Dioooooo!

The one who made the statement was none other than Chief Mage Kevin Gray, who always preferred to slack off.

Kevin had delegated the mission of infiltrating the city to Bai Xiaowen, a scene that was witnessed by the high-ranking members of the Resistance Army led by Grima. Although they didn't say it aloud, they must have felt quite contempt for Kevin.

It's surprising that Kevin has volunteered to tackle this tough challenge.

Grima quickly realized that it was a good thing that someone was willing to play.

"Master Kevin, I'm begging you!"

Kevin nodded slightly. "However, I need an assistant... Mr. Dio Skellboom, please stay."

Grima paused for a moment, then looked at Bai Xiaowen with a questioning gaze.

"I'm fine with it," Bai Xiaowen said without hesitation.

Grima exclaimed with delight, "With Master Kevin and Brother Dio fighting, I'm relieved. The rest of you, follow me and let's head straight for the North Palace!"

"Should I stay too?" Li Shuyi asked Bai Xiaowen quietly through the Team Channel.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said through the Team Channel, "No, you go to the North Palace with the main force... As long as we can get a little contribution from killing Glandis, it will be enough for us to complete the main quest. But be careful, as Glandis is a great lord, her guards should be very strong."

Li Shuyi nodded slightly and followed the Resistance Army army northward.

Before the Gate of Justice, only Bai Xiaowen and Kevin remained. As for Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures, they had been put away when they met at the city gate. When not in a summoned state, the lost Life Value of the summoned creatures would slowly recover, so it was a good habit to recall them as soon as they were out of combat.

"Master Kevin, my summoned creatures suffered heavy losses when we killed the city defense commander and patrol captain. I'm afraid I won't be able to contribute much in this battle," Bai Xiaowen said after coughing.

Kevin glanced at him and said calmly, "Whether you contribute or not is irrelevant, because the enemy's target will definitely be you—unless you desert your post."

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "Compared to them, I'm probably not as much of a threat as you, am I?"

At this moment, Judge Costello, the presiding judge of the Justice Court, and High Justice Hurd also walked out of the door and stood opposite Kevin and Bai Xiaowen.

"Unexpectedly, the most talented mage in the Northern Frontier has come to Northshire in person... Kevin Grey!" High Justice Hurd, wearing a pointed hat and a silver cross robe, spoke in a stern voice, "Kevin, why would a mage like you follow the rebels and betray the light?"

"That's right, I've never understood it either. How could a mage Kevin, who was on par with the Dragon Language Mage Selen, have fallen so low as to become an evil person who betrayed justice?"

Judge Costello spoke, clad in silver armor, wielding a longsword with a cross-shaped hilt, a light round shield engraved with a cross emblem resting on his left arm, and his smooth cloak billowing in the wind.

Kevin sneered, "What is justice? What is evil? Only fools cling to these meaningless words. Power is justice, self-interest is justice. Looking across the entire Northern Frontier, only Lord Usok can give me what I want."

"Selen, one day I will leave him far behind. As for you two, if you dare to stand in my way, then prepare to meet your deaths."

Kevin's voice grew louder and louder as he spoke, and his feet floated into the air, lifting him off the ground and hovering in mid-air! A faint, multicolored light bloomed slightly on his body.

"It seems nothing I say will make a difference," High Justice Hurd shook his head slightly, flipping through the pages of a gleaming golden law code in his hand, finally settling on one page. He cried out, "In the name of the Lord, purify the sinners before me!"

Bai Xiaowen instantly received a notification that High Justice Hurd's skill, "Command Smite," had been activated, and the target was Kevin.

However, when the Smite of light struck Kevin, his body shimmered with a layer of colorful light, and the beam of Smite dissipated completely.

"Kevin has an Arcane Shield on him..." High Justice Hurd's expression changed.

"He used Levitation; neither I nor the guards could attack him," Costello said.

Kevin said loudly, "Herd, with your shallow understanding, you should know that my Arcane Shield can absorb any magical attack during its duration, as long as the power of your spell does not exceed my limit! And judging from the comparison of our Divine Might, it is basically impossible for you to break through the limit of the Arcane Shield."

Herd narrowed his eyes, clearly seething with anger, yet helpless— Kevin's Divine Might was indeed as high as 85 points, enough to make him quite proud.

Kevin said leisurely, "The Resistance Army brother next to me is no weakling either. He was the one who infiltrated the city and killed your commander during this siege. If the two of us join forces, you have no chance of winning!"

"Holy crap!"

Bai Xiaowen's mind was racing with thoughts of writing, but the two Boss Tier, Herd and Costello, had already been misled by Kevin and shifted their focus.

"Kevin will have difficulty maintaining his chanting and casting actions while in Levitation, so he's not a threat. Let's take care of this one first." Herd said seriously.

"Yes... Guards! Uphold the majesty of the law!" Costello swung his longsword with the cross-shaped hilt, and instantly twenty court guards charged toward Bai Xiaowen like wild dogs.

Kevin didn't make a move; he calmly watched the scene unfold with his arms crossed.

[Make your move, let me see how much you've grown... If you want to continue climbing the ranks in the Resistance Army, you have no choice but to fight!] Kevin thought to himself.

Faced with the two bosses of the Justice Court and twenty court guards, as well as Kevin hovering in the sky, watching with predatory eyes, Bai Xiaowen made only one choice.

He turned and ran.

With the shoes activated for a speed Sprint, Bai Xiaowen ran incredibly fast.

In an instant, the boss and guards of the Justice Court were stunned.

Kevin was stunned.

"Dio Skellboom!! You coward, what are you doing?" Kevin's forehead veins bulged. "Desertion in the face of battle is a crime! If you dare to run again, I will report to Lord Usok and have you court-martialed!"

Bai Xiaowen didn't stop for a second, giving Kevin the middle finger without caring whether the locals of the Aaron Plane World understood the meaning of a middle finger. "Master Kevin, you can run with me, I don't mind."

"Fart!"

Kevin swore. He was, after all, the chief mage of Spiked Helm City and a high-ranking member of the Resistance Army; how could he be as shameless as Bai Xiaowen?

The mission to storm the Justice Court was originally accepted by Kevin, who then designated Bai Xiaowen to assist him. In other words, if Kevin also ran away, resulting in the failure to capture the Justice Court, he would bear the primary responsibility...

"Get back here!" Kevin roared. "You and I will each take on one!"

Bai Xiaowen ran even faster.

As long as I run fast enough, my teammates' question marks can't catch up with me!

Whoosh, Bai Xiaowen had already run to the end of the street, rounded the corner, and disappeared from everyone's sight.

"If you just leave like this, I'll fight you to the death to make sure you can't stay in the Resistance Army!" Kevin roared. "I'll deal with those two, you take care of the rest!"

Ding! Bai Xiaowen popped her head out from a building on the street corner.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"You swear?"

I swear!

"You'll write a written agreement?"

"..."

Bai Xiaowen slipped over before Kevin's face turned completely black.

"Hahaha! Master Kevin, don't get excited, I was just joking. Leave these twenty-odd court guards to me! You only need to deal with the remaining two, Master. I promise I won't let them interfere with Kevin battle!"

Kevin snorted, canceled his Levitation, and landed lightly with a soft thud.

He did indeed keep his word. First, he canceled the Arcane Shield, then waved his wand to cast an Frost Armor on himself, and finally began his attack, shooting out a string of tiny Frost Shard from the tip of his wand.

The removal of Arcane Shield was a last resort. While this shield offered a significant advantage against War Mage, maintaining it required a large amount of Divine Might, making it impractical in actual combat. In comparison, the inscription spell— Frost Armor— was more economical and durable.

biubiubiu...

Judge Costello, who was charging towards Bai Xiaowen, suddenly found his body covered in ice flowers, which reduced his speed drastically! Costello had no choice but to abandon Bai Xiaowen, who was farther away, and Sprint towards Kevin, swinging his longsword.

The court guards who followed up with melee attacks landed on Kevin, but before they could cause any damage, they were frozen into ice sculptures by the icy currents emanating from the Frost Armor, frozen for up to five seconds!

The Court Guardian is merely Elite Template. The inherent shortcomings of the template, coupled with the gap in strength, are why Frost Armor has such a powerful effect. This is also related to Kevin's passive skill in the Mage rune, which extends the control time of ice spells.

Costello fared much better; he was merely significantly slower in his movements, but not frozen stiff, clearly having passed some kind of test.

However, Kevin's Frost Armor clearly has a limit; with each physical attack he receives, the frost on his body weakens by one point.

On the other side, High Justice Hurd once again cast the Command Smite, targeting Kevin once more. While Frost Armor can reduce physical damage and freeze melee enemies, it proves ineffective against magical attacks.

Kevin snorted, and a flash of fire appeared on his leg! The inscription spell - Blazing Dash - was activated, and he moved several feet to the side, dodging the Smite.

The first wave of court guards who besieged him were temporarily unable to catch up, but more than a dozen guards followed closely behind, like leeches clinging to a bone. Their goal was simple: to use their own flesh and blood to deplete Kevin's remaining energy in his Frost Armor, thus providing an advantage for Judge Costello in the battle.

"Dio-- " Kevin roared angrily.

"They're here, they're here."

Bai Xiaowen didn't remain a bystander forever; he was in trouble if Kevin got angry and quit. With a wave of his hand, the Butcher's massive body appeared on the battlefield, its 36,000 pores simultaneously spewing poison gas, blocking the remaining court guards and slowing them down.

Bai Xiaowen pulled out his Desert Eagle and began calling out names. His targets were the first wave of court guards who had been frozen into ice sculptures by Kevin's Frost Armor.

These court guards are almost at full Life Value, just enough to trigger the Blood Essence Stone effect! And with Bai Xiaowen's level 7 Shooting Specialty, it's incredibly easy for him to deliver Vital Strike to these stationary Elite Tier guards; it's practically one shot, one kill!

Bai Xiaowen happily harvested the five court guard ice sculptures.

Seeing their colleague killed, the other court guards' hatred for Bai Xiaowen quickly reached its peak! They abandoned Kevin and rushed towards Bai Xiaowen.

Call!

They were met with a Giant Serpent Scepter sweeping towards them, Fatty strode in front of them, displaying an air of one man guarding the pass against ten thousand.

The court guards could only attack Fatty. They were all High Elite Tier with decent strength, but their attacks on Fatty did little damage, and they themselves had to endure the effects of Fatty's poison gas.

Seeing Fatty display his skills, Kevin felt relieved, but a fleeting glint of greedy desire flashed in his eyes.

[The Soul Stone is so powerful... If I had a Corpse Monster like that as a meat shield...]

Costello had already caught up, so Kevin had to put aside his thoughts for the time being. He cast Frost Shard again to slow down his opponent, used Blazing Dash to create distance while dodging another Laws spell from High Justice Hurd, and then unleashed a Frost Lance.

The Ice Spear, carrying immense kinetic energy, Piercing Costello's chest and abdomen, sending him flying backward more than ten feet! Bai Xiaowen could see that Costello's Life Value plummeted to 50%, and he was also severely slowed down by the Chill Effect!

Bai Xiaowen's heart skipped a beat. Kevin, with 85 points of spirit, was indeed too strong. Even Advanced Boss lost 300 points of actual health in one hit! If an ordinary level 6 Hero Class awakened user were to take this hit, they would probably be either dead or crippled.

High Justice Hurd opened the law book again and proclaimed, "You will be saved by the Lord and receive eternal salvation..."

A beam of holy light shone on Costello, and the frozen wounds on his chest and abdomen healed rapidly. His Life Value also increased, returning him to 75% of his original level.

"Damn it..." Kevin gritted his teeth. Seeing Costello regain his energy, he had no choice but to retreat, using Frost Shard to slow down his opponent and slowly whittle him down.

Compared to Kevin's predicament, Bai Xiaowen, who was only dealing with the court guards, had it much easier. He was kneeling with his hands holding the gun, and bullets flew wildly through the Butcher's crotch. The court guards could not get past the Butcher's blockade and naturally posed no threat to Bai Xiaowen.

"Phew, another one."

Bai Xiaowen stopped Rapid Fire and blew out a puff of smoke that wasn't actually gunpowder from the muzzle.

Originally there were twenty court guards, but now only a handful remain. Even more shameless, the Butcher's health has been fully restored... The death of a court guard restores a full 20 Life Value points to the Butcher!

The remaining court guards can be dealt with by taking them out one by one. Anyway, it's still a long way from a decisive victory for Kevin, so Bai Xiaowen doesn't mind taking it easy and observing Kevin's abilities.

Kevin's face turned slightly pale.

"Dio... come help! I can't withstand Herd's healing magic and kill Costello by myself!"

I've missed quite a few updates, so I'll just use a rough integer... Salted Fish sighs*