Brutal

"Screech!"

The greatsword swept across his chest. This level 53 powerhouse did not even have time to react, only managing to barely avoid a fatal blow through pure instinct.

The attribute gap between them was too wide. Even though both were level 50, his strike only caused temporary pain and numbness.

But Hilda, after enduring that hit, still had enough strength to strike back.

This was the power of a Title!!

With 390% attributes and evolved skills, Hilda could easily handle three to five individuals of the same level who lacked Titles.

However, the trouble before her was far greater.

There were too many experts present.

Over twenty experts of the same level could beat her to death through sheer numbers alone.

It was like a group of twelve or thirteen year old children. While two or three might not be able to defeat an adult, twenty of them attacking at once with weapons was a different story.

Even if the adult's strength was three or four times that of the children, they would still be beaten to death by the mob.

Powerhouses above level 60 saw their attributes surge even more dramatically.

The issue was that once a person reached level 60, they had broken through their limits.

At that stage, the techniques released by both sides were lethal, and the deciding factor was no longer the power of a Title, but rather precision and speed.

However, possessing a Title still granted crushing attributes.

With a simple diagonal upward slash, she directly disemboweled her opponent.

Take their life while they are down. On the battlefield, there was no room for mercy or reason!

Following the momentum of her skill, she lunged forward and raised her greatsword high. But before her blade could fall, a sound suddenly came from the side.

"Zzzzt!!"

Though the sound was not loud amidst the battlefield, it was exceptionally noticeable.

Upon hearing it, a thought flashed through the focused Hilda's mind.

'Lightning attribute!!'

This was a variant attribute. It did not belong to the six major elements but was a minor element outside of them.

The six major elements were only designated as such because the vast majority of people on the continent used them.

Among them, however, a small number of people obtained special attributes.

The lightning attribute was one of them!

Sensing this, Hilda whipped her head around, but before she could see clearly, a sudden explosion of light blinded her!

In an instant, everything before her turned snowy white.

In the darkness of the night, such a brilliant flash instantly robbed her of her sight.

At the same time, the sound of rushing wind galloped toward her from the left!

Hilda had no time to see anything. She could only force her body to twist and shout the name of her skill to enhance its power!

"Guardian!!"

"Vroom—!"

A thick light barrier instantly appeared before Hilda. The moment it blocked the attack, a shockwave erupted!

The resulting impact forced her body backward, and a violent roar rang in her ears.

Simultaneously, a voice vaguely drifted from behind her.

"War Skill — Iron Fist!!"

Relying on her combat instincts, Hilda roughly determined the direction of the voice. Using the momentum of the shockwave, she twisted her waist and swung her greatsword backward!

"Boom!!!"

With a massive explosion, Hilda felt the impact travel through her sword. Her legs did not even touch the ground; instead, she used the recoil to retreat further.

Her vision began to clear. At the same time, a blade of air sliced through the spot where she had just been standing, leaving a deep groove in the ground!

Facing over twenty experts of the same level, Hilda was confident she could wear them all down if it were a pure head on confrontation.

After all, as someone with a Title, her attributes, endurance, speed, and strength crushed them in every aspect.

But now, she had no path of retreat. Behind her was the Temple.

Even though there was no one left inside the Temple who needed protecting, as a Guardian Knight, she still could not retreat a single step!

Furthermore, she had to buy time for Bishop Lola and Minister Augus to escape.

'Sake... I'm counting on you. No matter what, you must break through the North Gate. Once you leave Brilliant City, these people won't be able to catch up!'

With a shift in her thoughts, Hilda knew that her current goal was not to fight to the death.

It was to delay them as much as possible so they could not enter the Temple!

Her figure retreated rapidly. Hilda's toes lightly brushed the ground to slow her momentum, and she suddenly pivoted to the side!

She swung her greatsword in a horizontal cut!

"Clang!!"

The sound of clashing metal echoed before the main entrance of the Temple. The opponent's strength was surprisingly immense, enough to actually match her.

This proved that the opponent was definitely a type that specialized in strength!

As her vision finally cleared, she saw the expert who had clashed blades with her.

Beastmen — Rhinoceros tribe, a one horned Rhinoceros-man!

In terms of raw strength, the Rhinoceros tribe far surpassed the world famous Lion, Tiger, and even Ox and Horse tribes.

It was only because of their low reproductive rate that they remained obscure on the continent.

The weapon he used against her was not a sword as she had imagined, but his own rhinoceros horn!

"Screech!!"

The greatsword and the horn ground against each other. The sparks from the collision lit up the Rhinoceros-man's face and his eyes.

In the glow of the sparks, Hilda saw her own reflection in the Rhinoceros-man's eyes.

She also saw the shadow creeping up behind her!!

Hilda's right hand held the greatsword firm against the Rhinoceros-man, while her left hand simultaneously drew the longsword from her waist and struck backward!

"Splash!"

Blood splattered.

It was not just one person's blood.

It was the blood of both Hilda and her opponent spraying out at the same time.

A sharp pain shot through her left shoulder, accompanied by a warm flow sliding down her arm.

This person... was an assassin!!

The dagger in his hand had pierced directly into the gap between her shoulder plate and back plate!

However, Hilda's longsword had also severed the opponent's arm.

But even such a trade of wounds was highly unfavorable for Hilda!

If everyone used such suicidal tactics to trade wounds with her, she would not be able to hold out for long.

She could not stay locked in a stalemate. She had to keep her body moving at all times, otherwise attacks would come from every direction!

No matter how powerful her attributes were, she did not have eight eyes to watch every side!

The assassin across from her understood this well. After failing to land a killing blow, he actually abandoned his severed arm and the dagger, letting it remain stuck in Hilda's back as he fled.

Stabbed in the left shoulder, this single strike had nearly disabled her left hand.

Even so, the strength her left hand could currently exert was likely less than half of its normal capacity.

She could manage a forced swing, but doing so would inevitably worsen the injury!

The most frustrating part was that the opponent had not taken the dagger with them, leaving it in her back.

If she reached back to pull it out, she would reveal an opening. If she did not remove it, the dagger in her shoulder would cause her injury to worsen continuously.

But at this moment, she could no longer worry about that!!

"Holy Light Sword Qi!!"

With a sharp cry, the greatsword in her right hand that was locked with the Rhinoceros-man suddenly erupted with a blinding radiance.

The greatsword, which was not particularly sharp, instantly had its cutting edge enhanced. Even the horn of the one horned Rhinoceros-man was instantly notched.

Sensing that his horn would not survive further confrontation, the Rhinoceros-man proactively retreated half a step to break the lock.

But Hilda did not yield. Instead, she stepped forward and pulled back the longsword she had swung behind her.

The Rhinoceros-man had seemingly not expected this knightess to be so desperate. That half step back left him unable to defend in time.

"Slash!!"

The longsword swept across the Rhinoceros-man's shoulder, instantly leaving a bloody gash. The knightess did not stop her assault. She twisted her waist, transferring her body's momentum to the greatsword in her right hand. With a graceful 360 degree turn, the greatsword slashed down diagonally!

"Moo!!!"

The Rhinoceros-man sensed that retreating further meant death, and his naturally volatile racial traits instantly exploded.

With a roar, he lunged forward, but Hilda's overwhelming attributes made her speed far faster than his!

"Clang!!"

A sharp sound, like metal being severed, flashed by, accompanied by a spark.

"Moo!"

The Rhinoceros-man let out a scream of agony, staring in disbelief at his severed horn. That same spark also illuminated another longsword following right behind it!

"Slash!!"

With the greatsword in her right hand and the longsword in her left, Hilda spun 360 degrees on the spot. Using the immense centrifugal force, she pushed the power of both blades to their limit.

The greatsword in her right hand had directly severed the opponent's horn, while the longsword in her left hand had instantly sliced across the Rhinoceros-man's face!

"Moo!"

The Rhinoceros-man did not even have time to curse before his right eye was sliced open, spraying gore.

With a scream of pain, he rapidly retreated.

Simultaneously, a male expert coming in to take his place aimed a greatsword at Hilda and swung down!

At this moment, her old momentum was spent and new strength had yet to gather, making it impossible to dodge.

She could only take a deep breath, close her eyes, and use the armor on her back to tank the hit!

"Clang! Slash!"

The armor of the Temple knights was specially crafted, incorporating many powerful metals that were difficult for ordinary people to obtain.

Without this layer of armor, that strike would have been enough to slice her in half instantly.

Despite the protection of the armor, a massive wound was still opened on her back from the impact.

The pain stimulated Hilda's nerves.

"Ugh!"

It also spurred her body to slam forward with a violent bash!

With a loud thud, the opponent's momentum was forcibly broken, leaving him momentarily staggered. Hilda then raised her foot and stomped down hard on his instep!

"Knight's Trample!"

"Boom!!"

Her powerful attributes allowed her to execute cavalry combat arts even while on foot.

The moment her armored foot crushed the opponent's instep, his shoe was flattened, and a massive crater of cracks appeared on the ground.

The crisp sound of breaking bones echoed in her ears, and blood and mangled flesh even burst from the man's boot.

Such agonizing pain made the man almost unable to stop himself from screaming.

Hilda gave him no chance to react.

The longsword in her left hand whipped around, lifting and thrusting forward.

"Swoosh!"

The longsword buried itself up to the hilt into his throat, piercing through the back of his neck!

At the same time, a surge of sharp pain erupted from Hilda's left shoulder.

Because she had forcibly raised her arm, the dagger left a larger cutting wound in her muscles.

But she ignored it. At this moment, her conviction was enough to make her endure anything!

She reached out and grabbed the greatsword from the man's hand.

Under the man's terrified gaze, she snatched away the very weapon that had just struck her.

Then, she kicked him away!

She turned around simultaneously, her right hand swinging her original greatsword to clash with the next approaching enemy!

"Clang!"

The moment the greatswords met, the resulting sparks allowed Hilda to see the newcomer clearly.

This time, it was a female powerhouse wielding a longsword.

At the same level, her strength was no match for Hilda's.

Hilda understood this and pressed forward. As expected, the opponent's strength was not even close to her own!

While forcing her opponent back, the greatsword in her left hand also swung down violently from behind!!

"Clang—Squish!"

The greatsword in her left hand directly shattered the woman's longsword and continued its momentum to sever her sword hand!

But just then... the sound of wind came from behind!

With her old strength spent and new strength yet to rise, Hilda was unable to turn around and allowed the strike to hit her directly.

"Slash!!"

She felt the force of a wind blade pierce through her armor and leave a wound on her back!

A mage!

She instantly realized who the enemy was, but Hilda could not charge toward them.

These mages understood the consequences of being approached by a knight perfectly; they would not get close to her and only fired spells from a distance.

Her back felt warm and slick. Hilda knew very well that the blood from the wound on her back had likely soaked her entire spine.

Furthermore, this wind blade had struck exactly where the previous man had slashed her with his greatsword, creating a compounding injury.

Not only was the wound deeper, but it also told Hilda that the opponent's control over magic was exceptionally strong!

She kicked away the female swordsman whose arm had been severed and turned around. Holding a greatsword in each hand, she straightened her back and faced the twenty odd experts before her.

The knights behind her were being besieged.

Though she wished to turn back and help, it was likely too late!

Many people were wounded, and some who lacked sufficient strength had even died on the spot!

Blood was splattered across the stone slabs of the Temple's main entrance.

Despite the massive disparity in numbers, not a single one of these knightesses retreated.

The knightesses tightened their defensive formation. Unlike the unorganized experts, their coordination was superior.

This was why, despite having similar strength, they were able to hold out for so long against an ambush by several times their number.

Even so, their original group of nearly fifty had dwindled to fewer than twenty.

Including Hilda, there were only nineteen people left.

Blood soaked through her red cape from somewhere, dripping down the crimson fabric one drop at a time.

Sweat from her forehead trickled down her cheek, reaching her brow and causing Hilda's left eye to twitch slightly!

In that exact moment, five experts attacked simultaneously!!