Chapter 28: Transform for Me!

"It's this guy again!!!"

Fernando’s face twisted into a snarl, his charge accelerating even further. Clearly, he had no intention of letting Ron, that meddlesome troublemaker, off the hook.

"Let me show you my true power after this transformation!"

The knight roared in his heart, the invisible pressure of his aura pushing back the layers of rain like a barrier. He was like a steam train at full speed, closing the distance to the young man attempting to block his path in an instant.

"Die!"

The longsword in his charge radiated a golden light, slicing through the curtain of rain, determined to hack Ron into a pulp.

This was genuine Holy Swordsmanship!

Faced with such a crisis, Ron remained entirely unruffled. After his advancement, he was no longer that weak apprentice. Fernando’s high-speed charge appeared to slow down in his eyes, and he could see the trajectory of the knight's Holy Swordsmanship with crystal clarity.

Holy Swordsmanship—Ron was far too familiar with it!

He turned his own longsword in advance, bracing it before him, and then gave a slight nod to the holy light elements clinging to the knight’s blade.

The next moment...

Clang—!

The piercing sound of metal striking metal erupted into an invisible shockwave. Ron felt his whole body sink, his arm went numb, and he was forced backward against his will. He flew back a full three or four meters before he could barely manage to halt his retreat.

"What immense power!"

Even though he had already signaled the holy light elements to stop assisting the dark and terrifying minotaur, Ron still couldn't compete with the knight in terms of pure brute force.

"It seems I'm still quite far from being a true Gandalf..."

Recalling the heroic bearing of the White Wizard, the young man felt a pang of emotion. He shook his sore, numb arm and looked forward with a firm gaze. As a pure-love warrior, Ron knew exactly how difficult this tough battle would be.

The evil minotaur was a Tier 3 Templar Knight, while he was merely a weak, pitiful, and helpless Tier 2 mage. Even though his good reputation had spread far and wide among the holy light elements, it still couldn't entirely restrain Fernando. Ron understood that to uphold justice, he would have to use his trump card!

"Mr. Fernando, do you have a dream?"

The youth asked solemnly, as if they were old friends of many years. But the only reply was the longsword swinging out from the rain. Just that morning, they could still exchange a few words, yet now, he was as cold as a stranger. This scene chilled Ron’s heart, even as he stood drenched in the rain. He felt that the knight was even more cold-blooded, unscrupulous, and depraved than he had been that afternoon. And he didn't even know who he had learned it from!

***

"Where is your musket? Take it out!!!"

Fernando’s voice was high and shrill, like a lone wolf howling. He leaped high into the air, his silver-and-gold-patterned armor seemingly fusing together, acting like a heavy shield held before his chest. The silver-white longsword didn't attempt to resonate with the holy light elements again; instead, it was coated in a hazy white light emanating from within the knight himself, and he slashed down at Ron with all his might.

He didn't waste words with the boy like he had during the day. He perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be fast, accurate, and ruthless. He had realized what it meant to stop at nothing and give everything! Even if the combat technique he used couldn't resonate with the holy elements, and even if Ron tried to deceive him with despicable words, Fernando acted as if he heard nothing. Only one thought remained in his mind.

Charge! Charge! Charge! I am no longer who I was!

However, the next moment, the leaping knight suddenly saw Ron toss his longsword aside and flash his little white teeth at him.

*What is he doing?*

Before the thought could fully form, he saw a pale blue light suddenly erupt from the youth's palm. *What kind of magic is that?* Fernando felt a jolt of alarm, a sudden, ominous premonition. But before he could observe any further, his entire field of vision was swallowed by that pale blue light.

It was unclear how much time had passed—perhaps only a heartbeat. The knight blinked his eyes in confusion, sitting slumped on the rain-slicked paving stones. The night was cold, and the stones were colder. He wanted to get up, but found he couldn't; his heavy armor and sword were pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.

"What did you do to me!?"

Fernando was filled with shock and rage, but after shouting that, he froze. His voice was wrong—his throat felt tight! His original voice had been deep and powerful; how could it sound so soft and squeaky now?

Wait, soft and squeaky!?

He reached down toward his crotch in disbelief.

Nothing! There was nothing there!

Fernando’s heart turned to ice. He looked around in a panic, and suddenly caught his reflection in the metal of his armor: a face he had never seen before, yet one that was strangely familiar—a youthful, delicate face. It was himself, transformed into a little loli!

!!!

The knight’s worldview collapsed.

***

He couldn't fathom what kind of bastard could invent such a vicious spell. Although Fernando considered himself ruthless, evil, and willing to stop at nothing, in reality, he didn't even amount to one ten-thousandth of the person before him.

*'Is effort truly worthless in the face of talent!?'*

Watching Ron walk toward him step by step, Fernando felt boundless fear and hesitation rising within him.

*Run!*

Even if he had to run away like a stray dog with its tail between its legs, he didn't want to be enemies with this person any longer. Because the knight, now turned into a little loli, couldn't even imagine what terrible things might happen next.

"Don't come over here!"

Ron’s steps suddenly froze. Fernando’s terrified scrambling backward completely extinguished the warmth and enthusiasm in his heart. In this cold world, why couldn't people just trust each other? Faced with Fernando bullying the weak and wantonly satisfying the minotaur’s desires, Ron naturally wouldn't give him a kind look. But if he were to just shoot him dead to rid the world of a menace, it would bring him endless trouble. As everyone knew, Ron was the most timid and risk-averse person!

So, after much thought, he decided to give the knight a chance. He would let him become a productive member of society, like Baron Mark, and allow him to make amends for the wrongs he had committed. There was no greater act of kindness than this.

To that end, Ron had confiscated the knight’s "instrument of crime" to suppress the minotaur's desires, and to help him understand the hardships of an ordinary person, he had been forced to use "Shape-Shifting" to shrink his body and weaken his strength. It was a pity that Fernando didn't appreciate his good intentions.

"I’m doing this for your own good!" Ron sighed, feeling that the knight was simply beyond saving.

However, Fernando was even more terrified now. He braced his elbows against the ground and scrambled backward frantically, like a soldier who had lost a battle and was so frightened by the enemy that he discarded his armor and weapons.

"Don't come over!"
"Don't come over here!"

He shrieked in panic, and using his now-miniature size, he crawled out of his armor and began to scurry away for his life in the direction he had come from.

Ron opened his mouth, about to remind the other party not to run around in his underwear on a rainy night lest he catch a cold, but before the words could leave his lips, the petite figure had already vanished into the layers of rain.

Fine then...

The knight’s performance left Ron somewhat disappointed, but after all, not everyone could have an epiphany like Baron Mark. As for whether Fernando would seek revenge on Dawn Lane, the youth wasn't actually worried. At worst, he could just sell his body tomorrow and call upon the "Dark Ancestor" Olivia. After all, he was a man with connections!