Chapter 186: Imperial-Level Powerhouse! A Fierce Battle!

Indeed, just as Rod and the others were about to approach the girls, and as Linda was about to greet them, a black dart suddenly appeared, aiming straight at her. Fortunately, Linda was quite strong, and Rod noticed it early enough to warn her in time, allowing her to barely avoid the attack.
Rod rushed forward quickly, surrounding the girls, while he and the others stood at the periphery, watching carefully around them, fearing that the hidden attacker might launch another attack.
At that moment, Linda was breathing heavily, her face pale—clearly, the sudden attack had shocked her greatly. The onlookers in the area panicked and scattered in all directions, leaving behind cries of fear and the sound of things falling.
“Damn it! Show yourself if you’ve got the guts!” John shouted fiercely, staring in the direction from which the dart had come. This was the imperial capital, the heart of an empire—how could such acts be tolerated here, especially when the targets were them?
“Over there, Rod! Protect them here while I go check it out!” Kiro’s voice came from beside him. With that, he vanished in a flash of white light, heading left. Clearly, he had detected the enemy’s presence. Thanks to his magical intuition and sensitivity, his perception of his surroundings was stronger than others’. As for Rod, it was still hard to compare.
Watching Kiro leave, the group grew anxious. With the enemy hidden and them in the open, unsure of the opponent’s strength or number, it was worrying that Kiro had rushed after them so easily.
As Kiro pursued, a dark figure swiftly darted away into the distance. Seeing this, Kiro chased after it relentlessly. Rod had a bad feeling about this situation, but he couldn’t figure out what was going on in such a short time.
“Ding…” Another black trajectory appeared, accompanied by a whooshing sound. In an instant, Rod’s Dark Dragon emerged to block another dart—this time coming from the right. Rod’s heart skipped a beat; indeed, there was more than one enemy!
Time didn’t allow Rod to think further. After the dart passed, a black figure rushed toward them, its gleaming sword casting a chilling shadow.

A master, definitely a master. The pale red hue made Rod’s heart sink—it was an emperor-level fighter. He never expected that among those ambushing him would be someone of such high rank.
“John, quickly take everyone away from here. I’ll hold them off!” Seeing the situation, Rod made a decision in an instant and shouted at the others. With his keen sense and calm thinking, he knew things weren’t that simple. If they stayed behind, they wouldn’t help at all—only slow things down!
“Visky, go too! I’ll take care of them!” Blocking in front of Visky, Rod said those words before charging forward toward the approaching shadow.
“Captain, leave this to me. You escort them away from here. Trust me!” Just two steps later, Rod felt his sleeve being pulled. Turning around, he saw Visky looking at him with determination. Without waiting for his response, Visky rushed forward and immediately engaged the shadow in battle.
“Damn it!” cursing silently, Rod glared at the situation resentfully before retreating. The two of them had already formed a battle circle, and he still had things to do. He believed Visky could manage to escape.
By now, Rod could roughly guess the opponent’s purpose and intentions. It was simple—they were likely targeting him. Otherwise, he couldn’t think of anyone bold enough to cause trouble in the capital. And since their target was his group, it had to be those lawless, powerful assassin organizations. Their intention was clear: to scatter them—Kiro, Visky, and him! After all, if the three of them stayed together, it would be difficult for the enemy to strike. Separating them was the best strategy.
Although he had guessed their intentions, it was too late. Kiro had already been separated, and he realized too late. All he could do now was take things one step at a time—first get the women away, and the rest could be dealt with later. He could only hope Visky could hold off a little longer.

“Wow, why did it start before I even came out? Hehe, Knightrod, I’ve been waiting for you for so long!” A Tupi voice sounded, plunging Rod’s heart into despair. It was a clear, pleasant voice with a hint of charm, but now wasn’t the time to appreciate such things. Clearly, this person was part of the same group as the previous two. Looking at the woman in front of him, Rod thought to himself that things were bad—he was also isolated by her. Alice and the others, seeing this situation, also stopped in urgency.

“John, don’t disappoint me. Hurry up and leave. Don’t worry about me; just get away from here first. We’ll meet at the academy later!” Taking a deep breath and gripping his Dark Dragon Sword tightly, Rod shouted loudly.

Without waiting for the woman to act, he launched an attack at her first. With the enemy hidden and him exposed, the only option was to strike first.

“Hehe, you’re really in a hurry. Don’t worry, sister is very gentle. I won’t bully you!” The breathless voice came again, making Rod frown. He never expected to fall into such a huge trap. Suddenly, everything became complicated.

Because of this incident, only a few of them remained on this entire street; all the shops had closed. For now, Rod could only hope that the city guards would arrive as soon as possible! Only then could they resolve the current crisis. Behind him, Wiski, guided by the enemy, grew further and further away, out of Rod’s sight.

“Damn it!” he cursed inwardly. Wiski was really an inexperienced rookie!

His Shadow Sword was instantly deployed. With the improved version, ten figures appeared in an instant. The women left, leaving only Rod and the woman in front of him, allowing Rod to fight freely.

“Hehe, you’re so anxious. That’s not right. You don’t even know how to show kindness to a woman!” With a charming smile, although her face was covered by a veil, her allure was still overwhelming, making people imagine all sorts of things.

Forcing himself to calm his chaotic emotions, Rod launched his final attack.

“Let sister break your move!” Seeing Rod’s Shadow Sword, the woman’s expression turned serious in an instant. Then, with a sound, a long, slender silver whip appeared in her hand.

Snap… After a clear sound, the whip moved around like a phantom dragon.

Ding ding ding… A series of crisp sounds rang out, successfully blocking several of Rod’s clones from approaching. In the end, it locked onto just one target and leaped forward, waving its long whip like a serpent charging straight at Rod’s chest.

Rod’s expression changed drastically. The opponent had effortlessly broken through his Invisible Sword, and the deep red combat energy made him even more alarmed—this was also an imperial-level powerhouse, clearly at least a mid-tier or higher imperial warrior.

With a howling momentum, Rod darted aside and slashed with his long sword. Ding… A crisp sound came along with sparks flying. His own sword failed to cut through the opponent’s whip. Rod knew all too well how sharp the Dark Dragon’s whip was—just how tough must the opponent’s whip be then?

“Hmm, not bad, little brother. How about it? Follow your sister. She’ll take care of you. If you come with me, I promise you’ll live a life of indulgence. What do you say? My sister really knows how to cherish beautiful people. Do you want that intoxicating feeling?” The nightingale said seductively, her eyes full of charm as she looked at Rod.

“Stop talking nonsense and take this!” With a cold snort, Rod had to admit the opponent had an excellent figure and a sultry voice, exuding a mature and alluring charm that was highly tempting. But right now, Rod had no mood to appreciate such things! Everywhere was danger—appreciating her would be tantamount to seeking death. To be honest, he really didn’t feel anything for this woman.

Before his words faded, the Autumn Wind Sword was already in use. Its fierce swordsmanship swept across the land, with the howling wind sounding like the earth itself groaning in pain, carrying the sword energy with it.

“Woo woo woo… I’m so sad!” Seeing Rod’s repeated attacks, the nightingale, Luo Chu, acted coyly and coquettishly. At the same time, she moved swiftly, as if carried by the wind, completely outpacing Rod and forcing him to react passively without being able to deliver any real attacks.

“If that’s the case, sister will have to come herself!” Her tone suddenly turned cold, followed by ashrill cry cry. Finally, the nightingale stopped defending and launched a counterattack for the first time.

Light and fluid sword moves were executed one after another. She moved like a lotus floating on water, ever-shifting like the wind. In an instant, Rod didn’t even get a chance to counterattack and was forced into a desperate defensive stance, surrounded by peril.

Faced with overwhelming strength, Rod once again felt powerless, recalling the sense of helplessness he had experienced when fighting Xier back then.

Ding ding ding… His forehead was covered in sweat the size of beans as Rod struggled to defend against each attack, inwardly groaning in despair and hoping that the city’s guards would appear soon—or else he would truly be finished. He was also worried about Kiro, Viski, and the girls; he believed the others weren’t faring any better. If the women he faced were so strong, what about Kiro and Viski? Their situation probably wasn’t much better, and as for the girls? It might even be worse.
Pfft… Distracted for a moment, Rod unfortunately took an attack, sustaining a long wound from which blood gushed forth. Severe pain spread throughout his body, forcing him to gasp in agony.
The opponent’s whip was incredibly sharp, making a whooshing sound as it moved, creating countless silver-white shadows that resembled a dazzling silver curtain. In that instant, Rod was completely surrounded by the whip.