No Hero

Volume 7: The Ninth Step Toward the End: Rapidly, Godspeed

Volume 7: The Ninth Step Toward the End: Rapidly, Godspeed

Translated by Raylight (proofread by Minthe & Trespasserby; C/E edited by Taffygirl13 & lucathia)

There were three boxes on the floor above—the truth was, there were over a thousand boxes, but only these three were specially arranged in the center. Even the countertops that they were placed on looked fancier than the others. Could these be a trap, with the actual goods stored elsewhere?

“That’s possible.” Ezart did not refute the idea that it might be a trap. He continued, “These are a bit heavy, so we can bring back at most seven or eight of them.”

They actually can’t be opened? I still have other things that I want to take and cannot just take eight boxes at random, not knowing what’s inside!

“So what? Adventuring is a gamble in the first place. You bet both your luck and life!” Ezart’s words were really starting to make more and more sense to me… Hm?

“What’s wrong?”

Nothing really, just spotted something familiar.

The box in the center had the same designs as “that book,” and the keyhole in the box on the left also seemed to…

I’ll bet on it!

Intense pain came from all my limbs, and it hurt so much that I abruptly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the young master who was wearing a very guilty expression. For unknown reasons, he was apologizing frantically to me, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Do you still feel like sleeping? You probably don’t feel like sleeping now right?”

I looked at the young master, a little uncertain about what the current situation was, although the drowsiness was still strong… Urgh!

The pain sent tremors through my entire body for a while, before it finally subsided. This time, I was truly awake and conscious. I stretched my hand out to wipe my face, but the young master immediately grabbed my hand to stop it. Only then did I realize that my fingertips were all covered in blood, and were throbbing in pain.

The young master said with his head lowered, “Because you said that you didn’t want to sleep, I pricked a lot of places that hurt a lot, including the areas under your fingernails. I’m sorry, I’m really sorry!”

So that is the reason why the young master kept apologizing to me. I said sincerely, “Young Master, I am extremely grateful that you did so.”

Hearing that, the young master finally showed a relieved expression. He nodded and said, “I’ll go and get some blood for you. After drinking it, your wounds should heal faster, right?”

I briefly assessed the injuries on my body. The young master was truly skilled, for the wounds he had inflicted dealt a lot more pain than the stabs I had made into my thighs, yet the injuries were much less severe. If I had let the young master do this earlier, the majority of my injuries could probably have recovered by tomorrow.

“Charles, after drinking the medicine, what was the type of strength that you desired the most in your heart?”

Lieder is actually still on the line? I asked in bewilderment, “Are you not afraid of being traced?”

“I am. That’s why what I gave Ezart was not a phone number, but a cell phone. Even if your young master were to trace the call, it would probably still take up to an hour to trace me. Right now, I still have… ten minutes.”

Ten minutes? So I still fainted after all?

“What exactly were you thinking of?” His tone was full of curiosity.

I replied on reflex, “I was thinking that I absolutely cannot fall asleep.”

There was a long silence from the other end of the phone, before he managed to ask with much difficulty, “Didn’t you crave strength?”

“Indeed, I did.” However, how does this have any relation? I was perplexed as I said, “Recently, there have been many matters that need to be settled. If I fell asleep, it was possible that it could take several weeks to wake up again. That was why I was thinking that I absolutely could not fall asleep. I do not think this should conflict with my wish to be stronger?”

“Unfortunately, they did conflict. Also, congratulations, you will never need to sleep again! To think that you chose the power to not require sleep. Do you find your eternal life span as a vampire not long enough? I’ve got to hand it to you!”

As soon as Lieder finished speaking, he hung up. Although he had just declared that I would never need to sleep again, he sounded as if he wanted to make me sleep forever instead. However, I did not know that I was supposed to think of a “power” at that time. Is there no way to choose again?

The young master hugged the blood bag while laughing so hard that he first collapsed on the sofa, then rolled onto the floor. “N-Not needing sleep really does sound like a superpower that Charles would choose!”

So, just like that, I missed a rare chance to get stronger?

“Charles.”

The young master passed the blood bag over, his eyes filled with mirth. This made me feel less upset in an instant. After all, it was not strength that belonged to me, and even the medicine had not belonged to me. Though the young master would not mind, I…

“Young Master, my sincere apologies. I have drunk what belongs to you.” For the sake of gaining a little more power to resist the Sun Emperor.

As expected, the young master did not mind and said, “It’s not mine either. We couldn’t have opened it without your cross. Enough of that and hurry and drink some blood!”

As I lowered my head and drank the blood, I saw that the whole floor was covered in blood. I should clean the place up later; it would be too pitiful if I left it all to the hotel staff. Perhaps not needing any sleep is a good ability, for at least it would give me more time to handle tasks… Urgh!

I touched my neck and plucked out a short… Needle?

The young master was stunned and yelled, “Ezart! Why did you shoot Charles with a gun?”

“To test and see if he really doesn’t need to sleep!” Ezart even said righteously, “It’s just a tranquilizer. He won’t die from it, relax! He happens to be injured anyways. Maybe he’ll make a full recovery after sleeping!”

After saying this, he scratched his head and added, “But those are specially-formulated, extra-strong tranquilizers. Vampires are harder to sedate anyways, right?”

“Ezart!” The young master cried without any tears, and hurriedly asked, “Charles, are you okay? Sorry, Ezart didn’t do it on purpose!”

Young Master, it was clearly done on purpose.

“D-Do you feel like sleeping?” The young master seemed worried but inquisitive, and turned to ask, “Ezart, roughly how long does it take for your tranquilizers to take effect?”

Ezart lazily replied, “I should be asking you, since you were the one who gave them to me!”

“I gave them to you?” He seemed puzzled for a moment, but then his eyes suddenly widened as he stammered, “Those were the s-super strong tranquilizers that I gave you for sedating large animals— Charles!”

There are always so many issues that make the young master worry ceaselessly. It really has been a long time since he last showed the smile of an angel. In this world that is like a living hell, who can still smile from the heart?

I gave a small smile as I replied, “Young Master, I am fine.”

The young master seemed relieved, and asked curiously, “Then, do you feel like sleeping?”

“No, I do not wish to sleep. I merely wish to—”

With a glide step, I dashed up to the other person and grabbed his collar from the front.

“Mr. Ezart, please do not do this again!” I unconsciously switched to the Hollow Roar of vampires as I shouted, “If I collapsed, who would attend to the young master?” As well as X!

Ezart instead laughed, and tilted his head to shout at the young master, “Ah Ye, why didn’t you tell me sooner that this guy would be so interesting after getting tranquilized?”

“I also just found out recently—Don’t give him any more tranquilizers!”

“Do not do anything that the young master forbids you to do!” I picked up the tranquilizer gun with one move and tossed it far away. It seemed that I had not controlled my strength properly, for it struck and broke something. However, that was fine. I would just have to tidy it up along with the blood on the floor later.

Ezart grabbed my hand, and I instantly felt a prickling pain from it. I exerted force to swing him off, and then realized that there was a pinprick in my hand.

I looked toward Ezart, and the other raised his hand to show that he was wearing a dragon-shaped ring with a needle extending from the palm side. He proudly said, “A gun isn’t all I have. If you don’t want me to continue tranquilizing you, then fight me!”

“Ezart, Charles doesn’t want to fight! Don’t make things hard for him…”

“As you wish.”

“…Charles, what are you saying?” The young master stared at me, his face full of disbelief.

“Young Master, Ezart has already made this request many times. In my opinion, Young Master, I might as well fight a round with him, and thoroughly put an end to this. However, he must promise me that once this battle is over, he will not issue any more battle challenges!”

“Tsk! Then, how is that worthwhile?” Ezart bluntly stated his conditions, “If you win, I won’t bother you for three years, but if you lose, then you have to fight me every time I come looking for Ah Ye!”

I was not entirely happy with these conditions, but at least I would not be harassed within three years, which did not seem too bad.

“If you don’t say ‘no,’ I’ll take it as you agreeing?” With a roar, he swung a fist toward me. However, it was too slow, and I evaded it easily.

“W-Wait a moment!” The young master dashed over, seeming as though he wanted to cry but was unable to do so.

Afraid that I would break even more objects, I tried my best to dodge the opponent. However, the other did not hold back at all, and with every attack he would destroy something in the room. As it happened again and again, the room quickly spiraled into a scene of chaos. How is the young master supposed to rest and sleep in this room afterwards?

With a turn and a backwards leap, I jumped onto the ornamental piano in the room, and growled, “Please stop! Do not destroy the room any further!”

“Damn, you’re good at dodging!” Ezart shouted in anger. He seemed like he was about to charge at me, but the young master hugged him tightly and refused to let go. As he struggled, he shouted, “Can you only f***ing dodge? What’s the point if you don’t attack?”

Can only dodge…

I—

The doorbell rang. The young master originally did not pay it any mind, instead sternly reprimanding Ezart in anger, “Ezart, that’s enough.” However, as the doorbell rang with more urgency, he looked at the two of us anxiously and instructed, “Don’t fight anymore,” before he was forced to open the door.

It was the hotel staff that had come over to inquire about what was going on. The young master barely cracked the door opened, carefully hiding the actual situation within the room, and then apologized frantically.

Breaking so many things has indeed troubled the young master!

Using my x-speed, I charged at Ezart with a great amount of momentum, causing him to go flying and break the window. As the two of us dropped down from high above, I clutched onto Ezart tightly and said, “Do not move. We will fight on the streets so as to avoid troubling the young master.”

“… You just shattered the glass completely, and you’re still claiming that you don’t want to trouble Ah Ye?” Ezart broke into loud laughter…

“F***ing hell, I should have injected you with a ton of tranquilizers earlier!”

I used my blood ability continuously to slow down our descent, forming a thick cushion with the blood ability at the very end. As we landed on it, I released Ezart and retreated a short distance away.

“Vampires sure are convenient! To be fine even after such a high drop.” Ezart got to his feet and said, “Next time I’ll consider getting a vampire as an adventuring companion.”

“That would not be a bad idea, but please take care that you do not become his emergency rations.”

Ezart gave a laugh and said, “You’re really pissed at me, aren’t you?”

“… A butler does not judge the guests of their master.”

“You really are pissed at me.” He concluded.

I growled, “I said that I do not judge the guests of the master, not that I was p…peeved at you.”

“But you really are pissed at me.”

I did not know the reason why, but I started smiling. Was it a smile from extreme anger? I decided to admit simply, “Indeed, I am a little peeved at you.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m pissed at you too! What I hate the most in my life are strong people who act like weaklings, just like you!”

Ezart charged toward me. To be honest, he was not slow and packed an astonishing amount of power in his punches. If a punch were to land, the outcome would be unimaginable. A normal person would probably have to spend a lot of effort to avoid his blows, but not me. To me—

He was too slow.

As I dodged the incoming fist, I refuted, “I do not pretend to be weak!”

“Like hell you don’t!” Ezart roared in anger, “From the start, Ah Ye told me that you’re stronger than me. Afterwards, he would even report to me from time to time that you learned whatever blah blah ability, and even learned it faster than Ah Ye could modify himself to do the same! No matter how I think about it, you should be a crazy strong guy, and now you’re telling me that you still need my f***ing protection? If you’re not pretending to be a weakling, then what are you doing?”

“I am not pretending to be weak!” I forged a rapier out of my blood ability, and looked straight at him as I answered, “Since you think that I am a strong person, then please, go ahead and test how strong I am.”

“Why are you holding a needle?” Ezart taunted.

I gripped my rapier tighter and increased the width of the blade from two fingers thick to three. The center dented in to form an irregular fuller, with one side of the sword sharp and the other saw-toothed…

Ezart gave a “Ha” and then said, “That’s starting to be more like it!”

His two hands reached down the sides of his thighs, where a claw-shaped metal accessory hung on both sides. Though their size was a little outrageous, they did not seem very out of place on someone like Ezart, who had a tattoo on his left cheek. With two clangs, he raised his hands that were each equipped with a set of knuckles. So those were actually his weapons?

The ring could be used for sedation, and the metal objects on his legs were actually knuckles. It seemed that while Ezart appeared to be covered in accessories from head to toe, he was actually not fond of “ornaments,” but rather attached more value to practicality.

“Be careful.” Ezart punched his fists together, the metal clang resounding as he said, “I don’t care whether you’re going easy on me, or if you’re Ah Ye’s butler. Either way, I’m gonna smash my fists hard into your face!”

He was serious. I went into the standard fencing stance, with the feeling of being in an official competition, as off as that impression was. I could not help but remember the time when I had first begun learning fencing. At that time, the first instructor had merely taught me for an afternoon, but a look at his gaze had been enough for me to know that he would not come back the next day.

I really enjoyed fencing, so my father had employed another instructor. By then, I had learned to conceal my inhuman movement—At that time, I had not known that it was called glide stepping.

However, I could never attend a fencing competition, no matter how good I became, because…

Because he is a vampire, someone who has never been human. He is strong and undying, how could anyone compete?

I stepped forward and used my x-speed, moving at an almost unparalleled speed. However, Ezart evidently had plenty of battle experience, for he did not plan on stopping my attack. Both his fists blocked the vital area of his chest, letting me attack other areas freely.

Those metal knuckles were most likely unbreakable. They had a familiar glint of gray that was very similar to the blade of the young master’s Death Scythe.

With a stomp and twist of my ankle, I brushed past the side of Ezart’s body and swung the sword in my hands, slicing across the other’s knee. Unexpectedly, there was the ring of clashing metal, and the resistance made me sluggish. However, that feeling from my hand meant… It can be broken through!

I exerted more force in my hand and heard the sound of something breaking, just as I expected. However, before I could take it a step further, the alarm bells in my head immediately went off. What quickly followed was a gust of wind that swung toward my face. I immediately did a backflip, and with one step, swiftly drew a distance between us. However, it seemed that I had dodged a little too late, as I felt a stab of pain come from my face, although it was just a light injury.

“You are really damn fast!” As Ezart removed the broken fragments on his knee, he cursed, “Even Ah Ye isn’t as fast as you! Didn’t you just stab a few holes in your thighs earlier?”

There were actually knee guards underneath his jeans? Then perhaps he is wearing protective gear over all his vital areas? “When I stabbed them, I did avoid vital areas, so that it would not hinder much. Even without these injuries, I would not necessarily be any faster.”

“Would not be any faster?” Ezart cursed, “How much faster do you want to be? It’s practically like you disappear and then suddenly appear beside me!”

As he spoke, he suddenly reached behind his waist and threw an object at me. As I did not know what it was, I immediately moved away from my original position using glide steps, but the object unexpectedly exploded. Then, five bullets headed straight at me.

With no time to use x-speed, I could only fall back on the glide steps that I was more accustomed to out of pure reflex. However, only the first bullet landed on the ground, and the other four continued to pursue me—They have homing abilities?

I abruptly drew back, but right behind me was the wall of the hotel, leaving me nowhere to retreat to. With the bullets giving chase quickly, I bent at the knees slightly before I leaped upwards, letting the bullets shoot into the wall… No! There were actually two still chasing me.

I stabbed the rapier into the wall as a foothold. Stepping on it, I swiftly descended, and at the moment I landed, shifted my position again. Another bullet struck the ground. However, another was still incoming!

Exactly what kind of bullet is it? Should I block it with my blood ability? However, this looks like an armor-piercing bullet, one in Ezart’s inventory, no less. Can I really block it? Or should I continue to avoid it?

Can you only f***ing dodge?

I could just… I could only… The bullet flew by as though it was in slow motion. I took a step to the side, and as that silver flash brushed past my right side, my hand automatically swung downwards. I felt a small resistance against my rapier, and a crisp sound akin to paper tearing rang out. Then, it all ended.

I lowered my head to look down at the floor near my feet, and saw half a bullet shell. The other half was nowhere in sight.

Amidst my daze, I heard Ezart’s voice saying, “You can even dodge this kind of bullet? The only person I’ve seen dodge these before is Ah Ye, but he told me that he actually did it by calculating the bullet trajectory and not dodging it with pure speed.”

I did not fully dodge all of them. I cut through one of them… I can actually cut through a bullet?

How could this be possible? Blocking the bullets and evading them is one thing, but cutting them?

I raised my head to look at Ezart, wanting to ask if he had also seen that happen, or if I was perhaps just seeing things. It was possible that I did not cut the bullet, but merely dodged it… However, if that was the case, how could I explain the half a bullet shell lying at my feet?

“He said that you can actually dodge a rain of bullets and can be ‘extremely strong.’” Ezart raised his fists, and from his eyes, I could see his fighting spirit growing more intense. He continued, “I didn’t believe it at first. But even after seeing how well you dodge now, I still don’t believe that you can be really strong, you coward!”

“I am not!” I glared at him and felt indescribable anger flare in me as I said, “Do not say that to me again! I have lived in the human world since I was young, but I am a vampire! If I am too powerful, everyone would treat me as a monster!”

My honorable father always said not to be a lion among rabbits! I cannot be a lion!

“Idiot, times have changed!” Ezart roared, “If you want to stay by Ah Ye’s side, then you better not be too wimpy. Otherwise, others will treat you as Ah Ye’s weak point, and use you to threaten him all the time. You got that?”

I am the young master’s weak point… That is not wrong, for I indeed am. Is that not precisely the reason the master targeted me? In the pursuit of X, the Church had also always tried to use me, is that not so?

What will follow? Will Curtis’s enemies also strike using me?

My honorable father, in the past, how many people tried to topple you by using me?

“Hey, quickly get the fight on, or I’m gonna shoot you with a few more tranquilizers!” As he said that, Ezart actually raised his gun. However, had his tranquilizer gun not been thrown away by the young master?

He suddenly opened fire. I did not move from my position, for his aim was shockingly terrible… No, he was not aiming at me!

With a few glide steps, I now stood at Ezart’s side, my right hand wielding my rapier. I was also prepared to form a shield at any moment.

There were a few people hiding in the darkness, covered by the shadows above the pillars. That was a blind spot that vampires rarely noticed. Usually the ones hiding at the ceiling would be the vampires themselves.

Those that would be so proficient at hiding in a vampire’s commonly overlooked spot, would typically be—

“The Church!”

Ezart clicked his tongue. “Your eyes have gone completely red. Just now I kept calling you a coward non-stop, but even then, your eyes weren’t this red. You really are super pissed off at the Church, yeah?”

I did not know why, but I smiled once again. “Indeed, they would always ceaselessly bother my honorable father and Sadina. Afterwards, they even inconvenienced the young master because of me. Toward them, I truly am extremely… pissed off!”

“Ha!” Ezart gave a long laugh.

A few priests walked out from the shadows. All of them were wearing the priest garbs of the Sin Elimination Committee, with the large cross on their chest. In their hands were various weapons, of course, with guns being the basic equipment. The leader of the group was actually a familiar face, the person who had previously led a group of young priests to stir trouble with me at the entrance of the church.

I could tell that he was extremely furious, yet possessed good self-control and did not make any reckless movements. It seemed that this was his true personality.

“Do you think that this is Sunset City, the kind of place where devils dance? Daystar City will not allow non-humans to cause trouble here!”

“Oh? I’m human.” Ezart raised his head and proudly claimed, “And I’m the one making trouble for him too. What are you gonna do about that?”

The priest coldly answered, “I do not reckon you are human.”

Really, he “did not reckon” so. As of now, the number of extremely strong humans was increasing ever the more, and quite a few possessed special abilities, too. If one did not want to acknowledge that they were human, then how could they prove themselves?

As for something like an identity card, that was something that I had, too. I even possessed a birth certificate. If one only looked at the documentation, I would absolutely be human—Though the age on the identity card was twenty-five and had never changed.

Ezart gave a cold laugh as he said, “Then I’ll beat you till you admit it!” He turned to look at me and said, “Hey, let’s call a temporary ceasefire. How about we talk again after we beat them up ‘til they’re lying flat on the ground?”

“It would be my pleasure,” I answered with a smile.

“You have a pretty damn good smile on right now!” Ezart praised my smile. “Why don’t you just treat tranquilizers like coffee and drink a cup every day?”

I laughed as I said, “That would certainly kill a person.”

“You’re not human anyways!”

As we spoke, I used my left hand to forge a shield. This was so as to avoid the case that the fight broke out abruptly and under such serious time pressure, I would only be able to pick between forming a shield or using my x-speed.

“Ten?” Ezart’s eyes narrowed.

“Twelve. However, according to my experience, there will usually be another two so well-hidden that it is difficult to locate them. Therefore, it is best to assume that there are fourteen or fifteen of them.”

“You fight with them often?” Ezart continued to speak. However, I could tell that he was well-prepared to fight, and was likely only talking to buy some time to locate the enemies that he had not discovered.

“No, not frequently.” I looked at those priests, and said with a slight smile, “They do not have the guts to touch me.”

Ezart burst out laughing, but also threw out a mini-grenade at the same time. The backpack behind him was truly destructive and powerful.

The priest at the side immediately drew out a long weapon. At first, I thought he was going to knock the bomb away. However, contrary to my expectations, the bomb did not explode upon coming into contact with the long weapon. Rather, it caused the bomb to float in mid-air. What a truly unfathomable object.

At this moment, large amounts of smoke began to pour out from the bomb. It was actually a smoke bomb.

The priest did not seem to care, and merely took out more equipment that I could not name. In a matter of seconds, the smoke had all been sucked away, all effect instantly lost.

“Stop the petty tricks.” The priest coldly said, “Those are ineffective on us.”

Ezart responded with a “Ha,” his expression still looking rather haughty. He looked as though it was absolutely no setback to him. Rather, it was the clergymen’s faces that changed—I had already concealed myself in the darkness.

The lead priest pointed to Ezart and ordered the others, “Catch this one first!”

Their movements were extremely swift and skillful. Ten of them surrounded Ezart, not leaving a single gap. As for Ezart, he allowed them to surround him and merely gave a cold snort. Following that, he charged toward the people in front and smashed his knuckled-fist downwards with great force.

That person was so terrified that he dodged hurriedly. Evidently, he had not managed to dodge the attack fully, for he let out a shout of pain when Ezart’s fist brushed past the side of his waist.

Another three people caught up to Ezart from behind, their attacks approaching Ezart’s back. However, he merely laughed, and with a turn of his body, he swung a fist toward the nearest person. As for the other two attacks, he actually did not seem to pay them any mind. I watched an energy sword being swung toward his arm, and a chain knife on the verge of quickly stabbing through his back—

The rapier chopped off the hilt of the energy weapon and the blood ability shield blocked the chain knife. As I stood behind Ezart’s back, I asked, “You truly believed that I would step in? If I had not done so, you would be severely injured.”

Ezart raised an eyebrow, “What the hell is ‘if?’”

I could not stop the corners of my mouth from rising. The ill will that I held toward him before was fading… Wait a moment, ill will?

As a butler, how could I hold ill will toward the master’s good friend? Is the effect of the tranquilizers still there after all?

“You are not allowed to inject tranquilizers into me next time!”

“We can chat later.”

The chain knife shot out once again. In addition, three bullets were also aimed at us, all of them armor-piercing bullets specialized to deal with vampires. My speculation was the bullet tip must be made of silver, and its power definitely could not be anything the usual armor-piercing bullet could compare to.

I wanted to dodge the attack, but Ezart was standing behind me and was clearly too engaged to dodge bullets, for he had already started fighting one of the enemies.

I thickened the blood shield in my left hand as much as I could and used it to knock away one of the bullets. Following that, I leaned my body to the side to avoid the bullet aimed toward my calf.

Judging from the angle, it would not harm Ezart even if I dodged it. However, my true attention was actually focused on the last bullet.

I concentrated to the utmost, and watched the bullet slowly shoot toward me. It was originally aimed at my shoulder; after I leaned to the side, it would land on my right arm. In the end, I waved my hand, and I felt the sensation of cutting through something along with a crisp sound akin to paper tearing.

When I was done with this string of motions, I felt cold sweat on my back. However, I had truly done it. Not only had I used my blood shield to knock away an armor-piercing bullet, I had even managed to cut another one at the very end. So that time before had been, as expected, not a mere fluke!

Bang! Bang!

“Don’t let down your guard!” Ezart raised his gun and shot down the priest who had fired. He rolled his eyes at me and said, “Even if the enemy falls to the ground, you still got to stomp on him twice before it’s really over!”

So that was the case. What a truly vivid explanation.

“Oh yeah, I can’t really handle the other side, so I’m leaving it to you!”

Hm? Before I could react, Ezart grabbed my waist with one hand, lifted up my whole body, turned to another direction, and placed me there.

His opponent had been the leading priest. In the priest’s right hand was an energy sword, and in his left was an energy device. Was it a gun? However, the shape seemed a little unique, for it was a disk with a handle. It simply did not look much like a gun.

No matter what kind of weapon it is, it would still do no good if it could not land a hit.

Using my x-speed, I charged at him. However, a light abruptly flashed from his left hand, and inwardly I felt something was wrong. I could only swerve away from him at the last moment. A burst of pain shot through my knee to thigh area, although I did manage to dodge the opponent’s attack in time. After I stopped in my tracks, I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my left arm.

I looked down and noticed that there was a hole burnt in my clothes, and a patch of skin on my arm was burnt. What is going on? Could it be that the enemy could actually swing his sword and strike me when I moved at x-speed?

Once I observed the enemy, I understood what had occurred. In his left hand was a shield, an energy shield, in fact. I most likely had not managed to avoid the whole shield just now, and that was the reason why my arm was burnt.

No wonder Ezart had claimed that he was unable to deal with this person. Even if Ezart’s fist was able to break open the shield and injure the one behind controlling it from behind, Ezart himself would likely receive even more damage from doing so.

The technology of the Church was truly developing well. Previously, there had been a helicopter that emitted little noise. This time, there was the equipment to prevent bombs from exploding, and the energy shield. All these technologies were quite amazing.

“Speed!” The clergyman at the side suddenly shouted. What does it mean? Is he warning the others of my speed?

“I can see it!” The leader said angrily.

“Are you certain about that?” I spoke by his ear. My rapier strikes now!

His eyes widened, and the energy sword swung at me. However, I had already achieved my goal, and quickly retreated without a second thought.

The energy shield abruptly vanished without a trace, leaving the priest staring at the handle of the shield in shock, which now sported a hole that I had stabbed into it. All products of technology were this way; no matter how powerful they were, they would become scrap metal once damaged, regardless of how high the user’s fighting spirit was.

Without the shield, the priest seemed like he did not intend to make any more big moves. I looked over to the other side, where Ezart had also dealt with three priests. Though it appeared that his injuries were worse than mine, his fighting spirit seemed to have increased.

Being at such a disadvantage, the leading clergyman merely said in a cold tone, “Evil will never prevail.”

Following what he said, footsteps came from around us, and it sounded like there were many of them.

Have the reinforcements arrived? That is right. This is Daystar City. The Church would be able to get as much assistance as they needed here. Fighting them here was truly an unwise move.

The two of us were heavily surrounded, and it was simply impossible to see how many of them there were.

I looked at Ezart. Despite being in such an unfavorable situation, Ezart was still behaving like a ruffian as usual. He shot me a grin as he cocked his head to one side. I looked over in confusion and saw three people. In the rear were Nitewalker and Mr. Luo Ye, and the person leading them in front was the young master.

“Stop! All of you, stop!”

The young master walked over in large strides, his aura overwhelming all others. His voice was stern as he told the people from the Church, “What are you all doing? Have you forgotten the agreement?”