The broad sword in Carl’s hand, newly reforged, collided mid-air with an iron ball the size of a human head, covered in spikes.
Ferocious force erupted from the point of contact. The deafening sound reverberated, scattering a flurry of sparks.
Two figures landed simultaneously.
After landing, Carl still had the strength to swing his broad sword and deflect incoming arrows. In contrast, the Big Man was forced to retreat repeatedly, his face flushing an even deeper red under the strain.
This scene caused the faces of several people present to change dramatically.
The Big Man Lakin’s strength was among the best in the Brotherhood. Moreover, he had been the one attacking with full force, while Carl had only mounted an impromptu defense.
Yet now... Lakin was the one at a disadvantage!
The archer Mei and his sister showed fear in their eyes, instinctively backing away.
"He’s not a Knight," the Rat Woman shrieked.
"A Formal Knight possesses a Life Seed; he’s completely different! Let’s team up and kill him!"
Whether someone possessed a Life Seed was obvious to certain individuals, and the Rat Woman was clearly one of them.
She growled softly, her hands pressing down fiercely. As if responding to a command, the rats surrounding her screeched and swarmed towards Carl.
It was unknown what these rats consumed to grow so large; they were more than a full size bigger than ordinary rats. Their teeth were sharp, and obeying the Rat Woman’s call, they were heedless of life and death.
Amidst their screeching, the swarm of rats surged forward from all directions.
Carl, having just landed, frowned at the sight—not from fear of the rats, but from disgust.
He raised his broad sword, its swings creating layers of sword images that formed a defensive screen, like a great iron door barricading his front.
While fending off the rats, Carl’s movement technique didn’t falter. He moved like a hawk gliding low, darting about and rendering the incoming arrows useless.
Against the rat swarm’s assault, he was like a boat in a tempest, steadfast no matter how fiercely the waves crashed against it.
The rats, on the other hand, were cut down one after another by the broad sword, collapsing lifeless in sprays of blood.
The Big Man Lakin planted his feet firmly. The chains around him clanked as they shot out, the iron ball whistling through the air.
Leveraging its immense inertia, he slammed the iron ball towards Carl.
At the same time, his muscles quivered rapidly, white steam rising from his skin, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
This was a Battle Skill, similar to a war cry, that could agitate one’s life force, temporarily boosting speed and attack power.
Entangled by rats and arrows, Carl couldn’t dodge in time and was forced to raise his sword to meet the iron ball once more.
This time, the force of the impact pushed him back a step.
"Battle Skill..." Carl muttered, a grimace on his face. "I have those too!"
With a light sigh, he grunted softly. His broad sword flashed, creating several afterimages that instantly enveloped an area several meters around him.
The swirling sword shadows, like a spinning grinder of flesh and blood, tore the shrieking rats to pieces as they were drawn in.
Battle Skill—Gale Slash!
Although Gale Swordsmanship wasn’t considered a refined sword art, and its Battle Skill was rather ordinary, its effectiveness depended entirely on the wielder.
In Carl’s hands, the power of Gale Slash made the hearts of his adversaries pound with fear.
Lesser Spell Force Field!
Under the influence of the force field, any attack entering a two-meter radius around Carl would suddenly decelerate.
For a moment, the ground was littered with rat corpses; despite their frenzied attacks, they couldn’t harm him in the slightest.
"Don’t hold back," the Rat Woman’s pretty cheeks twitched slightly, and she called out loudly, "Go all out! If he doesn’t die today, given his speed, we’ll be the ones to perish!"
She extended her hands. The flesh of her palms split open, and blood spurted from the wounds.
The rats stained with her blood froze momentarily, then shrieked piercingly. Their fur bristled, and their eyes emitted an eerie yellow glow.
The speed of these rats, now infected by the Rat Woman’s blood, suddenly doubled. An aura of madness emanated from them as they bared their fangs and lunged at Carl.
Each of these blood-empowered rats was now as formidable as an ordinary human wielding a weapon.
And their sheer numbers were enough to compensate for any gap in individual strength.
The archer Mei’s sister retrieved an ancient bronze bell. Her expression was solemn as she gently shook it.
As the bell rang, the earth beneath them loosened, and mangled corpses began to crawl out.
This was her power. Or rather, it was the power of the bell in her hands.
The corpses had clearly been placed there in advance, waiting for their target to fall into the trap.
She stretched out her hand and pointed. Below, the group of corpses began to move sluggishly. Their gaze turned towards Carl, and two fiery lights suddenly ignited within their dark eye sockets.
An ominous wind surged.
The previously sluggish corpses seemed to spring to life, their forms agile as they pounced towards Carl.
Lakin swung his chain with abandon, directing the iron ball in a furious assault.
Adding to the onslaught, fierce arrows rained down.
Carl swung his broad sword to block, taking a step back, his brow furrowed.
He was stronger than before, but facing the relentless, varied tactics of the four, he was beginning to feel the strain.
His gaze shifted, and he swung his sword, charging forward.
A whirlwind of sword shadows erupted, forcibly carving a path through the encirclement, through which he swiftly passed.
Standing atop a roof, Mei, who had a commanding view, was the first to discern Carl’s intention. He plucked his bowstring repeatedly.
The arrows in his large quiver disappeared at a visible rate, yet they failed to stop Carl.
Carl’s figure soared like a bird, landing in a narrow space between several houses.
The space Carl had chosen was wide enough to prevent him from being surrounded, yet it offered poor lines of sight for an archer.
Without the archer pinning him down, the situation became much easier to manage.
"This is bad!" Mei spoke in a low voice. "This operation is likely to fail."
"Brother," his sister disagreed, "there are four of us, and he’s alone. Now that he’s trapped in a corner, even if he were a Formal Knight, he wouldn’t necessarily gain an advantage."
Mei gently shook his head. His awareness of the battle was far beyond his sister’s.
Although it seemed his role as an archer was merely to provide suppressive fire, it was precisely this pressure that had prevented their opponent from having the time to employ other abilities.
But now, without his suppressive fire, the target was no longer constrained!
Sure enough, a Fireball the size of a washbasin suddenly materialized below. It flew several meters before exploding with a BOOM amidst the rat swarm.
Instantly, the rats screeched and scattered in disarray, many of them reduced to charred remains.
"Dharma Seal!" his sister’s beautiful eyes narrowed. "How can it be so powerful?"
She wasn’t unfamiliar with Dharma Seals. On the contrary, she was well-acquainted with them but had never seen one so formidable.
One Fireball after another flew out, exploding among the swarms of rats and corpses as if they cost nothing, clearing out area after area.
"Quick," Mei, who had been about to nock an arrow, saw this, and his expression changed drastically, a deep wariness in his eyes. "Call that thing out! We’ll use the opportunity to escape."
"Brother," his sister said, surprised, "once that thing is called out, we might die too!"
"If we don’t call it, we’re definitely dead," Mei urged anxiously. "Quick!"
His sister lowered her head, terror evident in her eyes, then nodded firmly. "Okay!"
Carl’s expression was icy, his eyes devoid of any discernible emotion. The heavy broad sword danced nimbly in his right hand as if it were a mere straw.
With his left hand, he repeatedly made gestures in the air, activating Fire Spell after Fire Spell.
The swarms of rats and corpses were being annihilated at a visible rate.
As his spiritual power had increased, so too had the power of his Fire Spell. Each blast was now comparable to an attack from a Formal Knight.
Even he himself wouldn’t dare to face such a blast directly.
And with the support of a Potion, as long as his spiritual power held out, he could unleash his witchcraft freely. Launching it more than ten times in a short period was no problem at all.
In a short time, without the swarms of rats and corpses to besiege him, the pressure on him lessened dramatically.
Carl snorted coldly. His figure flashed as he charged out at high speed, heading straight for the Rat Woman, whom he found utterly repulsive.
"No!" Seeing this, the Rat Woman hastily turned to flee, her voice a shrill cry of panic. "Save me!"
With an indifferent expression, Carl caught up. His broad sword swept sideways, cleaving the Rat Woman’s slender form in two. Entrails, mixed with blood, gushed from her severed torso.