White Oak Bow

If he blocked the attack, Melo's sword would naturally pierce him from behind.

That was the scene Pat had envisioned, and it was exactly what he did. He raised his short blade and collided head-on with his opponent.

At the same time, Melo had already closed in from behind, launching a Lunge at Lin Mo.

At that critical moment, Lin Mo's expression darkened, yet he remained terrifyingly calm.

The instant their blades met, he twisted his wrist and used the other man's knife as a fulcrum, abruptly making a sharp 180-degree turn. At the same time, he drew his sword with his left hand, gripped it in reverse, and unleashed a swift, vicious Slash at the utterly unprepared Melo.

"Fuck!"

As Lin Mo's sudden, bizarre maneuver unfolded, Pat watched Melo's blade come hurtling toward him and could only pull back to dodge.

The next moment, Melo's lunge struck empty air. The air around the blade trembled, sending a falling leaf drifting off course in the wind...

What followed that altered trajectory was his wide-eyed head.

It worked!

Lin Mo rejoiced inwardly, but he did not dare relax for even a moment. The instant his heel hit the ground, he hurriedly exerted force and held his longsword horizontally before him.

Yet the facts proved that he had apparently overestimated his opponent.

Pat had been completely stunned by Lin Mo's move and failed to react in time, actually forgetting to attack.

Only when he saw Melo's head hit the ground did he rush forward, but by then he had already missed his best chance.

Good.

To be honest, what he had just done had been risky. In that instant, he had completely entrusted his back to a dangerous Assassin, and Lin Mo had already prepared to trade a potentially grievous injury for a life.

Fortunately, that Rapier Warrior had never anticipated it. His thrust had been straightforward, and Lin Mo's unexpected maneuver had redirected it right at his companion. Coupled with Pat's brief lapse afterward, Lin Mo had actually turned the tables without paying any price.

As for Pat's subsequent attack, Lin Mo, now readjusted, naturally had nothing to fear.

Sword in one hand and short blade in the other, he was equipped for both long and short range. Pat could do nothing to Lin Mo in close quarters, while once any distance opened between them, he only suffered more.

Meanwhile, Evan and Miriam had finally taken down their opponent, though Evan had paid the price of two sword wounds.

With Miriam freed up, she began harassing the captain, helping Bern, who was already unable to hold on much longer, barely stabilize the situation.

Things had already become utterly dire for the Blood Sea Gang.

Of their original six-man team, only two remained, while their opponents had not lost even a single person...

Everything, all of it, was because of that black-haired young man.

Three of the four dead had fallen by his hand!

Watching the increasingly confident smile on his opponent's face, Pat gradually began to doubt himself.

He had gone from never taking this man seriously and swearing to avenge his teacher, to being nearly driven into a corner. Such a tremendous disparity left him unable to keep his composure, and his movements gradually began to fall apart.

Before long, Lin Mo seized an opening and cut off his right hand with a single stroke.

A short blade immediately followed, flying straight at his face. Pat narrowly dodged it, only for Lin Mo's sword in his left hand to arrive right after, letting him experience the sensation of his vision flying through the air as well.

Watching his last subordinate die, the captain finally lost it completely. He roared without pause and attacked with maddened ferocity.

Bern's face remained grim as he stood before him like a city wall. Blood continued pouring from the wound on his back as he exerted himself, and his strength was nearly exhausted, yet he still gritted his teeth and blocked attack after attack.

The captain's pressure mounted by the second. He had no choice but to divide his attention among the others; the slightest lapse would bring Miriam's arrows mercilessly flying at him.

Although wounded, Evan stood more than ten meters behind Bern, adjusting his breathing to recover his strength while keeping his eyes fixed on him, ready to seize any opportunity and step in with a fatal blow.

The most troublesome one was that last guy...

The moment the captain was distracted, Lin Mo vanished from his sight. He looked around, but could not find him anywhere. His agitation and fear grew stronger and stronger.

An Assassin hiding in the shadows was like the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. He had to remain wary of an ambush at every moment, forcing him to slow the pace of his attacks. More than once, he even wanted to turn and run.

Fortunately, he barely retained his reason. He knew perfectly well that if he exposed his back to them for even an instant, the four people before him would immediately use every means at their disposal to take his life!

The invisible pressure became increasingly heavy. Lin Mo even frequently feigned an attack, only to stop at a safe distance and slip back into the tangled undergrowth.

Lin Mo knew that he was no longer in good condition. Rashly attacking might not work and could instead get him instantly killed by the quasi-Professional Warrior before him. He could not take that risk, so it was better to keep intimidating him.

Besides, Bern always managed to seize the openings he created and struggle to swing his sword at the opponent a few times.

At last, the captain broke completely. He let Bern's sword strike him as though he had given up, grabbed Bern's wrist with his thick arm, and instead of making a pointless attack that would certainly be blocked by the shield, yanked him aside and charged toward Miriam, who was not far behind.

He knew he was doomed to die, but before that, he had to take at least one of them with him!

He could not possibly kill Bern. Lin Mo was nowhere to be seen, and Evan was young and strong enough that he might withstand a blow, making him a poor choice as well. Naturally, the best target was that Ranger.

Miriam was practically the purest kind of rookie. She had only gone on a handful of missions, had no Professional Skills, and was no faster than an ordinary person. She was, in essence, just an ordinary person who could shoot a bow.

Seeing the burly man charging at her, her mind froze for a moment. By the time she thought to retreat, the distance of several dozen meters had already been cut in half.

"Danger!"

Bern, having steadied himself, cried out in alarm. Lin Mo frowned and rushed forward, but he was too far away and could not make it in time.

Just as the captain was about to catch Miriam, a figure suddenly burst out from the flank and stood in front of her.

It was Evan!

The instant the Blood Sea Gang's captain moved, he had reacted quickly and rushed over.

Miriam was behind him. He could not back down!

Evan's eyes turned bloodshot as he roared and brought his greatsword down heavily at the opponent.

"You're courting death!"

The captain roared as well and swung his sword.

The enormous difference in strength immediately forced Evan to his knees. His face flushed red, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The wounds on his body split open again, worsening his injuries.

"Die!"

The pressure from the other side of the blade continued mounting. In his daze, faint cracking sounds gradually began to ring out...

"Crack—"

Cracks rapidly spread across the sword. From the first break to total shattering took only an instant, and the captain's sword slashed unhindered toward Evan's face.

The sharp blade rapidly enlarged in Evan's vision, and a trace of despair flashed through his bewildered eyes.

Until that white bow suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

Even sturdy white oak could not ultimately withstand a sharp sword blade. The bow was split in half with almost no suspense, but it had fulfilled its purpose.

Using that brief moment, Miriam threw herself onto him, and the final remnants of the sword's force landed on her left shoulder.

At the same time, Lin Mo finally arrived. He threw the short blade in his hand, aiming straight for the unarmored back of the man's neck.

The instant the short blade pierced his throat, the longsword arrived as well, sweeping violently across and sending both the blade and the short knife flying.