Clan members who lived in a relatively peaceful era only knew how to enjoy the honor and wealth brought by their family bloodline. They praised the strength of their ancestors at every turn and boasted of their lineage, yet they lacked the backbone to tread the path their ancestors had once walked.
In truth, the old Count knew very well that compared to the Ronal Count's estate being besieged by other counts' factions after his death, what Count Ronal and the Count's eldest son found even more unacceptable was the fall in their social status.
And it was not just them; the other members of House Ronal shared a similar mindset.
This was what drove the old Count to utter despair.
Even if he wished to turn the tide, not a single one of his descendants was willing to cooperate with him.
At that moment, the old Count realized that it was not external forces destroying the Ronal Count's estate, but the members of House Ronal themselves.
One thrives in adversity and perishes in complacency.
But no matter what, he still hoped that the bloodline of House Ronal could endure.
“What do you think?”
Luna raised her sword, pointing its tip directly at the old Count.
Among swordsmen, pointing one's blade at someone else was a highly provocative gesture.
At the same time, this was her response to the old Count's inquiry: House Ronal would absolutely not escape liquidation today.
“Then I must offend you. Once I have captured you, Milady, I will personally go to the Grand Duke's mansion to apologize.”
Knowing there was no longer any room for negotiation, the old Count held back no longer. A terrifying aura erupted from his body.
His originally frail and hunched frame began to swell, eventually transforming into a robust, muscular man over two meters tall.
A ring on his aged finger lit up, and soon, a suit of heavy armor materialized over his body.
Gripping a lance in his right hand, a massive silver shield appeared in his left.
“Bang!”
The old Count slammed the massive shield onto the ground, producing a dull, heavy thud.
“Lady Luna, forgive me.”
The old Count bent his knees slightly as dense magic power burst from his body.
“Crack.”
Along with a crisp fracturing sound, a large swath of the ground beneath his feet shattered, as if some gargantuan object had fallen from the sky and smashed the earth.
At the same time, the old Count charged toward Luna like a cannonball launched from a barrel.
He did not choose to defend and wait for Luna to attack; instead, he took the initiative.
A heavy knight was never a mere meat shield that stood idly in place to defend.
On the battlefield, a heavy knight was more like an unstoppable chariot, crushing all enemies in its path.
Luna moved at the exact same moment. She swung her longsword, unleashing hundreds of sharp arcs of sword qi that shot forward and clashed against the old Count's shield.
But the old Count was a Seventh Circle after all. He did not struggle to survive under Luna's sword strikes like Count Ronal and the commander of the Ronal Knight Order had.
The dense storm of sword qi struck the shield, but it seemed to have no effect on the old Count.
His charge remained completely unstoppable, the massive shield in his hand blocking all attacks.
“Hah!”
When the old Count reached Luna, he let out a low shout. He slammed his massive shield onto the ground, burying a portion of it directly into the earth.
Using the shield as leverage, the old Count pulled his body forward, twisting his waist as his right hand, which held the lance, thrust forward with explosive force.
The swift and violent attack triggered a series of sonic booms. Even before the lance could draw near, Luna felt a colossal force crashing toward her.
The instant she saw this thrust, Luna realized she could not contest the old Count's strike head-on.
The Sword Qi Body Tempering Technique had tempered her physical body to an exceptionally high degree. Within the same realm, Luna feared a direct clash with no one.
However, in cultivation, every increase of three Magic Circles in one's body represented a qualitative leap.
The Seventh Circle was already the threshold of a master.
Whether it was a master swordsman or a great mage, one was only qualified to hold such titles once their internal magic power reached the Seventh Circle.
【Baina】
Luna merged her form into the wind, disappearing from the old Count's sight in the very next second.
“Boom!”
As the old Count's lance thrust forward, a massive crater over ten meters in diameter gouged into the ground.
“The footwork of House Callis is truly astonishing.”
Seeing Luna's figure vanish, the old Count released his mental energy. He was surprised to find that even with his Seventh Circle mental energy, he could not locate her.
House Ronal cultivated earth-attribute magic power. Normally, any creature stepping on the ground could be sensed by them.
But this time, the earth gave him no information at all.
Luna had seemingly vanished into air, or rather, she had made herself a part of the earth.
Although she could not defy the heavens like Tyr and use divine sense to directly perceive the momentum of heaven and earth, her strength at the Sixth Circle was still enough for her to easily merge into two types of momentum: the momentum of the wind and the momentum of the earth.
Completely unable to locate Luna, the old Count turned to look at Count Ronal, who had lost an arm, and the Count's eldest son, who was shivering beside him.
The old Count sighed. This generation of House Ronal was truly ruined.
In the next second, he appeared beside the Ronal father and son and kicked them one by one.
Count Ronal and the Count's eldest son drew two graceful arcs in the air as they were sent flying far out of the Count's estate.
After doing this, the old Count's body directly took flight.
Once one's realm broke through to the Seventh Circle, they could use magic power to fly.
The old Count's body hovered in midair, his Seventh Circle magic power surging like ocean waves. Heavy, earthy-yellow magic power gathered atop the lance in his hand.
He gazed down at the Count's manor below, yet there was still no sign of Luna.
Hiding? Then he would utterly destroy this place.
Finally, when the magic power at the tip of the lance accumulated to its limit, the old Count gripped the lance tightly and thrust downward with immense force.
【Mountain-Felling Piercing Thrust】
As the thrust shot out, it felt as if a colossal mountain were falling from the heavens, crashing down with a deafening roar.
“Boom!”
Under the pressure of the terrifying lance light, the entire Count's manor collapsed with a resounding crash.
The tall, magnificent buildings shattered like clay sculptures dropped on the ground. The beautiful gardens disintegrated into ash under the terrifying shockwave, and the entire Count's manor was directly reduced to flat, barren ground.
Billowing dust and smoke soared into the sky, swallowing more than half of the estate.
Amidst the brownish-gray dust, a figure was sent flying backward.
Although Baina allowed Luna to merge into the momentum of heaven and earth, it was not true disappearance after all.
Against the old Count's indiscriminate area-of-effect attack, she had no way to dodge.
However, though Luna was caught in the aftermath of the strike, it did not cause her any major injuries.
Luna's body flipped backward in the air. As she descended, she plunged her sharp sword into the ground, dropping into a half-squat and sliding back several meters before coming to a halt.
A moment later, Luna stood up. She flicked her longsword, her crimson eyes locking onto the old Count in the sky.
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