The next journey, as Dick expected, will be full of dangers.
He and Xiya encountered a total of 16 ambushes by mercenaries and Church of the Eternal Fire. Along the way, they had to carefully deal with as many as 28 traps.
But he relied on his strong strength to shuttle through the bloody wind and kill the enemies who tried to stop them one by one.
The screams of the black sword and the purple sword pierced the air one after another, and the sticky sound of the sword blade tearing flesh and blood mixed with the sound of cracking bones echoed in the dense forest.
The severed spear tip was driven into the tree trunk while rotating, and the blood flowed down the cracked bark, forming a dark red stream in the pile of rotting leaves.
After killing an unknown number of people, his arms gradually became numb, as if they no longer belonged to him, but he still did not stop. It was not until he was severely exhausted that he panted and took Xiya's hand and continued to run towards the unknown road ahead.
The moonlight was swallowed up by the thick fog, and the gray-white miasma was like a living thing crawling on the surface.
The stench of rotting reeds came with the wind, and the sound of bursting bubbles came from the depths of the swamp, occasionally mixed with the rustling sound of the scales of some giant creature rubbing together.
It's only a few hundred meters away from the Mist Swamp they miss so much.
But at this time, Dick didn't feel the slightest joy about being out of danger.
In front, Moonlight outlines the rugged outline of the horse's back, and the coat of arms decorated on the joints of the light armor glows with cold light.
Under the iron helmet, unshaved stubble remained on the pale chin. When the horse stepped uneasily on the iron hooves, the ruby pendant on the hilt of the stabbing sword would appear and disappear in the black cloak, like a scarlet letter from a dormant poisonous snake.
Around him, there were forty or fifty people in the same uniforms neatly arranged, and it was obvious at a glance that they were well-trained.
In the backpacks behind these people were placed several one-meter-long fine steel spears, shining with an icy cold light under the Moonlight.
Dick's heart sank. He recognized these people. They were the feared Shadow Knights Order under the Bacchus Empire Emperor Marius. Judging from their equipment, they should all be the elite among the elite - Shadow Centurion.
What surprised Dick even more was that the person riding side by side with this tall and thin young man turned out to be his good friend Kebi.
Seeing that these people showed no signs of taking action for the time being, Dick tried hard to adjust his breathing and slowly approached, "Kebi, why are you here?"
Kebi looked depressed and said helplessly, "Queen Meve has passed away, and the new king Luca has sent an order for me to arrest you."
Dick pointed at Captain Fisher next to Kebi and asked, "So, you brought him to catch me? You have already cooperated with the Bacchus Empire?"
Fisher smiled bitterly, and just when he was about to open his mouth to explain, a tall and thin young man on the horse gracefully turned over and dismounted, his movements as smooth as flowing water.
"Fisher is my cousin, my name is Tatum."
Dick's mind immediately flashed back to the scene when he and Fisher were communicating with Swordsmanship when they were Odinburg. At that time, Fisher had mentioned that there was an extremely talented junior in the family, but he didn't expect that he was the person in front of him.
Judging from his appearance, he is almost the same age as me.
"Are you also Master Swordsmanship?" Dick asked.
"That's right." Tatum nodded slightly.
"Then you came here under the orders of Bacchus Emperor Marius?"
"That's true, Dick. I know that you have been through hard battles along the way, and you have hardly stopped for a moment. Although you have a strange and extraordinary recovery ability, your physical strength is almost reaching its limit now, right?"
"If you want to hurt Xiya, you have to get through me first." Dick said, pulling out the black sword from behind.
The Shadow Centurion people behind them uniformly drew out the throwing spears behind them, and the cold light flashed under Moonlight, filled with murderous intent.
Just when Dick was about to fight to the death, Tatum calmly waved his hand, and the centurions behind him immediately put down their spears.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't like to take advantage of others. I heard that you are highly skilled, and I just want to have a fair contest with you - only Swordsmanship. If you win, I will let you pass; if you lose..."
"Okay, I agree."
"I think we should let Dick rest for a while." Kebi immediately suggested.
When Dick heard this, he understood that Kebi was just a formality. If he really wanted to catch him, Kebi would not just bring this few people with him.
"That won't work." Tatum said with a smile,
"First of all, this demon hunter leader has extraordinary strength. Although I have taken Dragon Tear Potion, my physical fitness is far inferior to him;
Secondly, if he is allowed to rest for a while, those mercenaries will probably follow his trail and come looking for him, and they won't be able to escape even if they want to."
"Okay, let's make a quick decision."
Dick nodded slowly, then pointed the tip of the sword to the ground, flicked his wrist, and with a long, low groan, the sound of Sword Qi instantly covered the entire sword body.
The Tatum on the opposite side also stabbed the sword gently, and the slender sword was immediately covered with a layer of cold Sword Qi.
Then, he began to move back and forth with a unique rhythm, as elegant and deadly as a cheetah.
"Let's get started." As soon as Tatum finished speaking, his whole body was stabbed like a black lightning.
Dick quickly blocked with the black sword, only to hear a loud "dang" sound. The angle of the stab hit the tip of the black sword accurately, causing sparks to fly.
This blow failed, but Tatum didn't pause at all. The moment he took a step back, he struck again at a faster speed.
His moves were completely different from Dick's previous style of swinging and slashing. Every attack was mainly thrusting, and the movements were simple and deadly. They were like poisonous snakes spitting messages, making it difficult for people to guard against. This made Dick very uncomfortable for a while.
But after all, Dick is the leader of the demon hunter group who has experienced hundreds of battles, and he quickly adjusted.
Although his physical strength and energy were close to the limit at this time and he could not concentrate on the battle, with his strong physical fitness, his sword swing speed did not slow down, and the sword shadows intertwined into an airtight net in the air.
After a few rounds, Tatum's moves suddenly changed. When he stabbed again, his feet suddenly exerted force, and his whole body stabbed forward instantly like an arrow from the string, at an extremely fast speed.
Dick was caught off guard. A small scratch was made on his waist and belt armor, and blood oozed out instantly.
Tatum After this blow, he did not pursue immediately, but took two steps back gracefully.
He gently dipped his index finger into the blood on the sword, which was only two fingers wide, and put it in his mouth, as if savoring it carefully.
Then, a strange red light flashed across his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved in a confident arc. "I have already understood your moves."
Dick didn't know what he meant. Just as he was wondering, Tatum's next attack came like a violent storm.
Dick swung his sword to block as usual, but Tatum seemed to have predicted his movements. He actually moved the sword three inches to the left and stabbed Dick straight on the shoulder.
Dick was startled and wanted to turn his shoulders to avoid it, but the tip of Tatum's sword shook out sword flowers like a ghost, moved a few inches strangely, and accurately pointed towards his right shoulder.
This time, Dick failed to dodge, and a bloodstain suddenly appeared on his shoulder.
After several fierce battles, Dick felt more and more that the opponent Tatum seemed to have completely figured out his own moves.
No matter how he blocks or dodges, Tatum can accurately predict the timing of his next attack, and then accurately draw blood marks on his body.
Dick's body was covered with wounds, and his clothes were dyed red with blood.
At this time, relying on the keen senses of the witcher, the crisp sound of the soles of boots crushing dead branches mixed with the sound of shaking iron chains pierced the eardrums, and the smell of tar from burning torches entered the nose before the pursuers.
Dick Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of light and shadow swaying in the forest. It was a red snake composed of at least eighty torches, snaking out letters and snaking towards them.
He knew that the group of adventurers who were like crazy dogs came after hearing the news and would arrive here in less than two minutes.
When fighting Tatum, Dick habitually blocked with his long sword again.
A look of "Sure enough" flashed in Tatum's eyes, as if he knew Dick's movements well.
But the next moment, he discovered that Dick suddenly changed his tactics.
When his long sword pierced the heart of the demon hunter in front of him, he actually gave up blocking and did not dodge. Instead, his body muscles tightened the blade of the sword.
With a "squeak" sound, blood red overflowed from the corner of Dick's mouth, and Tatum's sword pierced straight into his heart.
At the same time, Dick's left hand held the sword blade tightly, and the black sword blade in his right hand was placed on Tatum's neck.
"I actually exchanged my life for my life. I lost." Tatum The corners of his lips twitched into a stiff arc, and the knuckles holding the rapier turned white.
The skin on his neck that was swept by Sword Qi was covered with fine goosebumps. When his Adam's apple rolled up and down, the red marks pressed by the sword blade were slowly oozing blood.