Chapter 168: Peak Silver, the Power of Demonization!

A tragic and bloody mountain counter-offensive had officially begun!

In the canyon, the sounds of battle cries, screams, and the clashing of weapons merged into one!

Blood stained the black earth of this forbidden zone of death!

"Hold! Everyone, hold the line for me!"

"Archers, provide suppression! Warriors in front, hold them off!"

On the cliff, Barton brandished the giant axe in his hands, roaring until his voice was hoarse.

His face, covered in scars, was twisted beyond recognition by anger and terror.

Yet, his commands seemed so pale and powerless on the already completely chaotic battlefield.

The Blood Wolf Mercenary Group, which he took such pride in, was now facing a devastating blow from two directions.

From the rear came the elusive Red Leaf Forest hunters.

They were like ghosts in the jungle, constantly maneuvering through the terrain they knew so well, firing one lethal, cold arrow after another.

Every arrow precisely claimed the life of a mercenary.

And from the front, the Storm Knights charged up like a group of steel monsters!

These knights were too tough!

Tough to the point of being unreasonable!

The blades in the mercenaries' hands, when hacking at their pitch-black armor, could only produce a teeth-grinding friction, unable to inflict any effective damage at all.

Yet, the Storm Knights' counterattacks were fatal.

The longswords in their hands were heavy and sharp; every swing easily tore through the crude leather armor on the mercenaries,

drawing out boiling hot blood.

"Ah!"

A mercenary screamed as he was run through the heart by a Storm Knight's sword.

Another mercenary, before he could even react, was struck in the neck by a poisoned arrow shot from behind, and he collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

The battlefield had completely turned into a one-sided slaughter.

The morale of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group collapsed entirely within just a few minutes.

They began to scatter, flee, and cry out.

"No! I don't want to die!"

"Devils! They are devils!"

Watching the mercenary group he had painstakingly built being slaughtered so easily, Barton's eyes turned red.

"Bastards! Bastards!"

He let out a roar like a wild beast.

His gaze locked firmly onto the figure who was wreaking havoc among the crowd.

Roko!

It was this young man!

If not for him, how could he have fallen to such a state!

It was all him!

"I'm going to kill you!"

Barton's reason was swallowed by endless anger and resentment.

He abandoned command, raised his giant axe, and charged toward Roko like a crazed bull.

"Roko! Give me your life!"

He roared, and the giant axe in his hand, carrying the power to split mountains and crack rocks, slashed fiercely toward the top of Roko's head!

Roko, who was in the middle of cutting down a mercenary, felt the sharp wind coming from behind.

Without turning his head, he swung his sword back to meet it.

"Clang!"

A deafening, thunderous sound!

The longsword and the giant axe collided fiercely!

It stirred up a visible ripple of energy!

Roko only felt a massive force coming from the sword, numbing the web between his thumb and index finger.

He couldn't help but take two steps back.

Barton, too, was shaken by the pure and overbearing Holy Sun Battle Qi on Roko's sword, his blood surging, and he also retreated one step.

"Peak Silver Rank?"

A flash of surprise crossed Roko's eyes.

He hadn't expected this mercenary leader to be so strong.

He was even a notch stronger than Viscount Enade, whom he had killed earlier.

"Kid, who exactly are you?!"

Barton steadied himself, looking at Roko with suspicion and uncertainty.

This young man looked to be only in his early twenties.

Yet he could take his full-force strike head-on.

And he was only at the initial stage of Silver Rank!

This simply defied common sense!

"The one who will kill you."

Roko couldn't be bothered to waste words with him.

The Holy Sun Battle Qi within his body circulated frantically.

Golden light lit up on his longsword once again.

"You reckless thing!"

Seeing this, Barton roared as well.

He brandished his giant axe again and charged up.

The two instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

Sword light and axe shadows crossed and clashed continuously on the narrow cliff.

Every collision erupted with a powerful energy shock, shattering the surrounding rocks and trees.

For a time, they were evenly matched, locked in a stalemate!

However, Barton's heart was sinking lower and lower.

Because he discovered that as the battle continued, Roko showed no signs of exhaustion.

On the contrary, he fought with increasing vigor!

The sword in his hand seemed to contain a power that was extremely rigid and masculine.

Every collision was wearing down the Battle Qi within his own body.

If this continued, the one to lose would definitely be himself!

No!

He couldn't drag this out any longer!

He had to end this quickly!

A flash of madness and determination crossed Barton's eyes!

He suddenly forced Roko back with an axe swing.

Then, he pulled a black crystal from his chest!

The crystal was only the size of a fist, its surface covered in eerie, dark red patterns.

An evil and chaotic aura emanated from the crystal.

"This is—"

Roko's pupils constricted sharply.

From that crystal, he felt a power of the same origin as the Scorpion Society!

"Kid, to be able to force me to this point, you have enough to be proud of!"

A ferocious smile appeared on Barton's face.

"This is a trump card specifically prepared for me by Marquis Archibald through his connections with the Scorpion Society!"

"Today, I'll let you witness what true power is!"

Having said that, he crushed the black crystal in his hand without hesitation!

"Crack!"

The crystal shattered at the sound!

A visible, thick black mist surged out from the shattered crystal instantly!

As if it had a life of its own, it frantically burrowed into Barton's body!

"Ah!"

Barton let out a painful roar that sounded nothing like a human!

His body began to change in an extremely eerie way.

It expanded and twisted!

Muscles bulged out, tearing through the leather armor on his body!

His skin turned an ominous dark red!

His eyes were bloodshot, flashing with a crazed and bloodthirsty light!

In just a few breaths of time.

A demonized warrior, over three meters tall and exuding a terrifying aura,

appeared before everyone!

The pressure radiating from him was already infinitely close to the Golden Rank!

"This—what kind of monster is this?!"

In the distance, Hart and Zewen were stunned when they saw this scene.

They could feel the chilling pressure coming from that monster.

"Hahaha! Power! This is power!"

The demonized Barton, feeling the unprecedentedly powerful strength within his body,

let out a crazed laugh.

He turned his head and stared fixedly at Roko with those blood-colored pupils that lacked even a trace of emotion.

"Kid, are you ready to die now?"

His voice became hoarse and low, as if it were demonic sounds from hell.

The next second, he moved!

His figure turned into a dark red afterimage!

His speed was more than twice as fast as before!

He appeared in front of Roko in an instant!

The axe, which had also been demonized and become even larger, slashed down toward Roko's head with a whistling sound that tore through the air!

Too fast!

So fast that Roko couldn't react at all!

He could only subconsciously hold his longsword in front of him to block!

"Boom!"

An unprecedentedly loud sound!

Roko was hit head-on as if by a charging giant beast!

The longsword in his hand was instantly knocked out of his grip!

His entire body was sent flying by an irresistible force!

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed into the air.

Roko's body slammed heavily into the cliff wall behind him.

He even left a human-shaped crater in the hard rock!

"Master!"

Hart and Zewen, seeing this, were filled with rage!

Without a second thought, they abandoned their respective opponents.

They charged toward the demonized Barton like madmen!

"Get lost! Small fry!"

Barton didn't even look at them, just waved his hand casually.

A powerful gust of wind swept past!

Hart and Zewen were like two flies.

They were easily swatted away, spitting blood.

They fell heavily to the ground, unconscious.

One-hit kill!

Two powerful Silver Rank warriors were actually killed in one move!

The demonized Barton was truly too strong!

He walked step by step toward Roko, who was struggling to stand up on the ground.

Every step made the earth tremble.

"It's over, kid."

He walked up to Roko, looking down at him with eyes full of cruelty and disdain.

He raised the giant axe in his hand high.

Preparing to deliver the final blow to this young man who had cost him so dearly!

Roko looked up at the giant axe constantly enlarging in his pupils, but a flash of determination shone in his eyes.

He knew that conventional means could no longer defeat this monster before him.

To survive, there was only one way!

That was to use his strongest trump card!

"Master!"

"Roko!"

In the distance, Hart and Zewen, who had just crawled up from the ground, let out desperate roars as they saw Roko in a desperate situation.

They struggled, wanting to charge over again.

But their severe injuries made even standing up incredibly difficult.

They could only watch helplessly as the giant axe, exuding an ominous aura, fell fiercely toward Roko's head!

"Go to hell!"

A cruel and twisted smile appeared on the demonized Barton's face.

He seemed to have already seen the bloody scene in the next second where Roko's head exploded like a watermelon.

However, just as the axe blade was about to touch Roko.

A sudden change occurred!

An unprecedentedly dazzling golden light erupted from Roko's body!

The light was so pure, so scorching, so sacred!

It was as if a small sun had risen in the canyon!

Everywhere the golden light shone, the evil black mist.

It hissed like snow meeting the scorching sun, and rapidly dissolved!

"Ah!"

The demonized Barton bore the brunt of it!

He let out a scream of extreme pain!

The sacred golden light had a devastating restraining effect on monsters like him, born from evil power!

His body began to emit black smoke as if splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid.

His skin began to fester and melt!

The giant axe he held high also stalled in mid-air due to the intense pain.

Now is the time!

A flash of brilliance shone in Roko's eyes!

He seized this fleeting, only opportunity!

He didn't go to retrieve the longsword that had fallen in the distance.

Instead, he pointed his fingers like a sword, gathering all the Holy Sun Battle Qi in his body,

frantically converging it toward his fingertips!

His body seemed to become a bottomless black hole, frantically absorbing the light elements around him.

For a moment, the entire canyon dimmed.

Only the point of golden light at his fingertips became brighter and more piercing!

That point of golden light seemed to condense all the light and hope of the world!

The terrifying energy contained within it caused the entire space to begin to distort slightly!

"Blazing Sun Slash!"

Roko used all his strength to let out a roar that echoed through the heavens and earth!

He pointed that finger, condensed to the extreme, fiercely toward the heart of the demonized Barton!

There was no earth-shattering momentum.

There were no flashy, dazzling special effects.

Only a pure golden beam of light, as thin as a hair, flashed and vanished.

Fast!

Fast to the extreme!

It even surpassed sound and thought!

The demonized Barton couldn't react at all.

His pupils were still frozen in the pain and shock of the previous second.

The golden beam of light had already silently pierced through his chest, which was as hard as steel.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The expression on the demonized Barton's face froze.

He looked down in disbelief at the inconspicuous little hole, only the size of a needle tip, in his chest.

No blood flowed from the hole.

Only wisps of golden flame continued to spread outward.

"What... is this?"

He struggled to spit out the last few words of his life.

Before the words faded.

"Boom!"

His massive and ugly body suddenly burst from within!

Countless golden flames surged out from every corner of his body!

Burning him, along with the evil dark energy within him, into the most primitive ashes!

A gust of wind blew by.

The ashes drifted away.

That once-arrogant demonized warrior had completely vanished from this world.

Not even a trace remained.

The entire battlefield was deathly silent.

Everyone stared in a daze at this scene, which was like a miracle.

Whether it was the surviving Storm Knights or the Red Leaf Forest hunters.

Or those mercenaries who had been scared out of their wits.

Their minds were completely blank.

What just happened?

That monster, which was like a demon god, just died like that?

Pointed to death by their young Lord with a single finger?

Is—is this a dream?

"Thump."

After unleashing that earth-shattering strike, Roko could no longer hold on.

He knelt on one knee, gasping for air.

His face was as pale as paper.

The Battle Qi in his body had been completely exhausted.

That move just now had drained almost all of his strength.

But he had won.