Chapter 213: The Knights Waited For The Legendary Maid Skirt Flip Incident
With that, Luke rose from his chair and walked outside.
The moment he stepped out of the mansion, his eyes fell upon the two Berserk Greatswordsmen standing guard at the entrance to the Lord’s Estate.
Each stood nearly eight feet tall, their heavily muscled bodies encased in full plate armor. huge greatswords rested in their hands, while the faint pressure of an Early Silver Knight aura radiated from both of them, silently warning everyone to keep their distance.
Just their presence alone was enough to deter troublemakers.
When these warriors had first appeared, the entire territory had been thrown into confusion.
"Where did Baron Luke recruit another Silver Knight squad?"
"Ten Silver Knights just like that?"
The rumors spread for several days, but no one managed to uncover their origins.
Eventually, the residents accepted the simplest explanation.
With Blackstone attracting thousands of newcomers every day, everyone assumed they were merely another group of powerful recruits who had chosen to pledge their loyalty to Luke.
No one questioned it further.
Then...
Blackstone’s northern expansion reached the foothills of the Stormhowl Mountains.
And the beast tide arrived.
It was the very same beast tide that had originally been stirred up because of Luke’s earlier actions. Delayed by distance, it finally reached the outskirts of Blackstone.
The moment roars echoed from the mountains. Panic spread throughout the newly settled districts.
Among the surging horde were not only ordinary beasts but also Blood Awakening beasts—the equivalent of Silver Knights.
At that realm, beasts awakened fragments of their ancestral bloodlines.
Some gained overwhelming physical strength. Others wielded elemental abilities.
Some possessed poisonous blood, terrifying regeneration, or bizarre innate talents that made them far deadlier than ordinary magical beasts.
Just sensing the auras of those creatures was enough to make many civilians turn pale. Even experienced adventurers wore solemn expressions, knowing that a single Blood Awakening beast could easily slaughter an ordinary squad if left unchecked.
However, before the beast tide could even reach Blackstone’s newly expanded one-kilometer perimeter...
The ten Berserk Greatswordsmen moved.
Without waiting for orders. Without a hint of hesitation.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground trembled as the towering warriors charged straight toward the oncoming horde, their huge greatswords dragging across the earth before being lifted onto their shoulders.
"W-What are they doing?!"
"They’re charging toward the beast tide?!"
"Are they insane?!"
The onlookers were left dumbfounded.
There were only ten of them.
Against a tide containing thousands of beasts, including several Blood Awakening monsters.
Even if every one of them was an Early Silver Knight, the numbers alone should have overwhelmed them.
And at first...
That was exactly what happened.
The beasts surged forward like a flood, surrounding the warriors from every direction.
Claws tore through armor. Fangs ripped into flesh.
Fresh wounds appeared across their bodies one after another.
Yet-
Not a single Greatswordsman retreated.
Not one of them cried out in pain.
They swung their huge blades again and again...
Like fearless berserkers who knew nothing but battle.
"They’re..."
"...completely reckless."
An adventurer muttered in disbelief.
But then something unbelievable happened.
Instead of growing weaker as blood flowed from their wounds.
The ten warriors began growing stronger.
A crimson glow gradually spread across their bodies.
FWOOM!
Their muscles swelled. Their auras surged.
Even the horrific wounds covering their bodies began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What?!"
"They’re getting stronger?!"
"How is that even possible?!"
Shock rippled through the crowd.
The more injuries the Berserk Greatswordsmen suffered. The fiercer they became.
It was as though pain itself had become their source of strength.
By the time the Blood Awakening beasts finally forced their way through the pile of corpses.
Every ordinary beast had already been slaughtered.
The battlefield had covered fully in blood.
The three Blood Awakening beasts let out furious roars and charged together.
ROARRR!!
The collision lasted only a few minutes.
Then silence returned.
The last Blood Awakening beast collapsed with a thunderous crash, its enormous body crashing into the blood-soaked earth.
The ten Berserk Greatswordsmen remained standing.
That battle became the talk of the entire territory.
Whether inside taverns. The Adventurer Guild. Merchant buildings.
Or the bustling marketplace. People spoke of only one thing.
"Never provoke Baron Luke’s Berserk Knights."
The warning spread from mouth to mouth until it became common knowledge throughout Blackstone.
Naturally, news of the battle also reached the ears of the four association branch masters.
They acknowledged it. But none of them showed much reaction.
After all...
In their eyes, they were still merely Early Silver Knights.
Impressive, certainly.
But not enough to make four Mid-Golden Knights truly take them seriously.
***
"Master!"
The moment Luke reached the gate, two Berserk Greatswordsmen saluted in unison.
Luke returned the greeting with a nod and a smile before walking out from the Lord’s Estate.
However, after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
"...Huh?"
Under his gaze, the maids looked unusually panicked, while the younger knights wore expressions full of anticipation.
’Wait? why are the maids panicking?’
’And why do those idiots look so excited?’
Frowning, Luke turned back to look at them.
The instant he did, several young knights’ eyes lit up.
Their gazes repeatedly shifted between Luke... and the frightened maids.
Luke’s mouth twitched.
’These bastards...’
He immediately understood what they were waiting for.
The legendary *Maid Skirt Flip Incident.*
’Not happening.’
Without giving them the show they were hoping for, Luke walked away.
Behind him, the young knights collectively lowered their heads in disappointment.
Meanwhile, the maids let out relieved sighs before shooting the dejected knights icy, murderous stares.
’The border issue has already been taken care of,’ Luke thought as he walked through the estate.
He had already dispatched two Silver Knights along with one hundred newly promoted Bronze Archer Knights to the western border, nearly 1,000 kilometers away.
Those archers were the same elite Peak Iron Knight soldiers as before. They had only advanced to Bronze because there weren’t enough Iron Breakthrough Potions for everyone earlier.
Their mission was straightforward—eliminate the roaming beasts and hostile tribes threatening the border, then return together with Taron, the Silver Knight who had been stationed there.
Thinking of Taron reminded Luke of his territory’s military progress.
The 5,000 Body Temper soldiers who had remained in Blackstone during the previous campaign had all successfully broken through to the Iron Knight realm.
Most of them were still in the Early Iron Knight stage, but that was already an huge improvement compared to before.
Their rapid growth was largely thanks to the immense concentration of Aether within the Time Chamber.
Months of uninterrupted training there had produced results that would have taken years under normal circumstances.
Even the ten Early Silver Knights of the Blackstone Legion had advanced significantly. As for Osric, he had already reached the Third Stage of the Silver Knight realm during this extended training period, the same as ten early silver knight.
Seeing such progress also made Luke realize just how much, Origin skill was helpful for cultivation.
It accelerated cultivation at an unbelievable rate.
Unfortunately, Osric and the previous silver knight didn’t posses this, or there realm would even higher.
The mages had also made remarkable progress.
Since Elena had already become a Circled Mage, equivalent to a Bronze Knight, the other talented mages under her guidance had likewise reached that realm.
As for Vaelira...
She had already stepped into the Half-Golden Knight stage.