Nolan landed lightly, then bent low at once, taking the stance of a cheetah about to burst into a full sprint.
A thunderous boom exploded in everyone's ears.
His long silver hair whipped wildly in the violent gust.
The blast of air roared like thunder as Nolan shot forward at terrifying speed, cutting down every soldier in his path.
So fast!
Kercius's pupils shrank sharply, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.
In the briefest instant, that figure had already crossed several hundred meters and reached him.
"Stop him! Stop him!"
Before Kercius could even get the words out, the heavily armored knights around him had already rushed forward.
It was completely useless. No one could stop Nolan, and severed limbs flew through the air in an instant.
Watching his men being torn apart one after another, Kercius's temples bulged with fury.
What infuriated him even more was that those so-called Tarnished he had gone to such lengths to recruit had fled in blind panic before even loosing a single arrow.
He should have known those lightless wretches were unreliable.
Cursing inwardly, Kercius gritted his teeth and raised his sword to meet him.
At that moment, he suddenly felt the light around him dim.
Kercius looked up and saw Adula sweeping overhead with wings spread wide, but its target was not him. It was the Divine Tower behind him.
"Caria's target is the Two Fingers!?" Kercius's eyes widened in shock. The audacity of it was unbelievable.
No matter how many evil deeds the Cuckoos had committed in the past, no one had ever dared rob a church. Yet these Carians were actually moving directly against the messenger of the Supreme Deity.
And while something this huge was happening, Nolan, standing in the middle of the battlefield, seemed not to notice at all. He did not even look up.
That was because two glaives came crashing down in front of him with a shrieking rush of wind, forcing him back several steps.
At almost the exact same moment, Adula, which had been about to soar upward to the top of the tower, was intercepted as well. A savage, deafening dragon roar erupted from behind it.
Glintstone Dragon Smarag dived down, spewing Glintstone Breath. The torrent of Magical Power drove Adula back again and again.
"Who are you people?"
Nolan looked at the riders before him, their bodies cloaked in black robes and black armor. Their presence was formidable, stronger than even Kercius.
"We are the Night's Cavalry, subordinates of His Majesty the Grace-Given Lord." The black-armored knight remained fully on guard.
They had long heard tales of the Dark Moon Knight from wandering minstrels, but they had never imagined he could be this strong.
With someone like this on Caria's side, they truly could not understand how Caria had ever been driven to the brink by the mere Cuckoos.
"The Grace-Given Lord? What, is Leyndell planning to interfere in our war with the Cuckoos?"
Nolan frowned slightly, his gaze sharp as a blade as he fixed it on the black-armored knight.
The black-armored knight fell silent for a moment before answering honestly, "This has nothing to do with Leyndell. You should not have moved against the Two Fingers."
The war between the Dynasty and Mt. Gelmir had already begun. This was no time to make enemies for the Dynasty.
But Morgott had ordered them to assist the Fingers and head to Limgrave to find that Tarnished Lord.
If it had not been for the command of the Two Fingers, they would never have stepped into this mess of their own accord, nor did they want to bring Morgott unnecessary trouble because of it.
"We never moved against the Two Fingers. We only came to reclaim what belongs to Her Highness the Princess." Nolan raised his sword and stepped forward without the slightest sign of retreat.
"That is none of our concern." The Night's Cavalry shook his head. The blame had already been shifted elsewhere. As long as Morgott was not implicated, that was enough.
"So there's nothing to talk about? Interfering in another land's internal affairs. Her Highness the Princess will certainly demand an explanation from the Grace-Given Lord." Nolan let out a cold snort, immediately taking the moral high ground.
But he had no intention of withdrawing. Instead, Magical Power gathered in his hand and condensed into an icy spear, which he hurled straight into the sky.
The Night's Cavalry abruptly looked up, just in time to see the ice spear appear in Smarag's chest, the pure white lance punching straight through the dragon's massive body.
The spear was flawless white, as if forged from the purest ice and snow.
It pierced Smarag with astonishing speed and force, the sharp tip bursting from the dragon's back in a spray of crimson mist.
In the same instant, countless glittering ice crystals spread rapidly as though alive, joining the spear to the dragon's body.
In the blink of an eye, the two fused together into a breathtaking sight.
Driven by that overwhelming force, Smarag's entire body was hurled backward and nailed to the towering Divine Tower in the distance.
"How dare you!" The Night's Cavalry exploded with fury, scattering in all directions at once.
But before they could react, a blurred figure had already cut into their ranks.
Clang clang clang.
A dense barrage of metallic strikes rang out in rapid succession. Sparks burst before their eyes as the moonlight sword formed of Magical Power slashed again and again, driving the Night's Cavalry back.
The cavalry regiment that hunted heroes had earned its reputation. With three men working in concert, their combat strength multiplied, and with elusive techniques like Bloodhound's Step, only one of them fell beneath the magical greatsword.
But the loss of that one man was enough to open a tiny crack in their flawless coordination.
Seizing that fleeting opening, Nolan closed in again without hesitation.
No flashy technique was needed. With nothing but his battle-hardened killing skill, he cut down two more men in an instant.
Nolan stood silently in a pool of blood, the crimson liquid flowing slowly around his feet and soaking his boots.
His cyan-blue eyes were as cold and deep as bottomless lakes, fixed on the Cuckoos ahead.
For a moment, it was as if the whole world had frozen, the silence so complete it was hard to breathe.
Then, in the very next instant, the soldiers and knights around Kercius seemed to feel an irresistible force of terror. Their bodies instinctively shrank away to both sides.
Faced with this monstrous presence, like some demon god made flesh, the last scraps of courage in their hearts shattered completely.
This monster could not be stopped.
Whether it was greatshields, soldiers, or knights, all of them seemed as small and fragile as dust before him.
Even the hero hunters, who had come all the way from the Royal Capital and were famed for slaying the strong, had met a grisly end beneath the Dark Moon Knight's blade.
These Cuckoos, usually so arrogant, brutal, and bloodthirsty, had long since lost all their former swagger.
One after another, their faces turned deathly pale, their bodies shaking uncontrollably, their hearts filled with endless fear.
Even the fiercest beast would be scared out of its wits when truly faced with death.
Kercius realized in horror that there was no one left at his side he could rely on, or throw away.