Chapter 294: Guardian

Sterling, one of the three commanders of Arcadian knights mustered all the strength he could and led a charge with his dozens of trusted aides.

It was a powerful charge as it was done by armored horses. It even managed to wound a few of the space knights. Unfortunately, these armored horses were unable to match the firing line of the space knights. The space knights were even strong enough to punch the horse using their power armor, causing both the horse and the rider to fall to the ground.

The fate of the knight who fell from their horse needed no further elaboration. The moment they hit the ground, they were quickly shot mercilessly by the space knights. Of course, there were some who were agile and capable enough to recover before being shot.

It was clear to see that the Arcadian knights' equipment, tier 1 armor, and weapon, were no match against the high-penetration projectiles and explosive bullets the space knights utilized. They were just slaughtered by the latter, like livestock.

"Take formation!!" shouted the old knight who had just lost his mount.

Dozens of knights swiftly took action as they moved and formed into the formation they were familiar with. The shield wall, the battle formation they were proud of and had proven effective against barbarians and orcs.

But this time, behind the shield they raised, these knights were actually feeling afraid. Apparently, the explosive bullets previously sent by the flying fortress up in the sky had broken their spirit.

Sterling noticed his knights' condition, so he shouted. "Don't be afraid!! Fight! Fight and you will live!!"

The man spoke those words with such passion that he did not even notice the small cylindrical object flying towards the formation while making a sound that cuts through the wind.

Swwiiisshhh!!

…

KABBOOOMMMM!!!

A loud explosion appeared at the center of the formation, in the middle of the knights. When the smoke dissipated, the aftermath was apparent. Simply put, it was a massacre.

One rocket, that was all it took for the space knights to instantly break the other party's prized formation. As if that wasn't bad enough, those who survived the blast were immediately trampled on by the space knights as they charged through with their power armor.

In the end, a thousand knights in the group were either incapacitated, dead, or seriously injured; and all this happened in just a few minutes. The old knight didn't want to give up until the end and continued to fight valiantly.

Commander Sterling was one of the greatest fighters Arcadia had and this was proven by the ability he displayed. When the hail of bullets stormed upon the old knight, it only managed to destroy his armor, but was unable to penetrate his skin.

"A saint level fighter!" said one of the knights.

The old knight, afterall, was the known Guardian. A level of fighter that culminated and maximised the highest potential of his physical body, instead of their magic. When a magician would receive the Immortal Body when they reached rank 5, a guardian would get what was called the Unbreakable Body. It has the toughness of rank 4 [greater stone skin] spell without the need of using the spell.

[Raging Blade]

The old knight utilized a battle art to enhance his sword and fought relentlessly using his sword and shield artifacts, sending the space knights flying around until he was the last man standing. 

Seeing that all of his men had fallen, he loudly let out a rage-filled roar. "Arrgghh!! I will make sure to take down as many of you with me!"

As the space knights were ordered to capture the man thought to be the king of Arcadia, they were unable to use lethal approaches on Sterling.

"Give him to me!" said one of the space knight squad leaders.

The space knight took out a chainsword as he rushed at Sterling. With the enhancement given by his advanced powered armor, he managed to match the latter in one on one battle.

Clank!! Clank! 

Loud sounds of metals clashing resounded through the air as Sterling and the space knight squad leader fought each other. It was an interesting and fascinating fight to watch.

The fight between the two continued on for several minutes. Seeing that the match lasted too long, the other team leaders immediately took advantage of the opportunity when they appeared to shoot the electrical net at Sterling.

The net quickly enveloped the old knight, as millions of volts of electricity flowed through the old knight's body. Even so, Sterling remained standing. The squad leader quickly fired another one to finally make the old knight fall to the ground.

"You are taking away my fun!" said the squad leader, who fought Sterling.

The squad leader who subdued Sterling chose to ignore the other party as he turned his eyes away. Using the communicator in his power armor, he said, "Objective completed. Target captured, over" 

"Affirmative. Take the captive to the holding cell."

When the battle was over and they were rounding up those that were still alive, the space knights suddenly saw a flying ship heading toward them. This sudden appearance of an unknown flying ship had certainly been seen by Captain Jenkins who was at the bridge..

"Huh?! How surprising. They also have a ship."

"What are you saying? What can such a tiny ship do to us?" 

"Captain, the ship is apparently under the control of the Grey Wolf Unit. They are asking for permission to board the cruiser."

Right now, Captain Jenkins wasn't too suspicious anymore because of the information Sigfried had given him earlier. Even so, he wasn't relaxed enough to just let it board. He checked on the people inside the ship and found there were four humans and an elf.

"An elf?" muttered Jenkins in bewilderment. 

He ordered his officer to open communication with the flying ship.

"Captain Sigfried, why do you have an elf on board?"

"This is my prisoner, captain," Sigfried replied. "I brought him here because I'm sure you want to talk to him."

Captain Jenkins fell into thought, It was just one elf. The power scanner said it wasn't even an elf magus, just one as strong as a saint level fighter. Being overly cautious as usual, the captain asked for the identity of the elf. But unexpectedly, the major who had been very quiet suddenly spoke up. 

"I'd like to speak with this elf and Captain Sigfried. Please let them in, Captain Jenkins."

The ship was authorized to enter and as it safely landed in a medium-sized hangar, 

Captain Sigfried came out of the flying ship, following behind him was a white-haired elf.