Nathan did not fully catch the words, but the smugness and malice in the tone made his heart stir.
Even in the midst of his fierce battle, he still had the leeway to spare a sliver of attention, his peripheral vision darting toward the flank of the battlefield.
With this glance, he happened to see the young archer who had made him so wary actually putting away his bow and drawing a sword.
The longsword, newly unsheathed, had a slender blade with elegant, flowing lines. Even under the gloomy sky, a layer of restrained yet unignorable cold brilliance, resembling the breaking dawn, flowed along the blade.
This unique luster... it felt as though he had seen it somewhere before.
Nathan's heart suddenly leaped without warning!
“Watch out! Don't try to block it directly!!”
He finally remembered, his face turning pale as he roared!
There was a trace of terror in his voice that even he himself didn't notice.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Just as Nathan's warning left his mouth, Valentine, who was right in front of Matthew, was already locked into his offensive like an arrow loosed from a bow, with no hope of pulling back.
At this moment, Matthew watched as Valentine lunged forward as if in slow motion.
Full of openings...
His eyes narrowed slightly as he casually swung the longsword named “Dawn” forward.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, nor any complex or dazzling techniques.
There was only a cold, swift, and utterly pure arc of white light, like the first ray of dawn tearing through the sky at the end of the night, gracefully sweeping across Valentine's neck.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
Valentine's forward momentum ground to a sudden halt. The mixture of hideously twisted malice and mockery on his face completely froze, a trace of ruthlessness still lingering in his eyes before it could even turn into shock.
In the next instant, his head parted from his body, and blood surged like a fountain from his severed neck. The headless corpse stumbled forward two steps under its own momentum before crashing heavily to the ground.
Only then did Nathan's final, furious roar completely dissipate into the wind of the wilderness, accompanied by the heavy thud of the body hitting the ground:
“...That is the Dawn Sword!”
A sudden, momentary silence fell over the grasslands.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Everyone who witnessed this scene, whether they were the horse bandits or the caravan's adventurers, subconsciously held their breath.
Matthew slowly lowered his wrist, the tip of the Dawn Sword pointing diagonally toward the ground. A few drops of blood slid down the mirror-smooth blade, leaving not a single trace behind.
The dawn-like luster on the blade rippled slightly, reflecting his calm, unperturbed face.
His heart remained completely untroubled.
Valentine's deadly lunge, within the perception of his activated combat technique, had a crystal-clear trajectory and was riddled with openings.
The poisoned short daggers had seemed fierce, but in reality, the coordination of speed, strength, and angle fell far short of posing any threat to him.
The so-called “exploiting the gap between arrows” was merely a fleeting opening he had intentionally exposed.
Had he truly wished to evade or parry, he had several far more elegant ways to do so.
Choosing to decapitate him with a single strike was simply the fastest and most effortless option.
The Brass Rank is, after all, just the Brass Rank.
This thought flashed through his mind, carrying a trace of flat confirmation, feeling almost dull.
However, when he recalled Nathan's startled cry of “That is the Dawn Sword” just now, his heart stirred slightly.
He actually recognizes this sword.
If there really is a higher-tier sword of the same origin, or some related clues, that would be an unexpected pleasant surprise. Since he could recognize it at a single glance, he must have some understanding of it.
With this thought in mind...
He looked up, his gaze passing over Valentine's still-twitching corpse to lock onto Nathan, whose face was incredibly grim in the distance.
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Nathan's gaze clashed in the air with Matthew's calm yet icy eyes. The indifference in the latter's eyes made it seem as though he had merely swept aside a random pebble on the road, rather than slaying a formidable Brass Rank enemy.
His heart shuddered as a chill involuntarily crept up his spine.
This was not born of fear itself; after all, he was a battle-hardened Silver Rank expert.
What shook him to the core was the immense contrast between Matthew's overly youthful face and the chilling strength he displayed at this moment.
A thought uncontrollably took root and spread in his mind:
This terrifying talent...
His mood instantly grew complicated.
Being able to slay Valentine in a single strike so casually was definitely not as simple as Valentine being careless.
This meant that the youth before him possessed at least Silver Rank strength!
After all, Valentine was still a Brass Rank. Although his class followed the niche path of a Beast Whisperer and he might not be as fierce or dominant in pure head-on combat as a warrior of the same rank...
...the Brass Rank itself was a watershed of strength. He was by no means weak.
Valentine could tame birds of prey and control beasts, and his close-quarters ambush capability was enough to threaten most opponents of the same rank. He was absolutely not a soft target to be trifled with.
This was just like... just like Porter, who was currently locked in a fierce struggle with him.
Although Porter had only recently stepped into the Silver Rank, and his foundation and combat strength might not be as deep or seasoned as his own, he was still a Silver Rank!
It was precisely because of this that, despite struggling under his tempestuous onslaught, Porter could still bitterly hold on and keep him tied down, preventing him from quickly breaking away to take control of the overall situation.
If he wanted to easily defeat or even slay such an opponent, he would have to be an entire tier higher.
In that brief moment when Nathan was deeply shaken and slightly distracted, Porter, not far away, was also completely stunned by the scene before his eyes!
He panted heavily. The fierce battle with Nathan had left his arms numb, his blood boiling, and his head spinning.
Yet, Matthew's effortless strike was like a clap of thunder splitting his mind, leaving nothing but unparalleled shock.
This... how is this possible?!
The Silver Rank expert's pupils contracted violently, his heart feeling as though it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.
He clearly remembered that just over two months ago, when they had hunted the mountain giant bear together, the youth's archery foundation was solid, but whether in terms of life energy fluctuations or combat experience, he had definitely not reached the level of a seasoned Brass Rank!
In the eyes of a Silver Rank expert like him, the Matthew of that time, though worth nurturing, still had a very long way to go before becoming truly powerful.
How long had it been since then?
At most, three months!
Just three months!
His strength was already comparable to the Silver Rank!
He had traveled to many places and seen many young people hailed as “geniuses,” including seeds meticulously cultivated by major factions.
But someone like Matthew, who had achieved such a transformation in so short a time purely on his own in a resource-limited village... was completely unheard of!
...
...
Rate on N.U.
