In Vain

"Before I kill you, I have to say..."

The pale mist surging behind Lange intertwined into a 'Divine Crest.' Though it was blurry from every angle, the evil god's power within it was sharp and heavy. He smiled at Mo Tan. "You're a mad genius, and you have absolutely no bottom line or stance. If we were somewhere else, I think we might get along quite well~"

Normally, after Lange had so humbly praised Mo Tan, it should naturally have been the latter's turn to praise him. After all, mutual flattery was considered polite these days, and it could also help raise one's style rating. In works of fiction, it even served the rather challenging purpose of filling word count.

But Mo Tan seemed uninterested in this conventional procedure. He merely shrugged slightly. "I admit I'm indeed quite outstanding. It's just a pity that good opponents are so hard to find..."

"Then I'm truly honored~" Lange tore off his tattered chief steward's robe, revealing a dark-gray, bizarre priestly outfit beneath. He crossed his hands, and two long, curved black blades like crescent moons sprang from his wrists. At a glance, they were clearly decent-quality equipment.

"You?" Mo Tan rolled his eyes. "You're nothing!"

An awkward silence descended...

"Die!" Lange's anger finally reached its peak. This white-clad half-elf who had appeared and completely destroyed years of his plans was so despicable in character, so vicious in mind, and even his words were like poison-coated blades that drove Lange nearly insane...

A moment's hesitation could ruin a grand scheme. Since the grand scheme was already ruined, there was no need to endure any longer!

That seemingly much more agile body charged straight over with a howl of dark wind. The black wrist blades viciously twisted toward Mo Tan's throat. Lange had probably already learned from Dave just how much the other man could handle, and this strike only needed to graze him to kill the bastard on the spot!

But Mo Tan showed no intention of dodging. Aside from the fact that he could not dodge even if he wanted to, this also contained a great deal of confidence that he had nothing to fear.

Bang!!

The black twin blades were stopped half a meter from Mo Tan by a massive hammer that suddenly thrust across their path. Bayes, who had blocked the strike one-handed, glared at Lange. "How much longer do you plan to keep ignoring me?"

Another two-handed warhammer swept back with a burst of blazing sparks, forcing Lange to leap several steps away. The owner of the Black Rye Inn turned his head toward Mo Tan, his gaze carrying a trace of confusion and displeasure. "Why did you just watch those two die?"

"Because they really were useless." Mo Tan spread his hands with a smile. "One of them didn't know what his most trusted subordinate was really like after all these years. The other was even preparing an ascension ritual for a heretic and still refused to believe it until he saw the coffin..."

He glanced at the two corpses that had yet to grow cold and smiled with pursed lips. "So isn't this the most suitable ending?"

Bayes froze at that, then smiled bitterly. He slammed both hammers into the ground, sending out a conical ripple that once again stopped Lange's attempted charge, and nodded. "Maybe you're right, but I can't help feeling..."

"Feeling that these two useless men, who indirectly caused several innocent deaths, didn't deserve to die?" Mo Tan said from behind him with a grin. "Actually, I don't care either. I just thought this way of dying was pretty interesting, so I gave that chief steward a little push~"

Bayes sighed heavily. "All right, all right, I understand. They deserved to die. So what do we do now? Kill him?"

"No." Mo Tan shook his head, then suddenly said solemnly to Bayes, "Survive!"

??

Before the latter could react, a bewildering murmur rang out from nearby...

"You can't stop me!"

The ripples were instantly breached. Lange brought his twin blades together and slashed down at Bayes's head!

"Dodge!" Mo Tan shouted at the powerful warrior beside him. "Don't block it head-on!"

Because of those words, Bayes unconsciously shifted slightly as he had been about to parry with his massive hammer...

Then he watched helplessly as the Doomstar Warhammer that had accompanied him for years was sliced at the corner. The enchantment array engraved on its surface, the one that empowered the Flaming Surge Technique, also lost its glow in an instant.

"What's going on!?" Bayes was greatly alarmed. Having witnessed Lange's strength before, he had still been ninety percent confident that he could hammer the man into submission. But now he immediately became wary, because he felt that his head definitely was not harder than the warhammer in his left hand, which had just lost a corner!

Lange grinned and softly said again, "Your resistance is meaningless!"

Bayes suddenly kicked out, but it did not even leave a mark on Lange. Instead, Lange instantly closed the distance and pressed right up against him.

Both were melee fighters, but in close-quarters combat with almost no room to swing one's arms, wrist blades, daggers, and knuckles performed at their best. Lange immediately gained the advantage. For Bayes, who wielded two two-handed warhammers, the situation was exactly the opposite!

At that moment, the many heretics in the square were fighting evenly with the instructors from the Knight Academy and the clerics. The situation was gradually reaching a stalemate.

If this continued, things could get very bad!

Bayes could not help thinking this. In the instant he was distracted for a mere fraction of a second, Lange immediately left two deep gashes in his armor.

"Go find Cole and Ledo and run!" Bayes roared at Mo Tan. He then tossed aside the warhammer in his left hand, which had nearly been whittled down to an iron rod, gripped the remaining hammer with both hands, and swung it at Lange. "I'll hold him back!"

Heavy Storm

Weapon Active Skill

Requirements: Two-Handed Specialization 10, Strength 20

Cost/Restriction: 130 Stamina, must wield a two-handed weapon

Effect: Spin your weapon at high speed, continuously dealing heavy physical damage to nearby enemies for 5 seconds. Movement speed is reduced by 30% during the duration. Damage bonus increases by 10% per second. Cooldown: 20 minutes.

Note: Due to differences in individual constitutions, random side effects such as dizziness, vomiting, confusion, and paralysis were not included in the description above. Please act according to your limits. As the Transportation Department poem goes: "The windmill feels great for a moment, then the family cries a river."

This massive windmill attack was indeed powerful. Under the overwhelming storm of Bayes's warhammer, even Lange, who possessed the power of an evil god, did not dare confront it head-on and could only retreat again and again.

"Just as I guessed..." Mo Tan muttered without moving from the spot. "That kind of power is limited, though it varies from person to person. Dave was drenched in the same heretic's water, but that idiot immediately combusted. This guy merely gave off a little smoke."

In the time it took to say eighty-some words, five seconds passed in an instant. Bayes looked back and saw that Mo Tan was still standing there. He anxiously roared, "You should run already... Urk...!"

Then he vomited...

Lange was lightning-fast. Muttering something incomprehensible, he charged forward and slashed down at Bayes's head!

Then he was blasted away...

"Were you planning to play the hero for five seconds and then die?!" Ledo had blasted Lange away with a thunderstorm. She leaped down from the air, carried by several leaves, and smashed Bayes onto his backside with her staff. "You're acting like such a man now, huh?!"

At the same time, she waved her delicate hand, and several thorns wove together into a cage around Lange.

Bayes was dumbfounded. "I wasn't..."

Clang!!

"What weren't you!?"

"I mean, I didn't want to..."

Clang!!

"Didn't want to what? Didn't want to!"

"Ow, that hurts. Listen to me explain..."

Clang!!

"I'm not listening!"

Clang!!

"I'm not listening!"

Clang!!

"I'm not listening to anything!!"

Clang!!

Mo Tan roughly calculated things from afar. Bayes, who had been entangled with Lange for quite some time, had clearly lost more health by now. If Ledo kept smashing him with her staff at this pace, the uncle would probably be dead within two minutes at most...

"Our Lord..." Lange shattered the thorn cage and flew over from nearby in a somewhat battered state. "I'm going to kill you two filthy lovers!"

Bayes leaped up and swung both hammers down in a Shatter Mountain strike. "Who are you calling filthy lovers?!"

Ledo planted her staff in front of her. Spinning thorny vines erupted from the ground and spread toward Lange. Her expression even looked a little delighted. "Say 'filthy lovers' a few more times~"

The pair's instinctive cooperation was flawless, locking down every angle Lange could use to evade. Clearly, though many years had passed, everything they had experienced together in their youth had not been stripped away by time!

But...

"It's useless!" Lange merely murmured. "Everything is futile!"

Then he stepped on the terrifying, drill-like vines and charged toward Ledo, while simultaneously raising a hand to forcibly withstand Bayes's hammer descending from above.

Although she had prepared an elemental shield in advance, Ledo still suffered a slash across her cheek.

"Try not to let him speak!" Mo Tan called from nearby with a cheerful laugh. "It'd be even better if you could block your own hearing~"

What a shameless backseat commentator!

The two were in rather foul moods, but they still followed his suggestion immediately. The results, however, were minimal...

No matter how frequently they attacked, it was difficult to keep Lange's mouth shut...

Even after they set up a soundproofing barrier, they were still affected by some unknown force...

It was unbearable!

Attacks that should have been sure to hit would suddenly become feeble or even collapse into nothing.

Moves from their opponent that seemed harmless would suddenly accelerate or surge in destructive power.

In less than five minutes, Bayes and Ledo gradually fell into a disadvantage. If not for the tacit understanding engraved in their souls, they would not even have been able to put up a desperate resistance...

They had to protect themselves as much as possible while constantly watching to ensure that the boy was not ambushed and instantly killed by Lange!

The situation was getting worse and worse...

"Everything is empty talk before absolute power!" Lange laughed as he pressed the two with a rapid onslaught. "Soon, I'll butcher all of you, then deal with the other two brats. After that, I'll lead the rest of the faithful out of Pato City and put down roots elsewhere. Before long, my Lord's whispers will resound throughout the lofty City of Light!"

This was no good...

Bayes and Ledo, who were finding it harder and harder to hold on, began to despair. Their plan had been flawless, yet something had still gone wrong at the end. That boy had misjudged Lange's strength. If this continued, this powerful heretic with his bizarre divine power would soon kill them both, then lead the other hundred or so believers in massacring Pato City before leaving unscathed...

"Ledo!" Bayes stepped in front of his companion, who was still as beautiful as ever despite the passing years, and blocked a swift slash for her. After grunting, he gave her a bitter smile. "Take this boy and Cole and the others and run... I still have a few trump cards that can hold this chief steward off for a while."

"In your dreams!" Ledo's pale-golden hair was somewhat disheveled. She waved her staff and condensed a shield of flowers and leaves behind Bayes, then angrily said, "From today onward, you won't be able to get rid of me even if you die!"

Bayes slammed into Lange's side. Though it had no effect, it still knocked him back several meters. He looked back and cursed, "Crazy girl, get lost! I hate that foul temper of yours!"

"I'm not leaving!" Ledo bristled as well. She summoned a mass of razor-sharp leaves that sliced toward Lange, then conveniently slapped her teammate's bear-like face.

Smack!

"You..." Ledo stared blankly at her hand and murmured, "Why didn't you dodge..."

Bayes, a handprint on his face, gave her a gentle smile. "That slap was one I owed you. I'm sorry, Ledo."

"But..."

"Don't say anything. I won't leave you again."

"But..."

"?"

Ledo glared viciously at the clueless idiot uncle in front of her. "But why didn't you dodge?! My hand hurts!!"

"Huh?" Bayes was completely flustered.

"Huh, what huh!" Ledo said angrily. "You're thick-skinned and tough. I'm a mage!"

"Er, sorry."

"Heehee, I forgive you!"

The two looked at each other and smiled. The air filled with the sour stench of romance...

Then pale mist began spreading wildly from nearby!

Lange, who had been holding back a powerful attack for a long time, instantly appeared between them. In a fury (of a single man), the wrist blades at his sides slashed viciously toward both of them!

Blood sprayed!

"Run!"

"Take Cole and that little girl... don't worry about us..."

The two, who had each blocked an attack for the other, crashed down at Mo Tan's feet and shouted at him simultaneously.

A deep, bone-visible gash had appeared along each of Bayes's and Ledo's sides. Anyone could see that their injuries were extremely severe.

And then...

Then why did this kid look so calm?!

"You finally made it." Mo Tan ignored them completely. He also paid no attention to Lange, who was walking over. Instead, he gazed northward and muttered, "You're slower than I expected..."

By then, despair had appeared on the faces of Bayes and Ledo. Lange had walked up beside Mo Tan and smiled warmly. "Are you making your last arrangements?"

"No." Mo Tan shrugged. "I was just thinking about something you said earlier. It sounded rather reasonable."

"Hmm?" Lange looked puzzled.

Mo Tan winked at him. "That line about 'everything being empty talk before absolute power.' It makes a lot of sense!"

Then light shone down upon everyone.

Pure light, holy light, endless light...

It illuminated Pato City beneath the setting sun!

A solemn voice exploded beside everyone's ears like a thunderclap!

"Holy Light above! Those evils are worth fighting!"