Chapter 255: First Alliance

Seeing the Nightingale about to fall into the lion’s mouth, Rod could not stand by idly. Filled with urgency, his combat energy erupted, enveloping him in a fiery red glow as he rushed forward at the fastest speed as a streak of white light!

Clutching the Dark Dragon in his hand, it began to hum as his combat energy flowed into it. Rod could hear it clearly. Over these past few days, he had made a new discovery: as the battles continued and it drank more blood, the Dark Dragon’s body grew darker, with a strange purplish-red tint, appearing extremely eerie. Moreover, the sense of kinship between them grew stronger—often, Rod felt as though the Dark Dragon had changed, seeming more sentient than before, making it easier to wield, with a more agile sword and swift strikes.

…

With her eyes tightly closed, filled with despair and reluctance, the Nightingale could do nothing but let her body descend, awaiting death. The sound of the wind filled her ears as her hair brushed against her cheeks. At the level of a quasi-saint, she realized then just how inadequate and weak her strength still was.

Boom… A dull sound erupted, like a thunderclap, followed by a massive force that sent her flying, drifting through the air like a stone thrown into the air.

There was no pain, no cold as she had imagined. “Is this what death feels like? It turns out to be a relief after all. It’s not as terrifying as I thought. Is this the wind? Am I on my way to hell?” she thought to herself.

She knew that given everything she had done in her life, it was impossible for her to enter the legendary paradise. Only hell was the place suited for her.

The scenes from the past appeared before his eyes one after another, like slides repeating endlessly. It stopped at the moment he first saw Knightrod, then shifted to the fierce battle in the forest that night—the power of the demons, their appearance—and froze on Knightrod’s desperate and sorrowful gaze. It was the first time he had seen such a complex expression, the first time he had witnessed someone capable of such emotions! The first time he had felt such despair! Finally, it shifted to the scene in the village, showing Knightrod’s strength and his longing expression. Everything seemed to revolve around this man. Since when had he occupied such an important place in his heart? Why was his heart filled only with thoughts of him? Could it be that since meeting him, his life had completely changed, his world had undergone a huge transformation?

Perhaps. A faint bitter smile appeared on his lips. Finally, the image froze on the night of the massacre in the small village. He saw his comrades lying in pools of blood, the once peaceful village turned into a hell—everywhere corpses, blood, and the stench of death. If he hadn’t happened to be on a mission that day, perhaps he wouldn’t have escaped that disaster. If he hadn’t been away, would he be in another cold world like Big Brother Silverwing and the others? But what about the Crowman? There was still one comrade’s body he had never seen—had he escaped? Then he must know who did this. But why was there no sign of him? No matter how hard he tried during this time, he couldn’t get any news about him. Could he also have perished?

Was it Knightrod who did this? It didn’t seem likely. If he had intended to do it, he would have acted that day instead of going through such trouble! No one likes to do such a laborious and thankless task, and it didn’t seem like he was that kind of person. Although he was a demon, he didn’t have a bad impression of him! At least he was much better than those villains.

Would he appear before him now? Just as he had dreamed since childhood—a tall man appearing before him, saving him from dire straits at his most dangerous moment, rescuing him from this perilous situation.

Impossible. He definitely won’t show up. Everyone knows the current situation—would he be that foolish as to jump into this trap? Of course not. He’s not that stupid. Perhaps right now he’s in some corner, watching everything happening in Tielan Town with glee. Isn’t the disaster on the continent exactly what the demons love to see?

“Hm?” She frowned slightly and let out a soft hum. The roar of a lion came to her ears, along with a warm embrace and a strong scent. What was going on? Had she not died? Everything left Nightingale utterly confused.

With endless doubts, she slowly opened her eyes. Her mouth slightly parted, frozen mid-air.

A man’s face—seemingly ordinary, with a beard—was right in front of her. She was in his arms, feeling his warmth and his breath. Her face instantly turned red.

Although he wasn’t the perfect prince she had imagined, she knew she had indeed been saved at the most critical moment. She wasn’t dead. Though this man was ordinary, it was still him who saved her.

That’s right. Just now, at the last second, it was Rod’s sudden appearance that saved Nightingale. In the blink of an eye, as she was about to fall into the lion’s mouth, Rod’s Dark Dragon suddenly lunged forward, slashing with a sword. A fierce sword energy flashed out, charging straight at the Flaming Lion.

Feeling the immense threat, the Flaming Lion had no choice but to abandon its prey and dodge aside.

Seizing that moment, Rod accelerated again, spun around, and used the momentum to kick the unprepared Flaming Lion away, then caught Nightingale as she fell.

“If you don’t want to die, get down and fight with us!” Seeing Nightingale staring at him foolishly in his arms, Rod almost threw her to the ground. What was she doing, still dazed at such a critical moment? Had she been scared into a stupor? A cold snort interrupted her thoughts, making her face turn even redder, like a little girl caught doing something wrong.

Startled, she quickly jumped out of his arms and stood on the ground, gripping her Bone Whip tightly, breathing heavily. Her heartbeat gave her an indescribable feeling.

Roar… A lion’s roar from the opposite side interrupted Nightingale’s thoughts. At that moment, the male lion stood less than ten meters away from them, eyes wide, breathing heavily, with a trickle of saliva at the corners of its mouth as it licked its tongue and stared at them.
“You take the left, I’ll take the right. Attack together—don’t give it a chance to fight back, or things will get messy!” Rod frowned secretly at the dazed Nightingale beside him. How could she only realize now that this damned woman was so foolish? Why was she still in a daze at such a time?
As soon as he spoke, Rod rushed forward at the Flaming Lion first. It was the first time he had faced such a powerful quasi-saint-level magical beast—truly the strongest opponent he had ever encountered! Rod didn’t dare be careless. The western city wall was in chaos; the army of magical beasts had already breached the walls, and everyone was too busy to turn around and help them. All they could rely on now was themselves.
If they encountered danger at this moment, death would be the only outcome. Rod wasn’t confident he could defeat this beast even with Nightingale’s help. After all, a quasi-saint level was already on the verge of saint level—completely beyond the reach of an imperial level, just like the gap between imperial level and golden warriors.
An imperial-level warrior could alone resist dozens of golden warriors and remain unshaken, unless they made a major mistake or encountered some unexpected trouble.
Watching the man charge at the Flaming Lion, Nightingale finally snapped out of her daze, though her eyes held a hint of confusion. That back view seemed strangely familiar—like she had seen it somewhere before. Could it be that she had truly met him among the vast crowd?
Shaking her head to dispel those thoughts, she realized now wasn’t the time to ponder such things. With a loud cry, having survived the crisis, she fully mobilized her strength and joined the battle once again with passion.
Working together, Rod on the left and her on the right, the two of them moved in perfect coordination, as if they had been partners for years—showing no signs of being working together for the first time.
Despite the constant dangers, they managed to cover for each other at the most critical moments, allowing them to fight the Flaming Lion on equal terms for a while.

In front of Nightingale, under such circumstances, Rod’s many techniques and strength were restricted, as using them would inevitably expose his identity. For this reason, his capabilities were greatly limited, forcing him to rely on the two powerful moves, Dragon Swoop and Heaven Shatter, to hold on. His combat energy was depleting rapidly, and he gradually felt overwhelmed. Several wounds had appeared on his body. Looking at Skora and his group, who were still not approaching, Rod cursed inwardly. If they didn’t come any sooner, things would be ruined—they were on the verge of giving up.

“Roar…” With Nightingale’s assistance, Rod used Dark Dragon to slash across the Flame Lion’s back, creating a long wound that caused the lion to let out a pained cry. In agony, it exerted all its strength and flung Rod along with his sword far away.

Hurted and driven by pain, the Flame Lion’s beast nature was fully unleashed. With bloodshot eyes and roaring, it charged at Rod. At this point, it no longer paid attention to the other human around it, focusing entirely on the creature that had hurt it.