White space.

"I didn't expect that Knight Academy to be the lair of that mage and Nimophila."

"So, do I still want to go there and be a sword instructor?"

Liens fell into deep thought.

In the last instance, he was brutally killed under the combined attack of the Dean and Nimophila.

Both the Dean and Nimophila were very strong.

Especially the Dean, who wielded various spells with incredible mastery.

He was proficient in all types of magic—attack, defense, buffs, and debuffs—and many were cast instantly, showing great skill.

With his assistance, Nimophila fought like a War God, directly beating Liens like a dog.

Of course, that statement is somewhat exaggerated.

Although Liens couldn't defeat Nimophila with the Dean's assistance, he was far from being toyed with at will.

At most, he was simply defeated without Nimophila taking any damage.

Recalling the debuffs he suffered in the last instance, Liens felt a headache coming on.

Every time those debuffs were applied to him...

Liens would control the Wind Element within his body, just as he did to remove the "contract" from the Glenbagen Family, quickly removing the alien elemental structures within him.

But the speed of his cleansing simply couldn't keep up with how quickly others applied them.

This resulted in him almost constantly fighting Nimophila under "debuffed status."

And the opponent was buffing strength and speed, and providing shields and healing... How could Liens possibly fight?

In the end, he was naturally defeated without the opponent taking any damage.

However, by the end of the fight, Liens could tell that Nimophila and her companions intended to capture him alive.

Because, later on, Nimophila's attacks became lighter, and her striking positions were no longer directly fatal areas.

But his resolve to fight to the death was too firm.

In the end, Nimophila, unable to hold back any longer, beat him to death.

However, Liens would not regret his choice.

Instance time was limited; even if he became a captive, he couldn't possibly extract any information from them in a short time.

If he had that kind of eloquence, he wouldn't have fared so poorly in his previous life.

Moreover, he hadn't forgotten his main purpose for planning to stay in Hughes Town.

Wasn't he there for battle?

To die in battle, to grow through battle—he was too happy to regret it.

It was just that an opponent he had fought to a stalemate last time had now utterly thrashed him, which made him feel a little annoyed.

This reminded Liens of Lucrezia.

At that time, she also relied on magical enhancements to take him down.

After some thought, Liens still couldn't let go of Nimophila.

Being closer would make it easier for him to find Nimophila for a "spar."

This would avoid having to run around or do various preliminary preparations in future instances.

A waste of time...

Furthermore, Liens was genuinely curious about the secret of the ritual.

He wanted to know what the Four Great Powers, who already stood at the pinnacle of the entire world, were truly after.

However, before officially setting off to apply for the position... Liens decided to first test his escape ability in the instance.

If he could safely escape the combined attack of the mage Dean and Nimophila, then he would apply.

But if he couldn't even escape...

Liens felt that wasting a little time wasn't a big problem in reality. Thischapteris

partofthecollectionon*.

... The scene changed.

Liens arrived at the time he first entered Hughes Town.

Then, before the militia brother could react, Liens had already sprinted towards the Knight Academy.

The militia brother only felt a gust of wind, and then the person who had been following him had vanished.

"Huh? Where did he go?"

"Could the Adventurer I just met actually be the ghost of an Adventurer who died in the Monster Forest?"

At the thought of this possibility, the militia brother instantly shivered.

Then, looking up at the bright sun, he couldn't understand why a ghost could appear in sunlight?

Were all the stories he heard as a child false?

Could ghosts actually sunbathe just like people?

Then why did it suddenly disappear again?

Countless questions flooded the militia brother's mind, causing him to momentarily freeze.

Completely unaware that he had startled the militia brother, Liens, relying on his speed, reached the Knight Academy in a very short time.

Then, kill!

Liens walked step by step towards the teachers' dormitory, killing one out of every two passersby he encountered.

His goal was to quickly lure out the Dean and Nimophila to surround and kill him.

However, Liens hadn't waited for the two of them, but instead, the academy's guards and students arrived first.

"Who are you, daring to kill people so wantonly here?"

Someone among the students angrily questioned Liens.

Holding swords and blades themselves, they, emboldened by their numbers and youthful zeal, felt no fear towards the murderous Liens, only anger.

"It seems I don't need to walk any further. If I kill you all, they should appear, right?"

Liens ignored the speaking student and instead muttered softly to himself.

After speaking, Liens held his sword horizontally, accumulating power, gradually increasing his influence over the external Wind Element. After a few seconds, he swept his sword through the air towards the group of students in front of him.

The wind rose...

Before the students could understand Liens's intention, intense pain already occupied their thoughts.

And then, very quickly, they lost the ability to think.

Blood, broken bodies... The world before their eyes seemed to be covered in crimson.

Screams, wails... The sounds reaching their ears were like endless lamentations found only in hell.

A very small number of students, who were lucky enough not to die under that massive "sword energy" because they stood at the edge, collapsed onto the ground.

The sudden situation before them completely exceeded their comprehension.

Looking at the tragic scene, the confusion in their eyes quickly turned into fear.

Their legs went soft, their hands trembled, and their pants were already wet...

Liens ignored the few surviving students.

He had done enough for now; he still needed to recover some of the stamina consumed by that last strike.

After all, he still had to run later... How could he run without strength?

"Hmm? They're here."

Liens looked up at the sky, an aged figure rushing towards him like a flying bird.

After doing so much, one of his targets had finally arrived.

After confirming the Dean's figure, Liens began to look around, trying to find Nimophila's trace.

Under Liens's careful search, an unusual spot quickly caught his attention.

"So that's it, is it the distortion of light by water?"

"If it were anywhere else, I would have noticed that peculiar mass of Water Element long ago."

"But this town has been affected by the ritual, and the elemental distribution is already strange, which is why I didn't notice it immediately."

Liens stared intently at that strange spot, thinking to himself.

When everything is abnormal, abnormality itself becomes normal.

Nimophila was using the town's abnormality, through some illusionary means, to hide herself.

Seeing that Liens had broken through her concealment, Nimophila directly dispersed the special water surface and appeared before him.