Zhao Yun's Mark, Activated!
Footsteps sounded, and seven or eight Undead Guards appeared from the stairwell, closing in on Bai Xiaowen.
Lord Maki's face showed a smug look, but before his smile could fully bloom, it turned into panic.
Bai Xiaowen put away the Desert Eagle, lowered his head, and charged forward like a raging bull, spreading his arms to grab Lord Maki. The powerful impact of 18 points of strength caused both of them to lose their footing and fall violently off the balcony!
Lord Maki is a level 5 magic-based class, with similar strength to Bai Xiaowen, but he lacks Bai Xiaowen's level 5 Combat Specialty. Furthermore, the [Ryuji Yamazaki's Fighting Gloves] +4 special effect "Brutality" increases Bai Xiaowen's strength rating by 4 points during grappling and throws.
Maki was held tightly and unable to break free, falling to the ground in a disheveled manner.
Moreover, as he fell, Bai Xiaowen remained kneeling on Lord Maki's chest. Lord Maki felt a sharp pain in his sternum and almost spat out blood. He suffered the Severe Injury from the fall and the heavy pressure, and his sternum was almost crushed!
However, as the Boss Tier of the French faction, Maki was mentally strong and was able to think calmly despite the excruciating pain. After landing, he Roll and tried to distance himself from Bai Xiaowen.
How could Bai Xiaowen let him have his way? She had already followed closely behind, and with a punch that carried the wind, she smashed into Maki's shoulder.
Maki instinctively dodged, but Bai Xiaowen's attack was a feint. He withdrew his fist and raised his leg, delivering a powerful spring kick that sent Maki reeling. Immediately afterward, an action flashed through Bai Xiaowen's mind, and he used it without hesitation.
Bai Xiaowen leaped lightly into the air, delivering a side kick with his left leg that sent the unsteady Maki flying several inches off the ground. Immediately after, Bai Xiaowen twisted his body and followed up with a kick of his right leg, sending Maki soaring even higher, his body going numb and stiff, leaving him in an undefendable, suspended state in mid-air!
Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts - Modified 75th Form)!
Bai Xiaowen's kicks were still somewhat clumsy. After all, he relied on the instincts granted by his Blazing Flame Bloodline and the Kusanagi Sword to use the Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts. Just like a young swordsman practicing swordsmanship according to a sword manual, he had not yet reached the level of Kyo Kusanagi, who was extremely skilled and could do whatever he wanted.
If facing a melee enemy, even a level 5 Elite Tier, Bai Xiaowen might not be able to successfully execute this move. But he was facing Maki, the lord of Redleaf Fief, a powerful spellcaster who was weak in melee combat!
As a lord and a noble wizard, Maki always considered fighting with swords and fists to be the work of barbarians, and disdained to do so. Moreover, he was surrounded by a large number of guards, so he had no opportunity to practice his martial arts skills.
Therefore, Bai Xiaowen's clumsy martial arts moves were able to hit Maki relatively smoothly.
With a soft thud, Bai Xiaowen landed first. Seeing Maki floating in the air, he unleashed a [Dark Swipe] without hesitation. Flames swirled along the ground, enveloping Maki's body and bursting forth, causing Maki to cry out in pain and fall backward.
Bai Xiaowen sighed inwardly. If it were Kyo Kusanagi, he could follow up the "Modified 75th Form) " combo kick into the air with the fatal move "Orochi Nagi"! However, Bai Xiaowen couldn't do that. In the end, besides the inherent weaknesses in strength and agility, the proficiency in his skills was also a major problem.
Bai Xiaowen rushed over quickly, giving Maki no time to catch his breath, and unleashed his level 5 Combat Specialty, making Maki cry out in pain.
Maki quickly manipulated his Undead Guards to protect their master, but his guards had already climbed to the third floor of the tower and were coming down the stairs, so it would take them several tens of seconds to arrive.
Under Bai Xiaowen's relentless beating, Maki could barely unleash his skills and could only wait for several dozen seconds. Those few dozen seconds felt incredibly long to him.
If it were any other melee-type Awakened, they would never have been able to push Maki to this point— Maki only needs one control skill to restrain the opponent, create distance, and then unleash a powerful damage spell to kill them.
However, Bai Xiaowen's Heart of Sincerity was already fully stacked, granting him a 50% immunity to control effects! His Hero Template was not at a disadvantage against Maki, and his spirit attribute was not much lower than Maki's, resulting in extremely short durations of control skills, which were simply insufficient to create distance!
Maki was unlucky to run into Bai Xiaowen, an unconventional close-combat Mental Specialist.
Just as the Undead Guards appeared at the tower exit and were about to rush over, Bai Xiaowen suddenly took out a bronze token and shook it slightly.
The token turned into smoke and dissipated, and a tall and mighty Bronze Man appeared at the tower's exit, blocking it perfectly! Bai Xiaowen used up the last use of the Bronze Man Token token without hesitation.
The Undead Guards attacked fiercely. Although they were Elite Tier, as Maki's protectors, their specialty was defense, and offense was their weakness. The Bronze Man, with their thick skin and thick flesh, and their ability to slow down enemies in an area, were the best candidates to block the door.
Moreover, the Bronze Man benefits from Bai Xiaowen's 20% bonus to all summoned creature attributes Spirit Channeling, and with Bai Xiaowen's Divine Might now far surpassing what it once was, the bonus effect is even more formidable. Its only weakness is magical damage; its naturally metallic skin provides extremely high defense against physical attacks.
Given the Undead Guards ' attack power, it would definitely take a long time to take down this Bronze Man.
Bai Xiaowen seized the opportunity to give Lord Maki a memorable combat lesson. Maki's Life Value slowly decreased.
On the other side, amidst the ruins of the Lord's Manor's front hall, the battle raged even more fiercely.
Without Maki's ranged spell threat, the Terror Knight Commander Jericho was immediately put on the defensive. Although his skills were powerful, his Divine Might was limited. After using his ultimate move, he could only rely on his passive skills [Double Strike] and [Blood Enslavement] to fight.
However, the negative consequences of Bai Xiaowen's departure are also obvious.
Jericho, the Terror Knight Commander, possessed a strength of 46 points that almost Overwhelming Crush everyone. Although his attack frequency was slow, each strike was terrifying. Bandits struck by his sword were either killed or seriously injured! After slaying a few hot-blooded and fearless bandits, the others were terrified. When attacking, their steps were often half a beat slower, giving the impression that they were only going through the motions.
If Bai Xiaowen were here, with his strong grasp of the overall situation, he could easily have detected this trend and taken appropriate measures to Inspire morale and get this rabble fighting desperately. However, neither Li Shuyi nor Bonita, who remained, possessed such abilities.
As for Zombie Doctor... he was recalled by Bai Xiaowen as soon as the battle began. In such a dangerous battlefield, one more Zombie wouldn't make much difference, but the loss of his accidental death would be quite unbearable.
After the bandits were intimidated, Li Shuyi, who had been fiercely attacking, undoubtedly caught Jericho's attention. He swung his heavy sword down, attacking Li Shuyi twice in succession, leaving Li Shuyi in a rather disheveled state.
Fortunately, Bai Xiaowen was also distracted by the battlefield and immediately ordered Bonita to cast the Protective Holy Seal.
A layer of holy light enveloped Li Shuyi. Jericho's greatsword swung down, striking the holy light, but it was as if it had struck an extremely tough and thick layer of leather, sliding to the side. Two words appeared above Li Shuyi's head—Immunity!
However, the Protective Holy Seal only lasts for a few seconds.
Following closely behind Bai Xiaowen's voice, supported by Divine Might, it rang in Kitz's ears.
"Kitz, tell those maggots to hold on! That piece of trash Maki can only last another minute at most! I'll kill him and come right back!"
Kitz received Bai Xiaowen's Divine Might message, which greatly boosted his confidence. He shouted, "Brothers, the lord said Maki is about to be finished! We're going to win this battle! Stay alert and protect Miss Charlotte. If anything happens to her, the lord will skin us alive!"
The bandits, who had been in a state of panic, suddenly came to their senses. Yes, no matter who died, the lord's sister could not die.
Hearing the news that Maki was about to die, the bandits' morale was boosted. Although they were still somewhat afraid of Jericho, they were much better than before, brandishing their swords and inflicting wounds on Jericho.
In fact, the situation on Bai Xiaowen's side is far from optimistic.
At this moment, the Undead Legion's guards still held the upper hand in the central square. Although they were far from the West Tower, many Undead Guards still rushed over at Lord Maki's call. Once Bai Xiaowen was surrounded by the Undead Guards, and Maki could free up some time, a few powerful spells would be enough to wipe out Bai Xiaowen's Life Value.
Moreover, even without the interference of the Undead Guards, Bai Xiaowen couldn't possibly take down Maki in a minute by Suppression his flurry of punches. The reason he told Kitz that was simply to give the bandits confidence in victory and boost their morale.
Under the circumstances, if Bai Xiaowen had shouted that the situation on his side was not good and forced Kitz and the others to help, it might have backfired.
Bai Xiaowen took a breath and communicated with Li Shuyi using his Divine Might.
"It's time, let's use that move."
Li Shuyi was somewhat surprised. She quickly realized that Bai Xiaowen's situation was not optimistic. If the situation were optimistic, Bai Xiaowen would never have allowed Li Shuyi to use "that move"—that precious, one-time trump card!
Li Shuyi pursed her lips and nodded. A diamond-shaped mark on her right hand shimmered and warmed slightly.
Instantly, a powerful fighting spirit awakened within Li Shuyi. Her right hand Blazing Heat as she gripped the Refined Thrust Sword, feeling an uncanny connection to it, as if it were an extension of her own arm.
A notification message came from the Spirit Realm:
"You have activated [Zhao Yun's Mark]. You can temporarily unleash a portion of the strength and combat skills of the Lord Tier general Zhao Yun (limited by your attributes) for 30 seconds!"
"Your Advanced Specialty: Combat, temporarily upgraded to level 10!"
"Your Advanced Specialty: One-Handed Swordsmanship, temporarily upgraded to level 10!"
"Your Advanced Specialty: Shooting, temporarily upgraded to level 10!"
"You have temporarily gained the Advanced Specialty: Polearm Weapons, and upgraded it to level 10!"
"You have temporarily acquired Advanced Specialty: Riding..."
After a series of Battle Specialty prompts, the most crucial message appears:
"You have temporarily gained the Musou Skill: Linked Assault: Your successful melee attack will stun the target and has a chance to launch them into the air. While airborne, each of your attacks will generate Combo points. After the airborne state ends, the accumulated Combo points will be unleashed all at once, dealing heavy damage to the target!"
Li Shuyi took a deep breath; there were too many notifications for her to remember.
At this moment, she had no choice but to follow the powerful fighting spirit within her. She reached out with her left hand and grasped the Refined Thrust Sword, changing from a one-handed grip to a two-handed grip!
Jericho swung his heavy sword down, and Li Shuyi took a half step back, the blade almost grazing her nose! However, Li Shuyi did not change her expression at all, and with both hands she swung her sword, lightly slashing three inches from the tip of Jericho's heavy sword.
A flicker of confusion crossed Jericho's eyes. The momentum carried him off the Bone Warhorse. He couldn't understand how this seemingly frail girl possessed such strength to throw him off.
In fact, Li Shuyi's strength was only 16 points, barely a third of Jericho's! She was able to knock Jericho off his horse mainly by borrowing Jericho strength; she herself only used skillful techniques.
However, after Jericho fell to the ground, he rolled over and quickly got up, without sustaining any injuries.
Skillful technique is skillful technique after all. Jericho's fall this time was essentially a slip and fall from his horse, which is different from being hit by a throw. If he had been hit by a throw and slammed to the ground, his whole body would have been paralyzed by the force, making him unable to defend himself and suffering a lot of slamming damage.
However, Li Shuyi's attack was only intended to bring Jericho down. She advanced with small, quick steps, changing her grip on the sword from two hands to one, and made a feint thrust.
The confusion in Jericho's eyes vanished, and he roared as he swung his sword down with Heavy Cleave.
Li Shuyi had already dodged in advance. The blade of her feinted thrust slammed down, causing the heavy sword to embed itself deeply in the ground, half a foot deep. Li Shuyi followed up with a flick, while simultaneously kicking Jericho's shinbone with her foot clad in a black leather shoe.
Jericho's body suddenly floated into the air!
Li Shuyi's eyes gleamed, and she began her familiar attack rhythm: thrust, Double Slash, thrust, and the Sanction Dagger...
Combo count * 6.
Combo count * 7.
Combo count * 8...
Meanwhile, the other bandits, seeing an opportunity, rushed over, their scimitars and greatswords aimed at Jericho.
"Get out of my way!"
Li Shuyi said in a cold voice, her tone carrying an inexplicable air of authority.
The bandits, who were originally audacious, became much less confident after witnessing Li Shuyi's exquisite swordsmanship and her ability to easily defeat Jericho, the Terror Knight Commander. They dared not argue and quietly retreated.
The Combo count stopped at 10, then the damage burst reached 57 points!
Jericho's arm had been cleanly severed. Only white bone fragments were visible at the cut; no blood flowed.
The bandits then realized that Li Shuyi's series of Combo had all hit the same spot, with the sole purpose of dislocating Jericho's arm. Understanding this, they felt a chill run down their spines. This kind of swordsmanship was simply unheard of!
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