That's right, that's what adventure is like!

Roland sheathed his sword, slightly out of breath, but his hand gripping the sword was trembling uncontrollably.

As he used the technique passed down from his great-uncle for the first time to kill the ghoul, a hint of regret lingered in his heart.

too strong.

So intensely powerful that his arm muscles began to spasm and twist unnaturally—a side effect of the rapid, intense burst of energy.

This body has not received adequate nutrition for a long time and is already quite fragile. Now, after two consecutive battles, it is already overwhelmed.

However, the fighting continues.

laugh--

A flash of red light appeared, and a spiraling, twisting energy hand emerged from the tip of Luca's staff in the distance, lifting Roland up along with his longsword and pulling him in front of him.

At close range, his sea-blue eyes quietly watched Roland, seemingly unbothered by the fact that Roland had killed his newly trained ghoul; on the contrary, he found it quite amusing.

"Humans, you have given me many surprises."

Roland did not resist the pull of the crimson hand, because he needed to close the distance.

The expanding force burst forth from the waist and abdomen. The low-level magic trick could not withstand the sudden power and was instantly torn apart into magical energy that dissipated into the air.

Struggling to regain control of his arm, he raised his longsword, its icy edge churning the air and transforming into a streak of silver-gray that hurtled straight toward the enemy's face.

when--

A piercing clang of metal clashing rang out, and Roland was astonished to find that this time the opponent had not used the magical shield, but had simply blocked the attack with his staff.

No, this sensation is a bit suspicious, and coupled with the specific magical patterns that have emerged, he seems to have seen it once in the original owner's memories.

Powerful spell?

boom!

A surge of power emanated from the staff, causing the longsword to flick and Roland to lean back uncontrollably, taking two steps back before barely managing to regain his footing.

Just as he adjusted his stance, three magical missiles mixed with lightning flew towards Roland. The fist-sized orbs contained destructive magical power, forcing him to dodge.

The flying pebbles drew blood from Roland's cheeks, and a bright red stain appeared at the corner of his eye—warm liquid trickling down his forehead.

However, none of the missiles hit his body; they all grazed past the hem of his clothes.

The accuracy is terrible, and the speed is also bad.

Roland frowned, finding Luca's use of magic very strange.

Despite his extremely fast casting speed and powerful spells, his accuracy is very poor, including the area-of-effect spell he used before, which almost never hit him.

Apart from that, the opponent has not used any powerful necromancy so far; they have only used rather rudimentary tricks.

Even though he had never formally encountered any magic-based professionals in this world, he knew he shouldn't have done that.

Could it be...

A guess popped into Roland's mind, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He abruptly began to move, but this time he didn't want to rush forward; instead, he wanted to retreat.

"Seth, come this way!"

Amidst the loud shouts, Ceston, who was trying his best to rush towards Austin, stopped. After a slight hesitation, he still chose to trust Roland and charged towards him.

boom!

A sharp roar rang in his ears, and a violent fireball followed the dwarf's rapid movement, but could not keep up with his pace.

"What's going on?"

Standing next to Roland, Seth, slightly out of breath, reached into his pouch, pulled out a vial of potion, and drank it.

He was also in a terrible state, his leather armor covered in charred marks, but overall he was in much better condition than Roland, though he was extremely exhausted.

"That Luca is most likely a professional."

Roland's first words shocked Seth, but his second sentence brought him a sigh of relief: "But he won't use powerful magic against us."

"Why?" After relaxing slightly, Seth became curious.

"Because he has mostly practiced evil magic since childhood, and is only good at this type," Roland said, staring at Luca in the distance. "I guess he did this to avoid being discovered by the Church of the True God."

This place is too close to Broken Rock Town, so this professional dares not use powerful evil magic, as that would attract too much attention from the believers of the righteous god, including some high-level professionals.

However, this meant that Luca could only use some low-level, conventional spells that he was not good at, so his performance was quite strange.

And that is their opportunity.

"I will force him to use those spells so that the townspeople will sense the evil presence, but you must protect me until then."

As he spoke, Roland kept his eyes fixed on Seth's. If Seth hesitated, Roland would choose another way to escape.

Even though Seth saved his life, all he wanted was to live.

Fortunately, Seth didn't hesitate at all and nodded decisively without mentioning the difficulty of the matter, clearly indicating that he was confident.

Let's take a gamble.

Roland raised his longsword, took a deep breath, felt the warm touch of the hilt, and quickly charged towards Luca again.

Without any hindrance, Luca seemed to realize that without the ghoul, his regular magic was no match for Roland, so he let him go.

The longsword spun with a cold light, aiming straight for the black-robed mage's neck.

when--

The usual blue shield appeared, blocking the attack, while a faint sense of unease began to surface in Roland's mind.

Vertigo treatment.

But just as Roland had predicted, Luca's use of these low-level tricks was mediocre, only slightly slowing him down.

The next second, when he regained his senses, he saw the staff surging towards him with great force, and it was also flashing with some dark red magic power.

Another powerful spell.

Unfortunately, Roland had already made preparations.

when--

The longsword blocked the attack squarely, sparks flying as Roland twisted his waist and flicked the sword upwards, the back of the sword grazing the staff!

Parry and counterattack!

His muscles felt a tearing sensation from overuse, and intense pain began to spread. However, Roland ignored it and even changed his move again the moment he saw the pale blue shield appear.

Heavy Strike!

A sharp whistling sound rang out as the longsword was swung, and specks of white light appeared on the blade, like the sharpness being squeezed to its limit, crashing into the shield with a bang as it struck!

Collision, stalemate, shattering.

laugh--

Blood pump appears.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roland caught a glimpse of a look of astonishment flash across Luca's face, followed immediately by a tremendous impact emanating from the staff.

boom! !

A dazzling purple light shimmered in the air, casting deep shadows onto the soil, along with a radiant glow.

"puff--"

Blood, thick and persistent, spilled from his mouth. Roland used his longsword to support himself as he stood up, but a smile appeared on his face as he looked ahead.

Even though his right arm had completely lost sensation, Luca was not faring much better. A deep, gruesome wound had been slashed open on his chest, exposing the bone. Grayish-black energy writhed wildly between his flesh like worms, but it could not stop the gushing blood.

"What a tenacious insect."

Luca's voice drifted over from afar, his tone still calm, yet the killing intent it carried was almost tangible: "It seems you're determined to force me to treat you in a more appropriate way."

He took a step forward, gently waving his staff, the tip of which emitted ominous, dark ripples.

Luca was met with a violent tremor of the ground.

Accompanied by the teeth-grinding sound of tearing soil and grinding bones, the mounds within a dozen feet of Roland simultaneously began to shake and crack!

One after another, pale arms covered in dark red mud and adorned with bits of flesh sprouted from the ground like mushrooms, frantically reaching for the air, followed by heads, torsos...

At least seven or eight undead, not yet completely decayed, with dark green phosphorescent flames flickering in their empty eyes, were breaking free from the earth's restraints at an alarming speed, each with only one goal.

Tear Roland to pieces!

However, just as the first undead's claws were about to touch Roland...

Whoosh—Boom!

A crimson arrow, wreathed in unstable flames, shot from Seth's direction and landed with perfect accuracy in the open space between Roland and the undead!

The arrow exploded upon landing, accompanied by a deafening roar. Crimson flames spread out in a ring, forming a wall of fire several feet high, rolling with raging flames, which steadily protected Roland.

"The last arrow I've been saving..."

Seth had somehow appeared beside Roland, supporting his swaying body, and the two of them looked at the flames on the other side.

They have already achieved their goal.

The moment those spirits crawled out of their graves, Luca transformed into a thick plume of black smoke, engulfing Austin beside him like a receding tide into the depths of shadow, vanishing without a trace.

Clearly, he saw through this crude yet effective trap and made the wisest choice.

Just as Roland took a breath, a furious roar came from afar.

"Which bastard dares to cause trouble in my territory!"

boom--

Like a thunderous roar, or the tolling of a sacred bell, a scorching, violent, and divinely purifying pressure arrived instantly.

But the oppressive aura lasted only a moment before it was felt that the dark aura had been cut off and disappeared, and so it retreated.

Only one roar, still filled with lingering anger and boundless majesty, echoed across the sky.

"Blasphemer!! Investigate him for me!!!"