Chapter 601: Dragon Slayer Knight

"Throat-Severing Slash!"

Loren sliced off half of the knight's skull with a single stroke, exposing the rotted brain underneath.

Injuries like this meant nothing to the knight. He immediately swung another heavy, powerful sword strike, which Loren once again dodged via Void-walking before countering with a slash of his own.

By now, the knight was operating on pure instinct. Even if he could still execute exquisite techniques, he could no longer think, couldn't comprehend Loren's Void-walking ability.

Against a normal opponent, Loren's Void-walking was already dirty enough, let alone against something with no reason left.

Every time the knight swung his blade, Loren would evade with Void-walking, then strike back.

By now, the knight's head had been shaved off piece by piece by Loren.

He Void-walked past another attack, fully aware that this was likely the final exchange.

The corrupted knight couldn't even muster a desperate last stand.

"Farewell, Dragon-Slaying Knight."

Loren swung Requiem, severing the arm that held the greatsword, then cleaved the body in two. He followed up with several more strikes before finally stopping.

Loren held a certain respect for this nameless knight.

In life, his strength was absolutely among the pinnacle of humanity—otherwise, he could never have severed the Extreme Cold Dragon's head.

Without Void-walking, and without magic, Loren honestly wasn't sure he could beat him.

Someone like this knight wouldn't be affected by the Judgment card at all.

With his level of power, he could easily have lived a life of comfort, no longer needing to risk anything. Yet he chose to come and hunt the Extreme Cold Dragon. He chose the greater good.

Loren knew he could never do the same, which was why he held such deep respect for those who could.

"A hero's corpse shouldn't be left to rot in the wilderness."

After killing the knight, Loren dug a grave on the spot, placed the body inside, and carved "Dragon-Slaying Knight" onto a block of ice as a tombstone.

He'd initially planned to use the greatsword as the grave marker, but the blade had taken so many hits from Requiem without showing a single visible mark—it was a quality weapon. In the end, Loren decided to take it with him.

Only after all that was done did Loren go to retrieve the Extreme Cold Dragon's heart.

By now, the heart had been completely destroyed by the knight, but Loren didn't need a whole one anyway. A few fragments would be more than enough.

"Time to head back."

Loren wasn't wearing a watch, but he could roughly guess the time. Only about half a day had passed.

The return trip would be much faster—no need to search for the God of Plague's hideout, no Extreme Cold Dragon to fight.

Loren had an excellent sense of direction. Even in this extreme environment, he wouldn't get lost. He followed the path he'd come from.

Along the way, he cut down quite a few corrupted creatures.

The Ice Dragon was still waiting at the spot where Loren had entered. It had heeded his words and hadn't dared to leave.

Luckily, dragons were built to endure hunger. Waiting half a day for Loren wouldn't starve it to death.

"Let's go."

Loren hoisted the greatsword onto his shoulder, pocketed the heart fragments, and climbed onto the Ice Dragon's back.

The Ice Dragon felt a jolt of fear when it saw the greatsword, but with Loren's orders in effect, it didn't dare voice any displeasure. It silently took off with Loren aboard.

This sword was heavy—so heavy that when Loren switched his Strength back, he could barely lift it.

Loren's base Strength was ten points. While that was a bit low compared to his other stats, it was already far beyond what a normal person could achieve.

If this greatsword were replaced with an iron block of the same size, Loren could lift it effortlessly. Yet he couldn't budge this blade—that alone said everything about its weight.

And that knight had been swinging this thing that fast... Loren suspected that in life, the man could turn the current strongest human into a blood fog with a single punch.

The pollution of the Lost Snow Mountains enhanced ordinary people and beasts, but it weakened peak powerhouses like the knight or the Extreme Cold Dragon.

If they'd been alive and at full strength, Loren wouldn't have won so easily—though it would only have been slightly more difficult.

Ever since the Orthodox Gods took over the world, they'd been suppressing ordinary humans, which was why no top-tier powerhouse had emerged since.

The Ice Dragon carried Loren out of the snow mountains. Before it could cause a stir, Loren leaped off its back.

"Farewell, until we meet again."

Mid-air, wings sprouted from Loren's back. He bid the Ice Dragon goodbye and flew off into the distance.

The Ice Dragon was fast, so by the time Loren returned to the hideout, only a little over half a day had passed.

"Master Mentor!"

The moment Loren stepped into the hideout, he was met with Anna's embrace—just like before.

Except this time, there was a kiss added to it.

"Yeah, I made it back safe and sound."

Loren stroked Anna's hair and led everyone out of the hideout.

"Let's just head straight home."

Loren couldn't be bothered to check on the townspeople now. If he couldn't see it, it hadn't happened.

He'd already taken care of the ritual inside the Lost Snow Mountains. If the Bountiful Church still couldn't handle what came next, then they deserved to be destroyed.

...

"I'm starting to miss Scarlett more and more..."

Loren was struggling to walk, lugging the greatsword on his shoulder.

Earlier, he'd had Anna try wielding the greatsword. Anna's Strength stat completely crushed Loren's, so she could use it effectively—but she wasn't used to greatswords.

Anna's combat habits were already set: scythe as her primary weapon, with Abyssal Hunt as support. Those two items already filled her entire equipment slots.

Adding a greatsword was completely unnecessary. Mirrorheart and Veronica couldn't lift it, and Loren already had two weapons of his own.

Still, the thing was incredibly powerful, and it was the Dragon-Slaying Knight's legacy. Loren felt he had to bring it back.

By now, the group had arrived at a small town nearby. No zombie outbreak here—it seemed Loren's efforts had actually paid off.

These people didn't even know the zombie virus existed.

Credit where it's due: the Bountiful Church did an excellent job of keeping things under wraps.

"Let's rest here for now. We'll continue tomorrow."

After consecutively defeating the Extreme Cold Dragon and the Dragon-Slaying Knight, Loren was feeling somewhat drained.

"Okay~"

No one had any objections. Anna was content as long as she could stick close to Loren.

Veronica was genuinely tired too. Back at the hideout, she'd been worried about Loren the whole time and hadn't rested.

Her stats weren't as high as Anna's, so feeling fatigued was only natural.

When choosing a room, Loren deliberately picked the first floor, so the greatsword wouldn't collapse the building.

Loren flopped straight onto the bed. The two blades at his waist were a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't take them off—you never knew when someone might attack out of nowhere.

For comfort, he adjusted his position, shifting from lying on his stomach to lying on his side.

Then, Loren saw an adorable little face. The Inverted Cross mark beneath her eye was strikingly conspicuous.

"Master, you've already seen the important person. It's time for you to die now, isn't it?"

As she spoke, Death swung her scythe—but before it could fall, it was blocked by the Scythe of Harvest.

Extreme rage twisted Anna's expression.