A fierce battle

"You dare! Murder our youngest sister!"

The illusion finally collapsed under the Crones' fury. Fringilla went pale, clearly drained by the enormous expenditure!

Though Geralt came to his senses and caught her in time, her weakness still showed.

It seemed to be three against three now, but Whispess, Brewess, and the Fiend were actually all nearly unscathed.

On the witchers' side, however, the sorceress was already close to exhaustion.

The sky over Velen began to darken, its light fading.

Fortunately, most of the enemies' hatred was focused on Chen Xu.

Brewess charged like a tank. He leaped aside and slashed backhanded across her enormous backside.

Thick, yellowish-white fat oozed from the wound.

That's it. Moonblade's ruined!

His stomach churned. Before he could suppress his nausea, the flock of crows Whispess had become swept him into the air!

[Air Stall Guard Counter]

His whirling blade scattered the crows. Chen Xu landed and rolled to absorb the impact.

The crows dissolved into black smoke and gathered into Whispess again, seemingly without suffering much damage.

Immune to physical damage?

Her werewolf-like claws brushed over Brewess's backside. Twisted roots grew rapidly, stitching the wound shut.

"Thank you, my dear sister," Brewess thanked Whispess in a sickly-sweet voice. Combined with her enormous, misshapen body, it made Chen Xu shudder.

"What an ill-mannered wretch! Slashing a lady's backside!"

The two sisters worked together, determined to make this mortal pay.

Things had gotten tricky.

He had wanted to ask the witcher for help, but when he turned, he saw that the Fiend had already bogged Geralt down in battle. It looked as though he could not count on him for now.

And his keen senses told him that more monsters were about to reach the battlefield, mostly Drowners and Water Hags.

There were dozens of them!

After reaching the peak of the Mortal Tier, Chen Xu's reaction stat had officially caught up with Geralt's, reaching 17 points.

"Anna! Take the children inside and hide!"

Geralt shouted the warning. The lower a monster's tier, the harder it was to control precisely.

The Crones could make the Fiend restrain itself from harming them, but they could hardly manage that with low-tier monsters like Drowners.

Anna ushered the children into the thatched cottage, desperately piling every piece of movable furniture against the door.

These people should never have been dragged into this! She cursed herself. I should never have had any hope in the first place!

Drowners were already appearing on the outskirts of the Orphans' Village. Chen Xu's expression grew grave, and he tried moving his right arm.

Distracted, the White Wolf was swatted away by the monster's enormous claw.

Using the distance he had gained, he pulled out a [Foehn] bomb and hurled it back.

An enormous explosion rang out. This modified "stun grenade" made the Fiend shake its head and roar in pain, keeping it incapacitated for a while.

It looked just like a Nian beast frightened by firecrackers.

The dense tide of monsters arrived in an instant. Chen Xu and the witcher stood back to back, shielding Fringilla between them.

A last stand.

Telekinetic explosion!

The shock wave hurled the fastest Drowners back, knocking down a swath of their kind behind them.

The two clasped arms and instantly switched positions.

Igni Sign!

The erupting torrent of flame likewise blocked the monsters on the other side.

They barely held off the first wave, but the two Signs had squeezed out the White Wolf's last trace of dark energy.

With Moonblade in his left hand and Gram in his right, Chen Xu charged headlong into the next tide of monsters.

After reaching the peak of the Mortal Tier, his constitution stat had risen to 13, but his right arm still felt distinctly uncomfortable. He could no longer afford to worry about that!

[You have gained the beginner proficiency of the [Dual Wielding] specialty. Guard Counter efficiency +25%, attack frequency +100%!]

Top-grade equipment × powerful technique!

Chen Xu's disadvantage in strength was minimized at that moment. The surging tide of low-tier monsters plunged headfirst into a massive meat grinder, sending severed limbs, flesh, and blood flying!

His brain instantly burned hot. The information he was processing at once-attacks, dodges, blocks, vital points-would have overwhelmed even several witchers sharing the load.

The results were astonishing as well. His killing efficiency had surpassed Geralt's, and he was even about to push the tide of monsters back!

A Water Hag scooped up mud from the ground, mixed it with the old black muck on her body, and threw it at him, trying to blind him. His blade swept it aside in an instant.

A reaction stat of 17!

It was precisely this heaven-defying stat that made the White Wolf famous for blocking arrows in flight.

Yet there seemed to be no end to the monsters. Each wave he cut down was replaced by another. In this short time alone, they had probably cleared out more than half the low-tier monsters in Crookback Bog.

Chen Xu did not even dare use his skills, afraid of wasting a single bit of stamina.

Even so, his hands grew heavier and his movements slower, especially his right arm, which had yet to heal.

The broken bones that had already knitted together cracked again, gradually losing their strength. This immediately dropped Gram's damage output below Moonblade's.

Finally, after hacking into a Grave Hag's body, the steel sword would not come free in time.

A Drowner seized the opportunity to rake his breastplate. Though it failed to penetrate his defenses, the impact knocked him back, leaving him farther and farther from Gram.

Brewess, who had intended to sit back and watch the fight, suddenly charged in. After crushing quite a few Drowners, she sent Chen Xu flying!

A rusty taste rose in his throat. Without this plate armor, he might already have been left unable to move!

Enduring the heavy pressure in his chest, he rolled with the impact, avoiding the Drowner claws that swept past him.

The Fiend also recovered from its daze and shook its head. Furious beyond measure, it let out a wild roar, drawing everyone's attention, then recklessly activated [Sleeping Demon Eye] once again!

[You have been caught by a sidelong glance from [Sleeping Demon Eye]!

Will check: 1

Immune!]

Its main target was the witcher who had frightened it with a bomb, and Chen Xu reacted extremely quickly, deliberately avoiding its gaze.

At last, he passed a will check for the first time.

Unfortunately, the witcher still fell victim and slipped into a daze. Whispess spread her five fingers, and masses of roots and vines shot up from underground, wrapping the immobilized Geralt like a zongzi.

Fringilla squeezed out the last trace of magic in her body and sent a bolt of lightning blasting out!

It blasted open the plant cage, but also shocked the White Wolf trapped inside until he foamed at the mouth and convulsed uncontrollably.

The only human combatant left standing was the half-crippled Chen Xu!

The last glimmer vanished from the sky, and the world fell into darkness.

The monsters began to grow excited, already glimpsing the dawn of victory.

He rolled over to the witcher and sorceress, spending his remaining stamina on one last [Whirl]!

It was not that he did not want to run. All three of their horses had long since been frightened off, leaving their chances of escape infinitely close to zero.

A flame suddenly lit up the Orphans' Village.

A certain famous lawyer had once said: the greatest difference between humans and animals was that humans could use fire.

The Baron of Crow's Perch's men and the elite Nilfgaardian soldiers had turned out in full force, carrying torches.

Before confronting the Crones, the sorceress had notified them through a portal.

Now, the humans' reinforcements had finally arrived!

The tall, formidable figures of elite Nilfgaardian winged cavalry appeared at the entrance to the Orphans' Village. Every sturdy black horse wore metal blinders that reduced its panic.

Chen Xu had never found the golden suns on those black breastplates so dazzling.

Five heavily armored riders formed a line and charged with their lances leveled!

One charge visibly scattered and thinned the tide of monsters. A torch was thrown, igniting the oil they had poured along their path!

This dealt more damage than the White Wolf's Igni Sign, with flames that kept burning and spread.

The burning monsters rolled in the mud. Some picked up even more oil as they rolled, driven out of their minds by pain!

The mass of infantry and the Baron's guards following behind began cutting down the remaining monsters.

"Kill-Anna, don't be afraid!

I'm here."

As brawny as a bear, the Baron charged at the very front, carrying a longsword that looked like a toy beside him. For once, there was not the slightest hint of drunkenness on his face.

Hiding in the thatched cottage with an orphan in her arms, the Baron's wife finally shed tears of remorse.