A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Even the black-armored knights were not spared; they were all wiped out.

The blood, still warm, was flowing along the cracks in the brickwork.

"Aaaaaaaaahh ...

"laugh--"

The screamer's voice abruptly stopped.

Before anyone knew it, the black-clad swordsman had swung his sword again, cleaving the noisy man in two.

Nisha's face was deathly pale, her eyes darting around as she stared in terror at the knight's longsword broken into several pieces in her hand.

--"What's this…"

"—An S-rank monster…no…that's not right…"

Nisha's mind was in complete chaos.

The strength of the black-clad swordsman before her was beyond Nisa's comprehension.

Even if Nisha used all her strength, she might not be able to damage those stone pillars and those stone bricks in the slightest.

But it was destroyed by this dark-skinned swordsman with a single strike... more than half of it was destroyed.

Nisha gripped her trembling right hand tightly, trying to calm herself down.

"—My Lord, son of light, grant me courage."

"Divine Courage"!!!

Nisha stood up again, her face regaining its resolve.

Holding the still-intact shield in both hands, Nisha stared directly at the terrifying, dark-skinned swordsman.

However, the black-clad swordsman did not look at Nisa, but instead looked around in confusion.

After a long while, he finally turned his head to Nisa, who was standing by in a tense atmosphere.

"Drink!!!" Nisha shouted and charged forward.

"—The knight's creed is to protect everything!!!"

Nisa remained unmoved and launched a desperate attack on the black swordsman.

The more devout the user of "Divine Courage," the greater the boost to their strength!

Although Nisha herself will fall into an extremely weak state afterwards!

However, Nisa, whose strength was already close to S-rank, was able to defeat even an S-rank adventurer with this attack enhanced by "Divine Courage"!

“peng”——

Nisha's delicate body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing into countless stone pillars.

The powerful, desperate attacks seemed like a joke in front of the black-clad swordsman.

Nisha, who had finally managed to stop, coughed up blood.

The shield? It had long since shattered into countless tiny pieces.

Nisha's light armor shattered, offering her no protection whatsoever.

The armor was removed, the undershirt was torn, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin, and a tattoo was faintly visible on the chest.

Despite her severe injuries, Nisha did not die.

Nisha tried hard to keep her consciousness from fading away.

It's a miracle that he survived such a severe blow.

"Lord... thank you... but Nisha might... not be able to escape this trial..."

When she was struck hard, a golden magic circle appeared in front of Nisha, blocking part of the impact.

Nisha's chest features a tattoo bestowed upon noble and devout believers by the "Children of Light."

It is a once-in-a-lifetime item that can shield its holder from harm in times of crisis.

Even dozens of S-rank adventurers couldn't damage its shield in the slightest.

The black-clad swordsman seemed to ignore Nisa's intentions, and walked step by step toward the terrified adventurer.

The remaining adventurers had lost all will to resist.

"Aaaaaah!!! Help!!" The few adventurers scattered and crawled in all directions.

Those who possess the courage to confront the Dark Swordsman are ultimately few and far between.

The only person who could withstand the Black Swordsman's sword strike was probably Nisa, who was now slumped in the distance.

"Monster!!! Aaaaaaah!!!"

"Don't come any closer!! Ahhhhh!!!"

The seemingly slow step of the black-clad swordsman brought his heavily armored body to the front of a fleeing person in an instant.

"No!!! Please!!! No!!! No—"

With his head severed, the fleeing man's pleas went completely unheard by the black-clad swordsman.

The black-clad swordsman remained silent, then took another step forward.

With a slow step, the dark-skinned swordsman seemed to disregard the distance and instantly appeared in another location.

He swung his greatsword down with his left hand, then swung his greatsword backhand to the other side.

Blood blooms like roses, but no one dares to admire it.

Fear traveled up the spine and assaulted everyone's brain.

The screams gradually subsided, and the screams became fewer and fewer.

Countless mutilated corpses lay scattered across the arena.

More than two thousand adventurers have now all turned into cold corpses.

However, a dozen or so people survived, but unfortunately, most of them went insane.

"Hahahaha!!! Monster!!! Hahahaha!!!!"

One of the crazed adventurers twisted his body and pointed at the black-clad swordsman.

"I'm not afraid of you, hahahahahaha!!!" The maniacal laughter was terrifying.

"laugh--"

Without a word, the black-clad swordsman raised his sword and cleaved him in two from head to toe.

It was a nauseating scene, but unfortunately, no living person would vomit anymore.

The black-clad swordsman walked up to Virginia.

Virginia's eyes were lifeless, filled with deep despair, which made her give up all hope.

“Young Miss!!!! Hide behind me!” Blanche opened her arms.

It was completely pointless, but Blanche still stood in front of Virginia.

“Blanche…”

"Don't worry... I'm right here." Blanche turned to Virginia and gave her a gentle smile.

"Blanche!! No!!!" Virginia's eyes flashed with displeasure again as she screamed in terror.

The black-clad swordsman raised his right hand, and to Blanche, time seemed to slow down.

The shape of the falling greatsword can be clearly seen.

"A greatsword of pitch black... how ominous..."

"hostage"

A chipped sword struck the black-clad swordsman.

The black-clad swordsman turned his head in the direction from which the sword had been thrown and lowered the greatsword.

Bray's forehead was covered in cold sweat, but there was no fear on his face.

While the black-clad swordsman was stunned, Bray quickly rolled over and picked up "The Last Echo".

"Chong-"

Then, the greatsword in his left hand slashed towards Bray's back.

This so-called enormous ancient ruin—

It was actually just a prison, a prison designed to confine this dark-skinned swordsman.

Each brick is engraved with a teleportation array, designed to trap the Black Swordsman who has left the prison back here.

No one could possibly guess how the Dark Swordsman escaped from the prison; perhaps in an instant, he could appear on the top floor of the ruins.

So, in order to allow teleportation to every corner, they simply engraved magic circles on all the bricks and stones of the prison.

Those black-armored warriors were never there to annihilate the "invaders," but rather to fight against the Dark Swordsmen.

How ridiculous, a trapped hero?

A pathetic hero who cuts down everything in sight?

Bray felt the chill of the greatsword behind him, but felt neither sorrow nor joy.

"Why would I do something so stupid?"

Even Bray didn't understand why he had come out to save Blanche and Virginia.

We probably only worked together for a few months, so we weren't very close, let alone friends.

So why did he save the two girls?

Even if he saved the two girls, he might die, and in the end, the two girls probably wouldn't be able to escape from the black swordsman's greatsword.

But Bray still saved her.

He saw Blanche's action of standing in front of Virginia, a stupid move, exactly what Bray was doing now.

---

All around was a white light, and there was nothing else.

A beam of light, flashing and dancing before Bray, seemed as if Bray could grasp it with a mere reach.

It was that light again, that ball of light brimming with power.

The life force flowing above, and things that Bray couldn't understand.

Bray was certain that as long as he touched it, the power from the orb would flow into his body.

There was no evidence, but Bray was certain it was true.

Then there was no sound, but Bray felt that someone was asking him a question.

"Why not acquire this power?"

Power? It must refer to this ball of light.

"There's no price to pay."

It was indeed very tempting; Bray even felt a little tempted to touch that light.

In reality, Bray's instincts were urging him to grasp that light.

If you become stronger, you won't have to die.

However, after thinking about it, Bray decided against it.

"—I've been with you for so long, and you don't even care about this piece of my body!?"

"This concubine?" It's probably not just one girl.

Is this ball of light female? That's really interesting.

"This is a fragment of my power, the source that all living beings yearn to possess."

If all living beings wanted it, that would be truly incredible.

"Really, this power can actually help you overcome all difficulties."