Ambush

At Havent's furious roar.

The knight squad in the midst of casting Sword Qi Slash hurriedly turned to look.

The Minotaur, charging wildly, was now less than fifty meters from the ambush squad.

"Prepare the scrolls. Fire one volley in the Minotaur's direction of advance!"

Hearing Taren's command, the knights on the left swiftly pulled the magic scrolls from their waists.

With a pull of both hands, ten fireballs hurtled toward the charging Minotaur. A series of violent explosions rang out, blasting the Minotaur backward.

Seeing the Minotaur lying on the ground and struggling continuously, Havent let out a breath of relief.

"Young Master, get ready!"

Hearing Taren call for him, Havent hurriedly turned around and took out the alchemical bomb his teacher had given him from his waist pouch.

"Hehehe~

You really are quite bold, aren't you?"

A massive magical energy barrier rose up, instantly blasting the ghouls surrounding the magic array away.

The sudden development disrupted the ambush squad's plan.

"Young Master, what do we do now?"

Watching the black-robed man seated at the center of the magic array slowly rise to his feet, Havent gritted his teeth.

"Continue. The magical energy barrier has a limit to its defense. Keep attacking."

"Yes! Everyone, attack while moving! Use the remaining Fireball Scrolls to attack the barrier!"

As the formation shifted, the ambush squad began racing around the edge of the barrier. Twenty fireballs struck it, sending ripples across its surface. The magic array trembled briefly before quickly returning to calm.

Seeing this, unease flashed across Havent's face. Then he shouted to Taren:

"This won't work. We need to concentrate our attacks on one spot."

The Knight Captain at the front, desperately swinging his spear, fell silent upon hearing his young master's words. Then he looked toward Baiman City. Even from so far away, they could see the sky there faintly reddened by the flames.

"White Lion Legion, dismount! Form up!"

Under Taren's command, thirty knights swiftly formed a semicircle, shielding their young master at the very center.

Kneeling on one knee, Havent quickly rummaged through the magical items his teacher had given him in his magic pouch.

At the front, the White Lion Knights wielding heavy knight shields had already engaged the approaching ghouls. Facing the pouncing creatures, the knights at the front delivered a synchronized shield bash, knocking them back.

The knights in the rear thrust their spears toward the ghouls' heads. Since they did not know how long their young master would need to break the energy barrier.

They no longer used the Sword Qi Slash, which consumed an enormous amount of battle qi.

At the center of the formation, Havent had activated five Fireball Scrolls in succession, yet still failed to break the energy barrier.

Seeing that Havent had no way to deal with the barrier, the black-robed man inside sat back down.

"Hehehe~

Don't waste your strength. Embrace death.

You will find redemption in death.

And you—

Ah~~~~~

So young, so full of life. I will sacrifice you to Lord Narak.

I'm sure Lord Narak will enjoy the taste of your flesh."

"Roar!!!!!!!"

"Thump~ Thump~ Thump~"

Footsteps like the beating of giant drums sounded again. The Minotaur that had been knocked down by the Fireball Scrolls climbed back to its feet and walked toward the ambush squad.

"Moo~~~~~"

The Minotaur let out a bellow toward the sky, then charged at them with its massive club raised.

Taren stared gravely at the charging beast.

"Young Master, you must hurry. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out much longer.

Harik, Fedeming, Mumu, Babaka, come with me!"

Taren drew the longsword at his waist. Flame battle qi burst forth once more, and he swung several arcs of sword qi ahead, clearing out the ghouls before them. The five of them quickly rushed out through the gap opened in the shield formation.

"Victory belongs to the White Lion!"

Facing the club swung by the Minotaur, Taren took several running steps and leaped, bringing his sword down in a powerful slash toward the Minotaur's head.

Sensing danger, the Minotaur instinctively jerked its head aside.

Taren's longsword struck the horn as though it had hit a block of iron, producing a dull metallic clang.

The powerful recoil sent Taren flying back. Feeling the numbness in his palms, his expression grew even more solemn.

When it had still been alive, this Minotaur had likely been at least a peak high-level warrior. Bolstered by necromancy, its body was even stronger than it had been in life.

After taking Taren's full-force blow, the Minotaur was somewhat dazed as well. The soul fire in its eyes flickered several times.

But after shaking its bovine head a few times, the Minotaur quickly regained its bearings. With an enraged roar, it charged forward again, club in hand.

The bone club, carrying the stench of rotting flesh, smashed down toward the five of them. They swiftly scattered, their years of combat experience requiring no instructions from Taren.

Having fought the Orc Empire many times, they knew that Minotaurs turned slowly. After dodging the attack, Harik and Fedeming quickly dashed to either side behind the Minotaur.

Taren gripped his sword with both hands and held it upright before his chest. Brilliant flame battle qi ignited around his entire body, then rapidly flowed into the two-handed sword before him.

Standing on the left and right, Mumu and Babaka charged at the Minotaur with glowing knight shields, risking their lives.

The powerful impact left the Minotaur rigid for a moment. Hidden behind it, Harik and Fedeming swiftly delivered two consecutive slashes at the backs of its knees.

"Snap~ Snap~"

The sound was like ropes breaking. Still frozen in place, the Minotaur dropped directly to both knees.

Flame Cross Slash

Having finished charging his attack, Taren swung a massive crimson cross-shaped sword qi at the kneeling Minotaur.

Struck by the Cross Slash, the Minotaur was directly overturned onto the ground, its enormous body erupting in blazing flames.

After completing the strike, Taren leaned on his two-handed sword and gasped heavily. That blow had nearly exhausted all the battle qi in his body.

"Boom! Thud!"

A thunderous explosion sounded behind them. Before Taren could turn to see what had happened, a powerful blast of air sent all of them flying.

The scene returned to the energy barrier.

"Embrace death!

You will find redemption in death.

Great—"

"Embrace my ass, you stinking piece of shit!

Your mother should've let a dog fuck her instead of giving birth to you.

If you wanted to die so badly, your mother should've tossed you out after she was done.

Go embrace—"

Clearly, the energy barrier did not block sound. The sheer foulness of the insults left the black-robed man on the magic array momentarily short-circuited.

When he came to his senses, a flush actually rose on his shriveled grayish-white face. He shot up from the magic array and pointed a dry, chicken-claw-like finger at Havent.

"You, you, you~~~~~~~

You heretic!!!!

I'll skin you alive, rip out your tongue, cut off your head, and watch your flesh writhe and twitch!"

Because the black-robed man had stepped away from the magic array, the glow of the energy barrier dimmed.

Seeing his chance, Havent quickly slapped a scroll onto himself, forming a small magic shield in front of him.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll be waiting, you bastard. Art is Patrick Star!!!!!!"