Chapter 443: Ambush in the Dark
Night Owl and the members of the Hunting Squad clashed fiercely, with both sides unleashing their deadliest attacks.
To Phield’s surprise, the usually quiet and reserved Joey was actually managing to withstand the attacks of two Divine Chosen. Brinda, on the other hand, was rapidly being worn down in her one-on-one battle against Valtteri, who was hammering her relentlessly.
After taking more than a dozen solid punches to the chest, Brinda’s expression grew increasingly grim. Her own fists felt as though she were massaging Valtteri whenever they struck his armor, while his attacks continuously drained her divine power barrier. Once her divine power was depleted, death would be only a step away.
Left with no choice, she suddenly drew in a deep breath, causing her exaggeratedly large chest to tremble violently.
"Tier Three Divine Art, Lion King’s Roaring Blast!"
A tornado-like torrent of divine power roared forward and slammed into Valtteri’s armor, producing a dense series of metallic clangs like a torrential downpour.
"Voom!"
Valtteri was sent flying backward and crashed straight into the soldiers behind him.
Like a cannonball, Valtteri smashed through seven or eight warriors along the way before finally managing to steady himself.
What was terrifying was that Valtteri simply brushed the dust from his armor and smiled.
"Didn’t hurt at all. Sorry about that. I’m afraid of pain, so I put every single point into defense."
"Damn it."
Brinda gritted her teeth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Tier Three Divine Art, Goddess of Pleasure!"
After unleashing her divine art, Brinda was temporarily left in a vulnerable state. At that exact moment, Simon’s Divine Chosen, Florine, suddenly appeared from behind and blew a kiss toward Brinda.
The flying kiss transformed into several phantom images of beautiful women. Laughing playfully, they crashed into Brinda.
There was no explosion or flash of light, yet Brinda suddenly felt the world spinning around her. Her legs went weak, and she dropped to one knee.
"Ugh... another annoying status effect? I’m not afraid of this."
Before Brinda could finish boasting, a strange heat surged through her body, mixed with an inexplicable fluttering sensation. Her skin grew burning hot, and she began unconsciously drooling.
"This feeling... it’s so uncomfortable. No, wait. This is a battle. What am I even thinking about?!"
A blush spread across Brinda’s face. Her eyes became unfocused, almost taking on a heart-shaped appearance.
"Holy crap."
Phield slapped a hand against his forehead.
"That’s one seriously twisted divine art. Is this about to trigger some kind of special defeat animation?"
"Sorry, sorry. I’m late, everyone."
Florine’s entire body seemed to glow with an oily sheen as she approached with a graceful feline stride, casually adjusting her clothes.
"I was busy handling diplomacy. All the deals have been settled, and I’ve won over every merchant."
Florine’s beauty instantly made her the center of attention.
Only Firomina could surpass her, but unfortunately, Firomina was currently acting adorably foolish, leaving her with absolutely none of Florine’s seductive charm.
With Florine, his all-purpose capable assistant, finally back at his side, the hesitation and ingratiating expression on Simon’s face vanished instantly.
He became wildly excited, jumping around as he laughed.
"Fantastic! Hahahaha! What a wonderful night!"
Simon proudly pointed at the two members of Night Owl.
"Once you lose, you’ll have to perform the defeat animation one thousand times in a row with the one thousand monsters in my army!"
Simon burst into a manic laugh.
"Looks like they’re finished."
Phield sighed quietly.
Although he sympathized with Night Owl and admired their spirit, the Hunting Squad had far too many Divine Chosen. Trying to save them would carry too much risk.
More importantly, Night Owl had already been bound by a contract, making their value to him practically nonexistent.
As a lord, he could not think with his lower half and put his own people in danger.
Even so, Phield continued thinking desperately, trying to find a way to help Night Owl without putting his own people at risk.
"I can’t fall yet."
Brinda bit down hard on her tongue and stubbornly forced herself back into the fight.
"Leave this to the Imperial Guards."
Seeing that Valtteri was about to charge forward again, Biskaly could no longer hold herself back. She stopped Valtteri and exchanged a glance with Simon.
"Alright."
Simon nodded repeatedly before secretly pulling out a magic orb.
Biskaly charged forward, grabbed the injured little lion, and hurled her away with tremendous force.
"Something’s not right."
Phield frowned.
"Why is she gradually moving toward me? I have a bad feeling about this."
Sure enough, something unexpected happened the very next moment.
His vision suddenly blurred, and before he knew it, he had been teleported out of the underground palace.
Fortunately, Ashina and Firomina were both holding onto him. The three of them were transported together, landing in a dense forest.
"What happened?"
Phield looked around in confusion.
But when he saw the mocking smiles on the faces of the Imperial Guards standing before him, he immediately understood everything.
Simon had struck a deal with the Imperial Guards, giving them an opportunity to kill him.
The two Imperial Guards casually tossed the exhausted Brinda aside before turning their hostile gazes toward Phield.
Phield laughed inwardly, forcing himself to maintain a smile as he pretended not to understand.
"Where are the others?"
"They’ll find this place eventually. By then, your corpse will probably already be rotten."
Biskaly no longer bothered hiding her intentions. She sneered.
"You were the one who sent people to attack us back then, weren’t you?"
"What are you talking about? I don’t understand. Are you planning to murder a noble?"
"Wrong. Night Owl suddenly went berserk and killed you. By the time we arrived, we could only kill Night Owl to avenge you."
Biskaly laughed smugly.
"Either way, both you and Brinda are going to die. Whatever happened here will be whatever we say happened."
She paused before sneering.
"Of course, even if we really got it wrong, you’ve already pissed me off. You’d die anyway. If you want someone to blame, blame your own bad luck."
"It... it’s you, Phield."
Brinda covered her chest and struggled to stand. She froze for a moment when she saw Phield.
She would never forget how this bastard had toyed with her for several days.
But at the same time, Phield had also been the one who saved them.
"Oh? You two know each other?"
Biskaly gave a vicious grin.
"That makes things even easier. You can go to hell together."
She summoned her divine artifact, a massive battle axe.
"Run. I’ll hold them off."
Brinda panted heavily as she gave Phield a complicated look.
Although she hated nobles, she simply could not bring herself to hate the man standing before her.
She gave him a bitter smile and shook her head.
"Thank you for not attacking us today. Now run!"
Dark Curse drew his long blade.
"Don’t bother. All of you are going to die. Her Majesty the Empress despises the Ross family to the bone. Killing you will make her very happy."
"That’s right. I’ll make sure you experience torture. I’ll cut your flesh off piece by piece, and I’ll use potions to keep you alive."
"Hahaha."
Phield was delighted.
He had been looking for a chance to deal with these two scumbags, and they had actually delivered themselves straight to his doorstep.
Phield blinked twice at Ashina before quickly whispering,
"Go into the nearby woods and put on a cloak. Disguise yourself as a member of Night Owl. Don’t reveal your identity. We can’t let anyone see you and leave behind future trouble."
Phield gave her a thumbs-up.
"Mm-hmm!"
Ashina grabbed Firomina and hurried into the dense forest.