I can evolve everything

"Get out of the way!!"

Valen shouted.

In that instant, the newly promoted knight even felt as if time had been stretched out.

He watched helplessly as the gnoll charged at the young man named Ryan.

In his mind, even if Rein was strong, he was still a novice who had just learned the breathing technique. If he could block the first one, then the second and third ones would knock him up and tear him to shreds.

however.

"Bang!"

A loud bang exploded on the snowfield.

Seeing something unexpected, Valen's running pace slowed involuntarily, his boots carving a deep groove in the snow.

Raine was still standing there.

They didn't even take a single step back.

The gnoll, almost twice the size of Renn, seemed to have crashed into a mountain.

The reaction force nearly caused the monster's eyeballs to pop out of their sockets, and its back bent considerably in the opposite direction due to the impact.

Centered on Ryan's boots, the snow within a radius of several tens of centimeters was shattered into powder, and much of the original snowfield collapsed.

"Relieve the pressure..."

Valen's throat made a sound involuntarily.

As a knight, he understood.

It seemed that Raine had used an extremely skillful technique to instantly redirect the impact force to the ground beneath his feet.

But how is this possible? How could a complete beginner who's only been practicing this breathing technique for less than a month do this?!

"Is this all the strength you have?"

Raine raised his head slightly, his dark eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

His chest rose and fell slightly, and the bones inside his body emitted a low groan that only he could hear.

The breathing technique has been activated, and the effect of [force dissipation amplitude] is even better than Renn had imagined.

The next moment, Renn moved. He took half a step forward.

This half-step is extremely short, yet extremely fast.

Half-Step Collapse Sword

His body was like a spring that had been compressed to its limit and then bounced back up, the power bursting from his heels and shooting straight up his spine to his right arm.

The longsword made a simple thrust forward.

So fast that you can't even see the afterimage.

The sword tip pierced precisely through the gnoll's center of gravity, through his heart, and out through his back.

The gnoll's howl stopped abruptly, turning into a gurgling sound in its throat.

With a flick of his wrist, Raine drew his longsword, drawing out a large clump of black blood.

The enormous corpse crashed to the ground.

After Renn blocked the first wave of attacks, Ella gracefully passed by Renn.

"Whoosh—"

Before one of the gnolls following closely behind could charge toward Renn, he was sliced ​​aside by Ella's longsword.

Although Ella's strength wasn't enough to directly stop the gnoll charging at full speed, it was enough to deflect it from its original trajectory.

"Watch out, big guy!"

Ella's longsword slashed through the air, not only deflecting the gnoll's massive bone club but also severing its wrist artery. Then, the short sword she held in her left hand silently pierced its jaw, penetrating the monster's brainstem.

The movements were fluid and graceful.

"Continue." Renn flicked the black blood off his blade, his tone flat. "The two on the left are yours. The three on the right are mine."

"Why should I deal with those two on the left? They're drooling green saliva, it's disgusting!"

Although Ella complained, her body language betrayed her, and she rushed out.

The Windtalker's breathing technique made her figure appear elusive across the snow. She moved between two gnolls.

A gnoll angrily swung its spiked club, but always missed by a hair's breadth. Each time its attack missed, a deep, bone-revealing wound appeared on its body.

"Is this a trainee knight? A trainee knight who has just learned the breathing technique?"

Not far away, Valen, who was originally preparing to provide assistance, now felt that he was not needed and slowed down his running pace.

He looked at Ryan.

The black-haired youth showed no panic whatsoever when faced with the combined attack of three jackal-men.

He rarely even blocks with his full strength.

When a gnoll's bone club came crashing down on his shoulder, he simply turned slightly to the side, taking the blow with the part of his shoulder armor covering it.

If it were an ordinary apprentice knight, even if this blow couldn't penetrate the armor, the shockwave would be enough to cripple the entire arm.

But Ryan just shook his shoulder and seemed to be fine.

Conversely, the gnoll who attacked him was forced back half a step by the recoil.

Immediately following was a thrust.

Valen remembered that this was a move that Teacher Karen had also used—[Half-Step Collapse Sword].

Valen had seen this combat technique used by many knights, but the power that Rein was able to unleash at this moment... Valen had only seen it used by Karen.

By concentrating all the body's strength into a single point, it instantly unleashes terrifying penetrating power.

"puff!"

Another gnoll fell.

Warren felt his perception was being reshaped.

He originally thought that this mission was just to let Raine and his men learn the fighting style of the Northern soldiers, and that Raine and his men would not be able to truly assist in the mission.

But now it seems that this is not the case.

The half-elf girl named Ella was still handling the situation with ease, enraging the two gnolls who swung their weapons wildly, but they couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.

And that guy named Ryan...

Valen swallowed hard.

This kid doesn't seem like a human warrior at all.

Faced with the gnolls in front of him, Raine was the one who relied more on his physical abilities.

"roar--!!"

The last surviving gnoll leader—the strongest in the small pack—seemed to sense its impending doom. It abandoned its attack on Renn and turned to disappear into the deadwood forest.

"Trying to run away?"

Raine did not give chase. Instead, he sheathed his longsword and grabbed the corpse of a gnoll that had just died at his feet with his right hand.

He wanted to test how much explosive power he could generate now that he had the [Heart Chapter] and [Skeleton Chapter] breathing techniques amplified his abilities.

That body weighed at least 250 pounds.

But Renn picked it up like a chicken.

He took a deep breath, and the muscles in his arms bulged instantly.

Just like when he stabbed Mars before, he briefly channeled all his life energy into his arm.

"go."

With a low shout, Ryan used one arm to smash the corpse away like a javelin.

The howling wind even drowned out the shouts of battle around them.

The corpse landed with perfect accuracy on the back of the fleeing gnoll.

The immense impact knocked it to the ground. The gnoll convulsed a few times on the snow, gushing blood and foam from its mouth; it was clearly going to die.

The gnolls were all wiped out, and the battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

Only the mournful sound of the wind blowing across the snowfield could be heard.

Raine slowly walked over, drew his longsword, and delivered a final blow to the neck of the still convulsing gnoll, ending its life.

He turned around, looking at Ella who was still holding the blood-dripping dagger, and then at Valen, who was standing not far away with a complicated expression.

"Flanking maneuvers complete."

Raine's voice remained calm.

"……ah."

Valen opened his mouth, but it took him a long time to find his voice.

He glanced at the gnoll corpses scattered on the ground.

Eight.

Total annihilation.

"You..." Valen took a deep breath, trying to appear composed, "Are you novice knights?"

Ella shook the blood off her short sword and shrugged.

"It's alright."

She pursed her lips and pointed at Ryan.

"The main reason is that we have someone fearless taking the lead. Otherwise, these few would be really difficult to deal with... By the way, Captain Valen, does this count as a military merit?"

Valen looked at the man and the woman.

He suddenly understood why Karen could watch the show so calmly.

These aren't two fledglings. They're clearly two young dragons that haven't grown up yet.