Chapter 436: Sandbag and Perspective

Whoosh—

A fierce wind swept past.

A rugged black-gold war hammer smashed the midair 【Extreme Cold Pearl】 into powder.

Sizzle, sizzle.

At once, the hammerhead of this war hammer—seized from the dark elves—was stained with a layer of azure, with deep, frigid white mist drifting and falling from it.

Immediately after, Rod flicked his right hand, and another Slime black sword was gripped in his grasp.

A stench of blood and rot rapidly spread across the blade; thick, plague-green mist surged upon the sword.

The Plague Domain's domain skill 【Symbiotic Decay】.

Combined with Slime Little Black's own Corrosion Domain—dual domains!

The war soul of the Star Realm Ambusher behind Rod flashed past, layering a 【Prey Desire】 on the target.

【Prey Desire: Marks the target. While the marked target is in a hostile state toward you, your Agility gains a 25% bonus. The skill fails when the target is more than 500 meters away.】

He snorted coldly: "Second round, half-elf."

The half-elf before him happened to be stronger than him, yet not unbeatable.

The perfect opponent to test and hone all his skills after his advancement to seventh tier!

And one who knew no spiritual arts—purely a meat-shield sandbag—truly a rare find!

Precisely for this reason, he forbade Tally from joining the fight.

"Domain?"

The half-elf Virgil saw the man ahead wielding ice mist in one hand and poison mist in the other; the contempt on his face vanished at once.

"So what? With this body of mine, tempered a thousand times, I'll crush you!"

Boom!

The floor tiles exploded, air currents scattered heaven-shakingly, and Virgil vanished.

The two collided once more!

The clamor of battle rang across the entire sky of Axe Beach.

The militia's war horn blared loudly through the town!

On the street, moving against the fleeing residents, Winna Miss Puwei—who had slipped out of the Naga tent—stopped in horror.

She caught sight of smoke rising from the spire of Gubao not far away.

On this entry into town, she had some funds and a few keepsakes still left behind in a house somewhere in Axe Beach—including handwritten letters from her parents, photographs, and mementos—items of profound meaning to her.

After yesterday's attack, she had fled in too much of a hurry to take them.

She had no intention of violating the soul contract signed with Rod—only wished to carry these precious things with her before leaving for good.

"Mr. Rod?"

As a fair party to the soul contract, Rod had Tally open certain permissions for her, allowing her to see his location.

Mainly to soothe this fragile creature.

And at this moment.

Through the soul contract, Winna could clearly sense that Rod was right there in the Earl's Gubao amid the chaos.

But. Why?

He had clearly said he would stay out of it; from their brief acquaintance, the man was also a pragmatist.

Yet also slightly different.

Winna could tell this man was lecherous, but he likely treated his own women well—just look at that cheeky succubus being kept so exquisitely.

"Could it be… could it be that he, toward me…"

Winna's expression turned strange.

Because of her Lilith bloodline, her looks had always stood in a class of their own among humans; being coveted by men was nothing new.

Let alone a lecher like Rod—hard to avoid letting her imagination run wild.

"Sigh, my heart is set on revenge—where would I find the mind for this…"

Winna only felt awkward.

Rod was handsome and powerful, true—almost a one-to-one real-life incarnation of the heroes from storybooks.

But having seen the rough scenes of Rod tangled in bed with that Naga beauty, it was hard to muster any such thoughts.

Yet on second thought.

What if Mr. Rod truly could wipe out Bugo Torres or the Sandrats?

Winna could not help imagining the scene of her great vengeance being fulfilled.

"I-I have to go see…"

Buzz buzz buzz!

The blare of the war horn jolted awake the somewhat dispirited old captain of the militia.

Beneath his whitening brows, both eyes snapped open, shooting two terrifying glints.

"Adjutant! Get the men in formation!"

He straightened his back, ignoring the chaotic street, and commanded expressionlessly toward the training ground.

Then he turned and entered his room; his grizzled beard and hair could not stop him from deftly strapping on the longsword that had accompanied him for thirty years, ready for action.

At his side, a male half-deer man with folded arms said flippantly:

"Hey, old Ed, isn't it about time you figured it out? What's so good about staying in this tiny Axe Beach?"

"I have family here."

"Family is family—let them have their own lives, and you should have yours too."

"I'm old, just an old man nobody likes."

"But your 【Hero Amplification】 is the highest activation I've ever seen — so what if you're in your sixties? That's exactly the age for fighting hard! Listen, Old Man Ed, you need to learn to step out of your comfort zone. Trust me, once you accept becoming a 【Hero Candidate】, you'll definitely burst out with strength far beyond the other candidates!"

"Heh. Half-deer folk, I know what you're trying to get out of this. Being clever for your own good never ends well — just look at me."

"The fact that you botched the capture of Verna Miss Puwei can't be blamed on you. The one who rescued her was a pure monster — his spiritual intensity was terrifyingly high. If you run into him, you'd better run first. Otherwise, with your aged mid-stage Tier 7, you probably couldn't even take a single hit."

Old Captain Ed no longer answered. He shouldered the door open and went out.

As always, he swept his gaze over the neatly ranked militia team, confirming their faces and spirits were in order.

From his throat came a firm, unwavering, cold voice.

"Move out! Rescue Lord Bugo!"

BOOM!!!

A long-handled black-gold war hammer trailing white, extreme-cold frost mist swept past the half-elf Virgil's nose as it smashed down, dyeing half his face with blue ice crystals.

The war hammer slammed viciously into the ground, and the heavy spiritual force it carried instantly smashed the thick earthen-stone floor into a deep crater like a spiderweb.

The shockwave and frost blasted outward in an instant.

Virgil gasped for breath, and a sharp pain shot through his chest — flesh and ice crystals mingled together, the flesh slightly caved in.

He also felt the plague coiled around his abdomen invading his lungs; his head, his organs — everything ached.

Still, he gritted his teeth against the shockwave and frost and pressed forward.

A plain, unadorned straight punch that burst out white airflow once again pressed forward with deadly force.

And the man before him remained unhurried. With a single stomp, seven or eight massive steel vines burst from the ground.

Virgil had long been prepared. His arms, like iron pillars, were corroded until skin and flesh peeled back, but with a forward twist he still managed to snap every steel vine.

At the same instant, he sidestepped around the terrifying plague-wreathed longsword in the man's right hand, threw another straight punch, and struck straight at the temple!

BANG!!!

The man was sent flying once more, and once again crashed through a wall. Rubble rained down.

Then, in less than a moment, he stood up again completely unharmed.

"How many times has that been now…"

Virgil's heart sank.

This man was clearly only Tier 7, yet his defense was terrifyingly strong. Every time it seemed like just a little more would break through, yet he simply couldn't manage it.

The most critical thing was that the man had countless tricks up his sleeve, and the spiritual force within him seemed endless — he didn't look the least bit weakened!

Until just now, Virgil had firmly believed that was just an illusion.

He didn't think a Tier 7 could outlast him in endurance.

But now?

He wasn't sure.

Virgil focused his spirit, refusing to let his morale flag, and was about to stride forward when a sudden stabbing pain shot through his chest.

He looked down in shock — and there it was: that plague-wreathed black sword had already pierced straight through his hard-won, tempered body.

When?

(End of chapter)