The atmosphere inside the guild lobby suddenly turned extremely tense.
Elara's blunt statement, declaring that the three men were not adventurers, shattered the walls of their facade. The three men no longer concealed their murderous intent. They glared at Elara with fierce hostility. They cared not in the slightest that the woman standing calmly before them was the supreme ruler of the Erthland Empire.
This woman is such a pain! the man holding the axe muttered to himself. The identity we had kept hidden for years was suddenly revealed right here.
The axe-wielding man's mind raced through various scenarios to fight back and decapitate the Emperor right here and now, before fleeing the city before the military forces sieging outside realized what had happened.
However, his gaze shifted from Elara's figure, glancing alternately at the two individuals escorting the woman.
Killing the Emperor in the presence of those two was an impossibility if done recklessly.
The axe-wielding man turned his head slightly to the left, his gaze sharpening for a split second, signaling his comrade who happened to stand just outside the reach of the General's spear.
Catching the signal from the corner of his eye, his comrade understood immediately. The man, who had been standing silently without a weapon, sprang into action to attack the General.
Thud!
Crack!
A devastatingly powerful horizontal kick landed squarely on the stomach of Vincent's silver armor. The impact sent the general's body flying backward in an instant. He sailed past Elara and Aesta, crashing violently into the receptionist's counter.
Milla, who happened to be nearby, instinctively bolted toward another corner of the guild lobby.
The wooden desk shattered into pieces upon the impact of Vincent's body, launching sharp wooden splinters, stacks of parchment paper, and dust into the air.
Every adventurer still trapped in the lobby was utterly astounded. They stared in disbelief at the ruined counter where the general had just been hurled after taking a single kick.
"This is insane! They're all so strong!"
"Is this the true strength of a Rank S party? That physical attack even sent a general flying!"
Despite seeing one of her generals sent flying, Elara remained standing calmly in place. Not a trace of panic painted her face. Her confidence in the strength of her military pillars was absolute. A general who had endured grueling training for years would never be defeated so easily by a mere surprise kick from a Rank S adventurer.
Clatter... clatter...
From behind the thin cloud of dust around the ruined receptionist desk, the sound of shifting wood splinters and debris began to echo.
Vincent stood up with a composed rhythm, as if he had merely fallen off a chair rather than being blasted away by a powerful kick. He then stepped out of the pile of shattered wood entirely unscathed. His armor did not even have a single scratch.
Seeing her colleague rise unharmed, Aesta smirked faintly.
"Mr. Vincent, do you need my help cleaning up this trash?" she asked, offering her assistance with a slightly mocking tone.
"No, thank you, Ms. Aesta." Vincent replied with full confidence. He stepped forward with a firm footing, walking past the Emperor and heading straight back toward the three men. His right hand gripped the shaft of his black-and-gold spear tightly, its tip angled toward the floor. "I can still handle the three of them on my own."
"In that case... finish this boring fight quickly, and do not disgrace the pride of an Imperial General in front of Her Majesty!" Aesta called out, her tone sounding slightly annoyed, deliberately provoking her military peer.
"Yes, I know!"
A split second after those words were spoken, the expression on Vincent's face changed drastically. His gaze sharpened instantly, as if he were staring at prey already locked in his sights. Aesta's remark about a general's pride had triggered his adrenaline.
Bzzztt...
The General moved from his starting point at a terrifying speed, completely untrackable by the naked eyes of the laymen in the room.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished and reappeared directly behind the unarmed fighter who had kicked him earlier. His stance dropped low, and the tip of his spear thrust forward, ready to pierce the man's back.
However, mere inches before the metal blade could tear through his prey's flesh...
"Protect!"
Clang!
The third man from the Rank S party, who had been standing passively the entire time, suddenly manifested right between Vincent and the fighter. He raised a shield and successfully blocked the tip of Vincent's spear with pinpoint precision.
What?!
Vincent felt the recoil from the shield. He was quite surprised by the sudden appearance of the shield-wielding man. The man's movement just now was not purely physical speed. It was akin to an instantaneous short-distance teleportation.
Yet, a general never stops just because a single attack is blocked. Vincent moved again to launch his next strike. He darted and moved swiftly to execute a lethal slash at the fighter's neck from the left side.
"Protect!"
Clang!
And for the second time, the shield-wielding man parried and blocked the General's rapid assault. The momentum of the shield was truly fast and precise, creating a sturdy fortress that broke Vincent's attack rhythm.
Spotting an opening while Vincent's movement was stalled by his comrade's shield, the axe-wielding man wasted no time. He surged forward to attack.
He swung his axe vertically with full force, aiming straight for the General's head.
Crash!
However, the attack missed. Vincent pulled his body back two spans, allowing the axe blade to whistle past his chest plate and smash into the lobby floor, shattering the tiles.
Realizing he was up against a highly coordinated team, Vincent retook the initiative. He unleashed a rapid succession of strikes. His black-and-gold spear thrust, swept, and slashed from various angles and directions.
The General's movements looked like wild, haphazard attacks born out of frustration from constantly being blocked with terrifying precision.
However, the reality within the combat zone was vastly different. Those attacks were far from haphazard.
While continuously applying relentless pressure, the General was analyzing the Rank S adventurer party's combat formation based on their movements, weapons, and strength.
Within dozens of attack exchanges, Vincent's analysis yielded accurate results.
First, the shield-wielding man's position constantly shifted, seemingly teleporting short distances whenever he needed to deploy protection for one of his comrades.
Second, the axe-wielding man relied on momentum. He moved incredibly fast for someone wielding a heavy weapon, and the destructive force of his axe was a pure piercing attack specifically designed to rend physical defenses or shatter magical armor.
Lastly, the unarmed fighter possessed the slowest base movement among the three. However, the destructive power of his attacks was at the most devastating level.
The formation of the three was a perfect amalgamation of absolute defense, penetration, and execution.
On the opposing side, the three adventurers were no fools either. Years of survival in harsh environments had honed their combat intuition to a razor's edge. They could sense that the General's rapid pressure was not meant to kill them immediately, but rather a tactic to disrupt the rhythm of their movements and identify weaknesses in their movement patterns.
Realizing their formation was being read and analyzed, the fighter decided to take a risk. He stepped back from the combat range, shifted his stance, and shouted a new instruction to disrupt the General's predictions.
"York, don't worry about me!" the fighter yelled over the clashing of weapons. "Just focus on protecting Idai!"
"Leave it to me!" York, the shield-wielding man, shouted back from behind his shield.