“Thud!”
As this clear landing sound echoed, all those hidden in the shadows were startled.
The person who appeared before Shien was beyond everyone’s expectations.
“Aldia!?”
Ancil abruptly turned his head and looked behind him but couldn’t see the knight who had always been by his side.
Yes.
The opponent who appeared before Shien was Aldia.
“It’s him…!?”
“How did he get out there!?”
“Could it be…?”
Everyone was in an uproar.
“It’s actually him?”
Rockto’s expression also changed, and then an even stronger fighting spirit burned in his eyes.
“This will be a good show.”
Harvis, Jacinta, and Yuler had this thought.
“Master Aldia?”
Lia covered her mouth, and even Charl beside her seemed startled.
Shien, on the other hand, looked at Aldia, who had suddenly appeared before him, with an amused expression.
“I didn’t expect you to be the first one to show up.”
Shien calmed down Yulin, who was about to make a threatening gesture, and turned his gaze to the other side.
There, Aldia stood expressionlessly, holding his sword.
Then, the strongest knight of the human race spoke.
“I said before that I’m interested in your strength, especially now that you seem different from before.” Aldia stared intently at Shien, a rare flicker of emotion in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, “Although I feel a bit bad for His Majesty, this seems like a good opportunity. This was your intention, wasn’t it?”
Aldia had seen through Shien’s thoughts.
He knew that Shien was looking for an opponent to test his current strength.
Aldia understood this impulse.
“Back then, after entering the inner sanctum, achieving a breakthrough, and becoming a legendary-level expert, I was also eager to find someone to test my strength, just like you.” Aldia said, “Or rather, everyone who entered the inner sanctum and gained something felt this way after coming out. It’s just that they weren’t as reckless as you, directly releasing their magic power and provoking all the experts in the capital.”
“Really?” Shien raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, “So, you already knew that I entered the inner sanctum?”
“It’s not a secret.” Aldia said calmly. “Is it?”
Indeed.
The fact that Shien and Lucy visited the temple and were preparing to enter the inner sanctum wasn’t only known to the Holy Sword Knights, but also to all the priests in the temple.
Moreover, with Shien’s sudden increase in strength, anyone who knew about the inner sanctum’s existence would naturally think that he had already entered it.
Since that was the case…
“Many people are curious about your current strength.” Aldia looked directly at Shien and said, “Including me.”
Shien narrowed his eyes.
He was still a bit surprised.
Although he knew that Aldia was paying attention to him, Shien hadn’t expected that when he urgently needed someone to test his current strength, the first person to appear before him would be Aldia.
This Kingdom’s Shield, who always appeared cold-blooded, ruthless, and indifferent, actually abandoned his duty of protecting the king and appeared before him to test his strength. How could Shien not be surprised?
However…
“Alright.”
Shien couldn’t help but smile.
And he smiled happily.
The reason was simple.
“As an opponent, you’re qualified.”
As the Commander of the Kingdom’s Royal Knights, a descendant of the Hero like the royal family, and a legendary-level expert at level ninety-eight, Aldia was known as the strongest knight of the human race, second to none.
Even Lucy had mentioned more than once that in the Kingdom, the only person she wasn’t confident she could defeat was this Commander of the Royal Knights.
This Commander could even suppress Diere in her demonized state and had once been by Diere’s side. Even when Shien and Lucy were fighting with all their might, this Commander could sever both their [Magic Sword] attacks with a single sword strike. His strength was astonishing.
Now, Shien could use [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] to see the terrifying magic power burning like magma within Aldia, telling him how powerful this opponent was.
Frankly speaking, in the current era, besides those transcendent beings like the Three Goddesses and the Six Demon Lords, the strongest in all of Omnipotence was this level ninety-eight Commander of the Royal Knights.
His strength was said to be no less than any of the thirteen human heroes who fought against the Beast Demon a thousand years ago. He was the current strongest human, the pillar of the Kingdom. Even a legendary expert like Rockto wanted to challenge him.