Arthur is one of the most unconventional existences among all Knight-type characters in terms of combat techniques.
The vast majority of Knights are characters proficient in Close Combat, whether it's heavy weaponry focused on offense, the balanced Sword and Shield, or the Lance and Axe/Halberd favored for charging into battle—these are the common Weapons used by Knight-type characters.
Even the Knight King Arthur, who has undergone a gender transformation, normally uses typical Soldier equipment like Spears and Swords to cast light cannons.
But the Arthur in the Demon World Village happens to be a peculiar Magic Knight specializing in mid-to-long range throwing, complemented by special Armor that allows for Spellcasting.
Whether it's a Knight Lance, a Small Knife, magical Fire, or a Shield used as Off-hand Armor, everything in Arthur's hands can become a Throwing Object.
And Cheng Tian, currently wearing the same Strawberry Boxer Shorts as Arthur, naturally possesses the corresponding abilities.
【Knight Throw: Template Skill, Active Skill. The Knight Armor, so Fragile that it shatters in one hit, made Arthur a rare Magic Knight specializing in medium-range throwing, possessing the ability to wield most Cold Weapons for throwing.
You can consume MP to condense a Throwing Object based on the Cold Weapon/Shield currently held in your Main Hand and Off-hand Equipment Slot. This Throwing Object will perfectly inherit the corresponding Weapon Damage while gaining relevant characteristics. The weight and specifications of the Throwing Object's Blueprint will affect throwing speed, throwing distance, and throwing rate.
Each throw consumes 5 MP, and after throwing consecutively a certain number of times, it will enter a Cooldown Time of at least 5 seconds. 】
Among the Weapons Cheng Tian currently possesses, only the Vampire Killer whip does not qualify for the 『Knight Throw』 judgment. As for the Gentleman's Cane he just acquired, although its Weapon Damage is the lowest among all Weapons, the Special Effect it gains after transforming into a Throwing Object has already been displayed.
The Gentleman's Cane Throwing Object has a small chance to cast Polymorph on the struck target, but it can only affect one target at a time and requires no Additional Consumption.
It's unclear if this is due to the Polymorph itself or some other reason, but units turned into ducks still retain some characteristics of their Main Body.
The foolish, clear-headed university student turned into an ordinary white duck with no outstanding features, the Zombie turned into a Zombie Duck resembling dried jerky, and the Man-eating Flower struck by Cheng Tian's throw turned into a plant duck restricted to moving within a fixed range.
Cheng Tian first threw the Gentleman's Cane with his left hand. Upon seeing the Man-eating Flower turn into a plant duck, he couldn't help but pause for a moment, then put force into his right hand, flinging the Throwing Object condensed from the Little Demon Cleaver forward.
Arthur's Proof not only granted Cheng Tian the Player Template but also loaded Arthur's throwing techniques onto him. Like the Vampire Hunter Template, this kind of loading for basic techniques is implicit and will not be directly displayed on the Panel.
The damage of the Little Demon Cleaver is similar to a One-handed Axe, just with a slightly larger upper and lower limit fluctuation. This strike directly severed the plant duck's head.
If one were to observe the wound now, they would find that it surprisingly bore scorch-like marks.
Clearly, Cheng Tian chose to stack the Vampire Killer onto the Little Demon Cleaver. However, due to the vast difference in Weapon types, it only imparted a meager 3 points of Holy Damage, but this extra 3 points of Holy Damage was perfectly Replicated onto the Throwing Object.
At this moment, Cheng Tian is truly strong. Looking only at Skills and ignoring the Panel, he has initially surpassed the novice stage and reached a level capable of facing a D-rank Instance.
If he faced the same scale of Zombie Horde as before, he could complete the task of clearing the horde by himself.
Along the path to the Graveyard exit, there are still unopened graves from which new Zombies will crawl out. But the key is that no more Zombies are spawning behind Cheng Tian; without the ability to form a pincer movement, the Zombies can no longer pose a threat to him.
However, it can be seen that after attempting two or three long-range throws, Cheng Tian stopped throwing and instead took out his whip again, killing the Enemies blocking his path with minimal cost.
Because he clearly knew what he was about to face.
To the side of the Graveyard exit, a being entirely red, with Wings, somewhat resembling a Gargoyle, was quietly perched on a stone pedestal.
This is the culprit that prevents ninety-nine percent of Demon World Village Players from passing even the first checkpoint's middle line—the Red Demon, an existence extremely rare in the history of the Demon World Village game, who rose from a Grunt to become a spin-off protagonist.
Strictly speaking, the Red Demon Clan is the true all-purpose Grunt group within the entire Demon Force.
Although theoretically, the relationship between the Red Demon Clan and the Demon King leans more towards an employment arrangement, the designation of all-purpose Grunt means the vast majority of them are at the very bottom tier.
As for Monsters like Zombies, Red-eyed Crows, and Man-eating Plants, they are merely the forms taken by objects from the human world after Magic Erosion; they don't even qualify to be categorized under the formal Demon Force.
Yet, even an all-purpose Grunt is still a Demon, and in terms of total Player Kills in game history, the Red Demon Clan far surpasses all its peers, even its direct superior.
Due to its immense popularity, the Red Demon even has its own spin-off trilogy and makes cameo appearances as a BOSS in games such as 《SNK vs. CAPCOM》.
Perhaps because of this popularity and terrifying Player Kill count, it transcended its original setting and was judged by the Chosen Space as a Demon Unit with an Elite Template.
But one fundamental thing about the Red Demon has not changed: its Race, which is actually classified as a Gargoyle.
As the name Gargoyle suggests, when not in combat or resting, the Red Demon maintains a Stone Statue state where almost all its Skills are dormant. As long as one does not enter its guard radius, it will remain in the Stone Statue state.
One can draw a conclusion from the Chosen Space setting "Kill the Elite Red Demon" as a Side Quest: at least in the current Instance, it is not an existence Players must confront directly; they can bypass it by taking a detour.
According to Spatial rules, Main Quests can always be cleared by finding the right method, whereas some Side Quests are equivalent to Challenge Quests, having a higher Death rate than Main Quests.
At the very least, killing the Elite Red Demon is not something a novice Player can handle.
At this moment, Cheng Tian was pressed against a Tombstone, crouching low and staring intently at the sleeping Red Demon in the distance. He couldn't help but Inhale through his Nasal Cavity, his body beginning to shake slightly uncontrollably.
How should one put it? Logic told Cheng Tian that bypassing the Red Demon was the safest choice—prioritizing the conservation of stamina above all else, especially since there was still a Cyclops that needed to be defeated for the Main Quest. Only by safely clearing the Instance and walking out alive would everything have meaning... But Cheng Tian's Body's Instinct provided the answer first.
Fight! （Meaningless Close-up ）
The Red Demon, assigned a guard duty by its superior, was sleeping soundly. Even the chain reaction that triggered the Berserk state during the previous Zombie Horde didn't draw even the slightest attention from it.
But suddenly, an Aura of a Human appeared in its perception.
Although somewhat lazy, the Red Demon actively lifted its Seal from the Stone Statue state, flapped its Wings twice, wanting to see which other foolhardy Human was about to die by its hands...
But before seeing the person, it heard the sound first—a typical clashing noise between metal Armor parts reached the Red Demon's hearing.
Arthur?
In the Red Demon's memory, almost all the Knights from the Human Kingdom Force were dead, leaving only Arthur, the strongest among Humans, who stole the Map at the cost of severe injury and fled into the Graveyard.
...Could today finally be the day for me, the Red Demon Captain, to rise to prominence!?
The thought arose, and a smile uncontrollably appeared on the Red Demon's face, its beak-like mouth opening wide.
Then it saw Cheng Mouren charging straight towards it, fully Armamented, his visor wide open revealing a ferocious smile, yet someone it didn't recognize at all.
For some reason, the smile vanished from the Red Demon's face.