The moment Charles sensed Stella was in danger, he was at her side almost instantly.
At a glance he saw Guila, whom he'd met in the Capital of the Dead, and another short-haired female knight.
If Ban were here, he would have recognized her as Jericho, the former squire assigned to guard Baste Prison.
Only a few days had passed since she'd been a mere squire, yet now she possessed Holy Knight-level magic.
There was only one way that could happen; Charles could already sense the same Demon blood in Jericho that was in Guila.
The two were besieging Stella, and for some reason Diane was lying quietly off to the side while Elizabeth stood in front of her.
Stella's condition was off as well; her strikes were weak, and even her magic was being suppressed.
There was no time to think it through. Charles jumped straight into the fray, raising a hand to block Guila's lance wreathed in explosive flame while lashing out with a kick that sent the charging Jericho flying.
Seeing Charles appear, Stella finally let out a breath. "Charles, be careful—they've got some kind of special poison. That's what knocked Diane out."
Keeping Stella behind him, Charles sniffed. "There is a strange smell. Not just a simple soporific—there's a component that targets magic."
Though he didn't possess the Development Ability \[Mixing], Charles had done his share of study on potions.
From the lingering traces alone he could roughly work out what the drug was.
It was a whole kingdom, after all; the things it had mastered were no joke.
Among the five great races, humanity's power was the weakest—but precisely because of that, in certain specialized technologies they had achieved levels far beyond the other races.
Perhaps it was due to lack of brute strength; in order to survive, humans had no choice but to develop a completely different kind of "power," which they themselves called knowledge and wisdom.
Even though the Capital of the Sages had been destroyed, humans would not let that fire die out.
And Charles suspected the Demon King and Supreme Deity hadn't joined hands to obliterate the Capital of the Sages merely because Merlin had toyed with them.
It was possible they feared humanity might develop that "power" to a level that threatened them.
After all, the Demon King and Supreme Deity had only ever acted in concert twice since this world's birth: to curse Meliodas and Elizabeth, and to destroy the Capital of the Sages.
Having crossed so many worlds, Charles had long since learned to put away arrogance. Still, the Holy Knights in the original story had never used anything like this, so he'd been a bit careless.
Fortunately, in pursuing maximum knock-out effect, this drug sacrificed other aspects and was virtually harmless to the body.
Diane looked fast asleep, but a single blow landing on her would wake her instantly.
It seemed their plan was to seize Elizabeth while they had the chance, but they hadn't counted on Stella staying conscious.
Charles figured the drug worked via magic pathways, while Stella's magic was fundamentally different from this world's. So the drug only weakened her.
The fact that the unawakened Elizabeth was completely unaffected supported this.
Charles's interest was piqued. He'd thought that with the Capital of the Sages destroyed, only Merlin's knowledge and technology were worth anything in this world, but it seemed the kingdom still had a few tricks.
To deal with the Seven Deadly Sins, aside from the New Generation infused with Demon blood, the Holy Knights might have prepared other tools as well.
Charles clenched his fist. He'd already decided those would be his spoils.
Guila and Jericho exchanged a glance and moved at the same time.
Both had seen Charles before, but neither had seen him fight. Courage is often born of ignorance, and with their minds partially eroded by Demon blood, retreat was never in the cards.
Guila lagged half a step; she wanted to unleash a high-powered explosion under Jericho's cover to end it.
But before she could ready her attack, she saw Jericho hurled backward, crashing through who knew how many trees before embedding in a distant hill.
Her ever-narrowed eyes opened a fraction—and a hand filled her vision. Before a second thought could form, a tremendous force crashed through her face.
Boom!
Charles drove Guila's head into the ground; behind him, a massive fireball detonated.
He waved away the black smoke of the blast, and Guila staggered clear.
Blood ran down her brow as she looked at Charles in a sorry state. She truly hadn't expected the man who always followed the Seven Deadly Sins to be this terrifying.
Their plan had been carefully laid, but Stella's presence had disrupted it, and their objective had slipped away.
Now, with Charles in play, she no longer dared think about completing the mission. All she wanted was to get out alive.
Jericho dropped from the sky and hacked hard at Charles with her short sword.
For all its sins, Demon blood had its merits: it didn't just boost strength; it made these "New Generation" tougher than ordinary Holy Knights.
They'd both taken hits like that, yet their fighting power hadn't dropped much. That, at least, surprised Charles a bit.
Dragon-Slayer sheathed his forearm. Charles lifted his hand and caught Jericho's blade.
The ground sank under his feet and the surrounding trees jolted loose from the earth.
Charles himself didn't budge; flame bloomed in his palm, turning the blade to molten iron in an instant.
Before Jericho could process what had happened, Charles's other fist was already on its way.
A single uppercut and Jericho's whole body lifted off the ground.
No sooner had she vanished from view than several fireballs came streaking in.
It was Guila's trick—free-flying explosive spheres she could detonate at will. In such numbers, exploding together, Guila didn't believe anyone could stop them.
But the way Charles handled it went beyond Guila's imagination.
He opened his mouth and inhaled every fireball flying his way.
Wiping the corner of his lips, Charles said, "Fire with impurities tastes awful. But swallow it and the power rushes right in!"
"He… ate my explosions…"
Guila chalked it up to Charles's magic, but began to silently curse. This took a lot of her techniques off the board.
Already at a disadvantage, and now her magic countered—she had no idea how to fight this battle.
Charles couldn't care less what she was thinking and pressed the attack on Guila. This time, he got serious.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
The flame-wreathed fist came in at a speed that wasn't even that fast—fast enough for Guila to swing her lance across to block.
But it was a punch that couldn't be stopped. Though not a Sacred Treasure, her high-grade lance shattered at the impact, and the fist landed square in her abdomen.
Flame blasted from Guila's back, flattening swathes of trees behind her. She slid limp off Charles's knuckles and collapsed.
Charles let his Innate Armament fade and briskly patted his hands together as if dusting them off. "That's that."
Then he turned toward Vaizel. "Looks like the manager's side is getting lively too."
From a moment ago, the magical fluctuations in the city had grown intense.
It seemed that, just like in the original story, the Holy Knights had sent more than just Guila and Jericho.
(End of Chapter)
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