The scaled demon's thick arm slammed down, and the pale flames in its eye sockets flickered with what looked like excitement.
Just as Lakyus felt despair, a streak of light cut across the sky, arriving in an instant, its target directly at the scaled demon.
The demon, sensing the attack, immediately turned its head, but it was too late to block, and the flying sword, emitting a cold aura, pierced directly through its chest.
Awoo~~~
The scaled demon let out a mournful howl, which was its last testament on Earth.
As a summoned creature, after suffering such a fatal injury, its massive body transformed into an evil black mist and slowly dissipated, leaving only a sword, a third of which was plunged into the ground, in its place.
Lakyus stared blankly at the scene before her, and she recognized the sword; not long ago, at the Royal Tournament, that man had used this very sword to defeat the kingdom's strongest warrior.
So, he had come!
With that thought, Lakyus slowly looked up and saw a white figure slowly descending from the sky; who else could it be but Lock?
"What a mess!" Lock pulled his sword from the ground and looked down at Tina at his feet. If she wasn't treated soon, this ninja girl would probably die on the spot, "Vier, heal her."
"Yes, Master!" Vier, who had descended right after him, nodded and said, then took out her staff and cast 'Greater Healing' on Tina.
The magic's light enveloped the severely injured ninja, and moments later, she was already able to move.
Tina stood up from the ground, supporting her waist, and a solemn expression appeared on her usually indifferent face as she sincerely said, "Thank you!"
Lock simply smiled faintly, not replying; he fully deserved this thanks. As he turned to look at Lakyus, who was approaching, he couldn't help but frown.
Because of the scaled demon's punch to her face earlier, a large bruise had appeared on her left cheek, really marring her beauty.
"Thank you very much for your rescue! Lock... Count?" Lakyus had just opened her mouth to express her gratitude to Lock when she saw him directly extend his hand towards her. She instinctively wanted to retreat, but was grabbed.
Lock's fingers lightly traced her left cheek. Lakyus did not sharply rebuke this act, which could be called perverse, perhaps due to his recent kindness.
He took out a short staff from his storage space, and as magic power was injected, the light of recovery removed the swelling and bruising from Lakyus's face. Only after it returned to normal did Lock nod in satisfaction.
"Although the power of magic can heal all injuries without leaving scars, you should still protect your face well in battle, especially if you are a beautiful woman, right? Lakyus," Lock said gently, his eyes sparkling with concern and a slight smile on his face.
This made Lakyus very embarrassed. She couldn't help but blush, not only because of her unsightly appearance just now, but also because of Lock's overly intimate demeanor.
"Please don't tease me."
Lock shook his head, offering no comment, and instead looked at the Adventurers on the other side who were constantly being attacked by demons. At this moment, they were like a lone boat floating on the sea in a storm, already on the verge of collapse.
Following his gaze, Lakyus also snapped back to reality and immediately pleaded, "Count, please help these Adventurers! They are all here because they answered Lana's call."
Hearing this, Lock did not act immediately. Instead, he looked at the anxious Lakyus with interest and said unhurriedly, "If I remember correctly, Adventurers are roles who receive payment to complete quests, right? In other words, this is not free. Since they accepted the mission, they must be prepared to die."
"But..." Lakyus immediately became agitated. The AdAdventurers just sacrificed themselves to cover them. At this moment, she also had to do something for them.
If she and Tina were at their peak, they might be able to contend with the two Soul-Eating Demons rampaging among the Adventurers, but her magic power had already been largely depleted, and while Tina had been treated with healing magic, she couldn't be completely unaffected.
Could they, in this state, really rescue the Adventurers from those demons?
"Count Lock! What will it take for you to help!?"
"Calm down, Lakyus!" Lock chuckled; teasing her a little was quite fun. In fact, he would have helped anyway. "I didn't say I wouldn't help. How about this: you agree to one condition of mine, and I guarantee that all the Adventurers here will retreat from the battle unharmed. How does that sound?"
"I agree!" Lakyus immediately nodded and said, "Please act now!"
Lock looked at her in surprise. She didn't even ask what the condition was? If you're like this, you're likely to be sold out and still help count the money, aren't you?
Never mind, a free condition. This is a huge win!
Once his mind was made up, Lock immediately used teleportation magic, appearing abruptly in the center of all the AdAdventurers. He tossed the sword in his hand into the air, and the longsword immediately split into its maximum number of magical clones, forming a dense cloud of swords.
Sword God Domain!
The moment he activated the Super-Tier Skill, Lock slowly closed his eyes, pointed his sword finger towards the sky, and countless longswords shot out from the sword cloud.
The Adamantite-ranked Adventurer, who was struggling against a Soul-Eating Demon, only saw a flash of sword light, and the huge demon in front of him was immediately pierced through the chest by several swords. His formidable foe now fell effortlessly, and a sense of absurdity welled up within him.
This situation did not only occur in front of him; the surrounding Adventurers were all astonished to find that the enemies they had been fiercely fighting were eliminated by mysteriously appearing flying swords. They all turned to look at Lock in the center.
Who was that man?
When all the demons were eliminated, Lock beckoned towards the sky above, and countless magical sword clones instantly dissipated. The main sword slowly descended from the sky, returning to his hand.
The shocking scene was deeply imprinted in the minds of all the Adventurers. Perhaps many years later, they would use this as bragging rights, the story of being saved by that great person.
"Adventurers, please rescue the injured and check if any monsters have escaped so they don't harm the surrounding residents!" Lock shouted, waking the Adventurers from their shock.
Although they didn't know Lock's identity, the Adventurers' recognition of strength made them choose to obey immediately.
Everyone immediately began rescuing the injured. At the same time, several people who were not seriously injured began to search the surroundings for traces of demon movement. They had noticed during the previous battle that some demons had left towards the surrounding residential areas and had to be eliminated.
"Thank you, Count." Lakyus came to Lock, her tone relaxed, and she said with emotion, "Although I've witnessed it once before, your combat skill is still astonishing. Perhaps this is the most magnificent sword skill in the world?"
"It's just using the effect of an item." Lock smiled and shook his head, looking at Lakyus and saying softly, "If you want to learn it, you might be able to. After all, your Floating Sword Array is quite suitable for this move."
"Eh~ Really?"
"Mm."
"That's surprising. I didn't expect you to be willing to teach me this sword skill. Usually, for a swordsman, sword skills are the most precious thing, aren't they?"
I'm sorry, I'm not a swordsman.
Lock chuckled to himself and said somewhat ambiguously, "If it's you, I can teach you anything."
...
Lakyus looked at his expression, momentarily at a loss for words, and couldn't help but recall the necklace Lock had given her earlier, a rose carved from blue crystal.
Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling surged in her heart, a sensation she had never experienced before.
Not noticing the change in Lakyus's eyes, a thought arose in Lock's mind. He slightly straightened his expression and said, "Lakyus, after what happened tonight, I believe you should understand a fact. Your Blue Rose's strength is still insufficient. I invite you again, will you join my command? I can make you stronger."
"…Sorry, Count Lock, I…" Lakyus was about to refuse when Lock directly interrupted her.
"Are you still going to watch your companions in danger, powerless to do anything?" Lock's tone was cold, and he frowned slightly, saying somewhat sternly, "If there's a powerful method, seize it. Don't reject such a hard-won opportunity for your pride or anything else. Although I have a good impression of your Blue Rose, you are not indispensable to me. I can tell you responsibly that the person who manipulated the demons to cause trouble today will appear again in the future, and the mere Adamantite-ranked Adventurer capabilities of your Blue Rose cannot guarantee your safety."
"Are you still hesitant because of Lana? You don't need to be, because Lana has also become one of us. She will work with us for the future of the kingdom. Not as a puppet, but as a companion."
"If you don't believe me, you can ask her. Think about what has happened recently. This world is changing. Lakyus, don't refuse me anymore. Standing still will only lead to death. You all... think it over carefully."
After saying this, Lock turned and left somewhat angrily, without giving Lakyus a chance to explain.
Lakyus watched his retreating, silent for a moment.
She recalled the many powerful magical beasts that had appeared at the Royal Tournament earlier. If not for the protection of the Tiger Knights that day, they might have been devoured by the monsters.
Moreover, the day after Lock rescued Lana, their Blue Rose accepted the King's commission to investigate the forest next to the Royal Hunting Grounds, and what they saw was a scene that was almost destroyed.
She learned from Lana that it was caused by Lock's battle with the enemy who had kidnapped her.
It was hard to imagine what kind of power could cause such destruction; this level was definitely far beyond their Blue Rose.
"Boss Devil..." Tina looked at Lakyus, who was standing silently, and spoke with some concern, but didn't know what to say.
Lakyus took a deep breath, her expression returning to normal, and she smiled sweetly, saying, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Although she said that, Tina still saw a hint of worry deep in her green eyes.
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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