The soldiers went to get the five silver-tier warriors on Gerant’s orders.

Those silver-tier warriors were Monte Town’s City Defense Force’s elite soldiers. Each of them wore bronze-tier armor and had a longsword in their hands; they had a commanding presence. The leader was a middle-aged man with a thick beard and a rugged face, and he had a large sword. It was a silver-tier weapon that flickered with silver light.

“The leader of the City Defense Force’s First Brigade, Edmund Dantes, greets Mayor Gerant.”

The leader walked up to Gerant and knelt on one knee. The armor on his body was stained with the blood of magical beasts. His eyes were filled with grief.

Edmund’s brother was Barca Dantes, the City Defense Force’s director; he had been killed by an earth dragon when he defended the West Gate. Anna had killed the earth dragon with a gold-tier spell, and that meant his brother’s corpse was also burned into ashes.

He had been at the West Gate; he wanted to erect a tombstone for his brother. He had just dug a hole when Gerant summoned him.

He hated those magical beasts because of what had happened to his brother.

Why would the world have such an ugly creature? All magical beasts deserved to die.

“Edmund, get up. Do you know why I summoned you?” Gerant walked up to Edmund and reached out to help him up.

“I know, Lord Mayor. The guards told me that you wanted to test the magical beasts’ strength. Forgive me for being blunt; you’re just wasting time. No matter how powerful they are, magical beasts are still animals. You want to use them instead of killing them? One day, you’ll bring disaster upon yourself.”

Edmund stared at the tens of thousands of magical beasts in the manor as if they were the enemies. If he did not have to obey the guards in Monte Town, he would have rushed in there and killed all the magical beasts.

“Edmund, I can understand your feelings, but those magical beasts are domesticated beasts brought by Blackmoon Castle. They’re different from the wild magical beasts outside! If those beasts are strong enough, I think we can use them to fight against the magical beasts in the Misty Forest. Our City Defence Force can minimize the number of battles if those magical beasts go against each other. Without war, there would be no more casualties.”

“Lord Mayor, do you really believe that?”

Edmund’s gaze was sharp as he looked at Zeke and the others. In his opinion, those groups of people had bewitched Gerant.

“Those people might have different thoughts. Those magical beasts are wild by nature. Even if we manage to tame them, there is no guarantee that they won’t go crazy one day. What if they’re hungry? Can anyone say for sure that they won’t hurt our people?”

“Edmund, I only want you to test those magical beasts’ strength. There’s no need to say so much; you don’t have to consider those.”

“But—”

“This is an order!”

“Very well; your order is my command. However, don’t blame me if I killed them accidentally.”

Sigh.

Gerant sighed when he realized that Edmund hated those magical beasts. However, anyone who saw their brother killed by one of those magical beasts would behave the same way. That was also why he called for Edmund. At least he would not go easy on those beasts, and he was strong as well.

Edmund was the strongest silver-tier warrior in Monte Town; he was even stronger than his brother, who had been the City Defense Force’s director.

The silver-tier weapon in his hand was a longsword that was worth about 200 gold coins. It was called the Razor Blade. It was exceptionally sharp, and it could cut through all armor of the same level, including magical beasts.

“It seems that Mr. Edmund is ready. In that case, I’ll start selecting the magical beasts as well.”

Zeke chuckled. He ignored the hostility in Edmund’s eyes and walked into the manor.

More than 50,000 magical beasts in the manor raised their heads at the sight of him. Many of them opened their mouths and drooled on their sharp teeth. That was the typical reaction of any wild magical beast when they saw a living person. However, those magical beasts could only whine and lay back down on the ground when the 100 silver-tier magical beasts in the center glared at them.

Zeke strolled among the magical beasts; he walked calmly toward the center of the group of silver-tier magical beasts.

The officials and guards who trailed behind him could only gulp nervously. Even silver-tier soldiers who could transform their combat aura into wings did not dare to enter like that.

There were more than 50,000 magical beasts in the manor. What if one of them lost control and went crazy? What if one rushed up to Zeke and bit him? Only one bite would be enough to kill him.

“Young Master Zeke, are you doing that to prove that Blackmoon Castle’s magical beasts are strong enough and harmless?”

Gerant wanted to send guards in to protect Zeke, but when he saw that Zeke was fine, he quickly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. Fortunately, he was fine. Otherwise, Monte Town would be in trouble if Blackmoon Castle’s young master died on their watch.

“I’ll choose that one.”

Zeke completed his selection quickly as everyone else looked at him.

He chose a silver-tier magical beast in the shape of a rabbit. It was much larger than an ordinary rabbit, perhaps more than a meter long. It had a spiral-shaped horn on its head, ruby-like eyes, and mysterious patterns engraved on its fur. It had no wings to signify its silver-tier status, but its ears were big enough to cover its entire body. Its ears were its wings.

It was a silver-tier magical beast—the one-horned moon rabbit.

Zeke carried the magical beast and walked out of the manor; the one-horned moon rabbit stayed still obediently. It allowed Zeke to stroke its head; it had an expression of pleasure as it narrowed its eyes.

“Young Master Zeke, you’re really a brave person. You even dared to take the magical beast without any protection.” Gerant stood at the manor entrance and gave Zeke a thumbs up. Then, he revealed a puzzled look and said, “But I want to ask, Young Master Zeke, did you pick the wrong magical beast?”

He knew that the one-horned moon rabbit was relatively docile among the silver-tier magical beasts. It was cute, so many nobles would keep it as a pet. He thought Zeke would choose the strongest magical beast to fight to show off their magical beasts’ strength. He did not expect the man to do the exact opposite.

“I did not choose the wrong one. That magical beast is enough! It would not be fair if I were to choose a stronger one.”

Zeke put the one-horned moon rabbit in his hand down onto the ground. “Time is the essence. Let’s start if your men do not have any objection.”

The five silver-tier warriors, including Edmund, clenched their fists tightly when they heard Zeke’s words.

Zeke had deliberately chosen the weakest magical beast to fight against them because he thought it would defeat them. Was that an insult?

“All of you, step back. I will take care of that magical beast.”

Edmund’s heart burned with anger; he hated those magical beasts. He dismissed the others and went up against the one-horned moon rabbit by himself.

He was prepared to attack with all his strength. He wanted to kill that one-horned moon rabbit to protect his honor as a guard. He also wanted to dispel Gerant’s idea of buying a magical beast.

After he stepped forward, the other guards retreated to give him space. They looked at the one-horned moon rabbit with pity in their eyes. They knew Edmund’s strength very well. He had a good weapon, so he could fight that silver-tier magical beast alone. How could that weak rabbit be his match?

That poor silver-tiered rabbit; it was so cute, but it was also about to die.

“Die! Silver-tier battle skill, Twelve Light Multi-slash.”

Edmund mobilized his combat aura to form a pair of wind-elemental wings on his back. Then, he accelerated and rushed forward without any hesitation.

The razor blade in his hand exploded with twelve rays of bright light. The rays swept across the ground like a storm and left deep ravines on the ground. That move was his famous ultimate skill. Furthermore, he had used 120% of his strength. Even if there were a mountain in front of him, he could split it open.

However, the one-horned moon rabbit tilted its head and raised its furry claws. A sharp nail popped out of its feet.

Crack!

The sword light clashed with the nail; it caused brilliant sparks to fly. The sword light blasted the ground beside the one-horned moon rabbit, but it did not move. It was not harmed in any way. Only a tiny portion of its nail was fractured. Edmund, on the other hand, took two steps backward. He could not believe what he had seen. “How is that even possible?”

He was a silver-tier warrior with good equipment. How did he only cut a few of the rabbit’s nails off with his sword? Was the magical beast in front of him the one-horned moon rabbit he knew?

“It had to be a coincidence!”

Edmund’s expression changed several times. He appeared to be enraged as a result of his humiliation. He slashed violently at the one-horned moon rabbit consecutively with his Twelve Light Multi-slash skill. A green wind-elemental combat aura accompanied the sword’s shadow that filled the sky. The one-horned moon rabbit, on the other hand, was like a river reef. It did not move an inch. It merely extended its two front claws, which Edmund fixed.

After that, it stretched its back claws for Edmund to fix. After a few minutes, Edmund was so tired that he was panting. The one-horned moon rabbit remained unchanged. Instead, it extended its tongue and licked the claws that had been trimmed; it looked content.

Edmund’s face turned pale as a result of that scene. He wanted to continue swinging his sword, but his hand trembled. Eventually, he dropped to his knees weakly. He had used up most of his strength, but he had not even caused a single wound. If he continued to fight, it would just be a waste of time.

He threw his longsword dejectedly and sighed. “I admit defeat.”

Hiss!

A flurry of gasps could be heard all around him. The most powerful silver-tier warrior in Monte Town had admitted defeat. Perhaps the rabbit was a gold-tier magical beast?

“Everything from Blackmoon Castle has to be the top quality. Do you feel satisfied now?”

Zeke looked at the people around him. He said, “That one-horned moon rabbit has just achieved the silver tier. However, Blackmoon Castle used a special spell to fuse it with other magical beasts to get a mutated magical beast at the peak of the silver tier. Therefore, its defense is exceptionally strong. Of course, if you are still worried, you can continue to test it.”

“There’s no need.”

Gerrard sighed. Edmund had used his full strength to cut off the one-horned moon rabbit’s nails. If the remaining silver-tier warriors attacked together, would they be able to cut the fur off the one-horned moon rabbit?

“It seems like Young Master Zeke is more outstanding than I thought. And it looks like Blackmoon Castle has a unique way of nurturing talents. The magical beasts have double the strength of any beast of the same level. Such magical beasts can be sold for a few hundred gold coins each, but Young Master Zeke is selling them to me for ten gold coins. How kind and generous is that offer? I would like to thank you again on behalf of everyone in Monte Town. You are our hero, indeed.”

He no longer doubted that Zeke was doing business at a loss.

A silver-tier magical beast could be sold for half the price of a gold-tier magical beast, and its defense would not be weaker than a gold-tier beast. A gold-tier magical beast would typically cost 1000 gold coins, so a silver-tier magical beast would cost half of that.

Zeke only charged them ten gold coins; it was as if he wanted to give them away for free.

“Mayor Gerant, you don’t have to be so polite. We live on the border, too; we should help each other. We’ll have more opportunities to work together in the future.” Zeke replied politely, “Furthermore, you shouldn’t be thanking me. You should be thanking Watson. He used magic to fuse those magical beasts. He was also the one who let us bring them to Monte Town for sale. He is your hero.”

Zeke looked proud when he said that. People had praised him for this courage when he walked toward those tens of thousands of magical beasts. However, his younger brother, Watson, could fuse those magical beasts, and those creatures even submitted to him. He was a hundred times better than Zeke.