The Adventures of an Overpowered Knight in Another World Chapter 563- Tales of a Gutsy Knight (2)

The Storm Sovereign beat its wings the sub-second later, inciting a frenzy of chaotic gales. This, combined with the treacherous terrain of the chasm, rendered the wind currents here devastatingly powerful.

"Ready to finally face me, are you? Allow me to demonstrate the might possessed by a knight of the Temple of Light."

Vangeance lunged forward. However, the very next moment, he stumbled over thin air and nearly plummeted off the suspension bridge.

"What are you doing?" Silvia questioned, clearly baffled by his lack of grace.

"It isn't on me! I felt something obstruct my foot just now. That bastard is definitely pulling strings!"

As she had been bidden, she stood back, content to merely observe Vangeance face off against the Storm Sovereign. Having watched him trip, stumble, and humiliate himself for days, she had arrived at a singular conclusion.

The beast was not merely sentient; it possessed a malicious, high-level intelligence that could outwit even the most seasoned humans.

The previous days filled with failed endeavors, bouts of lost direction, and constant falls into traps were not the result of Vangeance’s clumsiness, but rather the machinations of the Storm Sovereign.

It was leading them into peril by design. Now that it had surfaced again, it was surely attempting to hoodwink Vangeance once more.

Silvia exhaled, realizing that for a simpleton like him, a foe that relied on sophisticated schemes and traps was the ultimate mismatch.

Standing upon the bridge.

"Why is the air tilting?!" Vangeance bellowed, clawing at the bridge’s ropes.

He prepared to mount his assault when a powerful gust erupted, nearly blowing him into the abyss.

Silvia surveyed the layout of the environment and the chasm below, noting how the extreme winds bashed against the canyon walls, causing the air currents to shift unpredictably.

Moreover, the multitude of caves, both small and massive, riddling the cliff face gave Silvia an ominous feeling. She was on the verge of ordering Vangeance to abandon this confrontation and find a more suitable arena, when the creature struck.

The thunderhawk wyvern hybrid screeched, its eyes flaring with electrical intensity as it fixed its gaze upon the bumbling knight.

In the next moment, it dived. A barrage of lightning bolts erupted from its wings, shredding the support ropes of the bridge.

Vangeance flourished his blade, effortlessly parting the storm and hacking through the lightning itself. To a highly skilled knight like him, who had endured countless life-and-death skirmishes and faced far greater horrors, this was child's play.

"Is that really all you can conjure?" Vangeance retorted with a smirk. Just then, he noticed the beast grinning back at him.

The Storm Sovereign flapped its wings to initiate another strike. This time, however, it eschewed lightning in favor of razor-sharp wind blades. Furthermore, it completely ignored Vangeance, directing its assault toward the far end of the roped structure.

!!!

"Move!"

Silvia shouted a desperate warning. Yet, it was too late.

The jagged blades of wind easily sliced through the fiber ropes.

The ancient bridge, weather-worn and fragile, snapped like dry thread, and the entire structure collapsed into the depths below. It goes without saying that Vangeance was pulled down with it.

"YOU... BASTAAAAAAARD!!!"

His enraged cry echoed through the valley.

Debris from the bridge and the screaming knight plummeted into the dark abyss, swallowed entirely by the roar of the gale.

The Storm Sovereign hovered above the remains of the bridge, watching the knight’s fall with grim satisfaction. It let out a snort, cast a wary look at Silvia, then turned and soared back into the heart of the storm clouds.

As soon as it vanished, Silvia moved from her position. A stout rope could be seen secured to a tree behind her, extending down to the cliff side below.

A few moments later, Vangeance, who had supposedly fallen into the depths, was hauled back up, still tightly bound around his waist.

His face was smeared with grime, likely from slamming into the cliff face during the drag. His hair was a disheveled mess, and his eyes burned with a mixture of bitterness and shame.

"You overgrown, sky-pissing pigeon! I’ll pluck every last one of your mangy hatchlings until they’re as bald as a monk’s pate, then roast the lot of them on a spit!"

He hammered a fist into the ground with a string of curses.

He then caught sight of Silvia nearby, looking too abashed to meet her gaze.

He had confidently told her before the fight that he required no assistance, yet he had needed saving within moments. Worse, being rescued by her only to face her judging glare was more than he could bear.

In the end, he had no choice but to vent his frustration toward the Storm Sovereign, whose entire lineage he was currently threatening to grill.

Observing his histrionics, Silvia sighed and said calmly, "Your standard approach is ineffective here."

Vengeance blinked.

"What? It is just a beast..."

Before he could finish, he saw her gesturing toward the cliff edge.

Vangeance followed her finger and froze.

The cliff face beneath them was perforated with holes. Small, large, many thousands—they pockmarked the wall like a grotesque honeycomb descending deep into the chasm.

"What?!!"

He had only just noticed it. Previously, the abyss had been shrouded in fog and erratic winds. Besides, once the Storm Sovereign had appeared, his focus was entirely on the bird, leading him to overlook the surrounding environment.

"A colony nest. Probably abyss burrowers. They are carnivorous and protect their territory with extreme aggression," Silvia explained coldly.

"The Storm Sovereign didn't hit you directly because it knew you could survive such an impact. Instead, it destroyed the bridge to force you into the chasm. Had you fallen, even if you survived the drop, you would have been badly wounded. From there, you would have been swarmed by thousands of monsters and devoured alive."

Vangeance swallowed hard, bile rising in his throat. In his mind’s eye, he replayed the scene: his body plummeting and bones shattering, only to be consumed by an endless tide of horrors.

A chill crept down his spine.

"That thing planned all of this?"

"Indeed."

Vangeance fell silent.

For the first time since their inception, his habitual arrogance vanished entirely.

Even with his clumsy nature, he grasped that the bird had been playing with him, baiting him into traps from the very moment they arrived.

He had never been given a fair chance at a real battle.

"So, what is the plan now?"

Although a man of pride, he knew when he had to be pragmatic.

Silvia, who possessed a sharper mind, was far better equipped for this situation.

"We won't engage the Storm Sovereign yet." So saying, Silvia turned away and began traversing deeper into the storm-ridden mountain path.

Vangeance chased after her, calling out, "What? Why not? If we don't finish it, it will just keep harassing us!"

"Because, at this moment, it holds the upper hand."

She did not break her stride.

"Then what is the strategy?"

"I intend to strip away its ability to flee."

"You’re capable of that?"

A small, dangerous smile touched Silvia’s lips. "Do not worry. Once the preparations are finalized, the likelihood of it escaping will be minimal. For now, we continue our scouting. Until I give the order, do not engage the Storm Sovereign under any circumstances."

While Vangeance still harbored doubts, he could tell even with his simple reasoning that Silvia was crafting a strategy.

To successfully complete the trial mandated by the Altar, he chose to comply. In any event, deferring to Silvia’s judgment was hardly an alien concept for him.

.

Days bled into one another.

During this period, the pair traversed shattered ridges, windswept plateaus, ravenous jungles, and floating stone paths, with each obstacle appearing more formidable than the last.

Through these trials, they finally grasped why the region was labeled a Class S forbidden zone.

The tempest never truly abated. Thunder crashed overhead without pause, and violent gusts buffeted their forms like unseen hammers.

Had they been mere ordinary knights, the journey would have surely crushed them. However, as knights of the Temple of Light, they had endured Reinhardt’s brutal, spartan training that had brought them to the brink of death time and again.

Compared to that, this was nothing.

Furthermore, during their trek, they crossed paths with the Storm Sovereign several more times. Yet, without fail, Silvia ordered a retreat.

Vangeance gripped his fists tightly. Despite his instincts howling for combat, he followed her lead.

Initially, he nearly erupted in rage at the bird’s blatantly mocking displays.

But by the third encounter, even he began to discern a pattern.

"It only appears where it can ruin us."

Silvia looked at Vengeance with surprise and offered a nod of validation. This was the exact reason she had opted to ignore its baiting in favor of exploration.

It revealed itself only near environmental danger zones where it held absolute tactical superiority.

What was more, it scrupulously avoided direct, fair combat.

By the time the fifth encounter occurred, Vangeance had completely abandoned the prospect of a reckless charge. Instead, he began to observe, analyze, and use his head.

Whenever the Storm Sovereign surfaced, he ignored it entirely, focusing instead on his reconnaissance.