Chapter 51: Returning Back

Craig’s grin widened, the dark golden sheen in his eyes glinting with amusement as he looked at his breathless Guardian Knight.

"What do you think happened here, Ser Hughway?" Craig asked casually, tilting his head toward the carnage surrounding them.

Ser Hughway stared at the grisly scene for a long, heavy moment.

He took in the scorched earth, the splintered iron-wood trunks, and the seven butchered Three-Headed Rhinos—their hides torn open, bones crushed, and black blood pooled thick enough to coat the soles of his boots.

He took a deep, steadying breath, letting out a long exhale that rattled his visor.

"It appears a chaotic, brutal battle transpired here, my Lord," Ser Hughway answered, his voice tight with lingering shock.

Craig nodded approvingly, his smirk remaining intact. "And who do you believe emerged victorious?"

Hughway looked down at the pale, uninjured young Viscount, then back at the mountain of mangled abomination corpses cluttering the clearing.

"It is undeniably the Lord Viscount... considering everything else in this forest is lying dead."

Craig let out a soft, dry chuckle.

He stepped past the two Rankers and stopped beside the massive, gutted carcass of the Alpha rhino.

He raised a gloved hand and pointed straight at its crushed, blood-soaked central skull.

"This particular beast was no ordinary 1st-Tier Abomination, Hughway," Craig explained, his tone shifting into something cooler, more analytical.

"It possessed an awakened Trait—a sensory disruption aura that completely cut off my vision and scrambled my perceptions the moment the fight began.

If I had been a man of weaker spirit or lesser durability, my body would have been trampled into dust before I even realized where the strike came from."

He paused, looking down at his freshly healed, unblemished hands beneath his gloves.

"I pushed past the wall, adapted to the disruption, and took its life in the end."

Craig let out a quiet sigh, rolling his shoulders to work out the lingering phantom tension from the battle. He turned to face both Ser Hughway and Ser Gunther.

"Tell me... are the family’s True sword art manuals currently stored within the Heaven’s Net Castle archives?"

Ser Hughway nodded immediately. "They are, my Lord. The True Sword Art martial manuals, ancestral sword diagrams, and core refinement texts are kept in the inner vault, locked under direct blood seals." He looked at Craig with a flicker of intense curiosity in his eyes.

"Does the Lord Viscount intend to begin his formal mastery of the family’s elite true sword arts so soon?"

"I do," Craig replied, stretching his arms high above his head until his back popped with a satisfied click.

"I need to grow significantly stronger, and quickly. My goal is to overcome the ascension barrier and officially enter the Sword Runner class before this year reaches its end. After all... I am still merely a Middle-stage Sword Apprentice."

Hearing those words, both Ser Hughway and Ser Gunther froze.

The two veteran Rankers exchanged a silent, bewildered glance, their brows furrowing in utter disbelief.

They both knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that their young lord was blatantly lying through his teeth.

Middle-stage Sword Apprentice?

What kind of Middle-stage Sword Apprentice could slaughter seven heavy-armored 1st-Tier Abominations single-handedly—including an Alpha with an awakened Trait—without a scratch on his body, using nothing but his bare hands and raw physical pressure?

Based on his displayed speed, sword mastery, and physical density, Craig was easily at the absolute absolute peak of the Peak-stage Sword Apprentice class.

He was sitting directly at the threshold of ascension, merely needing to condense his core and complete the ritual to break into the Sword Runner class!

Yet, neither knight dared to voice their skepticism. They simply bowed their heads, accepting their master’s absurdly modest claim.

Craig paid no mind to their confused expressions.

Turning his head toward the deep northern thicket where the sound of snapping trees had finally quieted down, he threw his head back and roared at the sky in the ancient, commanding tongue of his bloodline:

"Dark Sister, inkīsō!"

(Dark Sister, come to me!)

Miles away, the wild thrashing stopped instantly.

A moment later, a massive, dark shadow swept over the burning forest canopy as Dark Sister broke through the clouds, her broad purple and emerald wings beating heavily against the air currents.

Obeying her master’s summons without a second’s delay, the 4th-Tier Child of the Abyss glided down into the smoking clearing.

BOOM!

Her massive talons slammed into the scorched earth, creating a low tremor that rattled the armor of the two Rankers.

She folded her colossal wings against her back and lowered her massive head, letting out a soft, rumbling purr that smelled of ash and fresh meat.

Craig stepped forward, his eyes softening as he reached out to gently caress the warm, iron-hard scales along her snout.

"Good girl," he murmured.

With practiced, fluid grace, Craig scaled her massive foreleg and swung his leg over the saddle perched between her shoulder blades, securing his boots into the stirrups.

Before giving the signal to depart, Craig looked down from the dragon’s back at Ser Hughway and Ser Gunther, his golden eyes radiating absolute, authoritative command.

"Ser Hughway will be returning back to the Castle with me" he stated then faced Ser Gunther.

"The hunt does not end here," Craig ordered, his voice echoing clearly over the settling embers. "You, Ser Meryln, and Ser Hetos will continue the raid across the southern and northern sectors for four more hours.

Clear out the remaining stragglers, secure the perimeter, and ensure that every single slain beast is processed."

He gestured toward the seven Three-Headed Rhino corpses cluttering the clearing.

"Ensure that the seven personal kills I have made today are loaded onto the heavy supply wagons as well. We will return to Heaven’s Net Castle together with our spoils to formally conclude the raid."

"It shall be done according to your vision, Lord Viscount!" Ser Gunther bellowed, slamming his fist against his chest armor.

Satisfied, Craig leaned close to Dark Sister’s ear, tightening his grip on the leather reins as he whispered the ancient flight command:

"Tegros, Dark Sister! Taverus ves Heaven’s Net Castle!"

(Fly, Dark Sister! Take me to Heaven’s Net Castle!)

Dark Sister let out a sky-shaking roar of acknowledgment.

With an explosive thrust of her powerful hind legs, she launched her massive frame into the heavens.

Her enormous wings unleashing a tremendous gale of wind that blew the ash and leaves across the clearing as she carried the Seventh Successor high into the clouds, speeding straight back toward his ancestral seat of power.