did not even dare to confirm if there were others lurking in the surrounding Dense Forest.

As for why he thought so?

It was because Potts simply did not believe that everything before his eyes was orchestrated by just this little Noble in front of him!

If it really were that way…

It would be too terrifying!

Nearly instinctively, Potts shivered, then continued to shout: “Also, I am the Regiment Commander of the Ferrchelen Knight Order, I am a Knight…”

“A Knight? You are a Knight?”

Before Potts could finish his words, Dean directly interrupted him. Dean’s face still wore a smile, but that smile was full of chill. “A Knight who massacred Commoners and plundered merchants? That is truly ridiculous! Potts, I have many enemies, and there are many people I would be glad to kill, but… I believe that among them, you are the most disgusting one!”

Taking a deep breath, Dean said word by word: “As for the Vice Regiment Commander of the Central Knight Order? Rest assured! He, like you, is definitely doomed to die!”

Hum!

Whoosh!

As soon as the words fell, the bowstring loosened, and the arrow shot down with great force.