The ten knights who had planned my assassination could never have predicted that at the moment they surrounded me and attacked, not only would I disappear and be replaced by a wind fairy, but she’d cast a high-level destructive wind spell called tornado. It didn’t possess blades like some of her other abilities, but it was extremely good as a knock back. In fact, the men who had surrounded me at a four-way intersection to pincer me from every side were now tossed back hundreds of feet.

Three knights were slammed painfully into the walls. The others were blown back down the hallways, instantly becoming separated from each other. There were two down each hall, with one hall only possessing one knight.

Of course, the girls were there waiting to catch their falls. Shao’s hall got the single guy, who died before he even hit the ground. She immediately started running for the center to help Celeste.

Compared to before, these knights were a bit higher level, and they were also in their full equipment, so they could take advantage of their skills. Lydia took on two knights at once as did Terra. Meanwhile, I had teleported next to Miki. I took up the fighting while Miki cast spells to disorientate the men and weaken their spirits.

In the center, Celeste began avoiding two knights as they slashed at her. The third had been knocked out, but Shao casually sent him on his way with her dagger. It was only after her killing blow the other two noticed her there and attacked. However, as soon as they diverted their attention, Celeste began to launch a whirlwind of attacks at them. She also managed to send some blades down the hallways, hitting the other knights in the back.

Unfortunately, at this distance, she couldn’t breach their armor, but it was still a distraction that kept the men unfocused.

In truth, the fight was about even. In fact, had we fought the knights as a full unit together, there was a good chance they could beat us. Despite all of our experience, a knight was an experienced soldier with good equipment. Even with our skills, they couldn’t be defeated easily.

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How many Knights did Count Reign have while I was only given two? That was a good question and one that I didn’t have an answer to. Based on what I had seen, it looked like he had about thirty. Perhaps, that was the source of his power and confidence. He had found a way to give more people Knighthood than the regulated amount assigned by the King.

Well, thirty could be normal for a more experienced noble, so I had no clue. Since the equipment was important, it probably tied to how rich you were as well. With the Colosseum, Lord Reign’s territory brought in a lot of extra money.

Shao managed to kill her second knight, and Lydia took one out as well. The remaining seemed to realize how they had been separated and started to converge back together, backing up into the middle.

“Terra!”

“Mmm!” She created a wall, blocking off the men on her side.

I tossed down a smoke bomb, one of the alchemy products Miki and I had made. With the cover of the smoke, I switched from hero to Basic Magician. I then cast several fireballs in the direction intending to disorientate and delay them.

Lydia managed to cut down her second guy just as Shao took out her third. The two women dived into the smoke. The two knights fending off fireballs didn’t last for another moment as the two girls cut them down.

“Celeste!”

She shot out an airblade, cutting down the barrier Terra had made and then used her wind to clear away the dust.

When the dust faded. Terra was on the ground. Her arm was gone.

“Terra!” I cried out, running over and grabbing her.

She looked over at me tearfully. “I’m sorry, Master. One of them got away.”

I quickly checked the map with sense life, but they were already gone. The one who got away was the leader. It only made sense they were stronger and had an escape method. However, something had been dropped in the process. It was the tracking device he was using.

“Should we chase him?” Shao asked as I healed Terra, using dirt to restore her missing arm.

“No…” I shook my head. “It’s too late for that. He’ll be back with reinforcements.”

“What do we do then?”

“We do what we came here to do. We beat this dungeon, and we find the king!”