Chapter 200: No Fun Allowed, Let Me Have My Fun First

Vilyric and the others were surrounded.

In fact, this was a premeditated ambush.

The attackers had likely intended to approach quietly, but they failed to notice the warning lines laid out by Miss Le Qiao Qiao around the camp. After accidentally triggering them, they could only resort to making a commotion by destroying the nests in the trees to attract attention, planning to strike when the girls were distracted and let their guard down.

Of course, this improvised tactic was rather flimsy; anyone with a bit of experience could easily see through it. It was just a case of a blind cat bumping into a dead rat.

“Not something dirty… it’s humans, and from the looks of it, quite a few. They should all be participants, and they gathered pretty quickly… did they use some special means?”

Glancing around the empty, shadowy surroundings, the black-haired girl flexed her wrist, producing a subtle “crackle” sound. She seemed a bit disappointed, while the thief girl next to her had a tense expression, already afraid without even having started the fight.

“W-what do we do? Should we run? We have to run, right? Before they come over…”

“Running out now would be playing right into their hands. Can’t you recognize that much as a thief?”

Giving a strange glance at the masked thief girl, Vilyric realized she might have overestimated this person. Clearly, her abilities were decent, but her mentality had issues, making it impossible for her to utilize her advantages and skills during a fight.

Speaking of which, previously she had only shot an arrow awkwardly to scare them, and when she realized she failed, she immediately planned to flee.

No wonder she agreed so readily—turns out she’s just a half-baked fighter? Could it be that she’s the one taking orders here…

Oh well, I wasn’t counting on her for combat anyway.

Patting the thief girl’s shoulder, signaling her to deal with things as they come, Vilyric took out the Eternal Staff: Heart of the World and swept the tip in a half-circle.

“Come out, it’s late night already. Don’t dilly-dally! You’re so many people, are you still afraid of two weak girls?”

“Hehe, you don’t look weak at all.”

Accompanied by some flippant mocking laughter, around ten figures continuously emerged from the dark depths of the forest, armed with weapons, surrounding the two girls from all sides. The oddly flavored gaze from them made the priestess frown slightly.

“Thieves who kill and burn dare to participate in the Four Saints Selection Tournament?”

The leader, a scar-faced man who had previously responded to Vilyric’s provocation, seemed slightly surprised by her words and curiously asked, “How do you know this old man is in this business? Heard of the brothers?”

The black-haired girl maintained a poker face and shook her head.

“My social circle doesn’t include unprincipled criminals. It’s just that the smell on you is too strong; other than thieves who do that kind of stuff, I can’t think of any other possibilities.”

“Smell?”

Seemingly more confused by her nonsensical words, the bandit leader couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“What the hell are you babbling about… whatever, let’s take you down first. With my brothers’ methods, I’m not worried you won’t talk. Look at this pretty little thing; we’ve really found two good catches, heh heh, this will be fun~”

“Hehehe…”

The bandit leader licked his dry lips, and his subordinates showed ruthless and bizarre smiles, clearly indicating their so-called “methods” were far from clean.

Suddenly, he swung his big knife!

“Take down that black-haired girl who uses magic first!”

As soon as he finished speaking, suddenly a large cloud of powder fell from the tree canopy, where the two girls were almost out of sight!

“Watch out!”

Though initially hesitant, Miss Le Qiao Qiao indeed had a notable ability to adapt. She quickly shouted a warning and almost immediately tried to pull Vilyric away from the area covered by the powder.

However, the priestess stood her ground and didn’t budge from the thief girl’s tug. She raised her holy staff, and her magical power transformed into a howling gale, dispersing all the mysterious powder around, leaving Le Qiao Qiao, who was on high alert, a bit dazed.

“I’ll handle this; you take care of that guy.”

“Ah…? Oh!”

Seeing Vilyric gesture upward, the thief girl finally understood her intention and immediately leaped into the dense treetops above, vanishing from sight.

Redirecting her attention to the many hostile figures surrounding her with fierce expressions, the black-haired girl tightened her grip on her staff but did not rush to act.

These people did not seem like ordinary mountain bandits; they appeared to be professionals engaged in a similar line of work.

Ever since she had received the Divine Spark left by Ming Xi at the Open Heaven Gate ruins, Vilyric gradually noticed something peculiar about her perception.

At some point, she could actually see the vague light of “souls” within everyone, and those supposed insubstantial evil spirits became visible to her eyes, much like opening a mystical eye. The world before her suddenly became far more vibrant.

While she could achieve a similar effect with Spiritual Points if she concentrated, watching directly with her eyes was undoubtedly much more convenient. Moreover, this ability seemed to belong to a genuine Spiritual Fox Priestess, granting Miss Vilyric another fascinating power.

“Seeing” the colors of others’ souls.

Of course, when she said “seeing,” it was closer to an abstract perception. Vilyric could immediately identify the identities of these bandits because she sensed a strong aura of resentment and the stench of blood from them. Based on her recent experiences, this usually only appeared in cruel and insane criminals.

Having a couple of people with a strong aura could be a coincidence, but with over a dozen gathering like this, all seemingly familiar with outdoor activities and ambushes, daring to attack other participants at night significantly narrowed down the range of possibilities.

Above in the treetops, the sounds of intense shaking and weapons clashing quickly erupted, obviously indicating that Le Qiao Qiao had discovered the ambushers hiding there and engaged in battle.

Meanwhile, below in the main battlefield, they were not idle.

“Attack!”

With a furious shout from the scar-faced man, the group of assassins instantly sped up, charging straight toward the lone girl remaining!

*Bang!!!*

Vilyric pivoted and launched a powerful kick directly into the chest of the bandit in front, sending him flying like a cannonball, crashing into several trees without even letting out a scream and disappearing deep into the forest.

Without a doubt, unless he practiced the elusive techniques of Liu Quan from the Divine Realm and had considerable mastery, there was no way he would return alive.

However, Vilyric’s reckless kick fully exposed her vulnerabilities to the enemies. Seeing their comrade fly out, the bandits showed neither fear nor hesitation, immediately charging forward with long knives aimed right at the girl!

Even though they talked about “catching good stuff” and “having fun,” once they realized their opponent was tough, these guys didn’t hesitate to try to kill. They were truly ruthless, like desperate outlaws.

*Puh puh puh puh puh puh puhh!*

More than ten sharp blades struck their target in multiple critical spots, eliciting savage smiles from the attackers as they seemingly awaited the delightful warmth of the delicate girl’s blood to pour forth, covering them in an ecstatic shower.

But after a brief moment of silence, the expressions of all the killers changed subtly.

Because they suddenly realized that the sharp blades that struck the black-haired girl didn’t cut through her seemingly fragile white clothes at all, instead feeling like they had embedded into some tough leather, failing to go in even an inch. Instead, a surge of immense power exploded from the impact point, sending them all flying like blooming flowers!

*Boom boom boom boom!!!!!!*

It was clear they were the attackers, yet the girl hadn’t even lifted a finger, while the assailants were sent crashing in all directions into the depths of the forest, causing a cacophony of startled birds, before falling silent again.

At that moment, the priestess had just finished striking a cool pose from her spinning kick, her staff just ornamentally resting on the ground, her indifferent gaze landing upon the sole remaining scar-faced man, who looked utterly astonished as she smirked.

“So, how about it? This catch is pretty good, right? Are you still having fun?”

   

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