Chapter 002: Fatal Strike

Oscar’s resentment was burning within him. Just then, he suddenly saw a strange light, like a meteor in the night sky, shooting straight toward his chest.
Oscar trembled violently, his mind seized by panic. He could faintly sense that if he didn’t act with all his might, this time… it would be over.
Oscar took a deep breath and let out another fierce roar. His eyes widened, and his once delicate features became more ferocious. His combat energy flared, turning his sword a shade of blue. He swung the sword diagonally—
A shrill sound of metal clashing filled the air as his strike met the front of the meteor-like attack head-on.
Oscar felt a jolt through his body, a bitter taste in his throat, and nearly spat out blood. But he reacted quickly. Though he couldn’t move his body much, his right hand trembled slightly…
With that movement, a thin layer of ice armor formed around his sword. With another forceful shake, the sword flew from his hand and shattered into pieces. It was then that Oscar realized the entity that resembled a meteor strike was actually a strangely shaped sword. It looked no different from ordinary swords, but it had a semicircular hook at the tip, seemingly designed to hook weapons… or perhaps, to hook people’s heads…
Before Oscar could take a closer look, the strange blade lunged forward, flying close to his face. Thankfully, he had made a quick decision earlier; otherwise, that single strike might have cost him his life.
Having dodged the attack, Oscar was still shaken. He didn’t dare delay any longer. After searching in his sleeve for a moment, he pulled out a pitch-black long sword.
It was unclear where Oscar had hidden it, but as soon as it appeared, it exuded a murderous aura, extremely sharp.
Initially, the warriors around him saw Oscar lose his weapon and rushed at him with their swords. But at that moment, Oscar was fully focused. He shook the tip of his sword slightly, and a blade of energy shot out instantly. With all his strength, its power was immense—piercing the armor of the warriors in the front. Some who were hit in critical areas fell without even a sound.

At that very moment, another light appeared in the moonlit sky—the powerful figure who had dealt Oscar a fatal blow was striking again! But this time, the attack wasn’t aimed at Oscar; instead, it was directed toward where Du Fan was hiding. Du Fan’s mental perception was extremely sharp. Coupled with his earlier sense that he was being watched, he immediately sensed the attack. In less than a second, he realized that if he stayed hidden, he had only a 20% chance of avoiding the strike. Moreover, even if he managed to avoid it, Selina, who was extremely useful to him, would surely die! With a survival chance of less than 20%, Du Fan didn’t hesitate. With a grunt, he rushed out of his hiding place and threw the several magic scrolls in his hands carelessly. Accustomed to luxury, Du Fan found these magic scrolls incredibly easy to use—more convenient even than casting spells himself. Others might not be able to use them with such precision. The powerful figure who launched the attack clearly didn’t expect Du Fan to counter in such a way. The fireballs, ice shards, and wind blades created by the magic scrolls immediately blocked the deadly strike. Several beams of light infused with magical elements lit up, shielding him from the fatal blow. At the same time, Du Fan felt relieved. Even if others couldn’t detect these spells, with Chenchen’s and his own special senses, they would definitely sense them right away. By then, the 500 cavalrymen of the Northern Legion would arrive. Even if just one Gabriel tried to attack him, or even a hundred, he would kill them first. Since they had already been rude to him, Master Du Fan certainly wouldn’t be polite to them! With this thought, his killing intent surged. Those who dared attack him, no matter which faction they belonged to, would be killed first. As for any future troubles? Hmph! He would deal with them later! Besides, he still had the mysterious and eccentric Oscar to take the blame, so he wasn’t afraid! At this moment, Du Fan no longer cared about hiding his strength. Since the opponent had already attacked, they must be confident they could defeat him. Hiding his strength now would be worse than simply letting them kill him cleanly.

Du Fan then touched his storage ring and took out the magic wand, “Phantom.” Since obtaining it, Du Fan had hardly used it, but he remembered the magical patterns on it very well. Immediately, he waved his hand and recited a few spells. Suddenly, a gust of wind surged from the sky and rushed toward the incoming attack.

Yet after that attack, Du Fan felt somewhat puzzled. The place where the hidden enemy was actually the central hall of the city lord’s mansion. The entire mansion was in darkness, as if everyone had died. He never expected Gabriel to be willing to pay such a price just to take his life!

For a moment, Du Fan was filled with confusion. But he didn’t have time to ponder further. His desperate attack, though just a third-level spell, was nearly perfect in terms of both incantation and power speed, given Du Fan’s current mental strength. He was confident that this attack could force the hidden enemy to reveal themselves.

Suddenly, Du Fan frowned. He sensed a strong surge of magic energy. Amidst the intense magical vibrations, a wall of fire rose into the sky, blocking the path ahead of the hall and thus blocking his wind magic!

Fire and wind collided in the air, and finally, with a loud explosion, the flames lit up half of Rui Gen City’s night sky. The sleeping people raised their heads at the noise, staring at the burning sky in shock…

What exactly had happened?

No one could answer…

Someone shouted in the darkness, “The city is fallen! The barbarians have broken through the gates!”

Instantly, everyone realized what was happening. They stopped looking at the blazing sky and, as if mad, rushed out of their houses to grab valuables before fleeing frantically.

Fear spread among everyone. The barbarians, those who ate human flesh and drank human blood—had they really come to Rui Gen City?

In one corner of Rui Gen City, whether it should be called a refugee camp or a military camp, the soldiers were awakened from their sleep. These imperial defenders no longer had the vigor of a hundred years ago; they were panting heavily, either from not getting enough sleep or sleeping too much.

A thin young man stood at the front of the line, his face filled with anger. With a cold expression, he said in a low voice, “Didn’t I say everyone should get ready for battle within three minutes? Do you think my orders shouldn’t be obeyed? Or don’t you want to do what I say?”
Murmurs arose, and someone among the soldiers laughed and said, “Colin, you’re not our leader. Why should we listen to you? Let me tell you… I won’t listen to anyone but Leader Simon! And what do you want us to prepare for? To fight those barbarians? Colin, don’t think we’re all idiots! Can we really deal with those barbarians? Everyone outside is shouting that the city has fallen—what does that have to do with us? Aren’t there the soldiers from the Northern Legion? Isn’t Carol always so arrogant? Let them handle it now. We just need to guard our camp gates and prevent those barbarians from getting in. After all, those barbarians just want to steal things, and those things aren’t ours anyway. If they steal them, so be it. Right?”
Dozens of soldiers agreed. In their opinion, whether those barbarians broke through the city gates or not, it had nothing to do with them. Once they had stolen enough, they would leave. Why go looking for trouble unnecessarily?
That young man named Colin was actually the nephew of Baron Gabriel and held the rank of imperial captain. Though he was on par with Carol, in reality, none of the soldiers in the imperial defense force were under his command. Baron Gabriel had placed him there merely to keep an eye on Simon and ensure he didn’t go too far. After all, he was just a powerless figure. How would those senior soldiers listen to him?
Hearing the screams from the city and the flames coming from the direction of the lord’s mansion, Colin’s sword at his waist trembled. He muttered to himself, “Uncle Gabriel, uncle Gabriel… Is this your army? Look, they won’t even move even when your own mansion is in trouble. Is this still an army?”
He hesitated for a while before suddenly stepping forward and shouting, “You bunch of fools, just go wait for death! You can stand by and watch the people die, but I can’t!”
With that, he waved his hand sharply and rushed out of the camp like a whirlwind. The rest of the imperial defense force stared at each other, unsure who laughed and said, “Haha… That fool… a fool…”