The "little thing" standing in Savage Claw's path was Raine.

Raine watched the dire gnoll barrel toward him. Hamilton had already inflicted a grievous wound and severed one of its forearms. How much strength could it have left? Fifty percent? Sixty?

Whatever the precise figure, its combat power had fallen sharply.

Raine did not need to defeat it. He only had to delay the creature for a few seconds until the other elite Night Watchmen closed in and sealed its escape.

Was that dangerous?

Of course.

Danger Sense Lv. 1 was sounding alarms throughout his mind. Yet the memory of last night's slaughter in the page boys' dormitory still chilled him.

If a monster this savage remained near Goldflash Town, he would never know when disaster might befall him, his family, or his friends.

Raine was still far from becoming a Knight and could not partially release his body's limits the way Hamilton had. But he possessed other trump cards. Holding the gnoll for a few seconds should be within his ability.

When Hamilton realized that Raine intended to stand his ground, alarm crossed his face.

"Raine, get out of the way!"

Allowing the dire gnoll to escape would have dire consequences, but Hamilton was even less willing to watch a gifted young man die before him. He and the other Night Watchmen sprinted after Savage Claw with all their strength.

Raine's plan had sounded reasonable. Only when he faced the gnoll directly did he realize how naive he had been.

Its savage face, indifferent eyes, and towering frame projected such ferocity that any human who had not entered the transcendent realm would instinctively falter.

Fortunately, Raine had killed before and experienced genuine combat. Otherwise, fear might have defeated him before their weapons ever met.

*Blacksmith's Strength!*

Raine's expression hardened. He steadied his mind and activated the Core Skill.

His Strength surged from 10 to 10 (+4).

A thick current of heat pumped out from his heart. His blood raced through his body, and every muscle fiber tightened like steel wire. It felt as though a tiger had awakened inside him.

Never before had he possessed such power.

"Leaping Cleave!"

Raine roared, gripped the hand-and-a-half sword with both hands, and leaped high. He brought the blade down like lightning at the enormous dire gnoll.

He normally practiced with a heavy two-handed greatsword. Forced to use the lighter hand-and-a-half sword now, his attack lost some power—but its speed almost doubled.

Savage Claw was already badly wounded. For an instant, it could not comprehend that this tiny human was actually swinging a sword at it.

It was a predator being challenged by an ant.

Fury ignited in the gnoll, and it lashed out with its intact right claw.

BOOM!

Silver flashed across Savage Claw's vision. Pain stabbed through its right claw, while a force almost equal to its own surged from the human's blade.

To Savage Claw's disbelief, the insignificant creature knocked it backward several meters with a single strike.

Raine was thrown back even faster. He landed and staggered more than ten steps, his face flushed from the violent collision.

Then he raised his head and fixed his burning gaze on the wounded gnoll.

He had stopped it.

And he was completely unharmed.

That meant one thing.

He could fight it.

Before the clash, facing such a powerful and vicious opponent had stirred worry, fear, and hesitation within him. After meeting it head-on, every distracting emotion vanished.

Confidence flooded him.

The elite Night Watchmen racing up behind him stared in astonishment. They had just seen this dire gnoll fight Lord Hamilton, a Knight, on nearly equal terms.

Yet Raine had forced it backward with one blow.

Had Hamilton reduced the creature to less than a tenth of its strength, allowing Raine to snatch an easy victory?

Raine's strike also made Hamilton's eyes brighten.

Despite his severe injuries, Hamilton contracted his muscles to force the bleeding wounds shut. Then he stamped down.

Bang!

Mud sprayed outward.

Using the opening Raine had created, Hamilton gathered his remaining strength and shot toward Savage Claw's back. He leveled his Knight sword and thrust straight ahead.

Danger screamed through Savage Claw's instincts. The instant it felt the wind at its back, it spun and countered with a reflexive claw strike.

But Raine's blade had already cut a bone-deep wound into the gnoll's only usable right claw, greatly weakening the attack.

Pshk!

Hamilton's sword plunged into Savage Claw's left chest, and blood immediately welled from the wound.

The claw strike sent Hamilton flying in return. He could no longer hold his earlier wounds closed. Blood sprayed from several gashes while he was still in the air, and he crashed heavily to the ground.

The iron-skinned human lay motionless, his survival uncertain.

Joy surged through Savage Claw.

Before that emotion reached its face, wind swept toward the back of its head again.

This time, its worsening injuries left its body unable to obey its thoughts quickly enough. Savage Claw turned and saw a graceful arc of silver cross its vision.

Its neck began to itch.

The gnoll raised a hand and touched the spot. Something warm and wet spilled out.

Then the agony arrived.

Savage Claw clamped its hands over its neck and tried to speak, but only wet gurgles emerged. Bloody foam spilled from its mouth. The savagery in its eyes faded, leaving them dull and empty.

Thump!

Savage Claw toppled onto the ground. Its tall, powerful body continued to twitch as blood spread across the grass.

Even its formidable vitality could not keep it alive after both carotid arteries had been opened and blood was gushing from its neck like twin fountains.

Raine remained where he stood, gasping for breath, his chest heaving like a bellows.

The life-and-death exchange had lasted only seconds, but he had committed everything to every move.

At the instant he launched Leaping Cleave, Claire's instruction had returned to him. He changed the angle of his blade midway through the attack, turning the downward chop into a horizontal cut from right to left.

During his first clash with Savage Claw, he had discovered that even 14 Strength could not sever the creature's claw. Its body was simply too tough.

The skull was the hardest bone in the body, so Raine had abandoned that target and cut horizontally instead.

The neck was far softer.

The exchange among Raine, Savage Claw, and Hamilton had unfolded with astonishing speed. The other Night Watchmen had barely taken a few steps before the fight ended.

Now they stood frozen, staring.

What shocked them most was the explosive strength hidden inside Raine's thin frame, along with his direct and ferocious fighting style. Watching him was like seeing a kitten transform into a tiger in a single breath.

"Good! Hahaha! Cough... cough..."

Hamilton laughed in triumph when he saw Raine finish Savage Claw. The injury to his lung immediately sent him into a fit of coughing.