The campaign that comes to be known as the Bloodgold Pin Campaign grows in significance with each passing day.

  It’s named mainly because the soldiers of the Golden Bde Legion and the Third Guard Legion wear golden armor.

  Technically, Henwell’s troops wear bck armor, so it should’ve been called the Bckgold Pin Campaign.

  But Henwell’s ferocity steals the spotlight—his blood-red cloak and armor stained crimson in battle leave a sting impression on everyone.

  So, the battle is dubbed the Bloodgold Pin Campaign.

  This also means that people pay more attention to Henwell’s personal strength than to the fact that Peace Haven fields two elite legions.

  A man not even thirty years old, rumored to be a Grand Knight—that news draws even more eyes than the battle’s outcome.

  In this feudal era, individual strength is still highly revered.

  Only now does Henwell fully grasp the weight the Grand Knight rank carries among all factions.

  These factions keep sending envoys to probe his stance, trying to confirm if he really is a Grand Knight.

  Henwell doesn’t admit it outright.

  He only says he’s a bit stronger than a Battle Knight, but not quite at the Grand Knight level.

  Henwell has actually been a Grand Knight for three years now, firmly settled at this rank.

  And through countless brutal battles, he clearly feels his strength steadily rising.

  As for the Fighting Spirit, Henwell still hasn’t managed to refine it.

  The blood mist that surges out during his fights doesn’t quite feel like Fighting Spirit—he’s still trying to figure out exactly what it is.

  Compared to Fighting Spirit, Henwell’s blood mist isn’t as domineering.

  It certainly cks the healing properties of Fighting Spirit.

  When injured, Henwell usually relies on his ridiculously tough physique to recover naturally.

  This blood mist mainly sharpens his weapons, boosts his defense to almost the level of heavy armor, and grants his body a protective yer.

  More importantly, it gives Henwell explosive power, razor-sharp senses during battle, and a clear, calm mind.

  It also massively enhances his stamina.

  Overall, Henwell feels this blood mist is more like an aid to fight better.

  Maybe only at a higher rank will he truly understand its nature.

  Though Henwell has never fought a Grand Knight directly, he can roughly gauge his standing.

  During the Bloodgold Pin Campaign, from a kilometer away, Henwell keeps a close eye on Dougs and Ampton, the two legion commanders.

  In his perception, both are threats—but not deadly enough to make his hair stand on end.

  In other words, if it came down to it, Henwell is confident he could take on both in a one-on-two fight.

  Too bad neither of the two commanders ever stepped onto the battlefield.

  That leaves Henwell uncertain about exactly where he ranks among Grand Knights.

  He’s actually relieved the two Grand Knights didn’t join the fight.

  Had he faced both at once and still held his own, it would’ve drawn even more attention from all sides.

  As for killing these two Grand Knights, Henwell never even considers it.

  Doing so would seriously anger the Ika Kingdom.

  Sure, many factions might then offer him alliances, but that would mean living under their “roof”.

  Given Henwell’s past actions, any ally would have to stay on high alert, fearing he might pull some stunt and backfire on them.

  In short, that would leave Henwell shackled everywhere—definitely not as free and straightforward as he is now.

  Besides, Henwell now notices some new changes happening to his body.

  During the battle a week ago, he realizes that every time he kills an enemy, his body gains a slight boost.

  In the heat of combat, his senses sharpen, and his mind stays razor-clear.

  He’s certain that when an enemy dies, something intangible gets absorbed into his body—not blood or any physical substance, but some elusive essence only detectable through his heightened perception.

  Is he practicing some kind of dark magic, sucking up the enemy’s life force?

  Or maybe it’s their soul?

  Then he thinks about his chat group system and wonders if this is actually experience points from killing enemies.

  But if that’s the case, what about his level-up attribute panel?

  What about the free attribute points he gains on leveling?

  Could it be auto-distributing points without him knowing?

  Henwell spends a long time pondering and chatting with his chat group members but still can’t figure it out.

  He decides that next time he fights, he’ll pay extra attention to this phenomenon and try to understand it better.

  Because Henwell’s got too many secrets already, he’s reluctant to get involved with higher-level professionals beings.

  He especially doesn’t want to join any powerful professionals organizations.

  Who knows if some professionals could see right through his secrets?

  Henwell isn’t willing to risk it or bet that those professionals would have nothing but goodwill toward him.

  Besides all that, Henwell notices over the past couple of days that body-strengthening potions seem to be losing their punch on him.

  And as time drags on, their effectiveness keeps dropping.

  Has he finally developed a resistance?

  Even when he gets his hands on higher-grade potions, the results are still disappointing.

  That’s bad news for Henwell.

  A huge part of his strength comes from his ability to absorb body-strengthening potions endlessly.

  If he really can’t rely on them anymore, his personal growth is going to hit a serious bottleneck.

  However, Henwell realizes that even without the potions, as long as he keeps training daily, his physical condition isn’t noticeably declining.

  That’s a damn good sign.

  If he can just hold on for another twenty years, his dream of becoming a top-tier powerhouse isn’t shattered.

  He’s still only twenty-two and a half.

  At the current pace of natural growth, Henwell figures he might hit Iron Knight by twenty-five.

  That’s when he’ll finally feel like he can carve out a life in this fucked-up world.

  For now, since his personal power can’t yet change the whole game, Henwell pys it safe.

  He leans on his territory and army as his first line of defense.

  After this battle, people pay more attention to Henwell’s personal strength.

  But what Henwell cares about more is his army finally racking up results that make everyone else nervous.

  With three elite legions in hand, anyone has to seriously weigh the cost-benefit.

  The kingdom’s upcoming war with the duchy? Henwell doesn’t give a damn anymore.

  He’s done what he needed to do, grabbed what he could.

  Now, it’s time for Henwell to sit back and watch the show.

  If the duchy wants Henwell to step in again? Fine!

  But like always—

  They gotta pay up!