The moment this voice rang out, it was immediately met with a chorus of agreement.
“That’s right! We don’t have to be afraid of them!”
“This isn’t the Molten Beast Knight’s or the Gem Whale Knight’s territory! They have no right to stop us from going inside!”
“The Phoenix Knight was of commoner birth! His legacy isn’t meant for the nobility!”
“Anyone afraid to die is unworthy of the Legendary Phoenix Knight’s inheritance! Let’s give them a fight!”
“They’re just lackeys of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight, not the actual Knights themselves. We have nothing to fear!”
“If we get the Phoenix Knight’s inheritance, we’ll have a chance to become Golden Great Knights, too! We’ll be on equal footing with the Molten Beast Knight and the Gem Whale Knight!”
…
Even though many people were shouting, no one dared to be the first to make a move.
Anyone who could become an Official Knight was no fool.
Roy had expected the Knights around him to swarm forward after all their shouting, to show the Molten Beast Knight’s and Gem Whale Knight’s men the true power of a crowd.
It turned out he’d given them too much credit.
Since no one made a move, the shouting grew quieter and quieter until it died down completely.
All the while, the men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight stood unmoved at the cave entrance, as if they had expected this outcome all along.
Roy scanned his surroundings, then prepared to follow his original plan and continue toward the cave entrance.
Before he reached the cave entrance, four Fighting Qi Slashes shot out from the crowd, hurtling toward the men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight.
The Fighting Qi Slashes were incredibly fast.
But the men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight were no pushovers.
The four Great Knights at the front drew their swords in a flash, shrouding their Cross Swords in Fighting Qi.
They then met the incoming Fighting Qi Slashes head-on, swinging their Cross Swords.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Without exception, every single Fighting Qi Slash from the crowd was intercepted, exploding on impact.
Although the Fighting Qi Slashes didn’t injure anyone, they still succeeded in changing the situation.
A few seconds later, more Fighting Qi Slashes erupted from the crowd, speeding toward the men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight.
Not only that, but this time there were even more—a dozen or two.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM…
Once again, the men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight intercepted the incoming Fighting Qi Slashes.
But they could no longer prevent the situation from deteriorating.
The Knights blocked outside the cave entrance stopped shouting. Instead, they let their actions speak for them.
The battle broke out in an instant!
With their overwhelming numbers, the Civilian Knights swarmed forward, frantically attacking the men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight.
The men of the Molten Beast Knight and Gem Whale Knight only held the cave entrance for a minute or two before the frenzied mob forced them back into the cavern, compelling them to retreat deeper inside.
Soon, only five people remained outside the cave entrance.
Roy was one of them.
He hadn’t joined the melee. In fact, he had retreated over a hundred meters to watch the show from behind the crowd.
At this moment, he was sizing up the other four people with great interest.
The four of them were young, around twenty-three or four, two men and two women.
The two men had short blond hair and handsome faces. They were clearly related, sharing a strong resemblance.
As for the two women, they were a pair of twins.
To be precise, they were beautiful, fair-skinned twins with an exceptional air about them. Both wore their golden hair in long waves.
Roy was sizing them up not only because they had also held back from entering the cave, but for another important reason.
The four initial Fighting Qi Slashes that had struck at the Molten Beast Knight’s and Gem Whale Knight’s men had come from them.
In other words, they were the fuse for the melee that had just broken out.
While Roy was sizing them up, they were also sizing up Roy.
The twin sisters didn’t seem to mind Roy’s gaze.
The blond-haired brothers, however, shot him a warning glare.
Roy didn’t know them.
He could tell one thing, however: all four of them were nobles.
Never mind their clothes and how they carried themselves.
Except for a few exceptionally talented commoners or those blessed by the Goddess of Fortune, it was impossible for a commoner to become a Great Knight by their early twenties.
He didn’t know what Level of Great Knight they were, but even reaching the lowest rank, Black Iron Great Knight, was enough to prove their impressive talent.
The Level of a Breathing Technique only determined one’s potential; it didn’t guarantee a minimum level of achievement.
Without enough innate talent, one could practice a Perfect Breathing Technique their whole life and still never break through to the rank of Great Knight.
As a perfectly healthy man, both physically and mentally, Roy let his gaze linger on the twin sisters for a little longer.
Twins weren’t exactly rare.
But a pair of beautiful, fair-skinned twins who had already reached the rank of Great Knight at such a young age was a rare sight indeed.
Roy did nothing inappropriate; his gaze was one of normal appreciation.
Still, this clearly annoyed the blond brothers.
“What are you looking at? Keep staring and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”
The blond man in pale gold Light Armor glared at Roy coldly and shouted.
‘Gouge out my eyes?’
Hearing this, Roy replied calmly, “Gouging out someone’s eyes just for a glance? How domineering!”