His stamina was still plentiful.
The power of Crowley's Fury was immense, but the drain on his inner strength was just as heavy as Burst Flame, and it was sustained.
Thankfully, Linde had a strong command of his own body.
Perhaps the "ring" etched on his chest by "Praise the Sun" allowed him to precisely control every ounce of power within his blood.
The flames extinguished, and the power drain abruptly ceased.
He could finally breathe a slight sigh of relief.
His stamina was rapidly recovering on its own. If there were "stats," Linde's MP would probably be -10 right now, then +2, +2, +2, +2. Even without stat readouts, he was intimately familiar with his body. This familiarity came from becoming a Great Knight after consuming a magical potion.
He wondered if all Great Knights who consumed magical potions were like this, or if it was just him.
The ground was littered with the mangled corpses of the Ghoul Eaters.
The soldiers displayed exceptional combat intelligence. Upon realizing that their lord was no longer in danger, they immediately chose to hold their ground, determined to maintain their remaining advantage.
The players were also watching Linde.
Mainly because the flames in Linde's hand had extinguished, but a dark red glow remained on the blade, making it shine with an eerie radiance, like a magic sword.
The cold night wind interacted with the scorching heat radiating from the blade, creating alternating waves of warmth and coolness on their faces.
The white-stocking enthusiast was the most excited of the bunch. He had recorded it all. This was great content!
"Awooo!" The remaining Ghoul Eaters received some kind of signal and quickly retreated.
The soldiers didn't pursue. They needed further instructions from Linde.
"My Lord!" They looked at Linde, their eyes burning with undisguised admiration.
"Keep moving forward." Linde looked at the sword in his hand. The high temperature seemed to have made this elite weapon from Lander's First Infantry Regiment a little "brittle."
Others might not know, but he knew from the forums that the Ghoul Eater nest was pretty much this size. The last "brain" was definitely hidden deep inside the nest. If they didn't hurry up and push in now, they'd miss their chance.
Before they could get far, a figure stumbled into view.
Boxershorts, no damage, but that face was definitely customized. A scraggly beard and weasel-like features, cosplaying as Sun Wukong? Players always like to get creative with character creation.
The newcomer shouted, "Finally! Linde! Linde! I've brought you the boss!"
"It's an Ascended!" The soldiers had already identified him. They also knew their lord was friendly to the Ascended. Otherwise, they would have been quick to offer a decapitation package for someone running up to them waving his arms like that.
As for how they could tell he was an Ascended... after interacting with them for a while, it's hard not to recognize them immediately.
They just didn't fit in this world. Their bizarre personalities made them seem happy even though it was the end of the world, and they were always spouting lines that no one in the Kingdom of Lander had ever heard before.
The "immortality" thing, on the other hand, wasn't really unique.
After all, you can't just stab someone to death when you first meet them.
"Scatter!" Linde heard the newcomer's shout and roared, even using his Great Knight strength.
It was like a lion's roar.
Just as Linde had once said, "not fearing a lion's roar" is courage, stemming from the roar of an apex predator. It definitely isn't just saying you're not afraid and can control it.
At the same time, the lion also represents bravery and fearlessness.
In the Kingdom of Lander, the lion is also the fiercest of the land beasts. On Earth, many people would have a debate about lions versus tigers, but there's no need for that here, because there are no tigers in the Kingdom of Lander.
Whoosh, whoosh went the wind.
The ground trembled.
A figure, about the size of a mature warhorse, charged towards them at high speed.
Linde's shout was timely, but compared to the charging figure's speed, the heavily armored Starlong Outpost soldiers were at a complete disadvantage in terms of mobility.
With his Great Knight vision, he saw the approaching creature's appearance even sooner.
A Ghoul Eater.
The difference was that it had completely abandoned upright walking, resorting to crawling on all fours. Its forearms were slender and long, but a broken sword was lodged in the bone of its right arm, gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
It lacked the massive belly of ordinary Ghoul Eaters, but it had grown many keratinous bone spurs on its head, like a crown.
Seeing that escape was impossible, the Starlong Outpost soldiers immediately formed a defensive formation, curling up and layering their shields into a semi-circle.
Boom!—!
They were instantly crushed.
The soldiers screamed in pain, spitting blood as they were sent flying backwards.
One of the shields was even turned into a guillotine blade, spinning towards Linde's neck.
He couldn't dodge. If he backed down now, it would make the giant Ghoul Eater think he was weak and vulnerable. It wasn't like the other feeble ones. Linde could see calculation and cunning in its sunken eyes.
He stepped forward.
Linde raised the blade in his hand high above.
He gripped it with both hands.
Great Knight power surged into the sword.
Boom!
Flames erupted from the hilt, spiraling around the blade and extending the firelight by two or three meters.
He swung the sword down.
A true "New Year's Greeting" sword strike. (Referring to a specific powerful, downward sword technique).
The surging fire followed the blade, dragging an exaggerated crescent of flame across the air. The heat-enhanced blade sliced the flying shield in half.
Linde himself was a little surprised, but the flames completely hid his face. Only the fire could know his feelings at that moment.
He felt like he could punch the soldier holding the shield and send him flying. He thought he should be able to do that.
But to cleave through a well-made Lander infantry shield... that wasn't something just strength could accomplish. The shield might be pierced, but it definitely wouldn't be easily split in half.
It wasn't just his increased strength.
Linde had a moment of sharp intuition. It was as if the flames had suddenly made the sword "sharper," as he had wished, turning it into a lion's fang.
And it all stemmed from the ring on his chest.
"Praise the Sun!" At this moment, Linde truly wanted to offer a heartfelt praise to the sun!
Sword and shield collided.
Sparks flew into the air, instantly magnifying the illuminated area tenfold. For a moment, this whole region experienced a brief "daylight."
The stunned "Understanding is Key" (literal translation of name, implying a player name) slightly widened his mouth. Even Tortoise Shield and the others in the distance, with their lives ticking away, were drawn to the light.
They could only hear the sounds before, but when Linde's explosive flames illuminated the area, they finally got a good look at the first boss.
Lean as a jackal, tall as a warhorse, and as ferocious as a lion or tiger.
"Ghoul Queen?" The white-stocking enthusiast perked up. "Level 12! That health bar is huge! Can Linde handle this?"
"Is that even a question?" Tortoise Shield maintained absolute faith in Linde. "This is just a cutscene. The devs are just showing off in front of us, deliberately scripting an NPC to flex."
"You're right," the white-stocking enthusiast nodded.
Linde, feeling the trust, dug his toes into the ground, transferring power from his muscles to his calves, then planted his feet... and exploded! Exploded! Exploded!
His body was propelled towards the Ghoul Queen by sheer force.
However, the Ghoul Queen simply raised her arm. The short blade embedded in her arm bone collided with the longsword erupting with intense flames in Linde's hand.
The "crack" that echoed through the air made everyone freeze.