Bitter Battle

Before entering the city, Chen Qiang had already warned Lin, fearing that she might hesitate when the time came to act and end up being killed by the enemy in a counterattack.

He told her that if she felt a pang of conscience when she moved to strike, she should simply remember how ruthless and cruel they had been when they captured her and slaughtered the villagers; once she kept those things in mind, there would naturally be no room for mercy.

Lin trusted Chen Qiang's words implicitly. While she was indeed uncomfortable when she first started killing, every time she recalled the villagers who had been murdered just to lure her out, that slight discomfort was suppressed. Moreover, the more she fought, the less that inner unease bothered her.

Consequently, when she began the slaughter of the slave ship's crew, she asked them one by one; if they said they didn't know or answered too slowly, she would mercilessly strip them of their lives.

At the same time, as she used her ability and lives were continuously extinguished, Lin discovered that the life force she harvested could strengthen her own body, allowing her to grow stronger at a rapid pace.

The more this happened, the more Lin found herself actually enjoying the sensation of controlling others' lives, and the more she killed, the more intense this feeling became.

Eventually, she stopped asking them questions altogether and simply killed her way forward.

"I—I'll talk! Please, I beg you, spare me!"

Just as Lin finished off all the ordinary crew members of the slave ship and turned her gaze toward Barque and the other high-ranking officers on the deck, they could no longer hold their ground.

These men collapsed to their knees before Lin, kowtowing incessantly and begging for their lives.

"There are too many of you. I only need one person alive to lead me to the others!" Lin's expression remained unchanged at their pleas. She simply extended her hand, which was still glowing with a purple light, and spoke emotionlessly.

Among the five who knelt, Barque was the most decisive. Upon hearing Lin's words, a flash of ferocity replaced the pleading look in his eyes, and he stood up without a moment's hesitation.

His long blade danced through the air with lightning speed, severing the necks of the other four before they could even react.

"Now there is only one of me left. I beg you, my lady, spare my life! I will take you to them right now!"

After swiftly disposing of the four men around him, he hurriedly knelt before Lin again, trembling all over as he begged her.

"Lead the way."

Lin's expression remained indifferent to Barque's actions. She merely curled her fingers slightly, drawing the purple light from the four bodies into her hand before lowering it, glancing at the kneeling Barque with a flat gaze.

"Yes! Thank you, my lady, for sparing this lowly one's life! I will lead the way at once!"

Hearing Lin's words, Barque scrambled to his feet, not daring to even glance at her, and kept his head bowed as he began to lead the way.

"What a terrifying little girl."

"Truly terrifying. She killed dozens of people in just two or three minutes without even blinking."

Just as Barque led Lin to the entrance of a downward staircase, a group of men suddenly descended from above, blocking their path.

Standing at the front were two tall men, both over two meters in height and draped in black cloaks. One was idly munching on an apple, while the other had a cigar dangling from his lips, his hand already resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist as he watched Lin with a grave expression.

"My lords, save me!"

Seeing the two appear, Barque, who had been so obedient moments ago, quickly raised his head and rushed toward them, pleading for help.

Lin's expression remained unchanged by the sudden turn of events; she simply let the light on her hand flare up again and made a grasping motion toward Barque from a distance.

"Torment!"

A violent purple light erupted from Barque's body—the very man who had just reached the two newcomers—and quickly enveloped him.

The outermost layer of light rapidly transformed into countless tiny blades, slicing across Barque's body and leaving a trail of deep wounds in its wake.

"Ahhh!"

The excruciating pain caused Barque to collapse to the ground in agony, writhing and screaming.

The two men who had just appeared struck the moment Barque fell in pain. Of course, they weren't trying to save him; rather, they recognized that Lin was in the brief window of recovery after her attack—the perfect moment to strike. As seasoned combatants, they would never miss such an opportunity.

"Swish!"

The man with the sword flashed past Lin, accompanied by a brilliant arc of steel.

The other man didn't stand idly by either; he quickly finished his apple and, standing right where he was, threw a punch toward Lin's position.

As the fist flew, it rapidly expanded until it was larger than Lin's entire body by the time it reached her, slamming directly into her.

Facing such an onslaught, Lin did not move. Instead, the purple light on her body surged once more—but it did not strike the two men fighting her. Instead, it lashed out at the men standing behind them, blocking the entrance.

By the time their attacks landed on her, Lin had already bound those men behind them with a contract.

As the attacks struck, some of the men behind them suddenly had their waists sliced open, cut in two, while another was crushed into a pulp as if struck by an invisible force.

Lin, who had taken the attacks head-on, remained completely unscathed. She quickly snatched up a long sword from the ground that was nearly her own height and swung it toward the giant fist before her.

Thanks to the physical prowess she had gained from Chen Qiang, Lin's taijutsu had become significantly stronger. While she was often cut or struck during the fight due to her lack of combat experience, all the damage was transferred to the men behind her via the contract.

Thus, not only was Lin uninjured in this battle, but she actually grew stronger as more of her contractors died and their life force was absorbed.

The two men fighting her were not so lucky. Even though they caused little damage due to Lin's lack of defensive technique, they found themselves accumulating more and more wounds that refused to heal.

By the time all the men bound by Lin's contract were dead, the two men were covered in countless wounds of all sizes. Blood poured from their bodies, and their faces turned deathly pale from the massive blood loss.

However, it must be said that the physical constitution of individuals in this world is truly formidable; even in this state, their combat effectiveness remained largely unaffected, and they continued to fight Lin with undiminished vigor.