Chapter Six Unexpected

  Neither Lucien nor Gary nor Correa heard any sounds of fighting, screaming or fleeing.

  The tall and robust, taciturn and extraordinary high-ranking knight attendant Hausen has vanished without a sound?!

  A cool sensation rose rapidly from the soles of his feet and spread throughout his body. Lucien's breathing became slightly heavier.

  With a tight grip on the sword of light, Lucien swiftly turned his head and looked back.

  On the other side of the sewer wall, the green moss shone with a faint light, but the traceless Haosen made them look extremely eerie.

  Suddenly, a mournful cry rang out, and Lucien, who had just turned his head and was on high alert, instinctively looked over.

  A gigantic rat, as large as a human, had knocked Koria to the ground, its sharp claws piercing his shoulder and tearing open his hard cuirass, blood flowing out and staining the silver-gray armor plates red. Its pair of bright red eyes seemed to contain a hint of mockery within their eerie glow.

  Its wide-open mouth and those rows of intimidating teeth bit down on Correa's long sword, which had been swung in just in time.

  As a high-ranking knight attendant, Collea saved his life with the most standard swordsmanship at the most critical moment, and the shield in his left hand swung heavily towards the abdomen of the giant rat.

  The fear that has already appeared is far less than the unknown, at least for Lucien, a giant red-eyed mouse with only ordinary human size and silent action is much more acceptable than "mysterious disappearance".

  Taking a deep breath, Lucien didn't hesitate and swung the lightsaber at the red-eyed giant rat to rescue Correa.

  But at this moment, a low, beast-like growl came from behind Lucien.

  "What's happened to Garry too?!" Just as Lucien thought of Garry standing behind him, a sharp knight's longsword slashed viciously into Lucien's back.

  The holy light shield's pale glow fluctuated violently, dimming significantly in an instant. At the same time, a massive impact force caused Lucien to stumble forward, taking several unsteady steps to the side and front.

  That knight's longsword chased after him, cutting out continuously, causing Lucien to lose his balance in a hurry, and even the Glorious Sword was hard to wield, let alone concentrate his mind, rub the holy emblem, and cast spells with incantations.

  Lucien dodged in a flurry, his mind reeling with shock and confusion: "Why did Gary attack me?!"

  The attack from the knight's longsword came again from behind. If it wasn't Garry, then there was only one possibility: Garry was already dead!

  The knight's longsword attack rhythm was extremely well grasped, not giving Lucien a chance to steady himself, forcing him to stumble into the secret room.

  Korosain, after being struck repeatedly, found that he had not suffered any injuries. His panic subsided as he realized he had the Holy Light Shield. Why did he still need to seek balance and engage in close combat?!

  An idea flashed through his mind, and as the knight's long sword came slashing down again, Lucien rolled with the blow, his left hand closing around the holy emblem.

  At this time, Lucien finally saw clearly who was attacking him.

  It's really Gary, steady and introverted Gary.

  But his facial muscles were already distorted, his eyes gleaming with a red light, and a stark savagery.

  "Could it be that the poisonous substance in the red-eyed mouse hasn't been completely eliminated, and can still make people lose their sanity and become bloodthirsty beasts?" Lucien thought of this as soon as he saw Gari's appearance. "But why didn't I have any problems? I don't feel anything unusual!"

  Lucien didn't have time to ponder the doubt and strangeness, focusing his mind, his left hand touched the cross on the holy emblem, about to recite the incantation.

  The iron-clad round shield was swung out fiercely and struck the Holy Light Shield, causing it to shake violently.

  Although the shield strike didn't break through the Holy Light Shield, the shock and impact transmitted from it made Lucien's chest tight, his breathing labored, and the half-recited incantation stuck in his throat.

  The next blow from the shield sent Lucien's breathing rhythm into chaos, and he could no longer focus his mind.

  As a squire with hopes of becoming a true knight, Gary had decent, formal training in interrupting spells.

  Of course, whether it's a priest or a magician, or any other spellcaster, seeing Lucien like this would make them shake their heads and sigh. Only someone who hasn't even learned the most basic spellcasting concentration would be interrupted by a knight's attendant. If it were any novice priest or magic apprentice, with a first-tier Truth Holy Emblem and an activated Holy Light Shield, Gari should have been dead long ago.

  When facing peers, the spellcaster always has an absolute advantage!

  Lucien was tormented by his inability to focus his mind and cast a spell, while on the other side, Correa had become increasingly dangerous, seemingly starting to lose control, clutching the long sword in his right hand, which was pressed tightly against his chest, with an almost imperceptible tremble appearing in his wrist.

  Fortunately, the giant mouse-like creature that had been entangled with him also seemed to be losing strength and was no longer as ferocious as before.

  Unable to chant the incantation, Lucien simply swung the Radiant Sword in his right hand upwards, no longer being stuck on triggering the divine technique.

  After the battle with the Red-eyed Mouse Group, Lucien had a certain understanding of the sharpness of this summoned light sword, which was absolutely far superior to the Knight's Longsword held by Gari.

  Under Garet's heavy blow, Lucien's sword seemed to be swung wildly and disorderly, unable to maintain stability, unable to aim at Garet's vital point.

  However, facing this sun-like long sword, Gari did not behave like a beast that had lost its reason, but instead hastily held up the knight's sword to block it.

  He seemed unwilling to back away, and once he had distanced himself from Lucien, facing a One-Ring spell was extremely perilous, even for a formal, blood-empowered knight; one misstep could result in severe injury or death.

  The Radiant Sword clashed with the Knight's Longsword, but there was no clear metallic ringing sound.

  In the silent interval, the knight's long sword was like a piece of wood, broken in two, but at this time, Gary had already pulled the round shield back to his front.

  A deep gash appeared on the round shield, almost splitting it in two.

  Lucien was about to take advantage of the situation and counterattack, but the Radiant Sword, which had already dimmed significantly, suddenly shattered into pieces, its light scattering in all directions.

  The brilliant sword that began to lose power when it cut through the wall with a magical trap finally exhausted everything and could not be maintained.

  Lucien was stunned for a moment, while Gary took the opportunity to swing his round shield heavily and hit it hard on the Holy Light Shield that had also become thin and dim.

  Shield fragments flew everywhere, and the Holy Shield of Light flickered and shook before disappearing directly.

  Lucien's largest reliance, Holy Light Shield, was thoroughly shattered after withstanding continuous attacks.

  No time to reflect on the mistakes made due to lack of battle experience or composure, Lucien rubbed the cross on his holy emblem, desperately focusing his mind and reciting the incantation.

  "Ah... cough, cough."

  Before the short syllable was even out, Gary's prepared fist heavily hit Lucien's abdomen, causing Lucien to curl up like a shrimp, with a strong sour taste appearing in his throat.

  Interrupting Lucien's incantation, Gary's other hand came over and clutched Lucien's throat, pulling him in with a jerk.

  Lucien's right hand was tightly clasped around Garry's five fingers, but as a high-ranking knight attendant, Garry still had a significant advantage in terms of strength despite his severely depleted physical and mental energy after such a long battle against Lucien, an ordinary person.

  Breathing became increasingly difficult, his neck hurt abnormally, Lucien's eyes turned black in front of him, and the left hand holding the holy emblem was fixed to his chest by Gari with another hand, which also pressed Lucien's entire body firmly.

  The beast's heavy breathing echoed in Lucien's ear, the icy sensation of the iron gauntlet transmitted from his skin to his brain, and Lucien, whose consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred, suddenly regained some clarity.

  The soul floats and drifts, producing a strange sense of detachment. Lucien's desire to survive bursts forth, his spirit seems to have broken through some kind of boundary, spreading out like the sea.

  And at this time, Garry's right hand grasping Lucien's neck suddenly became much weaker, just like Correa and the humanoid giant mouse who were fighting each other to exhaustion, giving Lucien a precious chance to breathe.

  It was very strange that Gari suddenly lost his strength, and his power disappeared more and more, but Lucien absorbed the precious lesson from before, not to be stunned, dazed, surprised, or puzzled, and with a concentrated spirit, he reached out to touch the Truth Holy Emblem.

  As soon as he came into contact, Lucien's spirit shook suddenly, as if he had entered an ocean of holy light. The peculiar patterns composed of lines, circles, triangles, squares and crosses magnified countless times in front of Lucien's senses, seeming to carry deep secrets.

  Lucien felt a strange sensation and discovered that the cross emitted Benjamin's scent, an indescribable smell.

  Lucien curiously touched the cross, and it suddenly became violent, as if it had been violated. One of the strange patterns around it burst into light, gathering radiance, and a terrifying aura erupted.

  Lucien's spirit sense recoiled in shock, but still a little too slow. A pure white light beam shot out from the holy emblem, grazing Lucien's spiritual edge, making him feel nauseous and dizzy, his head throbbing as if it was about to split open. Two cool, fishy, iron-tasting streams suddenly flowed out of his nostrils.

  After the light column shot out, it drew power from around and grew bigger. Gary seemed to have sensed a great danger and hastily dodged to the side, but at such a close distance, even if he reacted quickly, he couldn't avoid it. The white light column completely vaporized his right hand along with part of his shoulder, and the wound was charred black without a single drop of blood flowing out.

  "Can divine magic be invoked without incantations and gestures?" This was Lucien's first thought, then he hastily rolled to the side, fearing that Gari would take this hit and still have combat power.

  As he rolled over, Lucien found himself with the same strange numbness in his hands and feet, devoid of strength, and looked up at Gary as he did so.

  "What?!" Lucien exclaimed in surprise at the scene before him, which was completely beyond his expectation.

  Gary lay on the ground, his eyes half open, almost dying, but the twisted face and the red glow in his eyes had disappeared.

  Meanwhile, the puddles of eerie red blood left behind by those red-eyed rats that were killed had somehow evaporated into a faint red mist that permeated the entire room and nearby sewers.

  In the room, that strange, humanoid plant stretched its branches and leaves in the pale red mist, looking very comfortable.

  On the other side of the battlefield, an unimaginable change had taken place. The one locked in a life-or-death struggle with Koria was not some giant rat, but Hausen - taciturn Hausen.

  Their knights' swords were inserted into each other's bodies.