Chapter 41: The Third SSS-Rank Hero! Infantry Attributes Surge by 300%!

The moment the words left his mouth, Ophelia sprang into action. Her dragon wings suddenly unfurled as she took to the sky.

A surge of purple draconic might radiated from her palm, pressing toward the space between the two combatants.

The two forces, both on the verge of unleashing their attacks, were abruptly interrupted by the sudden assault.

BOOM!

The elemental sphere and the phantom of the silver greatsword both shuddered, as though crushed by an invisible giant hand. With a soft pop, they disintegrated into countless sparkling fragments of light.

Neither of the two men, who had been completely absorbed in their fight, had anticipated the intervention of a third force. Caught off guard, they were both sent stumbling backward three or four steps by the backlash.

Raistlin steadied himself by planting his staff on the ground, absolutely furious.

"WHO?!"

Bladeborne had been preparing to launch another attack, but the moment he looked up and saw Ophelia, he abruptly stopped moving.

The three exchanged glances in midair.

Ophelia withdrew her hand and looked at them expressionlessly. Her dark golden, slit-pupiled eyes were filled with warning.

"My Lord said stop!"

Only then did John speak again, his expression dark.

"I resurrected you two, not so you could turn on each other!"

His voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it immediately frightened the two men in the air into stillness.

"Raistlin."

The old man shuddered. With a wave of his staff, he descended beside John.

"M-My Lord, Raistlin admits his mistake!"

John turned toward the other man. "Bladeborne, the same goes for you."

Bladeborne landed, sheathed his sword, and lowered his head.

"Listen carefully."

John glanced at both men before continuing.

"This is your final warning. If anything like this happens again, I won’t be so lenient."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Raistlin lowered his head first.

Bladeborne immediately dropped to one knee.

"Understood!"

Seeing that they were at least willing to listen, John finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He swiped his hand through the air, bringing up Bladeborne’s status panel.

[Hero: Bladeborne]

[Title: Blade of Dawn]

[Race: Human (Holy Light Sword Soul)]

[Quality: SSS]

[Level: Lv.1 (0/10,000)]

[Health: 11,000/11,000]

[Attack: 4,200]

[Defense: 800]

[Skill 1: Radiant Judgment (Lv.1 · Active): Concentrates all holy light and the power of oaths into the blade, unleashing a pure blade of light measuring 50 meters long and 5 meters wide. Deals slashing damage equal to 500% of Attack to all enemies along its path. Cooldown: 40 seconds.]

[Skill 2: Holy Light Charge (Lv.1 · Active): Rapidly dashes to the side of a target within 500 meters. The next basic attack after the charge is guaranteed to critically strike. Cooldown: 20 seconds.]

[Skill 3: Templar Battle Formation (Lv.1 · Passive/Aura): While assigned to a formation, increases all attributes of all infantry units under this hero’s command by 300%. Current command capacity: 1/2,000. Command capacity increases as the hero levels up.]

[Background: He had never suffered a defeat in his entire life. Once, he single-handedly held an entire legion at bay.]

John nodded in satisfaction.

Bladeborne’s Attack was undoubtedly the highest among the three heroes.

It seemed he was a typical damage-focused powerhouse, built to maximize offensive output.

"All right."

John dismissed the panel and glanced at the sky.

The Crimson Desert had gradually shifted from golden-red to orange-red.

The sun was about to set.

Out of habit, John checked the system clock.

[Godfall Battlefield Standard Time: 17:42:18]

"Ophelia."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Let’s return to the territory."

Purple flames erupted as the hundred-meter-long dragon took flight.

On their way back from the Ancient Sword Mausoleum, Raistlin and Bladeborne took the lead, clearing a path ahead of them. The monsters unfortunate enough to encounter them were in for a terrible time.

Raistlin had absolutely no sense of restraint. He repeatedly activated Elemental Shift, teleporting around and hurling elemental orbs at anything unfortunate enough to cross his path.

Bladeborne was even more aggressive. Perhaps because Raistlin had been resurrected several hours earlier and had gained a considerable level advantage, Bladeborne was determined to catch up.

To gain experience faster, he charged ahead at every opportunity, even using Holy Light Charge simply to steal kills from Raistlin.

Ophelia: "..."

Riding on the dragon’s back, John leisurely collected the loot while occasionally finishing off any surviving monsters.

All things considered, it was a rather relaxing journey.

They spent more than three hours fighting their way back.

Only when his territory finally appeared in the distance did John check his current resources.

[Ding! This area has been completely cleared!]

[Congratulations, Lord "Tyrant"! You have obtained: 286,000 gold coins, 194,000 Wood, 212,000 Stone, 247,000 Iron Ore, and 263,000 Meat!]

His total resources had now reached an entirely new level.

Gold coins: 935,271.

Meat: 1,083,431.

Wood: 763,860.

Stone: 745,400.

Iron Ore: 757,900.

He now had more resources than he had before using the Hero Compass.

The largest increase was in Meat, since the Hero Compass had only consumed four types of resources: gold coins, Wood, Stone, and Iron Ore.

As for his heroes, their experience gains had also been tallied.

[Your hero "Ophelia" has reached Lv.18!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has reached Lv.15!]

[Your hero "Bladeborne" has reached Lv.12!]

All three heroes were leveling up at an astonishing pace.

John himself hadn’t been idle either. With his newly accumulated resources, the first thing he did was learn another skill.

He opened his skill tree and searched through the middle-tier nodes before finally selecting a blue-quality spell.

[Consumed: 50,000 gold coins and 50,000 Iron Ore. Skill acquired: Lightning Bolt (Lv.1)!]

[Lightning Bolt: Summons a bolt of lightning to strike a designated area, dealing spell damage equal to 800% of Attack and inflicting paralysis for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 15 seconds.]

His own level had increased as well.

[Lord Tyrant has reached Lv.16!]

[All-Attribute Growth: Health +1,000, Constitution +10, Agility +10, Spirit +10, Strength +10.]

On top of that, he had obtained an unexpected bonus along the way.

[Obtained: Building Blueprint — Small Villa (Excellent Quality)!]

[Effect: Accommodates up to 10 residents. Occupants gain +10% morale and +20% stamina recovery speed. Construction Cost: 200 Wood and 100 Stone.]

John tossed the blueprint into his inventory.

Gru would probably be bringing back another group of people, so this would be perfect for housing them.

By the time Ophelia landed with the three men in the open space before the castle, darkness had completely fallen.

[Godfall Battlefield Standard Time: 20:03:47]

John jumped down from the dragon’s back. The moment his feet touched the ground, he froze.

The open space in front of the castle was packed with people.

Men, women, the elderly, and children crouched together in dense clusters. Every one of them was gaunt and malnourished, their clothes torn and ragged. Compared with Gru’s people, the difference was striking.

When these newcomers saw a hundred-meter-long dragon descending from the sky, they immediately panicked. Cries of alarm erupted as they scrambled backward, huddling together in terror.

Meanwhile, Gru and the other villagers had long since grown accustomed to such sights. They had been busy with their own tasks, but the moment they noticed the newcomers’ reaction, they hurried over from every corner of the territory.

"My Lord! You’ve finally returned!"

John glanced over the crowd of refugees.

"How many people did you bring back?"

"Reporting to you, my Lord, approximately 537 people. I visited every settlement I could reach, but some didn’t believe me, so they refused to come."

Gru rubbed his hands together, looking somewhat apologetic.

"How should we accommodate them?"

John found that the number had exceeded his expectations. He nodded and took several steps forward.

Hundreds of pairs of nervous eyes watched him timidly from the open space.

John’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly enough for everyone to hear.

"I don’t care what you used to do. From today onward, as long as you remain in my territory and follow my orders, you’ll do whatever I tell you to do."

"In return, you’ll receive the same treatment as Gru and his people."