Chapter 145: Sword

War needs no reason; mere encounter is enough.

Killing the Beast Cult requires no reason; meeting them is enough.

"SOL (Holy Sun)!"

Calm words, sacred orange-red light enveloped Li En.

The holy knight, wielding a sacred sword, confronted evil and issued a righteous challenge.

Anger? Hostility? Neither is needed.

The nightmare of the "Holy Mother Family" was yesterday; every time Li En passed the new orphanage, he had to hesitate repeatedly before daring to enter. The children's expectant gazes—each time met with disappointment—pricked him like needles, making it hard to stay long.

"Maybe only Larry, with his thick skin, can face those disappointed eyes again and again, keep going back to see those children."

Li En mocked himself—he'd rather fight cultists to the death, yet feared the children's gazes.

Each time, his skilled rhetoric left him speechless, exposed and faltering before those innocent eyes.

"Damn it! Again with these filthy bastards—so many little beasts, and they're still doing this!" But Larry's roar behind him left Li En momentarily stunned.

Perhaps she wasn't as thick-skinned as he imagined; "filthy bastards" was probably the foulest thing she could spit out.

Li En shook his head—how could a holy knight not know how to taunt?

"Oh? Isn't this the vermin of the Beast Cult? Your master—the deformed thing with his brains squeezed out—pfft, so ugly, just like you."

The masked horned acolytes glared at him with furious single eyes; Li En smiled, the grin of the victor.

"You were driven out of the city, and I gained my noble title. Thanks, really."

Why do holy knights become so fanatical against evil? Why do they attack "evil" with near-madness in others' eyes? Perhaps simply because…

"Damn evil—for the children!" Larry had already charged forward.

Li En sighed—perhaps that was the reason: the near-mad assault on evil, simply because…

They had witnessed too many tragedies born of evil!

The knights' fanatical sword swings might be nothing more than to prevent tragedy from recurring.

"Face me, filthy beast."

With Larry's small frame, he'd be crushed in seconds. Let this senior handle the aggro.

Li En's eyes transformed into a dull yellow vertical slit; the next instant, with the radiance of the Holy Solar Flame, the might and power of the Dragon crushed the entire battlefield.

But in truth, just the Dragon Eyes were enough.

"Long Longlong!"

From beneath the acolytes' robes, from cages behind them, little beasts poured out.

In an instant, they stood upright; their once-pure eyes filled with hatred, they lunged forward on all fours, fully transformed into fanged, clawed monsters.

The horned acolytes stared at Li En with bloodline-born, nameless rage—and a deep, visceral craving: if they ate him, they'd ascend and evolve immediately.

At this moment, even the great horned priest locked in battle with the dark elves paused.

"True Dragon? So pure a pseudo-Dragon?!" His instinct for evolution had been fully activated.

It seemed the higher the rank of the Beast Cult, the less "devout" they were.

Excessive rationality had blinded them to instinctive recognition; those mad little beasts, by contrast, had already recognized Li En's Dragon-blood identity.

At this moment, Li En barely cared about being exposed. The kingdom publicly despised Dragon-bloods, yet there were still countless pseudo-Dragon elites—just don't flaunt them. Of course, you must also possess the strength to withstand the "storms" and "accusations."

But now, he was grateful for his Dragon-blood identity—countless evil beasts surged toward him, drawing aggro perfectly.

"Kill that Dragon! Tear out his Dragon Eyes!" The great horned priest's roar turned it into a command.

The horned acolytes moved, transforming into beast-men and joining the horde.

This was a nightmare that chilled the scalp—a horde capable of easily overwhelming Li En.

They charged toward him, densely packed upon the resilient web-bridge.

Yet the bridge remained steady; reportedly, this processed spiderweb couldn't even be burned through by flame.

"Is that so? Then try this. ELDER (Furnace Flame)!"

Sudden fire rained from above; vast Furnace Flames ignited across the web-bridge, instantly turning some little beasts to charcoal.

"Long Longlong!"

Yet some still pressed forward.

The transformed horned acolytes—even as parts of their flesh carbonized—kept advancing across the web.

For the first time, Li En encountered life that could withstand Dragon Flame. But then he remembered the "Holy Mother," whose flesh healed while burning—this near-limitless vitality was what made beasts so maddening.

They were about to reach the stone pillar zone where Li En and his group stood.

Bloodshed was imminent; Larry had already tried to shield Li En.

The overwhelming aura of evil triggered the holy knight's instinctive rage—if Su Er were here, she'd have drawn her sword and charged into the crowd without hesitation.

Li En's "Su Er's Flame" had been exhausted; the Furnace Flame had died out too. His entire mana had been drained beyond the third tier.

"SKERVA (Sword)!" Finally, the third Dragon Word was spoken.

But it wasn't a "spell."

Calm words, paired with the motion of swinging his blade, turned the illusory strike into reality.

"SKERVA (Cut)!"

Same Dragon Word—Li En merely elaborated its meaning.

Yet the invisible sword began to "cut"—targeting the web beneath the horde.

"Useless! This is magic spiderweb strong enough to bind a Dragon! Even if it's lost its processing value, this—"

"Crack."

The great horned priest spoke too soon—the web suddenly tilted.

Li En closed his eyes; in his memory surfaced that knight—the old knight who had swung his sword at the gods!

"SKERVA (My Sword, Cuts All)!"

Will became blade-edge; my fury against injustice and wrong drove me to swing this sword—my sword—

"SKERVA (My Sword, Breaks All)!"

"Crack crack crack crack!"

In the phantom vision, an old knight swung his greatsword.

This was the true legacy left by that heroic soul—the sword that breaks all things, now gripped once more by posterity.

"SKERVA (Sword)!"

The final cry was Li En's own understanding; his pupils were streaked with blood, yet the youth wasn't calling out a name—he was calling out to the one who gave him this sword.

This "name" was never a incantation; what was called was always "the sword."

"SKE"

"Enough." The violet rose behind him stopped him, forcing his crimson eyes open.

Li En opened his eyes—and saw an entirely different scene.

The spiderweb, once strong enough to bind a Dragon, had been utterly torn apart.

"Aaaaaaah!"

"Long Longlong!"

"Damn."

His vision was blurred, unclear—but the screams he heard made him smile with delight.

The cries of evil were the sweetest music to a knight.

At this moment, holy light surrounded him; his exhausted holy power overflowed as "evil achievements," directly forcing him into ascension.

Yet an even stronger "demon" had already unfurled invisible wings and arrived before him.

The enraged great horned priest had fully transformed; his anti-gravity authority let him cross the abyss.

Li En laughed—now this was worth it.

He laughed loudly, drawing his longsword.

"This evil is worth fighting!"

(End of Chapter)