The number of demons in the Northern District, the casualties among the civilians, and the decrease in soldiers are currently the greatest concerns of Viscount Harrison.

The damage to the city and the streets was temporarily neglected.

Viscount Harrison, the governor, arrived in the room, and everyone, including Vernon, saluted him.

"Actually, if I hadn't run into a clerk from the Adventurers' Guild, I wouldn't have thought about this fifth aspect. I don't know if this is the fifth aspect you're thinking of."

"Yes, I think you might have guessed right, milord."

Vernon subconsciously flattered Viscount Harrison, even though he had no idea what the fifth aspect was, he'd deal with it later.

The middle-aged captain of the soldiers seemed to be enlightened by Viscount Harrison's words, showing an expression of sudden realization.

"Adventurers... I see! The lord has sent a request for help to the Adventurers' Guild but didn't insist they send reinforcements immediately! So that's why..."

What is "that"? Please! What are you talking about? Can you finish your sentence, don't keep half of it to yourself!

In the main street of the Northern District, a soldier was slashing at a skeleton's spine.

The sword blade shone silver, presumably smeared with silver sap.

The skeleton held a rusty iron sword from some unknown place, covered with rust, seemingly ready to break at any time.

The skeleton didn't defend at all and thrust its rusty iron sword at the soldier.

This undead creature seemed completely oblivious of fear, its eyes filled only with killing and hatred towards the living.

However, the soldier, unlike it, chose to step back to avoid the stab, then took a big step forward, and while the skeleton was not yet retracting its rusty iron sword, his blade hit the skeleton's spine.

Without the support of the spine, the skeleton scattered onto the ground.

The evil power that supported its undead life was also purified by the silver.

"Watch out!"

Comrade loudly warned the soldier.

A dog-shaped demon with a body like a wolf-dog rushed towards the soldier at high speed, shooting a fireball from its mouth that accurately hit the soldier's skull.

The soldier's skull was wrapped in a ball of flames, and in the blink of an eye, the skin was carbonized by the high temperature of the fireball.

"Damn it!! You... how dare you..."

Witnessing his close friend being killed.

Another soldier knocked down a skeleton in front of him, not pursuing to give a death blow, but rushed towards the dog-shaped demon.

The dog-shaped demon spouted another fireball from its mouth, flying straight towards the soldier's skull.

However, the soldier who had been prepared dodged it by turning his body sideways.

"Theodore! Don't act rashly! The hellhound is not your target!"

A soldier holding a long sword yelled at this soldier named Theodore.

But Theodore turned a deaf ear to the warnings, dodging another fireball.

"Oh..."

Theodore yelled as he swung his sword, the blade successfully cutting into the hellhound's body.

"Die!!"

To Theodore's surprise, his short sword could only leave a shallow wound on the back of the hellhound.

It felt like hitting a stone with his sword recoiling.

Damn it! The standard-issue short sword was too blunt, even with the protection of silver sap, it couldn't cut through!

The hellhound seemed to be hurt by the cut, jumped back a distance, and there was a flash of fire in its mouth, which was a sign that a fireball was about to be shot.

Suddenly, Theodore had an idea, changing his sword from a swing to a throw, and hurled the sword at the hellhound.

The sword accurately stabbed into the hellhound's open mouth before it had time to spit out the fireball, and pierced out a section of the sword from the back of its head.

The hellhound was fatally wounded, fell to the ground, and died after a couple more kicks.

This scene stunned the surrounding soldiers who had noticed the situation here, and the captain of the soldiers even praised him.

"Theodore!! Well done!!"

However, despite the praise, Theodore couldn't be happy at all, because his good friend, Fibby, who had become a soldier with him at the same time and was like a brother to him, was dead.Phoebe was her own best friend.

No more drinking at the bar together, no more confiding in each other's hearts and experiences.

Phoebe's head had turned into charcoal, her hair was gone, and her former appearance could only be faintly discerned from her remaining facial features.

Theodore picked up Phoebe's sword by her side.

Rest in peace... my friend, I will guard your home for you.

There was never much time for sentimentality on the battlefield. An archer on the roof was pointing north and shouting loudly.

"Look out, something is coming from the distance!!!"

He was interrupted by a Minotaur with bat wings flew him up with its claws.

"Save me, save me, my child is just a month old, I can't die..."

The archer cried out to his comrades in fear. However, it was too late. The monster had dragged him high up into the sky, a height his arrows could not reach.

Despite their weak fighting capabilities, these Minotaur-like demons had killed the most soldiers, simply because the soldiers lacked effective means to attack them.

Looking in the direction the archer had pointed, Theodore saw hundreds of hell puppies mingled with other demons rushing towards them.

Among his own soldiers, only about a hundred and twenty are alive.

Reinforcements were uncertain and the adventurers' whereabouts unknown.

Just by numbers alone, the victory or defeat was clear.

Despair pervaded among the soldiers. Some began to retreat surreptitiously, appearing ready to flee.

A few sergeants shouted at their men when they noticed their odd behavior.

"Dammit! Don't panic, don't panic!!!"

The sergeants didn't know how to chastise and comfort their men, because they too were filled with unease, rendering their words feeble.

\[Flame spear\]

Along with the cast of the skill, a spear made of flames shot towards the sky with an incredible speed, killing the demon before it had time to react.

The archer that the Minotaur had clasped fell from the sky.

About eight such flame spears were shot out, accurately killing the other nearby Minotaurs.

\[Levitation\]

Right before the archer was about to smash onto the roof, he suddenly floated in the air, then gently landed on the ground by an unseen force.

A dark figure appeared majestically before Theodore.

The figure turned his back to Theodore, facing the onslaught of demons.

He raised his right hand, slowly extended his five fingers, palm facing the demon horde.

\[Magic-Enhanced Dragon Breath of Ice\]

A majestic blue wind emanated from the dark figure's hand, freezing everything in its path as it spread towards the distance.

The main road instantly turned into a snowy landscape. The demon horde was frozen in thick layers of ice.

Though the soldiers did not know who the figure was or understand the magic he cast, they clearly grasped his formidable strength.

They all stared with disbelief at the mysterious man, unable to visualize how he had effortlessly neutralized the seemingly unassailable demon army.

He had dispelled the threat by outright overpowering it.

By the way the mysterious man casually waved his hand, casting such powerful magic without lengthy chanting, they gauged his superior strength.

Theodore couldn't believe his eyes. How could the mysterious man before him be so powerful!

He knew he couldn't understand the man's strength with his current understanding. It was inconceivably powerful.

This is the kind of strength he yearned for.

He wished he was more powerful...

Maybe then, he wouldn't have had to endure so many tragedies.Phoebe and Sway might not have just...

Died in battle right beside me.

The mysterious person turned around, and I could finally see his face. Unfortunately, I couldn't see anything under the shadow of the brim of his hat, I could only see a silvery mask on his face.

It seemed that he glanced at me, jumped onto the roof, and left.

Theodore extended his left hand as if to stop the mysterious person, but no sound came out of his mouth.

"Halt, soldiers! Do not disturb sir!"

A stern middle-aged knight on horseback arrived from the central district to the main road in the northern district.

He was wearing a well-crafted suit of knight's armor with a duke's emblem carved on the chest, and a seemingly ordinary longsword at his waist.

There were many knights following him, all of whom looked impressive.

Every one of them seemed to be stronger than me.

"Sir Francis Honorary Knight, it's great to have your help. Was the man earlier one of us? I don't know which powerful man in the kingdom that he is."

Theodore's commander seemed to recognize the knight.

Having been ordered by Viscount Harrison to protect important figures, he had the good fortune to meet Sir Francis Honorary Knight, a well-known knight.

Although later, he didn't even meet the important figures before being sent back by Sir Francis Honorary Knight.

"Soldier, who he is has nothing to do with you. Please carry on with your work."

Angus said coldly, then spurred his horse towards the north gate, with his knights closely following.

The commander did not show any displeasure at Angus's cold words, he saluted and watched their departure.

"Commandant? Who are they? Was that really Sir Francis Honorary Knight?"

Theodore asked his commandant, it was clear that his commandant knew something about them.

The commander did not hurry to answer Theodore's query, instead, he ordered his men to rebuild the ruined barriers.

The other commanders issued the same orders.

After giving the commands and seeing the soldiers starting to work, Theodore's commander then explained to Theodore.

"Yes, that's Sir Francis. Do you remember when we were tasked to protect an important person not long ago? Although the order was canceled later."

Francis is a noble name bestowed by Duke Lapimento to Angus.

This was to acknowledge his many years of military exploits, and an affirmation of his strength and loyalty.

Angus was a well-known knight in the Duke's territory, not only because of his strong strength.

But also because he was a commoner who had ascended to nobility through his own effort.

Even after becoming a noble, no bad reviews about him oppressing the commoners were heard.

He even occasionally helped the commoners in the Duke's territory to eliminate bandits and monsters.

Even outside the Duke's territory, his fame was not low in other parts of the kingdom.

Theodore seemed to think of something, he thought he understood why the command to his unit was subsequently cancelled, with the protection of Sir Francis Honorary Knight, the important figure was altogether too safe, and didn't need the intervention of ordinary soldiers.

However, Theodore suddenly thought of the woman who had caused a stir in the city a few days earlier, although he didn't know the origin of the blonde woman in the painting because of his position, but for a city as big as Coeverdale to conduct a citywide search for a woman, her identity must not be simple.

Could this woman be the important person Sir Francis Honorary Knight is supposed to protect?

Theodore shook his head and cast this thought out of his mind, with the protection of Sir Francis and the frequent patrol in the central district of Coeverdale City, such a thing could not possibly happen, he must be overthinking.