Chapter 622: Frozen Domain

The surviving knights led the squire knights to begin cleaning the battlefield, rounding up slow-to-flee prisoners, collecting abandoned armor, longswords, lances, and horses, and organizing their fallen comrades' remains.

The enemy knights' corpses would be returned to Marquis Raging Waves.

Their fallen comrades would be cremated on-site, with the ashes taken back.

However, most on the battlefield were wounded knights—those with strong physiques rarely died easily. Even if pierced by a knight's lance, many survived. As long as the injuries weren't crippling, they could bounce back after some R&R.

These knights could also fetch substantial ransoms or be recruited into their own ranks.

With the Sapphire Duchy having lifted restrictions on recruiting knight prisoners, such brutal battles no longer incurred heavy losses as long as they won. The captured prisoners and supplies were enough to offset the battle losses.

Liszt returned to Riverheart Keep with the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword, intending to discuss Marquis Raging Waves' devastating attacks with Earl Li William.

But the Earl had just landed and was carried back by a group of knights.

While Liszt was being overwhelmed by the Marquis, the Earl had fought alone against four sky knights. If not for Liszt adjusting tactics at the critical moment and using Dragon Aura to enhance his archery support, the Earl might have already met Liszt's mother, Melissa Longyam, to complain about his son's recklessness.

The Earl needed rest, so Liszt didn’t disturb him.

In truth, Liszt himself had suffered internal injuries from being slammed into the ground by the Marquis mid-air, causing his organs to shift.

Mana healing took care of it.

"Have the chef prepare a meal," he ordered briefly before heading to the bath to wash and change. In his bedroom, he drank some Half Slope Milk, ate some Shoebill Stork meat, and took a handful of elixirs.

First, he needed to replenish his Dragon Aura.

Strength brought confidence, shielding him from unexpected events. After a half-hour bath, his body had mostly recovered, leaving him reinvigorated. His advanced fire-attribute Dragon Aura seemed to have improved further during this battle.

For sky knights, advanced mana was divided into two stages: ordinary and perfected.

Though Liszt's advanced mana was transforming into Dragon Aura, it wasn’t yet mastered. This was a unique cultivation experience—perhaps only he could train alongside a dragon before reaching mana mastery.

A feast awaited him in the dining hall.

The chef, brought by Liszt from Flower Town, couldn't match Mrs. Abi's skill but excelled in roasting and stir-frying.

Liszt had just sat down and tucked his napkin when Alvin Eaglesword arrived to pay his respects, having already heard that Liszt had seized the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword from the Marquis.

"My lord!"

"I know why you're here." Liszt tossed the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword beside him to Alvin. "Take a good look, and tell me about this Grand Sprite weapon’s attributes."

"Thank you, my lord!"

Alvin took the sword with trembling hands, breathing heavily with excitement. "I thought I’d never see this heirloom again. With the Marquis’ status and power, he’d never return it... The Eaglesword family has held this blade for centuries."

Liszt ate while listening.

Though Alvin’s talent was lacking and the Eaglesword family had long declined, knowledge of the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword had been passed down through generations: "When the Kingdom of the Eagle was founded, they slew an ice dragon. A segment of its forelimb bone was preserved by the royal mages and later awarded to my family."

"Our ancestor, an Iron Knight, crafted it into a dragon-bone weapon after much experimentation... Later, we obtained a Grand Sprite nearing death, and its blood infused and reforged the blade, forging it into our family's symbol."

"Its core attribute is quadrupling ice-attribute mana—scaling with the wielder's strength. It also enhances water, thunder, and wind-attribute mana by two to three times, and even fire-attribute mana by one fold."

"Additionally, it thickens mana and slows mana leakage. But its true power lies in the special ability granted by the Grand Sprite’s blood—a secret even the Marquis doesn’t know. I'd always told Deborah I didn't know, but I do."

Spirit bug blood has special enhancements for weapons, which Liszt is well aware of.

Being a spirit bug-forged weapon, the Swift Shadow Bow's special effect is to increase arrow speed, so his eyes lit up as he asked, "What is the special ability of the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword?"

"Frozen Domain."

"Frozen Domain? What does that mean?"

Alvin replied, "My lord, I watched your battle with the Marquis from the castle. If my family's records are accurate, the Marquis is a powerful Domain Knight."

"Domain Knight? What does that mean? Some ancient warrior lineage?"

"On the contrary, Domain Knights have severed many ancient warrior lineages. I am merely an elite Earth Knight and don’t know much about Sky Knights, but my family’s records mention that Sky Knights at the perfected level can resonate with the mana of a knight order, forming a powerful Mana Domain."

"Explain in detail."

"I only heard bits from my father, treating it as a story at the time, so I’m not entirely clear. My father told me that a Domain Knight’s Mana Domain isn’t indestructible—the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword can freeze the resonance of the Mana Domain, cutting off the Domain Knight’s source of power."

This represented an entirely new cultivation system.

Or rather, a missing link between Sky Knights and dragon knights.

Liszt questioned Alvin further, but Alvin’s knowledge was fragmentary at best. He only knew that perfected-level Sky Knights possessed a Mana Domain. As for how to cultivate a Mana Domain or similar methods, he was clueless. Even the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword’s ability to freeze Mana Domains was something Alvin didn’t know how to activate.

"This is something you’ll have to explore yourself, my lord. The only information I can provide is that the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword seems capable of altering the nature of its wielder’s mana. I recall my father saying that if he could wield it, he’d make a fortune off ice alone... Unfortunately, activating it requires advanced mana."

With that,

Alvin ceremoniously returned the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword to Liszt with both hands and knelt on one knee, pledging his fealty: "Thank you, my lord, for rescuing me from captivity and reclaiming my family’s heirloom, the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword. Alvin Eaglesword pledges his unwavering loyalty to you, swearing upon the glory of knighthood to ride into battle at your bidding!"

"I accept your loyalty, Alvin Eaglesword." Liszt grasped the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword and accepted the oath.