The chilling aura of murder and bloodlust surged through the hall, but at this moment, what weighed Asler's heart down was the question of where Carlos had obtained such power.

The bloodlust felt genuine. If the other man had truly done what he claimed...

...then this Baron Carlos before him must possess a hidden, far more powerful trump card, or perhaps, true strength.

The atmosphere rapidly solidified.

Inside the hall, knights slowly gripped their sword hilts, while the magical fluctuations within the mages grew stronger.

Four knights, including one High Knight.

Three mages, one High Mage.

This lineup, coupled with the garrison outside Blackrock Fortress, should have been foolproof.

But for some reason, Asler felt a strange unease rising in his heart.

"Who exactly are you?" He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on Carlos with heavy caution and deep scrutiny.

"That question can wait for later discussion." Li Cheng颐 seemed completely oblivious to the other man's wary stance.

He advanced step by step, drawing closer.

As the distance narrowed, the increasingly heavy pressure, like a dark cloud, suffocated the seven men.

Asler unconsciously retreated, but the four knights could no longer endure.

"Ah!!"

One knight cried out, drawing his sword and charging forward, hacking down at Li Cheng颐 with all his might.

"Die, demon!!"

The silver greatsword traced a semi-circular arc, slashing towards Li Cheng颐 like lightning.

Clang!

The sword abruptly halted, suspended in mid-air.

Li Cheng颐, with a single outstretched hand, had seized the blade. Immense power, like a raging torrent, instantly crushed the knight's hands.

Crack.

The blade snapped. The knight screamed, sent flying from the force, propelled precisely through the window.

The remaining knights, witnessing this, paled drastically, drawing their swords and rushing forward.

The mages flung their hands, scattering large patches of glittering white powder.

As the powder landed, the sound of flapping wings suddenly echoed from the sky outside the window.

Black vultures with three heads each swooped down from the distance, smashing through the windows and lunging at Li Cheng颐.

But before they could approach, a flash of silver sword light casually sliced through the air, easily and precisely severing their vital points, causing them to lose balance and crash to the ground.

Asler also retreated, raising his hand as a dozen fire snakes snaked out, scattering from his palm like blooming flowers.

The fire snakes looped around, then converged again, encircling and charging towards Li Cheng颐.

They were incredibly fast, and their timing was perfectly synchronized with the gaps between the knights' attacks.

But unfortunately for them, Li Cheng颐 was even faster.

With a single step, he shot forward like a rocket, bringing his sword down on Asler's head.

The speed and force of this strike were so great that even though Asler had anticipated it, a sense of inescapable despair rose in his heart.

Fortunately, another knight charged forward, holding his shield with both hands, bracing himself in front of Asler.

Boom!!

The blade slammed into the shield, unleashing a terrifying and unimaginable force.

The knight's face twisted in agony. He felt as though he wasn't fighting a human, but a barbaric king!

The immense power instantly forced him to his knees, his kneecaps shattering against the ground with a sharp crack.

His mind went blank, and blood gushed from his nose and mouth from the impact.

Bang!

Li Cheng颐 casually tossed the unconscious knight aside, waved his blade, and calmly strode towards the last remaining opponent, Asler.

The fire snake spell struck from behind, but he casually swung his sword, creating a massive gust of wind that shattered the flames.

He didn't even turn his head as he easily reached within a few meters of Asler.

He raised his sword, and brought it down.

Boom!

In an instant, a giant stone hand, as thick as an adult's thigh, abruptly emerged from the ground in front of Asler.

The giant hand braced against the blade, emitting a muffled sound, while also being cleaved, sending shards of stone and dirt flying.

At the same time, taking advantage of the opportunity, Asler chanted a short incantation, and a blinding white bolt of lightning shot from his hand, instantly striking Carlos, who was nearby, like a distorted white ribbon.

Crack.

The thunderous roar of the electric arc reverberated through the hall.

The intensity of this arc was far greater than the electric arcs wielded by the mages Li Cheng颐 had killed before.

It was at least several times more powerful.

But for Li Cheng颐's current physical strength, it only caused him a slight tingling sensation.

Pfft.

At the last moment, Asler's unfinished incantation was abruptly cut off. His vision blurred, and he staggered to the ground, unconscious like the others.

Then, the remaining mages and knights, under Li Cheng颐's lightning-fast attacks, were subdued one by one without any resistance.

Lowering his sword, Li Cheng颐 brushed the dust off his body. He no longer intended to hide his abilities. Having understood the mage's system, he decided to accelerate his acquisition of knowledge.

At this moment, Melissa and old Buck hurriedly arrived at the hall, witnessing the scene before them.

The entire hall looked as though it had been ravaged by an elephant, with debris scattered everywhere.

The visiting mages and knights lay on the ground, their fates unknown.

And Li Cheng颐 stood in the middle, calmly sheathing his sword on his back.

"Carlos! What... what are you doing!?" Melissa stared in disbelief, not knowing how to react.

"As you can see, defending myself."

Li Cheng颐 signaled for the soldiers outside to enter and tie up the captives.

"But those are envoys from the White Tower!!"

Melissa couldn't help but shout.

Li Cheng颐, too lazy to say more, took a mechanical watch from one of the mages and put it on his own wrist.

Then, satisfied, he turned and walked out of the hall.

Several barbarian warriors, subdued by fear and subjugation, followed him out of Blackrock Fortress.

Now that he had a good understanding of the situation, it was time to reap the rewards.

Several hours later.

The noble coalition army outside Blackrock Fortress was routed and retreated, spreading the shocking rumor that Blackrock Fortress was colluding with elves and barbarians, and had harmed the White Tower's mages and knights.

The entire Okra territory was shaken.

The surrounding nobles entered a state of war, convening a noble council to discuss how to deal with the Okra territory.

But Li Cheng颐, at this time, had already begun interrogating Asler and the others.

A wealth of secret knowledge about mages was leaked from their mouths.

The sword furnace flame in Li Cheng颐's mind spread and intensified once more.

After a brief interrogation, he wasted no time and headed straight for the largest territory near his domain, the Sun City of Viscount Tislan.

Sun City was the core area where the Viscount usually convened emergency noble meetings.

The next day, ten of the thirteen nobles who had come to Sun City for the meeting were ambushed and killed on the way.

A survivor, feigning death, revealed that the assassin was none other than Baron Carlos from the Okra territory.

This undefeated Carlos, with his single sword, effortlessly killed a fully armed small knight squad of forty men, as if writing or painting.

Ordinary territorial knights couldn't even last two rounds against him.

On the third day, at the Tislan Viscount's manor.

The Viscount stood in the reception hall with a grim expression, his eyes fixed on the young, handsome, black-haired baron who was slowly walking through the door.

"Carlos! What exactly do you want!? Slaughtering elves, assassinating nobles, kidnapping White Tower mages and knights! Even the barbarians have been captured by you! What is your purpose!?" The Viscount clearly had gathered enough detailed information.

And it was this information that made him deeply realize that this seemingly handsome young baron was nothing more than a complete and utter human monster.

Bang!

Outside the living room, a barbarian warrior smashed through the door, bending down and sticking his head in. He said something in broken sentences.

Li Cheng颐 casually responded with instructions. After the barbarian warrior turned to leave, he turned his gaze to Viscount Tislan.

"Heaven has endowed me with extraordinary talent and ability, not to let me wallow in the mundane power struggles of mortals. I should have a greater stage, the pursuit of life's evolution and knowledge is the direction I should be heading in."

He walked step by step to a spot not far from the Viscount, then sat down on the sofa.

Seeing the Viscount and his twin daughters behind him reveal traces of fear and retreat, he couldn't help but feel a little bored.

"Of course, to put it more realistically, I need all the books in your collection, as well as all the books collected by the surrounding nobles and merchants. I'm not interested in anything else, only books, the records of wisdom, the inheritance of experience."

Books!?

Viscount Tislan couldn't believe his ears.

To date, the Baron Carlos before him had killed at least several thousand people, and his purpose was simply to collect everyone's books!?

Killing so many people just for some books!?

"Of course, in addition to these, I also need to gather scholars to communicate with me." Li Cheng颐 continued.

"No territory has more scholars than the White Tower!" Tislan blurted out. "Why don't you go to the White Tower!?"

He now suspected that the Carlos before him was not human at all, but possibly some mythical creature disguised as a human, otherwise there was no way to explain why he could kill so many troops single-handedly.

"The White Tower is the next stop I'm going to." Li Cheng颐 said naturally. "But before going there, I need to settle things around here."

"You!?" Tislan didn't expect the other party to actually have this plan, and immediately his voice caught in his throat, and he didn't know how to continue.

"Carlos! Why did you do such a thing! Harming knights, slaughtering armies, kidnapping Mina, you shouldn't be like that!"

At this moment, the members of the Young Men's Association quickly joined the battlefield outside the hall, joining forces to fight a barbarian warrior.

And the other elite troops of the noble allied forces who gradually arrived also approached, blocking the remaining barbarian warriors.

Under the rain of crossbow bolts, the small number of barbarian warriors were beaten back, and could only rely on the armor and helmets on their bodies to protect themselves, unable to counterattack.

The one who shouted was Jane, a member of the Young Men's Association who had wanted to challenge Li Cheng颐 before. His face was flushed, and he rushed towards here angrily.

"You were the first to defeat the barbarians, and I was proud of you as an easterner, and maintained your reputation outside, but look at what you have done!?"

"What did I do?" Li Cheng颐 turned around and grabbed the two-handed greatsword that was slashing at him.

Bang.

The blade was clamped by two fingers and could not move.

No matter how hard Jane tried, it wouldn't budge.

"I'm just clearing some obstacles on the path to pursuing knowledge."

He casually flicked his wrist.

The huge force sent Jane tumbling out, crashing heavily on the stone floor in the distance, and rolling out of the hall again.

"Don't you find it boring to repeat and wallow in the boring calculations between nobles? Why does the world have to be complicated? Isn't it better to remove the disguises between everyone, face reality, and face each other?"

Li Cheng颐 casually slashed at an orange fireball flying from the right.

With a bang, the flames exploded, revealing his handsome, undamaged face.

Chichichichi!!!

At this moment, dense crossbow bolts rained down, shooting at his whole body.

But Li Cheng颐, whose physical fitness had now been improved to twelve times that of Milton, simply flashed, and appeared several meters away, avoiding the rain of arrows.

His body moved like a ghost and flickered forward. In two seconds, he crossed the battlefield of the Viscount's mansion.

Groups of knights and soldiers who were besieging the barbarians were scattered in all directions, like bowling pins being knocked over.

Everyone watched this scene in shock and horror.

No one could stop Li Cheng颐, not even for a second.

Everyone in front of him was like paper, whether they were knights or ordinary soldiers.

A dozen breaths later.

The flag of the Okra territory, the deer flag, was raised above the Tislan Viscount's mansion.

The Viscount announced his surrender.

The thousands of troops stationed outside were completely useless. Li Cheng颐 went straight to the source and completed the feat of annexing the surrounding viscount territories in just a few days.

Although it was just violent rule, as long as he was alive, the knights and nobles below would not dare to resist.

(End of chapter)