Chapter 181: Arrogance or Ignorance
Any sensible bandit should have abandoned the region after hearing the news.
After all.
The entire kingdom now knew that Baron Luke possessed Mid-Golden Knight combat power.
Remaining here was practically asking for death.
A thought soon crossed his mind.
"I see."
A cold smile appeared beneath his helmet.
"They probably assumed that I and the army were still in Windmarch Reach."
Returning from there would naturally require time.
That delay had likely given these bandits a false sense of security.
Luke slowly shook his head.
"Arrogance..."
He paused briefly.
"...Or ignorance."
Either way the outcome would be identical.
His gaze turned ice-cold. "Seems I have to paint the forest red once again."
At that moment.
Information continuously flowed back through the connection shared with his ten dopplegängers.
Every enemy position. Every patrol route. Every hidden camp.
Everything was transmitted directly into Luke’s mind.
A complete battlefield map formed almost instantly.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly. "Found you all."
He no longer hesitated. With a single thought. He issued the command.
"Do it."
Across ten different locations—
Excluding Luke’s original body—
Ten Void Titans moved simultaneously.
WHOOSH!!
Their figures blurred. Like shadows slipping through space. Before the bandits could even sense danger
Shhhk!
A faint sound. So soft that even the wind almost drowned it out.
The next instant. Every Iron Knight and Body Temper Realm bandit froze in place.
"...?"
Several of them instinctively blinked.
One even frowned in confusion.
"What?"
Then their vision suddenly tilted.
The sky. The trees. The ground. Everything spun upside down.
Only then did they realize—
Their heads were no longer attached to their bodies.
Thud.
One severed head landed upon the soft forest floor.
Then another.
And another.
Within moments dozens of heads rolled across the dirt.
Thud.
Thud.
Roll.
Silence.
Utter silence.
No terrified screams. No cries for help. No desperate final words.
Only...
Chirp. Chirp.
The peaceful songs of birds echoed through the forest.
As if nature hadn’t noticed the massacre at all.
A heartbeat later—
FSSSHHH!!
Blood erupted from every headless corpse simultaneously.
Like crimson fountains.
The lifeless bodies swayed unsteadily before collapsing one after another.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Far From the battlefield.
Luke quietly observed everything through his shared vision.
Even he couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.
"Nyx’s speed." A faint smile appeared beneath his helmet. "Really is something."
Although he had spent thousands of hours training inside time chamber.
Most of that time had been devoted to mastering Caelith’s Titan Form.
Compared to it.
His experience using Nyx was surprisingly limited.
Yet after witnessing this battle. He finally understood something.
Nyx wasn’t merely powerful.
He was absurd.
Luke silently replayed the scene in his mind. "Interesting."
Then he recalled something Nyx had once told him.
The Faceless Titan—Myrkhal. Could only perfectly replicate Titan Forms possessing Greater Bloodlines.
Or anything below that level.
That was exactly what Nyx had explained back then.
He also had said one interesting thing.
"If Myrkhal is hiding other forms, then even we don’t know."
At the time Luke hadn’t understood what he meant.
But now he did.
"The real Titan Forms." He quietly muttered those words.
Nyx. Caelith. Myrkhal.
The real tittan, the source from which countless lower-bloodline Titans had descended.
Which also meant every aspect of them had reached its absolute peak.
Strength. Speed. Defense. Vitality. Control. Everything.
Far beyond any ordinary Titan possessing a Greater Bloodline or lower.
Luke slowly pieced together the realization.
"So that’s what he meant." A thoughtful smile appeared on his face.
Take the Void Titan—Nyx, for example.
His greatest authority undoubtedly lay in controlling the Void.
That was his true specialty.
However that didn’t mean the rest of his abilities were lacking.
On the contrary even in terms of pure physical strength.
Or raw movement speed.
Nyx could still overwhelm a lower-bloodline Titan whose entire specialty was strength or speed.
That realization had shocked Luke when Nyx first explained it.
Which suprised him.
As he rarely used Nyx for direct frontal combat.
Most of the time he transformed into Myrkhal, relying on its adaptability and available forms.
Because of that. he had never truly experienced what a True Titan was capable of physically.
Even The cosmic heart titan. He used cosmic system strength, rather than his own pysical strength.
But today’s battle, had changed that.
"Though even among the True Titans. Nyx’s speed should stand at the very peak."
After all unlike ordinary movement. He didn’t simply run.
He seemed to use the Void itself as a pathway.
Luke could vaguely sense it.
Only vaguely.
His current realm was still far too low to truly comprehend the mysteries of the Void.
It was like staring into an endless abyss through a tiny crack.
He could see that something incredible existed.
But not grasp it.
Not yet.
Luke slowly clenched his fist.
The Void energy around it rippled quietly.
"One day." A faint smile appeared beneath his helmet.
"I’ll understand the Void completely."
"And when that day comes."
His eyes shone with quiet determination, "I’ll finally witness the true power of Nyx."
---
After dealing with the bandits. Luke’s gaze swept across every campsite through the eyes of his dopplegängers.
Scattered everywhere were piles of stolen goods.
Wooden crates. Sacks of grain. Barrels of wine.
Weapons. Armor. Even bags filled with gold and silver coins.
It was obvious these had all been robbed from unfortunate caravans.
Then his turn his gaze toward far distance.
Several figures could be seen tied to nearby trees and wooden posts.
Some had bruises. Others looked pale from hunger.
A few had already lost all hope.
The moment the prisoners noticed the black-blue armored figure approaching.
Their bodies instinctively trembled.
"W-Who-" Before anyone could finish speaking.
Slash!
The ropes binding them were cleanly severed.
One after another the captives hurriedly freed themselves.
Luke’s calm voice soon followed.
"The bandits are dead."
"The road ahead is safe now."
He glanced toward the piles of supplies.
"Take whatever belongs to you."
"If there are items without owners. You may divide them among yourselves."