Boom! The thunderous sword Qi slammed against the translucent armor, erupting with a massive roar. Lightning splashed everywhere, and the electric slurry blasted a small pit into the ground, kicking up sand and dust.
But when the lightning dissipated and the dust settled, the translucent armor remained completely unscathed.
Having taken the full force of the thunderous sword Qi head-on, not even a single crack had appeared on the surface of the armor!
“The Gold rank?!” Shawshank's pupils shrank abruptly at the sight, and his charging figure ground to an immediate halt.
The intelligence is wrong! His strength is off too!
In that split second, countless thoughts flashed through Shawshank's mind, but they instantly converged into a single idea: Flee!
Although a reward of fifty thousand gold coins was generous, it was far from enough to make him risk his life to assassinate a Gold-rank priest!
Besides, now that there was a discrepancy in the intelligence, continuing the assassination of Leon carried immense risk. It was simply not worth it!
With that thought, Shawshank came to a complete halt, and powerful Battle Qi erupted from his body. Then, he spun around and fled!
“Hmph! You think you can escape?” Leon scoffed. Did this man really think he could just run away after attacking him?
His mental power surged out like a tide, pouring into his priest's scepter, condensing into a terrifying blue-gold giant behind him.
The blue-gold giant held a massive, four-meter-long gold-and-silver bow. As it pulled back the bowstring, an invisible hammer arrow solidified into existence.
Boom! As the blue-gold giant released the bowstring, the surrounding air blasted outward, erupting in a terrifying hum!
As Shawshank fled, a sudden sense of impending doom washed over him, sending an icy chill down his spine.
This was his battle instinct, screaming a warning of imminent death!
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Shawshank abruptly spun around, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks as he unleashed his Battle Qi without reservation.
Pouring all of his Battle Qi into his longsword, Shawshank unleashed the powerful martial technique he had comprehended by mimicking a blue dragon: “Blue Dragon's Breath!”
Crackle! A thunderous sword Qi, resembling the breath of a blue dragon, tore through the air. In an instant, thunder boomed across the sky, echoing with deafening roars!
The violent, thunderous sword Qi clashed head-on with the invisible hammer arrow fired by Leon—
Crack! In the next second, accompanied by the sound of shattering, the thunderous sword Qi violently fractured!
Several Buff Inscriptions on the surface of the hammer arrow suddenly lit up. Bursting through the remnants of the sword Qi, it flew onward with undiminished momentum, heading straight for the horrified, grimacing Shawshank!
Pfft! Blood splattered, followed by the crisp sound of a snapping spine as two halves of a body were launched into the air by the terrifying force.
Blood sprayed downward from the severed torso before the remains fell to the ground with a wet splat.
On the ground lay two pieces of a body. One was a mangled lower half, and the other was a head severed from the neck up, its face still frozen in utter terror.
An instant kill! A single-strike kill!
Seeing this, let alone a Bronze-rank bloodline warrior like Ratahn, even Doncic, who was secretly protecting Leon, was left dumbfounded.
Doncic muttered to himself, “Is this guy seriously just at the Gold rank?!”
“Being of the same Gold rank, I didn't intend to unleash a dimensional strike.”
Leon merely shook his head calmly. A Gold-rank assassin couldn't even withstand a single strike from him.
But then again, if an ordinary Gold-rank bloodline warrior could survive his attack, wouldn't all the Divine Arts on his panel and the numerous Buff Inscriptions on his Radiance Longbow have been engraved in vain?
“Leave one person behind to clean up the corpse, and take this money to compensate the local farmers.”
Leon sighed as he looked at the damaged magic-modified rice stalks around them.
Seriously, why did these people always choose this exact spot?
The first assassination attempt by the Three Sword Guild was here, the Kama ambush was here, and now this.
They all chose this place as a battlefield. With all the fighting, the once-lush crops here had been completely ruined.
The vast expanse of golden magic-modified rice had now been reduced to bald patches!
After leaving someone to handle the aftermath, Leon continued riding his horned horse toward Eldenborg.
Ratahn, riding alongside Leon, couldn't help but steal a few more glances at the bisected corpse as they passed.
“Killed and kicked aside like a wild dog on the street...”
Ratahn couldn't help but marvel.
Looking at Leon's back, he suddenly felt like an utter failure of a bodyguard.
Even though he was supposed to be the guard, he didn't even get a chance to make a move and could only do menial chores.
Young Master Leon's rate of advancement was simply too fast. Bodyguards like them couldn't keep up even if they tried...
Ratahn then looked at Alicia, thinking to himself:
“Miss Alicia's talent and battle instincts are already at the level of a peerless genius. But even as strong as Miss Alicia is, she still can't keep pace with the Young Master...”
“Hmm?”
Sensing Ratahn's gaze, Alicia turned her head and asked with some confusion, “Is... something wrong?”
“No! It's nothing, Miss Alicia!” Ratahn quickly shook his head.
Fortunately, Miss Alicia was rather... simple-hearted.
She wouldn't feel distressed about being left behind by Young Master Leon...
...
“Priest Leon, you're back?”
“Greetings, Priest Leon.”
“Priest Leon, my family made some fresh pumpkin pudding. Why don't you take some back to try?”
“Your Excellency, my child was just accepted into Stormveil City's Alchemy Academy. We are planning to host a celebration. Would you do us the honor of attending?”
Returning to Eldenborg, Leon dismounted from his horned horse and greeted the townspeople.
After accepting the last townsperson's invitation, the man happily headed home to prepare, while Leon walked into the Rose Cathedral.
Not long after he returned to the Rose Cathedral, the town mayor, Baron Pierce, came to visit.
“Young Master Leon, this is the list of recruited road construction workers, this is the current progress of the road construction, and this is the price of the alchemical equipment from the alchemists we contacted in Stormveil City...”
Pierce presented a compiled set of documents and reported to Leon.
Leon took the papers, scanned through them briefly, and nodded.
Thanks to the funds voluntarily contributed by the town's nobility, the Eldenborg Revival Plan was progressing steadily. This allowed them to gradually improve the town's buildings, repair roads, and provide more conveniences for the residents.
“If the Eldenborg revival funds run low, just let me know. I'll find a way to secure more funding.”
Leon instructed, reminding Pierce to make absolutely sure that the road workers and farmers did not miss out on their due compensation because of any budget shortfalls.
“Of course, of course! I will do so!”
Baron Pierce's lips twitched. He had already guessed what Young Master Leon meant by 'securing more funding.'
It would probably involve executing a few more nobles as examples and then confiscating their estates...
After Baron Pierce departed, Old Hunter served Leon afternoon tea and then produced a letter, saying:
“Young Master, this is a letter sent by Young Master Liam from the imperial capital.”
“Brother Liam?”
Leon was momentarily puzzled. He picked up the letter and opened it to read.
Rate on N.U.
