Karl slightly shook his head and signaled Dalton with his eyes.
Dalton was startled, and though puzzled, immediately obeyed the order, releasing his hand from his sword hilt and letting his hands hang free.
He carefully took over from Karl, supporting Raymond, and took a few steps back to distance himself.
Immediately after, Karl took half a step forward, blocking the space between Geralt and the White Rose knights.
Geralt frowned slightly, not wanting to involve Karl in trouble over his reputation, and quietly advised: "Karl, you don't have to do this. I can handle this."
Karl didn't look back, just slightly shook his head, showing his decision.
His cold gaze fell on the bald young man, his voice even: "You, you tried to drive away my friend, and just now you verbally threatened me."
When the bald young man heard this, the contemptuous expression on his face grew even stronger.
He sneered disdainfully and said with contempt: "A friend of the Butcher? Hmph, that doesn't sound like a person of noble character!"
"In that case, you should be expelled along with him! You are not welcome in Ellander!"
With that, he stopped talking nonsense, sharply waved his hand forward, and shouted: "Do it! Drive them out! If they resist, crush them!"
The knights behind him immediately let out low growls, drew their longswords, and surrounded Karl and Geralt.
At that moment, the dwarf with the thick beard, who had been silently observing, frowned.
He shouted: "Thales! Wait! Perhaps the rumors about the 'Butcher' nickname are a misunderstanding."
"Perhaps there is too much hearsay and exaggeration! You need to be more cautious!"
But Thales, carried away by arrogance and prejudice, wouldn't listen.
He retorted without looking back: "Dennis! You're overthinking it! What good person could a mutant, a mixed-breed freak, be?"
"They are cold-blooded, ruthless monsters who kill people and monsters alike! Don't forget our creed!"
Seeing the White Rose knights draw their swords and charge forward, the blades glinting coldly in the sun, aimed directly at Karl and Geralt,
Karl looked at the rushing knights, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold arc.
As the first knight's longsword was about to close in, his figure suddenly blurred.
Geralt, beside him, his cat-like eyes narrowed to their utmost.
His dynamic vision, enhanced by the Trial of the Grasses, couldn't capture Karl's movements.
He only saw a humanoid afterimage, with a speed beyond his comprehension, instantly crashing into the crowd of White Rose knights.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Several muffled sounds, like a heavy hammer striking an anvil, rang out one after another.
Mixed in were the cries of the caught-off-guard knights and the sound of breaking bones, loud and clear.
The originally threatening White Rose knights, along with the young man named Thales,
were as if hit by a battering ram, one after another lifting off the ground and suddenly flying backward.
The smooth, hard plate armor on their chests was deeply dented without exception, leaving fist marks that were very clear, even slightly cracked at the edges.
Except for the dwarf captain Dennis, who had spoken to dissuade them, standing dumbfounded watching everything before him,
all the other White Rose knights, including Thales, were in the midst of a teeth-rattling metal spin.
They traced a parabola and landed heavily on the stone slabs over twenty meters away.
THUD! BANG! The plate armor on their backs scraped against the rough ground.
Under the action of immense inertia, a series of blinding sparks died out as they continued to slide backward.
Only when they crashed into the stone fence of a building on the temple's edge did they finally stop.
For a while, groans and cries of pain rose and fell intermittently.
The once-majestic White Rose knights were now like dolls with dismantled skeletons, collapsed on the ground, unable to get up again.
The entire conflict process, from beginning to end, probably took less than three seconds.
Karl's figure reappeared, as if he had just done something trivial, and he brushed off his palms.
Then, with a calm expression, he slowly returned to Geralt.
Geralt looked at the returning Karl, his usually calm cat-like eyes full of undisguised surprise.
He opened his mouth, as if wanting to ask something, like how much Karl had still been hiding when they sparred in Vizima?
Because the strength Karl had displayed at the time, though far beyond that of ordinary people, was definitely not as terrifying and completely inhuman as what he had just seen.
But as the words were about to leave his lips, Geralt looked at Karl's indifferent eyes and swallowed the question.
He gave Karl a deep look and suppressed all the shock and doubt in his heart.
This was clearly not the time to ask such questions.
The smell of blood and dust in the air, and the painful moans of those knights, reminded them that the trouble was just beginning.
And the dwarf Dennis, who stood there without following the others, became extremely serious and grim.
Karl's gaze turned to the only remaining person—the dwarf Dennis.
The reason he hadn't taken action against Dennis was the other party's impartial attitude.
When Thales and the others were prejudiced against driving out Geralt, he had tried to dissuade them, urging them to be more cautious.
This sense of reason and fairness earned Karl's respect.
Looking at Dennis's dazed and conflicted expression, Karl smiled at him, his tone calm but with a hint of regret.
"You stand upright, Dennis. You can also maintain your reason when meeting Geralt and not be swayed by rumors and prejudice."
"It's a pity that with such a group of people whose minds are full of arrogance and foolishness, your integrity will sooner or later be tainted by them."
Dennis listened to Karl's words, the muscles on his face twitching slightly, his fingers gripping the war hammer turning white with pressure.
He knew how reckless and rude Thales and the others were, and he had witnessed the horror of Karl's inhuman strength.
But the duties of the captain of the guard for Duke Seward and the knight's oath reminded him.
The silence lasted a long time, and finally, Dennis's face was full of complex and indescribable expressions.
There was helplessness, determination, and an imperceptible guilt.
He took a deep breath, as if mustering all his strength, and spoke in a deep voice, a bit dry.
"I am the captain of the guard for Duke Seward, Dennis Cramer."
"You have violated the laws of the duchy by openly attacking and harming citizens and guards of the duchy. I... I am obligated to arrest you according to the law!"
His words seemed to be trying to convince himself, or perhaps to show his colleagues who were still watching.
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