He did not dare linger for even a heartbeat. A spell flared around his body, and he stumbled as he fled toward the Temerian encampment, his speed more than twice what it had been on his way here.
In the distance, Foltest had just wrenched his saber from the chest of a Kaedweni officer. He stood there panting, his arms heavy with exhaustion. Almost unconsciously, he lifted his head and looked toward the flank of the battlefield, where the fighting had grown strangely chaotic.
What greeted his eyes was pure slaughter.
Severed limbs littered the ground. Shattered armor lay twisted and broken. Headless corpses collapsed in grotesque poses, while soldiers cut cleanly in half lay where they had fallen. Human bodies—and fragments of them—were hurled into the air like debris caught in a storm.
At the center of it all stood a single golden figure.
That figure was cutting down Kaedweni soldiers at a speed and efficiency beyond all comprehension, reaping them as effortlessly as a farmer harvesting wheat. Wherever he passed, life vanished.
Foltest froze, shock washing over him. He could not help murmuring under his breath, his voice trembling with disbelief.
"Is this… is this really something a human can do? His stamina… does it have no limit?"
After rescuing Fercart, Karl no longer bothered to restrain himself. The measured rhythm he had maintained before—almost leisurely, like a man taking a stroll—had been nothing more than a warm-up.
Now, the warm-up was over.
His entire presence transformed, and on the battlefield he became a golden reaper of death.
Every time his figure blurred, Kaedweni soldiers died in droves. The greatsword in his hands danced with terrifying grace, its golden light weaving a merciless net that shredded any life caught within it in an instant.
A Kaedweni knight let out a furious roar, spurring his warhorse forward. He lowered his lance and charged in a desperate attempt to stop the monster before him.
Karl did not evade.
At the instant the knight reached him, Karl casually threw out a punch with his left hand—moving later, yet striking first. His fist slammed into the armored warhorse's chest.
"Bang!!!"
The sound was like a massive war drum being struck. The horse let out a piercing, agonized whinny as its chest visibly caved inward. An overwhelming force hurled both horse and rider backward more than ten meters. They crashed heavily to the ground and did not rise again.
Almost at the same moment, another knight charged in from the side, his lance aimed squarely at Karl's flank.
"Clang—!!!"
The lance tip struck Karl's golden plate armor with full force. Yet it failed to leave even the faintest white mark. Instead, the knight felt as though he had rammed his weapon into an immovable city wall.
A horrifying recoil surged up the lance, tearing the skin of his hands and making the bones in his arms creak under the strain. Beneath him, his warhorse let out a dying shriek. Its neck twisted at an impossible angle, snapping instantly from the backlash of the collision.
The knight was flung from the saddle like a broken kite, his fate unknown as his body disappeared into the chaos.
Karl did not sway in the slightest. His posture remained steady, his expression unchanged. His gaze never wavered, fixed firmly on a distant target.
Sabrina—and beside her, the corpulent King of Kaedwen, Henselt, clad in splendid armor.
Sabrina had already noticed the unstoppable golden figure. She repeatedly hurled spells from afar, attempting to slow his advance.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two blazing fireballs streaked through the air, trailing long tails of flame as they screamed toward him.
Karl merely raised his palms, as if brushing away a pair of annoying insects. With two casual strikes—left, then right—he slapped the fireballs apart. The violent magical energy dispersed in midair, breaking down into a shower of sparks that fizzled harmlessly away.
His steps never faltered. Instead, he suddenly accelerated, his figure blurring as he crossed dozens of meters in an instant.
When he stopped, he stood less than thirty meters from Sabrina and Henselt.
By now, Sabrina had witnessed everything: soldiers slaughtered like livestock, fireballs scattered with bare hands, a heavily armored knight and horse obliterated by a single punch.
The arrogance and cold confidence that once marked her face had vanished completely.
In their place was naked terror.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, and her fingers turned white as she clenched her staff. Her breath came in shallow gasps.
What kind of monster was this?
Even a legendary high-ranking vampire would likely be no more terrifying than this, she thought.
Around Henselt, loyal knights tried desperately to shield their king. Yet none of them could clearly see what happened next. They only felt an overwhelming force crash into them, accompanied by screams of agony.
Blood sprayed from their mouths as they were hurled backward. Wherever Karl struck, their plate armor was deeply caved in. Shattered bones, pulped flesh, and mangled organs were embedded grotesquely along the edges of the dents.
Henselt's face drained of all color. His obese body shook violently as fear seized him. Staring at the guards who had been killed in the blink of an eye, only one thought filled his mind.
How monstrously strong must someone be to do this?
At last, he abandoned all pretense of royal dignity. He twisted his head toward Sabrina and screamed hysterically, his voice breaking with panic.
"Quick! Hurry! Sabrina, get me out of here! Now! Immediately! I want to get away from this monster!"
Sabrina turned her head sharply. Fear still clutched her heart, but Henselt's shrill urging ignited her anger.
"Shut up, you idiot!" she shrieked. "Do you think a multi-person teleportation spell doesn't require preparation time?!"
"Do you want us to be torn apart while I'm still casting it?"
Even as she scolded him, she forcibly suppressed the terror threatening to overwhelm her. She activated a defensive spell shield and placed one hand firmly on Henselt's plump shoulder.
Her lips moved rapidly as she chanted the incantation. Sparks of light flickered around their bodies, signaling that the teleportation spell was nearing completion.
Then—
Just before the final words left her mouth, something entered the edge of her vision.
A few meters ahead, the golden figure was standing silently.
She did not know when he had arrived.
Around him lay the corpses of soldiers who had attempted to block his path only moments ago.
Her heart nearly stopped.
Even more terrifying was what happened next. The enemy slowly raised the golden faceplate that concealed his features.
Beneath it was the face of a young man—firm, resolute, and utterly indifferent.
But it was his eyes that froze her blood.
His pupils glowed a blazing crimson, like molten lava simmering beneath the surface.
From those eyes burst two slender beams of scarlet heat vision, racing toward her in an instant.
"Buzz!!"
The crimson beams struck her pale-blue magical shield, producing a violent hum as energies clashed. Cracks spread instantly across the barrier, and it shattered into countless motes of light. The beams continued forward, moments away from piercing her head.
At that critical instant, a plain bone bracelet on Sabrina's wrist suddenly flared with intense light.
A pale-orange, translucent spherical shield blossomed outward, enveloping her completely just as the heat vision struck.
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