Dozens of knights surrounded Emery, they were closing in on him as Bagdemagus shouted,

"Capture him men!"

Emery had drawn his sword ready to fight. It appears he will not get the information he knew without a fight. But he knew from experience that each of these knights had extraordinary fighting skills, if he let them start coordinating with each other, the difficulty of the fight would increase many times harder.

A moment later, Five of the knights from behind him advanced simultaneously.

[Dark smoke]

Emery then summoned a thick dark mist from his other hand, covering the whole area. Not wasting any time, to do this effectively he had to finish off the head first, so he lunged forward, making a surprise attack under the cover of the fog to immediately pursue victory. He swung his sword at the old knight with his top speed but the sword sparked as it clashed with two swords just a step away from the Knight of the Anvil.

The force blew some of the dark smoke away, slightly clearing it, Emery then saw Bagdemagus standing in confidence, not flinching a bit. The swords that had blocked him were held by the two silver knights on the left and right of Sir Bagdemagus. They then combined their strength, pushing Emery back into the black smog.

Since his surprise attack had failed, Emery understood he had to change tactics, hence he jumped toward where the campfire was and attacked the knight guarding the path outside the camp.

The knight managed to react in time and reflexively launched a slash attack. Emery used [stone skin] and used his left hand to block the knight's slash and stab back with the sword in his right. It went right through the armor of the knight, causing the man to fall face down. With the sword still on his left, he grip on it tight and decided to fall back and run away for the meantime.

"He's running!" shouted one of the knights.

After getting enough distance, Emery struck the ground with the two swords and hastily opened his bag, searching for the strength paste. Once he got it, he immediately applied the strength paste on his hands and feet and the parts where he had spread them became bluish.

With the knights getting closer to his position, he waited at the right moment and swung his two swords. The swords sparked and clanked, but Emery could feel the knight he had hit flew back.

Another knight appeared and darted forward at Emery with his sword raised high. Emery met the attack with his swords and did a circle motion with the swords, sliding the enemy's away, before he kicked the man with his empowered feet.

Emery could feel and see the effect of his strength paste on his hands and feet. More knights arrived and he was able to easily deflect their swords and attack at the same time. One by one the knights advancing were unable to break through and again two more knights fell from his fearsome sword attacks, making them groan in pain on the ground.

However, the two silver knights who had blocked his initial attack arrived. They didn't charge in like what the others had done but gave orders to the other arriving knights to encircle him and attack in an organized rank. Several knights stood together in front of him while the others circled around him, making sure all the directions he could run toward were covered. Not long after, the old knight also came out and commanded, "All of you just hold the perimeter, make sure he won't be able to run. Keane, you can fight him."

The one-eyed knight nodded and charged at Emery. Emery fought using two swords while Keane used a sword and shield. The two became embroiled in battle. Clank! Clank! Emery tried to use his two swords to the fullest extent but every time he thought he had the opportunity, Keane's shield always blocked his sword, preventing any strikes to land on any vital areas. Truly, the Silver Knights were a cut above the rest. And after exchanging more than thirty moves, even with the enhancement from the strength paste, Emery was still unable to deliver a decisive blow against the one-eyed silver knight, Keane.

The old knight was still watching on the sidelines but after seeing no progress, he sent Abner, the other Silver Knight with brown hair, to join forces with Keane against Emery.

With two Silver Knights coordinating to attack him, Emery was beginning to be pushed back because it wasn't only these two knights he had to take into account, there was the possibility that one of the knights surrounding him might suddenly attack or even the Knight of the Anvil himself might attack. Due to the pressure of the two silver knights, fighting since the beginning, and the mental exhaustion from being surrounded, when he parried the attack from Keane, Abner managed to slide in a sword attack, slashing on Emery's torso. Fortunately, Emery had casted the stone skin, else he would've been covered in blood.

Emery's torso felt like it was burning because of the pain. When Abner's sword slash hit, Emery could tell they had the strength and skills similar to that of Kastan or Cavvi. So, he knew he had to use magic here, else he wouldn't win.

Suddenly, a horrified scream sounded from behind him and immediately, all eyes, including him, looked at the direction of the scream. A shadow brushed past Emery and attacked Keane. Clank! But Keane's reaction was fast and he raised his sword just in the right moment, causing his sword to clash with the unknown attacker.

The figure then jumped back and stood beside Emery.

"I see an unfair fight here" said a beautiful girl with red hair

"Morgana! I am glad that you didn't listen to my request this time," said Emery, gasping for air.

"I never did. I only abide by the will of the High Priestess," answered Morgana, flicking away the blood on her sword and knife.

"Well, thank you anyway. But it seems like you're now involved with my mess," said Emery, glancing at the knights surrounding them and the old knight before falling on the two Silver Knights.

"Yes, you owe me. I'm expecting a reward after this."

"Sure, if we manage to get away from this," replied Emery, gripping his two swords tighter.

"Only these dozen fighters? Let's transform and we can defeat them in a second," suggested Morgana.

"Alright, let's do it!" Emery said with a nod.

[Fey bloodline activated]

Emery and Morgana both roared simultaneously as their two bodies started to change. Emery turned to his half-beast, half-human form with sharp ears, fur and nails, while Morgana got on all fours, her clothes ripped by her transformation into a large Fey wolf with a black and reddish fur, twice the size of a normal adult human.

As they transformed, some of the knights stepped back while trembling.

[Battle power has increased by 10]

Emery, in his Fey form, pointed one of his swords at the old knight with furious eyes. He snarled before saying in a rough voice, "Grrr, you should give up now, sir knight! I don't want to kill all of you, but I will if you force me to. Tell me who is behind your orders I will let you go! Was it King Richard himself? It's him isn't it! Tell me!"

He could tell his form was more powerful than previously. This was again probably because of the rage or the savageness of his bloodline.

However, the Knight of Anvil wasn't slightly perturbed for he said in a bit excited voice, "You are really special, Emery. I've suspected your friend to be one of the special Chrutin Sorcerers, but now that I've got confirmation, this is great! This is really great!"

The old knight then moved closer, drew a magnificent looking sword, which made an extremely sharp ring upon pulling it out. He said, "Keane! Abner! Give way!"

As the old knight pulled the sword in a vertical position in front of him, Emery suddenly felt a strong, pressuring aura coming from the knight. Something had changed within the old knight as his pupil had turned white. The Knight of the Anvil lowered his sword and said, "Emery, there are things you still do not know. With that said, you shall bear witness to the power of a Golden Knight."

Morgana suddenly decided to pounce at the old knight.

Emery's instinct was warning him so he shouted, "No, Morgana, stop!"

However, Emery's warning was too late, the old knight moved like a flash of light, side stepping Morgana's Fey Wolf form and then stabbed her on the side.

"Morganaa!" Emery shot forward to save her.

Check out Author's other novel: Doomsday Pillars.