As Gawain charged toward the grotesque and menacing creature, he felt no tension, no hesitation, and no fear in his heart. If he had to describe what he felt, it was merely a sense of disorientation and unreality.
He could still vividly remember the moment the plane had crashed. He could still remember hanging in the sky of this world for over a hundred thousand years. He hadn't yet fully adapted to the identity of Gawain Cecil that had fallen from the heavens.
However, at this moment, he gripped the ancient family sword tightly and lunged at a creature that could be either a demon or a wraith. A massive impact resonated from the blade, instantly clearing his mind of all distractions.
With almost instinctive reflexes, he dodged the creature's sweeping claws, twisting his upper body slightly as he swung the blade, creating a streak of light through the air that struck forcefully against the monster's shoulder. As he delivered the blow, he focused on drawing forth the strength hidden within this body, channeling that power into the sword in his hand.
The faint red glow at the base of the blade flared brilliantly as the surge of power coursed through it, and it seemed to ignite in flames, spreading rapidly along the sword's edge. The intense heat distorted the air around it.
The three-meter-tall monster sensed the threat from the sword's heat. Despite its massive size, it nimbly leaned back, causing Gawain's powerful strike to narrowly miss its target.
For a moment, excitement surged within him at the thought of unleashing such supernatural power as if it were magic. That thrill likely caused him to misjudge the timing of his first attack. However, he quickly adjusted his mindset and poured his strength back into the longsword.
Indeed, the combat skills inherited from Gawain Cecil were accessible to him, and this body hadn't deteriorated to the point where it couldn't wield power. Although he didn't know how much strength he could summon, he now felt a surge of confidence.
He began to immerse himself in the battle, working to transform the combat experience that didn't belong to him into usable power.
On the other side, however, Byron was locked in a fierce struggle. This mid-tier knight was one of the top fighters in the Cecil territory. His past battle experiences, having served the Cecil family loyally, had made him exceptionally skilled.
Yet, he had already exhausted much of his energy during the monster's assault on the castle. Coupled with the strange magical influence of the creatures, the internal injuries he suffered further diminished his combat effectiveness, reducing his full strength to only about forty or fifty percent.
Now, facing the relentless attacks from the monsters, he could only grip his longsword tightly, struggling to maintain his ground while conserving energy and looking for any openings in his opponents' defenses.
Rebecca gathered her magical power, sending a fireball the size of a head flying from the tip of her staff. It collided violently with the shadow arrow fired by one of the monstrous spellcasters, resulting in a thunderous explosion.
After taking a breath, she quickly noticed the dire situation Byron faced. "You three, go help Byron!" she shouted to the soldiers nearby.
One soldier hesitated. "But, my lady…"
Rebecca, conjuring another fireball, exclaimed, "We're fine here! If Byron goes down, it's all over! I command you, as your lord!"
The three soldiers had no choice but to comply, joining Byron in the battle against the terrifying creature.
Gawain gradually immersed himself in the fight, the memories and experiences that didn't belong to him transforming rapidly into his own. This process enhanced his control over this new body and filled him with a sense of accomplishment. When he finally pulled himself from this state of immersion, he realized he had been dominating the monster in front of him.
The creature's writhing "sludge" body was not impervious; it could be wounded, and with enough strikes, it could be killed.
Despite their immense strength and size advantage, as long as he knew how to counter them, a human body could still defeat them.
That was the lesson from seven hundred years ago.
As the creature's claws swiped overhead, Gawain ducked low, driving the longsword into the monster's thigh. It let out a guttural roar and began to fall uncontrollably to the side. Seizing the opportunity, Gawain shouted to Byron, "Aim for their bellies and lower limbs! Don't hit their chests; these things have no hearts!"
Then, taking advantage of his opponent's imbalance, he twisted around to the creature's flank and lifted his sword to strike at its lower back. "Besides the abdomen, they have another weak point in the back! The lower back!"
Hearing Gawain's guidance from the ancestor of the Cecil family, Byron's spirits lifted. With the support of the three soldiers, he quickly restrained the monster's movements. Paying the price of having his shoulder plate pierced by the claws, he slipped through the creature's legs and spun around, landing a decisive blow to its vital points.
As the enemy fell, Gawain immediately raised his head to look at the creature in the distance that was trading blows with Rebecca's fireball and launching shadow arrows. Just as he was about to charge forward, that monster suddenly let out a piercing scream, its body spasming before collapsing.
Amber appeared behind the creature, each hand spinning a poisoned steel dagger. "Going for the backdoor, huh? I'm pretty good at this."
Rebecca lowered her staff, her cheeks slightly flushed from the exertion of casting spells repeatedly. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself and then solemnly corrected, "Ancestor, you meant the lower back, not the backdoor."
Amber twirled her daggers quickly, somehow managing to conceal them, and as she stepped over the monster's corpse, she rolled her eyes. "Tch, you have no sense of humor."
Once the monsters perished, they began to disintegrate rapidly. The viscous sludge that had been flowing from their bodies came to a halt, gradually drying out and hardening, forming numerous tiny cracks. As the decaying "flesh" crumbled away, they quickly transformed into massive, twisted crimson skeletons.
Standing next to the creature he had slain, Gawain watched this process unfold, almost to himself. "So these were the things attacking the Cecil territory…"
Hetty looked at him curiously. "Ancestor, do you know the origins of these monsters?"
Gawain had already demonstrated an in-depth understanding of these creatures during the battle, even advising Byron on how to combat them, so it was clear he couldn't hide this knowledge. In fact, he hadn't intended to.
"Staying here might lead us to encounter more of them. We should head into the secret passage; there are things in there that suppress those monsters, making it difficult for them to enter…"
As he stepped forward, he continued, "I can explain the details on the way."
Once they had squeezed into the ancient underground tunnel and made some progress, Gawain broke the silence. "I indeed dealt with them in my previous life. In fact, they were primarily what we fought against back then. You should be aware of the collapse of the Gandor Empire and the history of the Second Great Expansion, right?"
"Of course," Rebecca nodded immediately, as this history was a required study for her as a noble. "More than seven hundred years ago, the continent of Lorren was home to only one human kingdom, the Gandor Empire located in the heart of the continent."
Historical records indicate that it was the most powerful empire on the continent at that time. Even the Silver Empire established by the elves in the southern regions dared not easily confront it.
However, turmoil erupted in the Aether Sea surrounding this world, leading to a catastrophic event known as the "Dark Magic Tide" on the Lorren continent. The outbreak began deep within the Gandor Empire, and almost overnight, the capital and a third of the empire's territory were consumed by the tide and disintegrated by the surging elemental forces…"
"It didn't happen overnight; in fact, this process lasted nearly a month. The court mages of Gandor didn't just sit idly by in the face of the tide…" Gawain interrupted, then gestured for her to continue. "But in terms of the outcome, it's pretty much the same. Go on."
"Oh… oh…" Rebecca blushed slightly, now more cautious as if being checked on by a parent. "After that, the magic tide continued to spread from the heart of the Gandor Empire and ultimately destroyed the entire nation, marking the empire's collapse. Following that, as the Aether Sea gradually calmed, the power of the tide diminished, allowing the surviving remnants of Gandor to begin rebuilding civilization. Since the central area of the continent had become utterly ruined and unsuitable for human habitation, they, under the guidance of a group of pioneers, left the empire that had turned into ruins and set out in four directions—this period is known as the Second Great Expansion. Ancestor, you were one of the most famous pioneering knights of that time."
"Hmm, good history lesson…" Gawain remarked casually. "So you should also have heard that even after the tide ended, numerous monsters born from it continued to haunt the ruins of the Gandor Empire. Those monsters were one of the greatest threats faced by humanity during the Second Great Expansion."
Hetty's eyes widened. "Are you saying…"
"Indeed, those were the very creatures we fought against back then…" Gawain sighed. "They were birthed from the magic tide, having human-like forms but were absolutely not human. After the collapse of the Gandor Empire, a large number of such monsters surged forth from the heart of the empire's ruins, spreading out in all directions and hunting down the survivors of that time.
"Thus, the first half of the Second Great Expansion was more of an escape journey than a pioneering one. And even after we distanced ourselves from the empire's wasteland and established new nations on the fringes of the continent, those monsters didn't cease their pursuit. They continued to flood in from the direction of the imperial ruins, frequently assaulting the defenses of the civilized world…
"In the first ten years after the founding of Ansu, I was almost in constant combat with them."
Rebecca's eyes widened in awe, seemingly captivated by these ancient and legendary tales. "Ah, so after the first ten years of the founding of Ansu, those monsters stopped appearing?"
Gawain chuckled and reached out to ruffle the girl's hair, grinning like a silly deer. "Silly child, after that, your ancestor passed away…"
Rebecca: "…"