Chapter Seventeen: Unfortunate Capture

Heaven-ranked Knight! Vic felt as though he were going mad.

He and Lin Qi had both mistakenly believed Jiang Yong was merely an upper-ranked knight, but not even in his wildest dreams had Vic considered that Jiang Yong possessed the power of a heaven-ranked knight.

Unlike ordinary strongmen, a grown man with a robust physique could not simply be called a knight. Only those who had awakened their potential and possessed "Qi" could bear the title of knight. This was an ancient tradition handed down since before the Era of Revival, from the distant eras of Darkness and Destruction.

In the West, this Qi was known as "battle energy" or "combat energy"; in the East, it was called "inner energy" or "vital energy." Though the names differed, in essence they were the same—a formidable force born from pushing one's training to the limit, squeezing every drop of life potential until it erupted from within.

White, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, and purple-gold—these nine colors represented the unique battle energy possessed by the three ranks of knights: human, earth, and heaven. These colors corresponded to the nine layers of color seen in the sky, known as the "Ninefold Heaven."

Knights with white, red, and orange battle energy were of the human rank; yellow, green, and cyan signified earth rank; blue, purple, and purple-gold marked the heaven rank. The so-called upper-ranked knights were merely those at the orange or yellow level—lower-tier human or earth rank knights. Cyan, the highest tier of earth rank, was already a rarity, yet Jiang Yong was a heaven-ranked knight with purple battle energy.

A human-ranked knight could easily defeat ten times their number; earth-ranked knights were capable of holding their own against hundreds or even thousands. But heaven-ranked knights—unless faced by another of their rank or a "gifted one"—rendered numbers meaningless.

Poor Vic had only just broken through from pale pink to pure white a year ago, reaching the pinnacle of human rank, first tier. Perhaps with two more years of effort, he might attain the middle tier—red battle energy. The strongest in the Iron Fist Brotherhood were Enzo, with deep red battle energy, and the enigmatic leader Lin Qi, whose true strength was hidden.

With such meager power, to plot against a heaven-ranked knight with purple battle energy was nothing short of suicide!

And Jiang Yong was not alone; he had more than a dozen companions. If they were all heaven-ranked knights—no, it wasn't necessary for all of them to be heaven-ranked. If they were simply high-tier earth-ranked knights, they could sweep through the entire underworld of Briley with ease.

Except for the Imperial Guard, which boasted legions of elite knights, and the Church, whose influence was vast beyond measure, no faction in the Western continent could stand against a heaven-ranked knight.

"Boss, bloody hell, how did you pick such a damned target?" Vic grumbled about Lin Qi’s judgment as he slid down an external chimney to the ground, landing in a narrow alley. He needed to return immediately to the Fifth University and warn Lin Qi of this deadly discovery. Their "fat sheep" was no sheep at all, but a beast capable of slaughtering them all at any moment.

"Damn it, this is just too deadly!" Vic was still shaken by what he had witnessed moments ago—two living men utterly pulverized by Jiang Yong's single blow. The Iron Fist Brotherhood had participated in several large-scale brawls; Vic himself had seriously injured men, even taken lives with a crossbow. But never had he seen anything so bloody, so ruthless.

Two living men reduced to a flurry of icy shards with a single strike.

Jiang Yong was vicious, cruel, and merciless—such venomous methods, such casual butchery without even seeking the cause, made Vic tremble uncontrollably every time he recalled the blood and flesh flying.

"Who are they, really? These easterners are like something out of a nightmare!" Vic frowned, recalling the intelligence he had purchased from the crippled shopkeeper's maid, Lisa: "There's nothing between Jiang Yong's legs? Is he a woman? But he doesn't look like a woman. And how could a woman wield such savage power?"

Intently pondering Jiang Yong's origins, Vic neglected his surroundings.

In the alley where he had slid down the chimney, a dozen burly men were beating a pale, exhausted youth. A flamboyant young man in luxurious attire, sword at his waist, stood in the alley, laughing as the youth was battered and bloodied.

Vic landed with a muffled thud in the snow, which drew the attention of the flamboyant youth. He looked up, surprised, and saw Vic standing several meters away, his face ashen and spiritless. The youth paused, then burst out excitedly: "Hey, Vic, you bastard, you filthy rat, today you’ve fallen right into my hands!"

Vic froze, glancing back at the youth and his gang, then turned and bolted for the other end of the alley. He cursed himself—he was always cautious and never made mistakes, but today, distracted by Jiang Yong’s viciousness, he had landed in this sorry state.

He recognized the flamboyant youth: Charlie the Rabbit, a student at the Imperial Army Academy, a year above Lin Qi and Vic, now in his fourth year. His nickname "Rabbit" was earned because he bullied the weak and feared the strong; in several brawls with the Iron Fist Brotherhood, if things went badly, he would immediately flee, prompting Lin Qi to dub him "Rabbit."

Charlie the Rabbit was the Iron Fist Brotherhood’s arch-enemy, a member of the "Round Table Knights," a group mainly formed by students from the Army Academy. Both sides were notorious troublemakers, fighting over turf in University Town, vying for the affections of beautiful female students, and for all sorts of odd reasons, had clashed dozens of times over the past three years.

Though the Round Table Knights, being Army Academy students, had the edge in skill and strength, the Iron Fist Brotherhood boasted Lin Qi as their leader, and in nine out of ten fights, the Round Table Knights had tasted defeat and suffered.

Now, seeing Vic alone and vulnerable, Charlie the Rabbit would never let this opportunity slip.

A faint white aura enveloped Vic as he sprinted desperately toward the alley’s exit.

But Charlie the Rabbit radiated a pale pink aura, pursuing Vic at a pace just a shade faster.

Vic had barely taken a few steps when Charlie caught up to him. A heavy wooden club swung in from the side, smashing against Vic's knee. He cried out in pain, collapsing, and Charlie instantly leaped on him.

"Hey, bastard, I’ve finally caught you!" Charlie punched Vic in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.