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Chapter 107—The Grandmaster Knight of Mystis

Added 2025-08-15 23:01:25 +0000 UTC

“Monster! Catch him!” A group of knights was chasing James at that very moment. One of them stood out—a middle-aged man with sharp features. Despite wearing a robe, he carried a greatsword on his shoulder. A cloak with a crest depicting a blue sun draped across his back.

“Chase him! He killed our brothers!”

“Shit, why am I so stupid? I should have left instead of dawdling around, watching the refugees like some kind of attraction,” James cursed as he ran toward the cave. More than three knights pursued him. The knight general then leapt forward, a golden flash bursting from his sword, drawing an arc toward James.

He was still too far—the sword skill didn’t reach James. But the gap between them had closed, and James had no choice but to engage. He raced forward, swinging his axe at the knight commander. Without wasting a motion, the grandmaster slid his sword across James’ axe.

James lunged into his blind spot, drawing his longsword and activating Hurricane. A golden glow traced a diagonal arc from below. Again, using no sword skill, the knight commander raised his greatsword as a shield.

James’ attack slid across the blade. Since the commander hadn’t used a skill, he was pushed back. But like a dancer, he didn’t lose his footing. His counter came fast and sharp—within moments, the sword slit James’ unprotected arm.

[Paralysis poison nullified.]

“Hmph! You’re a knight, yet you use poison?” James scoffed. He jumped back, that strange feeling of dissonance returning. Fighting him felt like striking air—or water. The knight commander’s movements were impossibly fluid.

The battle reminded James of the sahuagin knights he had fought inside a trial dungeon. But this commander could do the same on land—and even more smoothly. Kouki couldn’t even compare.

The knight commander had reached what was known as the pinnacle of swordsmanship. Unlike his peers, he no longer relied on sword skills despite their advantages. Of course, he could use them—sword skills offered great power—but to him, they were too risky for little gain. Worse, they disrupted the beauty of his swordplay.

The gap before and after the sword skill lasted only mere moments, but for a grandmaster swordsman like him, it was crystal clear. So, he devised his own style of swordsmanship—a style that didn’t incorporate sword skills at all. With this style, he had beaten all his peers in training, earning him the title of the skill-less grandmaster knight.

Alas, the monster before him was also an experienced fighter. Unlike him, who understood the beauty of sword arts, the monster was honed purely for survival. His style had no beauty, but it was efficient. His sword mastery had many gaps, but those gaps were closed by his other mastery of axes, fire breath, and ice magic.

Moreover, most important of all, he knew when to pull back. Just by clashing twice, the monster realized he was losing and took flight. Either he had an ace up his sleeve, or he planned to tire the knights out.

But with the blessing of his god, Mystis, any kind of trick would fail. The knight commander held this belief, so he hunted the monster toward the cave.

James kept getting pushed back, but thanks to his experience in life-and-death situations, he avoided being surrounded and kept moving toward the cave.

Of course, James had the ultimate trump card. He hadn’t lured the knight commander here because he was afraid—he had done it so the other knight, the mage, the archer, and the paladin wouldn’t get in his way.

James hadn’t explored the cave, but he was certain that its mouth was narrow, only fit for a duel. That meant the other knights wouldn’t interfere when he unleashed his trump card on the knight grandmaster.

He had only one chance. Knights were not goblins or infected monsters—they could learn. James leaped just as a golden arrow flew past him. Thanks to his dexterity, he could see where the arrow was aimed.

James smirked. This was his chance. The cave was still wide enough for them to enter. In fact, this cave was perfect. With the grandmaster and paladin at the front while the archer and the mage stayed at the back, there was no reason for them not to feel confident. It was a perfect setup.

James began his plan. He threw a flashbang canister.

“Watch out, close your eyes!” the paladin said. He had seen those canisters before and reacted appropriately, not knowing it was empty. The grandmaster and the other knights, who had read the reports, all closed their eyes.

“Got you!” James activated his axe skill, Boomerang, and threw his axe. Blue motes of light glowed from the weapon as it spun, homing in on the grandmaster and drawing a blue swirling arc.

Even with his eyes closed, the grandmaster could sense something coming for him. He raised his sword. Fluid as water, he parried the thrown axe. His body swerved to the right as the axe changed its trajectory midair. The grandmaster felt something strange—the strike was lighter than he expected. It was unlike James’ previous sword skills, which could easily blow him back with every blow.

The grandmaster couldn’t predict that the axe had converted its damage to ice magic. When it struck the blade, the converted ice damage spread from the sword to his hand. It was only a small amount of damage, but the sudden chill in his hand, coupled with the empty flashbang, disrupted his concentration. A momentary lapse in judgment—James charged with fury.

The knight commander snapped his sword into position, parrying the attack. This movement was like breathing to him, but James did something unthinkable: he let go of his sword. The sudden move left the grandmaster stunned.

James didn’t let a once-in-a-lifetime chance go to waste. He tackled him to the ground. Despite the fluidity of his movements, the grandmaster was still human—and a well-timed tackle could pin him down.

Then James set himself ablaze and rammed his horn into the grandmaster’s chest. His robe, designed for ease of movement, offered no protection against physical attacks. Lightning burst from James’s horn, penetrating the grandmaster’s chest from within. The grandmaster was slain.

Golden light flared from the paladin’s shield moments later—moments a bit too late. James, having dealt with the grandmaster, now turned his attention to the paladin and his annoying shield skill.

The weakness of the shield skill was ordinary attacks. While it could deflect weapon skills, it immobilized the user, making the paladin vulnerable to grappling attacks. James exploited this, lunging at the paladin and wrestling him to the ground.

James tried in vain to wrest the shield away. A true knight of Mystis never let go of their weapon; the only time they would was if their hand had been severed or crushed. Abandoning the effort, James released the paladin.

James quickly scrambled to his feet, aiming to activate his skill before the paladin could stand and bring up his shield again. Red motes of light shimmered along his sword as he spun, unleashing another Hurricane with the Sword of Khine. This time, James didn’t aim for the paladin’s head—he went for his arm. The paladin smiled; he was willing to trade an arm for the chance to kill James.

A sudden sharp pain shot through James’s thigh. When he looked down, he saw a hole the size of a baseball had nearly severed it from the rest of his body. The archer had not been idle—he was a knight of Mystis for a reason. He had waited for the moment James was airborne, unable to dodge. Using his bow skill, Twin Shot, he had aimed for the torso and fired. The arrow split into two, piercing James’s legs.

James’ sword skill didn’t stop; it cleaved through the paladin’s arm. The paladin’s smile of victory twisted into pain and despair as he felt searing heat from his left hand. Soon enough, the paladin burst into flames.

“Shit! I was careless. I didn’t think the archer would risk shooting me when I was so close to the paladin,” James cursed. He dropped his sword and leapt toward a nearby rock, taking cover. Then, aiming his horn at the archer, he unleashed several lightning bolts and ice spears.

The mage knight didn’t stay idle. He conjured a wall of flames to block James’ attacks. Knowing James was resistant to fire, he didn’t bother using it offensively. But James saw an opportunity in adversity. He drew the bow from his back and pulled the string. Golden motes of light gathered around it.

As soon as the wall of fire dispersed, James locked onto the archer knight and released his arrow. The archer saw it coming but couldn’t react in time. Dropping his bow and activating his sword skill would take too long. All he could do was leap aside—but James’ bow skill, Homing Arrow, didn’t let him. The arrow swerved midair, homing in on his head, and pierced through his helmet, killing him.

If the system had asked James to pay another 500 more coins for this bow skill, he would have. This skill was golden. Most bow skills were straight shots—easy enough to dodge for anyone with high dexterity who saw them coming. But Homing Arrow had to be parried to be stopped.

The mage knight was the only one left. He didn’t back down; his faith wouldn’t let him. Dropping his staff, he charged with a sword in hand—a desperate move. But he slipped on the icy floor and had his head punctured by another bow skill.

The system soon announced his victory, along with a level up and coins:

[Congratulations. You have leveled up to Level 58. Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 39. You have obtained 5000 coins.]

[The Knight Order of Mystis has been destroyed.]

[Name]: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 58
Coins: 5900
Merit: 10
Biomass: 0

Stats:

STR: 177 (↑3)
DEX: 175 (↑2)
MAGIC: 137 (↑3)
MANA: 1220 (↑20)

Class:

Attacker (Level 39) (↑1) — +10% bonus when attacking, +1 STR & DEX per level

Skills:

Novice Axe Mastery Lv5 (Powerstrike, V-Slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Lv5 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge, Twin Fang)
Novice Bow Mastery Lv1 (Quickshot, Homing Shot)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Lv1

Magic:

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Sell Function / Repair Function
Bullets (10 coins/round)
Grenades / Flashbang (50 coins/piece)
Arrow (50 coins/dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrow (100 coins/dozen)
Poison Dart (10 coins/round)
Merit Shop (10 merit/skill)
Body Modding — Human (100 biomass/part)

Unique Skill — Chimera Lv3 (3 Extra Slots Open):

Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) — Stomach Slot
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) — Right Eye Slot
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR+30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Repairable, Mana -200) — Right Arm Slot
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing) (Mana -100, Magic -10) — Lung Slot
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Repairable, Mana -250, Magic -10) — Heart Slot
Orc’s Torso — Torso Slot
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) — Mouth Slot
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak, Fire Resist, Physical Resist +15%, Mana -100, Magic -10) — Skin Slot
Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10m) — Ear Slot
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) — Extra Slot
Quetzalcoatl Horn (Lightning Shot: 20 mana/shot) — Extra Slot 3
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300) — Extra Slot 4