Chapter 81: Debt 81 - Two S-Rank Enemies
"How many did you say there were?" Ryan asked as he approached her.
Irina adjusted her stance in front of him.
"They said they saw two holy knights from the fifth division, and apparently they are S-rank."
Ryan placed his hand on his chin.
"I see. But how do they tell them apart if they don’t inspect them?"
Mirian stepped in, interjecting.
"It is because of their uniforms."
"The uniforms?"
"Yes. On their shoulders, they have the design of their nation’s flag, and above that flag, both on the back and the shoulder, they have golden stripes. Five golden stripes represent that they are from the fifth division and are S-rank."
Without pausing her explanation, she began to stretch.
"If those stripes were blue, then they would be A-rank. At least, that is how it is handled in the first ten divisions. Since the others aren’t important, I didn’t research or care to know their designs... was that wrong of me?"
"Not at all. That information is very useful."
Ryan left the house and walked a few meters outside while the girls followed him.
"Are we going to go finish off those holy knight idiots?"
"Yes, but... I want you to stay here, Helen."
"Eh? Why? I want to fight... are you mad at me?"
Ryan turned toward her.
"Of course not. But this might just be a trap. There could be more than one knight, and they might be trying to infiltrate this place somehow."
Ryan advanced a bit further, then stood facing all of them.
"So... let me think... Helen, Beatrice. You two will stay here and guard the entrance."
"And what will I do?" Karol asked, confused.
"But I want to go and help you, Ryan... it is my village, and my duty," Irina said, standing firmly before him.
"Absolutely not," he responded curtly.
Then he added.
"You will stay here, and you, Karol, will stay and watch over her."
"But... are you planning to go alone?" Beatrice asked.
He turned his gaze toward Mirian.
"She is coming with me."
"Oh... but Ryan, why is she going with you? I want to be the one who goes."
"Forget it, it is already decided, ha ha ha," Mirian said mockingly.
"Why you..."
"Enough. I am counting on you... and do not get distracted. It would be a problem if they actually managed to get in here somehow."
Then they all headed toward the entrance. There were already many soldiers there offering to go out and fight, but as expected, he refused and went out along with Mirian.
Only the two of them.
Once outside the portal, Mirian positioned herself right beside him.
"Is it really okay for me to be the one who comes along?"
He returned her gaze.
"Yes. Whether it is a trap or demons show up, your long-range attack skills will be very useful."
Ryan cracked his knuckles.
Then he added.
"You know, right now I do not want to deal with teleportation portals. I can avoid them, but if there are too many at once, it would be a problem."
"I see. And here I thought you wanted to be alone with me; you got my hopes up."
Ryan did not answer.
They continued moving forward.
"You know, Sophia told me to give you a good wallop when I saw you..."
"So Sophia found out after all."
"Of course... you know, I think there is no one left in the world who does not know."
"That disappointed you, didn’t it?"
"Of course not. But I feel bad for Sophia; after all, I will not be able to fulfill her request... instead, I will give you a kiss." She leaned her body forward slightly, turned her face toward him, and winked.
"Fine, but that will have to be when we are finished here."
"I know, but... aren’t you worried? I mean, they are S-rank."
But before Ryan could respond, the two holy knights were already approaching from about 500 meters away.
"There they are."
One of them had what looked like a massive axe on his back.
And in the distance, the five golden stripes of his uniform gleamed.
The other one had a staff. But his stripes were blue.
Mirian placed her hand between her forehead and her eyes to shield them.
"Wow, so it is one A-rank and one S-rank, right?"
"There are two S-ranks. The other one is an assassin, and he is right between that pair using stealth. Stay alert; there might be more."
"So they did have a plan of sorts. How cowardly. Do you want me to attack them from here?" Mirian grumbled.
"It would be better to get closer. Maybe we can get some information."
’Activating the reveal stealth skill on the relic... it was more useful than I expected.’
They advanced, and the holy knights stopped about ten meters away.
Ryan used inspection on each of them.
[ CHARACTER STATUS ]
Race: [Human]
Level: 110 — Rank: S
Class: Hero
Titles: Skirmisher of Light
Strength: 5,470 | Magic: 210 | Agility: 1,900 | Psyche: 300 | Stamina: 4,820 | Luck: 10 |
’And the other one is...’
[ CHARACTER STATUS ]
Race: [Human]
Level: 110 — Rank: S
Class: Hero
Titles: Poisonous Shadow
Strength: 1,110 | Magic: 305 | Agility: 5,900 | Psyche: 355 | Stamina: 4,910 | Luck: 5 |
And definitely, the one with the axe and the one remaining in stealth were S-rank, at the same level as Helen and Mirian.
The other one was a Healer support, A-rank.
"Hey, you two! You are humans, aren’t you? Why don’t you tell me where the elves are and what happened here? I see many of our comrades are dead."
They moved closer, and Ryan and Mirian moved forward as well.
Now the distance was barely five meters.
"Won’t you say anything?" the one with the axe asked again.
"Sammy, that girl is S-rank," the knight with the staff commented.
"She’s really S-rank? Out here?"
[An individual of lower psyche failed to inspect you.]
"It is not possible!" the man with the staff said in distress.
"What is happening?"
"I cannot inspect him..."
[An individual of lower psyche failed to inspect you.]
For a moment, Mirian looked at Ryan in surprise. Then she smiled; her smile showed how proud she felt of her companion.
’So that is how it works... you cannot inspect someone with higher psyche than you. That explains what happened in the Varvylon dungeon.’
Even so, the man with the axe remained calm, then snapped his fingers.
"I assume you are not here for a friendly visit, are you?" Ryan asked as he saw the knight in stealth mode slowly approaching him with a short sword drawn.
"Friendly, you say? After seeing all our comrades dead? Were you the ones who did it?"
"And what if we were?"
Then the man with the staff whispered something into the ear of the knight with the axe.
"Now I understand. You are that idiot who helped the demon escape..."
He smiled as he finished speaking. The knight in stealth mode was already at Ryan’s side.
"Hmm... I might be. But you are the ones who are invading. Don’t you want to talk first?"
Ryan raised his hand quickly and stopped the attack that was aimed at his neck.
He gripped the assassin knight’s wrist with force.
"Hey, idiot. Can’t you see I am trying to talk to your friends?"
And the man’s expression changed immediately.
"So you noticed? I was about to attack where I felt the footsteps, but I couldn’t see him," Mirian commented, gripping her bow.
Surely they were all bewildered by the fact that Ryan was seeing him despite him being in stealth.
Even if Mirian hadn’t realized it.
Ryan had never lost sight of him for a moment.
The man tried to pull away, but Ryan gripped him tighter.
Then he pulled him forward.
And with his left hand, imbued with the intense fire of his gloves.
He sent the knight flying ten meters after making him take the full power of his fist.
Right in the chest.
His stealth dissipated. And with difficulty, he stood up, remaining on his knees and spitting blood.
"Tommy!"
"What the hell..."