The instant Leda surged forward, the Haligtree soldiers sprang into action. Flames danced along their arrows as they loosed them in rapid succession, swift and precise, piercing the swarm and pinning two Kindred of Rot larvae straight through the forehead.
At the same time, the soldiers who had coated their straight swords with Fire Grease raised their shields, blocking the pest threads fired by the larvae.
Everything was unfolding perfectly. If this momentum held, it would not take long to wipe out these loathsome creatures entirely.
Yet Nolan sensed something was off.
Leda had not instantly finished off the five Kindred of Rot. Instead, she was locked in a prolonged melee with them.
Among the Kindred of Rot, there were individuals whose strength rivaled that of true heroes. But from what he could see, these five were clearly not among them.
"Has Leda gotten weaker?"
Five knight-tier Kindred of Rot were surrounding the Golden Needle Knight Commander. She was still firmly holding the upper hand even while facing them all at once, but this was not the kind of display expected from one of the Lands Between's foremost champions.
There was no time to think further. The surrounding Kindred of Rot larvae were already closing in. Crawling monsters covered the ground, their movements accompanied by skin-crawling noises.
The Golden Needle Knight, who had not taken a life in over twenty years, showed no sign of panic.
After all, he relived the battles of his past every single day. He had long prepared himself for the moment he would once again face such monsters head-on.
Staring at the nauseating larvae before him, Nolan frowned and muttered inwardly,
"I really do hate enemies that look this disgusting…"
Their limbs looked thin and frail, yet their crawling speed was shockingly fast.
So the question was simple. With so many enemies, should he stall for time and wait for Leda to free herself and wipe them all out?
There was no need to think about it. The answer was obvious—
The Golden Needle Knight would kill them himself.
"Look after yourselves."
Leaving those words behind, Nolan charged forward without hesitation, his flaming straight sword in hand, leaving the archers and sword-and-shield soldiers standing there in stunned silence.
The four warriors knew all too well how unusual this Golden Needle Knight's status was within the Haligtree.
Even though Knight Commander Leda had ordered him to fight alongside them, they had been fully prepared to protect this young man at a moment's notice.
But this young Golden Needle Knight was not only refusing to hide behind them. He was actually charging straight into the fray?
The night wind roared past Nolan's ears. He had no attention to spare for the moonlit sea. Compared to that, the insects ahead of him were far more eye-catching.
Tap tap tap—
Rapid footsteps echoed between the massive tree roots as Nolan spotted the larvae lunging toward him.
Most of them were crawling toward the two sword-and-shield soldiers, while a few had their attention drawn by Leda as she moved to intercept the Kindred of Rot.
But when the larvae heard the approaching footsteps, they all lifted their heads, momentarily stunned.
A man clad in Golden Needle Knight armor was charging straight at them, a burning straight sword raised high. It looked like a suicidal charge.
Just as the larvae braced themselves to leap, the knight suddenly dropped his center of gravity.
Nolan reacted instantly, twisting on the spot. A larva flew past his side as he spun with terrifying speed, his blade sweeping low across the ground before slashing upward in a diagonal arc, sending splinters flying.
The sword light flashed, cleaving the larva clean in half at the waist.
With a wet splatter!
Blood sprayed as Nolan rose smoothly to his feet. He took a sharp step forward and brought his blade down in a heavy upward cut.
Another larva, just launching itself into the air, was struck by a sudden, searing pain in its chest. Its body was flung backward before it even realized what had happened.
In the next instant, it saw a hand swiftly draw a staff from the knight's waist, raising it without the slightest hesitation.
At the tip of the staff, the glintstone shone with a chilling blue light.
Glintstone Pebble!
A surge of magic erupted, its radiant sigil lighting up the surroundings in brilliant clarity.
A glowing stone the size of a polo ball shot forward at blinding speed and slammed into the larva's chest, punching straight through its upper body and leaving behind a horrifying, gaping hole.
Bright red blood sprayed across the nearby larvae, yet they showed not the slightest hesitation or fear.
They did not even have time to react. Nolan sprang upward from the ground, his glintstone staff moving again, light and fluid like a dancer's steps, as several crescent-shaped bursts of magic flew out in rapid succession.
Glintstone Arc!
The sigil flared once more. As several larvae were torn apart in an instant, Nolan froze for a split second.
He felt as though something had merged into his very soul, like a flame fed with fresh kindling, burning hotter and brighter.
It might have been an illusion, yet he faintly sensed his strength rising, his power growing just a little more.
There was no time to dwell on it in the middle of battle. Those blue-green eyes, filled with curiosity, shifted toward the nearby Kindred of Rot larvae.
They wore no armor and wielded no weapons. Even if their strength and speed rivaled those of the Haligtree soldiers, once they were actually engaged, they were not difficult to kill.
Nolan plunged back into the swarm, his longsword flashing as several more Kindred of Rot larvae fell in quick succession.
The knightly armor he wore was far more than decoration. Unless faced with special attacks like pest threads, these small creatures could hardly breach his defenses.
"Deal with the Kindred of Rot first. These things aren't much to worry about."
Muttering under his breath, Nolan continued hacking forward. Straight sword in his right hand and staff clenched in his left, he charged directly toward Leda's position.
At that moment, a figure rushed toward Nolan instead.
Its body was tall and slender, deathly pale, covered in fine, insect-like limbs. Its legs and four arms were long and thin, and it wielded a crescent-shaped halberd.
Meanwhile, the remaining four Kindred of Rot swung their halberds and launched fierce attacks toward Leda.
Clearly, they intended to split their forces and eliminate Nolan first, this "weakling" who posed a threat to the larvae.
Encouraged by this, the surrounding larvae seemed to gain confidence. They propped themselves up, braced their arms, and lunged forward, mandibles opening wide as they prepared to bite.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two crossbow bolts tore through the air, striking two larvae cleanly in the head. Their bodies were knocked backward and plunged into the sea.
Seeing this, Nolan felt a twinge of regret.
After cutting down several more larvae just moments ago, he was almost certain now that killing these things truly did make him stronger.
They were valuable experience, after all.
Still, the soldiers were only trying to help, and it would be petty to complain.
Nolan never liked blaming others. Instead, he lowered his body, rose onto his toes, and exploded forward.
Sparks flew as his longsword scraped along the ground, and in the next instant, Nolan was already right in front of the Kindred of Rot.
The larvae along his path failed to stop him, not because Nolan was impossibly fast, but because their lack of legs made their movements sluggish.
The Kindred of Rot clearly saw the Golden Needle Knight charging straight toward it. Startled that its target did not flee but instead closed the distance, it did not hesitate, thrusting its halberd forward to intercept.