Chapter 594: Fist Blast

A fist blasted out.

The surging, heavy spiritual essence shattered the window in an instant.

The blast wave, along with shards like fragmentation grenades, erupted as glass fragments swept out to blanket the sky.

The black-haired woman midair paled sharply.

"Who are you! Do you know who we are?!"

As she spoke, the sharp spiritual essence of the longsword in her hand flourished, dancing in an instant so fast that not even light and shadow could be seen.

She smoothly tore open a flying corridor within the fierce blast wave and spraying shards.

Black long hair and a white cloak spiraled in midair.

A Storm's Eye group emblem embroidered on the cloak entered Rod's gaze.

People from Shadow of the Hunt, then.

At first there had been no sign of her around; this person seemed to be passing through.

There was no time to think further.

"Ice Scar."

The long saber came rushing at him, dragging biting cold and a blue blade-light, tearing the ceiling overhead with a crackling roar as it swept.

Rod glanced at the woman's cool, aloof face, his gaze sweeping to the small patch of black-green scales along the edge of her jaw.

His brow rose.

His sturdy forearms, wrapped in black liquid metal, crossed and lunged forward in a violent rending.

The frozen blade-light shattered; blue frost spread across his forearms and his blood-streaked face, looking somewhat savage.

But at the same time—

His claw-shaped hands, carrying terrifying sharp spiritual essence, slashed straight across her chest—

They didn't.

The white cloak embroidered with the Storm's Eye, suspended in midair, was instantly disintegrated into powder by spiritual essence, along with a wisp of black hair.

Under Rod's startled gaze, the black-haired woman—who had vanished at some unknown moment—had already arrived in the midair above.

"Rending Wind."

White airflow streamed around her like tassels; she held the saber with a bent arm, already poised to strike, yet her expression was one of sheer horror.

The swing of the blade tore the air apart; an invisible wind-blade was unleashed the instant the saber-tip swept past.

Rod tilted his head to dodge the vital point; the wind-blade struck his shoulder and chest, and a line of blood welled out from it.

He did not use 【Dragon Scale Art】.

Nor did he intend to use the swordsmanship he was skilled at.

These two were the signature moves of Forester Rod; today's prisoner Rod naturally would not use them.

But even so, he recognized the spiritual warrior school of the woman before him—Iron-Severing Style.

This school was not as varied as others.

But what it excelled at was sheer, devastating cutting power.

Crack—

The black-haired woman's long boots hit the ground; blood dripped from the wound on her neck, and cold sweat had already broken out at her temples.

The collar of her chest had been torn open by the sharp spiritual essence.

It sprang open with a crack, revealing a white camisole undergarment.

A pair of well-proportioned, not particularly large buns were tightly wrapped within.

Standing firm and natural.

And from her neck to her cheeks, she conspicuously bore distinct, fine black-green scales.

Rod couldn't identify them, but they clearly weren't dragon scales; this one was no half-dragon.

"Heh."

"Who exactly are you?"

On the other side, as captain of Shadow of the Hunt, Evf felt a sudden tingling of her scalp.

This person's spiritual essence was absurdly solid.

She had clearly sensed that this person's spiritual rank was only around the early eighth-tier (Rod's disguised domain), yet he seemed to firmly hold the upper hand against her, an eighth-tier high-stage.

Had he even been holding back?

And also—

Wearing prison garb? Could this little Shi Ying Town actually hold someone like this??

Oh, Rod is here, after all.

Wait!

Rod?

Evf rapidly surveyed the situation inside the town hall.

A preening woman in the back, bloodstains everywhere, a tax collector with his head blown off, document papers and fragments fluttering midair, and so on.

Most importantly—

This man was looking at her chest with an appreciative gaze.

That was not the look a prisoner driven mad by confinement should have; it should have been wilder and more desperate.

The corner of her mouth curved into an almost imperceptible smile.

Just as Rosalia said, truly a lecher.

"Soul Burn."

The long blade erupted with ghostly blue flames; she swung it in place, dragging the gaudy flames in a spin that instantly spread to the city hall's walls, curtains, and stacked documents.

The long blade's slash carried great momentum, but its wind-up and the angle of the swing...

It couldn't be called subtle; it was nothing short of obvious.

Even a clumsy ghoul mage like Pan Ni could have dodged it.

Rod raised an eyebrow.

He immediately realized the other party had seen through his identity.

So, was the Wind of Shadow Hunters showing him goodwill?

The ensuing fight was no different from a staged bout.

Rod pretended to take a few hits, while Captain Eifeng wildly slashed with her fire blade elsewhere, focusing on spreading the flames to the documents still under review.

Before long.

The entire city hall building was engulfed in roaring flames.

This naturally alarmed other recruitment corps members and nearby neighbors.

Seeing the onlookers had gathered sufficiently, Eifeng...

... chose to tank Rod's light punch, spewing a mouthful of blood as she flew backward wildly, smashing straight through the wall and soaring into the distant sky until she was completely out of sight.

Rod: "..."

That's quite the performance, sister?

Naturally, Rod played along, letting her parting fire blade graze him, writhing in agony as he was drenched in flames.

He even dropped to one knee, feigning severe injury and exhaustion.

"You dare! How dare you raise a hand before us of the Yige Sect!?"

A seventh-tier old brother joined the act, roaring as he charged forward.

He belonged to the group that had arrived relatively early but had held back until now.

Seeing the recruitment corps' high command rushing in from behind, he suddenly crushed the street pavement tiles and charged at Rod.

"Heh."

His forearm, wrapped in black liquid metal, dropped its shoulder and blasted forward with a heavy thrust.

Boom!

The seventh-tier old brother, leaping through mid-air, had his head explode like a watermelon; his entire body instantly lost all strength.

His headless body, like a rag, surged toward Rod due to inertia, crashing into a pile of burning books and adding more fuel to the city hall building.

"Uh..."

Whatever.

I'll just donate a new city hall building to Shi Ying Town later.

Dragging his 'heavily injured' body, Rod twisted around and prepared to flee.

"You scoundrel!!!"

Another furious roar erupted.

A man carrying crimson energy streams leaped forward in the same manner, but faster and with greater force.

A Hero Candidate.

Like a speeding cannonball, he reached Rod's front in the blink of an eye.

Are you taking turns one by one?

Rod crossed his arms, but true to his character, he failed to block the force of this mid-tier eighth-tier attacker.

His entire body was knocked flying.

He didn't just smash through the city hall's wall; he scraped through the outer walls of surrounding houses in a chaotic crash, finally landing in a disheveled tumble on the ground.

Bricks and stones flew, and dust rolled.

Rod quickly pushed himself up and threw a punch backward.

Block!!!

A translucent crimson force field wall appeared before the pursuing Hero Candidate.

The muscular forearm wrapped in black liquid metal and the force field wall vibrated at the same high frequency.

It did not shatter.

Buzzzzzz—

A heavy, rebounding tremor shook every inch of Rod's right-hand muscles; with a squelch and crack, the sounds of bones, muscles, and blood vessels under extreme pressure echoed.

"Yah?"

"Little thief! This is a high-level 【Hero Amplification】! Even a peak eighth-tier couldn't..."

The Hero Candidate man sneered.

The bald prisoner Rod, with a 'bloodied head,' wore a casual smile and remained silent.

His metal-lustered arm yanked violently backward; lines of flame like hellfire flowed over his muscles, stimulating and swelling them.

【Strength Release: 1800%】.

Crack!

The man's face changed wildly; staring at the crimson force field wall that had instantly turned to shards, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

The next moment.

Boom!!!

His fist erupted.

Visible ripples swept across the entire long street in an instant; bricks and stones curled up like waves, carrying gravel and debris as they erupted into a towering dust storm.

(End of this chapter)