Chapter 21: The Battle of Resistance

The snow-covered wasteland offered a clear view, and Obis spotted the group of militia gathered across the field early on.
“Charge! Kill all these peasants!” Obis’s voice was filled with fervent zeal. Once a small merchant, this demonized man had once hated bandits who killed and looted, but now, engaging in similar acts, he felt he had found the meaning of life.
“Make them scream in agony! Make them suffer!” Obis’s commands came from the depths of his heart. His twisted thoughts, fanatical and pure will, combined with the influence of dark evil forces, created an effect akin to the berserker’s “Bloodthirsty Madness” and the knight’s “Battle Cry” skills. Both the demonized men and the demon dogs became more excited and savage under its influence.
“Break through! Tear them apart!” Obis used his team like swift cavalry, attempting to charge at high speed to break through the enemy lines. He believed that against such a small group of militia, no tactics were needed—just one charge would scatter them, after which they could be slaughtered at will. Fad had promised him permission to take 20–30 women for himself, and this alone filled Obis with enthusiasm. After all, he and his men had been living like ascetics for nearly a week, long desperate for action.
Ebut’s order was to fire spears in rapid succession, with a range of about 80 meters. At the speed of the Dark Claws, the militia had no chance to throw all three spears. Reminded by Neo, Ebut revised his order, sending over a hundred spears in four waves. The result was only a dozen demon dogs injured, with only two dying outright.
“Form a formation! Form a formation!” Ebut shouted loudly.
The militia, undeterred by the poor effectiveness of the spears, quickly formed four staggered “little hedgehog” formations based on their usual drills.
At the same time, Neo transformed into a wolf and activated his skill “Faithful Roar.” Amidst this roar, all the militia felt their courage surge, while Neo, still in the process of transforming, charged at the enemy. Zhenhua also followed bravely.
A thousand words are not as convincing as one heroic act. Neo knew the militia needed encouragement and inspiration. The effect of “Faithful Roar” alone wasn’t enough; he had to secure a strong start for this battle.
So Neo chose the enemy leader at the forefront—Obis. As the leader, he was the strongest among the Dark Claws. Seeing Neo charging, he swung his front paws, unleashing two dark evil light blades.
“If I die in battle, I will return to your embrace early. If I survive, I will embrace your way and follow your laws unwaveringly!”
Facing Obis’s dark evil light blades, Neo recited his oath of faith, mustered his courage to confront them, and managed to dodge at the last moment. Death passed mere inches from his body, leaving behind fragments of armor, sparks, and tufts of his wild wolf fur.

Those who lack combat energy have almost no resistance to blades powered by it. Obis couldn’t believe that a guy who couldn’t even unleash combat energy dared to charge forward in such a reckless manner—it was even crazier than facing swords with bare hands!
“You reckless young man! Let’s see how you avoid my Ripping Claws at this speed!” As both sides charged at high speed, Neo darted past the Dark Evil Blade and got very close to Obis. Obis immediately channeled combat energy into his claws to attack Neo.
At the same time, Neo’s eyes were wide open as he stared intently at Obis’s attack, his hands tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, even holding his breath.
Obis’s claws unleashed a torrent of combat energy light like swirling black smoke to attack Neo. Just as the attack was about to hit him, Neo narrowly avoided it once again by a hair’s breadth! Up to this point, Obis still didn’t understand how Neo did it. He instinctively felt that the method Neo used seemed the same as the one he used to dodge the Dark Evil Blade before.
Indeed, the method Neo used to dodge both times was the same—he kept his upper body still, with all the changes coming from his steps. For an experienced professional, such a dodging technique wasn’t particularly rare. However, for someone like Obis whose strength had increased explosively, his lack of skills and combat experience made it impossible for him to perceive such subtle changes. Moreover, people like him used clumsy and disjointed moves; once they resorted to old tactics, there was no time left to change.
The fierce attack infused with Dark Evil Combat Energy missed its target. Obis instinctively realized he was in danger, but he didn’t know where the threat came from or had no clear concept of defense. In such a situation, Neo suddenly disappeared in front of him, and soon a bright sword light appeared before his eyes.
To others, what Neo drew wasn’t just a blade of light but two spiraling ones. After dodging Obis’s attack, Neo used pre-planned step changes to turn his body into a spinning top, and his pair of blue steel swords came into action—creating two streams of sword light, one in front and one behind. Obis was blinded by the first one…
Combat energy could be used for attack as well as defense. Obis was still at an early stage in mastering its use. Nevertheless, he managed to defend against Neo’s first slashing attack. The presence or absence of combat energy was of great significance to a combat-oriented professional. If it weren’t for the uniqueness of the Dark Claws, even after transforming, Neo would have had no chance against a level 7 professional.
The first strike left only a superficial wound on Obis’s chest that could heal in seconds with a blade of blue steel. But for the second attack, a spiral slash, Obis was completely unprepared. By then, the two were already close together, and the second sword sliced diagonally across Obis’s waist. The immense force, combined with the opposing speed, split Obis in two right at the waist.
His lower body was still moving, but his upper body had collapsed. Obis stared in disbelief as his field of vision dropped from straight ahead to the snow below. Then his two severed limbs tangled together, and dark red blood gushed out in a pool.

After completing the spiral slash, Neo took a leap forward, let out a low growl, swung his right sword in a circular motion like a chopping blow, and split a demon dog that was charging at him down the middle.

Diving forward, Neo lowered his body and glided forward as if swimming, passing over the snow and beneath the fallen body of the demon dog. With a roll, he leaped upward, and mid-air, his steel sword swept downward in a circular motion once again. The demon transformed he had targeted tried to resist with his tough flesh and newly formed combat energy, but the immense force of the slash cut through the air with a screeching sound, splitting the demon transformed in two.

“Gah!” As he landed, Neo used his left hand to block a claw strike from a demon transformed coming from the side, then twisted his body forward. With his right sword, he made a slashing motion, carving a bloody wound on the side of the demon transformed’s back. Another twist, and his left sword was now held properly as he swung it downward, creating a huge wound that nearly severed the demon transformed’s chest and abdomen before its claw strike could land.

While the demon transformed’s claw strike, lacking force and accuracy, scraped against Neo’s armor with a shrill sound, Neo had already leaped backward, crashing hard into the chest of a charging demon dog. By now, Neo’s strength had risen to the level of a Level 4 warrior, with power even reaching Level 5, so he wasn’t afraid to clash with the demon dog.

His agile body knocked the demon dog backward like a sledgehammer. As the demon dog tried to grab and tear at Neo, Neo thrust his two steel swords backward and downward like ice poles, leaving clear claw marks on his armor and gauntlets. He managed to break free, and as his swords were pulled out in a “slash from both flanks” motion, bloody fluid gushed out.

“Argh…” Neo roared upward, his fur standing on end. The silver-tipped hairs trembled as if lightning flashed across his body in an instant.

“Damn!” Zhanza took in the scene in shock and cursed inwardly. He knew Obis well and had planned to use a fake fight to explain to Obis that their main target was right in front of them, and they should work together to take down Neo, with everything else being just extra entertainment. He never expected Neo to be not only brave but also so powerful, especially with that fierce aura, which made his scalp tingle.

Zhanza didn’t realize it was a unique aura formed from years of battle experience, the bloodthirsty curse in his werewolf bloodline, and the dark tide curse from the witch Dasteney’s evil spirit—this aura further amplified Neo’s skill “Despairing Roar,” reducing the attacking power of enemies around him by 15% due to fear.

“Zhanza, save me…” Obis, still not dead, begged for help from the approaching Zhanza.

Zhanza thrust his sword through Obis’s mouth and out through the back of his head, pinning him firmly, while cursing, “Damn you, die already! You’re ruining me!”

Neo’s ears twitched. Without turning around, he shouted, “Kill!” His body suddenly darted forward in a diagonal motion, delivering a slashing blow, then spun low before delivering a fatal final strike that sprayed blood from a demon transformed’s chest and abdomen.

When their combat strengths were equal, neither the demon dogs nor the demonized warriors could match Neo. Once he transformed into a werewolf, his moves were grand and forceful, combined with delicate techniques, emphasizing rapid changes in speed. It often seemed as though an opening appeared, allowing the opponent to strike, only for them to realize it was a trap—Neo had already built up momentum through his steps, twisting his waist and body to strike first and deliver a fatal blow.

His attacks were swift and powerful. Though sharp, they weren’t frequent, making him more like a forceful warrior. Each strike carried a fierce intensity. Not only could the demon dogs not defend against such attacks, but even the demonized warriors had no chance to block them. If they tried to dodge, Neo’s left-hand sword would become a deadly weapon, striking instantly as soon as the dodger was off-balance. Three demonized warriors were killed by this “snake bite” strike, with one even having its head pierced mid-air by Neo.

Meanwhile, the other demon dogs and demonized warriors were fighting alongside the militia. Neo’s bravery indeed played a crucial role. Faced with the advancing enemies, the militia were eager to plunge their weapons into their chests at the first opportunity.

Bang! Bang!

The collisions and attacks by the demon dogs and demonized warriors were extremely forceful. The wooden shields in the militia’s hands were often shattered, sending them flying backward. Yet, even with over a dozen spears thrust at them, the demon dogs would immediately suffer multiple bloodied wounds. Even if they didn’t die instantly, such injuries were far beyond their capacity to endure.

However, the deaths of these vanguard dark minions were valuable. Their deaths provided better opportunities for the others to attack. The militia were relentlessly torn apart and bitten, with screams filling the air.

“Hold tight! Hold tight! Pierce!” At such times, tactical commands were meaningless. Ebut kept shouting this same phrase.

The militia knew that only by staying close together could they survive. With someone always covering the gaps in the formation, the hedgehog formation remained intact. They also seized every chance to thrust their spears, pulling them out and stabbing again. Many of the wildly attacking demon dogs were killed by the militia’s random strikes, while their attacks mostly only caused varying degrees of injury to the militia.

In the first round of combat, the militia clearly had the upper hand. Including those killed by Neo, the dark minions lost over 20 members, while the militia suffered 4 deaths and 15 injuries, 7 of whom were too badly wounded to continue fighting.

70:40—the dark minions still held the advantage. Without Obis, they still had another demonizer and over 30 demonized warriors. At the demonizer’s command, the demon dogs took the lead, while he and the demonized warriors formed a powerful attack wave, trying to break down the militia’s hedgehog formation one by one.

This new tactic was indeed effective. By concentrating their forces and having sacrificial meat shields at the front, the dark minions’ next attack wave far exceeded the hedgehog formation’s defensive capacity. The formation was broken, and the advantage of teamwork was greatly reduced. In just one minute, 7 militia members were torn apart and killed in agony.

Although Neo rushed back to help, his killing speed was still quite limited compared to the entire group of Dark Claws, and he couldn’t join the militia either—his werewolf transformation lasted only 5 minutes, so mixing in with them would only hinder him. Seeing this situation, he decided to do as little as possible and turned to another Shifter, taking the chance to use a secret signal. He quickly allied with that Shifter, and in less than a minute, the Shifter understood the situation. But instead of rushing to attack Neo, he continued to prioritize breaking through the militia’s formation with all his forces. At that moment, the sound of thundering horse hooves came from the direction of Fallen Leaves Valley—over 40 cavalry were charging toward them. Neo took a look and saw that the leader was Valentina of Mathuya.