Chapter 213: Three Novices

His expression turned grim as he turned around to see two men in ornate armor and a girl in a white mage robe standing behind him, staring at him coldly.

“Damn it!” At this sight, Rod’s heart skipped a beat. A white mage robe! Clearly, that girl was a high-level mage, at least at the level of an archmage—equivalent to the strength of an imperial-class warrior. There were also two warriors, who surely weren’t weak either. With warriors and mages working together, he had no chance against them. The cross swords in the hands of the two men confirmed that these three belonged to the Light Church.

The Light Church always regarded itself as noble and holy, utterly opposed to dark forces. They claimed to eliminate dark elements to maintain peace in the world and constantly spoke of saving all beings. Running into them was bad luck—Rod knew these guys would never let him go.

Frowning deeply, he already had no good feelings toward the pretentious members of the Light Church. Now, facing them at such a critical moment, he hated this self-proclaimed holy church to the core.

“What do you want?” With this thought, his gaze turned icy. Clutching his Dark Dragon tightly, he watched them carefully and asked in a low voice.

His eyes scanned around, searching for the best escape route. Being trapped here by these guys would be disastrous. At least for now, he didn’t want to die—there was still plenty of time left for him to enjoy life.

“Hmph, you abominable demons! A thousand years ago, we hid in the Source of Darkness. Our church didn’t exterminate you out of mercy, out of respect for heaven’s principle of sparing life. But you remain stubborn, repeatedly breaking our agreements to cause chaos, slaughter innocents, and oppress the people. It seems your nature can’t be changed. This time, we’ve received orders from the Pope to kill you and cleanse this continent of your ugly existence!” In response to Rod’s question, the man on his right snorted coldly and spoke indifferently. He drew his cross sword, which emitted a holy white light before pointing firmly at Rod. His combat energy also erupted instantly, the deep red energy shining brightly.

“Hughes, stop talking and attack!” The other man didn’t waste time either. With a cold shout, he rushed at Rod without further words.

Both of them were actually imperial-level powerhouses, and with a mage added to the mix, such a combination made Rod’s scalp tingle. Not to mention him, even a saint-level expert would find it difficult to deal with them.
“If you want to take my life, let’s see if you have the ability!” With no time for further thought, Rod frowned and spoke coldly.
Immediately, he moved swiftly as if carried by the wind, dodging the opponent’s sword strike. Then, in one swift turn, he appeared behind the opponent at an awkward angle!
The man who tried to attack Rod was thrown off balance by the force of his evasion and turn; his haste prevented him from controlling the force properly, making it difficult to recover.
A cold smirk appeared on Rod’s lips as he steadied himself. He raised his Dark Dragon sword above his chest, let out a loud shout, and swung it forcefully at the man’s back.
“Don’t think you can succeed!” Seeing this, the other man widened his eyes and shouted loudly, rushing at Rod. He was surprised by how badly Rod had been dealt with in just one move.
“Go!” With a sinister smile, Rod glanced at the warrior in front of him. As the man behind him rushed at him, Rod had to retract his sword and turn to block the incoming sword strike. Naturally, he didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity, so he kicked violently with his left foot at the man behind him.
Clang… Along with the sharp sound of the clash, a dull thud came as the man behind him was kicked away by Rod and crashed heavily onto the floor.
“Not bad form—try it again!” Rod teased after dodging the attack from the man in front of him.
Though there had only been a few exchanges, Rod had already figured out these people’s strengths. Although they had an absolute advantage in strength and numbers, they were clearly trained in a protected environment with no real combat experience. They relied solely on brute force, their techniques were flashy but lacking in effectiveness, leaving their true strength severely limited.
Otherwise, how would it be Rod who held the advantage here? Reaching this conclusion, Rod breathed a sigh of relief—his luck was truly amazing to have encountered such amateurs!
“Elders of the skies, light of light, protect your people from evil threats! Holy light, spread your shining wings! Gods, tear apart darkness, destroy evil, and restore purity to this world!—Holy Light Demon Annihilation Bullet!”

Faint chanting from ahead indicated that the mage had already begun casting magic. Hearing this, Rod secretly smiled—clearly an inexperienced fool trying to use a powerful spell; a complete novice. Not to mention his two comrades were still fighting beside him, any spell cast could harm not just him but also those two! Even if that factor was ignored, anyone with a little experience would know what to do at such a time. Especially when comrades were fighting against enemies, it was best to use the traits of a mage to instantly cast basic or intermediate spells—no need to inflict heavy damage, just disrupt the enemy’s attack and defense rhythm to create opportunities for teammates. Casting large-scale spells wasted time, magic power, and countless opportunities. “Novice, let me teach you how to fight!” With a cold smirk, Rod fought fiercely, dodging attacks while keeping the two warriors close to him. The elements in the sky grew denser, causing increasing friction. Suddenly, a beam of light shot into the sky, enveloping the female mage and highlighting her as if she were a sacred goddess connecting heaven and earth. “It’s here!” Rod realized it was a light mage—unexpectedly not a ritual mage but a light mage. Light magic at this level was terrifyingly deadly, hardly inferior to the most powerful fire magic. “Holy Light Annihilation Bullet! Go!” A sharp cry echoed, followed by a blinding white light bursting from the mage’s staff, illuminating the entire sky like the sun in the darkness. The ultimate light magic, the Holy Light Annihilation Bullet, was unleashed. A serene aura spread instantly, enveloping the land, making everything flourish as if spring had arrived—flowers, plants, and trees all thrived. Yet beneath this gentleness lay terrifying destructive power. Thanks to his keen sense for elements, Rod could feel the light elements around him rapidly gathering, merging into that fist-sized orb with immense strength.

Squeak… In the next moment, the ball of light rushed toward Rod at high speed, its rapid movement creating a shrill sound as it rubbed against the air.
“Now’s the time!” Rod muttered to himself with a sly smile.
Instead of dodging, he stood still, continuing to engage with those two warriors.
“Hmph, damn demon race, you’re dead!” Panting heavily after casting her spell, the female mage showed signs of exhaustion. Seeing that Knight Rod hadn’t dodged, a smile appeared on her face.
She knew full well the power of that spell—no one could withstand it; at least among the imperial-class warriors, it was absolutely devastating. And that demon race still didn’t dodge? She even started celebrating, imagining the demon’s miserable death and the praise she’d receive back at the church, her lips curling upward.
“Wait… no, Kevin, Luke, get out of the way quickly!” But before she could fully rejoice, her expression suddenly changed, and she shouted loudly.
Her face turned pale as she realized why that guy wasn’t dodging—under his manipulation, her two teammates, Kevin and Luke, had ended up in front of her, facing away from her spell as it neared them. Clearly, that damned demon wanted to use Kevin and Luke as shields to block her spell!
Realizing this, Elena shouted anxiously while desperately trying to use her mental connection to control her spell’s trajectory and avoid Kevin and Luke.
Meanwhile, Kevin and Luke heard Elena’s shouts behind them, felt the howling sound and overwhelming pressure, and their faces turned pale instantly. Turning around, their eyes widened in shock as they saw the spell about to hit them.
“Hehe, amateurs—better go back and drink more milk!” Rod sneered as he saw them finally realize something was wrong.
Seizing the moment they were distracted, he moved swiftly, appearing in front of them. With a kick each, he knocked them to the ground. The Dark Dragon followed, stepping on one man with one foot while using its other claw to press against the other man’s throat. He stood there arrogantly, watching the female mage struggle to control her spell.