CHAPTER 725: 567, JUST TAKE A TRIP.

"Come, choose."

In a somewhat dilapidated inn room, Reiger watched the Oasis Knights piled up before him like a stack of statues and said calmly,

This caused the group of Oasis Knights, who were still twitching from electric shocks, to fall silent for a long time before someone finally spoke up.

"It’s no wonder that someone who could steal the forbidden artifact in front of many mercenary groups and underground forces would have such arrogance."

The speaker was the Knight Captain leading the numerous Oasis Knights.

Severely injured, with a ferocious knife wound still oozing blood in front of him, his face pale, he looked at Reiger with full scorn in his eyes.

"If you dare, go to the City Lord’s Mansion and find our City Lord."

"With the Sword Saint there, if you still speak like you do now, Borde will admire you."

"Just afraid you wouldn’t dare."

The Oasis Knight Captain, who called himself Borde, sneered as he spoke, clearly thinking that Reiger was boasting.

What is the City Lord’s Mansion?

The heart of Xinyel, the residence of the City Lord, the administrative body that maintains the entire city, gathering many strong figures and officials.

There, not only does it serve the Oasis Knights, but also houses four major knight orders, each with more than a thousand members. Although most are stationed in different parts of Xinyel, some guarding the city gates, the city walls, others patrolling key areas, and still others stationed in various district offices, there are still hundreds of knights permanently guarding the City Lord’s Mansion, and the place is heavily guarded.

For such a stronghold, let alone an outsider, even if the local underground forces were to unite, attacking the City Lord’s Mansion would be an impossible task.

Moreover, the City Lord’s Mansion is the residence of the City Lord, where the strongest and most terrifying presence in Xinyel lives—the Sword Saint.

What is a Sword Saint?

The strongest swordsman on the continent of Akasha!

The highest level of power!

Such an existence, even in the Ginas Kingdom, one of the four major countries, there are only seven people, and in the Leiblu Kingdom, another of the four major countries, there are only nine. How could ordinary people compare?

You should know that in some small countries, the strongest swordsman might just be a slightly more experienced True Swordsman. If a small country were to produce a Sword Saint, that country would immediately gain the attention of the major powers, and even if they wouldn’t be apprehensive, they’d certainly treat it with caution.

Xinyel is able to exist between the Ginas Kingdom and the Leiblu Kingdom, two major powers because it has a Sword Saint, thus preserving a degree of autonomy.

In such a situation, the City Lord is seen by the locals of Xinyel as a god-like figure, invincible.

Especially for those Oasis Knights directly under the City Lord, they fully understand how powerful the Sword Saint is, and they’ve always revered the City Lord as divine.

Now, Reiger was in front of them, talking about storming the City Lord’s Mansion and confronting the City Lord face-to-face?

Borde could only laugh, thinking it foolish.

"So you refuse to say anything?"

Reiger withdrew his gaze from Borde and the others, seemingly oblivious to the contempt and mockery in Borde’s eyes. He casually spoke while playing with a sandglass-shaped object he had taken from the Oasis Knights.

This magic artifact could interfere with the operation of magic, an effect that was quite unique, prompting some curiosity in Reiger.

If it weren’t for the fact that this artifact functioned by dispersing flowing sand grains around to create interference in the surrounding magic coverage area, allowing magic to resume operation once blown away, Reiger wouldn’t have been able to deploy the "Divine Power Area" as smoothly to defend himself against the Oasis Knights’ combined magic bombardment.

Thus, Reiger couldn’t help but toy with it, appearing somewhat distracted, looking utterly unconcerned about the Oasis Knights, which really fueled their anger.

"Regarding someone like you, a criminal, we have nothing to say,"

Borde spoke coldly.

"Fine," Reiger unexpectedly nodded crisply, saying, "I wasn’t planning to use ’Memory Manipulation’—a magic that could potentially damage the brain—unless necessary. Since you’re so resigned to your fate, not using it on you would be an insult to the title of criminal you just used."

As soon as these words were uttered, the faces of the Oasis Knights changed dramatically.

"Memory Manipulation"?

The magic that could control memory?

This criminal knows such a rare type of interfering magic?

"If you dare, just kill us!"

Borde immediately shouted out in anger.

Reiger ignored this fury-filled roar, threw the sandglass-shaped artifact to Liz who was nearby, then reached out and placed his hand on Borde’s head.

"Undead Touch."

Just as Borde was about to resist, Reiger activated the magic that could inflict a status anomaly upon contact.

"...!"

Borde stiffened, feeling as if all his strength was drained, and jolted as if electrocuted again, immobilized completely.

Under the effect of the "Undead Touch," Borde entered a paralytic state.

"Captain!"

"Captain!"

The other Oasis Knights saw this scene and cried out, even hurling angry words at Reiger.

"What have you done to the captain...!?"

"Let go of the captain!"

"You despicable criminal!"

Reiger turned a deaf ear to these roars, and while holding the immobile Borde’s head, he activated magic.

"[Memory Manipulation]."

As the magic was activated, Reiger’s consciousness began to delve deep into Borde’s brain.

First, he briefly reviewed Borde’s past experiences and found that this man had once been a highly principled knight.

Since childhood, because his family had been persecuted by underground forces, he had dreamed of becoming an Oasis Knight, serving the City Lord, combating crime, rooting out evil, and ensuring the residents of Sinyale lived peaceful, good lives.

After joining the City Lord’s office, by virtue of hard work and firm belief, he became a True Swordsman at the age of 33, receiving the True Knight Medal, and at 35, due to his significant contributions, he was granted a special sword technique by the City Lord. After three years of diligent study, he became a senior True Swordsman at 38 and was assigned as the captain of a team of Oasis Knights, highly valued by the City Lord.

Now, Borde had just turned 42, yet he had already become one of the top figures among the Oasis Knights, powerful enough to be ranked in the top five among the 43 Oasis Knights in the City Lord’s office and even among the top ten in all of Sinyale.

Although Reiger had easily defeated Borde, even crushing the other Oasis Knights who had teamed up with him, it was because they had targeted Reiger. If it had been someone else, even Albert, known as the first person beneath the Sword Saint, it would definitely not have been an easy task to overcome him.

Owing to this, Borde was quite famous in Sinyale and had even made it onto many blacklists of underground forces, viewed either as a thorn in their side by various groups or dreaded by lawless beings. He also had high popularity among the civilians, having eradicated many crimes and saved countless citizens.

One could say, Borde was the Round Table Knight of Sinyale, living a life of high principles and integrity which led many to believe that he might one day reach the realm of the Sword Saint.

"Well, he’s actually such a righteous figure, huh?"

Reiger began to see Borde in a new light.

"Then I’ll spare your life."

Thinking this, Reiger became careful as he delved deeper into Borde’s consciousness.

[Memory Manipulation] is not a magic that necessarily damages the brain; it only has the potential to do so.

If the caster recklessly probes deep into the subject’s brain, rifling through memories without regard for the subject’s well-being, such a method, which is akin to violently picking a lock, will inevitably cause damage to the brain.

However, if the caster is more careful, more cautious, and searches the memories more gently, trying to avoid harming the subject with their magic, then naturally it’s a different matter altogether.

Even if this reduces efficiency, doesn’t necessarily yield the desired information, and consumes more magical power, given Reiger’s spiritual power recovery speed, this expenditure was negligible.

Thus, Reiger carefully perused Borde’s memories, focusing more attention on the most recent ones.

Finally, Reiger found the information he was looking for.

"So you don’t know much either, huh?"

Reiger removed his hand from Borde’s head, smirking at him.

"Huff... Huff..."

Borde simply collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, feeling an immense heaviness in his head and a dizzy sensation.

"Captain!"

"What have you done to the captain?"

"Let us go!"

The other Oasis Knights erupted in commotion again.

But Reiger no longer paid them any attention, pondering over the situation.

As he had just said, Borde really didn’t know much.

He had only received information from the City Lord’s office about a large-scale private duel occurring in the abandoned warehouse district and that someone had touched a taboo.

According to the intelligence department, someone had gotten their hands on an item that had fallen out of the forbidden ruins, leading to a bloody battle for its possession.

Once this intelligence had been reported to the City Lord, he flew into a rage, immediately ordering Borde to take his team along with a hundred-man knight brigade to punish those who had touched the forbidden item.

The command from the City Lord was— disregard whether they live or die,

That’s why these Oasis Knights had started with forceful and decisive actions, not intending to negotiate at all.

"What a City Lord of Sinyale,"

Reiger commented dismissively.

For a mere imaginary crime of taboo, he had directly given an order to disregard life and death; this City Lord was truly as apprehensive about this matter as the rumors had suggested.

With that in mind...

"This City Lord’s mansion, I’ll pay it a visit."