Chapter 421: A Fat Haul

"The lord is dead!"

"Run quickly..."

Seeing the lord slain by a single hammer, the city guard's battle will collapsed at once; they dropped their comrades and turned to flee, but the melee between both sides made it hard to break away.

The silver-armored knights pressed the attack, and the Extreme Warriors also aimed their barrels at the enemy, firing in bursts.

Xika Liusi, Captain Tien, and two legendary fish‑man tide hunters rushed into the enemy ranks and opened a slaughter, while Boruqi brandished his Holy Light Sword to intercept from the rear.

Without the legendary transcendent's resistance and organization, the city guard were no match; the battle in the hall instantly turned into a one‑sided massacre.

Lei En picked up the Black Knight's longsword.

His gaze swept over a corner of the hall, where a hidden figure hovered—a plain‑looking Wizard, who was a student of the Silver Star Duke, named Andelo, a level‑15 Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard.

Those two legendary fish‑man tide hunters were his summons.

Andelo's strength was clearly beyond that; when he helped besiege the Black Knight earlier, he didn't give his all—this is the Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard's usual combat style, letting others charge while he hides at the rear.

If you put a nice spin on it, it's cautious; if not, it's cowardly…

Lei En muttered under his breath.

The enemies in the hall were quickly wiped out; hundreds of souls were absorbed, and the spirit‑power pool's charge kept soaring. With the Black Knight's soul added, the thousand‑slot spirit pool was already filled to nearly one‑third.

"That was a real fat haul!"

Lei En felt pleased; if he ignored the enhancement Element, all this charge could be used for upgrading, enough for him to boost straight to level 13 and ascend to the Mid‑stage of the Legend.

With the last few ratmen slain, the battle ended.

"Regroup here."

Tien shouted loudly, breathing lightly, a relaxed smile on his face. Battle sounds still came from outside the hall, but they were not intense; the core defensive forces of the lord's mansion were all here, the lord was already dead, and the situation was settled.

He looked at Lei En, his eyes complex.

He had personally witnessed the Black Knight's power; only by teaming with a few novice Legends could they barely hold him—alone, he would be no match.

Such a mighty Legendary Black Knight was slain by Lei En's single hammer blow.

At this moment, Xika Liusi reformed a line with several Extreme Warriors behind Lei En; when sweeping the lord's mansion, those Extreme Warriors were virtually unstoppable—few enemies could hold a line for more than thirty seconds under their gunfire.

Without Extreme Warriors, breaking through the lord's mansion so smoothly would have been impossible.

Tien couldn't help but feel awe.

He both revered Lei En's great strength and was astonished by the Extreme Warriors under his command; he thought that after returning, he must report in detail to the Duke and reassess Lei En.

Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, Tien walked toward the treasure vault's massive door.

The heavy door was engraved with runes, forged from a single massive stone—tall and weighty, clearly protected by magic, not easy to open.

"Lord Andelo," Tien called out.

He is a Great Swordmaster, knowing little of such advanced magic, so he must rely on a Wizard to decipher it.

"Hmm, let me see," Andelo's figure appeared beside him, studying the door's runes for a moment before shaking his head: "This magical door is hard to break; I can open it, but it will take two or three hours..." He turned to Lei En and smiled: "Earl of Glamorgan, I can only ask you to act."

Andelo's meaning was clear: he wanted Lei En to smash the door down violently.

Lei En gave a slight nod.

To him, the magical door was as easy as air—just a push to get through—but with so many present, and Andelo being an experienced Legendary Wizard, he didn't want to reveal the Key of Doors.

Lei En, bearing his war hammer, stood before the vault door and said, "Everyone step aside a bit."

The others hurried back to a distance.

Lei En inhaled deeply, raised the Thunder Hammer; still in a berserk state, with Boruqi's "Light of Power" not yet ended, he struck the door with a mighty blow.

A devastating critical hit combined with ten‑level power instantly shattered the runes.

Boom—

A deafening blast rang out, and everyone instinctively covered their ears.

The whole hall trembled as the sturdy door crashed down; when the dust cleared, a bright passage descended, illuminated by crystal lamps on the walls.

Lei En confirmed there were no magical traps and led the way down.

A warehouse unfolded before his eyes, spanning over a hundred square meters; half the space held large crates, the other half featured neatly arranged shelves stocked with all kinds of supplies, materials, and gear, dazzling to the eye.

Tien sliced open the secret locks of several crates with his sword, and after opening, confirmed they were all filled with gold coins!

"Sss..."

Several Legends inhaled sharply together, excitement flashing in their eyes.

Everyone finally understood why the Black Knight, knowing he couldn't hold the line, refused to flee and stubbornly guarded the vault—such massive treasure, who would give it up easily?

By Lei En's estimate, its value exceeds three million Gold Shields!

"This must be Matzos' wealth accumulated over years," Tien sighed.

Andelo's gaze swept over the magical materials on the shelves, and with a delighted face he said, "The timing of this raid is perfect; those evil‑god followers haven't moved the wealth elsewhere yet, so it's all ours now."

"Hmm..." Lei En cleared his throat.

Tien and Andelo caught on; they knew the agreement between Lei En and the Silver Star Duke, and Andelo laughed, "Of course, a portion also belongs to the Earl."

Lei En nodded with satisfaction.

"Brothers, get to work," Tien ordered the silver‑armored knights into the vault; Andelo tore open a scroll, and a towering teleportation gate appeared in the middle, leading straight to the manor outside Matzos City. Hundreds of silver‑armored knights acted together, emptying the vault in just a few minutes.

Why were they so proficient?

Lei En watched the scene, a sudden realization dawning—this time the Silver Star Duke truly came prepared; these riches were indeed her real target!

After leaving the vault, the spirit‑power pool's charge stopped rising, clearly indicating all enemies inside and outside the lord's mansion had been eliminated.

Tien gathered his troops and carefully swept the area once more.

Lei En also recalled the Extreme Warriors guarding the two exits.

"Let's go!" Tien reformed the knight order, shouting, "There are countless evil‑god followers still in Matzos City; none may be spared."

He led the charge out of the lord's mansion, marching grandly toward the city's largest bank.

Lei En was momentarily confused.

"This is a bank robbery!"

He had never done anything so thrilling in two lifetimes, glanced at the map in Ti'en's hand, which marked several key locations—bank, alchemy shop, and dock warehouse—all places where wealth amassed, clearly having been scouted for a big heist.

The Solar Eclipse Tower in the distance still endured fierce fighting.

The Silver Star Duke was nowhere to be seen, but the demon soul she summoned continued its frenzied assault on the tower, unending; the towering spire was already wobbling and would not hold for long.

The underground temple's status was unknown, but there were several legendary and many secret fire guard units, so there should be no issue.

Lei En withdrew his gaze; soon, the bank was reached.

Silver‑armored knights dispersed in units, surrounding the gilded bank tightly, and Andro summoned again those two legendary fishmen tide hunters.

Along with the summons came a massive horde of fishmen.

"Wawoooo…"

Hundreds of varied fishmen landed, emitting strange cries.

Most were low‑level ordinary fishmen, their colorful skins extremely smooth, eyes fierce, mouths full of sharp teeth; there were also Mid‑stage fishman warriors, fishman hunters, high‑level fishman seers, fishman marshals; and some oddly named fishmen whose forms varied, jammed together like a complete fishman tribe.

Fishmen are common monsters in the wild; rivers, coasts, lakes, underground dark rivers, canals… any place with water may host fishmen.

A single fishman's strength is not frightening, but they are countless in number.

Wizards who specialize in studying fishmen have found that there are hundreds of fishman species worldwide; these low‑level monsters are like weeds, impossible to eradicate, quickly reproducing in large numbers. They possess some intelligence, develop basic social structures, yet are not truly sentient races.

Fishmen have extremely keen senses; at the slightest wind or rustle, they swarm, overwhelming the few, becoming nightmares for countless low‑level adventurers.

They also have a trait: the more numerous they are, the stronger they become.

Between fishmen, a peculiar aggregation effect forms, as if imbued with various spells; their power, defense, speed, and vitality all increase, even their casting ability rises dramatically.

Some Ten Thousand Spirits Wizards value the fishmen's traits, specifically collecting their demon souls to forge massive fishman hordes, comparable to a transcendent legion.

This fishman group is led by two legendary tide hunters and a legendary fishman secret wizard, extremely rare.

Even among Ten Thousand Spirits Wizards, such a formidable fishman horde is rare.

At Andro's command, hundreds of fishmen surged into the bank like a tide, brandishing rusted weapons, attacking anyone they saw with frenzy.

The bank echoed with horrific screams.

Occasionally fishmen were slain, their demon souls returned to Andro's Soul Gathering Tower, then he re‑summoned them, and they rushed back into the bank to continue the slaughter.

After a few minutes, the resistance cries inside the bank grew quieter.

"That's enough," Andro said, "you may go in."

Ti'en immediately waved, and the silver‑armored knights stormed into the bank, only to find the ground littered with guard corpses, torn apart by fishmen in gruesome fashion.

Lei En followed in, smashing open the bank's vault with a hammer.

In less than five minutes total, Matheus's largest bank was emptied, and the same method was applied to the others; Andro led the fishman horde at the front, suffering almost no casualties, and cleared two more banks and Matheus's most famous alchemy shop, reaping a bounty.

Along the way, enemy factions resisted and attacked, but Extreme Warriors swept them away, harvesting souls, which were converted into Lei En's electric charge.

The party rushed toward the dock warehouse, and Ti'en's and Andro's communication devices rang simultaneously.

Flink's voice came: "Halken escaped from the temple, likely fled to Matheus's surface; you must be vigilant."

Currently searching for the office, there will be updates tonight…

(End of chapter)