"Crackle!"
Lightning erupted from the bishop at the center. The dense crowd of knights and their armor provided perfect conductors for the current. In mere seconds, sparks showered nearly every knight who had surrounded him.
None of the knights had expected that the very Bishop they served with such unwavering loyalty would, at this moment, become their grim reaper.
The electric light burst forth, white radiance spreading from the center of the field to every single knight present.
Under the assault of high heat and chaotic energy, one could almost see the white bones of every knight being scoured by the lightning.
"It has this effect, too?" Asa, watching the scene from atop the temple, clapped his hands in admiration.
Kidnapping Bishop Gladden, using him as bait to lure all the knights on the field into a cluster, and finally using a Bomb Storm to annihilate them all.
"Aggroing" mobs was a mandatory course for every player.
Asa had originally intended to collect a wave of loot, but seeing all the knights on the field reduced to charred husks, he feared there would be no opportunity to do so.
Of course, there were still some surprises.
[Congratulations to the Host for leveling up to LV4, 0/1600]!
After killing the small-fry monsters and nearly a hundred knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose, Asa level had finally broken through LV3 and ascended to LV4!
He was still 1600 experience points away from LV5, the requirement having doubled once again.
Having gained a hard-won, precious stat point, Asa added it to his Qi attribute.
Thus, Asa stat panel was: [Constitution 22] [Spirit 22] [Qi 26].
He could barely be considered a qualified mage; of course, he still had much to learn.
Feeling the growth of magic within his body, Asa was overjoyed.
Additionally, Asa found several letters on Bishop Gladden. The bishop had been secretly communicating with a court attendant, uncovering the secret that the now 16-year-old Prince Foltest was engaging in incest with his own sister.
It seemed the bishop had intended to use this information to scheme for something, but unfortunately, he had underestimated Prince Foltest.
Bishop Gladden had no idea that Prince Foltest did not care about such a reputation at all.
In the original game, after the old King Medell passed away, the successor Prince Foltest had been eager to marry his own sister, Adda, and they even had a daughter later on.
It was because of this affair that Foltest's mother, Nancia, died in anger—literally angered to death by her children.
Even after Adda died in childbirth, to commemorate her, Foltest named his daughter Adda as well.
Bishop Gladden wanted to blackmail such a figure, but the premise of blackmail is that the target fears having their scandal exposed.
Foltest was not the type of person to fear such leaks.
The church's stationed knights had been annihilated, so Asa prepared to return.
The remaining hundred or so knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose were scattered throughout Wizima. Even if Asa wanted to wipe them all out, it would take too much effort to gather them together; it was better to wait for another opportunity.
Hunting them down one by one was too troublesome, and now that the bishop was dead and the stationed knight order wiped out, there was no way to lure the other knights together under the guise of a meeting.
Transforming into a goshawk, Asa soared into the sky and flew toward the outskirts of Wizima.
Before long, a violent explosion erupted behind him.
To prevent anyone from deducing the magic model of the Bomb Storm based on the damage, Asa had planted quite a few explosives before leaving.
Backup items from other worlds still came in handy at times like this.
Rumble!
Amidst the violent tremors, the entire city of Wizima fell into chaos.
Flying five kilometers outside the city, Asa found Saskia waiting in place with two horses. At this moment, a curly-haired middle-aged man had appeared before her.
Before he had even approached, the man's gaze fell directly upon Asa; his shapeshifting spell had failed to obscure his presence in the slightest.
With this familiar feeling and the faint sense of oppression, Asa understood in his heart that this was, in all likelihood, Saskia's father, the dragon, Mr. Villentretenmerth.
Was he showing up at this time to blame him for leading Saskia astray?
Ignoring the middle-aged man's gaze, which held a hint of jealousy and envy, Asa flew above the two and transformed into human form before landing.
As soon as he landed, Saskia rushed over.
"Asa, let me introduce you. This is my father, Villentretenmerth!"
"Father, this is my companion I met on the road, Asa, a mage!"
Judging by Saskia's appearance, she didn't know that her old father had been tailing them the entire way.
Saskia linked her arm with Asa. Having gone through life-and-death battles together, her favorability toward him had risen significantly.
Now, Saskia actually missed the feeling of Asa riding on her back as they galloped together.
She was even holding onto an outsider's arm, when she should have been holding her father's.
Seeing this, the Golden Dragon felt pain in his heart. He coughed, signaling the youngsters to restrain themselves.
Asa arm was buried in softness, and he had absolutely no intention of pulling it out; had her father not been on the scene, he might have even rubbed against it.
He sized up the curly-haired middle-aged man before him. Though he was a dragon, his temperament was more like that of a gentle scholar.
He had thick, chestnut-colored curly hair, wore a cotton tunic and a doublet, and was shod in riding boots, looking like an ordinary middle-aged man.
Only his expression was a bit foul.
However, there was a strange crest on his clothing: a yellow background with three black birds standing side by side.
Asa was not very familiar with dragons, only knowing the final boss of the second game, Saskia Saosi. Any information about other dragons he knew had come from the books of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
Toward this mage who had inexplicably formed a bond with his daughter, the dragon Villentretenmerth naturally did not have a pleasant expression.
Seeing that the mage had proven his intention to protect Saskia throughout the journey, the dragon decided to be magnanimous and not hold it against him.
"Um, hey, Brother Dragon." Asa greeted him.
The Golden Dragon's face darkened. Was he unwilling to even call him "Uncle Dragon"?
Sighing, the Golden Dragon stopped his internal strife and stated his purpose: "Mage, I am very relieved that Saskia has made a friend like you."
"I hope that in the time you have ahead, you will not let your companion down!"
"Father, what's wrong?" Saskia heard that her father seemed to be entrusting something to him and asked subconsciously.
"It's nothing, it's just that you have grown up. In the days to come, you must walk your own path."
In a dragon's educational philosophy, there was no such thing as secretly protecting a child after they left the nest. It was just that young dragons were truly scarce, so Villentretenmerth had secretly protected her each time because he couldn't rest easy.
Throughout the journey, the mage's performance had been commendable.
He helped Saskia familiarize herself with the human world, did not let her easily interfere in human conflicts, and did not even let Saskia see the sordid side of humanity.
He was also a mage with a long enough lifespan to accompany Saskia for a long time.
During today's skirmish, the Golden Dragon had intended to intervene himself, but the mage's performance was perfect—killing everyone without leaving a trace, and even taking care of Saskia's feelings during the battle.
Not everyone could remain calm while riding a dragon.
Therefore, the Golden Dragon felt there was no need to continue protecting her from the shadows, which was why he had come to meet Saskia.
He had his own adventures to attend to, after all!
"It's alright." Saskia hugged Asa arm tightly, full of trust in the mage.
"We are companions, after all!"
"Good." The curly-haired middle-aged man nodded and said to Asa: "Mage, take good care of Saskia."
He took one last look at Saskia, and then, as if to show off, his entire figure changed abruptly.
Golden scales emerged on his body, and his form swelled, tearing through his clothes and becoming massive.
In an instant, a Golden Dragon twice the size of Saskia's true form stood upon the earth.
Its scales were golden, its figure elegant and slender, as if it were a creature that had walked out of a mythical world.
The Golden Dragon nodded slightly toward Asa and Saskia, then spread its wings.
With a wingspan of nearly a hundred meters, it almost covered the valley.
With a flap, it stirred up a gale, and the Golden Dragon soared into the sky.
Silently watching the Golden Dragon's retreating back, Asa felt his sleeve move; it was Saskia.
She pouted and said: "Stop looking. In the future, I will turn into that, too. When that time comes, you can ride me however you want."
Saskia clearly did not understand that "ride" had another meaning in human context.
Asa smiled and shook his head, explaining: "That's not it; I wanted to ask, is your father always this bold?"
He had to admit, the transformation just now was extremely cool, but the direction he flew toward was the sky over Wizima.
Just moments ago, Asa had blown up the garrison of the Eternal Fire temple.
This old man would likely have to take the blame.