Hundreds of green eyes glowed in the darkness, but William wasn't too concerned about them. What he was concerned about was the towering figure that stood at the center of the Trollhound Army.

-----

​​

-- Mutated Variant

-- Threat Level: S (Mid)

-- Centennial Rank

-- Can be added to the herd

-- Success Rate: 1%

-- This creature is born from a sorcerer's experiment that has gone wrong.

-- Has a very powerful regeneration ability that would not lose to Hydras.

-- Its jaws are strong enough to crush steel with ease.

-- Has the special ability "Doom Hound" that allows itself to coat its body with the flames of hell and burn almost everything that touches it.

-- This creature will regenerate its body parts even if you destroy its head and heart.

-- Even if you use powerful attacks that would instantly disintegrate it to nothingness, this creature will come back to life once again.

-- This creature's ONLY weakness is Acid strong enough to melt Adamantium.

---

'This is troublesome...,' William thought as he narrowed his eyes. 'Although it is a Centennial Beast, its ability alone is too overpowered. Whoever made this creature was planning to use it to do something nefarious.'

The red-headed boy wasn't able to stop himself from clicking his tongue at the sheer amount of effort that would be required to subjugate one of these beasts. Although there were some powerful spells that could create acid, only a handful had the strength to melt adamantium.

William gave the rest of the monster horde a scan. Fortunately the majority of them were Class E, and only a few dozen were Class D. Even so, like most trollhounds, they had strong regenerative abilities and were only weak to fire and acid.

"Aim!" Mark ordered. "Fire!"

Hundreds of crossbow bolts rained down on the Trollhound army. The arrows hit their targets and embedded themselves into the bodies of the hounds. Unfortunately, it only made the trollhounds shout in pain, but there was no way they would die from such simple attacks, even if they were only Class E Beasts.

While the battle was going on, a fireball lit up the night as it slammed at the center of the Trollhounds that had almost reached the town's wall.

"The Baron has arrived!" Mark announced. "Everyone, just hang on for as long as possible. Don't let any of those hounds breach our defenses!"

""Yes, Sir!""

Another fireball fell from the sky as Philip, Amelia's father, and the Baron of Bradford joined the battle.

He was a Fifth-Circle Magician that was loved by his subjects. He was once a Sixth-Circle Magician, but due to an accident, his rank had regressed and was forced to retire from the Red Tower of the Mage Guild.

After finding the love of his life, he settled down in the territory granted to him by the King and lived a peaceful and happy life with his family. Unfortunately, his quiet life had been disrupted by the dungeon outbreaks that ravaged the land.

He had just returned from the Dungeon Subjugation in the nearby Duchy when he discovered that his own Barony was in trouble. Philip understood that the Kingdom's manpower was stretched thin, but he still asked for help from the surrounding nobles.

However, none of them had the manpower to help him. His only hope was to send a commission to the Royal Academy where her daughter, Amelia, was staying, but no news returned to him.

He wasn't expecting to see his own daughter defending the town walls along with the town's guard. Philip knew that he couldn't lose focus now because the greatest threat to their Barony was currently in front of his eyes.

He calmly chanted a spell while his subordinates faced off against the wave of monsters besieging their defenses.

"Summon Creature!" Philip shouted. "Come forth, Flame Elemental!"

A five-meter tall Flame Elemental crashed down outside the city walls. It instantly incinerated the Trollhounds that were unlucky enough to be on its landing spot.

The soldiers cheered when they saw the powerful ally that appeared to help them. Philip made his way towards his daughter as he stared down at the burning corpses on the ground.

"When did you arrive?" Philip asked.

"Just now, father," Amelia replied. "I brought the commander of the Angorian War Sovereign to help us deal with the threat to our Barony."

Philip gave William a side-long glance before staring at the Titanic Green-Scaled Trollhound in the distance.

He had already heard about William from his peers, and they said that he seemed like a promising boy. However, after seeing him in person, Philip thought that his acquaintances were exaggerating their praises.

Philip was unable to attend the knighting ceremony because he was busy handling the aftermath of the Dungeon Outbreaks that ravaged the kingdom.

In his eyes, William didn't look strong. Aside from being a good looking boy, he didn't have any strong presence that could be found on outstanding individuals like the First Commander of the Knight Order of Gladiolus.

Still, he had to be polite because a Knight Commander that was personally appointed by the King was still a Knight Commander, even if he was still a boy.

"Commander William, I'm sorry, but I am unable to extend to you the hospitality of our Barony at this time," Philip said as flames danced in his fingertips. He then hurled them at the Trollhounds that tried to jump over the defensive walls.

The Trollhounds' bodies immediately exploded in a shower of sparks, lighting their surroundings in a reddish hue.

"Mmm." William hummed as he watched the battle unfold.

Right now, the only one that had the ability to kill the Trollhounds was Philip. Although a Fifth-Circle Magician was strong, he was still alone. Also, the greatest threat on the battlefield was only weak to Acid.

Even if Philip was able to disintegrate it with one full-powered-spell, the Titanic Green-Scaled Hound would just revive once again.

Seeing the changes on the Battlefield, the "Boss Hound" finally made its move and charged towards the rampaging Fire Elemental.

Fire Elementals were corporeal incarnations of the element of fire. Being one of the most destructive elements in the world, Fire Elementals were very aggressive creatures. Seeing that the Titanic Hound was charging towards it, It didn't hesitate to face it head on.

The Titanic Hound immediately used its ability Doom Hound and coated itself in Hellfire. When the two flaming abominations collided, a heat wave swept to the battlefield, incinerating anything within a hundred meters around them.

Beads of sweat were forming on Philip's head as he channeled his energy to the Flame Elemental to extend the duration of its "summoning life". Because of this, he was unable to focus on the other Trollhounds that were using each other as stepping stones to breach the town's wall.

'It's quite unfortunate that this battle happened at night.' William sighed as he looked up at the night sky.

Although he couldn't beat the Titanic Hound that was currently battling the Fire Elemental, he was still capable of dealing with the small fries that were threatening Amelia's hometown.

'System, switch my Job Class to Sun Knight.'

A warm feeling spread across William's body, as the passive skills of the Sun Knight activated. He then extended his right hand and smiled.

"Show them your power, Soleil."

The ring that was given to William by Noah during his knighting ceremony glowed in his right hand to answer his summon. It was as if it was celebrating the fact that it was about to once again show its presence in the World of Hestia after sleeping for hundreds of years.