The sudden turn of events startled Remedios and the two vice-captains beside her, who looked with disbelief at Barun, who had sent a team member flying.
It was well-known that members of the Paladin Order wore heavy armor; to be able to send one flying meant that the opponent's strength was likely not small.
But it was Azar who had just spoken; wasn't he just an ordinary squad member?
Not only this Paladin, but the three of them were now astonished to find that Azar and the others had quickly gained the upper hand in the short few seconds they had been fighting the Paladins.
Azar's performance was particularly outstanding among the six; though no martial arts or magic were seen, with every swing of his longsword, after clashing with him, the Paladin's arm would noticeably recoil.
This situation was exactly like the strong recoil Remedios's unrestrained attacks caused the Paladins during their regular training.
Although Remedios was not very bright in other areas, she possessed keen battle instincts.
If this continued, the Paladins would definitely lose!
This thought flashed through her mind, and Remedios, without any hesitation, immediately stepped forward to join the battle.
Her first target was Barun.
Remedios quickly rushed in front of him, her Holy Sword swiftly thrusting towards Barun's shoulder; she aimed to capture Azar and the others, not to kill them, which was why she chose to attack a non-lethal spot.
Barun had noticed he was her target the moment she moved, and naturally, he was very wary, gripping his sword hilt with both hands and forcefully pushing away the incoming Holy Sword.
The blades clashed only briefly, then passed through Barun's left side.
Indeed, these guys have strong physical abilities.
Remedios judged this result from this simple contact; Barun's performance was the worst among the six, but in terms of strength, he was not much weaker than herself.
However, mere physical prowess is no match for me!
With a low shout, Remedios withdrew her thrusting longsword and then launched a rapid attack on Barun.
Thrust, parry, chop, slash—the continuous actions overwhelmed Barun, and finally, a flaw appeared when he blocked with a horizontal sword, allowing Remedios to directly disarm him, leaving him wide open.
Martial Skill: Slash!
Remedios took a step forward, gripped her sword hilt with both hands, and then brought it down heavily; the Holy Sword, enhanced by a martial skill, cut towards Barun's left shoulder before he could react.
Thud!
The moment the Holy Sword collided with his shoulder armor, a layer of light film enveloped Barun's entire body, and Remedios's attack on him was directly repelled.
"Hmm?"
To avoid being attacked by her opponent, Remedios leaped back a step, creating distance, and looked at the Mithril armor on Barun with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
Is this an enchantment effect added to the armor?
But her Holy Sword was no ordinary weapon; to be able to directly repel an attack from the Holy Sword enhanced with a martial skill, it was definitely not an ordinary enchanted armor!
It was truly strange; if it were a leader-level figure, possessing this level of defensive gear might not be surprising.
Remedios narrowed her eyes, carefully observing Barun; he must have a special identity, similar to a noble heir captain in the Holy Kingdom's army.
"Barun! Are you alright?"
Azar repelled his opponent with a single sword strike, quickly moved closer to Barun, positioning himself beside him to guard against Remedios, while asking with concern.
Barun readjusted his stance and replied to Azar, "Vice-captain, I'm fine."
"Good. I'll hold off this woman; you go deal with the others," Azar said seriously.
Then, without waiting for Barun's reply, he immediately attacked Remedios.
Watching Azar approach, Remedios did not shy away from the fight, gripping her Holy Sword and meeting him; both swung their swords at each other simultaneously, their blades clashing continuously in mid-air.
Azar had survived the war between the Kingdom and the Empire, and compared to the still-naive Barun, he was much stronger in martial arts; while he couldn't compare to a genius like Remedios, his moves were solid, and for a time, he was only slightly at a disadvantage.
With Remedios, the greatest threat, held back, the other five members defeated the Paladins one by one with overwhelming force.
The two Paladin vice-captains observing the battle, Gustavo and Isadro, exchanged glances and immediately drew their weapons, joining the fray.
Isadro, like Remedios, was a powerful Paladin, one of the 'nine colors of the Holy Kingdom'; although certainly not as strong as the captain, he had a chance against any of the other five besides Azar.
Although Gustavo's abilities were a bit weaker, with his rich combat experience, he could also hold back one person.
With only three members of the Knight Squad needing to deal with enemies, and with the Paladins who had been knocked down now standing up, along with the guards of the stronghold, the entire training ground fell into a stalemate for a time.
Forced back by Remedios's sword, Azar paid attention to the situation on the field; facing the large number of enemies constantly surrounding them, the squad members had to not only deal with their respective opponents but also be wary of attacks from others, and they were already starting to struggle!
Not good!
The moment he was distracted, Remedios seized the opportunity, rapidly closed in, and thrust her Holy Sword forcefully towards Azar's chest.
When Azar came to his senses, he could only hastily block with his longsword.
Clang!
A powerful force spread through the sword. Azar's sword-wielding arm went numb, and the longsword nearly slipped from his grasp.
A glint flashed in Remedios's eyes; she quickly took a step forward, simultaneously retracting her thrusting Holy Sword, then gripped the hilt with both hands and brought it down fiercely.
Martial Skill: Hard Strike!
Activating a damage-enhancing martial skill, the Holy Sword came down towards Azar, but his arm, momentarily numb, caused his block to be a step slow. The longsword was held horizontally above his head, but it was immediately cleaved open upon contact, and the tip of the Holy Sword instantly cut towards his chest.
A smile of success appeared on Remedios's face, but the next second, that joyful smile gradually turned to bewilderment.
A familiar scene reappeared; Azar's entire body was enveloped in a light film, and the Holy Sword was directly repelled.
Azar immediately seized the opportunity, swinging his longsword diagonally, cutting forcefully towards her neck.
Remedios easily blocked the strike, then pushed Azar away forcefully, but her face showed a grave expression, furrowing her brow.
Could it be that the armor on all these guys is enchanted with magic that nullifies attacks? How is that possible?
Armor capable of such a skill must be high-grade stuff! One of the Re-Estize Kingdom's Four Great Secret Treasures reportedly has a similar effect; could these armors be items comparable to that treasure?
Azar, who had retreated, remained wary of her and did not continue to attack, but instead shouted, "Everyone, gather around me!"
Upon hearing this, the other five, who were entangled with enemies, immediately broke free and retreated to Azar's side.
The surrounding soldiers, seeing that Remedios did not continue to attack, also did not act rashly for a time, merely surrounding the six.
"Captain, what's wrong?" Gustavo returned to Remedios's side, asking with some confusion.
She merely shook her head, casting aside all the absurd thoughts in her mind, and cautiously told her subordinate, "Gustavo, don't stop attacking; wear them down!"
Gustavo felt a little puzzled; what had happened to make the usually straightforward Captain choose to deal with the enemy through attrition?
It must be to avoid harming these people too much!
For a moment, Gustavo even felt a little relieved. He had previously worried that Remedios might be unrestrained and cause serious injuries to Azar and the others, but now it seemed the Captain had matured a bit.
"Alright."
Gustavo responded, leading his subordinates to continue approaching Azar and the six, and just then, a shadow swept over their heads.
"Gustavo!"
Remedios's shout rang in his ears, and Gustavo instinctively stopped, a strong gust of wind brushing past his head.
Thud!
The sound of a heavy object landing exploded in front of Gustavo, kicking up a cloud of dust that made the Paladins retreat defensively.
As the dust gradually settled, a tall figure appeared before them.
A black body, two forward-curving horns, and blood-red eyes stared at them, involuntarily giving rise to a sense of fear—it was a Dragon Blood Bicorn.
And on the Bicorn's back, a masked knight in azure armor held a longsword, his exposed half-face bearing a faint smile.
"Captain!" * 6
Azar and the others looked at the knight standing in front of them, their faces breaking into joyful smiles as they shouted in unison.
This immediately let Remedios know the identity of the person before her—the Knight Captain mentioned in the intelligence who had defeated Pavel and Orland!
Just as Remedios was about to step forward to converse with him, an extremely dangerous sensation arose!
"Hmm?" With her extraordinary perception, she immediately pinpointed the source of the crisis: it was the man riding the magical beast.
The next second, dense, invisible sword qi appeared around the man; he moved his mouth slightly, and his longsword suddenly swung down!
"Watch out!"
Remedios's pupils instantly contracted, and she let out a loud shout.
Dense sword qi shot towards all the Holy Kingdom Paladins and soldiers, and expressions of terror appeared on everyone's faces.
Ah!
Ah!
...
Successive wails echoed in Remedios's ears, but at this moment, she had no time for anything else, as she was using all her strength to block the numerous sword qi flying towards her. Clearly, the opponent had made her the primary target of his attack.
"Hmm~"
One after another, sword qi broke through the Holy Sword's defense and struck the armor on her body. Surprisingly, the damage from these sword qi was not great; they only caused Remedios a series of stinging pains but did not make her bleed.
Constantly pushed back by the sword qi, Remedios gritted her teeth and held on. After about three seconds, all the sword qi in the sky had disappeared. She turned her head and saw the soldiers lying on the ground, writhing and wailing.
"You are their captain?"
Lock sheathed his longsword, looked at the only female knight still standing in the field, and said, "That's right, you can call me Black Knight Curt."
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A/N: Support Via Powerstone And Collections