Chapter 427: Chapter 42 Encounter Battle

The Temple Knight’s arm was embedded with a shotgun, which was propelled by both primer and electromagnetic coils, each bullet’s muzzle energy rivaling that of the Imperial Eagle.

Aske held his Dragon Bone Longsword horizontally, its wide blade perfectly intercepting all the bullets at close range. His body was pushed backward by the immense force, while his left hand drew the Long Spear, sweeping it violently to the left rear with the help of the momentum.

Reverse Iron Cutting.

Even in the extremely unstable state of being repelled by bullets, he was still able to wield the Spear Skill Iron Cutting with his left hand. Any professional competitor standing there would instantly marvel at Aske’s exquisite and formidable operation level.

However, the Temple Knights had no understanding of this skill level. They were just shocked to find that the man had not been turned into a sieve by the bullets. He was merely shot backward, and in the process, he had swung a spear that severed the waists of two Temple Knights who couldn’t dodge in time.

Relying on his strong Lv.10 body, he burst forth with the strength to cut through steel in an instant.

However, this Long Spear was no match for Eleanor’s Fine Gold Spear; it was merely made of ordinary steel. After severing the alloy bones of two Temple Knights, the Long Spear itself was bent out of shape and could no longer be used.

While he was still not stable in his rapid retreat, another Temple Knight had already calculated the lead distance and was attacking with a high-frequency Vibration Sword aimed at Aske’s head.

Aske’s left hand discarded the damaged Long Spear like lightning and pulled out another gun from his chest at an incredibly high speed, barely visible.

Imperial Eagle.

The thunderous sound of gunfire erupted. The Imperial Eagle’s elephant hunting bullet pierced the knight’s body, which had a shotgun integrated into his arm, revealing the damaged circuitry inside. The knight’s unstable body accelerated backward under the powerful recoil of the firearm, perfectly avoiding the swing of the high-frequency Vibration Sword.

He braced his right foot on the ground to dispel the force, and his left hand had already thrown a Battle Axe. The opposing knight precisely slashed upwards diagonally, neatly splitting the thrown axe in two.

Aske had already rushed to his opponent’s side again, sweeping across the chest and abdomen with the Dragon Bone Longsword in a Dragon Slash. The opposing knight swung his high-frequency Vibration Sword at the same angle, clearly intending to use his superior weaponry to destroy Aske’s weapon.

During the Longsword swing, it vibrated at an imperceptible frequency, and the moment it collided with the high-frequency Vibration Sword, the latter’s alloy casing immediately shattered, followed by its vibrators and circuits, along with the Temple Knight’s forearm being flung away.

Star Nine Forms. Breaking Heavy. Even military-grade materials that could withstand high-frequency vibrations couldn’t withstand the terrifying power of Extraordinary Swordsmanship.

In the next second, a Short Knife had pierced the Temple Knight’s throat, severing the connection between his brain and body.

The left hand, wielding the Short Knife, lunged forward like a viper’s head before the momentum of the Dragon Bone Longsword in the right hand had stopped. The Temple Knight didn’t even realize his forearm had been severed.

This strange technique, where the left and right hands attacked at staggered rhythms independently, was the Dual-Handed Assassination Technique he once taught Mia. Being able to master various combat methods with different weapons, was the unique charm of the Weapon Master profession.

After pulling the Short Knife out of the neck bone of the Temple Knight’s corpse, Aske looked at the worn edge of the blade and then at the damaged Long Spear on the ground, sighing helplessly.

At his level as a Weapon Master, there were no issues with experience, awareness, or operation; instead, equipment – something external – became his biggest shortcoming.

The bodies of Temple Knights were not just flesh but primarily composed of military alloy structures. After each battle, he had to replace at least half of his weapons due to wear and tear. If it weren’t for him paying out of pocket for replacements, the quartermasters at the Emperor Camp might suspect him of forging receipts and smuggling military supplies.

Fortunately, the Dragon Bone Longsword he got from Rasul truly lived up to its legendary reputation. Neither the abrasion of steel teeth nor explosive gunpowder could leave any marks on it.

Calculating the time, he must have killed quite a few Temple Knights by now, right? At least five or six after each battle, and sometimes even more than ten – the accumulated number was quite considerable.

If he followed the example of those Empire Knights who etched the number of Temple Knights they killed into their Power Armor, then Aske should have a Power Armor scored with scratches, dense and numerous like a fence.

Every time Aske killed a Temple Knight, he could feel the fear and despair emanating from his adversary, a sliver of it entering his body. Due to the Ritual of Law Condensation associated with war, these emotions of fear and despair borne from conflict were coalescing into the flesh and blood he would use as a spare body.

He just needed to gather enough, then find a formidable enemy to kill him, after which this “War Flesh” would resurrect him.

Resurrect him into a body capable of wielding the power of War Law.

He quickly assessed that he had gathered over ninety percent of the necessary War Flesh. Aske decided to make another sprint, working overtime today to complete the first half of the War Law Condensation Ritual.

He delved deeper into the trenches, indeed finding no more Temple Knights. It seemed that the clamor from the previous attacks had spread to the nearby area, causing surrounding Temple Knights to flee, much to Aske’s regret.

Truth be told, if it were any ordinary day, he would not be particularly keen on battling with the Temple Knights since these cybernetically augmented people did not possess Extraordinary Power. In other words, killing them wouldn’t yield any benefits.

However, for the Ritual Task of Law Condensation, the Temple Knights of Verona were always connected to the local network. Therefore, whenever a Knight fell in battle, the images from their dying vision would be uploaded via the local network to the Knight Order’s cloud server for all the Temple Knights to watch.

Thus, the emotions of fear and despair that Aske needed could spread rapidly.

Of course, the consequence of this was that the Holy Temple Knights began to study and become familiar with his combat tactics, seeking to devise a strategy to counter him.

It was like when Aske was competing in esports; countless team leaders would watch his replays day and night. Even though they knew it was unlikely to have any significant effect, they still watched repeatedly.

It wasn’t until he was about to surge out of the trenches, closing in on the Temple Knights’ outer fortress, that Aske saw in the distance, hundreds of meters away, a row of massive gun barrels protruding from behind neat covers.

Uh, those looked like… smoothbore guns?

The Church Court’s 160 mm Toronos heavy smoothbore mortars!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang! Amidst the roaring rage of artillery fire, the trench exits around Aske were instantly shrouded in terrifying firepower and thick smoke.

Was he dead?!

From behind the barriers, almost all the Temple Knights simultaneously zoomed their cybernetic eyes to the max, their gaze firmly fixed on the center of the smoke.

He didn’t die! Within the depths of the Temple Knights’ despairing gazes, the dissipating smoke gradually revealed the silhouette of a figure.

Oh God, to survive a direct onslaught from the Toronos’ firepower—was this man a Devil or a Demon?

Aske, carrying the Dragon Bone Longsword, silently retreated back into the trench.

At the moment the shells fell, he rapidly maneuvered to dodge all the impact points, then used the Star Nine Forms’ Rapid Fire to intercept all the shrapnel.

Still, the fact that the opposition had brought out the Church Court’s Toronos heavy artillery did indeed give Aske quite a scare.

Seven heavy cannons blocking the way… it seemed that the Temple Knights on this side were truly frightened by him.

Well, it was time to try his luck on another battlefield.

Casting a final glance at the distant barrier, Aske quickly disappeared into the intricately connected trenches.