Chapter 66: Chapter 66

“Leave the protection of the Sis Territory to me from now on!”

Morris silently made up his mind. Of course, right now, his primary task was to deal with the potential Metamorphosed Beast before him.

Another sword strike slashed out, tearing the wound on the Aberrant Beast’s feather-covered flesh ball main body even wider. However, the sense of urgency in Morris’s heart grew stronger and stronger. Judging from his current Transcendent Perception, this Aberrant Beast was, in all likelihood, metamorphosing.

Even though metamorphosis wasn’t guaranteed to succeed, once it did, the sheer terror of it… Morris would still recall that blue-gray silhouette from five years ago from time to time.

He hadn’t possessed Transcendent Perception back then. That blue-gray wolf-shaped Metamorphosed Beast was incredibly fast, and its physique was extraordinary; it almost only needed a single charge to scatter a squad’s Battle Formation.

Without other squads coordinating nearby, any squad in the territory would face the fate of being unilaterally slaughtered by that Metamorphosed Beast.

“I won’t let you succeed! I won’t!”

Morris gritted his teeth, focusing his perception on the longsword in his hand. Before achieving the Senior Knight rank, the Transcendent Weapon could certainly unleash effects far surpassing ordinary weapons.

But after achieving the Senior Knight rank, Morris realized that he had still underestimated this weapon!

…

Before achieving the Senior rank, Morris couldn’t control the Life Energy within his body. When using the Transcendent Weapon, he could only stimulate a meager amount of the weapon’s might through the amplifying effect of his Sword Stance.

But upon achieving the Senior rank, Morris discovered that he was actually able to control the Life Energy within his body. Almost at the exact moment he noticed this, he found that the Transcendent Weapon in his hand was like a vortex, continuously devouring his Life Energy.

It was just that, normally, the Transcendent Weapon only devoured the small amount of Life Energy naturally consumed during physical activity. When maintaining a Sword Stance, the Life Energy would surge, and it would devour even more.

So, if he actively provided it with Life Energy, what would happen?

In the past, the territory only had the Lord as its sole Senior Knight, and the Territory Guard’s understanding of Transcendent Weapons was limited solely to the Sword Stance amplification effect.

Previously, they thought this was the entirety of a Transcendent Weapon’s capabilities; they never expected there to be a surprise after achieving the Senior rank.

Morris didn’t believe there were any hidden dangers to the weapon in his hand. At most, immoderate use of Life Energy would lead to bodily weakness, but that could be quickly recovered as long as he gorged himself, combined with his Breathing Technique and Ignition Potions.

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated. For the first time, somewhat clumsily, he channeled Life Energy from all over his body to his right hand, then poured it into the negative pressure vortex that existed only in his perception.

In the next moment, he seemed to hear a sword chime. “No, that wasn’t an illusion!”

With the Transcendent Perception of a Senior Knight, Morris could distinctly feel the blade of the longsword in his hand vibrating rapidly. The sword chime from just now was merely a trace of noise produced because the vibration speed wasn’t fast enough yet.

And now, as he steadily input Life Energy, the chiming sound unexpectedly vanished.

But Morris knew that the sound hadn’t truly disappeared; it had just exceeded the limits of his perception. After all, the vibration of the blade he felt in his hands was definitely not a hallucination.

…

Wielding such a sharp weapon, Morris couldn’t wait to test its might. He tentatively delivered a sword thrust toward the surface of the Aberrant Beast’s feather-covered flesh ball.

In the next moment, feathers fluttered and flesh splattered. Morris didn’t feel even the slightest resistance as he sliced a wound two to three fingers wide into the surface of the Aberrant Beast’s feather-covered flesh ball, the depth matching the length of the blade plunged into it.

Seeing this, Morris’s expression couldn’t help but stiffen. Even he hadn’t anticipated that the Transcendent Weapon in his hands possessed such might.

Right now, even an Aberrant Beast mutated into its Combat Form or even approaching its ultimate form couldn’t withstand a casual swing of his sword. Then what about himself?

Obviously, he couldn’t withstand it either!

He certainly didn’t think his body could be as strong as an Aberrant Beast’s. Even the armor on his body became dispensable when facing an attack of this magnitude.

No wonder the manager of the Mailin Merchant Guild had kept insisting before that “only a Transcendent Weapon can counter a Transcendent Weapon.” Morris had been somewhat dismissive at the time, but now he understood.

It wasn’t that Transcendent Weapons were inadequate, but rather that the people using them were inadequate.

When used by Apprentices, they were not even as handy as the territory’s Standard Longsword; not only were they heavy, but they themselves were not sharp enough.

Formal Knights could barely harness a wisp of the Transcendent Weapon’s transcendent effects, but only after achieving the Senior rank could the Transcendent Weapon truly shine!

Earlier, Waynes had mentioned that if the territory had five Senior Knights, they could attempt to eradicate the source of the Aberrant Beasts. Previously, Morris had simply thought Waynes meant having five Senior Knights each lead a squad to eradicate the Aberrant Beasts with mutual support.

But now, having witnessed the true effects of a Transcendent Weapon, how could Morris not understand? The five Senior Knights eradicating the Aberrant Beasts that Waynes spoke of probably meant:

Just five Senior Knights wielding Transcendent Weapons and forming a team would be enough to wipe out the source of the Aberrant Beasts!

…

After witnessing the true effects of the Transcendent Weapon, Morris seemed to have opened the doors to a new world. With one strike, then two, he quickly dismantled the Aberrant Beast before him until it was in pieces.

When he saw the already nascent wolf shape in the center of the flesh ball, Morris’s suspended heart finally settled. With a casual sweep, he sliced that embryonic Metamorphosed Beast into a pile of ruined flesh.

“Phew…”

Morris let out a long breath. By this point in the battle, he had completed the most crucial metamorphosis on the Knight’s Path. Watching the lights gradually approaching from the rear, he silently prayed in his heart:

“May the territory safely survive this crisis.”

…

“Morris, how is it? Is the battle over?”

From afar, a booming voice shouted out. Hearing this familiar voice, a wave of warmth welled up in Morris’s heart, and he responded loudly:

“Just one Aberrant Beast. Perfect kill, no one is injured.”

Taking advantage of the fact that the newcomer hadn’t approached yet, Morris spoke rapidly in a hushed tone to Garrick and the others: “When Burns gets here later, don’t tell him that I fought the Aberrant Beast solo. We killed this Aberrant Beast together.”

“Captain, you’re…” The teammates were somewhat bewildered.

“Even though I was the main attacker, without you guys, I couldn’t have taken it down alone. Besides, I relied mostly on having a Transcendent Weapon on hand. If you guys had Transcendent Weapons, you might have done better than me!”

The latter part of his words was pure modesty from Morris. Previously, he was the only Intermediate Knight in the squad; even if someone else had been the main attacker, they wouldn’t have been as effective as him.

However, his main goal was to temporarily conceal his experience of fighting the Aberrant Beast solo. For the time being, he didn’t want others to know that he had either achieved the Senior Knight rank or was attempting to achieve it.

If the news of him achieving the Senior Knight rank spread, then when he went to make suggestions to the Lord, the Lord would inevitably feel that Morris was coercing him with public opinion to force a demand, rather than making a suggestion.

Even though Morris desperately wanted the Lord to agree to his proposal, he still couldn’t bring himself to take coercive actions. At most, he would just persuade him a few more times.

Anyway, he was now a Senior Knight. Even if the Lord didn’t agree, he could barely manage to defend the territory, right!