It felt so good to be close to the witch!

Besides this golden-armored knight, the other two light-gold armored knights, as well as Blood Fortress Robert, are all gold-level beings. The two light-gold armored knights are gold-level one-star, and Blood Fortress Robert is gold-level two-star. It is quite risky for her to deal with these four golden knights alone.

With her advancement to "Grand Rank" and the evolution of her talent, the Ice Witch Ais could truly feel a tremendous change in her strength. However, she had not yet personally fought against the Golden Knight, and relying on intuition alone was not necessarily accurate.

While pondering, the Ice Witch Ais retreated a thousand meters away from Star Lake, took out the Communication Conch, and transmitted the information she had gathered about the enemy's strength to Roy.

After a few seconds, the white conch shell vibrated slightly in response. Ais tapped the bottom of the conch shell, picked it up and listened. Roy's voice came from the conch shell: "Miss Ais, please continue to wait near Star Lake. I will keep in real-time contact with you through the sound transmission conch shell."

"clear."

After replying, Ais put away the white conch shell, and with a flash, she quickly returned to the top of the tree where she had been standing.

The night breeze stirred, yet it could not touch her delicate body.

In her Grand Elemental state, Ais's body is no longer flesh and blood, but has become an energy state. In a world filled with energy, she is like a drop of water merging into the ocean; to perceive her presence is simply impossible unless one's strength far surpasses hers.

……

Inside the Blackrock Lord's mansion, in a hidden place.

Roy put down the conch shell that was transmitting sound to his ear, frowned, and fell into deep thought.

The people sent by the Second Prince to Xinghu consisted of one Gold Three-Star Knight and two Gold One-Star Knights.

If the goal were merely to deal with Robert, the Bloodthirsty Fortress, a two-star Gold-ranked warrior, this lineup would be more than sufficient. However, it's important to understand that Blackstone Territory, where Star Lake is located, is practically adjacent to the Border Duke's territory. For the Second Prince to rely on such a small force to contend with the Border Duke is nothing short of delusional.

At such close range, reinforcements from the border duke could arrive at any moment, at which point these three knights would have no chance of escape.

It's not that the Gold Three-Star Knights aren't powerful enough, but rather that the mysterious sealing array and crimson rift beneath the Star Lake are things that even the Grand Witch Ais can't touch.

Its rank is most likely above Gold and Grand ranks.

Above the gold rank, there must be an even higher rank of knights, and the border duke and the second prince, as the absolute high-ranking officials of the Radiant Empire, could not possibly not have knights of this rank under their command.

But now, both sides have tacitly agreed not to send knights of the Gold rank or above to participate in the Star Lake incident. Is it because each knight of the Gold rank or above holds an important position and cannot be moved lightly, or is there another hidden reason?

The current standoff between the three knights under the Second Prince and Robert the Blood Fortress left Roy somewhat bewildered.

With the strength of these three Golden Knights, there is absolutely no problem for them to take down Blood Fortress Robert together. Even if they might suffer injuries, it would only be a minor injury at most in a three-on-one fight. Even if Blood Fortress Robert is extremely strong, he would at most be seriously injured.

This price is absolutely acceptable.

In reality, the three golden knights sent by the second prince not only did not attack Blood Fortress Robert, but instead stood there dumbfounded in a standoff.

Don't they understand that delaying will only lead to the arrival of the border duke's reinforcements?

Knights who can cultivate to the Gold rank may not be smart, but they are definitely not stupid. They couldn't possibly not know such a simple principle.

But they did it anyway.

There must be some hidden story I'm unaware of...

Roy felt heavy-hearted.

The lack of information and intelligence prevented him from making effective predictions about these people's actions, and the inability to predict meant that he could not make arrangements in advance and could only wait passively.

Being passive is never a good thing.

Just like now, there's nothing he can do but wait.

"call……"

Taking a deep breath to suppress his agitation, Roy suddenly thought of something and said to the Shadow Witch Lilia beside him, "Lilia, just leave Ah Da above Star Lake. You have Ah Er and Ah San continue to monitor within the Black Stone Territory."

"Yes." The Shadow Witch Lilia immediately issued the order to the Shadow Ravens Ada, Aer, and Asan through the contract.

Roy stared intently at the three black-and-white projections that began to change before him, his expression gradually calming down.

Now that he and the witches are hiding in the shadows, he has the initiative to decide whether or not to intervene, regardless of the struggle between the Second Prince and the Border Duke.

Right now, all we can do is wait.

……

As the night deepened, a light white mist began to rise from the dense forest surrounding Xinghu Lake.

On the shore of Star Lake, the leading golden-armored knight spoke again after nearly two hours of silence.

"Bloody Fortress Robert, by now you should be able to recognize the current situation."

"The reinforcements you mentioned never came!"

"Stop struggling in vain."

“I really don’t want to get hurt, as that would affect my cultivation progress, but if you insist on not making way, then I have no choice but to take action.”

The voice of the golden-armored knight carried far and wide, causing Robert, the Blood Fortress, to tighten his grip on the mace.

The reinforcements, who should have arrived long ago, still haven't arrived, even though there are less than 10 minutes left until the Feast Festival...

Given the strict military discipline under the border duke, such a thing could never have happened.

The only answer is that, as the other party said, he did indeed become a pawn to be discarded.

Silence brews once more here, like the dark clouds gathering before a storm.

A dozen seconds later, Robert the Blood Fortress let out a long breath, and his energy and spirit visibly waned with each exhale. He lowered his head, his hands holding the hammer loosened slightly, and his eyes became slightly unfocused.

"It seems you made the right decision."

Seeing the dejected look on Robert the Blood Fortress's face, the leading golden-armored knight said with satisfaction, "You are a smart man, and in this world, only smart men can live long."

Just as the leading golden-armored knight was about to advance with the two pale gold-armored knights behind him, Blood Fortress Robert, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head, and his battle aura, like solid flames, suddenly expanded.

"boom--!"

Like a thunderclap from a clear sky, flames roared within a ten-meter radius of Blood Fortress Robert, and behind Blood Fortress Robert, who stood amidst the flames, a faint, indistinct phantom appeared.

"Explosive Breathing Technique, the prototype of the Extraordinary True Form?"

"You actually went this far!"

"It seems you're just one step away from achieving Gold Three Stars."

"But with your fighting spirit, to unleash the rudiments of a transcendent true form, are you courting death?!"

The powerful shockwave caused the two light gold-armored knights to involuntarily retreat, while the leading golden-armored knight did not retreat even a step. His cloak billowed backward as he looked at the Blood Fortress Robert amidst the raging flames, his voice filled with shock and anger.

"Why go to such lengths when you've already been abandoned?"

Faced with the Golden Armor Knight's questioning, Blood Fortress Robert grinned and let out a rough laugh: "The Duke has been so kind to me that I wouldn't even flinch if he asked me to die."

"Perhaps, as you say, I do have no reinforcements, but so what?"

"Even if I die, I will stop you from entering the lake!"

Loud laughter echoed in all directions.

The golden-armored knight let out a cold, sinister snort. Strands of water emanated from his body, swirling and accelerating, eventually spreading to the longsword he had drawn. The water multiplied, quickly forming a vast body of water with a radius of several meters.

In the water, a ferocious fish slowly emerged, more lifelike than the faint phantom behind Blood Fortress Robert.

"Since you're so eager to die, then I won't hold back anymore!"

The next moment, the surging waters collided head-on with the sea of ​​flames.

"Boom!"

Hundreds of meters away from Star Lake, the Ice Witch Ais, standing atop a large tree, narrowed her eyes.

"So this is... the true form of the extraordinary..."

Sensing the fluctuations of the battle ahead, a serious look appeared in her eyes.

The Knight's Path to Excellence: Bronze, Silver, Gold.

Among them, the Bronze Knights initially adapted to battle aura and used it to break through the limits of their bodies.

Upon reaching the Silver rank, the knight's body further adapts to battle aura, allowing him to absorb more magical particles into his body. Battle aura undergoes a qualitative change, acquiring different attributes and significantly increasing its destructive power. Depending on the attribute of the battle aura, and with the aid of breathing techniques, he can unleash a variety of powerful secret techniques.

Upon reaching the Gold rank, a knight's body is fully adapted to battle aura, capable of directly absorbing complete magical energy from nature, rather than just magical particles. They begin using vast amounts of magical energy and life force to modify their body organs, creating magical body tissues to accommodate more battle aura. This is also the origin of the inspiration that led the Ice Witch Ais to break through to the Grand rank.

The so-called extraordinary true form is the "phantom" of different extraordinary creatures that the Golden Knights can manifest when they have transformed their body organs with magic to a certain extent, depending on the different methods of transforming the magical organs.

The true form is not merely a physical appearance, but possesses a variety of incredible abilities.

Magic's influence on the world is timeless and ever-evolving. Compared to humans, who are incredibly weak at birth, there exist various extraordinary creatures in this world who are born with immense power and terrifying talents; they are also known as demons.

Generally speaking, those who can condense a transcendent true form are knights who have reached the three-star level of the gold rank. Blood Fortress Robert, with his two-star gold rank, was able to use the prototype of a transcendent true form, which shows that most of the magical organs in his body have already condensed.

However, for someone who has not yet advanced to the Gold Three Star level, the price he needs to pay to use his Extraordinary True Form is no different from burning his life force.

The Golden Knight, when using his true form, experiences a significant increase in strength, which is the main reason why a three-star Golden Knight surpasses a two-star Golden Knight.

The collision in the distance was exceptionally intense; even hundreds of meters away, the Ice Witch Ais could feel a distinct energy fluctuation.

After carefully sensing the situation for a while, her gaze gradually returned to indifference—if it was only this level, defeating the Golden Armor Knight or Blood Fortress Robert would not be difficult for her.

……

In a hidden place.

Roy stared at the intense battle scene projected in black and white, a look of shock appearing in his eyes.

Vast stretches of trees were destroyed in the clash between the golden-armored knight and the bloody fortress Robert. The surging waters and scorching flames formed by their battle aura crisscrossed, leaving deep pits with a radius of at least one meter in the ground wherever they passed.

In particular, each collision between the two giant true forms behind them would produce an astonishing impact, leaving a huge crater with a radius of nearly five meters on the ground.

Such terrifying destructive power is even more terrifying than the rocket launcher in the firearms of his previous life on Earth.

The figures of the two golden knights were so small that they couldn't even be clearly shown on the black and white projection; their speed was simply too fast.

No wonder it is said that the Golden Knights have the ability to alter the terrain locally. With such terrifying power, given enough time, destroying the entire Blackrock Territory would not be difficult.

Gold...

While deeply moved, Roy also felt a profound longing.

If he also possessed such power, the Second Prince would not be able to act so "recklessly" in his territory.

Ultimately, it was still too weak...

Roy thought to himself silently.

Time passed second by second, and this golden battle that took place on the shores of Star Lake finally came to an end.

With a deafening roar, amidst the exploding water and flames, a figure crashed heavily to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust nearly ten meters high.