Lord: I can see loyalty.

"Watch out!" Vio was the first to react, and quickly grabbed Heinrich, who was also the closest, and jumped back.

The others also reacted quickly. Jimmy was the first to grab a longbow from a militiaman next to him and aim it directly at the monster's gaping maw.

call--!

Suddenly, a strong wind arose.

This strong wind didn't come from a distance; it poured into that giant mouth from all sides!

The air twisted into a visible vortex, the suction so strong that even Jimmy's fully drawn bowstring vibrated, making it impossible for him to aim steadily.

"Damn it! Form ranks, retreat!" Jimmy shouted, releasing the bowstring and waving his hands repeatedly.

The militia and knights staggered backward, their shields hitting the ground to barely steady themselves.

But no one looked away; everyone stared intently at the enormous, violently contorting mass.

The black mud monster's mangled body began to spin.

Countless black mud and flesh were drawn into the mouth by the exaggerated suction force, growing faster and smaller.

The enormous body collapsed inward, its gigantic mouth still laughing wildly, but the laughter became distorted and shrill as it rotated, finally fading into a "poof".

Like a bubble bursting, everything returned to calm.

Only one figure remained where the black mud monster had been; it was a human.

At least, they look like people.

The constantly flowing black mud and flesh roughly outlined the human figure, including limbs, torso, and head.

But it has no skin, no hair, only constantly wriggling black mud, and occasionally tiny tentacles will suddenly emerge from the joints, then retract back into the body.

The black-clad figure raised its head.

What comes into view is a face that is changing.

It has no fixed facial features, only a clump of constantly flowing black mud, sometimes revealing the outline of eyes, sometimes showing the ridge of a nose, and finally, at a certain moment, the flow stops.

A face is frozen in time.

His features were so regular they were almost rigid, but his eyes were completely empty, a blackness devoid of any emotion.

It looked at the astonished coalition forces before it, and the corners of its mouth slowly turned up, a smile that was impeccable. Then, it laughed.

"Hahahaha..."

The laughter was no longer the deliberate imitation of before, but a continuous, almost morbid, maniacal laugh that made the occasional spikes of his tentacles tremble.

"Perfect, so perfect..." It straightened up, looked down at its hands, spread its fingers and then clenched them, feeling every muscle of the humanoid body.

"After all these years, I've finally finished it."

It raised its head, its black hole-like eyes sweeping over the allied forces, over the still faintly glowing warhammer, and finally landing on Vio.

"I was thinking of waiting a little longer." Its voice returned to normal, but with a touch of human tone. "But you outsiders actually brought this thing with you."

It paused, a hint of mockery creeping into its smile.

"But it doesn't matter anymore, this thing is meaningless to me now."

Jimmy's Adam's apple bobbed, and he lowered his voice slightly: "Your Excellency, shall we fire?"

Vio stared intently at the black figure, his gaze serious: "Let's test the waters."

Jimmy nodded, raised his hand, and shouted, "Crossbowmen, three shots in quick succession!"

Bang bang bang—!

The crossbowmen, who had already nocked their bolts, pulled the triggers, and more than ten bolts shot towards the humanoid black mud with a sharp whistle.

But the other party did not dodge. It simply raised its right hand. The moment the hand was raised, the black mud on its surface surged violently and transformed in the blink of an eye into a pitch-black round shield with a diameter of one meter and sharp edges.

Puff puff puff—!

The crossbow bolts struck the shield, their shafts trembling, but none managed to penetrate. Tiny ripples appeared on the surface of the black mud, which then returned to flatness.

The humanoid black mud lowered its arms, and the shield melted back into black mud, flowing back into its body. It once again revealed that standard smile.

"Have you tested enough?"

Before the words were even finished, its figure vanished from the spot!

"Scatter!" Vio reacted the fastest and shouted a warning.

boom--!

One of the militiamen, who was a little slow to react, was punched and sent flying, his breastplate dented, and he spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.

The humanoid black mud figure had already appeared ten steps away, shaking the blood off its hands, its smile unchanged.

"Too slow," it said softly, retracting its fist.

Without hesitation, Heinrich charged forward, his warhammer blazing with holy light, but only struck an afterimage.

The humanoid black mud had already appeared behind the old knight, its five fingers joined together to form a blade, which it thrust straight into his back.

"Watch out!" Valerie and the other Cooper hunters' arrows struck just in time, forcing it to dodge to the side.

But its dodging movement was so fast that it was almost invisible. The arrow grazed its figure and embedded itself in the stone wall behind it. It had already darted up again, its target still Heinrich!

Heinrich was, after all, a seasoned knight who had been through countless battles. He didn't have time to turn around, but he used the momentum of his charge to roll on the spot, barely dodging the hand strike.

The hand strike missed its mark, hitting the ground and cracking the black rock.

"It's still dodging the holy light..." Xavier gritted his teeth, staring at the other side, "but it's too fast; Lord Heinrich can't even touch it!"

Vio has charged forward again.

His dark skin covered his entire body, and his breathing technique was pushed to its limit. His speed also soared, with afterimages intertwining and the sounds of collisions exploding in rapid succession!

A sword strike was blocked by the arm armor formed from black mud, and a sweeping kick was parried by the leg armor formed from black mud.

The humanoid black mud's eyes lit up with excitement: "You're much faster than those old men."

It started to accelerate again, faster and faster! Even Vio gradually couldn't keep up.

It's not Vio's problem, it's that the other side is growing!

With each encounter, its reaction speed increases, and its movements become smoother and more unpredictable.

"This body of mine is the sum of all the lives it has devoured over the past few hundred years," it said as it attacked, its tone as casual as if it were chatting.

"Every Cooper Hunter, Harlow Warrior, and even you outsiders I've devoured... their muscle memory, their fighting skills, have become a part of me."

A punch came flying, and Vio blocked it with his sword, but was still knocked back three steps.

"I will only continue to grow and optimize, and eventually become..." It paused, then its smile widened, "...the most perfect human form."

"And you humans, even if you train your whole lives, you'll only ever achieve the same result."

It stopped attacking, hovered in mid-air, and the black mud beneath its feet formed a support, allowing it to look down on everyone from above.

Heinrich was already leaning on his warhammer, panting heavily. His armor lining was soaked with sweat, and his chest heaved violently.

The series of chases and dodges just now had almost exhausted most of the strength of his old body.

"...I can't touch it." The old man's voice was hoarse, tinged with frustration. "This monster must be the Knight Commander..."

Vio also stepped back to his side, his gaze still fixed on the suspended figure.

But she already had a plan in mind.

"Lord Heinrich," he said softly, "could you... lend me the Holy Light, like last time?"

Heinrich was also taken aback. He turned his head and looked at Vio, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

"Count Vio, it's not that I'm unwilling." His voice was even lower. "Lending the Holy Light is not something I can do. Last time... it was the Holy Light itself that approved of you."

"If we force the loan out, we will both suffer heavy losses."

He paused, looking at the suspended black figure. "And even with the blessing of holy light, the question is, can you catch it?"

The figure seemed to have heard their whispers as well.

It hovered in mid-air, lowered its head, and a hint of mockery appeared in its standard smile.

"Have you finished discussing this, human?"

"You think possessing the Holy Light guarantees victory? Too bad, the Holy Light is inanimate, but people are alive. Even if that old man gave you all the Holy Light..." It pointed at Heinrich, "you still couldn't catch me."

"I am still evolving, while you have been training for many years? Ten? Twenty? Can you compare to my two hundred years of accumulation?"

It spreads its arms as if to show itself off.

"My body is now in its most perfect human form. It will grow stronger and stronger, far beyond what you humans can achieve through pitiful asceticism."

Vio ignored its mockery; he simply looked at Heinrich, at those deep blue eyes.

"Give it a try," he said.

Heinrich was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Understood." The old knight raised his hand, his calloused and scarred hand, and placed it on Vio's outstretched palm.

In an instant, golden light shone brightly.

The warm, holy aura emanating from Heinrich seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, and began to surge violently.

They drifted out from the old knight's shoulders and chest, lingering in the air for a moment.

It then surged toward Vio's palm.

Golden light flowed into Vio's palm, spread upwards along his arm, merged into the sword and his body, and finally illuminated his entire body!

Heinrich's eyes widened suddenly, not from pain, but from shock.

The holy light flowed so smoothly, as if it belonged to Vio, rather than being borrowed.

"..."

Heinrich released his grip, staggered a step, but showed no signs of fatigue on his face.

"Go forth, Your Excellency, the Holy Light has once again recognized you."