Swords, magic, and martial arts

Rhode, who was seeing a werewolf for the first time, was neither very scared nor excited. After all, he had seen quite a few ghouls that could still wield swords and fight people even after they had been dead for a long time.

"I didn't expect there to be werewolves in the Cult of Death," Harvey said.

"Aren't werewolves common even in the Roman Empire?" Rhodes asked.

"Yes, in all my years of fighting, this is the third time I've encountered a werewolf," Harvey replied. "A group of mages who went astray experimented on humans and wolves, eventually creating werewolves through a special magical ritual. Werewolves created through a successful ritual can freely switch between werewolf and human forms while retaining human intelligence. However, those created through a failed ritual are permanently stuck in a half-human, half-wolf form, losing their reason and becoming extremely bloodthirsty."

Besides werewolves, vampires also exist in this world, something Rhode had heard in a tavern before.

I once heard an adventurer say that he found a cave in the wild and was going to rest there to spend the long, cold night. But when he went in, he saw a group of people sitting around a table with a human corpse on it. The people around the table were staring at him, the uninvited guest, with their mouths full of blood.

Then he ran desperately towards the cave entrance and finally escaped. Afterwards, he returned to the city and gathered a group of companions who found the cave. They discovered only half a corpse that hadn't been eaten and the vampires' belongings. After witnessing this tragedy, the group of them didn't eat meat for a month.

When the original owner heard this story, the adventurer vividly described the bloody scene, such as the half-face that had been eaten away and was now staring at him with wide eyes. This became the original owner's nightmare for a period of time.

But now Rhodes thinks it's a bit strange. Isn't calling those people cannibals more accurate than calling them vampires?

Just as Rhodes was reminiscing, the "Silent Knight" picked up his two-handed sword and slashed at him.

This sudden action startled him. He quickly rolled around on the ground a few times, and finally realized that the "Silent Knight" was not attacking him, but something hidden next to him.

Only then did Rhodes realize that an assassin dressed in all black had been lurking beside them, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The black-clad assassin was forced out of the shadows by the "Silent Knight," and began to fight the "Silent Knight" with a matte black short sword.

The black-clad assassin was clearly much more skilled than the "Silent Knight." He precisely parried every attack from the "Silent Knight" with his dagger and even managed to leave several marks on the "Silent Knight's" armor during the intervals between attacks.

However, the black assassin's black dagger could not cut through the "Silent Knight's" full plate armor, and he dared not risk using a stabbing attack, fearing that the short sword might not be able to be pulled out in time.

Harvey quickly reacted and attacked the black-clad assassin from another direction. The black-clad assassin, with his skillful footwork and black short sword, seemed to be handling the combined attack of the two knights with ease.

Rhodes, holding "The Wise Man's Calamity," was unsure whether to go up and help. The two of them working together made Rhodes feel that he had no angle to attack. If he rashly went up, it might disrupt their attack rhythm and end up doing more harm than good.

He then remembered the magical effects of his longsword and used the spell attached to it on the black-clad assassin.

A blue light appeared on "The Wise Man's Calamity" and the black-clad assassin. Affected by the negative magic, the black-clad assassin's attacks became even more ferocious, and he began to act recklessly, but he also made more mistakes.

Soon, his left shoulder was slashed by the "Silent Knight's" sword. Seeing this, Harvey wanted to press his advantage. Golden flames ignited on his two-handed sword. He raised the sword high and then brought it down heavily, shouting, "For justice!"

The assassin in black turned around and used his already injured left shoulder to block the attack, while his right hand held a black short sword aimed at Harvey's throat.

His left arm was completely severed, and the flames attached to his two swords scorched his wound, which actually helped to stop the bleeding. His short sword pierced the dented area where the werewolf had pinched him and came out from the back of Harvey's neck.

He swiftly withdrew his short sword, drawing a large spurt of Harvey's blood along with it. After he pulled the sword out, blood gushed from the tear in his armor.

Harvey opened his mouth but made no sound; instead, a few mouthfuls of bloody foam gushed from it. Then he collapsed to his knees, his head drooping.

The Silent Knight sliced ​​the black-clad assassin in half at the waist just before he drew his short sword and turned around. The assassin endured the pain, only letting out a muffled groan before collapsing to the ground, but he did not die.

With his last bit of strength, he threw the short sword at the "Silent Knight." The "Silent Knight" deflected the short sword with his own sword, raised it, roared, and stabbed it down at the black-clad assassin on the ground. His voice was shrill and didn't sound like a normal man's.

The black-clad assassin lying on the ground had his heart pierced, killing him instantly.

The Silent Knight dropped his sword and went to check Harvey's injuries. He found that Harvey was dead, and he held Harvey's body and began to sob softly.

Rhodes watched all this unfold from a short distance away, feeling extremely guilty. The battle had just begun, from Harvey being stabbed in the throat to the black-clad assassin's death, all happening too quickly; it was over before he could even react.

He picked up the black-clad assassin's short sword. The sword was extremely sharp and had short serrations. It would cause a large wound if used against someone. It might also be enchanted, which is why Harvey died so quickly.

If only I hadn't used the spell attached to "The Wise Man's Calamity" on the black-clad assassin, things would have been fine. But after I used it on him, he immediately abandoned his conservative fighting style and prepared to trade injury for life, and in the end, he could only trade his life for life.

Rhodes felt increasingly guilty. Harvey was a good person; although he was a nobleman, he didn't have the airs of a nobleman like Sven. To save more lives, he was willing to risk his life, even for complete strangers, and ultimately sacrifice himself.

Compared to his righteousness and courage, my cowardice and weakness truly seem despicable and hateful...

At that moment, Baron and the others arrived running. Sven saw the scene and rushed to Harvey's body, weeping bitterly.

"What happened?" Baron asked.

Rhodes recounted his experience to Baron in its entirety, but he was too embarrassed to tell Baron that he had used "The Wise Man's Bane" on the black-clad assassin, resulting in Baron sacrificing his life for him. Instead, he chose to conceal the truth, saying that the black-clad assassin, exhausted and injured after being attacked by two men, ultimately chose to sacrifice his life to save Baron.

Sven glared at Rhodes with hatred and said coldly, "Coward! Wimp! If you had helped, Uncle Harvey wouldn't be dead."

Rod was unable to refute Sven's words, and felt even more guilty about what had just happened.

"Let's stop arguing. Nobody expected that assassin to suddenly become so reckless. Rhodes has never cooperated with us before, so it was the right choice for him not to interfere. We should now complete Uncle Harvey's unfinished mission, wipe out all the cultists of the Death God, and rescue the innocent villagers," the Silent Knight said.

Rhodes was shocked, not because the "Silent Knight" spoke, nor because the "Silent Knight" defended him, but because the "Silent Knight," who had performed exceptionally well in every battle, was actually a female knight...