*Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!*
It was an extremely violent knock.
From the sound alone, it was obvious the person outside was an uninvited guest with hostile intentions.
And that was indeed the case.
"GET OUT!"
Following the knocks, the person outside shouted loudly, without the slightest hint of courtesy.
Riezel was certain the knocking was only for show.
If there was no response within the next few seconds, they would definitely force the door open without hesitation.
Yet, even knowing this, Riezel still made no move to respond and simply stood by the window, watching the door rattle under the violent knocks, as if waiting for the intruder to make the first move.
"Master!"
Just then, Lizbeth was the one who rushed out first.
At this moment, the little princess had already taken off her cloak, and upon hearing the knocking, she had hurried out of her bed, clutching a sword in her arms. Her face was full of panic—enough to make anyone think she had run into a criminal, looking nothing like the powerful Sword Master she was.
In this tense moment, the people outside finally kicked the door in.
*BANG!*
With a loud crash, the door flew open, revealing the figures now in Riezel and Lizbeth's view—they were two knights wearing the same uniform as those who had surrounded the inn, each with a standard knight's sword at their waist.
On their left and right chests were two medals—one was the Sword Master Medal, and the other bore a green forest pattern.
Needless to say, these two medals made their identities clear.
They were Oasis Knights—maintainers of order in Sinielle under the direct command of the City Lord.
In other words, behind them stood a Sword Saint, and the faction they belonged to was the City Hall—the most powerful official organization in Sinielle, standing against the forces of the entire underworld.
But this time, they had clearly picked the wrong target.
*Swish!*
Just as one of the Oasis Knights violently kicked the door open, Riezel's figure flickered, appearing before the knight who had yet to retract his leg.
*BANG!*
Riezel's kick landed squarely on the knight's chest, sending him flying.
"Ugh!"
A pained groan escaped his lips as the Oasis Knight, his leg still raised, was hurled into the hallway wall—the impact cracked it.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that if someone doesn't open the door, it means they don't want you there?"
Riezel's cold gaze fell on the Oasis Knight slumped against the wall as he spoke in an indifferent tone.
"You!"
Clutching his chest in fury, the kicked knight glared at Riezel.
Only then did the other Oasis Knight finally react, silently drawing the sword from his waist and slashing at Riezel, who stood just a step away.
However, before his sword could reach Riezel, a gleaming golden sword swung toward it.
*Clang!*
Sparks flew in all directions as Moslow knocked aside the Oasis Knight's strike, forcing him back.
"I won't let you hurt my master."
At some point, Lizbeth had appeared by Riezel's side—the panic on her face was gone, replaced by the calm and resolve of a warrior ready for battle.
"What?"
Wearing a surprised expression, the Oasis Knight was stunned that this girl had been able to deflect his attack and push him back.
He had known they would likely encounter a powerful outsider here, and he had expected to be outmatched—but he had not imagined that this beautiful, seemingly delicate girl would also possess the strength to repel him.
She was a Sword Master?
A Sword Master this young and this beautiful?
Impossible.
In an instant, this kind of thought flashed through the Oasis Knight's mind, but he quickly realized now was not the time for such distractions.
"Move in!"
Following this shout, new intruders entered the room.
*BANG!*
Amid the sound of shattering, the room's windows burst apart, the ceiling split open, the side wall crumbled, and even the floor beneath them cracked wide open. Figures rushed in from outside the windows, from above, below, and the sides—each one charging straight toward Riezel and Lizbeth.
Every one of them wore the standard knight uniform, wielded a standard knight's sword, and bore the Sword Master Medal on their left chest and the green forest medal on their right.
It went without saying—they were all the Oasis Knights under the direct command of the City Lord.
"Two of you, take the little girl! The rest, with me!"
Barking out the order in a deep voice, the man who had dropped from the ceiling appeared to be the captain of these Oasis Knights, as the aura radiating from him was far more intense than the others—without a doubt, an expert Sword Master.
In the next moment, the captain lunged forward ahead of the others, closed the distance to Riezel in a blink, and swung his sword down toward Riezel's shoulder.
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
At the same time, the three Oasis Knights who had broken in from the window, the side wall, and beneath the floor wasted no time in following their captain's lead. One slashed toward Riezel's legs, another swung at his back, and the third thrust at his abdomen—sealing off all avenues of retreat and leaving no room to dodge.
As for the two Oasis Knights who had been at the door, one had already gotten back to his feet after crashing into the wall, while the other had closed in once more—both now attacking Lizbeth together.
"Master!"
Lizbeth tried to rush to Riezel's aid, but the two Oasis Knights lunged forward and blocked her path.
*Clang!* *Cling!**Clang!* *Cling!*
In the next instant, the sound of clashing metal rang out.
Lizbeth and the two Oasis Knights were locked in combat, Moslow meeting their swords in rapid succession, the strikes weaving together a storm of flashing blades.
At the same time, Riezel also engaged the Oasis Knights surrounding him.
*Zing!*
With a crisp sound, Riezel pinched the incoming blade of the captain between two fingers, then immediately drove his foot into his abdomen.
*BANG!*
With a dull sound, the captain was sent flying by Riezel's powerful kick, crashing through a table, smashing chairs, and shattering decorative vases, cabinets, and bookshelves, before being buried beneath a pile of broken furniture.
In the next second, Riezel's hands moved in a blur, intercepting the strikes of the remaining three Oasis Knights by striking their weapon hands before their swords could land, forcing their attacks off course.
"What?"
"Impossible!"
"Fall back!"
Seeing what Riezel had done, the three Oasis Knights' faces changed drastically—they clearly hadn't expected their combined assault to be thwarted so easily.
Had they looked more closely, they would have noticed the faint transparency in Riezel's eyes—a sign that he had already activated the Transparent World.
Thanks to that, their attacks had been read in advance, then effortlessly dismantled with the extraordinary reflexes and attack speed granted by Fast Attack, rendering their efforts meaningless.
"Oasis Knights, huh?"
Riezel smiled at the group of knights, whose expressions had grown grim.
"Your strength is pretty good. No wonder the people of Sinielle respect and fear you."
As these words fell, the smile on Riezel's face vanished.
"A pity. You picked the wrong target."
Riezel raised his hand and pointed at the three Oasis Knights.
*Hummm—*
With a tremor in the air, a crimson energy wave flared at Riezel's fingertip, then shot toward them.
"Magic!"
"It's magic!"
"He can use magic too?!"
Seeing the crimson wave, the three Oasis Knights were startled again and instinctively moved to raise their swords in defense.
"DON'T BLOCK IT! DODGE!"
Just then, the captain—struggling to his feet from the pile of broken furniture—saw what was happening and shouted the warning with his pupils contracted.
"!!!"
Hearing the warning, the three Oasis Knights froze for a split second. Then, trusting their captain's judgment, one dropped flat to the floor while the other two dove to the sides, narrowly avoiding the crimson wave.
*BOOM!*
As the three dodged, the crimson wave slammed into the room's wall, instantly decomposing it—until one entire side of the room had vanished without a trace.
""Hiss...""
Seeing the scene, the three knights who had dodged all sucked in a sharp breath at the same time.
If they had tried to block that just now, would they have disappeared instead?
Such a thought made their scalps tingle.
"YOU!"
Gazing at Riezel, the captain's face darkened, his eyes filled with both shock and anger.
"Tch, don't look at me like that and don't play victim." Riezel said flatly, his expression indifferent. "You were the ones who came after me first."
Crimson energy waves gathered again at his still-raised fingertip—this time, even larger than before.
In that instant, a primal sense of fear rose in the hearts of the Oasis Knights.
"He's impossible to fight head-on! Cast the net!"
Only the captain remained calm as he issued the order.
Wasting no time, the three Oasis Knights quickly composed themselves and pulled an item from their gear. It was some sort of magic item, shaped like a cross between an hourglass and a balance scale.
In the next instant, they crushed the objects without hesitation—causing sand-like particles to burst forth, scattering like dust until they filled the entire room.
"Hm?"
Riezel, whose expression had been calm, now sounded puzzled.
At this moment, he felt the surrounding magical energy grow chaotic—even the crimson energy wave at his fingertip began to destabilize and distort.
'An interference-type magic item?'
Riezel looked around the dust-filled room with a curious expression.
"Use the magic shells!"
As the captain barked another order, several Oasis Knights took out more magic items—small, spherical objects resembling black pearls, each radiating heat and magical energy.
As soon as he saw them, Riezel immediately understood what these so-called magic shells were.
With trained, uniform movements, the Oasis Knights hurled the shells toward Riezel.
*BOOOM!*
A massive explosion erupted inside the inn's room.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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