The mountain wind blew, and the forest fell into dead silence.
The eerie space that had been filled with bloodshed and killing intent vanished completely.
All the oppression receded like a tide, leaving only scattered wreckage and the lingering scent of blood and fire on everyone.
The nine Royal Knights had battered armor, each bearing injuries.
Their battle aura fluctuated unsteadily, clearly exhausted.
Lin Hong stood nearby.
His condition should have been the best, but he didn’t speak up immediately.
His aura wasn’t flaring outward, but precisely because of that, it was all the more startling.
After all, the nine had witnessed everything that happened in that evil god’s subspace.
Alone, he first faced four quasi-priest-level enemies, seemingly killing them instantly.
Then, he led three quasi-priests around like walking dogs, slaughtering over half of the low-ranking fanatics, greatly easing their burden and pulling them out of a desperate situation.
Then, alone, he withstood the siege of three quasi-priests and one priest-level heretic.
In the end, the entire space even expelled all of them together—probably because of this person.
The silence in the area grew awkward.
After a moment.
As if reaching some silent consensus, the nine Royal Knights suddenly stood at attention in unison.
Armor plates clinked together, the sound orderly and crisp.
Then, all nine raised their hands, pressed them to their chests, and solemnly saluted Lin Hong.
“Thank you, sir!”
The low, powerful voice echoed through the forest.
Lin Hong was startled by this.
Then, a little awkwardly, he waved his hand.
“Ahaha, no need, no need.”
At the same time, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Because the disguise potion given by the mysterious panel was surprisingly reliable.
Just now, he had undergone a drastic transformation in the subspace, a leap in his life level.
Even he could clearly feel the earth-shattering difference.
This was a change from the inside out, and logically, it should have blown his cover, restoring his appearance as young Evan.
But the potion held steady as an old dog, enduring firmly, and hadn’t dispelled the disguise even now.
Brother Board is authoritative—his products are always top-notch.
‘Lin Hong muttered inwardly, secretly grateful. Otherwise, showing them his face as young Evan would have been a huge mess.’
On the other side, after saluting in thanks, the nine Royal Knights did not fully relax.
Their expressions remained tense as they constantly scanned their surroundings.
Because something was very wrong.
Earlier, that evil god’s domain had pressed down on them until they could barely breathe, their battle aura suppressed to the limit.
It looked like a dead end.
Nine fifth-rank knights, held back by three heretics of the same rank and some low-ranking ones, only managed to turn suppression into a stalemate after Lin Hong dragged away part of the enemy’s key forces.
To put it bluntly, they had never suffered such a loss in their lives.
But now, everything had abruptly ended.
The space expelled them, spitting out all living beings.
Someone turned slightly and spoke in a low voice.
“Are we… already out of that space?”
“The energy feels different. My battle aura has recovered. We should be out.” One person looked around, staring at the real forest under the night.
“Don’t let your guard down. It might just be another layer of the trap.”
Several spoke in hushed tones, but their hands never left their weapons.
Lin Hong’s hearing was sharp, and he caught every word clearly.
His perception was keen, and he was certain they had left the evil god’s space.
He wasn’t worried about that, but was thinking about something else.
After all, the end had been a bit strange.
The Dark Red Robe Evil Priest—Lin Hong was almost certain he was no longer himself.
He had likely been replaced.
His demeanor was like a god, lofty and aloof, looking down on everything.
As if the true master of that space had descended.
Was it the evil god?
Lin Hong’s eyes darkened as he considered this possibility.
Had the evil clan’s will descended?
He was about to think deeper when his gaze suddenly stopped, landing on a forest clearing not far away.
People were lying there, strewn about in disorder.
They were the innocents he had saved earlier in the space’s altar.
He had been frustrated that he couldn’t rescue them, but unexpectedly, they had been expelled along with everyone else.
Now, these people were still unconscious, pale-faced, weak in aura, but at least alive.
Lin Hong looked at them, his thoughts growing more tangled.
The space had actively contracted, expelling all outsiders.
Even these people, who were supposed to be sacrifices, were thrown out together.
What did that mean?
He couldn’t help recalling that “Huo Ersi” had murmured at the end that the accumulation was enough.
That made his expression sour.
Was he about to face a high-level battle soon, going up against the evil clan itself?
That wouldn’t be good.
How much of his power had he recovered?
He probably wasn’t a match.
Before he could sort out his thoughts, the nine Royal Knights stood at attention in unison once again.
Lin Hong: “…”
Not again?
The nine saluted solemnly once more.
The middle-aged knight at the lead, whose aura was the steadiest, spoke.
His tone was even more polite than before.
“Your great kindness, sir, we will remember it in our hearts.”
“This place is still unsafe. If you have nowhere to go for now, please accompany us to a safe location for a short rest.”
Lin Hong was a bit speechless.
If he understood correctly, the “safe location” meant their small camp outside the town?
Was that really safe?
They had been dragged directly from the camp into the evil god’s space.
But the other party was sincere, making him a little uncomfortable.
Of course he had somewhere to go.
Even if he didn’t, he couldn’t travel with these Royal Knights.
Otherwise, there would be too much trouble.
Lin Hong waved his hand and repeatedly refused.
“It was just a small favor.”
Then he raised a finger to point at the unconscious innocents not far away.
“Please do me a favor and see that they’re taken care of.”
“These are ordinary people, and some soldiers, caught up in this by accident. They were lucky to survive. Don’t let anything happen to them now.”
The Royal Knights were stunned for a moment, then their expressions turned even more serious.
The leader immediately nodded.
“Rest assured, sir. We will take good care of them.”
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Lin Hong smiled, then leaped.
He swept through the forest, covering tens of zhang in an instant.
With a few bounds, he was far away.
His speed was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, only a blurry silhouette remained, finally disappearing completely into the night and the mountain’s end.
At the original spot, the nine Royal Knights stared at the distant figure for a long time, unable to look away.
After a few seconds of silence, someone finally murmured in admiration.
“Truly terrifying. Such a young man, facing four quasi-priests and one priest without a scratch… at least, no serious injury visible on the surface.”
“Even if we hadn’t been suppressed by the evil god’s space, facing that alone would have been nearly impossible.”
Hearing this, the others did not refute.
Because they had been in that evil domain themselves.
They knew all too well how severely it suppressed outsiders.
And from start to finish, they had never seen Lin Hong use energy wings!
Logically, with his combat power, whether he followed the path of battle aura or magic, he should at least be at the fifth rank.
And one of the most obvious traits of a fifth-rank powerhouse was energy wings.
But that young man had never used them once.
He had fought purely with physical melee. Unbelievably strong.
A young knight couldn’t help but mutter, “Could he be some kind of magical beast in human form?”
“Have you ever seen a magical beast so friendly to humans?”
Someone immediately retorted.
“Haha.”
“No.”
“Then is he a dual cultivator of magic and martial arts?”
“Doesn’t seem like it either. That person might not even be from the empire. His close combat techniques were very strange, not matching any style from the empire’s academies or military systems.”
“Maybe it’s some long-lost ancient legacy?”
The group speculated back and forth, but never pieced together a satisfying answer.
Finally, they gave up.
“Forget it.”
“The continent is vast. Isn’t it normal for there to be some oddballs we don’t know about?”
“After tonight, I feel like there’s nothing in the world I can’t accept anymore.”
“Being alive feels damn good.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
“Alright, spread out and rescue people!”
“Yes!”
The night grew deeper.