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The commissioned quests posted in the Royal Capital's Adventurer Guild were, without a doubt, on a completely different level from those found in newbie adventurer towns like Axel.
In Axel, even a quest to subjugate a One Strike Bear would already be considered high difficulty. But here in the Royal Capital's guild, quests to subjugate One Strike Bears were everywhere.
And the truly difficult ones, especially in the subjugation category, were more like this:
"Subjugate the One Strike Bear group: Due to the Demon King Army's invasion, a group of One Strike Bears has been driven out of their territory and is rampaging in the outskirts. Drive them away: Reward 5 million Eris. Fully subjugate the group: Reward 30 million Eris."
That's right.
Even though the target was still the One Strike Bear, the difference was that here the quest called for subjugating an entire group, not just a single bear.
To begin with, a One Strike Bear was already a high-rank monster. Only adventurers above Level 30 could reliably take one down unless you formed a large, well-structured party with vanguard, rearguard, support, and healing roles all covered.
But a whole group of One Strike Bears? Even a Level 50 top-class adventurer would need to proceed with extreme caution.
And these weren't the only high-difficulty quests posted at the Royal Capital's Adventurer Guild.
For example:
Reconnaissance missions into Demon King Army camps,
Subjugating extremely dangerous monsters that were wreaking havoc on human territory and even carried bounties, or venturing into hellish ruins or dungeons filled with high-rank monsters, tasked with retrieving certain designated items.
Just a glance at these quests was enough to tell how truly insane their difficulty was.
Even those cheat-enhanced Hero Candidates from the modern world would have to think twice before daring to take on quests like these.
Otherwise, if one of those arrogant fools thought having a cheat meant they could conquer the world, they'd probably already be back in the arms of the gods, reporting to the Goddess Eris, who guides the newly deceased of this world.
Therefore, these high-difficulty quests were so outrageous that even the top-ranked adventurer teams in the Royal Capital often didn't dare accept them. Not even cheat-enhanced heroes were bold enough to take them on casually.
And yet, Fang Li accepted nearly all of the high-difficulty subjugation quests in one go.
For example, the quest to subjugate the One Strike Bear group was the very first one he picked up.
About half an hour later, Fang Li and Iris had arrived at their destination on the outskirts of the city, now face-to-face with the group of One Strike Bears.
No, to be precise, it was only Iris who was currently facing them.
"RROOOOOOAAAARRRR!!"
With roars that shook the air, huge, muscular, jet-black bears charged forward with terrifying demonic presence, pounding the earth with thunderous footsteps as they lunged at the petite girl in the mage's robe.
Yet even as the savage bear horde stormed toward her, Iris's expression didn't change at all. On her young face was a look of resolute determination.
Zheng…
A holy radiance shimmered along the blade of the Holy Sword gripped tightly in her small hands.
The next moment, Iris raised the Holy Sword high.
"Exterion!"
With a chant-like invocation, almost like an arcane spell, the technique's name echoed as Iris suddenly swung the Holy Sword down.
SHRING---!
A golden, brilliant slash of light fell from the heavens like a divine whip, cutting cleanly through the air and striking the leading One Strike Bear.
Puchi--!
With a sharp, unmistakable sound of slicing flesh, the radiant sword light cleaved the enormous black bear in two, sending blood spraying into the sky.
Behind her, Fang Li, who witnessed the entire scene, had a faint glint in his eyes, the corner of his lips curling into a smile.
"A skill from the Holy Sword, huh?"
What Iris had just used was precisely the power of the Holy Sword itself.
It was a powerful slashing technique that only those chosen by the Holy Sword could use. Not only was its destructive power astounding, it could also ignore range, capable of instantly cutting down any target within line of sight. Even priceless magical barriers could be shattered in a single strike. Truly jaw-dropping.
Of course, Iris's power didn't come solely from the Holy Sword.
As a descendant of the Royal Family, inheriting the bloodline of a Hero, Iris had also mastered magic passed down through her clan.
"Buzz…"
Waves of magic power began to surge from Iris's body.
"Sacred Lightning Blare!" The childish voice echoed like a divine incantation, summoning down a white bolt of lightning from the sky. Like a spear of light, it came crashing down with blinding speed.
BOOM----!
With an ear-splitting thunderclap, the lightning exploded into a radiant tidal wave, accompanied by a violent storm, sweeping outward in all directions.
This was an original magic, a technique wielded by the legendary Heroes, infused with the power of holy attributes.
As a Royal of Heroic descent, Iris had inherited this spell, unleashing a catastrophic surge of divine lightning that engulfed the battlefield. The enormous One Strike Bears were blasted apart one after another, their massive bodies turned into scorched, smoldering husks, trailing black smoke as they crashed to the ground.
Even elite adventurers would struggle to face a One Strike Bear group head-on, yet under the power of this Royal Hero descendant, they were utterly crushed.
"With this kind of power… she really can match Beldia."
No, if you factor in the Holy Sword's strength, even Beldia might have been defeated by this sacred light.
A Rank 4-level warrior wielding a Rank 3 weapon.
Combined, her strength might be enough to rival Amagiri Ayato wielding the Black Furnace Demon Sword.
"Back then, if I really had fought Iris one-on-one in the Royal Castle, maybe she would've actually landed a hit. I'd have no choice but to fulfill my promise… and obediently surrender."
That was Fang Li's evaluation of Iris.
"ROOOAAAAARRRR!!"
Just then, another group of One Strike Bears charged in from the far side of the field, roaring and baring their fangs as they rushed forward.
Their direction?
Was directly behind Fang Li.
"Watch out!"
While still engaging the bear group, Iris saw it and cried out in alarm.
However, Fang Li didn't even turn his head.
"Awooo!"
One of the charging bears reached Fang Li's back, raising its massive forelimbs and slashing down with a deadly blow, its claws splitting the air. This was the infamous one-hit kill strike, its slicing wind so sharp it felt like it could tear through flesh even from a distance.
BOOM----!
A dull, muffled impact rang out.
The shockwave burst outward.
But Fang Li remained still, he hadn't even turned around. He simply raised one hand, which began to glimmer with starlight, and caught the lethal blow head-on.
At the same time, his other hand had already drawn the sword from his waist.
SHIIING----!
A blade of light flashed.
Puchi----!
The unmistakable sound of flesh being sliced in two echoed out. The enormous black bear was cleaved through by that cold, chilling sword light, cut perfectly in a single instant.
Its upper body slid cleanly off, landing with a splash of blood that soaked into the earth.
(End Of This Chapter)