In Vain

"Before killing you, I must say…"

The ghastly white mist swirling behind Lange coalesced into a 'Divine Crest'. Although it appeared blurry from every angle, the power of the Evil God contained within was both sharp and profound. He smiled at Mo Tan and said, "You are a mad genius, devoid of any so-called bottom line or stance. If we were somewhere else, I think we might get along quite well~"

Logically speaking, after Lange humbly praised Mo Tan like that, it should be the latter's turn to return the compliment. After all, mutual flattery is considered a form of politeness these days, and it can also help boost one's style points. In webnovels, it even serves the challenging task of filling up the word count.

However, Mo Tan didn't seem to care about this conventional process and simply shrugged. "I admit that I am indeed quite excellent, but unfortunately, good opponents are just too hard to find…"

"Then I'm truly honored~" Lange tore off his tattered butler's robe, revealing a set of dark gray, mysterious priest's garb. He folded his hands, and two crescent-shaped, slender, and sharp black blades popped out from his wrists, clearly a piece of equipment of decent quality.

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

An awkward silence…

"Die!" Lange's anger finally reached its peak. The white-robed half-elf who had completely ruined his years of planning was so vile in character, so malicious in mind, and even his words were like poisoned blades that drove him almost insane…

A small impatience ruins great plans, but since the great plan was already ruined, there was no need to endure any longer!

His body, which looked much more agile from a distance, charged forward with a whistling gust of yin wind. The black wrist blades viciously twisted towards Mo Tan's throat. Lange had learned from Dave roughly how much the other was worth. This strike, even if it only grazed him, would be enough to kill this bastard on the spot!

But Mo Tan didn't even bother to dodge. Besides the fact that he couldn't dodge, it also contained a large amount of fearlessness.

Bang!!

The black dual blades were blocked half a meter away from Mo Tan by a giant hammer that suddenly cut in. Bayes, who had blocked the attack with one hand, glared at Lange. "How much longer are you planning to ignore me?"

Another two-handed warhammer lashed out with a burst of flames, forcing Lange to retreat several steps. The owner of the Black Rye Inn turned to look at Mo Tan, his gaze filled with confusion and dissatisfaction. "Why did you just stand there and watch those two guys die?"

"Because they were indeed useless." Mo Tan spread his hands and smiled. "One didn't know what kind of person his most trusted subordinate was after all these years, and the other was even preparing a promotion ceremony for a cultist, refusing to shed a tear until he saw the coffin…"

He glanced at the two corpses on the ground that hadn't cooled down yet and smiled. "So isn't this the most suitable ending?"

Bayes was stunned by these words, then a wry smile appeared on his face. He slammed his twin hammers into the ground, creating a conical ripple, and once again blocked Lange's figure from rushing over, nodding undeniably. "Maybe you're right, but I always feel…"

"Always feel that these two wastes who indirectly caused the deaths of several innocent people didn't deserve to die?" Mo Tan hid behind him and said with a smile, "Actually, I don't care either, but I just thought this way of dying was quite interesting, giving that head of internal affairs a little push~"

Bayes sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. They deserved to die. So what should we do next? Kill him?"

"No." Mo Tan shook his head and suddenly said to Bayes in a deep voice, "Survive!"

??

The latter hadn't reacted yet when a trance-inducing murmur rang out not far away…

"You can't stop me!"

The shockwave was instantly broken through. Lange joined his dual blades together and slashed down on Bayes's head!

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

These words caused the latter, who had originally planned to block with his giant hammer, to subconsciously tilt his body…

Then he watched helplessly as a corner of his 'Doomstar Warhammer', which had been with him for many years, was cut off, and the magic array engraved with the Flame Surge spell instantly lost its light.

"What's going on!?" Bayes was immediately shocked. Having seen Lange's strength before, he was still about 90% confident that he could beat him down, but now he immediately became vigilant because he felt that his head was definitely not as hard as the warhammer on his left hand, which had just had a corner chopped off!

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

As a result, Bayes's sudden kick didn't even leave a mark on Lange's body. Instead, he was instantly pulled closer by the other party, directly approaching him.

In close-quarters combat, where both sides were melee-oriented, the close-range entanglement with almost no arm extension was the best distance for wrist blades, daggers, and gauntlets to perform, which allowed Lange to immediately gain the advantage, while Bayes, who used two two-handed warhammers, was exactly the opposite!

At this time, a large number of cultists in the square were fighting back and forth with the teachers of the Knight Academy and the clerics, and the situation gradually fell into a stalemate.

[If this continues, things might get bad!]

Bayes couldn't help but think, and in the instant that he was distracted for a few tenths of a second, Lange immediately left two deep slashes on his armor.

"Go find Cole and Ledo, run first!" Bayes shouted at Mo Tan, then threw the warhammer in his left hand, which had almost been cut into an iron rod, to the side, and swung the hammer in both hands at Lange. "I'll hold him back!"

Heavy Storm

Weapon Skill

Requirements: Two-Handed Weapon Mastery 10, Strength 20

Cost/Restriction: 130 Stamina, Two-Handed Weapon Equipped

Effect: Spin your weapon at high speed, dealing massive physical damage to surrounding enemies, lasts 5 seconds, movement speed reduced by 30% during duration, damage bonus stacks by 10% per second, cooldown 20 minutes.

[Note: Due to individual physical differences, random side effects such as dizziness, vomiting, confusion, and paralysis do not appear in the above description, but please act according to your ability. The transportation department has a poem: Windmill is fun for a while, but family members shed tears.]

This windmill attack was indeed powerful. Under Bayes's overwhelming warhammer storm, even Lange, who was carrying the power of an Evil God, did not dare to confront it head-on and had to retreat again and again.

"Just like I guessed…" Mo Tan stood still and muttered, "That kind of power is limited, but it varies from person to person. Like, after being splashed with that priest's water, Dave, that idiot, spontaneously combusted, but this guy only smoked a little."

In the time it took to say eighty-odd words, five seconds passed in a flash. Bayes turned his head and saw that Mo Tan was still standing there without moving, and couldn't help but shout anxiously, "Run… ugh…!"

Then he vomited…

Lange was quick-witted, chanting something in his mouth, and lunged at Bayes, slashing down on his head!

Then he was blasted away…

"You want to be a five-second hero and then die, huh?!" Ledo, who had blasted Lange away with a lightning storm, leaped down from mid-air, supported by several leaves, and smashed Bayes with her staff, scolding, "You're being quite the man now, aren't you!?"

At the same time, she waved her slender hand lightly, and several thorns intertwined around Lange to form a cage.

Bayes was stunned at the time. "I didn't…"

Bang!!

"What do you mean 'not'?"

"I was saying I didn't think..."

Bang!!

"Didn't think what?!"

"Ouch, that hurts, let me explain..."

Bang!!

"I'm not listening!"

Bang!!

"I'm not listening!"

Bang!!

"I'm not listening to anything!!"

Bang!!

Mo Tan roughly calculated from afar that Bayes, who had been entangled with Lange for quite a while, was clearly losing health faster now. If Ledo kept smashing him with her staff at this rate, he estimated that the old guy would be dead in about two minutes...

"My Lord be with me." Lange, having shattered the thorny cage, flew over from a short distance away, looking slightly disheveled. "I'm going to kill you, you dog couple!"

Bayes leaped up, wielding his hammer in both hands and smashing down with a Mountain Shattering Blow: "Who are you calling names?!"

Ledo, on the other hand, held her staff in front of her, and giant, rapidly rotating thorny vines burst from the ground, spreading towards Lange. She even looked a little happy: "Say 'dog couple' again~"

The two of them unconsciously executed a seamless combination, locking down all angles from which Lange could dodge. It was clear that despite all these years, everything they had experienced together in their youth had not been erased by time!

But...

"It's useless!" Lange simply murmured, "It's all in vain!"

Then he directly charged towards Ledo, stepping on the drill-like, horrifying vines, while simultaneously raising his hand to withstand Bayes's hammer blow from above.

Despite having set up an elemental shield in advance, Ledo still had her cheek cut.

"Try not to let him talk!" Mo Tan shouted with a smile from not far away, squatting down. "It would be even better if you could block your hearing~"

Easy for him to say!

The two of them felt a little frustrated, but still did as he said immediately, but with little effect...

Even frequent attacks couldn't stop Lange's mouth...

Even setting up a soundproof barrier was still affected by some unknown force...

Very uncomfortable!

Attacks that were supposed to hit would suddenly become weak or even dissipate into thin air.

The opponent's seemingly non-threatening moves would always suddenly speed up or increase in destructive power.

In less than five minutes, Bayes and Ledo gradually fell into a disadvantageous position, and if it weren't for the tacit understanding engraved in their souls, they would have found it difficult to even resist...

Protect themselves as much as possible, while also constantly watching out for that kid so he wouldn't be ambushed and killed by Lange!

The situation was getting worse and worse...

"Everything is meaningless in the face of absolute power!" Lange laughed loudly as he pressed down on the two of them with a rapid barrage of attacks. "Soon I will kill you, then go deal with the other two kids, and then lead the other cultists out of Pato City, take root in another place, and finally, in the near future, let my Lord's whispers resound in that high and mighty City of Holy Light!"

[I can't hold on anymore...]

Bayes and Ledo, who were increasingly unable to support themselves, began to despair. Although the previous plan was flawless, there were still flaws in the end. That kid had miscalculated Lange's strength. If things continued like this, this powerful cultist with strange divine power would soon kill them both, and then even lead the other hundred or so cultists to slaughter Pato City before leaving triumphantly...

"Ledo!" Bayes stepped in front of his still-beautiful-after-all-these-years partner to block a quick slash, grunting before forcing a bitter smile at her. "Take this kid and Cole and run... I still have a few trump cards left that can hold this Chief of Internal Affairs for a while."

"Dream on!" Ledo's light golden hair was a little messy as she waved her staff, conjuring a layer of flower and leaf shield to protect Bayes behind her, angrily saying, "From today on, you can't get rid of me even if you die!"

Bayes slammed into Lange's waist, although it didn't have much effect, it still knocked him back a few meters. He turned his head and scolded, "Crazy girl, get out of here, I hate your bad temper!"

"I'm not going!" Ledo also bristled, summoning a pile of sharp, blade-like leaves to cut at Lange, and incidentally slapping her teammate's bear face.

Slap!

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

Bayes smiled gently at her with a handprint on his face. "This slap is something I owed you. I'm sorry, Ledo."

"But..."

"Don't say anything, I won't leave you again in the future."

"But..."

"?"

Ledo glared fiercely at the clueless oaf in front of her. "But why didn't you dodge? My hand hurts so much!!"

"Huh?" Bayes was completely dumbfounded.

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

"Uh, sorry."

"Hehe, you're forgiven!"

The two smiled at each other, the air thick with the sour stench of romance...

Then, a ghastly white mist frantically billowed from not far away!

Lange, who had been holding back a big move for a long time, instantly appeared between the two, filled with the fury of a (single dog), his wrist blades slashing fiercely at them!

Blood splattered!

"Run!"

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

The two, having each blocked an attack for the other, fell at Mo Tan's feet, shouting at him simultaneously.

Deep, bone-revealing gashes had appeared on the sides of both Bayes and Ledo, and it was clear at a glance that their injuries were severe.

And then...

Why the hell is this kid so calm?!

"You finally made it," Mo Tan muttered to himself, ignoring them completely and paying no attention to Lange, who was walking over. "You're slower than I thought..."

By this time, Bayes and Ledo were already showing expressions of despair. Lange had reached Mo Tan's side, smiling kindly. "Saying your last words?"

"No," Mo Tan shrugged. "I was just thinking about something you said earlier, it seemed to make a lot of sense."

"Hmm?" Lange looked puzzled.

Mo Tan winked at him. "It was that line about 'everything is empty talk in the face of absolute power.' That was very insightful!"

Then, light shone on everyone...

Pure light, holy light, endless light...

Illuminating Pato City under the setting sun!

A solemn voice exploded like thunder in everyone's ears!

"The Holy Light is here! That pile of evil is worth fighting!"

Chapter 41: The End