Chapter 55: Brothers

Robin saw the situation, inhaled deeply, his muscles tensed, and thrust out a blade.

The blade's flash flickered, and the air seemed to resound with a tearing sound.

The knight apprentices only felt a massive force bearing down, and they fled in terror, the once tight surrounding circle instantly showing a gap.

Since the fight with the knight puppets started, Robin had been skillfully falling back; now he was beside the hanging rope flagpole of the city gate, just a breath away from the stout pole.

Robin showed no hesitation, powered his legs, leapt like an agile cheetah, precisely lunging toward the pole.

His hands firmly clutched the pole, using the momentum to start sliding down to the ground.

His body fell swiftly with the pole, his garment flapping in the wind, raising a plume of dust.

At that moment, a clamor of horse hooves and footsteps echoed from afar, and Bloet Lord arrived with the city's knights and troops, storming in.

Their figures wavered in the dust, banners fluttered, armor flashed with a cold sheen, like a flood of steel.

Leimeng watched Robin about to flee, his heart brimming with unwillingness.

He scrambled to pick up a bow and arrow from the ground, hastily nocked an arrow, and fired at Robin.

But his archery, compared with Robin's, was a world apart.

The arrow flew askew, drawing an unsightly curve in the air.

Robin heard the sound behind him, tilted slightly, and effortlessly evaded the harmless arrow.

Robin turned, stuck up his middle finger at Leimeng, a mocking grin on his face, a sign of his disdain and provocation.

Then he forcefully stepped onto the nearest house wall, and with strong leg power and agility, vaulted onto the roof in a few strides.

He sprinted across the roof, and in a few breaths his silhouette disappeared entirely from Leimeng's view, leaving only a quiet roof and dumbfounded foes.

When Bloet Lord arrived with all the knights of his domain at lightning speed, the sight hit him like a heavy hammer to his heart, leaving him shocked and rooted.

The Winston East City Gate, which he had boasted of as his territory's vital defense line, now stood breached, its heavy doors half‑ajar, as if silently recounting the calamity.

Even more enraging, the Black Bear Thieves Guild's flag, embroidered with a snarling black bear, flew high on the wall, flapping wildly, as if a blatant provocation.

"Black Bear Thieves Guild." Bloet Lord clenched his teeth, forced the words out, his voice brimming with fury and bitterness, his eyes as if to swallow the foe whole.

"Barin, slay all these detestable invaders." He turned to his trusted subordinate, bellowing, his voice reverberating over the open battlefield with unquestionable authority.

"Yes, my lord." Barin responded respectfully, his voice carrying resolve and loyalty.

The twenty knights left in the domain, like a steel wall, stood at the front of the formation.

They stood upright, shields raised high, glinting cold light under the sun.

They advanced with orderly, steady strides, slowly closing on the East City Gate, each step feeling as if it stepped on the enemy's heart, radiating pressure.

At that instant, atop the city tower, a Black-robed Man slowly materialized.

His silhouette was cloaked in a black robe, his face hidden, radiating a mysterious, uncanny aura.

He lifted his hand, waving slowly; the gesture appeared gentle yet seemed to wield boundless magic.

In an instant, a dozen puppet knight riders streamed out from behind the tower. Their eyes were vacant, their bodies emitted a dead silence, their motions mechanical and rigid.

Surprisingly, Leimeng was among them, his eyes likewise stripped of their former spark, like a puppet under control.

They, together with the Black Bear Thieves Guild's troops, surged like a horde of feral beasts toward Bloet's army, their war cries deafening.

Immediately, as the two forces clashed, the residential houses lining the street suddenly trembled violently.

Four massive Giant Serpents, like rolling hills, emerged from the houses.

Their bodies were immensely bulky, scales flashing coldly in the sun, and they occasionally hissed, producing a sibilant sound.

They gaped their blood‑filled jaws, lunging madly at Bloet Lord's army; wherever they went, chaos ensued, soldiers' cries rising and falling.

"So it's you, that detestable wizard apprentice." Bloet Lord's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, as if anticipated, and he stepped forward, the ground seeming to quake.

Then, like a black bolt of lightning, he surged toward the nearest Giant Serpent.

He moved lithely, and a blade gleaming with cold light had somehow appeared in his hand.

His actions were as swift as a phantom, and in a blink he closed in on the serpent.

The blade cut cold arcs in the sun, each swing bearing great power.

Though the Giant Serpent was massive, under Bloet Lord's assault it appeared somewhat clumsy.

In merely a few blows, two Giant Serpents were dispatched, their massive bodies crashing down, raising clouds of dust.

The remaining two, frightened, twisted their bodies and fled, their formerly fierce gazes now filled with terror.

"Surely you used the Dragon Devouring Breathing Method to surpass a Great Knight; Bloet, you're a worthless waste." The Black-robed Man sneered coldly, his laugh echoing from Nine Nether Hell, radiating endless chill and scorn.

At those words, Bloet Lord flinched slightly, his facial muscles twitching, then his complexion shifted dramatically, as if a most unwanted scar had been uncovered.

"Ka Jia Ni, you still haven't died." His voice held a trace of disbelief, mingled with deep resentment.

"You're not dead, how could I be? My brother." The Black-robed Man slowly lifted his hood, exposing a face burnt beyond recognition, skin warped and terrifying, like a demon from hell.

"Today I will reclaim everything that is rightfully mine; no, I will utterly annihilate this place, and make that old man lose his greatest source of income." The Black-robed Man Ka Jia Ni's eyes turned blood‑red, shouting wildly, his voice brimming with spite and determination.

"Just the you of now." Bloet Lord's mouth curled slightly, revealing a trace of contemptuous smile.

He is now a Great Knight, his power far surpassing his former self, and he still wields the wizard tool his master left him; in his eyes, ordinary Great Knights and Third Apprentice Wizards could never be his match.

He stands confidently in place, his gaze radiating a powerful aura, as if declaring to Ka Jia Ni his unassailable rule.

(End of Chapter)