Chapter 56: The Unlucky Barney

  Luo De stood up.

  Before him, the undead warlock who had just been invincible now became (or rather returned to being) a cold corpse.

  But this did not make Rod happy, he looked gloomy, staring at his left hand.

  Although the angel's wings neutralized most of the negative energy attacks, the gap between their levels was too great, and the Lich's attack was not completely blocked. At this moment, Rode's left hand up to his elbow turned a dark blue, and an icy chill spread through it, causing his entire palm to start trembling slightly.

  If it weren't for Rode's physique surpassing that of ordinary people, this arm would definitely be crippled.

  "Hmm..."

  Rod sighed, but then he focused his attention on the ring on his fingers, where the originally milky white gemstone was now a shiny black, and upon closer inspection, one could even see the darkness wrapped around it, as if it had its own consciousness, rotating and moving.

  The soul binding was successful.

  Although the process was somewhat unexpected, it's finally settled, but...

  Here is the translation:

  Thinking of this, Rod couldn't help but feel frustrated. Originally, he had been very confident when choosing this task. The reason why the Pavel Cemetery was a four-star task wasn't because the BOSS was particularly strong, but rather because the undead creatures' restraint against the living was quite problematic. Before the invasion of the Night Kingdom, the people under the Light Dragon Soul had limited experience in dealing with undead creatures. Moreover, the native inhabitants weren't players and could die repeatedly, so tasks related to undead creatures were generally ranked higher in the Mercenary Association. However, from Rod's perspective, he had Lije's help, and her positive energy had a strong restraint against undead creatures. With Marlin's addition, as long as they were commanded properly, victory was almost guaranteed. The previous victories along the way also proved this point - the undead creatures' advantage was obvious when facing melee professions, but it would be tragic when facing magic professions. Originally, following this trend, sweeping through should have been just a matter of time, but unexpectedly...

  Luo De shook his head, put away the Soul Binding Stone, and turned back.

  When Rod walked back to the crowd, the scene had become somewhat chaotic.

  Lijie is treating Shana's wounds, while the idiot who caused trouble earlier is staring intently at her. Old Walker has gone to clean up the battlefield, and Marlin is standing coldly on the side, looking down on them with disdain. The other members of the Red Eagle Mercenary Corps are also not in a good mood, surrounding Shana and worrying about their captain's injuries.

  "I'm sorry, Captain, I'm sorry, Captain, it wasn't intentional, I didn't mean to..."

  Barni knelt beside Shana, his face pale. He could feel the cold and even angry gazes of the people around him. This was something Barni had never experienced before, and it made him feel both terrified and wronged. Clearly, he had seen that the team leaders were in a tough battle, while that cunning nobleman hid on the side without lifting a hand, so he wanted to go up and help. Why did these people make things difficult for him? Didn't they see how critical the situation was at that time?

  Just as Barney was getting anxious, footsteps came from behind him. He turned his head to see the "culprit" walking towards him in a leisurely manner.

  This made the young man's heart even more furious. Our captain is injured, and you don't care at all. It's true that nobles are a group of cold-blooded guys!

  At this thought, Barney immediately jumped up, pointing his finger at Roderick and opening his mouth to curse.

  "It's all you, if it wasn't for you..."

  Barnie's words were cut off because at this moment a fist had appeared in front of his eyes.

  "Bang!!!"

  Rod's merciless fist slammed into the boy's face, and Barney let out a miserable cry, rolling to the ground. He lifted his head, glaring indignantly at the man standing in front of him, not even noticing that his nose had been smashed and was bleeding profusely.

  "Why don't you follow my orders?"

  Rode's voice was calm, but everyone including Lisha who was treating Shana's wound were stunned at this moment.

  There was only one reason, and Rod smiled.

  Anyone who has been in contact with Rode knows that this man, although very handsome, is always very serious and has never shown a smile in front of them. This also makes many people feel a little sorry, even Old Woke has teased him that if he smiles more often, he might be able to charm more people.

  But now Roderick really smiled, and it was very charming, but the crowd felt a chill on the back of their spine.

  "Answer me."

  Rod swung his right wrist, walked to Barney's face with a smile, then lifted his left foot and forcefully trampled on the young swordsman's chest, letting him lie back on the ground.

  "Waaaah!!!!"

  "I recall that before the battle began, it was made very clear that we are in charge of tying up the Lich Wizard. Without my orders, no one is allowed to act arbitrarily... Are you out of your mind or do you have a problem with your ears?"

  "Ugh."

  Although he saw Rod's smile, Barney felt his whole body trembling, as if bound by a giant python, but the young and vigorous him did not choose to surrender, instead, he viciously spat.

  "Don't think I didn't see you, you were hiding on the side and letting our people go to their deaths! A guy like you, how could I follow your orders? Are you daring to say it wasn't intentional? I think everyone saw that, right, Henry?"

  Henry in Barney's mouth is another swordsman who cooperates with Shana to attack the undead wizard. Originally, Barney thought that the other party would definitely come out to speak for himself, but he didn't expect that when he turned his head to look over, the other party directly turned his head away and didn't even glance at him.

  In fact, Henry was also quite dissatisfied with this kid suddenly bursting in. To know that although they looked very awkward at the time, it was mainly still adapting to Rode's method of how to dodge into the dead angle of the undead mage's spellcasting and not let him lock onto himself for attack. These were all very useful techniques and pointers for mercenaries. As a result, just as they were getting into the swing of things, this damned kid messed it up!

  It's like two people practicing the tango, spending so much time mastering the rhythm and steps, just as they're about to take the stage formally, a drunkard suddenly crashes over, destroying everything.

  This feeling would definitely make anyone uncomfortable.

  However, considering that Barni is his own teammate, Henry endured and didn't say anything else. However, judging from his attitude, he obviously doesn't mind letting Rod take the fall for him.

  "Smoothly, smoothly and profitably..."

  He took a deep look at his companions' expressions, and Barnie gritted his teeth. He didn't think that his companions remained silent because they were dissatisfied with him. No, they must be afraid of this young noble! That's why they didn't dare to speak out, but he was different from them! He would absolutely not yield to the powerful, nor would he give up like this.

  "Hmph, say whatever you want, pale face, I absolutely won't ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

  Barni's words were not yet finished, when a shining blade pierced his palm, the sudden severe pain forced the young man to swallow back his own words, replaced by a hoarse cry of despair. But before he could finish crying out, Rode drew his long sword and followed up with a heavy kick to Barni's waist, sending the poor youth flying, rolling on the ground before losing consciousness, lying there without any reaction.

  But upon hearing Barney's miserable cry, Marlin couldn't help but shudder. She naturally remembered what Rod had said when she came to him before. Laughable that at that time she didn't take Rod seriously, fortunately after that duel, Marlin no longer doubted Rod's strength and wholeheartedly followed his words. If she hadn't adjusted her attitude back then, the one lying there crying miserably would probably be herself.

  Looking back on that trial, Marlin could be certain that Rod had absolutely no problem with going all the way.

  Rod, who had done all this, simply clapped his hands and completely ignored the surprised or terrified gazes of the people around him, withdrew his smile, and restored his usual cold and serious face.

  "Sweeping the battlefield."

  This time, Rod can be said to have gained a lot. The undead mage has been operating in Pavel's graveyard for so many years, and naturally there are not a few things that continue. Just the magic crystals alone filled a whole bag, let alone various gems and plants. And Rod finally got what he wanted.

  He bent down and pulled out the dusty, gray-covered holy book from the wooden chest. Rod was satisfied with a nod, then he turned around and beckoned to Lijie.

  "Mr. Luo, is there something?"

  Seeing Rod's gesture, Lijie hurried over, but her expression was still a bit complicated. Originally, Lijie had planned to help Bani treat his wounds, but Rod's words "don't mind him" made her awkwardly keep her distance. Although in all fairness, Lijie was also very dissatisfied with Bani's actions, but as a spiritual master, she couldn't ignore someone's life just because of personal preferences.

  "This is up to you now."

  "This is..."

  Lijie curiously took over the sacred book handed by Luo De, and after flipping through a few pages, she immediately showed a surprised expression.

  "Is this the sacred book?"

  "That's right."

  Rode patted the girl's shoulder.

  "With your ability, I believe learning the above spiritual skills should be no problem, go for it."

  "Of course, I will work hard, thank you, sir!"

  Lilith's eyes sparkled with excitement as she held the sacred book, and of course, she knew its value. In the church, high-level spiritual techniques could only be learned by those who were chosen, while other spiritual masters could only learn the most basic techniques. From this, it can be seen how precious a sacred book that records advanced spiritual techniques is. Lilith was certain that if she could master even half of what was recorded in it, her strength would increase further.

  Just then, Marlene also arrived at the two people's side, but compared to Lisha's excitement, her expression was obviously somewhat painful - because just now, Rode had given Marlene a death order, asking her to take charge of cleaning up the corpse of the deceased spirit master. This was undoubtedly a difficult test for Marlene, as she had never done such a thing since she was young. Although Marlene also protested to Rode in a righteous and severe manner, facing Rode's "since you are a member of the mercenary group, you must follow orders" statement, this talented young lady could only helplessly raise her hands in defeat, pinching her nose as she went to carry out the order.

  "I've completed the task, Mr. Lord."

  "Oh?"

  As Rod heard Marlene's words, he looked at the girl with a hint of curiosity.

  "Have you found anything good?"

  "Everything is here."

  Facing Rode's inquiry, Marlin reluctantly made a response, then she stretched out her palm and handed over the equipment she had searched for.

  But she didn't expect that Rode didn't reach out to take it at the first time, on the contrary, he stared blankly at a ring lying quietly in Marlin's hand, and remained silent for a long time.

  "Mr. Luo De?"

  Seeing Rod's reaction, Marlin voiced a somewhat dissatisfied reminder, and it was only then that Rod seemed to come back to himself, nodding his head.

  "Uh-huh, I know... thanks for your hard work, you've done a good job."

  Roder spoke while curiously sizing up the girl in front of him.

  It's said that even with a drop rate of 0.1%, the Dark Soul Ring can be obtained, just how red must this genius young lady's hands be......