10,000x Reward Multiplier: Hell-level Kingdom Building

"Yes!"

"Deal with him!"

"Make him pay for such vile accusations against our chief."

The voices of the soldiers rang out, cheering loudly as Breeze slowly closed the distance between himself and Floki.

Some of the villagers seemed relieved by his actions, but the same could not be said for the slaves. They were concerned, worried that their chief, who had come to rescue them, would be killed by the undefeated knight.

Jabba and Anton rushed forward and stood beside Floki. There was fear in their eyes as they watched Breeze cautiously, but there was also a hint of vengeance within them.

Floki instantly commanded them to step away as he threw Kellan’s body to the side and summoned his greatsword.

’The last time I saw him, I was barely level 10, and he seemed really strong. Now that I am level 25, with my strength and mana attributes at level 60, how strong could he be in comparison to me?’

His eyes furrowed as he focused on Breeze’s body movements. Somehow, his mind began to calculate what Breeze’s best moves might be, several patterns forming in his head and changing every second.

It was an effect of [Grandmaster Martial Arts], and since this was the first person he had actually fought in clear illumination while fully focusing on their movements, his battle intuition was activated.

Floki stepped forward slowly, matching Breeze’s steady steps. He could tell that Breeze was doing the same thing, predicting his movements as well.

Floki noticed Breeze accelerate slightly and moved faster to match him. Immediately, the two of them burst into a sprint toward one another, faster than anything the villagers had ever seen.

CLANG!

Their blades struck against each other, sending sparks flying and releasing a small shockwave that rippled through the surrounding area.

In that brief moment, Floki looked into Breeze’s eyes. Something was entirely different about him. His usual calmness had vanished, replaced by a lifeless bloodlust.

Breeze met his gaze as well, but there was no reaction in his eyes.

The two separated.

’Is he enchanted?’ Floki wondered as he quickly closed the gap again and countered Breeze’s sword strike.

He fixed his gaze on Breeze’s upper body, especially his shoulders, to predict movements before they were made.

With these predictions, though some proved useless as Breeze switched up his moves, he was still able to hold his ground against Breeze, who was clearly faster.

For five minutes, only the clashes of their swords, accompanied by low, strained grunts, echoed through the battlefield.

The onlookers focused entirely on the two of them.

Kellan lay on the ground not too far away, watching with a mischievous grin on his swollen face.

His grin was not directed at Floki, but at his knight.

Although he had summoned Breeze, he did not have total dominance over him. As a result, Breeze could choose to ignore all his commands if he wished to.

The only two real advantages Kellan gained from his crystal of authority to manage his knight were the ability to detect when he was lying and a special one-time-use skill.

With this skill, he could make Breeze do anything. Not just anything, it would force Breeze into absolute submission, leaving him with no option to refuse, no sense of self to resist. This submission could only be broken upon mission completion or death.

Breeze was currently under its effect.

While Breeze bought him time, Kellan attempted to recover as much mana as he could to use his Rock Body Refinement skill.

However, he did not succeed, as the two brothers attacked him.

In his injured state and without the ability to reinforce himself, he was weaker than both of them.

They beat him.

Until some of his soldiers intervened.

But they were no match for the two of them. Despite their numbers, Jabba and Anton held their ground against them, earning their master some time in the process.

CLANG! CLANG!

Breeze suddenly equipped and threw two black daggers at Floki, which he swiftly deflected with his greatsword.

’Who are you, an assassin or a knight?’

Floki cursed inwardly as he dashed toward him once more.

For certain personal reasons, he did not want to kill Breeze.

Even though he knew Breeze had only saved his life because he was asked to, and for some hidden personal reasons of his own, he still could not bring himself to kill him.

At first, he thought he had developed the cliché compassion of novel heroes, something that would be useless to him in the long term as a lord.

Yet, his mind rejected that notion. It came up with other reasons, such as leaving him alive out of curiosity, which aligned more with his personality.

Even so, Floki knew that if Breeze were stronger than him and capable of killing him, he would not hesitate for any of those reasons. His life came first.

The current Breeze he was fighting did not seem as strong as the one at the goblin den.

While he was still very fast, his strength was not what it had been back then.

’Did the enchantment, or whatever this is, reduce his strength and make him lose memory of his techniques?’

It seemed likely.

As they switched positions briefly, Floki caught a glimpse of Anton and Jabba overpowering the Blackstone soldiers, which made him smile faintly before he refocused on the fight.

"Ahhh..."

For the first time since the fight began, Breeze let out a loud cry that did not match his usual personality as he clashed with Floki again.

At that moment,

"K-kill me.."

Floki heard a barely audible whisper from him.

He quickly looked into Breeze’s eyes, confusion flashing across his face.

For a brief second, he saw a trace of humanity return to them before it disappeared again as Breeze pulled back and struck once more.

It became clear that he was under some form of enchantment and was resisting it.

It was clearly Kellan’s doing.

’Wait, system, if I obtain the crystal authority of a lord, I can also awaken their skills, right?’

[ Positive. ]

’In this current situation, if I obtain his crystal of authority, can I break the enchantment link with Breeze and make him my own personal knight?’

[ Negative. Target is currently under a unique skill that cannot be broken unless he completes his mission, which is to kill you. ]

’Crap..’

It was clear now.

He would never learn about Breeze or understand his motives.

And worst of all, he had to kill him.