Chapter 17: Unfortunate Capture

A Celestial Knight! Vic felt like he was going crazy.

Both he and Lin Qi had mistakenly judged Jiang Yong as only an Upper-level Knight, but he never dreamed Jiang Yong possessed Celestial-level strength.

Unlike ordinary strong men, a muscular adult man could not be given the title of Knight no matter how strong he was. Only those warriors who awakened their potential and possessed ‘Qi’ could receive the Knight title. This tradition dated back before the Rejuvenation Calendar, from the ancient Dark Calendar and Destruction Calendar periods.

In the West, this Qi was called ‘Battle Qi’ or ‘Combat Qi’. In the East, it was similarly referred to as ‘Inner Qi’ or ‘Primordial Qi’. Though the names differed, their essence was the same—both were powerful inner strength born from pushing the body to its limits and squeezing out life potential.

White, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, and purple-gold—these nine colors represented the unique Combat Qi hues of the Human Rank, Earth Rank, and Celestial Knight levels. These colors corresponded to the nine atmospheric layers visible in the sky, known as the nine-colored, nine-layered heavens.

Those with white, red, or orange Combat Qi were Mortal Knights. Yellow, green, and cyan Combat Qi marked Earth Knights. Blue, purple, and purple-gold Combat Qi were the traits of Celestial Knights. What ordinary people called Upper-level Knights typically referred to those at the orange or yellow level—lower-grade Mortal or Earth Knights. A cyan Earth Rank High Stage Knight was already an extremely rare expert, yet Jiang Yong actually had purple Combat Qi, making him a Celestial Knight.

A Mortal Knight could easily defeat ten or more opponents. An Earth Knight could take on a hundred or even a thousand foes on the battlefield. As for a Celestial Knight, unless faced by a Knight of the same rank or a ‘Talented’, numbers held no meaning against them.

Poor Vic had only broken through from pink-white to pure white a year ago, reaching the peak of first-grade Mortal Knight strength. With two more years of effort, he might reach the mid-grade Mortal Knight level, equivalent to red Combat Qi. The strongest in the entire Iron Fist Brotherhood were Enzo with deep red Combat Qi, and that enigmatic Brotherhood leader Lin Qi.

With such weak strength, attempting to scheme against a Celestial Knight with purple Combat Qi was equivalent to suicide!

Not to mention Jiang Yong wasn’t alone—he had over a dozen companions with him. If all of them were Celestial-level! No, they didn’t even all need to be Celestial-level; if they were all Earth Rank High Stage, they could effortlessly sweep through the entire Underworld of Borelly.

Apart from the Imperial Military Ministry with its large numbers of elite Knights, and the Church with its immense hidden influence, no local force on the Western Continent could handle a single Celestial Knight.

“Boss, damn it, how did you pick such a cursed target?”

While complaining about Lin Qi’s judgment, Vic slid down an external chimney to the ground, landing in an alley. He needed to return to Fifth University immediately to warn Lin Qi about this dire news. The ‘fat sheep’ they had targeted wasn’t a sheep at all, but a magical beast that could kill them all at any moment.

“Deadly, it’s just too deadly!”

Vic was still trembling from what he had just witnessed—two living people were shattered into pieces by a single strike from Jiang Yong. The Iron Fist Brotherhood had been involved in several large-scale fights; Vic had personally beaten people severely and even taken lives with crossbow bolts. But he had never seen anything so bloody and cruel.

Two full-grown men were turned into countless ice shards with one blow.

Jiang Yong’s attack was so ruthless, so vicious, so sinister. To take two lives so easily without even asking for reasons—the thought of that bloody scene made Vic shudder all over.

“What on earth is their background? These Easterners are simply devils!” Vic frowned, recalling the information bought from Lisha, the maid at Cripple’s Tavern. “That Jiang Yong has nothing down below? Could he be a woman? But he doesn’t look like one. And how could a woman be so merciless?”

Absorbed in speculating about Jiang Yong’s origins, Vic neglected his own surroundings.

In the alley he had slid into, over a dozen burly men were beating up a pale, tired-looking youth. A flashily dressed young man with a sword at his waist stood in the alley, grinning as he watched the youth get battered and bloodied.

When Vic landed, his feet made a dull sound on the snow. The flashy youth turned around in surprise and spotted Vic about ten meters away. Seeing Vic’s pale, terrified expression, the youth froze for a moment, then shouted excitedly, “Hey, Vic, you bastard, you filthy rat, you’ve fallen into my hands today!”

Vic was stunned. He glanced back and suddenly recognized the youth and his dozen thugs. Without a second thought, he turned and bolted toward the other end of the alley. Vic cursed himself inwardly—he was always careful and never made mistakes, but today, distracted by Jiang Yong’s brutality, he had ended up in this sorry state.

He knew that flashy youth—Rabbit Charlie, a student at the Imperial Army Academy, a year above Lin Qi and Vic, now in his fourth year. He earned the nickname ‘Rabbit’ because he bullied the weak but feared the strong, often fleeing when losing fights with the Iron Fist Brotherhood, prompting Lin Qi to dub him ‘Rabbit’.

Rabbit Charlie was a sworn enemy of the Iron Fist Brotherhood and a member of the Round Table Knight Society, mainly composed of Army Academy students. Both groups were troublemakers, clashing over University City territory, competing for pretty female students, and various other reasons, leading to dozens of fights over the past three years.

Although the Round Table Knight Society members were Army Academy students with advantages in martial skills and personal strength, thanks to Lin Qi’s leadership, the Iron Fist Brotherhood had won about ninety percent of those fights, causing the Society quite some grief.

Now, seeing Vic alone without any companions, Rabbit Charlie wasn’t about to let him go.

A faint white glow enveloped Vic as he sprinted desperately toward the alley exit.

But a light pink glow appeared around Rabbit Charlie, who closed in slightly faster than Vic.

Vic had run only a few steps when Charlie caught up from behind. A large wooden club swung out from the side, striking Vic’s knee hard. Vic cried out in pain, falling to the ground from the blow, and Charlie immediately pounced on him.

“Hey, bastard, finally got you!” Charlie punched Vic in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.