Chapter 1255 - 616: Silver Lake Shield (2)

Of course, it couldn’t possibly be the accompanying guard of this half-abandoned young master.

They were a recruitment squad from Blood Castle, heading to Salt Rock Port.

To be honest, Zanfri’s luck was actually pretty decent.

From Salt Rock Port to Blood Castle, despite the complex terrain, they happened to encounter the recruitment squad halfway.

He even wondered if his ancestors were unable to bear the current dire situation of the family and offered him help from beyond.

Zanfri had already communicated with these soldiers and became the first soldier recruited by them on this journey.

Though he had just left not long ago, he planned to first return to Salt Rock Port with the recruitment squad, and then move with the main force to Blood Castle.

Along the way, he would reveal his identity as a descendant of the "Silver Lake Shield," and perhaps the first batch of subordinates would be established.

Of course, all of this depends on surviving the attack from these demons in front of them.

"Young master, please carefully hide behind me and don’t move unnecessarily."

The speaker was Uncle A ke, Zanfri’s one and only attendant, guard, and steward on this trip.

A middle-aged man in his forties, with gray hair, a house steward, who had watched Zanfri grow up, and one of the few adults in the large Willmott family who stood in the camp of this third young master.

From a senior’s perspective, he naturally did not agree with Zanfri’s solo adventure, especially venturing to the border.

But on the other hand, even if his stance was on the side of the third young master, ultimately, he, A ke, was no more than a small steward in the Willmott family and couldn’t defy orders from above.

He could roughly guess the master’s thoughts.

Given Zanfri’s limited abilities and lack of eligibility to compete for the Earl position, wanting to venture outside was not considered wrong.

It would be best if he could make a name for himself, not expecting him to restore the family, but even if he could just bring some political resources from the Imperial City, that would be great.

And if he failed to make a name for himself... the Willmott family would merely lose a wealthy child who does nothing but eat and wait for death.

From the perspective of benefits, Zanfri’s departure from home was anything but a loss for the family itself.

Of course, he is after all a descendant of the "Fearless Grove."

If he couldn’t even reach his destination and ended up dying like a stray dog on the roadside, it would indeed be too careless.

Therefore, as one of the family’s stewards, with considerable strength and a professional level as high as Level 3, A ke was dispatched with a surface loyalty to Zanfri, while secretly receiving the family clan leader’s task of accompanying protection, to leave the Imperial City with the young man.

The young master grew up under the wings of the Willmott family. Even if he suffered, it was mostly cold sneers from other branches of the family, without experiencing any real life-and-death crisis or adventure experience.

Causing him to act a bit impulsively when faced with various novel affairs and diverse encounters on this journey.

Luckily, he was always by his side, even if sometimes it went a bit overboard, he could timely remind him and pull him back from causing trouble.

...Until now.

With a serious expression, his vigilant gaze swept over the three demons ahead, showing signs of surrounding them.

A ke carefully analyzed the situation on the field.

The Challenge Level of the Scorpion-tailed Lion was as high as Level 3, and in most cases, the Challenge Level of demons compared to the Professional Level of ordinary adventurers, even with the same numbers, was vastly different in actual combat power.

Even a senior like him who had been on the professional path for decades could just barely hold against a demon with a Challenge Level equal to his Professional Level in a one-on-one confrontation.

To triumph, it would require a life-and-death struggle.

But his most important task now was to protect Young Master Zanfri’s safety, blind risk-taking was unwise.

Fortunately, the demons ahead seemed to number three in total.

However, the number of adult Scorpion-tailed Lion individuals was only one.

The remaining two were still in their youth stages, and their strength was visibly weaker.

And...

A ke’s eyes glanced at the soldiers next to him who had already formed a battle formation, feeling slightly relieved in his heart.

Even though the strongest among them was only the Level 2 squad captain, and among the remaining eight, only three had obtained a Professional Level, the rest were all ordinary soldiers.

But leveraging the advantage in numbers and tactical formation, it seemed they could somewhat bridge the gap in combat power between the two sides.

Not a desperate situation!

A ke thought about this in his heart, yet the roar from the Scorpion-tailed Lion ahead already accompanied by a strong flapping sound, swiftly approached!

In terms of intelligence, it was inferior to the humans on the field, but the animal’s inherent perception ability was much more sensitive.

It sensed the strongest aura among the prey emanating from A ke himself.

The adult Scorpion-tailed Lion, almost instantly, targeted him as its prey.

Roar——

The fierce and loud roar almost raised invisible waves in the air.

Too fast.

From Zanfri’s perspective as an ordinary person without a Professional Level, he even suddenly felt his eardrums hurt from the burst of roaring sound, subconsciously closing his eyes.

When he opened them again.

The terrifying demon that had been in the distant valley forest, indistinctly seen, had already descended before him.

Only separated by his Uncle A ke, so close that Zanfri could almost see the pink flesh deep in the Scorpion-tailed Lion’s throat move as it roared.

Carrying a pungent odor and surging warm breath, causing his golden hair to sway.

The sudden close presence of a man-eating demon brought such a strong impact that the third young master from the "Silver Lake Shield" family embarrassingly froze in place.

It was understandable.

Even placing a low-level adventurer with some combat experience here to face a terrifying demon two levels higher than the "new adventurer killer" Bear Goblins Challenge Level would not guarantee calmness.

Just being scared stiff and not collapsing to the ground or losing control like in more embarrassing scenarios might even display a big heart for someone like Zanfri who had never had combat experience.

"Drink!"

Blocking in front of Zanfri, as the close bodyguard, A ke knew with the young master’s physical constitution, he might end up in Heaven with just a tail swipe from the Scorpion-tailed Lion.

He couldn’t help but shout loudly, proactively charging towards the Scorpion-tailed Lion ahead.

Originating from the "Silver Lake Shield" family’s vocational tradition, being a steward in the clan, though he could not touch the Willmott family’s core vocational system, even the scraps from above were enough to create a gap from the low-level adventurers.

Employed in the continent’s common [warrior] profession, but the four Battle Skills he mastered complement each other forming a complete system.

Buzz——

A gentle silver light like lake water ripples surged from deep within him, covering his entire body, converting into a soft translucent membrane on the skin surface.

He leaned all his body weight on the metallic Heavy Shield, engraved with the Willmott family emblem of "black background and light blue waves" at the center.

It was visible that as his steps quickened, the air around the edge of the shield compressed, forming a faintly visible arc contour, enclosing his entire being inside.

"Boom!"

The sound of flesh and metal colliding erupted in the valley.

The Scorpion-tailed Lion was evidently not expecting the prey before it to dare attack proactively.

The Scorpion-tailed Lion, already lunging toward A ke, was directly hit by the Heavy Shield as if a train passed over.

The explosive impact left its beast eyes momentarily dazed.

The enormous lion-headed and human-bodied creature was directly lifted by A ke, with its four limbs off the ground.

Man and lion, flying diagonally.

Simultaneously, on the battlefield’s other side, with the roar of the adult Scorpion-tailed Lion, the other two significantly smaller Scorpion-tailed Lion charged at the soldiers who had just finished arranging their battle formation.