To ensure the safety of the Royal Capital, checkpoints are specifically set up around the forest to prevent any monster rampages.
The soldier on guard duty today was a farmer a few months ago. Unable to repay his debts to the nobles, he had no choice but to join the army. After a few days of hasty training, he was assigned tasks, and his meager pay was pitiful.
However, he felt this was quite good; he didn't want to fight against well-trained Imperial Knights. But with the war approaching, he, powerless and without influence, would surely be used as a stepping stone for those nobles to achieve glory.
To legitimize their succession to titles, the elite heirs of the nobility—that is, the eldest sons of families—would participate in wars to gild themselves.
In this sense, the nobles hoped for war to come; after all, only commoners would die. The Empire and the Kingdom had also come to treat war as an annual custom.
"I wonder when these days will end," the soldier sighed.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion came from deep within the forest, followed by rustling sounds. The originally calm and sunny weather suddenly gave way to a strong gust of wind, looking quite ominous.
"Could it be a monster rampage?!"
The soldier stood dazed, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. A shadow suddenly flew past him, and after seeing it clearly, he cried out in surprise.
"Are you… are you alright? What happened?"
The man in the white robe seemed to be a cleric. The soldier didn't have the ability to judge others' skills, but seeing the cross on his chest, he had such a thought. He heard it was called a Holy Emblem or something...
The mysterious man stood up, leaning on his tin staff, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you a Kingdom soldier? Get away from here. That guy can't understand human speech at all."
"What?"
At this moment, from within the dust of the explosion, a full silver armor appeared, holding an exaggerated long blade wreathed in lightning.
However, the armor's material shouldn't be silver; that luster and texture were likely some kind of rare metal.
As for what exactly it was, it was beyond a mere soldier's knowledge. Even the Warrior Captain of the Kingdom's armor didn't have such a luster; it must have been precious equipment beyond his imagination.
"My name is Ilay. You can verify the authenticity with Einzack, the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild in E-Rantel. I will distract that guy later; you should leave quickly."
Hearing the steady voice from under the mask, the soldier was almost in tears. Of course, he wanted to leave, but his legs had been paralyzed by fear and hadn't recovered yet.
However, he had heard the name Ilay before, apparently referred to as a Savior or something.
"Lord Ilay, I naturally believe you." He tremblingly pointed at the unidentified person, "But who is he?"
Sig was very pleased with his cooperative attitude and continued the act, "His name is very long; I can't quite remember it, but some people call him the Silver Knight. I don't know anything more."
"Silver Knight? Isn't that one of the Thirteen Heroes…"
The armor, which had been unmoving, stirred. Suddenly, a young voice came out, "I am Sigris Helausvaerger. Knowing an opponent's name is the minimum respect; you shouldn't refer to me by a code name."
"Then, Lord Hralsvelgr, why did you suddenly attack?"
"Because I learned from those who were inquiring about me that Ilay is the culprit. That shouldn't be false!" Pandora righteously accused.
Facing such an imposing presence, most people, even if they were in the right, would be unable to confront it, but Sig's voice remained very firm.
"I couldn't determine if you were a dangerous person, which is why I specifically informed Guild Master Einzack, just to have him be a little cautious."
"To be called a terrorist when you're saving people, no one would be happy about that, and I don't want my whereabouts exposed."
"If I'm misunderstood because of this, I will apologize, but this matter hasn't escalated to that point."
Seeing the two righteous individuals arguing, the soldier was a bit dumbfounded. Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding? But he didn't dare to speak up now.
"More talk is useless. Let's continue."
"Alright, continue!"
Sig grinned. Since Pandora wanted to continue, for the sake of the show, he couldn't refuse. However, he was going to get serious afterward.
Just as the two took up their fighting stances, several more soldiers arrived, drawn by the sound. Their expressions were the same as the first soldier's—a look of bewilderment, followed by fear.
Sig shot into the air with a whoosh, his white robe flapping in the wind, and black ribbons floated around him as if weightless.
Pandora understood the hint and put on a wing-shaped necklace. By activating the flying item, he also flew into the sky.
When the battlefield shifted to the air, the space for maneuvering was significantly larger. Both relied on items to fly, so the speed difference was still evidently small.
Sig ignored the soldiers, took out a scroll, and upon unrolling it, it dissipated into points of light.
Sixth-tier magic [Greater Healing] can rapidly restore a large amount of HP. Its effect is slightly inferior to [Perfect Resurrection], but it excels in convenience, as it can be activated directly via a scroll.
Pandora also possessed the combat instincts of a Warrior. The moment a magic caster activates magic is the best opportunity to attack, so he wasn't going to give it up.
He hardly needed to activate active skills. Under the blessing of constant skills, he directly flashed over and delivered another simple yet effective slash.
Sig, who lacked proper defensive skills and equipment, clearly couldn't completely avoid this attack, inevitably taking piercing damage again, and falling back into the previous dead loop.
But by increasing his weapon proficiency skill, he finally grasped the essence of this divine artifact. Instead of retreating, he advanced, using his tin staff to jam the Eight Forms of Takemikazuchi, his mask and armor almost colliding.
Then, his eyes lit up, and the Dragon's Demonic Eye's disturbance skill activated.
Taking advantage of Pandora's momentary distraction, he raised his hand and gripped Pandora's neck, a part not covered by the armor, and light emanated from his palm.
[Dominion Spell · Modified]
By the time Pandora regained consciousness, a minute had passed. According to PVP rules, this would already be considered a loss for him.
"As expected, Lord Sig won! The timing of that last skill cast was truly…"
Sig sat elegantly on a stone, mercilessly stopping Pandora, "It was luck, I suppose. You're very strong."
If he hadn't discovered the divine artifact's enhancement for mental control skills and his own weakness management, he really wouldn't have won against Pandora.
Actually, Sig's resistance to mental magic was relatively low, but he usually fought alongside his familiar dragon. A dominated dragon would no longer be controlled by mental magic, and even if he was affected by magic, he could maintain his sanity through his link with the dragon.
His profession was similar to a Magic Warrior, but not every form had annihilation magic, so having unsuitable equipment was absolutely out of the question. Pandora was the positive example.
Hearing the clamor in the distance, it seemed the task was complete. Sig turned and opened a teleportation gate, stating indifferently, "I'll leave the rest to you. I'm leaving first."
"Understood, Lord Sig! I will definitely complete the task well!"