Seeing what had just happened, Fabian’s heart was shaken to its core. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and ran, determined to report the incident and request reinforcements.

Master Elliot followed suit, both men realizing there was no hope of standing their ground.

Edric watched them flee with a furrowed brow. If the two ran in different directions, he knew he wouldn’t be able to catch them both.

The reason he was able to kill Duke Stonefist so swiftly boiled down to three key factors.

First, the element of surprise: his enemy hadn’t expected him to strike when he did, which meant he was caught completely off guard.

Second, his Energy Absorption skill, which was incredibly powerful. It allowed him to quickly shatter the golden magic shield that Duke Oscar had been relying on. But that was a one-time advantage; the next time something like the golden shield blocked his blade, it wouldn’t break so easily.

Third, Duke Oscar himself was a new Golden Knight from a poor, remote family. His repertoire of trump cards was limited, and even his golden shield and magic shield spell had been provided by Fabian specifically for this mission. The plan had been for Oscar to return them after the task was completed.

Thanks to his magnetic pull, the extra boost from his telekinesis skills, and the sneaky application of a silver spell, Edric had been able to accelerate his Golden rank sword to unimaginable speeds. However, after only a single strike, the blade had already developed a crack. Clearly, it wasn’t built to last under such pressure. When the Energy Absorption bomb collided with the golden magic shield, not only did the tip of the sword break off, but the blade itself had sustained damage.

If both knights decided to stay and fight, Edric was confident he could win. But if they fled, his chances were slim. He could catch one, maybe, but not both.

“Damn it!” He cursed under his breath, frustration mounting.

Both of the Golden Knights were skilled in mobility and were quickly getting further apart, heading in opposite directions.

Sigh Edric’s shoulders slumped in resignation. Chasing one meant abandoning the other, and he couldn’t afford to let even one escape. He had to kill them both. If he only managed to take down one, the entire effort would be pointless. Pursuing either would only waste time—he would need a strategy to kill both, or none at all.

"I’m completely exposed now! I should run!" Edric thought, his mind racing.

He had never feared Golden Knights. With his skills, taking down a Golden Knight was never a difficult task. The reason he’d always been cautious around figures like Duke Oscar Stonefist wasn’t out of fear, but because of the risk of exposure. Killing someone of Oscar’s rank would surely spark an investigation, and Edric wasn’t foolish enough to take that kind of risk.

But now that his position was already compromised, there was no reason to hold back.

"I should grab whatever spellbooks I can and then get out of here!" Edric resolved, knowing that time was of the essence. Even though he wasn’t afraid of Golden Knights, he was absolutely terrified of the King—a legendary knight. In the face of such power, a mere Golden Knight was nothing.

With that thought, he quickly rifled through Oscar’s belongings, grabbing anything useful from the knight’s corpse. Then, without hesitation, he mounted the golden sword, using his powers to manipulate it. In an instant, he shot through the air at incredible speed, heading straight for Duke Stonefist’s lands.

Normally, Edric would never have considered traveling with the sword, as it was exhausting and drained his energy quickly. But now, with his time so limited, he had no choice. At least until he was out of immediate danger, he would use his magnetic pull to carry him as fast as possible.

...

The Stonefist family had risen to unimaginable heights after their leader, Duke Oscar Stonefist, broke through to the Golden Rank. All the neighboring families began paying them tributes—silver, gifts, and resources—in an attempt to win their favor. The family was on the rise, and nothing seemed capable of stopping them.

Nothing, except Edric.

He arrived at the Stonefist estate with terrifying speed, slaughtering anyone who dared to resist. He forced the survivors to reveal the exact location of the family’s treasures before taking everything of value for himself.

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But he wasn’t done. His next targets were the Darkwind and Windwalker families, especially Darkwinds, the ones most likely responsible for exposing his identity.

His fake identity, Carl, had been compromised, and he suspected that it was because of them.

...

After regaining consciousness, Rhaegor recovered remarkably quickly. Free from disease and internal injuries, his Silver Knight nature revealed itself, allowing him to heal in a matter of days.

Now, though slightly thinner, he was once again able to walk—and even run—without issue.

Kaelith, his son, had never been Rhaegor’s favorite. However, after witnessing the unwavering loyalty Kaelith had shown, Rhaegor began to grow genuinely fond of him.

Rhaegor took control of the territory, planning to lead for a time before eventually passing it on to Kaelith. He expected a few years of peace, a period of stability and quiet rule.

Unfortunately for him, nothing ever went as expected.

A Golden Knight from the Bloodstone family arrived, demanding answers about the mysterious Golden Knight. Faced with absolute power, both Rhaegor and Kaelith had no choice but to reveal everything.

From that day forward, they lived in hiding, far from Darkwind City, hoping the Bloodstone family would succeed in eliminating the mysterious knight. If not… if that knight ever discovered they had betrayed him, they would be lucky to die quickly.

...

Edric sighed in frustration. After searching high and low, he had failed to find Kaelith and Rhaegor. Worse still, he hadn’t found a single treasure. It was clear they had taken everything and fled.

"Traitorous rats!" he snarled, his fury rising. "I’ll kill you both once I break through to Legendary Rank!" Their running away all but confirmed his identity had been exposed because of these two.

I should have killed them all, he thought, consumed by anger.

"But right now, I don’t have time to waste looking for them." He felt a deep sense of helplessness.

After the exposure, he had no choice but to abandon his plans entirely. Sure, running would delay his task of completing the Ancestor of State mission, but staying put would risk death.

The penalty for failing to complete the Ancestor of State task was only 2 million points—around six years' worth of daily points. It was a heavy loss, but nothing compared to the risk of dying. After all, a Golden Knight had a long lifespan, and even if he lost 2 million points, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

But I won’t just leave like this, Edric thought, a cruel smile curling on his lips.

With a flick of his wrist, he swung his golden sword, and the destruction began. The fury of his rage unleashed upon Darkwind City.

Now that Kaelith and Rhaegor had dared to abandon their home, they should never expect to return.

Houses crumbled, walls fell, and tens of thousands perished in the chaos. The rest fled in fear, but it didn’t matter—Edric was a storm, a raging Golden Knight tearing through everything in his path. Like a natural disaster, his wrath would lay waste to the city in just a short time.

...

Half an hour later, having obliterated most of the city's important locations, Edric jumped onto his golden sword and soared toward Windwalker Castle.

...

Alaric Windwalker sat in his chambers, listening to his chief of staff.

"Up until now, the device has detected two Silver-level talents and one Golden-level talent! The strategy of using Edric for breeding is working amazingly well!" the chief of staff reported.

The talent detection device was most accurate after birth, but it could still roughly judge the talent of embryos.

"Excellent! It’s a pity the volunteers are drying up. How should we find more women?" Alaric pondered aloud, when suddenly, the door was kicked open with a deafening crash.

"Who—?" Alaric sprang to his feet, drawing his sword instinctively.

But before he could react, a Golden light flashed before him. In an instant, he and his assistant were cleaved in two, their bodies falling lifeless to the floor. Neither of them had even a moment to understand what had just happened.

Edric, watching their twitching bodies with a smile, thought to himself, There’s something deeply wrong with me. I’m actually enjoying this… killing people.

He felt an overwhelming urge to understand what was causing this change. Back on Earth, he had been afraid of blood—he even let cockroaches go free rather than kill them.

But these two deserved it, Edric thought.

Aside from revenge, there were other benefits to killing the Alaric Windwalker.

First, with Alaric's death, his mother would ascend to the position of Marquis.

Second, the mysterious knight—who was, of course, Edric himself—had already looted the Stonefist and Darkwind families. Skipping Windwalker would raise suspicion, leading to potential clues about his true identity.

Third, Edric’s clone was still here, planting the seeds of the next generation. If the Bloodstone family’s Golden Knights came to investigate, they might find clues. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

I need to destroy everything, Edric thought. His plan was simple: he would destroy Windwalker Castle, especially the area where his clone was stationed, leaving no trace behind. Any clues left would only draw more attention.

With a swing of his sword, he began to tear through the castle. The destruction was thorough—he didn’t hold back, leaving almost nothing standing. Fortunately, there had been very few people in the castle, so casualties were low.

His own clone was also one of the casualties.

He took the gold, silver, and any other useful treasures, leaving the Windwalker family with nothing. Once satisfied, he jumped onto his golden sword and set off in the direction of his next destination.

He knew where to run to.

Upon arriving, he would check to see if there were any useful spoils left behind by the Stonefist family. He hadn’t bothered to inspect the treasures he’d stolen from them earlier—he just took everything without a second thought. The spatial ring he carried had a vast capacity, so he hadn’t been picky.