I pushed open the doors with ease despite their weight.
The greeting that I immediately received from Count Asshole was to be expected.
Two spears shot through the doorway, each of them intent on piercing through my body. Unfortunately for them, something as shoddy as a spike mounted on a stick wouldn't so much as nick me.
They snapped as soon as they made contact with me and the guards wielding them quickly went down as Cliona and Luren followed up with their own attacks.
After the two initial guards went down, I could see at least ten more guards charging at us. Like the first two, they were unarmored and only wielded spears.
I ignored them since they couldn't actually hurt me and instead turned my attention to the toad-like man directly across from us.
He was clearly a non-combatant, sitting in a cushioned and gilded high-backed chair at the very back of the room. His stomach stuck out like an oversized bowling ball and I could count at least four chins on the man.
He was clearly someone who liked to indulge himself.
Sitting on both sides of the throne were men and women dressed in rags and shackled with manacles. Some of them had animal features whereas others possessed horns. Some even had small wings on their back which looked painfully torn or broken.
Beside me, Lucrezia let out a gasp.
Well, guess we found her...
Although the slaves were concerning, there was a much bigger issue standing in front of them.
A massively-built man in full armor was positioned to the left of the throne, his arms crossed over his chest. A helmet obscured his face, but I could no doubt feel the pressure that he exuded from his gaze.
An enormous double-headed battle-ax was slung across his back, and a smaller—but no less deadly—longsword hung against his hip.
Shit. That's definitely a Shade.
I helped finish off the rest of the guards with ease, and in a few seconds, the only combatants left in the room were us and Mister Tincan.
"I am Shade Reginault Blackheath of the Black Constellation." His voice boomed through the great hall, smothering the last remaining sounds of previous combat.
"Before we begin, I shall announce that this is your chance to surrender."
"Good for you." I immediately charged him as everyone else followed in tow.
Instead of engaging with me, he dashed toward Luren, slamming the knuckles of his metal gauntlets into the man's chest.
I heard the sickening noise of bones snapping before he fell to the ground, unmoving.
Almost instantly, he changed directions toward Krys before I could engage him, flicking his sword out of its scabbard smoothly.
The point of Reginault's sword caught Krys in his left hip, and he sank to his knees. Before the Shade could finish him off though, Cliona charged in with a roar.
Her twin scimitars flashed in the air, illuminated by candlelight from the hanging chandeliers.
Reginault parried with his longsword and uttered a grunt as a bolt of ice pierced through a gap in his armor.
Lucrezia's hands were splayed, preparing to fire more shards of ice at the Shade. However, she was quickly forced to retreat as Reginault wound his sword arm up and threw the longsword toward her.
"Gahk!" The air was driven from Cliona's lungs as Reginault quickly pivoted and struck her in the chest.
Cliona flew through the air, her scimitars falling from her hands. She landed on the ground with a heavy thud.
The moment Cliona went down, Reginault instantly began targeting Narik, avoiding me at all costs to engage him.
A hail of ice bolts struck Reginault as he made a beeline toward his target. Some of them glanced off his armor while others pierced through.
He ignored them all in favor of issuing a deadly shoulder bash to Narik's chest. The force of his charge killed the cliodé boy instantly.
Fuck! How is this shrimp dick prick so goddamn fast in that armor!?
Regardless of his shrimp dick, I was going to have to find a solution to catch this son of a bitch within the next five seconds or Priya's fucked.
She hadn't spoken a word since we met and even now, she remained silent as she trembled in fear.
I didn't blame her. She just watched all of her friends get systematically taken down.
Fuck it! Here goes! [Rulebook]!
I immediately dumped all the levels I had banked straight into dexterity and blasted the fuck off.
The improvement was immediately noticeable as I received a massive boost in speed. My sense of balance also felt finer tuned among other minor improvements, but that didn't matter right now.
All that mattered was reaching Priya before this grade A asshole did.
"I think we're done with this little game of cat and mouse, yeah?"
"Wh—!?"
Reginault attempted to stop and retreat as I moved in front of him, but he was too slow.
Much too slow.
My newfound ability to accelerate also manifested in my punches, giving them an even greater destructive force that sent Reginault careening through the air as I shattered his breastplate.
Drops of blood fell through the visor of his helm as he struggled to stand.
Behind me, Priya had collapsed onto her already-buckling knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. There was really only so much I could do.
"Finally using it, huh?"
Reginault had unslung the battle-ax from his back, wielding it in a two-handed grip. It was big and heavy, but I doubted he could actually defeat me. It didn't look like he could enhance himself with mana unlike Jusis.
Instead of moving toward me and swinging his weapon though, he positioned himself in front of the count (who had been watching us with a sadistic smile, by the way. Prick.).
"I permit you to use it, kihihihi!" Count Oswald squealed.
It was the first time any of us had heard his voice. It sounded nasally and high-pitched, as if he'd just inhaled a lifetime's supply of helium. His laughter was even worse.
Reginault planted the head of his battle-ax onto the stone tiles beneath our feet and spoke once.
"[Gallant Order]."
A shimmering golden dome appeared around him, covering both him and the count. Its appearance pushed out the slaves which were only halfway inside.
Although they yelped in surprise, none of them were really hurt. Unfortunately, this didn't do much to assuage Lucrezia's worries seeing as some of the slaves were stuck inside.
At this very moment, the count's bulbous lips spread into a nasty grin, and I had an incredible urge to punch his face in.
There wasn't anything that held me back from fulfilling that urge, so I decided to indulge in it, charging straight at the barrier and my two targets behind it.
"Lucrezia, get ready!" I shouted as I activated [Demonic Enhancement] to break through the barrier.
My fist moved with such speed and power that the air it passed through was dragged along with it, creating a vacuum that trailed behind it.
However, despite the explosive force of my attack, the barrier didn't budge a single inch. Instead, I was fucking repelled across the room.
"Holy shit!"
I landed right on my ass back at the entrance of the great hall. It didn't really hurt, but I honestly hadn't expected my attack to be stopped by a measly barrier.
In hindsight, I probably should have used [Complete Analysis] to determine what the hell Reginault made, but I couldn't be fucked to do that in the heat of the moment.
"Only the chivalrous can pass. You are no knight, and thus, I refuse to fight you."
What... the fuck!? A stupidly niche skill like this exists!?
I immediately inspected the barrier with [Complete Analysis] to confirm his bullshit, only to find out that it wasn't bullshit at all.
Only those who had the status of a knight, nobility, or equivalent could pass through the barrier.
In other words, it was the perfect defense for a corrupt noble like Count Oswald. Only his allies would be permitted through the barrier.
When the barrier first went up, I could feel the fear in Reginault's heart. He knew that if I could break through it regardless of its abilities, he'd be done for.
But now that he knew I couldn't, his heart had become still. I knew for a fact that he had absolutely no intention of fighting me.
Judging the strength of one's opponent was the sign of a great warrior, after all.
Somehow, Count Oswald's smile managed to become even more disgusting as he retrieved a jewel-encrusted dagger from his belt, pointing it at one of the nearby slaves.
"Now that the stage is set, let us begin in earnest! Kihihihihihi!"