The blonde noblewoman stood among the bloody remains of the road, her emerald eyes locked onto Gu Chen’s back.
"I am Lady Elena of House Vane," she spoke, her voice refined despite her trembling hands. "We are returning to the capital from the succession banquet at Ravencrest Keep. As you can see, our guards have fallen, and the forest ahead—the Ogre Forest, is far too dangerous for an unescorted carriage. I ask that you serve as our escort until we reach the capital city."
Gu Chen didn't stop. He didn't acknowledge her title or offer his name. Without a word, he continued walking down the muddy, mist-shrouded road.
"Wait!" Elena called out, taking a swift step forward. "I do not expect you to risk your life for nothing! I will compensate you handsomely!"
Reaching into her velvet pouch, she produced three heavy, gleaming gold coins, a sum that could comfortably purchase a small estate in the outer territories.
Gu Chen paused, glancing sideways at the shining metal with dark, unimpressed eyes. "Keep your metal."
Elena blinked, stunned. "You... you refuse? This is gold! Three of these could feed a family for a year , most men would murder their own kin for this wealth!"
"And what use do I have for stamped metal?" Gu Chen asked flatly, his raspy voice laced with quiet disdain. "If I am hungry, I hunt. If I am cold, I take shelter. Money is useless to me."
Elena stared at him in total silence. In a world driven by petty greed, noble corruption, and gold-hungry mercenaries, this strange, blood-stained youth looked upon pure wealth as if it were worthless dirt on the road. Despite his terrifying indifference, a subtle thread of respect took root within her.
"Then tell me," Elena said, re-evaluating the stranger before her. "What is it that you want?"
"Mana cores," Gu Chen answered bluntly. "High-grade ones."
Elena’s brows furrowed. "Mana cores? Are you a spellcaster? You clearly do not intend to sell them for gold, so why-"
"My terms are simple," Gu Chen interrupted, turning his cold, pitch-black gaze entirely onto her. "You provide high-grade mana cores, and you stop asking me questions. If you agree, I will accept your request If not, find another blade."
Elena bit her lower lip. Handing over high-grade mana cores to a rogue knight was a risk, but looking at her slaughtered guards, the shattered wheel, and the dark, looming shadows of the Ogre Forest, she knew she had no choice. This terrifying youth was her only safety net.
"Very well," Elena agreed, nodding with resolute dignity. "I do not have high-grade cores on me right now , but upon our arrival at Vane Manor in the capital city of Holy Lunar, you will receive your payment. Do we have a contract?"
"We do," Gu Chen replied coldly.
Turning back toward the stranded mahogany carriage, Gu Chen inspected the broken wooden axle resting in the mud. The elderly butler, Thomas, was struggling to hold the frame up with a wooden plank, sweat pouring down his pale face.
"Stand back," Gu Chen ordered.
Before Thomas could object, Gu Chen stepped beneath the heavy carriage frame. Circulating a thread of pitch-black Abyssal Qi through Lucian’s reconstructed meridians, he placed a single hand under the wooden chassis and lifted.
CREAK!
With terrifying, effortless physical strength, Gu Chen raised the heavy carriage several inches off the ground with one arm.
Thomas’s jaw dropped in absolute shock. "By the Heavens..."
"Fix the wheel," Gu Chen commanded impassively, not a single strain visible on his face.
Gulping nervously, the old butler scrambled into action, rapidly hammering the wooden wheel back onto the iron axle and securing the iron pin. The moment the wheel locked into place, Gu Chen released his grip, letting the carriage settle back onto the gravel path.
Without waiting for an invitation, Gu Chen opened the carriage door and stepped inside, taking a seat on the plush velvet bench opposite Elena. Thomas hastily climbed onto the driver's bench outside, snapping the reins to urge the two surviving horses forward into the misty depths of Ironwood Pass.
The silence inside the carriage was heavy. Elena sat upright, occasionally stealing cautious glances at the quiet youth sitting across from her. Gu Chen simply leaned back against the leather cushions, eyes closed, quietly refining the mana he had harvested from the Dire-Wolves into his dantian.
Two hours into the journey through the dense, towering canopy of the Ogre Forest, the carriage suddenly ground to a screeching halt.
Outside, the horses neighed in distress as heavy, unhurried footsteps surrounded the wooden vehicle.
"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" a coarse, mocking voice called out from the fog. "A high-class noble carriage stranded in our woods? And only an old, bleeding butler handling the reins?"
Inside, Elena’s face drained of color. "Bandits..."
Gu Chen opened his dark eyes. Without a word of comfort or concern, he pushed open the carriage door and stepped out into the damp, chilly air.
Surrounding the carriage were fifteen armed men clad in mismatched leather armor, wielding broadswords, war axes, and wooden shields. Their leader, a broad, scarred man with a filthy beard, grinned sinisterly as he watched a single unarmed youth step out of the carriage.
"Look at this brat," the bandit leader chuckled, raising his sword. "Did the nobles send a boy to plead for their lives? Hand over the gold and the lady inside, kid, and maybe I'll let you-"
SWOOSH!
Gu Chen vanished from where he stood.
Before the bandit leader could finish his sentence, Gu Chen appeared directly in front of him. Coating his palm in compressed Abyssal Qi, Gu Chen drove a horizontal palm strike straight into the man's chest plate.
BOOM!
The iron armor shattered like glass. The bandit leader coughed up a fountain of dark blood as his ribs were pulverized, his body launching backward into three of his men and crashing onto the dirt road in a heap.
Panic erupted instantly. "Kill him! Cut him down!"
Gu Chen moved like a phantom through the rain of crude steel. He sidestepped a broadsword slash with millimetric precision, grabbing the attacker's wrist and snapping the bone with a sickening crack. In the same motion, Gu Chen ripped the steel sword from the bandit's failing grip and spun on his heel.
SLASH!
An arc of silver steel flashed through the mist. Three heads separated from their shoulders simultaneously, spraying crimson across the damp foliage.
Gu Chen didn't use flashy magical chants or complex martial stances; he wielded the sword with cold, mechanical perfection. Every thrust pierced a throat; every arc cleaved through armor and bone. In less than twenty seconds, the forest road was transformed into a silent slaughterhouse, littered with fifteen headless and disemboweled corpses.
Only the bandit leader remained alive, gasping for air in the mud, clutching his crushed chest.
Gu Chen walked over, stepping on the leader's shoulder and pressing the blood-stained tip of the sword against the man's throat.
"Who are you?" Gu Chen asked, his raspy voice completely devoid of emotion.
The leader choked out, blood leaking from his lips. "We're just... just-"
THUMP.
Without waiting for him to say another word, Gu Chen drove the blade straight down through the man's throat, pinning him to the earth.
Gu Chen tossed the bloodied sword into the dirt, entirely indifferent to their identities. Whoever they were theives or simple scum, they had blocked his path, and that was a death sentence.
Inside the carriage, Elena watched through the small glass window, her hands pressed tightly against her chest. She was utterly terrified by the sheer, unfeeling ruthlessness with which this youth slaughtered fifteen men without batting an eye. Yet, beneath that terror, a profound sense of awe took root. His strength was absolute, unyielding, and terrifyingly efficient.
Gu Chen pulled open the carriage door and stepped back inside, settling onto his seat as if he had done nothing more than step outside to check the weather.
Elena swallowed hard, her voice trembling slightly as she looked at him. "What... what is your name, Sir Knight?"
Gu Chen glanced at her briefly with dark, impassive eyes, offering a simple fake alias.
"Noah."
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in deep shades of crimson and violet, the forest path finally cleared.
The carriage rolled into an illuminated outpost village sitting on the outer perimeter of the capital city, Holy Lunar. Glowing mana lanterns flickered along the stone-paved streets, casting warm yellow light over bustling taverns, merchant stalls, and travelers.
Thomas pulled the carriage up to a large, four-story stone building, the village's premier traveler's inn.
"Milady, Sir Noah," Thomas called out respectfully from the driver's seat. "We have arrived at the outpost. I shall go inside and secure our rooms for the night."
The butler bowed and scurried inside the inn to arrange their lodging.
Inside the quiet carriage, Lady Elena took a long, steady breath, casting a final glance at "Noah." Her long blonde hair framed her delicate face, and her emerald eyes filled with quiet intrigue as she took in his dried blood-stained clothes and pitch-black gaze. The sheer contrast between his quiet demeanor and his monstrous combat efficiency left her mind spinning.
‘Who is he really?’ Elena thought to herself. ‘A man who despises gold, slaughters beast packs bare-handed, and crushes fifteen men in seconds... such a monster cannot be a simple rogue knight.’
Sitting across from her, Gu Chen suddenly shifted his gaze toward the dark alleyways beneath the village streets.
Through the thick wooden walls of the carriage, his sovereign soul origin picked up a faint, sickening trace of energy lingering in the night air, a dark, metallic, blood-heavy signature slithering through the village's subterranean drainage lines.
It was an aura strikingly similar to the Blood-Cult Qi from his former world.
Gu Chen subtly searched through Lucian's integrated memories to identify the local equivalent of this foul energy. The realization clicked instantly, in the realm of Aethelgard, these blood-draining creatures were not called cultists.
They were known as Vampires.
A slow, dangerous smirk curled the corners of Gu Chen's pale lips.
‘So... creatures of blood slither beneath this outpost,