Chapter 6

"Loss." This was a specialty of battle mages

—a mental intimidation technique that weakened the enemy's will to fight while also draining the target's stamina. Unable to accurately determine the enemy's location, Duoduo chose to cast it over a small area.

Lin Hanxuan steadied himself and realized Kubaka had vanished. Just as he was about to call out to him, a rapid series of metallic clashes rang out from the darkness ahead, "Clang, clang, clang!"

Sparks flew, especially conspicuous in the darkness. Kubaka hated the intruder for slaughtering his brothers and had already rushed forward to engage him.

The blurry figure neither dodged nor evaded. Although Hal's stone struck him, it was immediately deflected. The enemy was wearing armor.

"Kubaka, be careful!" Lin Hanxuan shouted. The forest was pitch-black, and everything was blurred. Worried for Kubaka's safety, he signaled Hal to follow him

and ran toward the front.

Seeing that the intruder was completely covered in armor and that his stabbing attacks were utterly ineffective, Kubaka swiftly leaped

back. Sewing Needle slipped back into its sheath as he let out a sharp whistle.

Modo had originally hidden in the grass nearby, but upon hearing his master's whistle, he quickly ran back to Kubaka's side.

Kubaka set down the sword at his waist, then slowly drew a crystalline longsword from the saddle on Modo's back.

The sword was twice Kubaka's height, and waves of cold air seeped from its blade. Gripping the hilt with both hands, Kubaka planted the longsword diagonally into the ground

and stared intently at his enemy.

Perhaps because of the armor, the enemy moved slowly. Clumsily, he drew a shortsword from his waist and made hoarse "heh-heh" sounds,

but did not rush forward to attack.

"Lin Hanxuan, shorty, neither of you is allowed to interfere. This is a duel between the King of the Rotting Swamp and the intruder," Kubaka said without looking back.

He had already made up his mind to avenge his slaughtered brothers, even if it cost him his life.

Hal wrinkled his nose, thinking, Who cares? I'll sneak attack if I get the chance. I refuse to believe his armor can withstand the power of a firestone explosion.

Duoduo and Lin Hanxuan could now clearly see the enemy's appearance. He was tall, and his face was hidden behind a visor. Lin Hanxuan said worriedly, "Kubaka, come back first. We'll deal with him together."

"Sir, who exactly are you? Why did you break into the Rotting Swamp Forest in the dead of night and kill so many lives?" Duoduo asked.

The man did not answer. He only kept staring at the ice sword in Kubaka's hand.

Kubaka's blood-red cloak silently fell away. Suddenly, sword light flashed and shot toward the intruder's throat. The enemy raised his shortsword in a backhand attempt

to block it. With a scraping sound, the shortsword shattered into specks of cold light. After a spin, Kubaka had already returned to his original position,

slowly sheathing the ice sword beneath the saddle on Modo's back.

The intruder's right wrist was cleanly severed, falling to the ground together with his head and rolling across it.

Tsk, this frog really has some skills, Hal thought.

The bloody scene Duoduo had imagined did not occur. The enemy remained standing where he was, completely motionless, without spilling a single drop of blood.

"Something's wrong. He isn't human. He's undead. The true intruder is an undead summoner," Duoduo said, his eyelids twitching.

The headless Skeleton Warrior slowly moved forward and picked up both its head and right hand. Lin Hanxuan stared in shock at the sight before him—a Skeleton Warrior just like his father's...

While everyone was still uncertain, a voice sounded from midair. "You've got some nerve. I let you off without holding it against you, yet

you broke in again and even killed Sangtige. Do you really think I can't recognize you just because you disguised yourselves as Orcs? Alef, help

me burn them to death." Judging by the voice, it was a woman.

They looked at one another. From the woman's words, it seemed that they were the intruders.

The Fire Elemental Spirit Alef happily darted down from the treetops, gripping a fireball in each hand as she prepared to hurl them at Lin Hanxuan. Duoduo swept his wand

across, firing three crystals of different colors that surrounded Alef, preparing to activate the Elemental Binding Technique.

Lin Hanxuan vaguely guessed who the woman might be and hurriedly shouted, "Alef, wait! Don't you recognize me?"

Alef slowed, glanced at Lin Hanxuan, and cried, "Ah, you're Lin Hanxuan!"

"What? Lin Hanxuan is here too?" The woman also spoke Lin Hanxuan's name.

"Xiao Qing, Xiao Qing, come down first. They aren't those people from earlier," Alef called up into the sky.

Afraid that Alef might launch a surprise attack, Duoduo still activated the binding technique, intending to trap Alef within the barrier. Only one high-ranking Elemental Spirit could be summoned at a time. Once the Fire Elemental Spirit Alef was successfully trapped,

the summoner would lose one helper, because no human summoner capable of summoning high-ranking spirits of every element could possibly exist.

The woman slowly descended and appeared before them. The moment Duoduo saw her, he immediately stopped his binding technique on Alef.

The woman appeared to be in her thirties. Graceful and tall, she wore coarse cloth garments and stood upon an Atmospheric Spirit as she flew on the wind.

She held a green feather fan, her hair arranged in a bun. Her manner was refined, and her bearing noble.

"Ah! You are... Duoduo? Or Luo Lun?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Your servant Duoduo Hobbs pays respects to Her Highness the Eldest Princess." Duoduo bowed to the woman.

The middle-aged woman froze slightly. "You call me the Eldest Princess? Third Brother... Third—"