Chapter 329: Fighting on the Mountain Peak — Jier's Skills and One Against Three

Jier held his Shield in front of his chest, the Long Sword in his right hand lightly touching the snow-covered ground at an angle, and he moved with small steps to shift himself into a slightly more open position.

There was not much space here in the Tianjing for him to fight the Bandits, so he had to be careful not to trip and fall during the upcoming battle.

The three selected Bandits stepped out; one carried two Single-handed Axes, one shouldered a large Iron Hammer, and the third held something with a strange style that looked like a long staff, except that this long staff was crafted entirely from heavy brass, with a yellow metal snake head and a black metal cat head at the top.

Hah, an exotic weapon.

Jier braced himself; he had to be wary of the person using that kind of weapon.

The three Bandits centered themselves around the one carrying the Iron Hammer, laughing loudly and waving the hammer as a show of force from far away; it looked like a waste of energy, but just looking at the Bandit's own sturdy physique, one knew this was merely his strategy.

Another Bandit using dual axes had nimble footwork, and the two axes in his hands kept switching hands as he moved, or were lightly tossed up and caught while spinning.

The last Bandit held the strange metal long staff with both hands, leveled it with the animal heads facing forward, and charged toward Jier.

Jier dared not block the charge head-on; after all, that thing did not look light at all, and since the weapon was strange, it would be troublesome if it had some peculiar function.

He leaped to the left, dodging the charge of the Bandit with the long staff, then kicked and pushed the snow with his feet, rapidly approaching the Bandit using the dual axes.

At the same time, he mocked the opponent: "Scum, playing with your axes like that, you'd be better off joining a theater troupe; it's easier than being a Bandit."

Jier's words seemed to hit a sore spot for the Bandit, who stopped spinning his axes and lunged over with a roar: "Go to hell!"

Jier did not take his attack seriously at all; the weight of the Single-handed Axes was limited, and since the opponent was dual-wielding, the impact force brought by each axe swing was even lower.

The Shield was placed early in the path of the axe attack, and after blocking one strike, Jier's Long Sword swept up diagonally from his side, using a longer swing distance to knock the opponent's other Single-handed Axe away.

The opponent's guard was wide open, so Jier shoved forward with force, the Shield pressing against the Bandit's chest, but the Bandit pulled one axe to his chest to block Jier's impact.

But that was not Jier's original intention; he had already noticed that three meters behind this Bandit was a relatively steep drop. After his Shield pressed against the Bandit's chest, he did not pull it back, but instead forced the Bandit backward.

The Bandit had no choice but to keep taking small steps backward. The empty hand holding the other axe kept trying to hack at Jier's head, but Jier kept blocking him with his Long Sword, giving him no room to swing the axe.

Jier advanced with large strides, while the Bandit retreated quickly with small steps. The Bandit himself did not realize what was happening, but the other Bandits surrounding the area saw it clearly, knowing that Jier intended to push this Bandit off the cliff.

It was quite steep here, and the ground was not a rough rock surface, but a cliff covered in snow. Once one rolled off, it was basically impossible to stop before reaching the bottom of the mountain ridge.

But rolling down from such a height would cost anyone their life several times over.

Therefore, these Bandits shouted one after another to warn the Bandit: "Idiot! Stop! There's a cliff behind you!"

"Dodge to the side."

"Stand firm and wrestle! The opponent is just a young man, how could your strength be less than his? Wrestle!"

Jier saw that the warned Bandit was trying to save himself by changing tactics, but he slammed forward hard, pushing the Bandit backward until he fell to the ground.

At this moment, half of the Bandit's arm was already hanging over the edge; he screamed in panic and let go of the axe in his hand, trying to grab Jier's legs to flip Jier onto the ground.

But what met him was a cowhide leather boot reinforced with an iron toe.

Bang!

Accompanied by splashing blood and falling teeth, the Bandit was kicked in the face and lost consciousness. Jier immediately followed up with another kick to the opponent's waist, kicking the Bandit directly off the cliff.

Accompanying the Bandit's body as it rolled down were the curses of the surrounding Bandits. But immediately, these Bandits became excited again, hooting and hollering.

Jier immediately realized something was wrong; he hurriedly turned around and lowered his entire posture, while simultaneously raising the Shield on his left arm diagonally to protect his head and face.

Sure enough, what followed was a heavy strike from the Iron Hammer that grazed the surface of the Shield.

Sss—clang!

Sparks even flew where the Iron Hammer grazed the Shield, and the wooden decoration on the face of the Shield was torn into a large horizontal gash.

Jier retreated half a step to absorb the impact. At the same time, the Long Sword in his right hand thrust straight toward the Bandit with the Iron Hammer who had snuck up on him.

The Bandit was tall and burly, and Jier's counter-thrust only hit the opponent's thigh. The thick animal hide on the Bandit's leg did not have much defensive power; facing Jier's thrust, it was worse than a leaf.

But the Bandit's legs and arms were thick and strong, so Jier's shallow thrust did not have much effect; he then moved his feet along the direction of the opponent's hammer swing, while simultaneously flicking his Long Sword diagonally, driving the tip of the sword into the opponent's thigh to gouge out more flesh.

With just a simple flick, Jier's Long Sword tore a bloody hole in the opponent's thigh, and scalding blood gushed out from within.

Clearly, compared to the thrust, the damage and pain caused by this move were unbearable for the Bandit. The Bandit gritted his teeth, covered the injured part of his thigh with his left hand, and took large steps backward.

Jier wanted to pursue, but the other Bandit raised the metal long staff high and swung it down toward Jier.

This gave Jier a start, and he dared not use his Shield to block it at all. In this posture, if he took the hit, the lightest outcome would likely be a broken arm.

Boom!

This blow smashed into the ground, sending a large amount of snow and scattered Suishi flying; even the Bandit himself had to use one hand to protect his head and neck.

But Jier did not block at all; after dodging the ground-smashing blow by moving sideways, he immediately pushed through the flying Suishi and snow, took a quick, solid step forward into a bow stance, his right hand gripping the sword and extending straight out, and the long Long Sword instantly thrust straight into the center of the careless Bandit's chest.

The center of a Human's chest is where the heart is located; even with the large expanse of the sternum for protection, this is still a vital part of a Human.

It can only be said that this Bandit likely had other Bandits coordinating with him in battles; if there had been three or five people assisting him, it would not have been easy for Jier to kill him.

This heavy metal long staff was clearly used by the Bandits to break through the tightly guarded escorts of a Caravan. Common large Mudu were easily destroyed by such heavy weapons, providing an opportunity for other Bandits using normal weapons to break in for close-quarters combat.

The Bandit Leader likely saw that Jier had a metal Shield and was wearing armor, making it difficult for ordinary weapons to penetrate the armor's defense, necessitating the use of heavy weapons.

The Bandit using the Two-handed Axe should have been providing assistance to the other two Bandits, but unexpectedly, he was the first to die.

After piercing the Bandit's chest cavity and the heart within with one sword strike, Jier immediately withdrew his sword and dodged the last Bandit's attack.

After forcing Jier back, the last Bandit hurriedly checked on his companion. But the Bandit, whose breathing was rapidly weakening, was clearly on a countdown to death because his heart had been destroyed.

Setting down his slumped companion, the last tall and strong Bandit ignored the bloody hole in his thigh, immediately roared, and swung the Iron Hammer to smash at Jier.

Jier saw the attack range of the opponent's Iron Hammer clearly and adjusted his angle of retreat. Although the opponent's wild swinging of the Iron Hammer looked imposing and made it impossible to approach or block, it was also very energy-consuming, especially since the opponent was emotionally agitated, which would accelerate the loss of strength.

That is because when a Human is nervous or emotionally agitated, the muscles throughout the body will unconsciously tense up; while this helps a Human in the ensuing intense battle, it also greatly accelerates the consumption of energy within the muscles.

Oxygen, sugar, and waste products produced by the body's work—these things will either be consumed rapidly or accumulate rapidly in a short period of time.

Jier steadied his breathing and relied on his precise judgment to dodge the opponent's attacks. Originally, this was not very difficult, but unexpectedly, just as Jier focused his attention on the approaching Bandit, behind him...

One of the Bandits watching from not far behind immediately walked forward two steps, not even using the Iron Sword in his hand to attack Jier's armor. He simply kicked Jier in the back, causing the unsuspecting Jier to stumble.

When suddenly attacked, Jier immediately took a step forward to maintain his balance, which prevented him from falling to the ground.

Immediately following, the Bandit's Iron Hammer struck rapidly; Jier had no choice, so he lowered his body, aimed at the rapidly swinging Iron Hammer, and blocked it with his Shield.

He could not deflect the force at an angle, because the angled force would flip him onto the ground. Once he fell, it would be nothing against an ordinary opponent, but the opponent was a tall Bandit using an Iron Hammer. Once he fell to the ground, he would be followed up by a heavy downward smash from the opponent.

It was estimated that just one hit would kill Jier, and the armor would not be able to help him. He would have all the Viscera in his chest cavity smashed by one hammer blow, and then die immediately.

If the Bandit were to land another blow on the helmet, Jier estimated that his face would only be able to be poured out from inside the helmet.

Therefore, in this instant, he positioned his Shield directly against the incoming hammer.

If it's going to collide, let both of us bear that impact force.

Boom!

A crisp sound of impact accompanied by a high-frequency vibration rang out, and the watching Bandits all had to cover their ears. Even so, they felt an itchy, painful sensation inside their ears.

In the entire scene, only Knight Kela stood in place as if nothing had happened. Since the battle began, regardless of the situation, he had just stood there with his arms crossed, watching quietly. At most, he would turn his Helmet slightly to watch Jier and the three Bandits fighting, without offering a single comment.

The other onlookers were already very uncomfortable, so naturally, Jier and that Bandit, who were clashing head-on, were even more uncomfortable.

Jier's mouth was slightly agape, his teeth chattering as they knocked against each other, and the Shield he had been holding forward with his left hand was knocked back against his chest. Fortunately, he had not fully straightened his arm, so when it was struck, his left hand naturally bent and hit his chest.

Although his left arm was not fractured, the impact to Jier's chest still left him unable to breathe for a moment, and a small mouthful of fresh blood welled up in his mouth.

But Jier's mind was relatively clear, and his vacant eyes quickly regained consciousness. His pupils contracted, and he stared fixedly at the Bandit opposite him.

The Bandit opposite was not having an easy time either; the hammer he had swung with both hands had struck Jier's Shield, which was held in a defensive position. It was like striking a stone wall with a hammer, or striking a tough anvil with a hammer.

The swung hammer rebounded quickly with a speed no less than before. The Bandit's fingers curled, and a searing pain shot through the fingers wrapped in coarse cloth. After regaining consciousness, the Bandit thought the friction had scraped off a layer of skin from his fingers, but when he looked down, he realized that was not the case; rather, the coarse cloth wrapped around his fingers had rubbed violently against the long wooden handle of the hammer, and it had actually caught fire due to the friction.

The Bandit immediately extinguished the faint flame on his hand, leaving only a wisp of black smoke.

But just as he finished dealing with his hand, Jier had already slashed his Long Sword straight over.

The Bandit's fingers were incomparably painful, and his arms were also very numb; the defensive maneuvers he could usually perform with ease were all impossible at this moment. Having no choice, he could only abandon the attempt to use his weapon to counterattack and force his opponent back, and could only use his own flesh and blood to resist Jier's Steel Long Sword.

Can flesh and blood rival steel?

This question is a good one in this other world. If you ask Knight Kela, the Knight will naturally tell you: "Flesh and blood can naturally rival steel. In fact, flesh and blood can easily surpass steel."

But if you ask the others nearby now, whether they are Bandits or Militia, everyone will just shake their heads and tell you to eat fewer wild Mushrooms of unknown origin; that stuff ruins a person's brain, and unless you are about to starve to death, it is better to go hungry than to eat those unknown Mushrooms.

Jier's Long Sword swept in an arc; the flesh and blood provided some slowing resistance, but it still could not stop it from biting into the enemy of its master.

"My hand! My hand!" The Bandit held the wooden handle of the hammer forward with one hand, attempting to force Jier back, while the other hand reached out desperately before his eyes, watching blood well up from the severed part. Some of the cross-sections of the severed muscles were twitching, the Tendons connecting to the bones had retracted extremely into the severed arm, and from the cross-section of the bone that had been directly chopped off, fresh Bone Marrow immediately welled up with fine blood, though it did not seem to be very painful.

And the Bandit's fear of his severed hand ended there. His hammer had not blocked Jier at all; in fact, after Jier chopped off his opponent's hand with one sword strike, he immediately moved his feet, and while the other party was ignoring everything else to check on his arm, he went directly behind the Bandit.

Following that was a decapitating sword strike, and the Bandit's expression of fear would remain on his face forever.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Knight Kela clapped his palms, which were covered in thick metal Gloves, as an acknowledgment of Jier's one-against-three battle just now.

Jier scanned the eyes of the surrounding Bandits, seeing pairs of cruel eyes staring at him, but Jier stared fiercely back at each one of them, and as a result, he saw many Bandits who deemed themselves no match for him shrink back.

Patting the armor on his chest and rubbing his left hand, which was still hot and painful, Jier returned to the side of Knight Kela.

"Alright, the strength of both our sides has been fully displayed in the brief battle just now. You shall withdraw now; I do not want your lives." Knight Kela said, resting his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

The surrounding Bandits all looked at their leader; the Bandits could tell that the two who had come up today were not ordinary people. The young man in Hard Cowhide Armor was already so difficult to deal with, so the other guy, who was clearly impossible to rival at a glance, was likely even more formidable.

They looked at the Bandit Leader, Duan Tou Zhe Delang, whose facial muscles were twitching. He touched the double-edged axe that had fallen to the ground beside him, thinking constantly in his heart. His breathing in his chest gradually became heavy, and his eyes were also fixed tightly on Knight Kela, who was hidden under the Faceplate of his Helmet.

But he could not see through the emotions and expression of the Knight behind the Faceplate, which made him feel exceptionally uncomfortable. He wanted to cause a scene, lead his men to chop the two in front into meat paste, and then throw them into the Shikeng on the back mountain to feed the living corpses.

But the experience and intuition gained from years of fighting were constantly sounding an alarm, intensely telling him that if he really did that, he would be dead today, and the close subordinates who had come with him would all die here together.

The two lines of thought intertwined constantly in his consciousness, making him mutter to himself: "I am not afraid of death, I am not afraid of death, I am not afraid of death."

Attempting to convince himself to fight.

But in his many years of military career, Knight Kela had encountered many such people, and he extended his empty left hand forward.

The Knight's action broke the stiff posture of everyone at the scene who had been remaining motionless, and everyone's gaze was attracted by Knight Kela's movement.

The Knight extended his hand, as if shaking hands with an invisible person.

Yet there was no one in front of him.

Immediately following this, the heavy Metal Long Staff on the ground not far away vibrated and flew up, spinning off the ground. The heavy metal staff body stirred the air, emitting a terrifying "woo-woo" sound, letting everyone around know that if they were hit by it, they would be injured.

The long staff rotating in the air suddenly stopped, and then gradually accelerated as it flew through the air toward Knight Kela's hand.

Jier was very close, and he saw that on the hand the Knight extended, there was a faint earthy-yellow light shining through the metal glove, which reminded him of the Pure Elemental Crystal Fragments he had traded to the Knight.

That thing was also earthy-yellow.

It seems that the traded items gave Knight Kela some new, strange abilities?

Jier thought this, and he himself was not frightened by this move of the Knight's; after all, he had even seen more terrifying and incredible evil Stone Statues, so this ability of the Knight to take objects from the air did not look that impressive no matter how he viewed it.

But the Bandits opposite were all terrified. Some were saying things about Mages in terror, while others felt that Knight Kela was a temple Pastor and that this was the release of Divine Power. Some Bandits didn't care what it was at all; they immediately ignored whether their leader had ordered a retreat and scrambled toward the simple wooden ladder they had come up on.

Delang gradually calmed down. Although his desire to fight was still there, this time he didn't need his intuition and experience to tell him anything; he had already realized that if he fought, he would not win at all, and it would only be a matter of how ugly his death would be.

Knight Kela grasped the Metal Long Staff flying through the air, and then turned his hand and slammed it downward.

Boom!

Everyone on the field felt the vibration coming from under their feet, and even from inside the Vertical Shaft nearby, a burst of panicked shouting came.

Jier only heard a few vague words, but he could guess that the Bandits below were wondering if it was an earthquake and were hiding everywhere.

"Retreat, retreat! Let's retreat first." Duan Tou Zhe Delang, with an uncontrollable look of terror on his face, picked up his weapon and turned to retreat. He didn't care at all whether Jier and Knight Kela behind him would kill him while his back was turned.

Watching the Bandits scrambling down, Knight Kela turned and walked toward the path they had come from: "Let's go, let's go down and continue to look at the other side."

"Hey, please wait a moment." After Jier said this, he ran over to cut off the head of the Bandit who had used the long staff, then searched the two Bandits for items, and caught up with Knight Kela while carrying the hammer and the two disheveled heads.

"Do you want to search the other Bandit's things too?" Looking at the things Jier was carrying in his hands, the Knight joked.

Unexpectedly, Jier agreed immediately, and when he returned, he searched the Bandit who used the axe, who had fallen under the steep cliff. Unfortunately, of the two Single-handed Axes, one was tightly gripped in the hands of the fallen Bandit and was found by Jier, but the other one had disappeared somewhere when he fell down the mountain, and he did not find it.