Chi chi chi!

  The eerie sound of flesh being torn apart erupted in succession, setting one's teeth on edge.

  In almost an instant, more than a dozen of the weakest Corrupted were torn to shreds by the black flock of crows. Following them were seven Disciples with the strength of Beginner and Intermediate Grand Knights.

  They lasted only one or two breaths longer than the Corrupted before following in their companions' footsteps.

  The Stoneskin ability, which the Disciples took such pride in, was as fragile as water-soaked paper under the concentrated attacks of countless sharp claws and beaks, torn to pieces in moments. In the blink of an eye, the more than 20 aggressive heretics were reduced to just four survivors.

  Sia and Peyton stared dumbfounded at the scene before them, their mouths gaping wide enough to fit an apple, unable to make a sound.

  This... this is too fierce, isn't it?!

  Chi chi chi!

  The shrill sound of breaking air rang out again.

  Ten Magic Missiles traced graceful yet deadly blue arcs through the void, simultaneously striking one of the surviving Disciples. Without any suspense, the Disciple was instantly riddled with holes, blood gushing out like a fountain.

  Pierce didn't even glance at the fallen corpse; his indifferent gaze had already locked onto the next target.

  To avoid accidentally injuring the flock created by Mist Raven, he did not use Fireball, choosing instead the more precise and controllable Magic Missiles. Although this spell hadn't yet been deeply modified by the Omniscient Eye, with his Spirit as high as 95.38, the power he unleashed was more than enough to instantly kill a High Grand Knight.

  If it hit a vital spot, even a Peak Grand Knight wouldn't be able to withstand the blow.

  "Damn it!"

  The leader, a scar-faced Disciple, turned an ashen shade of green. The other two surviving Disciples also looked pale as earth, cold sweat instantly soaking their backs.

  They never dreamed that this Rank 3 Wizard Apprentice, who looked at most 16 or 17 years old, would be strong to such an inconceivable degree! In just one encounter, their force of over 20 elites had been nearly wiped out!

  They even began to suspect that the City Guard at the first defensive line had intercepted them half-heartedly on purpose, simply to lure them here to their deaths—borrowing a knife to kill and reducing their own casualties.

  "We can't go on like this, or we'll all die here tonight!"

  The scar-faced Disciple's expression shifted rapidly. Suddenly, his eyes turned vicious, and he signaled the other two companions.

  Having worked together for a long time, the two Disciples immediately understood his intent. They roared in unison, their already burly bodies swelling instantly. Violent battle qi erupted, forming a tangible wave of air that forcibly blew away the surrounding Mist Ravens.

  Immediately after, the two stamped their feet heavily.

  Boom!

  The ground cracked instantly, and a hideous fissure snaked rapidly toward Pierce. Within the fissure, countless sharp earth spikes shot up like a reverse torrential rain, grinding the obstructing Mist Ravens into nothingness along the path.

  From high above, it looked as if the dense black flock of crows had been wiped away by an invisible hand, clearing a death channel over 30 meters long.

  At the end of the channel stood Pierce.

  At the same time, the scar-faced Disciple burst with blood qi, his aura surging dramatically. He roared, pushing off the ground with great force. As the ground collapsed beneath him, he charged forward like an out-of-control heavy tank, reaching Pierce in the blink of an eye.

  "Die!"

  Under Pierce's seemingly stunned and stiff gaze, the scar-faced Disciple swung his sword down!

  "Got him!"

  A trace of wild joy flashed in the scar-faced Disciple's eyes. The other two Disciples also wore hideous smiles.

  However, a second later, the smiles on their lips froze.

  As the blade slashed through, Pierce's body twisted and rippled like a reflection in disturbed water, then dissipated into the air.

  Illusion!

  The scar-faced Disciple’s expression changed drastically, his heart contracting sharply.

  Just then, a short, abrupt scream rang out.

  The scar-faced Disciple whipped his head around, just in time to see a companion hit by several Magic Missiles, falling heavily with severe injuries, before being instantly engulfed by countless black crows. The sound of chewing bones was drowned out.

  Before he could react, another scream reached his ears.

  He turned back in horror, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

  He saw the other companion staring wide-eyed, a gleaming sword tip protruding from his chest, blood dripping down the fuller.

  Shing!

  The blade was withdrawn, and the Disciple with the strength of a Peak Grand Knight slumped softly to the ground, revealing the indifferent face behind him, not even a corner of his robe stained with dust.

  It was Pierce.

  Meeting Pierce's icy black eyes, the scar-faced Disciple felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His limbs felt cold, and despair surged uncontrollably in his heart.

  How can there be such a powerful Wizard Apprentice? This pressure... even a Legendary Knight might not be much more than this!

  Flap flap flap!

  Under the gloomy night, crows danced in the sky. The black mist raised by the beating of their wings interwove, turning the entire block into a sea of pitch-black fog. One look was enough to fill one's vision with heart-palpitating darkness and the scent of death.

  The figure of the scar-faced Disciple had completely vanished, thoroughly drowned in that black ocean.

  In a desperate situation where all his companions were dead and only he remained, his fate was sealed.

  Sia and Peyton watched the scene blankly, their mouths dry, unable to recover for a long while.

  They had thought tonight would be a bitter struggle with a ninety percent chance of death; both had even prepared themselves to pay with their lives. Who would have thought that events would take such a turn? Pierce, alone, had crushed all the heretics with the force of a landslide.

  Including 3 Peak Grand Knights, over 10 Disciples, and more than 10 Corrupted. Such a formidable lineup couldn't even last 5 minutes under Pierce's hand before being wiped out.

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  This magical development left Sia and Peyton in a trance, feeling a surreal sense of absurdity.

  "So... so strong!"

  Coming back to his senses, Peyton's face flushed with excitement, his gaze toward Pierce filled with fanatical worship and awe. Sia's beautiful eyes also shone brightly, making no attempt to hide the shock in her heart.

  In this moment, both couldn't help but feel fortunate to have been chosen by Pierce. To become the official follower of such a powerhouse would definitely be the luckiest opportunity of their lives.

  Whoosh!

  The sky full of crows suddenly rushed upwards, spiraling like a black pillar of smoke, finally converging into a single point at the very top.

  In just a moment, the sky-blotting black flood vanished completely, condensing into a single raven with glossy dark feathers and intelligent eyes.

  It let out a sharp cry, diving from the high altitude, slowing abruptly only when it reached Pierce, and landed lightly on his shoulder, elegantly preening its feathers.

  Sia suddenly understood. So that terrifying flock of thousands was just a transformation of Pierce's single familiar.

  A wizard's familiar is indeed magically unpredictable! The girl marveled inwardly.

  Peyton stared with wide bull-eyes at Mist Raven, unable to comprehend how such a small creature could turn into thousands of crows.

  As for the pile of mangled flesh on the ground that used to be the scar-faced Disciple, it had long been thrown to the back of their minds.

  "My Lord." Sia approached Pierce, her tone half-complaining, half-flattering. "You should have at least left some enemies for us. You solving everything alone... doesn't it make us look very useless?"

  Peyton scratched his head awkwardly too.

  Throughout this battle, there had been absolutely nothing for them to do; they were spectators the whole time. The vows of protecting the Lord to the death they made before the battle now seemed embarrassingly flushed.

  "How could that be?" Pierce smiled faintly and pointed to the corpses covering the ground. "Your job starts now."

  ...

  Sia and Peyton exchanged glances, both a bit speechless. Before coming here, they hadn't imagined their core value would be battlefield cleanup.

  Eee!

  Just then, a petite figure rushed out from Pierce's large hood.

  Sia jumped and instinctively raised her blade. Only when she saw it was the Vari-flower Fairy beside Pierce did her tense body relax.

  Eee eee!

  Ini danced above the remains of the scar-faced Disciple, hands on her hips, squeaking loudly in a condescending victor's pose, as if mocking the enemy for being weak.

  Immediately after, she flew in front of Sia and Peyton, circled them once, and stuck out her tongue, making a face.

  "Eee... use... less..."

  Sia: "???"

  You, who hid in the hat from start to finish, have the nerve to talk about us?

  Peyton couldn't understand Ini's fairy language and turned to ask Sia foolishly, "What did she say?"

  Sia grumpily replied, "She's praising you. She said you're very strong."

  Peyton scratched his head shyly. "That's not true, the Lord is much stronger than me."

  Sia rolled her eyes, too lazy to deal with the simpleton, and turned to clean up the battlefield.

  On the other side, Pierce activated the recording ring on his hand, beginning to absorb the soul energy dissipating from the battlefield and converting it into Merit Points.

  A moment later, the value in the recording ring had turned to 426 points.

  Over 400 Merit Points. Enough to exchange for a Legendary Knight-level Barbarian dependent.

  Pierce nodded with satisfaction. This definitely counted as a huge haul. Other apprentices working all night probably wouldn't earn a quarter of what he had.

  Unfortunately, it's still far from the 2000 Merit Points needed for the Realm of Truth quota. If only another wave of enemies like this could come.

  Though he thought this, Pierce knew it was impossible. Disciples weren't cabbages found everywhere. Perhaps a few strays might slip through, but a large flock of fat sheep delivering themselves to his door like just now was unlikely to happen again.

  Before long, Sia and Peyton had tallied all the loot.

  It had to be said, these heretics were paupers. The 20 or so people combined had less than 1000 gold coins on them. Aside from that, there were dozens of low-grade potions.

  Calculated out, the most valuable items were actually the two Dimensional Bags found on the leaders.

  Pierce looked at the two small grey cloth bags in his hand and suddenly asked Sia and Peyton, "Do you have Dimensional Bags?"

  The two shook their heads instinctively.

  Their families had long exhausted most of their savings to support their promotion to High Grand Knight; where would they have the spare money to buy expensive magic items like Dimensional Bags?

  Hearing this, Pierce didn't think twice and casually tossed the two Dimensional Bags to them.

  "Take them. One for each of you."

  Sia and Peyton caught them in a flurry, completely stunned.

  After reacting, Sia stammered rarely, "L-Lord, this is too expensive, we..."

  Pierce waved his hand, cutting her off.

  "If I give it to you, keep it. Be decisive like Peyton."

  Sia turned in astonishment to find Peyton had already happily tied the Dimensional Bag to his belt, stroking it fondly.

  Seeing Sia looking at him, he smiled honestly. "I listen to the Lord. Whatever the Lord says, goes."

  Sia was speechless. If she didn't know Peyton's character well, she would suspect he was playing the fool to be wise.

  But with things said to this point, Sia couldn't refuse anymore. Moreover, she had indeed dreamed of owning a Dimensional Bag, so after a few seconds of hesitation, she put it away.

  When she looked up at Pierce again, the girl's beautiful eyes were shimmering, full of gratitude and worship.

  Pierce ignored the girl's burning gaze and ordered Peyton to pile the corpses in a dark alley to the side, so the smell of blood wouldn't scare away the next prey.

  With everything handled, the three continued to guard the entrance of the block, waiting patiently like hunters.

  After witnessing Pierce's tyrannical strength, Sia and Peyton's previous anxiety had been swept away, replaced by full confidence.

  As long as a Madness Drinker didn't come, no amount of Disciples would be a match for Lord Pierce. What did they have to worry about?

  Now, they actually hoped for more heretics to come so they could earn more Contribution Points with the Lord.

  Not long after, the sounds of battle came from the distance again. Like before, the noise died down quickly, followed by several figures sprinting toward them.

  Connecting it to the last situation, Sia finally confirmed her suspicion.

  Looking at this, the City Guard at the first defensive line is clearly letting water through. It's nine out of ten likely that Warlord Harlan is pulling strings behind the scenes!

  She glanced at Pierce. Seeing his calm face, she knew the Lord had already seen through everything, so she said nothing more.

  This time, there were only 3 heretics, only one of whom was a Disciple, and merely at the level of an Intermediate Grand Knight.

  Pierce did not act, signaling Sia and Peyton to intercept.

  As soon as the battle started, the two Corrupted were killed first. The remaining Disciple was far weaker than Sia, let alone with the terrifyingly strong Peyton there. Under their siege, the Disciple soon died with hatred.

  Pierce nodded secretly. Both Sia and Peyton had extremely solid foundations, not empty frames built up solely by resources.

  Especially Sia, who practiced a high-tier breathing technique. If she grew step-by-step, the probability of breaking through to become a Legendary Knight in the future was extremely high.

  And both of them have non-human bloodlines. If stimulated and utilized properly, they might unlock unique innate abilities.

  Pierce's eyes flickered slightly; he already had a preliminary cultivation plan in mind.

  The night was long.

  After this, several more waves of heretics arrived. But just as Pierce expected, they were strays with negligible strength; the strongest was only a High Grand Knight.

  To conserve Spirit, Pierce did not act again, leaving them all to Sia and Peyton for practice.

  ...

  When the horizon turned pale with the morning light, a violent spatial tremor suddenly came from the direction of the manor.

  Pierce looked into the distance and saw the silver barrier above the manor slowly dissipating. The dawn light sprinkled down like fine rain, leaving brilliant white light trails in the void.

  "It's over." Pierce stretched and turned toward the City Guard garrison. "Let's go back."

  There was no need to guess the result of the battle. With two Official Wizards and over 10 Legendary Knights joining forces, if they still couldn't win, that would be truly bizarre.

  Sia and Peyton exchanged glances and quickly followed Pierce's footsteps. The cleanup of corpses was the City Guard's job; they didn't need to worry about it.

  Back at the City Guard garrison, the scene was one of noise and chaos.

  Soldiers hurriedly carried injured colleagues for treatment, wails and groans rising and falling along the way. Captured heretics were shackled with heavy anti-magic cuffs and marched to the prison; harsh interrogation awaited them.

  From time to time, stretchers covered in white cloth were carried past. The breeze lifted the corners of the cloth, revealing uniforms belonging to various Knight Academies.

  Seeing this, Sia couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate. Thanks to following Pierce, she had passed through last night's killing field without a scratch. Otherwise, the one lying on the stretcher right now might have been her.

  Pierce walked calmly through the noisy crowd, heading straight for the Exchange Hall.

  When the three entered the hall, many Wizard Apprentices and knight students had already gathered.

  After a whole night of fighting, most of these people looked exhausted. They were more or less wounded, their robes torn and armor dented, but their spirits were high. Many were gathered in front of the wall where the exchange list was written, excitedly discussing the exchange of loot.

  A few Wizard Apprentices near the door noticed Pierce immediately. Their eyes widened in shock, as if they had seen a ghost.

  "It's Pierce!"

  "He's not dead?"

  "Not just not dead—look at him, head to toe, even the corner of his robe isn't wrinkled. He looks like he just came back from a picnic!"

  "That shouldn't be... The zone I was responsible for was right next to No. 28. Last night I clearly saw a massive number of heretics surging that way!"

  "Could he have deserted? That's punishable by military law!"

  As the exclamations spread, more and more people discovered Pierce.

  The air in the hall seemed to freeze for a moment, then erupted into suppressed whispers. Countless suspicious gazes swept back and forth over Pierce.

  In their assumptions, Pierce, responsible for guarding the death zone of No. 28, was definitely doomed, or at least would be skinned alive.

  But now, Pierce was not only unharmed but also radiant, and even his two follower knights were full of energy. How did this look like someone who had experienced a night of bloody battle?

  Apart from desertion, they couldn't think of a second explanation.