As a guess began to form in his mind, Roland instinctively closed his eyes.

When he squinted and focused his eyes again, the enormous figure in the distant sky had already vanished without a trace.

’An illusion? Or...’

As the thought crossed his mind, a dull, thunderous sound of hooves suddenly rang out.

The ground had barely begun to tremble when Roland felt a fierce gust of wind whistle past his cheek.

"RRRIP!"

It was immediately followed by a sharp, piercing sound that seemed to tear the very air apart.

The entire battlefield seemed to freeze for an instant, as if an unseen force had pressed a pause button.

The next moment, a horrifying sight unfolded.

The Demons that had been relentlessly suppressing and slaughtering the human soldiers just moments before...

Their bodies, from the waist up, slid cleanly away from their lower halves as if precisely severed, then crashed heavily to the ground.

"THUD! THUD! THUD!"

A series of dull thuds echoed out.

Only after a thick mist of blood filled the air, obscuring his vision before slowly dissipating, could Roland see through the scarlet haze to the figure who had suddenly appeared before the human battle line.

He was an incredibly tall and burly man, clad head to toe in brilliant, masterfully crafted silver Plate Armor.

His head was completely encased in an imposing, exquisitely crafted full-faced helmet.

With a steady, powerful grace, he was now slowly sheathing the silver blade in his hand, which still gleamed with a cold light.

The battlefield, once filled with the din of combat, fell instantly silent.

A moment later, a wave of ecstatic joy at having survived the ordeal erupted from the remaining human soldiers.

They raised their shattered weapons and, with all their remaining strength, roared a single name.

"Beckham!"

"Beckham!"

"Beckham!"

The chant echoed across the blood-soaked plain.

’So that’s... Knight Beckham?’

Listening to the soldiers’ frenzied cheers, Roland kept his eyes locked on the tall, silver-clad figure.

Back in Distant Harbor, he had once witnessed Gandar, an Extraordinary Professional Knight, slaughtering Demons and even facing the colossal Sea Monster Kraken.

But he had been too far away then. It was nothing like the shock of witnessing it up close.

’Is this... the Power of a Knight?’

An indescribable storm of shock raged within Roland.

He had just made a rough estimate: there had been at least three hundred Demons on the battlefield, and more than half of them were the even more formidable Alien Demons.

’A single strike... instantly annihilated over three hundred Demons? They didn’t even have time to cry out?’

This wasn’t a battle. It was a bloody massacre.

Only then did the sound of approaching hooves, which had been drawing closer from a distance, finally reach the battlefield.

"Lord Beckham!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Roland turned to look.

He saw Sean galloping toward them, followed by a dozen or so fully armed cavalrymen.

The dust they kicked up glowed with a golden halo in the setting sun.

"All troops, retreat immediately! Head to Wuxi Town and evacuate the residents!"

Beckham’s resonant voice boomed across the battlefield.

After seeing the surviving soldiers begin to form up, he turned to Sean, who had just reined in his horse.

"Sean, take the other squires and clear the battlefield. Treat the wounded and cover the retreat."

"Yes, my lord!"

Sean instinctively straightened his back but couldn’t stop himself from asking a follow-up question.

"And you, my lord?"

"I need to go over there and check on something."

Beckham turned his head and looked toward the horizon.

It was the same direction where Roland had seen the colossal creature appear earlier.

Before his voice had even faded, there was a muffled BOOM. His figure vanished, leaving only two deep footprints in the scarlet mud.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

By the time Roland climbed out of the pit, the soldiers had already begun an orderly retreat.

Standing at the edge of the battlefield, he shouted with all his might.

"Sean! Sean!"

The young squire whipped his head around at the sound of his name, his sharp gaze turning to one of shock the moment he recognized his old friend.

"Roland?"

He immediately wheeled his horse around. Kicking off a stirrup, he galloped over with expert horsemanship, his dismount a single, fluid motion.

"What are you doing here?"

Sean grabbed Roland’s shoulder, the fresh bloodstains on his Armor glinting dark red in the sunlight. His voice was a mixture of joy and lingering fear.

"This isn’t the time for that!"

Roland cut him off urgently.

The grave expression on Beckham’s face was still fresh in his mind.

Whatever could make an Extraordinary Knight that wary was far beyond anything they could hope to fight.

So, with no time for explanations, he had Sean help him pull Teresa and Black Wind out of the pit.

"Are you alright, old friend?"

Using his [Animal Companion] ability, Roland gently stroked Black Wind’s sweat-drenched mane.

But when he activated [Eye of the Rider], his heart sank.

The horse’s stats had all clearly dropped.

In this condition, a long-distance gallop was out of the question; even carrying a normal rider would be a struggle.

Roland frowned and decisively helped Teresa onto Black Wind’s back.

The silver-haired woman was light, so Black Wind should just barely be able to carry her in his current state.

"Teresa, you ride Black Wind. Go with the soldiers and retreat to Wuxi Town."

"But... but..."

Teresa clutched the reins nervously, her face pale as she asked in a small voice.

"What about you, Mr. Roland?"

"Me?"

As he replied, Roland subconsciously touched the cold, white piece of bone on his left wrist.

He had no definitive proof, but a strong suspicion was already forming in his mind.

’Ten to one, this piece of bone on my wrist came from that colossal creature I just saw soaring through the sky.’

’Damn it!’

’Judging by that thing’s size, the enormous bone the goblins dug up in the jungle was probably just a tiny, insignificant piece of it... Its body was shattered to pieces, and it can still come back to life?’

Though his mind was racing, Roland put on a reassuring smile and pointed to Sean.

"This guy and I are ride-or-die friends! He’s not about to leave me behind, right, Sean?"

"Of course!"

Sean patted the solid Armor on his chest.

"Don’t you worry, miss. I guarantee I’ll bring Roland back in one piece!"

Seeing that the expressions on their faces weren’t fake, Teresa said no more. She gave a small nod and urged Black Wind toward the retreating soldiers.

"Alright, Roland, mount up. I hope Uncle Peyton and Dad Gary have finished packing..."

"Hold on a second, Sean."

Just in case, Roland decided to get rid of the bone for now, lest it become a beacon for that unknown creature to track him.

Even if his theory was wrong, he could always come back and look for it after things settled down.

And even if he couldn’t find it again, it was better than betting his life against an unknown risk.

With that thought, he tried to pull the bone off his wrist.

But the bone, which he could easily remove before, now clung to his wrist as if it were fused to his skin like steel.

Not only that, but its once-cold surface was now growing faintly hot.

Seeing this, a chill ran down Roland’s spine, and he yanked with all his might.

Under the immense pressure, the bone on his wrist made a sickening, grinding sound.

’What the hell!’

Just as he was cursing under his breath,

A suffocatingly hot blast of air, carrying with it a devastating pressure, suddenly swept over him from behind without any warning.