Viktor was currently helpless. Not only was he badly wounded and tired, but he was also affected by the divine skill's drawback.

As he powerlessly looked at the dozens of raging creatures running at him, one thought ran through his mind.

'I'm f**ked, aren't I?'

It was not as if he had accepted that he would meet his end today; he really could not do anything. It would still be difficult for him even if he was still in his best state, much less in his current one.

However, while he was lying on the white snow mentally bracing himself for whatever might come, knights in shining armor came to his rescue.

Literally.

'F**k, am I hallucinating now?'

A distance away from where he was, a group of knights wearing what appeared to be chainmail under their white robe rushed toward him. On their robe was a large red cross, and as all 12 of them dashed toward him with their swords raised into the air, the foremost knight leading them shouted.

"By the grace of God! Destroy them all!"

"Chargee!!!" shout all the other knights

At that moment, Viktor witnessed something unbelievable.

These people who fought in weird costumes were inhumanely strong. In front of his very eyes, these 12 knights moved at a speed much faster than Viktor at his fastest. In just a few seconds, they had killed about a quarter of all the hellhounds surrounding him.

Their movements were nothing like the people in yellow jackets nor Andrei's military group. Although those people were skillful, they were nowhere as skillful as these knights in front of him.

It was as if these knights were born to swing the sword.

The creatures rushing at them were not few at all, but they did not seem intimidated. They swiftly slashed with their sword and blocked to counter the incoming creatures with their large shield, effectively killing all the incoming creatures one by one.

As the group of knights got closer to his position while fighting the abyss creatures, Viktor noticed that one particular figure was much stronger than the rest; instead of a red cross symbol, this knight had a black cross symbol on his chest.

When the gargoyles started swooping down from the sky, this particular figure put his finger on his sword. All of a sudden, the sword began glowing, and the moment he swung it at the gargoyle, the glowing sword easily decapitated it limb by limb before finally cutting its head off.

As for the other gargoyles in the air, there was one among the twelve knights who was wearing lighter, more slender armor than the rest. Unlike the other knights, this particular figure was fighting with a different weapon; a two-meter long metal polearm.

Right after this knight aimed his metal polearm into the air, Viktor noticed that the surface of the metal pole began to glow with strange markings. A moment later, laser-like energy was instantly shot toward one of the gargoyles in the sky.

Bammm!!

The laser-like energy quickly created a hole in the gargoyle's chest, and as the energy disappeared, the monster fell lifeless to the ground, creating a shallow crater where it fell.

The creatures' number was dwindling quite fast, but before the knights could wipe all the present ones out, more abyss creatures arrived.

Dozens of winged gargoyles and hellhounds quickly surrounded them.

'Where the hell are they even coming from!?' Viktor could not help but question inside. At this point, he had silently sat up and moved back a little in case he needed to run away.

"Stay in formation!" shouted the knight with a black cross on his robe. Upon hearing those words, all the knights started to line up and calmly received the incoming hordes, getting rid of the present creatures at a stable pace.

Viktor did not know if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but as he watched them take care of the gargoyles and hellhounds, he felt that they were having fun.

With his current pitiful condition, it was better for him to lay low and silently watch the battle. Viktor quickly whispered to the Djinn as quietly as he could, and soon after, a notification appeared in front of his eyes.

[Human male - Earth realm high stage - 44 to 48 battle power]

[Human male - Sky realm initial stage - 55 battle power]

[Human male - Sky realm middle stage - 60 battle power]

'10 peak Earth-realm figures and two Sky-realm figures, no wonder these people are so strong,' Viktor thought to himself.

All the incoming gargoyles and hellhounds were not their match. When the knights saw that hundreds of critters were beginning to join the fight as well, the knight in lighter armor raised his arm.

At that moment, fire instantly formed in the air and burned the whole field. The fire burned even on top of the thick snow!

It was a crazy sight.

Almost right after the fire engulfed the area, hundreds of abyss creatures were immediately turned to crisp. When the remaining creatures saw this, they quickly fled the way they came.

Within minutes, the 12 figures easily won the fight, leaving corpses of creatures scattered on the snowy hills.

He really could not believe what he just witnessed. If it were not for the lingering heat in the air, he would have thought that everything that just happened was just him hallucinating due to his extreme injuries and fatigue.

While Viktor was still stunned by the scene, the Djinn's voice brought him back.

As Viktor slowly stood up, the knight in slender armor came to approach him and opened his helmet. To Viktor's surprise, the knight's long brown hair was revealed, followed by a beautiful face.

The knight with the metal polearm was not a he, but a woman in her mid-twenties.

"You are fortunate that we were near," the woman said.

"Yes… yes… thank you for helping me."

"It was all by the grace of God," answered the woman with no expression whatsoever.

However, she suddenly scrutinized him from top to bottom, seemingly trying to analyze him.

"You are only at the mid-earth realm, what are you doing here alone at night?"

The woman's eyes were filled with suspicion as the question left her mouth.

"...Err… I was... scavenging..."

The last situation with Andrei taught Viktor to be more careful toward strangers, especially those who were stronger than him. Hence, it was definitely better not to reveal too much about himself.

This answer, however, made the woman turn even more suspicious of him. Without giving him a break, the woman began asking more questions.

To avoid any suspicion, Viktor acted as if he was a little slow.

"I… don't know... I'm lost…"

At this time, the figure with a black cross symbol on his chest stepped forward and took off his helmet, revealing the face of a man in his 40s with a thin beard.

"Don't scare the poor guy, Elena, he must be a local villager or something... They are the less fortunate."

Hearing this, Viktor almost could not contain his laughter. This was the first time someone called him unfortunate. He understood that it was because he was badly wounded and his clothes were torn here and there, but he still found the situation amusing.

The man then introduced himself. 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝐯𝗲𝐥.𝗻𝗲𝐭

"I am Knight Captain Landin, of the Vatican's templar knights."