Chapter Thirty-Seven: Uninvited Guests

Although it wasn’t the typical knight’s greatsword, the rapier was lighter and allowed her to move with greater speed. With a single leap, Noya sprang upward, her rapier slicing cleanly through the bloodspawn that dove at her, cleaving it into two. These ordinary bloodspawn weren’t even genuine vampires, but mere thralls transformed by vampire blood—dealing with them posed no challenge at all.

Only then did she realize that chaos had erupted all around her; the attack was not limited to the bus she was on.

“Ding—ding—ding—”

The city’s bells tolled repeatedly, sounding an unprecedented alarm.

“What?”

When the bell rang nine times, Noya’s expression changed dramatically. Alarms usually rang once to three times; at most, four to six for greater danger. But now, it had rung the full nine times—this was a citywide alert!

There was no time to think further. More bloodthralls lunged at her from every direction. What worried her most was that some time had already passed since the attack began, and yet, no other White Knights had appeared—she was the only extraordinary individual anywhere nearby.

Now, screams and wails mingled in the air as the bloodthralls preyed recklessly on defenseless civilians. Noya was strong, her figure flitting through the chaos, already having slain several bloodthralls. But faced with such overwhelming numbers, a sense of helplessness weighed heavily upon her. Moreover, the bloodthralls could fly, making pursuit all the more difficult.

“What should I do…” She frowned in thought. Especially since she had recklessly unleashed her power of light, her magic was now severely depleted and needed replenishing.

“Elixirs—the potion shop!”

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she recalled a place. She’d only glanced at it in passing, but she’d noticed that the little shop was well-stocked with all manner of potions, a truly impressive selection.

Glancing at the people being ravaged by bloodthralls, she steeled herself, and without a backward glance, dashed straight toward the potion shop. The sooner she reached it, the more lives she could hope to save from further harm.

Unbeknownst to her, Murong Xun was facing trouble of his own at that very moment.

Not long after Noya left, Murong Xun, still engrossed in his book, noticed several uninvited guests enter the shop.

Without hesitation, he sent the book into his personal storage. In the next instant, a Tang saber appeared in his hand. With a single motion, he deflected the dagger thrust at him and got a clear look at who had entered.

“Well, brother, we meet again,” said Tang Ao, dressed in a black Zhongshan suit, his face wreathed in a smile, though his tone was icy.

Murong Xun said nothing, not bothering to ask how they’d found him—such things were meaningless at a moment where life and death hung in the balance.

Looking at Murong Xun, now surrounded and standing behind the counter, Tang Ao felt a pang of regret.

“Do you know how much your world has cost me?”

In the previous world, he’d lost two team members, several valuable items, and treasures like the Blood-Eye of Perception. More importantly, he’d left a mark—this time he’d used a War Summons to forcibly shift Murong Xun’s assigned world, dragging him here. Such a thing was priceless, and using it was solely to eliminate him!

“My apologies, then,” Murong Xun replied coldly. “I should have cost you even more.”

Even as he spoke, he vaulted onto the counter, then leapt down, saber slashing downward at Tang Ao.

“Foolish!” Tang Ao sneered. Without any visible movement, an invisible barrier appeared before him. Murong Xun’s saber struck it with a clang, as if hitting a wall of bronze and iron, and he was thrown back by the force of the rebound.

At that moment, Ade and Lanno joined the fray.

“Ade, don’t be reckless!” Tang Ao pressed a hand to Ade’s shoulder, stopping him from attacking further. If anything in the potion shop was damaged, they couldn’t afford to pay for it. The rules of Paradise were strict—scenes not part of the main questline were protected, and any damage incurred meant compensation would be required. As a talismanist, Ade’s destructive power was considerable.

Ade, who had been preparing to act, reluctantly backed down, leaving Lanno and the Monkey to attack together.

Yet none of them realized how much Murong Xun’s strength had grown since the last world, now that he had undergone enhancement.

With Tang Ao no longer interfering, Murong Xun vaulted over the counter and, with a single stroke, severed one of Monkey’s arms as he tried to close in. Previously, he’d been unable to catch Monkey—his speed was insufficient, and his dynamic vision couldn’t keep up. Now, however, his physical attributes had soared, and, more importantly, his mastery of the saber had reached an entirely new level.

With clean precision, he cut off Monkey’s arm, and before Lanno could approach, he withdrew from the shop of his own accord. Since Modo had been away since the previous day, if Murong Xun dared leave the shop in ruins, he’d surely face a scolding from the old man upon his return.

Seeing him leave, Tang Ao and the others quickly gave chase—something they were only too happy about. The fact that Murong Xun now had the power to sever Monkey’s arm with a single blow made Tang Ao frown.

Monkey snatched up his severed arm, sprayed a bottle of hemostatic mist onto the wound, and staunched the bleeding, though the pain left his face drenched in cold sweat.

Once they reached the street, Lanno let out a furious roar and charged at Murong Xun. A long-handled battle-axe appeared in his hands, and he charged forward like a general leading a thousand troops, with no thought of retreat.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jun, who had stood at Tang Ao’s side, now unsheathed his eight-sided Han sword and joined the fray. Last time, he’d been forced to protect Tang Ao, who was badly wounded after clashing with the King of the Strange Ones; but after returning to the Magic Tower Paradise, Tang Ao had recovered, so Zhao Jun was no longer required to guard him so closely.

The street was teeming with people fleeing for their lives, but the group was locked in a mortal struggle, oblivious to the chaos around them.

“Xiao Jun, finish this quickly—don’t alert the authorities,” Tang Ao reminded him. They still had a mission to complete, and the more time they lost, the higher the chance of unforeseen complications.

“Got it, boss!” Xiao Jun replied, his Han sword sweeping in broad arcs as he and Lanno attacked from different angles.

Though faced with two opponents, Murong Xun—having fully mastered saber techniques at LV10—was no longer the novice swordsman he once was. He held his ground against them both with ease.

“Boss, this kid’s progress is scary!” Ade exclaimed, launching basic talismans to interfere with Murong Xun while marveling at his growth. “Last time, he couldn’t even fight back against Jun alone—now he can fight both of them at once.”

“It’s astonishing indeed,” Tang Ao nodded. “It’s only been one world—who knows what he’ll be like after this war-torn world is over?”

They had dragged him here to kill him, after all; now that they had found him, there was no way they’d let him slip away.