Finally Found You!

Before Fang Zheng stood the soft, adorable astrologer girl, who now looked delighted, clasping her hands together with a joyful expression.

"It's so good to see you're safe. I was worried something had gone wrong... I'm truly sorry, my skills are lacking... but I really did find you here!"

"Wait, you came here specifically to wait for me?"

Hearing the young girl's words, Fang Zheng was taken aback, and the soft girl nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Fang Zheng, didn't you know? The Star of Destiny can indicate a direction. I judged your safety through your star, and its position showed you should be heading this way, so I came here with Lord Stone. But... this place looks very dangerous."

"Stone? Speaking of which, where is the mentor?"

Hearing the soft girl's reply, Fang Zheng felt a chill inside. He hadn't expected his Star of Destiny to have such a function. No wonder this world felt so orderly—this thing was even scarier than DNA or fingerprint verification. Those at least required comparison, but here, people could infer someone's location just by grasping their Star of Destiny? If someone committed a crime, there'd be no need for a city-wide search—just find the direction of the Star of Destiny and send someone to check it out.

"Lord Stone went down to scout. When we arrived, we saw many undead creatures. They seemed to have captured a few paladins. Lord Stone thought something was off, so he went down to investigate first and told me to wait here."

Perhaps because she saw someone familiar, the soft girl was no longer as tense as before.

"You're alone...?"

As he spoke, Fang Zheng looked at the strange black panther beside the girl. It seemed to have realized Fang Zheng wasn't its master's enemy, so it had returned to the girl's side and was looking around. But if Fang Zheng remembered correctly, he hadn't seen anything like that near the soft girl before.

"Ah, this is my good companion—a Star Spirit. I summoned it specifically to protect me. I'm very sorry, it only sensed someone approaching and didn't mean to attack you, Mr. Fang Zheng. I truly apologize."

Noticing Fang Zheng's curious gaze, the soft girl quickly explained. He had to admit, her voice was perfectly suited for apologizing. Whenever she looked up at you with unease, said a soft "sorry," and paired it with that gentle, adorable tone, it made you feel like pressing her further would be a crime against heaven. Fang Zheng couldn't help but think that if this girl opened an apology company on Earth, she'd make a fortune.

But glancing at the black panther beside her, Fang Zheng once again updated his understanding of this world's combat power. After training with Stone for so long, he had developed the eye of a proper knight. From his brief clash with the panther, he immediately realized its strength was roughly on par with the Holy Temple Warriors standing guard in the temple. Honestly, with such a guard by her side, she was safe enough here.

What surprised Fang Zheng, though, was that this seemingly harmless, soft girl had such combat capability. He had thought astrologers were support classes like alchemists, but it seemed this world had no such restrictions—any profession could possess a certain level of fighting power.

Fortunately, both the soft girl and Stone were here, which let Fang Zheng breathe a sigh of relief. He had been wondering how to leave, but now that problem seemed solved.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Just then, Fang Zheng keenly heard a series of footsteps behind him. He paused—they sounded like Malte and the others, but slightly different. Before he could turn around, he saw the soft girl across from him beam and wave behind him.

"Ah, you're back, Miss Connie. I found my companion."

"Is that so? That's wonderful..."

Hearing the voice from behind, Fang Zheng turned to look. Before him stood a young woman wearing the same silver-white armor as Malte and the others. She looked a bit older than the soft girl, around twenty, with short golden hair that gave her a capable air. She was smiling at first, but after clearly seeing Fang Zheng's face, this woman named Connie suddenly changed expression!

"So you're here, Williams! Take my sword!"

Before she finished speaking, the female knight drew the longsword at her waist. Fang Zheng saw a flash of lightning before his eyes, and the next moment, the female knight vanished from her spot. Then, a whistling sword wind appeared behind Fang Zheng, thrusting straight for his heart.

What the hell?

Fang Zheng was stunned by her sudden attack. But after dying hundreds of times in the world of Dark Souls, his body reacted the moment he sensed the assault. He rolled sideways to dodge the strike from behind, then gripped the hilt of his sword, drew it, and swung upward. With a "clang," Connie's longsword was deflected.

But this woman showed no sign of stopping. She raised an eyebrow, her face cold as frost, and struck again with a lightning-infused sword. Sparks of thunder burst from her blade, enveloping Fang Zheng in a net of lightning.

Damn it, if I don't fight back, you'll think I'm a pushover!

Now Fang Zheng was genuinely angered by her relentless pursuit. He swung his sword, and with a rumble, a massive crimson blade erupted from the ground, thrusting straight at the female knight.

Sword of Justice!

Faced with this sudden attack, the female knight quickly withdrew and stepped back. But Fang Zheng wasn't about to let the opportunity slip. As her momentum waned, he slashed through the lightning net surrounding him, then swung his sword without hesitation. A golden light flew from the blade, shooting straight at the female knight's chest.

"You're asking for death!"

Seeing the golden sword light flying toward her, the female knight roared. She raised her sword high, and a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking her body. She was instantly enveloped in dazzling white lightning, like a thunder goddess. Then she lunged forward, sword and all, and the lightning around her formed a massive lion shape, charging at Fang Zheng. His earlier sword energy was shredded by the flickering thunder, leaving not even a ripple.

But Fang Zheng wasn't about to give up. That basic attack wasn't meant to deal damage—in fact, at this moment, waves of holy energy began to surge within him.

As the lightning lion pounced downward, countless golden swords spun and surged, forming a roaring dragon that shot upward, meeting the thunderous claws head-on!

"Boom!!!"

Blue lightning and golden storm collided violently. The next moment, the lightning lion was pierced through by the dragon of countless lightsabers. But the thunder lion didn't give up—its claws dug deep into the dragon's body, tearing grievous wounds.

"Damn it, what are you doing? Stop!"

"Stop, Mr. Fang Zheng!"

Just then, two voices rang out. Malte and Stone rushed in from opposite sides. They exchanged a glance, then raised their weapons and swung. A blade of wind and fire descended from the sky, cleaving apart the entangled lion and dragon. With a low explosion, the golden storm and thunder lion dissipated, revealing Fang Zheng and Connie.

"Haah... haah..."

The female knight was half-kneeling on the ground, gripping her sword and panting heavily. Her armor was covered in cuts and cracks, with bloodstains appearing all over her body, making her look quite battered.

Compared to Connie, Fang Zheng was slightly better off. He wasn't seriously injured, but relatively speaking, the female knight's lightning power had taken its toll. His once clean clothes were now covered in scorch marks, and his right hand, still gripping the sword, emitted wisps of black smoke...

"What the hell is this? Why were you fighting?"

Stone frowned, quickly walking to Fang Zheng's side and asking. Fang Zheng just shrugged in response. He wasn't in great shape either—who would expect a paladin to suddenly appear and try to kill him? Honestly, Fang Zheng had never wanted things to go this far, but with her acting like she wanted to fight to the death, what else could he do? Stick out his neck and let her cut it off?

"Connie, what are you doing!"

By now, Malte had also walked sternly to the female knight, frowning at her.

"What's going on?"

"Commander..."

Hearing Malte's voice, the female knight looked up at him, then turned to Fang Zheng, her face filled with anger once more.

"Commander! He's the cultist we're looking for! He's Williams!"