The black haired man, Noah, smiled calmly as he looked down on the cultist mage. Having recognised him, the mage paled from the shock of it as his whole body trembled. He bit his lips as the horror present in his eyes before seemed to multiply by folds.

“Noah, the Archmage Knight,” Seth said out loud, registering the new information.

Just going by the name of the class, he could feel that it was a strong one, probably combining both spellcraft and swordsmanship. From the way Noah had killed the other two cultists, his abilities were way beyond what Seth could deal with right now.

“Yes, I'm Noah the Archmage Knight,” he said, turning his head back to glance at him, a smile creeping up on his face like an excited child. “I go by a lot of names, but my class has been one of the most prominent out of them. I'm pretty sure you have heard a lot about—”

“I actually never heard of you before.”

Seth said, laying on the ground. His strength had been gradually returning during the fight even if he had exhausted his mana.

It all sounds cool, but who exactly is he?

The cultist definitely recognised him and by the way he had called him the strongest adventurer to live, Seth assumed that he was famous enough. Still, he had no idea who he was.

He’d never heard of him before. Thinking back to every conversation he had since entering his world and reading through those books in the public library, there were a few things about kings and famous people throughout history, but there wasn't anything about adventurers or someone named Noah the Archmage Knight.

Even Rebecca had never mentioned him when she would occasionally blabber about mages. Though, it was mostly contained to her master and people she had met at the academy she had studied in.

Noah turned around completely, blinking his eyes, a shocked expression plastered on his face.

“You have never heard of me,” he said, his face straining. “What about Lord Krashan? Or Helif the Unknown? You have heard of none of my aliases?”

“No, I am hearing about them for the first time today,” Seth replied, honestly.

“You're not messing with me right? I only like my own jokes.”

“No, I'm telling the truth.”

Noah frowned and stared at Seth's face before his expressions relaxed. He shrugged his shoulders and looked a bit disappointed.

Putting a hand on his forehead, he muttered, “That’s understandable. After all, you are not from this world. I just assumed you had time to learn these things. Guess, they don't prioritise me in history books. I need to do something about it later.”

“What did you say?” Seth asked, his eyes widened.

“That I have to do something about it. I believe I have done enough to have my name in the—”

“No, no,” he said, cutting him off. “Before that. About me not being from this world. How do you know that?”

Seth fixated his eyes on Noah. From what he had seen and heard, the man wasn't with Seven Seals nor did he look to be with any other cults. Though, he couldn't be sure about the last part.

Still, him being from another world was a secret that only Rebecca would know. Seth doubted she had ousted him. So, it couldn't be her.

“I have been watching you for a long time, Seth. I know a lot about you,” Noah said before he burst into a laugh. “As for why, I would tell you everything later. For now, I need to deal with this annoying pest.”

He turned around, but the mage was not on the ground anymore. Seth hadn't noticed it due to his shock, but the mage was making a run for it.

He was sprinting faster than before, vines all around him, protecting him from any attack Noah might launch at his back. It was a desperate struggle for his life.

He used some sort of a skill as his pace was unusual for a class which would usually not prioritise agility.

“These cultists are just like cockroaches.” Noah shook his head and his eyes changed colours for a moment. Then, he vanished from the ground.

A scream echoed in the far distance. Seth squinted his eyes to see properly as Noah appeared right in front of the mage and punched him down. Not expecting such an attack, the mage yelped in pain and looked at the Archmage Knight in terror.

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Vines moved to protect the mage, but Noah burned them to the ground before crushing the mage's leg with his own. The mage muttered something, but Seth was too far to hear it.

It made Noah chuckle and he crushed his other leg. With both legs broken, the mage was crippled, but he didn't stop there.

He kept punching him before picking him up by the collar and vanishing again.

The next moment, he appeared in front of Seth and threw the mage on the ground.

Seth wasn't sure if it was a skill similar to his Flickering Step or Noah had just moved that fast. Either way, he doubted the mage would try to run again.

The mage's mask fell off, revealing a plain face that was bloodied and battered. He was crippled and his whole body was bruised. Seth doubted he would be able to walk again without magical assistance.

“You tried to run away again,” Noah said, looking down on him. “It ended with the same result, right? Even after realising who I'm, why did you try to run? I might have just given you an easy death.”

“You… you’d have never,” the mage said, voice shaking. He tried to stand up, but fell down and crawled on the ground. “I have heard about your cruel deeds. You have burned away so many of my brethren… decapitated them and hung them for the world to see.”

“And you haven't done the same to innocents,” he replied, sighing like he was talking to an idiot. “I might not be a good guy, but I haven't sold my soul to the abyss like you all.”

“You're delusional… you aren't much different than us,” the mage said before raising his head to look at Noah. “You're doomed, mage. Seven Seals will come for the failed vessel again. And the Overlord will come for you. And he won't spare you. He won't spare any of you, Archmage Knight..”

For the first time since their conversation began, Seth saw the eyes of Noah flicker a bit at the mention of Overlord, but they soon returned to normal before he crouched down.

“Who cares? Anyone can come, bring it on. I'm the strongest there is.”

He shrugged his shoulders and flames appeared on his hands. He touched the mage's shoulder and his whole body ignited. Screams filled the forest for the next few minutes as Noah tortured the mage before his whole body turned to ashes.

That wasn't all as he sent flames to torch up the body of the brute and the woman too, leaving no traces of their existence in the forest.

Only a burned surface remained and the ashes flew into the air.

Seth watched all this with widened eyes. Not only was the Archmage Knight unbelievably strong, he was also ruthless. He had gotten nightmares due to killing humans, but here, Noah was burning them alive without a trace of remorse on his face.

Noah stood up and extinguished the dark flames on his hand before looking up at Seth.

Seth's face scrunched up and his face froze, feeling his gaze on him.

“I was in two minds about interrogating him a bit, but I decided against it. He was a waste of time. He knew nothing, I could tell. Those types of people hardly have useful information.” He sighed. “There was nothing exciting about him. The only thing interesting about him was his vines. Same with his buddies. Scum, all of them.”

He walked a few steps towards Seth until he was towering over him.

Seth tried to move, but was unable to. Effects of mana exhaustion were still there and it would take more time for him to recover. Right now, he was at the mercy of Noah.

“So—”

“Here, drink it.”

Noah cut him off and threw a vial at him. Seth caught it and looked at it. A screen popped up showing that it was a potion, but he paused, contemplating whether he should drink it.

Seeing his hesitation, Noah smiled, “It's not poison. If I meant any harm to you, I doubt you would be able to defend against me. I don't have to go through these backhanded methods”

Seth took in his words and nodded. He had barely stood against the Rank 4 cultist and Noah had defeated them like they were kids. The difference between them was too steep for him to climb even if he used his everything.

Also, Noah looked friendly to him.

The mage had called him the strongest adventurer to live. Seth didn't know if it was true, but his strength definitely made him a contender for him. Most importantly, if he was an adventurer, then they were on the same side.

Gulping down the potion, he felt a bit better. His body recovered a bit of strength. Noah threw a mana potion at him too and once he drank that, Seth felt like he could move.

“You will be okay in an hour. It would take a day or two for you to recover fully. That skill you used seems to take a big toll on your body.”

Noah commented. By his words, Seth could guess that Noah was watching the battle between him and the cultist, but he hadn't been able to sense him at all.

He had hidden himself so well.

It was all weird. It had been a normal quest of hunting Owlbears, but it had turned into something else. He didn't know how Seven Seals had found him and the man who stood before him seemed just as mysterious.

He was difficult for Seth to comprehend, but he knew that he was not in danger anymore. The questions racing through his mind came to his throat and he was unable to hold them back.

“Who are you?” Seth looked at him and let out the barrage of questions he was holding inside of him. “Why did you save me? How do you know I'm from another world? And what do you want from me?”

Noah smiled like he was expecting those questions from the beginning. He took another look around the forest, then turned back to Seth.

“I'm Noah. You already know that. And you also know my class. I'm an adventurer. Like you, but that's not all.” He sighed and gave him a long look. “I will answer all your questions. It's a long story, so brace yourself. I will start from the beginning. When the Seven Seals decided to summon you into this world.”