Even though William knew the story, he still read Lyra's story on the console.
Then he advanced to the next level.
In the next level, a creature appeared in front of him.
It was a short, small, and hunchbacked creature.
Its skin was as black as night.
It wore a red bandana on its head, and one of its eyes was covered with an eye patch, just like a pirate.
It had a huge mouth, a wide grin, and long ears filled with gold earrings. The earrings jingled with its slightest movement.
In both hands, it held bombs that looked like they were from ancient times. They were twice the size of tennis balls and made entirely of metal.
The long fuses of these bombs, which it was constantly waving in its hands, had already started to burn.
When William saw the creature's crazy smile with hundreds of bombs with lit fuses on its back, he realized that this could be dangerous.
[Gentle Bomber Lv12]
William wanted to examine the creature, even talk to it, but it suddenly attacked.
It threw the bombs in its hands and then began pulling more bombs out of its bag without stopping.
William furrowed his brows and watched the first bomb fall from a safe distance.
"BOOM!"
He had guessed correctly.
The explosive power of each bomb was stronger than that of hand grenades currently available at the world's current technological level.
William kept running but couldn't get close to the creature.
Because with every move it made, the creature left bombs around itself and seemed unaffected by them.
When the bombs right next to him exploded, it emerged from the cloud of fire as if nothing had happened and continued to throw bombs at William.
William had expected a more honest fight, but this creature's moves were not honest to begin with. So he didn't care either.
He grabbed one of his swords like a javelin and threw it with all his strength.
"Whooosh! Bam!"
William's newly acquired rare sword pierced the creature's chest and, along with the width of its hand guard, sent it flying through the air and pinned it to the wall.
The creature died quickly and faded into nothingness along with the light.
William went to retrieve his sword, then returned to the console and read the creature's story.
[Gentle Bomber
His real name was Kerrin the Inventor. He lived and died during the Dark Ages.
Kerrin, who was responsible for the existence of the goblin race, grew up in an environment where there was no concept of family. At that time, goblins were small, undeveloped creatures who lived in tribes, eating tree roots and small insects they could catch with great difficulty.
The rise of the goblins also began with Kerrin.
Kerrin was a naturally intelligent goblin. He knew how to hunt, where to find creatures, which trees had edible fruits, and which plants were poisonous.
It was even a known fact that he discovered the first traps of the goblin race.
Kerrin was fortunate that, although there were more advanced races in the world he lived in, they were not very powerful.
Kerrin stood out with his high intelligence and united the goblins around him.
He made simple weapons for the goblins he united and attacked humans. At first, his losses were so great that what they gained did not compensate for what they lost.
However, Kerrin learned how to work bronze and iron, mine ore, and turn them into tools.
Kerrin also understood what technology was here. His intelligence surpassed even other races because he had made hundreds of inventions that would quickly bring the world he lived in to the age of gunpowder.
His only problem was himself. His imagination was the biggest factor limiting the inventions he developed.
That is why most of his inventions are still described as ugly and unsightly.
With all these simple inventions, Kerrin still holds the title of being the one who united the whole world in the Dark Ages. However, he is not well remembered by the goblin race because of what he did afterwards.
Kerrin abused his power and destroyed all other races living in his world, and in a great contradiction, he killed all existing creatures except goblins, which could perhaps be described as foolishness.
This damaged the ecosystem of their world. It stagnated technology and opened the door to a poor future ruled by great famines.
Even now, the inventor Kerrin is known as a "fool" in the goblin lands. -Veritas.]
"Hmm." William shook his head. "Being a very intelligent creature, being able to invent things, and mastering technology does not mean that you understand nature. No matter how powerful you are, you must have a balance."
William looked back at the history of his own world.
Weren't there wars? Hundreds of thousands of them. War had never been absent from Mortalis.
But there had always been a way out for the losing side.
The complete annihilation of one side was out of the question.
That's why he had the idea that there had to be some kind of balance, even if it was minimal.
Of course, this was only true from his own perspective and for humans.
At this point, the world's ecosystem was already destroyed and seemed unlikely to recover for a long time.
The air was still hot, which meant that even the world's atmosphere had changed.
William confirmed his advancement to the next level on the console.
A massive creature appeared before him.
It was three meters tall and completely covered in armor.
On its back was a large sword as long as itself and as wide as a foot.
Its armor was meticulously crafted. The helmet on its head was shaped to resemble a wolf's head.
It looked like a wolf ready to devour its prey, its mouth wide open, its sharp teeth covered in saliva.
The creature's face resembled that of a human. It had a normal mouth and nose, but its eyes were different.
That was the only feature that distinguished it from humans.
They were slanted backward, huge, red eyes that resembled those of a wolf...
"This creature is no joke..." thought William. He crossed his swords in front of him and waited.
"The time for purification has come, little rat." The creature spoke unexpectedly and lunged at William.
It raised its wide sword into the air and swung it downward.
As if it wanted to split William in two with a single blow.
William was ready; he immediately crossed his swords and assumed a defensive stance.
"BOOM!"
William was faced with an attack that was much heavier than he could have imagined.
His knees buckled slightly and the floor of the tower cracked.
William furrowed his brow and gritted his teeth, then pushed his opponent's sword away with all his might.
[Amon Order Executioner Ruthless Corxus Lv14]
William dodged the second attack coming right at him and took advantage of the opening created by Corxus swinging his large sword, to stab his sword into Corxus's waist.
"Ding!" It was as if his sword had encountered bronze armor.
A small dent resembling a hole was created, but that was all. His sword couldn't go any deeper.
"Its armor is strong, but not so strong that I can't pierce or cut it.."
At that moment, he dodged the sword blow that came at him and appeared a few meters behind.
"There's nothing I can do, I have to use my techniques."
William used his first and second stances in quick succession. The creature defended against these attacks with its large sword, but it seemed to be struggling.
William took advantage of this opportunity and used Phantom Stride, appearing behind the creature like a ghost.
His goal was to use his fifth stance to deal heavy damage to the creature, but it didn't stand still.
It shouted back at William.
"Time to purify!"
Suddenly, a red aura appeared around it, and just like Lyra's charge attack, a shockwave appeared around it. Of course, this creature's attack was much more powerful.
William was forced to take a few steps back.
Before approaching William, the creature swung its sword toward the ground.
A huge seismic wave rose from the ground, splitting the floor of the tower and advancing toward William.
William jumped slightly to avoid the attack, but his inexperience showed itself here.
The moment he jumped into the air, Corxus appeared in front of him.
He swung his sword horizontally, thinking that William couldn't escape in midair, and tried to cut him in two.
William crossed his swords forward with difficulty and used his fourth stance.
The blow he received in midair was so powerful that William crashed into the tower wall.
He got up breathless and found Corxus in front of him again.
"BOOOM!" Corxus' sword seemed to want to split William's head in two, and William dodged at the last moment to avoid death.
William rolled away and dodged a few meters away, and Corxus' next move created a half-meter-wide crater in the ground.
Seeing this blow that almost hit his leg, William narrowed his eyes and took his position.
"I have to kill this man as soon as possible," William muttered and sent a horizontal wave of his sword.
His aim was to gauge Corxus' reaction.
He expected Corxus to counter the blow by swinging his sword straight, which is exactly what happened.
Corxus defended himself against William's blow by swinging his large sword widely, but William was already in motion.
The moment Corxus swung his sword, William jumped out of the way and appeared at Corxus's right side like a ghost.
That was the problem with large swords that were wielded with both hands. They were vulnerable to quick strikes.
William was right behind Corxus, so he used one of his most powerful moves.
"Horizontal Wrath!" William shouted and swung his swords with all his might.
Two powerful ley waves formed a meter below Corxus and struck him in the waist as soon as they formed.
Despite his heavy and powerful body, Corxus couldn't keep his feet on the ground and flew several meters into the air, with two huge rifts appearing in his waist.
The ley waves had cut through his armor and easily sliced through the layers of flesh beneath. If Corxus had leaned sideways, he could have been split in two.
While Corxus was in the air, William seized the opportunity.
If he didn't use his advantage, he'd be a fool.
He used Phantom Stride again and appeared at the spot where the creature was falling.
The creature's body was heavy, so William didn't need to thrust his swords into it. Gravity took care of everything.
"Splash!"
Both of William's swords pierced Corxus' chest.
After holding him in the air for a few seconds, William flung him aside as if cleaning the blood from his sword.
Corxus crawled where he had fallen and tried to get back on his feet.
"Trying to get back up with all those wounds… admirable," William whispered, lunging forward to finish Corxus off, but hesitated for a moment because Corxus had clung tightly to his sword and managed to get back on his feet again.
"Heretics will be purged!" Corxus shouted and thrust his sword into the ground.
William sensed danger and backed away a few meters.
Then a golden light appeared on Corxus' chest. It was like an energy core, and Corxus was currently overloading it.
Not long after, the trial tower was illuminated by a golden light.
"BOOM!"
"Good thing I didn't attack," William thought.
He hadn't thought that he would blow himself up like that, but his precaution had worked.
"So you can even blow yourself up. This system, ley, and the abilities it provides are so diverse." William smiled.
There was no trace of Corxus left in the middle; no body parts were visible.
William was overjoyed when he heard the notification.
"Congratulations, you have killed the Amon Order Executioner, the Ruthless Corxus!"
"Congratulations, you have passed the fourth trial. Reward: 800 SC + 8000 EXP."
William looked at the console and found the picture and story of Corxus.
He raised an eyebrow, sat down on the ground, and began to read the long story with one hand on his chin.