"Poor soul!" Yalunte looked at Dina, who was sitting on the ground, mumbling in disarray, and couldn’t help but shake his head.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt a chill. Subconsciously, he turned his head to see an ice cone radiating coldness flying past him from behind, heavily embedding itself in a tree trunk.
Yalunte turned around and saw a burst of cold air instantly explode, blowing open a gap in the blazing fire line. Some ice crystals were still hanging on the charred truck. A beautiful figure appeared in the gap, and it was Hillna, the Judgement Legion’s chief mage.
"Trying to leave, Mr. Yalunte?" Hillna emotionlessly wielded her immense magic wand as snow began to fall from the sky.
She has just returned to the vehicle team and sought some healing magic for her ears. Now, her injury was basically healed, and she could barely hear the sound.
"Everyone, pursue Arya’s Blade!" she commanded, turning her head towards her subordinates.
At her order, the knights and magicians rushed out, following the direction the Advance Team had retreated from, completely ignoring Yalunte’s presence.
"Miss Hillna Fuyiros, long time no see, when was the last time we met?" Seeing Hillna, a smile appeared on Yalunte’s face.
"Don’t get friendly with me, you despicable man!" Hillna had no good feelings towards Yalunte, either, with a tone full of hostility.
"Miss Hillna, don’t want me to leave?" The smile remained on Yalunte’s face.
"Behave yourself and come with us, go confess to the Pope!" Hillna declared, pointing her wand at him.
"I am not a believer, why should I confess my sins to the Pope?" Yalunte shrugged his shoulders, appearing very relaxed.
"You are a heretic, the Pope has excommunicated you!" Hillna said.
"I’ve been expelled, what does the Church Court have to do with me? And why would I suddenly become a heretic? Does the Church not allow people to leave?" Yalunte continued to speak calmly.
"You," Hillna couldn’t retort him for a moment, she thought for a while and then started to settle down, "Are you trying to buy time for your colleagues?"
"Your people have gone in pursuit. What’s the point of delaying you?" Yalunte said.
"What do you intend to do then?" Hillna asked.
"Just haven’t seen you for a long time and wanted to talk to you." Yalunte showed a smiled again as he looked at her.
"I have nothing to talk about with you. You and I are not friends, but enemies!" Hillna said coldly.
"It seems I’ve never offended you, how have we become enemies?" Yalunte shrugged his shoulders, asking in confusion.
"Enough with the nonsense. Will you stay obediently there on your own or do I have to help you with that?" Hillna threatened, lifting her magic wand.
"Are you planning to arrest me, Miss Hillna?" Yalunte asked.
"You’re playing dumb!"
"What about him?" Yalunte puckered his lips and asked, looking at the disoriented Dina.
"Him?" Looking at Dina’s dazed appearance, Hillna didn’t know what to say and was stunned.
Next, Yalunte raised his long sword, aimed at the grid window eye part of Dina’s helmet, and then looked up at her, saying, "Miss Hillna, just a light thrust of my sword, and your Dina will die on the spot. Do you still want to keep me?"
"You want to threaten me with the General?" Hillna hesitated, lifting her magic wand, and asked through gritted teeth.
"Otherwise what," Yalunte said as a matter of course, "Although I don’t want to kill Dina, if you want to arrest me, I might consider changing my mind."
"Despicable man!" Hillna cursed, frustrated.
"To survive in this world, one must be despicable!" Yalunte stated gorgeously. The ’world’ he referred to was an exotic term, originating from Chinese.
"Let the Lord Legion go, and I’ll spare your life!" Hillna threatened.
"No way, I’m not a fool!" Yalunte shook his head.
"So, what do you propose?" Hillna growled through clenched teeth.
"Back off, back off ten steps!" Yalunte raised his hand to demonstrate.
After some hesitation, Hillna begrudgingly took ten steps back, her eyes fixed on him. She was standing on the high ground, so after backing off, she could barely see Yalunte.
"Miss Hillna, I’m on my way!" All of a sudden, Yalunte’s voice echoed from the hillside. Startled, Hillna gave chase. But as she reached the top of the hill and saw Dina, a dazzling light burst in front of her. A loud, piercing sound followed, and the pain from her recently healed wound resurged.
Holding her ears, Hillna knelt on the ground and screamed. A blinding light obscured her vision, and the deafening explosion left her unable to hear anything. If she hadn’t knelt when she did, she might have already lost her sense of direction and stumbled into the fire.
Hearing Hillna’s anguished scream, Yalunte, who was escaping, looked back and grinned mischievously. His prank involved a Shock Bomb he’d gotten from Luo’er. This Earth-made gadget emitted a flash of light and a deafening sound that could instantly impair vision and hearing.
Humans primarily rely on sight, hearing, and smell to experience the world. Blocking two of these senses can essentially paralyze a person.
Now, he needed to quickly catch up with the Advance Team and the pursuing Judgement Legion. If the Advancement Team couldn’t hold them off, and the Legion snatched Arya’s Blade, all his efforts would be wasted.
Meanwhile, Luo’er and the others were not having an easy time. The Judgement Legion’s pursuers had caught up with them, consisted of Knights and Mages, putting five of them under enormous pressure.
Hu Daoke tried to halt the enemies with his gun, but a Mage soon targeted his machine gun position. His gunfire could only damage a specific point, while the Mage could unleash area damage. Sure he couldn’t hold on, with Tangmo’s cover, he began to retreat.
While Luo’er was fleeing, a Knight suddenly appeared, swinging a sword at him. Playing by instinct, Luo’er swung his rifle sideways, and the Knight’s sword landed heavily on his rifle’s feeding ramp.
Earth’s advanced material technology was evident in Luo’er’s Agu. Despite being hit hard, his rifle didn’t break. The Knight’s sword only sank a few millimeters into the rifle’s feeding ramp, scraping off some protruding parts.
But for an AK rifle, this was not a big setback – even without a cover, it could still function just fine with just a bolt carrier.
As the Knight was momentarily stunned by his failed strike, Luo’er twisted his rifle to deflect the sword, then aimed the rifle at the Knight’s helmet and fired several shots. Bullets ricocheted off the helmet, creating a spray of sparks. Fearing the bullets might hit his eyes, the Knight immediately stepped back, covering his helmet.
Taking this opportunity, Luo’er turned and ran. A fireball struck a nearby tree trunk and instantly burst into flames. Luo’er turned and fired several shots, and the Mage, who wasn’t as heavily armed as the Knight, hid behind the tree trunk.
Cheng Ziang was still lamenting over his broken beloved sword even after obtaining Arya’s Blade. The loss was more significant to him than the gain.
While he was grudgingly mulling over his broken sword, a Knight wildly rushed in, aiming for the defenseless Baiyue. Cheng Ziang bravely charged forward and knocked the Knight off his path.
Visibly infuriated, the Knight rose and attacked with his long sword. Cheng Ziang, still fuming about his broken sword and seeing the Knight advancing, also charged fearlessly.
In their first face-off, Cheng Ziang executed a swift sword draw, pulling out Arya’s Blade from his waist in a swift, resounding stroke that easily blocked the Knight’s attack.
In the end, Arya’s Blade prevailed. With just a single blow, Cheng Ziang broke the Knight’s sword and etched a gaping hole in his breastplate.
Under the influence of the Anti-Magic Glyph, the Knight’s Rune Armor failed to provide the necessary protection. The Knight watched in disbelief as his slashed breastplate gaped open, momentarily stunned.
Seizing the moment, Cheng Ziang hoisted Arya’s Blade again and thrust it through. The Blade slid seamlessly through the gap in the breastplate, puncturing the Knight’s lungs and slightly protruding at the back.
Afterward, Cheng Ziang forcefully removed Arya’s Blade, causing blood to gush out from the wound. The Knight tried to cover the wound but was restrained by his armor. He could only clumsily stuff the hole in his breastplate, eventually falling to the ground weakly.
Watching the knight slowly collapse, Cheng Ziang delicately shook Arya’s Blade. The blood on the blade formed small droplets that slid along the edge and into the soil.
"What a sword!" was Cheng Ziang’s mental review of the Blade. It felt great in his grip; the weight predominantly focused on the hilt, making it swing with ease. The Anti-Magic Glyph engraved on it effectively nullified Rune Armor’s defense. If he hadn’t guessed wrong, the blade didn’t only bear Anti-Magic Glyphs but Breaking Armor ones as well, making it effortlessly slice through the Knight’s breastplate.
Initially, he lamented the loss of his beloved sword, but he forgot about it now. Swords or daggers didn’t make much difference to him. If possible, he didn’t even want to hand over Arya’s Blade to the headquarters; he wanted to keep it for himself.