Chapter 233: Mutation —— Hostage Taking

In the chaotic battlefield, Rod rushed toward the central defense point. At a glance, he saw an officer standing on the highest point, giving urgent commands. Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief—it wasn’t too late. At least the situation he had imagined hadn’t yet occurred; there was still room for redemption. Taking a deep breath, he quickly ran toward where the officer stood.
“Stop! Who are you?” Before Rod could get close, two warriors suddenly stepped forward and blocked his path, shouting sternly.
Surprised by this, Rod inwardly smiled bitterly. He had even forgotten about this. After all, as the highest commander on the battlefield, how could he possibly be without guards in such a situation? He was the morale booster for everyone. If anything happened to him, it would deal a severe blow to everyone’s confidence, potentially leading to chaos and the immediate collapse of the entire defense line.
“Lin Feng, I need to see the officer—it’s important. Move aside quickly!” Rod said anxiously, frowning.
The battles below continued fiercely, and the situation seemed to be developing as he had predicted. The offensive in the east was steady, in a stalemate, but it had drawn many strong fighters there. While the center was stuck in a deadlock, the west, once considered the safest area, was now in grave danger. Moreover, he could sense that the attacking magical beasts in the west were increasing. As the corpses of those beasts piled up, the defense walls grew lower, and casualties kept rising.
“No! Talk here if you have something to say. You can’t go through!” The two warriors insisted on fulfilling their duty and wouldn’t let Rod get any closer.
“Damn it!” cursing inwardly, Rod took a deep breath, swung his Dark Dragon Blade, and shouted firmly, “Move aside! If you don’t want the city to fall, get out of the way! No one can bear this responsibility!”

Hearing Rod’s words, the two warriors were momentarily stunned, seemingly intimidated by his speech and showing some hesitation. They turned to look at the officer behind them, who had also noticed the situation and was now looking their way. Although the identity of this man was unknown, they figured he couldn’t possibly be an enemy at such a time. After all, their current enemy was the Magical Beast Legion. Moreover, his words left them uneasy—what if some important matter suffered serious consequences because of their delay? They simply couldn’t afford that.

Especially since this guy had mentioned “breaking the city walls”—what a jarring term! The most sensitive word possible! His serious expression didn’t suggest he was lying, leaving them at a loss. They could only cast questioning looks at the highest commander to see what he would decide.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Rod, unable to wait any longer, flashed away in a blur of blackness, disappearing from their sight. Amidst cries of shock and roars, he rushed up to the officer.

Roars of anger echoed behind him, and the glint of weapons caused a dull pain in his back. Looking at the officer’s wary expression, Rod frowned and mustered up courage to say quickly, “Send reinforcements to the west immediately. There’s no need to deploy as many forces to the east. The enemy’s main target is the west—they’re using that area as an entry point, while the center and east are just distractions. Hurry, or things will get worse!”

“What did you say?” The officer frowned slightly, puzzled, as he listened to Rod’s panting words.

“The west—they have a scheme. They’re feinting on one side while attacking another. I suspect they still have more powerful forces unused. The west is most likely to see an outbreak. Send more troops there right away to prevent a sudden attack!” Rod added urgently, sensing that the people behind him had been silenced by the officer’s gaze.

“West?” Frowning, the officer glanced in that direction and after a moment of thought repeated his words, then looked at Rod. “There are no reinforcements. Sending soldiers there would only be sending them to certain death. We don’t have any stronger forces to provide aid yet! The main body of reinforcements hasn’t arrived, and the mercenaries haven’t assembled either! Even if those people came, they’d only hinder the battle! I can’t do what you’re asking. If there’s nothing else, you can go back to fighting!” He clearly rejected Knight Rod’s proposal. Reinforcements hadn’t failed to arrive; on the contrary, a large number of them were gathered outside the city, ready to bolster the fighting forces. As for mercenaries, there were still plenty who hadn’t had the chance to join the battle.

He doubted and dismissed the words of this young man before him. This was already his third time participating in a defense against the beast horde, and it was precisely because of this that he had become the commander. Based on his past experiences, whenever the protagonist appeared, it was the moment the enemy launched a fierce attack in a decisive battle. And every time, the place the protagonist attacked was the enemy’s main target, with the other areas serving as secondary distractions.

This time, the enemy had chosen the east, which meant the east had become their breakthrough point. Clearly, he preferred to trust his own judgment and focus most of his forces there rather than believe this unknown guy. Although the west was dangerous, it was filled with weak enemies—no holy-grade magical beasts had even been seen there. No one would believe that place to be the main attack point.

These words left Rod speechless, his mouth hanging open. Anger made him want to hit someone—obviously, this guy didn’t believe his words, and those reasons were just excuses. Filled with rage, he thought, “Damn it! Do you really want to sit idly by while the city falls? You’ve seen the situation in the east—the enemy can’t break through at all. How could that place be the main attack point? If the power of the magical beasts is only this much, then the beast horde isn’t scary at all!” Rod couldn’t help but retort to the officer. He knew better than anyone the true strength of the magical beasts. Everyone knew what Collins Forest was, and everyone knew what the Source of Darkness was. A rebellion within the Source of Darkness that triggered a beast horde across entire Collins Forest couldn’t be that simple. Just the magical beasts in Collins Forest alone were likely far more numerous than those seen now, with countless powerful ones among them—definitely not just this little group!

If the beast horde were only this size, would it really cause such fear and panic among people? Would it bring such a severe crisis to the continent? Clearly not. If things were as they said, the appearance of the protagonist would mark the climax. If the climax were only at this level, it would be far too weak—nothing but disappointment in this continent.

Looking east, that group of magical beasts wasn’t large in number. Though strong, they weren’t terrifyingly powerful. They weren’t even strong enough to overwhelm everything in their path; their strength wasn’t even comparable to that of the miscellaneous magical beast armies in the west.

“If you have objections, you don’t have to join. If you’re afraid, you can leave right now. I won’t force you. You’re not part of the imperial forces, right? I won’t hinder your freedom!” Watching the increasingly urgent battle, the officer grew impatient. After glancing at Rod, he shouted in a low voice.

Immediately afterward, at his glance, the warriors and soldiers surrounding Rod from behind rushed forward, seemingly intent on “inviting” Rod out of that place to prevent him from giving orders.

“Damn it, get lost!” With a fierce shout, his face turning blue and red alternately, Rod could no longer tolerate their attitude. After shouting, he dashed forward in an instant, moving as swiftly as the wind. Under the officer’s shocked gaze, he arrived in front of him. With his dark dragon swirling, he attacked the officer despite his panic. Rod chose to strike first before those warriors could act against him.

In such a critical moment, he couldn’t afford to worry about much. The strange actions and attacks of those magical beast officers revealed even more flaws. He knew that if he wanted to save this defense system and ensure the safety of the continent, he had to take a bold risk.

“Bastard, what are you doing…?” The warrior closest to Rod shouted angrily at this sight and rushed forward at full speed.

“Rebel! There’s a rebellion…” A soldier shouted loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. The scene instantly became chaotic.

Rod couldn’t care less about people’s reactions. He stepped forward and grabbed the officer. To his surprise, the officer was quite strong, possessing the strength of the early imperial level. Yet, despite his sudden attack and extreme speed, the officer didn’t have time to resist before being controlled by Rod. With his dark dragon looming over the officer’s throat, Rod coldly watched those rushing at him.

“Stop it all!” A fierce shout rang out, its sonic waves spreading out with immense deterrence. “You bastard, what do you want to do? Do you even know what you’re doing right now?” A Saint-level warrior in his fifties suddenly appeared in front of Rod and shouted loudly. The scene became utterly silent except for the roars and howls of the magical beasts, the sounds of battle, and the screams of the fighters. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to Rod’s location. Seeing this, they stared in disbelief at the commander who had been controlled! “Back off, all of you! Now! Or don’t blame me if I become ruthless!” Rod tightened his grip on the Dark Dragon in his hand and roared at everyone.