Chapter 110: A Knight's Resolve

"What exactly is going on?" Now, aside from himself, only Lianhua, who wore a solemn expression, had the time to explain.

"Humans are truly fascinating." After an enigmatic sigh, Lianhua explained to Zhao Kuo, "It's nothing much. Tianyi's singing serves, at most, as a catalyst. These two harbor such intense obsessions with the concept of the 'Knight' that it is precisely through that obsession that they have attained this power."

"Is that so?" Although he had his own obsessions, they were different from those of the two men. Having never lived through that era, he would never truly understand the feelings of those who had earned the title of Knight and forged a bond with it.

"Are there no side effects?" Zhao Kuo suddenly felt how terrifying it would be if the two before him were his enemies.

"How could there not be?"

"These two really are terrifying... Wait! There are side effects?"

"Of course. Do you think this is an anime? You can't just power up at will with no consequences, running around abusing your friends and flirting with girls." Lianhua rolled her eyes at Zhao Kuo.

Zhao Kuo suddenly felt a sense of shared sorrow, like a rabbit mourning a fallen fox. If these two were on the front lines this time, it might be his turn the next. He had already forgotten which camp he belonged to.

Because of a vague legend, Vlad had gained the abilities of a vampire. Yet, in becoming a vampire, he would be forced to seal away his own Noble Phantasm and his capacity for human reasoning. However, this time was different.

"Pierce! Kazikli Bey!" Vlad flapped his bat-like wings and launched a fierce assault from the front. The massive attribute boost he gained as a vampire made his attacks strike with blinding speed. His opponent, however, was no pushover; every strike was either parried or dodged. Yet, every time the Kazikli Bey was blocked or struck an object, a multitude of impalement stakes would erupt from it.

"Hahaha, you guy is un—" The over-aged chuunibyou, seeing his opponent—who had just been beating him to a pulp—now unable to do anything, couldn't help but shout loudly. However, perhaps because the sudden surge in power had caused his intelligence to plummet, Lancer, who had been hiding nearby waiting for an opening, suddenly appeared.

He swung his blood-red dual blades, one aimed at the opponent's neck and the other piercing toward his kidney.

However, as the final boss, how could he be defeated so easily? As Lancer's attack landed, a black shield flared to life around his body.

"Clang!" "Screech!" With two sounds of impact, the surprise attack failed, but it wasn't over.

"Haha, did you think I'd forget there was another one?" Seeming to revel in his sense of superiority, he let out a loud laugh and did something Lancer never expected.

"With the power of darkness, all my abilities have been enhanced. My Holy Shield doesn't just reduce damage; it grants me invincibility for a period of time—wahahaha!"

"Does someone like this actually exist?" This thought crossed the minds of both Lancer and Zhao Kuo simultaneously. According to the tropes, such a minor boss would indeed explain his abilities to the protagonist, only to have his weaknesses exposed and be finished off in one move. But from Lancer and Zhao Kuo's perspective, the guy came from the same place they did; surely he wouldn't make such a basic mistake? Reality, however, proved that the world was cruel—especially for non-protagonists who suddenly gain special powers, whose intelligence drops as rapidly as their combat stats rise.

"What an idiot."

"An idiot."

"Truly an idiot!"

Three different people expressed the same sentiment in different tones. The man who had been laughing so gratingly stopped abruptly, like a duck caught by its neck.

"You are all courting death!" Seeing the look of contempt from the three, he became enraged and roared at them.

"Did he get his lines wrong?" At least to Lancer, the guy with the plummeting IQ still looked quite intimidating from the outside, though he didn't look like Illidan at all anymore; he looked more like a Death Knight.

While Lancer grumbled internally, he didn't ignore the attack coming toward his face. He dodged with a side-step and resumed the skirmish. Vlad kept up the frontal assault, while Lancer, in addition to disrupting the enemy, would occasionally land a strike from an unexpected angle.

Lancer wasn't playing around; he was calculating the opponent's various attributes, especially the duration of that annoying invincibility, the cooldown, and whether there was a maximum damage threshold. Both Lancer and Vlad were veterans of countless life-and-death struggles; those seemingly microscopic bits of data were constantly being compiled. In a short time, the opponent's basic stats had been gathered.

"How is it?" Vlad retreated to Lancer's side after parrying a heavy slash from the greatsword.

"The physical attribute boost isn't that high. The key is that his sixth sense has definitely been heightened. Fortunately, his new master isn't omnipotent. While he gained superhuman intuition, he lost his cool head. Our last raid had an element of surprise, which is why his absurd intuition led to the failure of our plan. This time, we won't play tricks—we'll play it straight. I'll keep him occupied, and you and Zhao Kuo look for an opening to attack."

"How is that any different from what we were just doing?" Vlad felt that Lancer's words were meaningless.

"We know I won't be attacking, but he doesn't. I will do my best to draw all his attention to me. That means he will focus his main efforts on me, but since I won't be attacking, his focus will be wasted. This will give you a better chance to land a hit." Lancer explained briefly, then shared his hypothesis about the enemy's abilities. Vlad nodded, signaling he understood.

"About that disgusting shield..." Zhao Kuo, who had finally found an opportunity to retreat to their side, asked.

"That guy is definitely hiding something from us. I don't believe he's a complete idiot. That strange shield must have a weakness. Regardless, when we find an opening, we attack together. I want to see how he handles attacks from three directions at once." Lancer gritted his teeth as he spoke. It was just too infuriating; every time they finally found an opening, the guy would just shrug it off. Anyone would be burning with rage under these circumstances.