"Crack, crack..."
The sound of heavy armor moving was unavoidable, disturbing the bat sleeping while hanging in the cave, causing it to squeak twice.
Norton, who had been quietly submerged in the water, suddenly opened his eyes.
Warning-infused infrasound waves continuously bounced back and forth within the cavern, making Norton's heart jolt violently.
Norton's expression turned extremely grim. The oppressive feeling in his heart basically confirmed that he had been tracked.
But he never expected the tracking to reach this far—this was even more impressive than modern GPS. He had specifically taken a detour when returning, passing through the water pool to wash away his scent.
Remembering the scene from over a month ago when he witnessed Church Knights killing werewolves, Norton felt his scalp tingle.
He steadied his emotions and decided to proceed with his original plan.
Use the pond water as a buffer to ambush and kill these Church Knights.
If he truly couldn't win, he'd simply swim out through the other exit!"Gurgle..."
Norton pushed open the coffin lid at the bottom of the water, the wooden coffin board floating upward. He climbed out of the coffin wearing a full set of heavy armor.
The heavy armor on his body allowed him to sink to the bottom.
His ears captured the movements within the cavern as he removed his steel armor, simultaneously listening quietly to the cave's activities through the water.
He could use his superhuman hearing to locate the footsteps of these Church Knights.
However, the sounds in the cavern seemed somewhat unusual.
"Boom, boom..."
Piercing, thunderous noises echoed through the pitch-black cave. Two Holy Knights wearing golden armor moved like human bulldozers, not dodging or avoiding the narrow cave opening, instead directly smashing through the stalactites above them.
"Unclean... eliminate!"
Hoarse voices emerged from the two Holy Knights, their bodies seemingly possessing limitless strength.
"Hiss..." Breathing sounds resembling steam engine exhaust came from within their steel helmets, demonstrating the terrifying physical prowess of whatever was inside.
Though Norton's body was hidden in the water, for some reason he felt he could smell the presence of these two Church Knights, or rather, sense a threatening aura rapidly approaching.
This feeling was somewhat like a sixth sense.
The two Holy Knights had already forced their way through the stalactites into the deeper parts of the cave.
"Snap!"
The small wooden chair that had supported Norton's many days of flights of fancy was crushed under a Holy Knight's foot. The cave was dark, but this seemed completely unable to hinder the Holy Knights' vision. Both their heads instantly turned toward that deep pond.
"Blood...sucker... unclean! Eliminate!"
With hoarse voices, the two golden Holy Knights made a great leap into the deep pond.
Norton, hidden underwater, had long noticed the sounds in the cavern. He had even specifically floated up to hover just below the pond's surface, ready to strike the Church Knights from the water when they approached.
"Church Knights are human too. Though their thinking might be simple, they'd definitely remove their armor to enter the water!"
Hidden beneath the water surface, Norton felt his mind filled with excitement, his deadened heart seemingly restored to beating.
His gaze fixed on the calm water surface, and in the next moment, he saw two golden steel figures leap down in a great jump.
"Splash!"
The water surface was smashed into a deep crater.
Norton in the water was startled.
"What kind of Golden Saints are these? How come I've never seen them in the Church? They're too reckless! Jumping in directly wearing heavy armor? Aren't they just going to drown?"
Various thoughts instantly flashed through Norton's mind, but his hands never stopped moving. Holding his sword, he swam toward the two Holy Knights like a fish, forcefully thrusting his sword toward the forehead of the Holy Knight closest to him.
The great sword's smashing effect in water was far inferior to thrusting, which at least could generate some force.
Norton believed that with his current strength, even if he couldn't kill the Church Knight inside with one thrust, he could at least stun him. He could use that moment to swim to the Church Knight's side and forcibly drown him in the water.
However, the Holy Knights' combat desire was extremely intense.
The moment they jumped into the water, they had already raised their golden greatswords and swung them down violently toward Norton's direction.
Water currents disturbed the surface, with buoyancy greatly reducing the speed and strength of the greatswords' descent.
But even so, it didn't cause the Holy Knights to hesitate in the slightest.
"Clang..." Norton's great sword struck the Holy Knight's forehead, producing a clear sound even underwater.
Just as Norton's sword hit the Holy Knight's forehead, the descending golden greatsword was about to strike Norton's body.
Norton's legs moved like a swimming fish, quickly twisting his body at the bottom of the water to dodge the incoming strike.
The tip of the golden greatsword struck the rock behind him.
Even underwater, the force of this strike actually managed to carve a long, narrow gash from top to bottom in the rock, which startled Norton.
"What kind of terrifying strength is this? These definitely aren't normal Church Knights!"
"Did that damn old pervert Mia actually hide such good things?"
Watching the two golden heavy armor knights continuously sinking after their strike, Norton felt his scalp tingling.
If he encountered these two things on land, either one of them could probably beat him to death.
The continuously sinking Holy Knights seemed completely unaware of their aquatic environment. They both kept swinging their golden greatswords toward Norton, their feet constantly making walking motions as if trying to run over and slash Norton to death like they would on land.
Their idiot-like behavior made Norton even more astonished.
"Even while continuously sinking underwater, you still want to use your greatswords to eliminate unclean me? Harkin, you bastard..."
Looking at the sword marks carved into the rock behind him, Norton didn't dare to go down any further. He floated in the water, paddling with both hands, his eyes fixed on the two Holy Knights that had sunk to the bottom. The more he watched them, the more abnormal they seemed.
The two Holy Knights that had sunk to the bottom marched violently through the water, trying to run toward Norton, their greatswords constantly swinging in behavior that resembled mental disability.
Anyone who could swim knew that if you moved slowly according to water dynamics, you might still be able to move while wearing heavy armor—for example, Norton knew how to use water buoyancy to walk underwater in heavy armor.
But once movements became rapid, exceeding the speed and frequency that buoyancy could support, the buoyancy that was pushing you up would become gravity pressing you down. This would make the heavy armor even heavier, to the point where normal people would find it difficult to lift their feet.
These two Holy Knights couldn't suppress their killing intent toward Norton even underwater. Their violent, chaotic movements—though their physical strength could withstand the pressure—actually caused the water buoyancy to push them backward instead of forward. Because of their movements, their bodies swayed uncontrollably, sometimes horizontal on the bottom, sometimes vertical.
"..."
Aren't these pure idiots?
Watching the abstract behavior of these two, Norton's feelings of oppression and apprehension completely dissipated.
"Biological weapons! The Church has this trick too? Mia, you really deserve to die!"
Norton felt extremely grateful that he hadn't been selected to become such a biological weapon. Watching these two idiots perform at the bottom, they had completely lost their own thinking and common sense.
If he had become like this, it would truly be a fate worse than death.
But if the Church really only sent such idiots, then there really wasn't anything to fear!