A Timely Rescue

Alessandro was dull-witted, idle, and pampered, having never experienced any real affairs. The lord's intention was merely to have him as a mascot to maintain order in the Lisi City, and that a new official would arrive in a few days.

"Even though he's a complete idiot," Jielusi said, "He can still be saved."

As members of the Temple of Light in the Northern Lands, their actions today can be investigated later. Therefore, they cannot remain indifferent, or they will break ties with the local lord.

Conversely, successfully rescuing Alessandro could effectively ease tensions between the two sides.

Yise sighed, "It's come to this, let's just go for it!"

The Watcher pushed open the attic window, her graceful figure leaping out to block the sled that was about to leave. She planted her sword in the snow, assuming a confrontational stance. Her long golden hair fluttered in the wind, and the girl's dashing figure immediately attracted the enemy's attention.

Jielusi and the other God of Light cast "Ignore Spell" and "Blur" spells on themselves, taking the opportunity to quickly approach from both sides. By the time the mercenaries reacted, they found themselves surrounded from the outside.

Su Ming lay on the ground, quietly observing everything. He felt a little better then, realizing that there were still capable people among them.

A fight was about to break out. Suddenly, the door burst open, and the novice mercenary dragged a hostage out of the room. He held a dagger to the hostage's neck, his voice trembling, "Stop! Let us leave!"

Akosita glanced back, his expression instantly changing. He cursed, "You big idiot!"

The woman being held hostage by this novice was a mature woman with an exceptionally striking presence. Her clothes were filthy, yet their quality was still evident.

Yise initially thought the person being held hostage would be the fat man Alessandro, but when he looked up, he was just as shocked as Akosita – it was the second princess of the Cold Mountain Kingdom, Dafulin Griffith!

Yise was immediately bewildered. They had only come to investigate the kidnapping of the girl, yet they had suddenly encountered this situation. But Akosita and the mercenaries were in even greater turmoil. Their plan to commit suicide and keep their secret had been exposed. He didn't know if the princess would be rescued, but they were all definitely going to die a horrible death!

"Fuck your mother!" A Intermediate Rank mercenary slammed the idiot Xinshang to the ground, his blade slicing a shallow wound on Princess Dafulin's neck, from which blood began to seep.

But the veteran mercenary reacted quickly, realizing he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go all in. He drew his knife, swiftly pressed it against Dafulin's neck, and took the princess hostage again.

Now that things have come to this, they have no way out!

Akosita was equally furious. He turned to Yise, who was blocking his way, and said, "Let us go! Otherwise—" He slightly raised his hand, preparing to have the mercenary holding Dafulin hostage stab Dafulin and force the girl in front of him to give in.

All the mercenaries watched the standoff between the two with bated breath. Su Ming quietly looked up and met Yise's gaze.

The next moment, Su Ming sprang up, pulled a shotgun from the basket, and switched the magazine to the right-side slug.

Otherworldly armor is common. All the mercenaries here, including the security team members, wear different styles of leather armor, with two of them also wearing an extra layer of chainmail.

After suffering a setback against armor last time, Zijin helped Su Ming modify shotgun bullets, creating these Mithril slugs with armor-piercing capabilities.

Before Su Ming had fully stood up, he fired at the mercenary who was holding the princess hostage. Smoke billowed up, and the bullet struck Alessandro in the back with a bang.

Alessandro

Su Ming was dumbfounded. Just as he fired his gun, the temporary sheriff, who was obviously also pretending to be unconscious, suddenly jumped up and rushed towards the door with an agility that was inconsistent with his fat body, and ran right into the muzzle of Su Ming's gun.

Alessandro's robes were torn at the back, revealing the exquisitely enchanted armor hidden beneath. The Mithril slug had caused considerable damage, but had not penetrated.

"Damn rich people, they really know how to save their lives! "Su Ming cursed inwardly.

The UTS-15 shotgun made a crisp, melodious sound, quite different from the firearms of this other world. The mercenary standing outside the door didn't realize he was being shot. He held Princess Dafulin's neck with one hand, turned around, and drew his secondary weapon with the other hand to meet Alessandro's attack as he rushed out from inside.

Alessandro was hit by a bullet but only staggered; instead, his forward momentum increased! Holding his greatsword, he continued charging towards the only exit, ignoring everything else.

If this continues, Princess Dafulin is definitely in trouble! Su Ming's blood pressure instantly spiked. His side had Yise and Jielusi, a godsend of a favorable fishing pond, yet this guy had managed to create such a mess. And to make matters worse, this fatso's broad frame completely blocked Su Ming's shooting range.

Without hesitation, he quickly loaded the gun and fired a shot that struck Alessandro squarely in the head.

The acting sheriff's helmet glowed with magical light, stopping the bullet, but the huge shock made the fat sheriff's eyes glaze over, and he immediately stopped moving. Su Ming didn't hold back, and fired another shot, knocking Alessandro's helmet off. The stupid fat man finally fell to the ground.

Ironclad rule of the battlefield: take down your incompetent teammates first!

****

The mercenary's attention was completely focused on Alessandro; after all, given the man's weight, a full-force greatsword strike was no joke. So much so that when the fat man collapsed at his feet, he didn't really understand what had happened.

This did not prevent him from quickly pulling Dafulin aside and moving to the side, hiding himself behind the wall.

Silent Vision!

Su Ming activated his X-ray vision and fired a shot through the wall through the cracks in the bricks. The mercenary who was holding Dafulin hostage didn't have the same level of protective gear Alessandro, and was easily pierced through the head by the Mithril- enhanced bullet, collapsing to the ground.

Su Ming lunged forward, dragging the princess several meters with him. He then hoisted her onto his back and ran outside. All the mercenaries present immediately attacked him, but Su Ming ignored them and just kept running.

Two swords slashed from the side, a golden afterimage passing by him, but Yise's greatsword met them head-on, blocking the enemy for him!

Someone launched a surprise attack from above, but just as they were about to get close, they were kicked in the face by two unexpected hooves. The unicorn flapped its wings and cut into the battlefield from the air!

Mercenaries approached from the other side. A lithe figure landed beside Su Ming. The priestess Jielusi, raised her scepter, and a white halo enveloped the three of them—divine protection!

Outside the protective circle, four priests, led by Zephlin, joined the attack. Rapid beams of light covered the entire area, interspersed with the golden, leaping figures of the Watchers. Utilizing her teammates' cooperation, she easily closed in on the mercenaries, proving utterly invincible.

Su Ming handed the still-shaken Dafulin to Jielusi and prepared to return to the battle, only to find that the people of the temple had the situation under control and half of the mercenaries had already fallen to the ground.

He observed carefully but found no trace of a puppeteer.

Akosita, the leader, took the hits thanks to his superior protective gear and retreated to the back of the crowd. Su Ming raised his hand to shoot, but noticed the broken oil drums at his feet. Much of the black oil had flowed into the cellar ventilation openings and was seeping into the basement.

If the bullet ignites the fire, the girls imprisoned in the cellar will be implicated.

Akosita's face was filled with resentment. "If that's the case, then none of us should live!" He raised his hand and ignited the oil with a small fireball.

Flames erupted, spreading along the oil to the merchant's feet. The expensive fur on Akos's body was ignited, and he was immediately engulfed in flames. Yellow fire snakes snaked into the ground amidst thick black smoke, followed by the screams of the girls.

Su Ming immediately looked at Jielusi beside him, only to find that she was also looking at him. Their eyes met, clearly indicating that neither of them had any means to extinguish the fire.

A priest quickly cast a water-based freezing rain spell, but it was to no avail; more and more things inside the house began to catch fire.

A white unicorn descended from the sky, flapping its wings.

"The Ring of Vacuum!"

A large amount of air was forcibly expelled, and the flames, deprived of their oxygen source, were abruptly extinguished. Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief, and the remaining priests immediately used divine magic to help cool the area. The thick smoke quickly dissipated, leaving only scattered flames.

Su Ming stepped forward. The merchant Akosita was burned black all over, his limbs twitching from the excruciating pain. He looked at Su Ming and the priests, a chilling smile suddenly appearing on his face.

"What are you up to now?" Su Ming pressed the gun against Akosita's head.

The unicorn also came over, eager to stomp on him with its hooves.

"Ha, ha!" Akosita grinned, revealing his yellow teeth, and just stared at them with a silly grin.

A priest entered the cellar intending to rescue the girls, but was shocked by what he saw inside. "Alchemical explosives!" he hurriedly warned.

Damn it! Su Ming hurriedly pulled Qiluo back, but it was too late. The house in front of them was completely lifted up, and the shockwave spread out, carrying countless fragments of broken bricks and tiles that shot in all directions.

Su Ming and the unicorn were thrown into the air, seemingly flying a great distance before crashing to the ground. He was surrounded by screams, and it took him a while to recover and regain his vision.

He stood up and found himself fifty meters away from the explosion site. The unicorn got up beside him and shook off the dust.

Su Ming reached into his collar and pulled out the Refraction Necklace. Sure enough, the crystal on it was shattered. In the rush just now, there was no time to cast any spells; he could only activate the Refraction Necklace's shield.

Fortunately, Jielusi behind them; the priestess hadn't dispelled her protective barrier. She unleashed her full power, shielding them from the subsequent blast.

Jielusi withdrew her divine protection. At such close range, she had suffered quite a bit, but both she and Princess Dafulin were unharmed.

Jielusi turned to look at Su Ming and the unicorn, and they nodded to each other.

The other priests, who were not as close as Su Ming and Qiluo, suffered injuries of varying degrees but were not seriously hurt. Yise even planted his greatsword directly in the blast, taking the brunt of the explosion unscathed and protecting his companions beside him.

But the priest who initially warned them, the girl in the cellar, and the sheriff and his team members in the room all perished.

This result is regrettable; the viciousness of desperate criminals should not be underestimated in any world.

Su Ming bowed in the direction of the sacrifice, then patted Qiluo and climbed onto the unicorn's back.

We're leaving right away.

"Why?" Qiluo asked, puzzled. She ran to a corner of the courtyard wall, picked up her clothes, flapped her wings, and took off.

"[When the explosion happened, I tried to release the Nether Shield,]" Su Ming explained. "[Although I didn't have time, I'm not sure if it generated any magical fluctuations.]"

The unicorn stomped on the wall it had just leaped over to accelerate, [and they probably hadn't noticed.]

"It's hard to say," Su Ming said.

Pretending not to notice, then suddenly attacking when they get close— Yise is absolutely capable of doing that, given his shrewdness. Su Ming is already afraid of this kind of high-level game, so leaving is the best option.

[I was originally planning to have Jielusi do a follow-up check-up on my scapula,] the unicorn said regretfully.

A streak of light flashed past, Qiluo, with lightning speed, caught it.

"Awesome!" Su Ming clapped his hands.

With his necromancer abilities, he recognized it as a soul that had flown out from Alessandro's body in the house that had just exploded.

"I learned that by catching horseflies when I was little," Qiluo replied. "Strange, that fat man's soul floated away so fast? It's the first time I've ever seen that!"

After a normal death, the soul escapes and floats up slowly, then lingers nearby.

"It's probably some kind of trap set up by these nobles," Su Ming guessed. "They want to retrieve souls, Speak with the Dead leave a message or something?"

Speaking of which, he also asked Miao Xin to find Si Ying's soul on Earth, so that he might have a chance to chat with his old friend.

The necromancer is indeed a profession that blurs the lines between life and death, Su Ming thought to himself.

Qiluo put the ball of light back into the air, only to find that it no longer moved.

"It seems you interrupted the recycling process," Su Ming said.

Although Alessandro nearly killed Princess Dafulin, given the circumstances, his decision to flee was understandable.

The lone beast took out a small bottle and put it inside, saying, "I'll perform a ritual for him later, so he won't say I'm interfering with his return to heaven."

****

On the ground, Yise watched the departing figure in the sky. The alchemist had been so passionately devoted to her the last time they met, but this time he left without even a goodbye. Something felt very wrong.

The fact that she was recognized by the unicorn was especially remarkable. The adventurer community is a mixed bag, with people often crossing moral boundaries. Only a few can maintain their integrity within the silver fold, and those who uphold pure white, lawful goodness are unheard of.

However, she had no time to think about it further. The surviving priests were healing each other, Yise clasped her hands together, silently reciting a prayer for her deceased companion.

Thankfully, Princess Dafulin was unharmed. As a renowned geologist, her life or death was directly related to the future of the region, and her kidnapping was no small matter. Yise approached Princess Dafulin, whose wrists had been untied and her gag removed.

The princess was still shaken and very weak. Jielusi was using divine magic to soothe her.

"Lady Dafulin, why are you here?" Yise asked.

Dafulin was practically limp in Jielusi's arms. Hearing the question, she struggled to lift her head. "I've been assigned to accompany Queen Katharine to Bubing City."

Yise's expression changed drastically. She immediately grabbed Dafulin's hand. "Katharine is here too? You were... attacked!?"