Chapter 32: Hostage Taking

“Roar…” The Flaming Leopard let out a furious growl, staring at Rod as it launched an attack.
“Cough, cough… Damn it, beast! I’m not done with you!” Rod cursed loudly, in pain from the confrontation. This beast had extraordinary strength.
Ignoring Rod completely, the Flaming Leopard quickly closed in again after its first strike, giving Rod no chance to catch his breath.
Watching the Flaming Leopard charge at him, Rod inwardly groaned in frustration, but his hands were busy. He propped himself on one hand, spun around with force, and swung his leg at the leopard.
However, his strike missed as the Flaming Leopard dodged nimbly and escaped swiftly.
“—Water Blade! Go!” As if misfortunes never came singly, Alice used the Flaming Leopard as cover to unleash another offensive spell—once again, the advanced magic of Water Blade.
“Do you really want to kill me?” Rod frowned grimly at this development.
He quickly pulled back his hand and dodged to the side, not only to avoid the Flaming Leopard’s attack but also Water Blade’s.
Suddenly, a cold sensation spread from his hand. Glancing down, he exclaimed, “Damn it! How could I forget this too?”
Realizing what he was holding in his arms, Rod thought gloomily. Yes, wasn’t that the dagger that Jerome had given him earlier?
Under such circumstances, Rod could no longer care about anything else. Without that dagger, not only would he be unable to escape, but even that annoying female mage wouldn’t be able to touch him—he’d surely be killed by this damned leopard.
“Beast! Today, I’m going to eat roasted leopard meat!” His eyes turned cold, and the situation sparked a sliver of murderous intent in his heart.
He stopped in his tracks, used inertia to reverse his momentum, quickly drew the dagger, and concealed it in his hand. Then, he unleashed the most basic sword techniques he had practiced countless times—slash and thrust!
Enduring the pain, Rod launched rapid attacks, growing faster and more skilled with each strike. As he continued to attack, he felt a strange sensation. In his mind, the first technique he had learned from 《Shadow Dragon Sword》—the Shadow Sword move—appeared miraculously.

Feeling the image that appeared in his mind, Rod quickly activated his combat energy following the mnemonic, concentrating it in his right hand. He swiftly swung down with his hand, moving his feet at incredible speed as he darted left and right—his speed increasing dramatically. Suddenly, his wrist twitched, and after a strange angle change, the dagger spun in his hand before charging straight for the Flaming Leopard’s vital points!

In that instant, the short dagger in Rod’s hand seemed to come to life, leaving two afterimages that rushed toward the Flaming Leopard in opposite directions. The cold sword shadows, accompanied by a howling wind, made it impossible to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Seeing this, everyone was stunned. Kiro’s eyes shone with excitement as he focused his combat energy on his eyes to fully comprehend what was happening.

After seeing it clearly, he was even more horrified. This sword technique was incredibly intricate; even he could only barely grasp some of its nuances. He realized that either afterimage could deliver an attack, as the dagger kept changing paths at such high speed, creating the illusion of two daggers attacking simultaneously.

But if the enemy assumed only one of the sword shadows was real, they would be gravely mistaken—that was the most terrifying aspect of this technique. If the enemy thought that way, death would be their only outcome! Moreover, based on his intuition, Kiro felt that this technique hadn’t been fully unleashed by Knight Rod; otherwise, it would have been even more terrifying. Right now, it seemed Rod had only utilized a fraction of its power.

Although he understood this, many of the techniques and intricacies remained hidden. After all, he was merely an observer who could see this clearly only by staying back. What if he were fighting Knight Rod in person? He might not even be able to discern such things. Rod’s sudden attack left Kiro in utter shock.

With a dull thud, a burst of bright blood splattered out, glaring intensely under the sunlight.

“The Flaming Leopard…” At this sight, the female mage was on the verge of tears. The Flaming Leopard was her most precious treasure, one she had struggled hard to obtain from her family. Now, for the first time she brought it into battle, and it ended up in such a state—how could she not feel heartbroken? Seeing the horrifying wound on its body, Alice was stunned.

The success of the Shadow Sword greatly boosted Rod’s confidence. Although he had used over half of his internal energy, he didn’t care. With just one move, he not only dodged the Flaming Leopard’s attack and saved himself from danger but also created an opportunity to attack Alice. How could he give up such a chance?

Still grieving over her magical beast’s injury, Alice failed to notice Rod’s attack. By the time she realized it, it was already too late.

In this dangerous forbidden area, Alice’s face showed signs of panic. Rod was now less than five meters away from her. It seemed he didn’t even care about using basic magic. As for advanced or intermediate magic, it was already too late to cast them. Her mind went blank, and her lack of experience left her unsure of what to do. She could only retreat step by step.

“Swish swish swish…”

“Ah…”

Just as she took two steps forward, several faint sounds came swiftly, followed by Alice’s scream. Suddenly, several ropes emerged from the dust where Alice stood, binding her right in the middle. Looking down the ropes, she saw that at both ends stood the same guards who had been with Roger earlier. It was all Roger’s doing.

“Roger, you bastard!”

After seeing this, Kiro and Anderson turned to look at Roger and shouted loudly. They never expected him to cause trouble at such a time.

“Idiots, go deal with Rod now!” Roger’s face turned red. Caught off guard by what had happened, he quickly shouted at them.

He had originally wanted to help Alice to win her favor, but who would have thought this would happen?

Seeing this, Rod was momentarily stunned before a cold smile appeared on his lips. He leaped forward, grabbed Alice’s hands, and pressed a dagger against her neck, shouting loudly, “Everyone, stop right now! If anyone dares to move, I’ll make a hole in her neck!”

After a roar, the entire place fell silent. Everyone instinctively stopped what they were doing, while Kambi, Sambik, and Jim quickly surrounded Rod and protected him in the center. A group of guards, Anderson, Kiro, and even Roger rushed over, encircling them all. There was also the Flaming Leopard, which, in pain and seeing its master in danger, let out a deep growl and glared coldly at Rod and his group as they paced anxiously back and forth.

“Get out of the way!” Rod shouted loudly, holding a dagger against Alice’s neck.

“Rod, what are you doing? Let Alice go now!” Kiro and the others grew anxious; they never expected such a situation to arise.

“Back off, all of you! Hurry up and let us leave, or I can’t guarantee my hand will stay still. You know what might happen if it trembles even slightly!” With a cold snort, Rod said coldly. He wasn’t that foolish as to give up his trump card at this moment—it would only lead to a worse death for him.

“Hurry up, everyone, back off! What are you waiting for?” This time, Roger became anxious. Alice held a much higher status in the family than he did. If anything happened to her while passing through his territory, the family wouldn’t spare him.

“Let’s go, we’re leaving!” Holding Alice, Rod said to Jim and the others once everyone else stepped back.

With Alice in front of them, they carefully stepped backward, placing all their hopes on her this time.

As Rod and the others continued to retreat, Roger’s group watched nervously and followed step by step.

“Rod, I promise you can leave safely, but don’t hurt Alice. Otherwise, even if we’re separated by mountains and seas, I won’t let you go!” After pondering for a moment, he reached out to stop Roger’s group and spoke to Rod in a deep voice.

“Hmph, don’t worry. She’s just an ordinary girl. I disdain her!” With a slight smile, seeing that the others had stopped moving, Rod and his group quickened their pace and retreated further.

“Kiro…” Watching Rod and the others get farther away, Anderson couldn’t help but worry.

“Stay here and don’t act rashly. Anderson, let’s follow them!” Frowning, Kiro said to Roger before leading Anderson to quietly follow after them, using all their inner strength.