The captain's cold sweat made the few team members involuntarily tense up. They quickly adjusted their gaze, staring intently at the man in the gray cloak!
"Captain, do you know him?"
A team member asked nervously.
They were a 'Gold-rank' adventurer team. An enemy who could make their captain so nervous must be far beyond their level.
"Brian Unglaus?" The captain's tone was filled with uncertainty and surprise.
Whoa—
The others in the team were in an uproar, and some even had expressions of fear on their faces.
"Is it that Brian?"
A weak voice sounded, as if confirming.
People in the entire Kingdom who didn't know Brian were as rare as those who didn't know 'Warrior Captain' Gazef.
Especially adventurers like them, how could they not know such a famous figure, even if they hadn't met him?
The three words 'Brian' now represented not just strength, but also danger!
This was largely thanks to the Kingdom's second 'Adamantite-rank' adventurer team, 'Free Will', which had recently gained immense fame and caused a sensation.
Last year.
'Free Will' was targeted by the Baharuth Empire's bounty and was attacked by the famous mercenary group 'Death Spreading Brigade'. In the end, the entire mercenary group was wiped out, with only Brian escaping.
According to rumors, this news was fake,
How could the famous Brian join a notorious mercenary group?
Now that 'Free Will' had become an 'Adamantite-rank' adventurer team, the old rumors were dug up again, and it was discovered that the news was true!
However.
Brian's fame didn't decrease; instead, it grew even larger.
His narrow defeat to 'Warrior Captain' Gazef and his ability to escape from an Adamantite-rank adventurer team both proved Brian's immense strength.
"I think you're thinking about some annoying things."
Brian's sharp gaze held a coldness. With one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, he tilted his head slightly:
"I don't want to say it a second time. Get lost!"
As he spoke.
Brian's steps didn't falter. His pace was calm and elegant, yet it revealed a certain terrifying aura like that of a wild beast.
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
Both adventurer teams simultaneously looked at their respective leaders, waiting for orders.
The two captains exchanged glances, both seeing the conflict in the other's eyes, yet neither gave a retreat order.
If the enemy was a strong individual like Brian, even retreating and abandoning the mission would be understandable. At most, they would face penalties like compensation and team demotion!
—But!
"Being able to fight a strong person of this caliber is a rare opportunity! Right, Captain Mokaria."
"That's right, the opponent is only one person, and we have two 'Gold-rank' teams!"
The captains of the two adventurer teams exchanged brief words and quickly gave the order to attack.
"Magic Arrow!"
"Sleep!"
"Acid Arrow!"
The magic casters in the teams immediately launched their magic attacks, while the warrior and rogue type adventurer members quickly charged forward.
Seeing this scene.
"Recently, there have been more conceited guys."
Brian sneered, slowly drawing the long sword from his waist.
—"Ah!"
"Ah!!"
"No, no, escape!"
In just a moment.
Both adventurer teams were already lying on the ground, blood flowing and mixing on the surface.
Completely wiped out!
Brian, unharmed, stepped on the blood-soaked ground, lightly flicking the long sword in his hand, letting the blood droplets slide off the blade.
"I even gave you a chance to escape."
"As adventurers, if you can't even accurately judge your own strength against the enemy's, even if you don't die here, you'll die elsewhere."
Brian ignored the corpses on the ground, muttered to himself, and walked towards the lead carriage.
The merchant originally responsible for transporting the goods, having determined that things were bad, had long since fled in fright with the carriage drivers.
Only ten carriages were left standing alone on the road.
Brian didn't care about the commoners who had fled. He could easily catch up if he wanted to, but he disdained attacking ordinary people.
Rip!
The cloth covering the carriage's goods was pulled open.
Among a pile of ordinary ore, an arm-length wooden box was pressed underneath.
Pushing aside the ore on top.
Brian lifted the wooden box out with one hand and used the back of his sword to knock off the chain on the box.
With a 'crack'.
Under the sunlight, bright silver metallic light reflected from inside the box. These were pieces of silver metal of various sizes, none other than 'Mithril', a metal whose price rivaled gold!
It possessed the hardness of steel, excellent magical affinity, and extremely light weight. Adding even a little Mithril to any weapon could greatly increase its toughness and value.
"This box of Mithril metal would be worth at least around 3500 gold coins on the black market, maybe even up to 4000 gold coins."
A hint of joy appeared on Brian's face. He closed the wooden box and lifted it with one hand: "Adding my previous assets, it's enough to buy the 'Divine Sword'."
Recalling the rumors from this period.
Brian's heart skipped a beat. He raised his arm and pulled at his gray hood. He felt that after getting the Divine Sword, he should find a place to lay low for a while.
"I still need to continue training!"
Brian gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and pursed his lips in displeasure.
Where did these two guys come from?!
Before participating in the 'Imperial Tournament', he had never tasted defeat, always walking the path of victory.
As a result, first Gazef defeated him, and then he encountered his first near-death crisis.
The leader of 'Free Will'—Minori!
A guy whose appearance severely contradicted his strength, even stronger than Gazef!
If the opponent hadn't suddenly been attacked by assassins, Brian felt that he would have died there just like that group of mercenaries.
"I need to think of a countermeasure, otherwise, I might not have the same luck if we meet again." Brian picked up the box, thinking as he turned to leave.
During this time, he had hastily caught up on relevant magical knowledge.
He had learned that the angels summoned by Minori were powerful 4th-tier high-level angels, and he could actually summon two of them.
Facing such a powerful enemy, if he couldn't break through the blockade of the two angels, he would have no chance of winning and could only flee again.
Flee?
It's not shameful!
He yearned to fight strong opponents, but not to fight foolishly to the death against an insurmountable enemy. He had only one goal he pursued.
To avenge his past humiliation and turn defeat into victory!
Whoosh~
A whirlwind formed, stirring up dust and sand.
Brian stopped in his tracks, raising his head to look at the dust cloud that had formed out of nowhere a few dozen meters away, obscuring his vision.
A faint aura of danger permeated the air!
"Are there others escorting this merchant caravan?"
Brian re-gripped the long sword he was about to sheath.
The dust and sand dispersed.
A black-robed figure, completely wrapped up, stood where the dust cloud had been.
This pretentious way of appearing... a magic caster?
Brian sneered inwardly, but his eyes became sharp.
His swordsman's intuition told him that the opponent was very dangerous, completely different from the adventurers just now. This also indicated that the opponent was likely not someone escorting the caravan.
"Do you want to defeat 'Free Will', Brian Unglaus."
The black-robed figure's hoarse voice came: "I can help you."
"Ha~"
Brian's eyebrow twitched, and his gaze became deep.
Bang!
In an instant.
The ground beneath Brian's feet shook. His body shot forward like a compressed spring, and he forcefully threw the wooden box in his hand forward.
The box flew through the air.
The pieces of Mithril metal of various sizes inside scattered in mid-air. Because Mithril was relatively light and had the hardness of steel,
These Mithril fragments flew towards the mysterious magic caster in a rush, simultaneously obscuring the opponent's vision to some extent.
"I was planning to continue our conversation."
Minori, disguised as the mysterious magic caster, felt a bit helpless and chanted in a low voice:
"Dimensional Move"
Swish!
The figure disappeared.
Brian's sharp gaze saw Minori's figure disappear for an instant, and he froze for a moment, his eyes quickly darting around.
Gone?
"Gravity Reversal"
A faint voice sounded from behind.
Brian's forward charge slowed down abruptly and unnaturally, like a slow-motion effect. Heavy pressure stiffened his body, making him stand rooted to the spot.
The effect of a binding spell.
Without activating resistance to interference, he clearly couldn't avoid this effect.
Minori, who appeared behind Brian, walked towards him unhurriedly, his hoarse voice mocking: "This level is a bit undeserving of your reputation."
"Perhaps I should have invited Gazef."
"Who are you looking down on—!"
Veins bulged on Brian's arms, and he suddenly let out a roar: "Magic Resistance Enhancement!"
"Ability Boost!"
Brian, who was originally affected by the magic, actually forcibly broke free from the magical restraint. The muscles on his neck tensed, and he twisted his upper body. Then, with both hands, he forcefully swung his sword:
"Fourfold Slash of Light!"
Four flashes of sword light suddenly appeared in the air, slashing with full killing intent, making it feel as if one was facing an attacking weapon.
"Now this is getting interesting." Minori's mouth curved slightly.
As expected of Brian, he had already mastered Gazef's signature move so quickly.
Boom!
Magical light exploded between the two of them, in just a moment.
Brian's arms dropped unnaturally, the long sword in his hand fell to the ground, and the intense pain surging through his body caused it to twitch uncontrollably.
So strong!
Not on the same level at all, simply a monster!
"Cough..."
Fear surged in Brian's eyes. His throat tickled, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The front of his clothes was already stained red.
"Who, who, are you... exactly?" Brian's vision was blurry. He knew that even if he wanted to escape this time, he wouldn't be able to.
Another opponent he couldn't defeat...
His luck was truly good, to be able to encounter such powerful enemies one after another.
"Leader of Zurrernorn"
Minori spoke calmly. He had come to find Brian this time, naturally intending to recruit Brian into Zurrernron.
Leader?
When Brian heard these words, his somewhat hazy mind cleared up a bit.
During this time, even in such a remote town, news of what happened in the Abelion Hills had spread. Such a major event had already transcended national borders.
Although some important information was concealed, powerful individuals like Brian naturally had ways to obtain news. He also learned about the evil secret society Zurrernorn for the first time.
"You're not dead!"
Brian took a step back, looking at the black-robed magic caster opposite him in astonishment. Even his fear and pain were lessened by the shocking news.
According to the information he had obtained, the leader of Zurrernorn had been jointly eliminated by the elite forces of the Holy Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy, and 'Free Will'.
Even in his current situation!
Brian's mind was still exceptionally clear. Could the news be false?
No!
The information came from the Adventurer's Guild. There was no need to lie about such important information, so the opponent wasn't dead at all!
Or was the person before him just pretending to be the leader of Zurrernorn?
Minori didn't answer the question. With a flick of his black sleeve, a bottle of blue potion flew towards Brian.
"Do you want to become stronger?"
Minori's hoarse voice contained a playful tone: "Drink the potion."
Clatter—
The clear and transparent potion bottle fell from the air onto the ground and rolled to Brian's feet.
"I hope this potion doesn't taste too bitter."
At this moment, Brian instead showed a carefree demeanor. His weakened body simply stopped supporting him, and he plopped down onto the ground, picked up the potion, and poured it all into his mouth.
According to the information he had, this leader possessed the ability to create legendary undead. How terrifying his strength was already exceeded mortal imagination.
An anomaly above the Heroic Realm?
Regardless of whether the person claiming to be the leader before him was real or fake, he was no match.
The warm liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach.
An indescribable taste.
Fishy, sweet, and a burning sensation!
Heat began to expand from his stomach, then quickly flowed throughout his entire body along with his blood.
Brian's pupils dilated. He clearly felt a surge of powerful strength suddenly erupt from his body. His muscles bulged slightly, making a taut sound.
A faint red light flickered on Brian's body, causing his skin to flush. Barely perceptible heat continuously seeped out from the pores all over his body.
"Enhancement potion?"
The first thought that flashed through Brian's mind was this, but then he immediately realized it was completely different from an enhancement potion.
This power was continuous, not at all like the temporary strength boost from an enhancement potion—what kind of potion was this?!
He became... stronger!
"Ninjutsu: Perception"
Minori activated his ninja's detection skill to observe Brian's strength increase after drinking the 'Dragon Blood Potion'.
"Level 28, stuck at this level again?"
Minori frowned slightly.
It was the same for Leinas and Imina. For him, it was just a level difference, but for people from this other world, it seemed like a 'bottleneck'.
The 'Heroic Realm' didn't seem to be a level that could be easily broken through.
Drip~
Drip~
Brian slowly got up, kneeling on the ground, hot tears streaming from his eyes.
This man was actually crying!
"What was all my effort for—"
Brian tilted his head back, looking up at Minori ahead of him, his voice hoarse, as if asking a question and also questioning himself.
Slowly.
Brian bent his spine and pressed his forehead heavily onto the ground.
"Welcome to Zurrernorn." Minori said calmly.