Chapter 300: Chapter 42: The Enemy Opposes Us, Which Proves We’ve Done It Right

For most Knights who complete the Holy Grail Trial, earning the Divine Ancestor’s approval and obtaining the [Blessed Chalice] Talent is considered a success. However, the promotion mechanism of the Pool of the Holy Grail actually has a hidden reward.

A very small number of those who ascend receive a different, much more powerful Talent than [Blessed Chalice].

[Soul of Steel Will]

[Legend has it that the Yonglan Riding God’s journey before his apotheosis was one of countless trials, forging him like steel. Only those who grasp the true Path of the Knight can receive this blessing.]

[This body of steel, a soul of fire. The greater the setback, the stronger the resolve. No hardship can break its will.]geo

[Greatly increases Spirit Resistance. Greatly increases Magic Resistance. Grants the "Steel Will" authority, allowing one to imbue weapons or the body with Magic Power for enhancement.]

It was another straightforward stat-boosting Talent, but the numbers it provided were nothing short of astonishing. It granted near-immunity to all damage except for blades. It was enough to make a Mage cry.

Not to mention its ability to freely convert between offense and defense, which took the already overpowered stats of a Yonglan Knight to a whole new level.

’Now that’s what I call a valuable stat boost!’

In the original [Heaven-Devouring Wave] timeline, Mivana never drank from the Holy Grail, so Westheid couldn’t be certain if she would obtain [Soul of Steel Will]. But this proved that the Talent of a Tier T0 powerhouse was not to be underestimated.

"Looks like I’ll have to freeload a bit after all."

’I had originally looked down on [Blessed Chalice]; compared to my [Cursed Source Blood], it’s purely a lesser substitute. But [Soul of Steel Will] is a completely different story. This is an incredibly useful, top-tier T1 Talent.’

The prospect of "mining" this treasure of a girl right after his training left Westheid feeling refreshed. He immediately headed toward the Pool of the Holy Grail.

However, halfway there, he came across a ravaged battlefield.

The forest beside the main road had been devastated beyond recognition. The shattered earth and protruding, crystallized rock formations created a deformed landscape.

The broken bodies of Knights were scattered everywhere. The most conspicuous sight was a giant construct, half-kneeling on the ground.

The construct, resembling a colossal Armored Knight, had its brightly polished shell covered in scorch marks of varying depths. Its own lance had pierced its chest, its shaft planted in the ground, propping up its now-dull body.

"Whoa, a Riding God Giant Statue."

Westheid whistled involuntarily. He had a soft spot for cool, powerful Divine Structures like this.

’If I can mass-produce Divine Structures with Legendary Combat Power later on, many of my problems will be solved... Just one more reason to conquer Yonglan.’

"It took some effort to deal with, but it wasn’t difficult."

A cool voice spoke from the sky. A cluster of thunderclouds arrived in an instant, and Reiya emerged from them. Several Knight corpses were tossed out from within the clouds as she said calmly:

"I asked four times. Not a single one was willing to submit, so I had to kill them all."

"That’s because they’re all diehard opposition. If they surrendered out of fear of death, they wouldn’t be Yonglan Knights."

Westheid looked at the Silver-haired Princess and smiled. "Perhaps it’s because you didn’t display the power of the Knight Path. The Yonglan People are a bit particular. They do admire powerhouses and can be won over by strength to follow a leader—but only if that leader is also a Knight. Otherwise, they won’t yield an inch."

This was also why Westheid had insisted on giving himself a Knight’s title. A powerhouse who didn’t walk the Knight Path could never conquer the Country of Yonglan.

Duke Qinghui had been even more direct when explaining the ecosystem of the Yonglan Knights to Reiya:

"The Yonglan Knights are a very strange group. They are competitive and believe in violence."

"When a group of Knight Boys gathers, they will actively fight amongst themselves until a Knight Lord emerges. That Knight Lord will then lead their subordinate Knights into conquest."

"In the past, the Country of Yonglan was wracked by ceaseless civil war. The smoke of internal conflict only began to clear with the advent of the Knightly Path Crusades. Only a Grand Knight who was stronger, fiercer, and more dominant—one who could beat all the other Knight Boys into submission—could unite the people and lead them to wage a great war against outsiders."

"They sound like some kind of wild beast."

Reiya tilted her head at his words.

"Sorry, should I have held back and let you subdue them?"

"No need. Anyone who came all the way out here to ambush us was dead set on opposing my claim to the throne. They needed to be killed sooner or later. No room for mercy."

Westheid shook his head and said:

"I do want to bring as many Yonglan Knights as possible to my side, but I have no desire to waste time trying to win over these hardliners."

"Let’s go. We’ll go and greet Mivana."

The two of them arrived side-by-side at the foot of the mountain range. The storm swirling around the peak was gradually receding. Just then, a figure fell from the high mountain, kicking up a cloud of snow and dust in front of Reiya and Westheid.

!!

Westheid’s eyes sharpened. He felt a chilling, resolute aura rush toward him, so intense it seemed to freeze the air and prickle his back like thorns.

"Mivana, you just advanced to the Legendary rank, and you’re already this intimidating."

The man sighed with a mix of happiness and regret.

The happiness was self-evident: he had gained another great general, and the more Apostles who would support his ascension to godhood, the better. The regret, however, came from Westheid’s realization that he probably wouldn’t be able to get the upper hand with Mivana anymore. He’d be sweating buckets fighting her on another kind of battlefield.

’I should have ravaged her thoroughly before. Now I’ve missed my chance.’

The Wolf-eared Maiden, her vision partially obscured by her purple-black hair, clenched her fists and said:

"Yes. I feel... incredibly light. Stronger than I’ve ever been."

"That’s just your accumulated potential being released all at once. With your foundation, you could have advanced to the Legendary rank long ago. Now that the limiter is off, your progress is naturally explosive. Not to mention, there has never been a Beastman Knight who reached the Legendary rank before."

’There are gaps even between those at the Legendary rank. Beastmen are practically biological weapons; their racial stats are terrifyingly high. Add the Yonglan Knight’s stats on top of that, and she’s stacked every buff possible. Even with several more Tier T0 Talents than Mivana, I wouldn’t dare compete with her in raw numbers.’

’Her growth rate is so fast it almost puts me to shame. I’m not even sure who the real cheater is here.’

Mivana was aware of her newfound power, clenching and unclenching her fists, but something else was on her mind.

The Lady Knight raised her head and looked at Westheid:

"So, am I worthy of being West’s blade now?"

"...Yes. Of course you are. You’re more than worthy."

Overcome with excitement, Westheid wrapped his arms around Mivana and planted a kiss on her delicate cheek. Her beast ears instantly shot up, her petite body tensed, and then, with a soft whimper, she hugged him back.

Of course, he didn’t forget to ’spread the rain and dew evenly,’ giving Reiya a deep, passionate kiss as well.

It had to be said, with Westheid’s handling, having a girl in each arm was no difficult feat. It was precisely because his lovers adored and admired him so much that they could tolerate all of the man’s actions.

"Now that you’ve both reached the Legendary Celestial Rank, we can officially begin our pilgrimage. What we do next is simple. We’ll go through the Knight Territories one by one, find the local Knight Lords and their Knight Orders."

"Then, we’ll subdue them with force and compel them to recognize the legitimacy of our pilgrimage."

Mivana tightened her grip on her Silver Sword and asked, "We’ll face a lot of resistance. Should we suppress them all?"

Reiya’s eyes also sharpened. The two women gazed at Westheid, waiting. If he so much as nodded, they would immediately unleash a storm of blood and thunder upon the Country of Yonglan.

Westheid quickly waved his hands. "No, no, no, what do you take me for? We’re here to rule, not to destroy. To be honest, this pilgrimage to claim the throne is fundamentally a political act. We need to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible."

"I still need tens of thousands of Yonglan Knights to serve me. There’s no need to be so confrontational. Besides, I want to complete this pilgrimage as quickly as possible. We can’t do it alone; we need to attract the Yonglan People to join our ranks."

Mivana tilted her head, still a bit confused.

"Then what makes someone our friend, and what makes them our enemy?"

"How to tell friends from enemies? That’s too easy."

Westheid smiled, raising a single finger as he explained the criterion:

"Our friends, of course, will support us."

"Our enemies, of course, will oppose us."

"Our friends support us, which means we’re doing the right thing."

"Our enemies oppose us, which means we’re doing the right thing."

...

After hearing Westheid’s criteria, Reiya and Mivana were silent for a moment.

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP—

Finally, Mivana clapped and said, "Then we must be incredibly correct."

The Wolf-eared Maiden’s expression was completely serious. She wasn’t just humoring Westheid; she genuinely believed it.

Mivana asked, mystified, "I have grasped the true spirit of knighthood. No... I should say, any Grand Knight ought to know it. So why do they still chase after this so-called ’virtue of suffering’?"

Westheid replied, "Because it’s effective and convenient. Some Grand Knights are so deeply brainwashed that they’ve even deceived themselves—like those Knight Lords infamous for abusing their people. But they are a minority."

Westheid nodded. "Most Grand Knights aren’t our enemies. They simply wish to submit to the strongest Knight, so for now, they’re taking a wait-and-see approach."

Reiya let out a soft laugh. "So in the end, everything in the Country of Yonglan is still decided by strength."

"Right, are those Trial Takers as well?"

As Westheid rubbed his chin, he saw the Knights struggling to their feet not far away. They were like true athletes, composing themselves immediately, setting their own broken legs and arms, and shakily standing up.

Mivana nodded. "Yes. They fell during the Trial. I pushed them down here."

When they came before Westheid and the others, they knew who had saved them. They looked at Mivana with complicated expressions and said:

"Beast... Lord of Dusk Lamp Territory, congratulations on your promotion to Grand Knight. And thank you for saving us."

Westheid stepped forward, grabbed one of the Knight’s wrists, and smiled.

"Gentlemen, since you’ve survived thanks to Mivana’s grace, this is perfect. Our pilgrimage will begin with your Knight Territories!"

"Answer me—"

"Do you want to be our friends, or our enemies?"

"Will you recognize me as king, or will you refuse to submit?"