Chapter 402
Chapter 109: Is This Seriously A-Rank?
The wriggling shadow in front of Marvin took on the shape of a beast—a massive, two-headed shadow leopard that bared its fangs at Roy with a low growl.
Both the centaur archer and the two-headed shadow leopard were Sequence 6 extraordinary beasts. A purple mage capable of simultaneously contracting two magical beasts was indeed a rare find, and this was Marvin’s trump card.
Marvin petted the beast beside him and arrogantly said, “Commoner, kneel and beg for mercy, and I might spare you.”
“Brother Sword Demon, that thing is tough to handle,” even the normally combative Hex’s expression turned grave.
He had no doubt about the Sword Demon’s strength.
But the reputation of the chief mage of the Purple Mage school was no small matter.
Dealing with two Sequence 6 magical beasts at the same time was the standard for an S-Rank adventurer. Even the Sword Demon would surely face a tough fight.
Hex felt uneasy due to the aura of the two Sequence 6 beasts: “Why don’t we wait for the mage’s main forces to arrive before we engage him?”
However, Roy simply replied casually, “No need for that.”
With that, he raised his longsword and, all alone, rushed towards the ferocious beasts.
This immediately reminded Hex of the day at the underground auction when Roy single-handedly faced the Undead Knight without backing down.
With that memory of shock, he gathered his courage and shouted, “Follow Brother Sword Demon! Don’t let those minions disrupt us!”
The adventurers rallied behind him to deal with the swarming zombies.
Marvin, seeing this, grinned, barely holding back laughter.
“Sure enough, a fool who doesn’t even recognize the gap in strength wants to die? Fine by me!”
With a roar, the two-headed shadow leopard leapt forward like a streak of lightning, claws and fangs bared, lunging at Roy.
Sword light flickered.
Roy delivered a vertical slash but missed.
The two-headed shadow leopard split into two distinct entities, avoiding his sword and flanking him as they struck again.
Roy swung his sword once more, creating a gust of sharp wind, but each time his blade swept through, it merely passed through the shadows without inflicting any effective damage.
The two-headed shadow leopard possessed shadow morphing abilities; unless struck with a sufficiently powerful attack to disperse it in one go, it could always turn into shadow to evade attacks.
Of course, it couldn’t escape elemental or magical attacks.
But Marvin wasn’t worried.
A mere adventurer couldn’t possibly possess a noble bloodline with enough powerful abilities, right?
Even if they were both Sequence 6, Marvin wouldn’t regard a mere adventurer as worthy of his attention!
After several exchanges, the two-headed shadow leopard finally found an opening and lunged at Roy’s body.
Yet, whether clawing or biting, it failed to land any significant wounds.
Marvin quickly realized that the opponent’s defense was extraordinary.
But that was still insignificant.
Because the two-headed shadow leopard was merely there to hold off the opponent, while the real killer was the centaur archer.
This extraordinary creature dwelling deep in the forest had tremendous arm strength, capable of launching attacks equivalent to siege weapons. Marvin had also spent a fortune outfitting it with silver arrows.
Legend had it that silver could tear through a pureblood dragon’s scales, so how could a mere mortal withstand such power?
In fact, the swordsman before him was like the opponent who had lost to him before, held in place by the two-headed shadow leopard.
The centaur archer instinctively notched an arrow, squealing as it released a shot.
A nearly one-meter-long giant arrow shot forth.
The silver blade shimmered with bright light, the sound of it ripping through the air deafening, comparable to a meteor striking from above towards the swordsman entangled with the two-headed shadow leopard.
The shockwave exploded, the ground quaking, stirring up clouds of dust. The heavy impact caused the ground to tremble slightly, nearly toppling the adventurers around.
“Damn it!” Hex couldn’t help but shout, his face paling dramatically.
That arrow just now could probably pierce even his heavy earth armor; if it hit head-on, it would be no joke.
Surely even the Sword Demon found it hard to deal with two magical beasts at once?
Yet when the dust settled, the black-cloaked swordsman was still standing.
In the place where Roy had been, there was a crater several meters wide, evidencing the astonishing power of that strike.
Yet he had not been penetrated or flattened; instead, he casually grabbed the giant arrow, tossing it aside as he stood firm and unharmed!
After a brief moment of shock, Hex couldn’t help but exclaim, “As expected of Brother Sword Demon!”
Seeing Roy unscathed raised the spirits of the adventurers, refocusing them on dealing with the minions.
But Marvin’s face stiffened, unable to fathom how the opponent had come out unscathed.
“I’ve roughly figured out your techniques.”
“It’s my turn now.”
Roy took a slow step towards Marvin.
A chilling killing intent radiated, causing Marvin’s heart to skip a beat.
Instinctively aware of the danger, he didn’t have time to ponder how the opponent withstood the centaur archer’s heavy blow; he immediately commanded the two-headed shadow leopard to flank Roy again.
Roy’s gaze sharpened, but he neither dodged nor flinched, advancing directly.
“That move won’t work anymore.”
His longsword became stained crimson, transforming into an ominous giant scythe that swirled in Roy’s hand, turning into a dazzling crescent.
Weapon Projection: Blood Magic.
A flash and it was over.
The two-headed shadow leopard charged head-on into the spinning scythe blade, its body sliced open, collapsing to the ground, blood spilling everywhere.
Seeing the situation turn dire, the centaur archer unleashed three arrows in quick succession.
The three heavy arrows resembled cannonballs, crashing forward with immense power.
However, the giant scythe in Roy’s hand transformed again into golden dual swords, intertwining into a lightning-fast flurry of slashes.
Weapon Projection: Dragon’s Tooth.
Before the true dragon’s tooth, even silver fell short.
Silver light shattered against the dark golden blades.
Three slashes met the attacks head-on, causing sparks to fly as they cleaved through the heavy arrows, rendering them useless.
The centaur archer attempted to draw back again, but the dual dragon’s tooth swords flew out, piercing its eyes first.
Blind, the archer posed no threat. Roy quickly advanced, projecting his longsword once more, cleanly severing its head.
As blood spilled from the blade, Roy took a deep breath and then turned his gaze toward Marvin.
Marvin wanted to curse but looking at that terrifying presence, he felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his throat, rendering him speechless.
Damn it.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
Why is he so strong?! When did such a master appear among adventurers?!
Marvin suddenly remembered; the opponent was perhaps the recently renowned A-Rank adventurer, the Sword Demon.
He had never thought of him as a concern. A-Rank was esteemed among adventurers, but at most, it was merely the level of Sequence 7; in other words, it wasn’t particularly high but not low either—he had reached that level even before graduating.
Yet precisely because of that, he couldn’t understand why this opponent was so strong.
Is this really an A-Rank?!
Easily slaying a Sequence 6 magical beast, he looked to be an S-Rank at best?!
As Roy rushed forward once more, Marvin panicked and said, “Wait, wait, you are an adventurer, right? I can give you money…”
“No need!”
Roy stepped forward like a runaway horse, unhesitatingly slashing down.
But at that moment, Marvin’s panic twisted into mockery on his face.
“You fool! You fell for it!”
Just as the sword light was about to reach Marvin’s body, the ground cracked open, sprouting countless twisted vines that tightly coiled around Roy, halting his strike.
A woman-like creature, with a torso made of dead wood and a lower body of vines, giggled wickedly, completely wrapping the cloaked swordsman, pinning him down.
