Leonidas dug a hand into his side pocket once again, bringing out a Basilisk eye and rolling it around the corner.

The action was deathly silent. If it wasn’t for the resplendent red glow of the gem, it would have been hard to notice at all. But, by the time they had, both guards found themselves frozen in place, unable to speak.

‘Good.’

Just as expected, without a Level 3 Apostle taking the brunt of the pressure, even speaking was impossible for Knights in the presence of the Basilisk.

Beyond this, the Basilisk eyes had been dozens of meters up thanks to the height of the statue. But now, they were within just a few meters of the two Knights. The difference was like night and day.

Leonidas slowly rounded the corner.

There was no need to run. Doing so would just cause noise and potentially expose himself.

The eyes of the two Knights struggled to widen when they saw Leonidas, confirming yet another thing for the latter.

‘If they were from the Bruthers family, they wouldn’t react like this. They’re definitely from the Rardins, this is also good.’

Leonidas stepped to the Basilisk eye, picking it up.

With steady steps, he made it to the side of the first guard. Raising his saber, he cleanly pulled it across the latter’s throat.

Blood fell in agonizing silence, the second Knight watching on in abject horror.

Leonidas didn’t spare him a glance.

Gripping the shoulder of the soon-to-be-dead Knight, he pushed him forward, causing his body to fall in before the entrance of the opening.

The shock was immediate.

Gasps resounded, the mining halted, and a low command was sounded.

“On your guard! Enemy attack!”

‘This voice. Most definitely Apostle Maw.’

Leonidas brandished a claw, allowing it to accumulate a strand of radiant blue Mana Blade barely an inch across before flicking a finger.

The second Knight could only watch as their forehead was pierced through, their body collapsing as their gaze dimmed.

‘This frees up two slots for the Basilisk. The odds that that small Mana Blade was seen, though, is fairly high so they’ll be aware that I’m coming from their left.’

Deducing this, Leonidas didn’t bother to continue with stealth, taking the Basilisk eye he had just picked up and tossing it inside.

He wasn’t worried about its durability in the slightest. If it could survive such a landslide, a toss from this height wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

Leonidas stepped forward and through the entranceway.

He had to be fast. The commotion was already louder than he would have liked.

With a single sweep of his gaze under the support of Scholar’s Eye, Leonidas took stock of the situation.

The bad news was that Anabel was not there. To add to that, the power of the Basilisk eye had frozen all five miners in place, but it failed to do so with Apostle Maw.

The good news was exactly that, five miners were frozen in place.

“You…!”

Apostle Maw had explosively retreated to the far end of the cave. She had assumed the worst when she saw that crimson ball bounding in and reacted accordingly. However, when she saw that it was Leonidas who rounded the corner, her brows shot up, rage coloring her features.

Leonidas’ steps didn’t pause, brandishing his saber, he took quick, soft steps forward.

The cave was an irregular circle about ten meters in diameter. With the workers to either side, it made the room to maneuver a bit shorter, but it was good enough.

Plus, with his back protecting the entrance, he didn’t have to worry about Maw getting away.

“… You have a lot of nerve. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to kill you, to think you would come to me today. A little Level 1 Missionary thinks they’re tough shit, huh?”

Maw pulled out a short sword from her hip, her confidence surging.

“Swift.”

A light glow of green Breath surrounded Maw’s body, her figure shooting forward explosively.

A small cloud of dust kicked up in her wake, her short sword piercing toward Leonidas’ chest.

In Maw’s mind, this was Leonidas’ first time dealing with an opponent on his level and it had foolishly made him ignorant to the ways of battle. A full-frontal assault like this, especially with the Swift Blessing would definitely overload his senses.

It was unfortunate for Maw, though, that Leonidas already had Scholar’s Eye activated.

He took a sudden and surprisingly agile step to the left, taking advantage of the very moment Maw could no longer change direction.

Maw’s eyes were sharp. She realized almost instantly that she had underestimated Leonidas and her attitude adjusted. However, it was much too late to stop her forward charge.

That said, while she couldn’t change her direction, the direction of her sword was a different matter entirely.

Her forward pierce swerved, the tip of the blade vibrating erratically and seeming to split into three.

Leonidas could feel that this was a technique, more profound than any he had learned personally. His Scholar’s Eye was also too low Level to see through it as well.

But, his mind remained calm.

The tip might be vibrating, but the deviation the closer you got to the hilt was lesser and lesser.

‘Close the distance.’

Leonidas took a sharp step forward, using his tail as an anchor to stop his momentum to the left and raising his saber.

The calculations in Maw’s mind were suddenly off by an entire meter, her expression changing once more.

CLANG!

A powerful strength nearly knocked Maw’s short sword out of her hands, her shock at Leonidas’ power showing visibly on her face.

She reaffirmed her grip, retreating.

However, she didn’t realize that this was the worst mistake she could have made.

Leonidas released a hand from his saber, reaching to his back and unsheathing the second.

It felt like a bolt of black lightning had entered Maw’s vision in that instant. Leonidas had lost count of the number of times he had practiced sheathing and unsheathing his blade. It was unconventional to practice such a thing from one’s back, but it was exactly because of this that it was so lethal.

Maw’s eyes widened.

“Accelerate!”

Her speed increased explosively once more, but in such a cramped area, there was only so much she could do.

If Leonidas spread out his arms right this moment with both his sabers in tow, he could cover the span of five meters. And, while he didn’t have her speed or agility, he seemed to still manage to get where she wanted to go before she got there anyway. It was as though he was reading her like a book.

Maw’s head swerved backward, her body arching until she could firmly place a palm on the ground.

Like a spring, she sprung backward, her body flipping through the air.

Her gaze refocused the instant she landed on her feet once more, only to find two blades cutting down from the same angle.

Leonidas had completely abandoned defense, but it was directly the opposite of recklessness. Pressing his advantage now and forcing Maw onto her back foot was exactly what he wanted.

Maw, though, saw it differently. Leonidas had definitely over-committed. Dual wielding was an aggressive style, but usually one blade would be more defensive than the other. To go all out like this, you either had to be assured in your skill, or foolish.

‘I just have to dodge this and a counter will be—!’

Maw dodged backward, but the result was completely out of her expectations.

BANG!

Her head slammed heavily against a wall of unrefined ores.

Her vision swam and her mind turned foggy.

“No…!”

The last desperate plea that left her was even laced with the very same fogginess, lacking in any force or power it should have had.

Leonidas could feel it, that perfect flow.

Every step of this battle had felt like another chess move, each one bringing her closer to checkmate.

This sort of feeling, this feeling of conquering, this thrill…

It was the best he had ever felt!

Something within him turned like a gear, prepared to snap in place. His senses seemed to flourish for a moment.

Suddenly, Leonidas’ heart skipped a beat.

His tail shot upward from its position as his third leg. Its thick frame protected his spine all the way up his neck and covered his head.

The twang of a bowstring reached Leonidas late, but the sharp pain near the tip of his tail sent shocks through his body first.

Losing the anchor that was his tail, Leonidas’ balance was thrown off, the trajectory of his sabers veering off course and leaving two gashes along Maw’s face that made her scream out in horror.

One blade’s tip cut down across her forehead, splitting her nose in two and slicing into the opposite cheek.

The second blade’s tip took out her right eye, blinding it forever before splitting her lip and jaw.

The shocking pain seemed to snap Maw out of her foggy state, her shriek of horror spiking her body with adrenaline as she scrambled out of the way.

“Lord Leonidas! No!”

Leonidas’ recognized the voice. Before he could even turn back, her heard the sound of a scuffle.

“—You bitch!”

The enraged shout of Apostle Milon reached Leonidas ears as an arrow shot over his shoulder.

Leonidas’ head snapped back, only to find that Anabel had tackled Milon to the ground. It was clear that she had managed to catch him completely off guard.

“I can’t see! I can’t see! I’m blind! BLIND! LEONIDAS! I SWEAR! I SWEAR I’LL KILL YOU!”

Maw’s hysteric screams echoed as she scrambled to get up, her hands feeling out in all directions.

Leonidas realized he had almost died just now. He had been so immersed in that odd feeling that his ears hadn’t picked up approaching enemies. But now, that didn’t matter, the priority was Anabel!

Without hesitation, he reached for the second Basilisk eye, ready to take the risk. But, his gaze flickered before he could do so.

“Scram before I make you scram.”

Despite saying these words, Lady Eve had already sent out a kick, sending a second Knight sprawling out of the way before they could pull at Anabel.

She reached the sight of the collision and pulled Anabel away herself, leaving Milon scrambling to his feet with a livid expression on his face.

Just then, he had been in the middle of firing an arrow, how else could a pitiful Knight from a middling family possibly tackle him, an esteemed Apostle?

What pissed him off more was that his first shot should have been a sure kill. What ridiculous, dogshit luck had allowed Leonidas to live?

However, forgetting how pissed he was, Milon immediately brandished his bow once more, realizing that his sister was still screaming hysterically without any signs of stopping.

Just like that, the situation had changed.

Behind Milon stood Lady Eve and Anabel, the one extra Knight Milon had brought with him having suffered severely broken ribs thanks to the former.

Ahead of Milon, there was his screaming sister and an expressionless Leonidas.

At that moment, Milon realized that he was actually at a disadvantage. For whatever reason, Lady Eve, who he thought would be on his side or at least neutral, had just saved a Knight who had clearly harmed him. And, obviously, his sister was now useless.

Maw’s face was covered entirely in a rain of blood, the sight being quite devastating. In truth, only her right eye had been blinded, but the gush of crimson stopped her from seeing out of her left as well.

“Leonidas! You dare attack a fellow Apostle like this?!”

Leonidas didn’t respond immediately, bending down to pick up the Basilisk eye which still lay at the center of it all.

“Attack? When did you see I did that? Obviously it was a friendly spar,” he said lightly.

“What?!” Milon was apoplectic with rage. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

What he couldn’t have expected was for Leonidas’ tail to suddenly swipe to the side, slapping against the side of Apostle Maw’s head and sending her spiraling into the wall again.

This time, she lost consciousness entirely, slowly sliding down the wall in a trail of her own blood.

“LEONIDAS!”

“What’s the problem? I did us all a favor. If she continued screaming like that, she would alert all of the Lower Ogres to our location. Do you want that?”

Milon’s jaw clenched, his rage had reached the point where he couldn’t even keep his bow steady any longer.

Leonidas walked forward and stepped past Milon, the latter realizing that there wasn’t anything he could do.

Obviously, Leonidas could so boldly lie because Lady Eve would back his words. Two Apostles versus two Apostles would lead to a stalemate of he-said, she-said. Without a decided advantage, there wasn’t even a point in reporting things.

“Oh, and I’d like to remind you…”

Leonidas’ baritone voice rumbled through the cave, feeling even darker than usual.

“… don’t touch my people again, or else the consequences will be even worse than this time.”

Milon’s fists gripped hard, his nails piercing his skin.

Leonidas’ ear twitched. He could hear them approaching, it seems he had been right about Maw’s screaming.

“Let’s go,” he spoke to both Lady Eve and Anabel.