Not knowing what to say in his now armless state, the former S Rank Adventurer just stared down at his limp arms lying only a short distance from where he had landed after his quick retreat. Part of him was still unable to fully accept what had happened, as he couldn’t properly react to the threat of the group of veterans from the Red Dawn Legion that had already reached his side by the time he lifted his gaze from his unconnected pair of arms.
Resistance should have been simple given that it was clear that none of these old people had reached the S Rank in terms of strength, but that second of arrogance and confidence in facing this group of old people had ended up costing him dearly.
Even if he wanted to fight back, with two arms already missing, it was difficult to do so if one wasn’t proficient in magic... And unfortunately for him, he specialized in close quarters combat, something that wasn’t exactly useful now that he was working with two less arms than usual.
Strong as his legs were, he had no way to fight the opponent this time around. Especially so because he had clearly sensed that outside of their terrifying cooperative power when attacking him, the group of old people had formed a unique military formation when they had attacked him.
And within the Holy Light Church, the only members that posed the ability to utilize military formations were the legions that carried out large scale battles on behalf of the Holy See. Along with the deadly intent radiating off the group, it wasn’t that difficult for him to guess which legion this group of older people were part of...
"The Red Dawn Legion!"
The words came out followed by a sense of horror as he realized that he himself was currently impersonating someone from the Red Dawn Legion in front of someone who was part of the Red Dawn Legion. A fact that made him realize that if he didn’t get away fast, he wouldn’t just end up losing his arms, he might very well end up losing his life, something that couldn’t be recovered no matter how skilled the healer was.
Whoosh~!
And so, without the slightest bit of hesitation just as the older man was about to finish him off for daring to impersonate the Red Dawn Legion, the armless S Rank Adventurer used all his strength to escape. Making full use of his remaining powerful legs to disappear with such speed that even the five observing members of the Holy Light Church comparable to him in rank were left helpless at the terrifying speed on display.
"Hmph! Predictable coward..." However, contrary to the surprise that the five had expected to see on the face of the leading older veteran, he just sneered disdainfully in the direction of the escaping S Rank Adventurer before turning to look back at another veteran standing at the back. "Old Bell, you get this one."
"Got it captain, though I might be a bit rusty after all this time." Chuckling somewhat jokingly in response as he said this, the one referred to as old bell pulled out what could only be described as a towering war bow with countless small bells attached to it. Wasting no time in pulling back the golden string that materialized after mana was injected into the towering war bow-
Twang~
Following which a golden light shot forth at a terrifying speed incomprehensible to anyone but the five S Rank level individuals who had been observing from the side. Able to not only see the golden arrow hidden within the light, but also able to see the final look of despair on the face of the armless S Rank Adventurer who barely had the time realize what was happening before the golden arrow reached him and pierced straight through his head in a simple yet brutal manner.
"Wha... What just happened...?"
"Did someone at the S Rank level just... Die? So easily? Maybe that guy wasn’t at the S Rank?"
"Who are these old seniors!? To kill someone at the S Rank so fast and without any struggle- Is it a group of S Rank Adventurers!?"
"I think I heard that troublemaker mention the Red Dawn Legion before he ran. Maybe they are part of the Red Dawn Legion?"
"But those people also said they were a part of the Red Dawn Legion. Is it perhaps infighting?"
"No, I think-"
From start to finish, the entire situation hadn’t taken more than a few seconds to play out and by the time the spectators realized what had happened, they all began clamoring energetically. None of them showed even the slightest bit of pity towards the S Rank Adventurer who had arguably ended up dying in one of the worst ways possible for an S Rank Adventurer.
Not only did he lose his life at the hands of someone he normally considered beneath himself, but he had died so easily that some people had begun to seriously doubt that he had even been at the S Rank in terms of strength in the first place. Humiliating to the extreme, but at the very least he wouldn’t have to endure the painful remarks now that he was dead.
If anything, his subordinates that had originally been brave and seemingly ready to face the world were in a far worse state after their leader ended up perishing so easily.
Different from the crowd who didn’t understand the full situation, they understood full well how strong their leader was and even more so knew that they weren’t actual members of the Red Dawn Legion, but instead someone who had come to cause trouble while dressed up as someone from the Red Dawn Legion.
Originally, this wasn’t that dangerous of a thing as their leader was more than strong enough to force back any potential pilgrims of the Holy Light Church that might question their identity but never had any of them expected to have the luck to run into a group of veterans that had once been part of the Red Dawn legion.
The reason for this wasn’t just that it was incredibly difficult to encounter someone from the Red Dawn Legion outside certain deadly locations, but also because the Red Dawn Legion members generally disdained wasting time going on pilgrims to visit holy sites and would much rather spend whatever time they had vanquishing the enemies of the Holy Light Church.
The only exception to this being when the Red Dawn Legion veterans trained the younger generation and chose somewhere significant to visit before those juniors officially became part of the Red Dawn Legion... And that significant location just so happened to be Temple Guard City for this group, who had chosen the location specifically because of the dungeon that could be found at the very top of the mountain that Temple Guard City was located at the base of.
Faced with this kind of situation, the remaining impersonators had no will left to try and escape, as their now dead leader had become the perfect example of what would end up happening to them in case they tried something similar.
"I-I surrender! Please spare me great warrior!"
"Mercy! I didn’t know what I was doing! I swear to repent for the rest of my life for these misdeeds, just spare my life!"
"Uueee! Don’t kill me, pleeassee!"
Each and every one of them collapsing helplessly on the ground while begging for mercy in such a pitiful manner that it gave the group of veterans a pause, as they had no idea how to handle the current situation.
Although they could continue with the original plan of cutting down every single one of these impersonators daring enough to play around and cosplay as members of the Red Dawn Legion while simultaneously smearing their reputation through the mud, the group of seniors also understood that doing so would inevitably damage the reputation of the Holy Light Church in the eyes of the spectators.
After all, it was one thing to cut down the one who had attempted to escape and another to cut down a group of people who had already dropped their weapons and given up on fighting back.
Even more so if this group had already started growling at their feet begging for mercy.
But more important than any of that, they had a group of juniors watching them from behind. So, the decision was ultimately to spare the lives of this group of impersonators.
For now, that is...
Though they might live another day, it might not be for the best, as they would ultimately still end up under the jurisdiction of the Holy Light Church or more specifically the Red Dawn Legion, where they could send this group of troublemakers over for their legion to take care of the traditional way.
A way that would leave them with a path to survival and even a direct chance to become part of the Red Dawn Legion, though the most likely outcome was death...