The one who appeared before Fang Zheng was none other than the cute, submissive Astrologer. She looked delighted now, clasping her hands tightly as she gazed at Fang Zheng with unconcealed joy.
"Thank goodness you're all right. I thought something had gone wrong... I'm terribly sorry. My skills weren't good enough... But I really did find you here!"
"Wait, did you come here specifically to wait for me?"
Hearing the girl's words, Fang Zheng could not help but freeze. The soft-spoken girl nodded.
"Yes, Mr. Fang Zheng, didn't you know? The Star of Destiny can indicate a direction. I determined that you were safe through your star, and its position showed that you should be heading this way, so Stone and I came here together. But... this place looks rather dangerous."
"Stone? Come to think of it, where is my mentor?"
Hearing her answer, Fang Zheng was secretly startled. He had never imagined that his Star of Destiny had such a function.
No wonder this world had always felt as though its public security was absurdly good. This thing was even more terrifying than DNA and fingerprint identification. At least those required comparison. Here, as long as someone got hold of a Star of Destiny, they could infer the other person's location with near-perfect accuracy?
If someone committed a crime, there would be no need for a citywide manhunt. Just find the direction of their Star of Destiny and send people to investigate. Wouldn't that settle everything?
"Sir Stone went down below to investigate. When we arrived, we saw many undead creatures. It looked like they had captured several Paladins as well. Sir Stone felt that something was wrong, so he went down first to take a closer look and told me to remain here on standby."
Perhaps because she had seen someone familiar, the soft-spoken girl was no longer as nervous as before.
"You're alone...?"
As he spoke, Fang Zheng looked toward the strange Black Panther beside the girl. It seemed to have realized that Fang Zheng was not its master's enemy, so it had returned to her side and begun looking around.
But if Fang Zheng remembered correctly, he had not seen anything like it beside the soft-spoken girl before.
"Ah, this is my good companion—Star Spirit. I summoned it specifically to protect me. I'm very sorry. It only sensed someone approaching earlier; it didn't mean to attack you, Mr. Fang Zheng. I really am sorry."
Noticing Fang Zheng's curious gaze, the soft-spoken girl hurriedly explained. He had to admit, her voice was practically made for apologizing.
All she had to do was raise her head, look at someone anxiously, and softly say sorry in that gentle, adorable voice, and it felt as if anyone who continued making things difficult for her would be struck down by heaven.
Fang Zheng could not help sighing to himself. If this girl went to Earth and opened an apology company specializing in apologizing on behalf of others, she would definitely make a fortune every day.
But after glancing at the Black Panther beside her, Fang Zheng once again revised his assessment of this world's combat power. After training with Stone for so long, he had more or less gained the eye of a proper Knight.
The instant he had exchanged blows with the Black Panther, Fang Zheng had immediately realized that its strength was probably not far behind the Holy Temple Warriors responsible for standing guard in the Holy Temple.
Honestly, with such a guard at the soft-spoken girl's side, she was more than safe enough here.
What Fang Zheng had not expected, however, was that this harmless-looking, meek little girl possessed such fighting ability. He had originally thought Astrologers were support professions like alchemists.
Now, it seemed there were no such restrictions in this world. Every profession appeared to possess a certain degree of combat power.
Fortunately, both the soft-spoken girl and Stone were here, which let Fang Zheng breathe a sigh of relief. He had originally been wondering how he was supposed to leave.
Now, it seemed he did not need to worry about that problem.
"Tap tap tap..."
At that moment, Fang Zheng sharply caught a series of footsteps coming from behind him. He froze slightly. They sounded somewhat like Malte and the others, yet also somewhat different.
But before Fang Zheng could turn around, he saw the soft-spoken girl across from him light up and wave toward someone behind him.
"Ah, you're back, Miss Connie. I found my companion."
"Really? That's wonderful..."
Hearing the voice from behind him, Fang Zheng turned to look. Standing before him was a young woman wearing the same silver-white armor as Malte and the others.
She looked somewhat older than the soft-spoken girl, probably in her early twenties. Her short golden hair made her seem especially capable and sharp.
She had been smiling at first, but the moment she saw Fang Zheng clearly, Connie's expression abruptly changed!
"So you're here, Williams! Take this!"
Before her words had even faded, the female Knight drew the longsword at her waist. Fang Zheng saw a flash of electricity snap before his eyes, and in the next instant, the female Knight vanished from where she stood.
Then a howling sword wind surged from behind Fang Zheng, stabbing straight toward his heart!
What the hell?
Fang Zheng was stunned by the sudden attack. But he had not died hundreds or thousands of times in the world of Dark Souls for nothing.
The moment he sensed the attack, his body reacted immediately. He rolled to the side, dodging the strike from behind.
Then Fang Zheng gripped the hilt of the longsword at his waist with his right hand, spun around, drew his blade, and swept it upward. With a crisp clang, Connie's sword was knocked aside.
Yet this woman clearly had no intention of stopping. She raised her brows, her face frosty as she struck at Fang Zheng again with a lightning-wreathed sword.
Brilliant thunder burst from her blade in every direction, enveloping Fang Zheng in a net of electricity.
Damn it, do you really think I'm Hello Kitty just because I haven't gotten angry?!
By now, Fang Zheng had truly been enraged by her relentless pursuit. He fiercely swung his sword, and the ground boomed.
Immediately afterward, a massive crimson sword burst from beneath the earth and stabbed straight toward the female Knight.
Sword of Justice!
Faced with this sudden attack, the female Knight hurriedly withdrew and retreated. But Fang Zheng obviously had no intention of letting this opportunity slip away.
Taking advantage of her weakened momentum, he slashed apart the electric net surrounding him. Then, without hesitation, he swung his longsword fiercely at the female Knight.
A streak of golden light flew from his blade, shooting straight toward the female Knight's chest.
"Courting death!"
Seeing the golden sword light flying toward her, the female Knight roared and raised her sword high. In the next instant, lightning crashed down from the sky with a thunderous boom, striking her body.
She was instantly wrapped in dazzling white lightning, as though a god of thunder had descended.
Then she lunged forward with both body and sword, and the lightning around her formed the shape of a massive lion that charged head-on toward Fang Zheng.
Meanwhile, Fang Zheng's sword energy was shredded completely by the endlessly flashing lightning without even stirring a trace of wind.
But Fang Zheng naturally would not give up so easily. His ordinary strike had never been meant to deal damage.
At that moment, waves of holy energy had already begun surging through his body.
As the lightning lion pounced downward, countless golden Lightsabers spun and surged, transforming into a roaring Dragon that soared into the sky and charged directly into the thunderous claws!
BOOM!!!
Blue lightning and the golden storm collided violently. In the next instant, the Dragon formed from countless Lightsabers pierced through the lightning lion's body.
Yet the thunderous lion did not give up. Instead, both its claws dug deeply into the Dragon's body, tearing open horrifying wounds.
"Damn it, what are you doing? Stop!"
"Stop, Mr. Fang Zheng!"
At that moment, two voices suddenly rang out. Malte and Stone charged forward from opposite sides.
They exchanged a glance, then raised their weapons and swung them forward. In the next instant, a hurricane mixed with flames formed a massive blade that descended from above, completely severing the intertwined lion and Dragon.
With a dull explosion, the golden storm and thunderous lion gradually dispersed, revealing Fang Zheng and Connie.
"Hah... hah..."
The female Knight was half-crouched on the ground, gripping her longsword as she panted heavily. Her armor was covered in cuts and shattered marks, while streaks of blood appeared all over her body, leaving her looking rather disheveled.
Compared to Connie, Fang Zheng was in slightly better condition. He had not suffered any serious injuries, but that was only by comparison.
The female Knight's Thunder Power had still been difficult for him to endure. His once-clean clothing was now covered in scorch marks, and wisps of black smoke rose from the right hand gripping his sword.
"What the hell is going on? Why are you fighting?"
Stone frowned and quickly walked to Fang Zheng's side as he questioned him. Hearing Stone's question, Fang Zheng merely shrugged without speaking.
He was not feeling much better himself. Who would have expected a Paladin to suddenly show up and fight him to the death?
Honestly, Fang Zheng had never intended for things to escalate this far. But with her looking as though she wanted to risk her life to kill him, what else could he do? Stick out his neck and let her chop it off?
"Connie, what are you doing?!"
Malte also walked over to the female Knight with a stern expression, frowning deeply at her.
"What exactly is going on?"
"Com... Commander..."
Hearing Malte's voice, the female Knight raised her head and looked at him. Then she turned toward Fang Zheng, her face once again filling with rage.
"Commander! He's the Cultist we've been looking for! He's Williams!"
Before you continue