Chapter 2: Critical Situation

“What just happened…?” Curly swallowed hard, looking at what had taken place ahead—the corpse of the werewolf lying on the ground, and Rod charging at another werewolf. He turned to Nightingale beside him for an explanation.
Everything that had happened seemed too bizarre, giving him the feeling it was all a dream. The sudden turn of events was so drastic that it was hard to believe at first. Curly knew that perhaps Nightingale understood what was going on, and only she could explain it to him. He trusted her because she had been the first to notice something was wrong.
Curly’s words reflected everyone’s thoughts—they too wanted to know what had happened and why such a drastic change had occurred among their group.
“Stop talking nonsense and go up there quickly! The battle is still going on!” Nightingale replied coldly, ignoring Curly’s question.
The battle raged on fiercely. Aside from one more werewolf to kill, the army of magical beasts continued their relentless attacks. Nightingale wasn’t worried at all about Rod dealing with that werewolf—after all, several others were helping him, and as long as nothing went wrong, there would be no problem.
As for them, their task was to deal with the army of magical beasts at this moment. Under Nightingale’s leadership, the team charged at the scattered magical beasts atop the city.
With fighting going on on both sides, the battlefield was in full chaos. By this time, Rod had already entered the fight against the werewolf.
At that moment, there were two imperial-level warriors and one quasi-saint-level warrior fighting alongside this werewolf. The werewolf was quite unlucky—when Rod ordered the Scythe of Death squad to chase after the two werewolves, the vampires abandoned them. The other warriors also surrounded him. Now that one werewolf had been killed and the vampires had fled, he was trapped with no chance of escape and could only fight desperately. After they left, he was completely confined and unable to use his usual skills—his fate seemed sealed.
With Rod’s arrival, the situation instantly turned in favor of the attackers. Four against one, they easily gained a decisive advantage. Inside the battle circle, the werewolf frantically tried to break free from the encirclement, but all his efforts were in vain.

The wounds on his body kept increasing, his entire person stained red with blood. The numerous wounds, large and small, were truly shocking. The relentless attacks left him without tears to shed.
“Human, I’ll kill you!” Perhaps realizing he had no chance left, the werewolf’s gaze suddenly turned cold as he fixed his target on Rod. It was this man—the very reason he had ended up like this!
It was because of him that their planned raid on the first day failed. It was because of him that they lost nearly a third of their strength, forcing them to hesitate and avoid launching a full-scale attack these past few days. It was because of him that his comrades died here, leaving him now under siege! Knowing he had no hope, the werewolf vented all his anger on Rod, pouring all his resentment onto him. By now, he had gone mad, and his wolf nature surged to the surface.
He frantically rushed at Rod, ignoring the other attackers surrounding him. Unleashing all his combat energy, his fur grew longer under the moonlight. With blood dripping all around, he stared at Rod and unleashed his most powerful moves without hesitation.
Each move was fierce and deadly, leaving no chance of survival. Under such relentless attacks from a Saint-level warrior, Rod was forced to retreat step by step, unable to escape let alone counterattack.
After all, a Saint-level warrior was simply too powerful—beyond Rod’s current capabilities. In just an instant, sharp blade energy carved several cuts across his body, his arms went numb from the force, and his knuckles cracked as he tried to defend against the opponent’s monstrous strength. Blood slowly flowed down from the wounds.
Of course, the werewolf, who was attacking desperately without caring for defense, wasn’t in much better shape. The other three weren’t just standing by; under their combined assault, the werewolf’s condition became even more miserable. Gasping for breath, his body was covered in blood, with warm fluid seeping from his wounds. He looked utterly pitiful.
Pain made his eyes turn blood-red, the world around him a sea of crimson. His anger grew even stronger as he roared and howled, swinging his long sword fiercely. His powerful attacks created a thundering noise, further destroying the already ruined city walls, making the scene even more horrific.

The ground, stained red with blood, became pitted and uneven under the intense impacts, even the supposedly hardest stones showing signs of damage as terrifying scratches appeared and sparks flew everywhere—truly a fierce battle. Such intense fighting naturally drew everyone’s attention. The severity of a holy-level warrior fighting desperately was evident, and seeing Rod pushed back step by step in a desperate situation, the defenders couldn’t help but worry deeply. Especially Amyo and the others—although Rod’s status in Iron Bar Town wasn’t absolutely crucial, it was still significant. If anything happened to him, it would be a huge loss for both the Black Tooth Legion and Iron Bar Town. Perhaps they were the most anxious to see him in such peril. They hurriedly ordered the warriors around them to go rescue him, but could distant help really save someone in trouble? It was utterly futile; they could only watch helplessly. “Damn it!” Under the opponent’s relentless attacks, Rod’s situation grew worse. Suppressed below, Ada suffered more wounds and constant pain, forcing him to frown and curse inwardly. Now, he could only pray to hold on a little longer. He could see that this werewolf wouldn’t last much longer—already on the brink of death, covered in wounds and bleeding profusely. If it weren’t for his willpower keeping him upright, he would have collapsed. With a quasi-saint-level warrior and two imperial-level warriors attacking together, without any defense, the outcome was obvious. As long as he held on, it wouldn’t take long—two minutes, maybe even one, would be enough. In that short time, the werewolf should lose his strength. Yet, those one or two minutes seemed especially long at this moment, with every second feeling agonizing—proving the saying that time seems like years when in crisis. Every second brought immense pressure and danger to his life. This situation had occurred before, against the Flaming Lion, but back then it was much better. He had used his most skilled moves, “Shadowless” and “Autumn Wind,” to defeat the Flaming Lion. But this time? He clearly couldn’t use those moves again—using them last time had revealed his identity to the Nightingale! This time, more people were watching him. He couldn’t take the risk. If his identity was exposed, the danger would be far beyond what he faced now.

Restricted and oppressed, everything drove Rod to the brink of madness. It was like a wealthy man holding billions in assets, on the verge of death from hunger, with countless delicious foods right before him yet unable to buy them, forced to watch himself starve despite having both food and money at hand—what a tragic situation!

A fierce sense of resentment filled Rod’s heart and mind. With numb hands, he gripped the Dark Dragon Sword, allowing his own blood to soak into its blade. As soon as the blood flowed, it was quickly absorbed by the sword. But Rod had no time to worry about this now. Ever since he met the spirit of the Dark Dragon Sword, he had known this would happen—the spirit was using blood as a medium to break free from its seal! Otherwise, how could there be such a strong scent of blood in his world, as if it were an ocean of blood?

Ding… Another violent impact sent Rod flying backward like a kite with its string cut. His chest tightened, and under the intense shock, he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood. The thick mist of blood appeared especially sinister under the moonlight.

At this point, Rod’s consciousness began to blur. A profound sense of exhaustion and weakness overwhelmed him. “Damn it, is it really over?” In his daze, he saw the werewolves charging at him again. He refused to give up! He truly couldn’t bear to die here.

“No! I can’t surrender! Damn werewolves, I won’t die in your hands!” Filled with anger and defiance, Rod roared loudly in his heart.

In mid-air, escaping was extremely difficult. Under the pursuer’s attack, at a critical moment, Rod suddenly thought of something—a move that might help him overcome the crisis and gain a chance! It was risky, but in such a desperate situation, he had no choice but to take the gamble.

“Ah…” With a spirit of defiance and courage, Rod let out a long cry, then channeled all his fighting energy to release it from his body. He dismissed all distractions, focused his mind, and began controlling it. At the same time, he recklessly absorbed external elements, forcing them to converge around him!

At this critical moment of life and death, Rhode actually managed to isolate himself from the outside world and enter his own realm! In this life-or-death situation, he chose to take a huge risk, abandoning all other possible ways to escape and placing all his hopes on this final move. With a mindset of “if it fails, I’ll die,” he embarked on a gamble that is unimaginable for ordinary people.