Amber Sword

The huge bone skeleton took a step forward and raised its war axe. Although it was still behind a wall, the experienced Brand understood that he was already within the enemy's attack range, and his heart couldn't help but turn cold. In that moment, he could think of no way to resist the blow; his only chance was perhaps to abandon one hand to save his life.

He had already gritted his teeth and made his decision.

But at that very moment, a young man in his mid-twenties with silver hair and purple eyes, exceptionally handsome, walked grimly around the corner and bumped directly into Brand. Following behind him were two men dressed in dark blue knight uniforms, wearing silver chest armor and with longswords at their waists, silver scales on their epaulets—clearly the formal attire of the Silver Wing Cavalry.

This young man was none other than one of the lieutenants of the Silver Wing Cavalry Corps, the sergeant of the Silver Wing Cavalry, and the illegitimate son of Duke Golan-Elsen, Viscount Test. When he saw Brand, he paused slightly, as if thinking of something, but his expression quickly darkened. Without a word, he drew the thin sword at his waist and thrust it towards Brand's left chest.

His attack was incredibly fast, precise, and vicious, almost beyond the ability of the human eye to capture, like a thin silver line drawn in the air. But Brand was incredibly quick-witted. As soon as he saw the other's expression, he knew that this was an enemy, not an ally. Not knowing the strength of his opponent and being unarmed, he could only instinctively defend his vital parts and dodge to the side.

Viscount Test was slightly surprised. He didn't expect a seemingly ordinary mercenary of Black Iron Lower strength to be so alert. Having missed his strike, he adjusted the angle of his attack, but the thin sword only managed to pierce through Brand's shoulder like a venomous snake, drawing a line of blood.

Brand grunted and tumbled to the side. His heart was pounding with fear. He had seen it clearly in the instant Test attacked—Intermediate Knight Swordsmanship—the attacker's strength was at least Gold level. Fortunately, the opponent had been somewhat distracted, or else he would be a cold corpse by now.

He had no time to wonder how he had provoked such a powerful enemy, a young master with third-level power, surely a Revealer. In fact, Brand was not wrong. His opponent, Viscount Test, was not just a Revealer but also the Saint Heir of the All Things Return to One (a candidate for being an elder of the twelve rings of the All Things Return to One), giving him ample reason to be proud compared to most of his peers.

But this pride had met with its second setback with Brand. Test had never experienced failure before. However, the recent disappearance of Bogg Neson's daughter had him troubled. They had learned that the Neson family might be related by blood to the Xifah Dynasty from over a hundred years ago, which was connected to a huge secret. He had assumed that a noble's young lady could not play any significant role, but this certainty was shattered when she disappeared right under his nose. Despite his usually carefree demeanor, he was meticulous inside, but this incident made him taste the bitter fruit of failure for the first time.

And now, the young man in front of him.

All recent intelligence pointed to a prior mistake in their information gathering. The All Things Return to One could conclude that there was a leader above the Red Copper Dragon Reto at the Brags' base. This leader was a young man, so Test immediately directed his suspicion towards Brand, who had appeared with Batom that day.

Of course, this was just a thought, and Test had not given it much importance. He didn't expect to run into Brand in such a place. Seeing Brand, Test immediately thought to test him, though his method of testing was to strike to kill. After all, even if he killed the wrong person, it wouldn't matter.

Brand was just an unknown mercenary to him.

He didn't expect Brand to give him a surprise. A big surprise.

As Brand fell, he rolled between Test and the two soldiers. Using the momentum, he rolled to the other side of the three. Viscount Test was slightly startled, intending to strike again, but the wall in front of him suddenly cracked— a blood-red pointed helm of a Crusader Executioner emerged from under the small doorway, then extended forward, and the giant axe smashed the entire wall, causing it to collapse towards them.