Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Explosive Head

**Clang!** Adrian skillfully deflected the incoming sickle blade with his sword, charging forward to engage the enemy in close combat. He had no intention of allowing the opponents to engage in long-range battles; he would take the fight to them.

The weapon called "Lock Sickle" consisted of a chain with a sickle blade at one end and a metal ball at the other, resembling a meteor hammer.

When the sickle blade was knocked away, the burly man reacted quickly, shaking the chain to retract a portion of the iron chain. At the same time, the sickle blade once again flew toward Adrian from behind.

However, this time, the intention wasn't to cut him with the sickle blade, but to entangle his neck with the iron chain.

Flexible weapons like whips and chains weren't easily blocked with swords. Adrian bent down slightly to let the iron chain pass over his head. A thought crossed his mind: what if he could cut the chain with a sword? Would it be fine to block it with the blade?

After the chain flew past, Adrian saw a small iron ball flying towards him. He swung his sword and struck the point where the iron chain and the ball were connected.

**Ding!** Sparks flew, but cutting iron was clearly not something that could be easily achieved through brute force alone. Adrian's current strength wasn't enough for that.

The clash of weapons brought the two men closer together. The burly man intended to get in close, as the Lock Sickle could be used in melee combat as well. He believed that he could subdue his opponent with the iron chain.

However, he had miscalculated.

As Adrian closed in, he immediately used Madara Jutsu: "Demonic Statue Chain!" Despite shouting a different name, the actual move was a downward cleave.

The burly man inwardly cursed at Adrian's shamelessness. He quickly raised the small sickle in his right hand to parry. However, when their blades met, the sickle easily snapped, and Adrian's sword tip swept across his chest, leaving behind a bloody wound.

"You're actually a swordsman?" The burly man knelt on the ground, wearing an expression of disbelief. How could a swordsman fight with a broken stool in the beginning? It was an insult to the dignity of swordsmen, right?

Of course, that wasn't the case. Adrian's talent in swordsmanship was rather average. He managed to break the sickle blade because he had used magic to cheat. "Is this what they call a swordsman? I…"

The burly man didn't give him a chance to finish his words. He got up and ran, realizing that it was futile to chat with the enemy when he was injured and had no chance of winning. Escaping was the only logical choice.

He had a clear understanding of his group's abilities. If he knelt, the others wouldn't stand a chance either. He had to run as fast as he could. Others would have to fend for themselves. That was what he thought.

Until... he fell flat on his face.

"What's going on!?" The burly man lay on the ground, struggling to turn around, only to see a cat retracting its leg. "Are you kidding me?"

He felt a bit shattered. The cat was barely knee-high, even if it stood upright, its leg was shorter than his foot. Normally, he could've broken its leg with a kick. Why was it able to trip him?

The cat's name was Tom.

Tom was a bit indecisive and had a touch of decision-making difficulty due to knowing too many things. Eventually, he hadn't been able to decide on an outfit and found himself wondering how to make his entrance.

In a split second, as the man aimed his gun at his owner, Tom darted forward and tugged at the gun barrel the moment he pulled the trigger.

With a bang, the gun fired, and the net shot out, ensnaring the other man holding a gun.

Coincidentally, the other man accidentally pulled the trigger as well, causing the net to entangle the first man who had fired.

"Damn cat!" The two men struggled within the net, shouting angrily, "What are you doing?!"

Tom spread his paws helplessly, looking innocent, then snatched a gun and used the butt to bash the two men while they were trapped.

He continued to pummel them until both men fell unconscious, surrounded by stars. Tom wiped his forehead, shook off a few drops of sweat, and sighed, "Phew~"

He was probably trying to convey that he had worked hard all by himself.

Tom, being diligent, didn't rest immediately. Instead, he checked to see if anyone needed help.

Artoria, of course, was fine. She first took down the Lock Sickle wielder with ease, then engaged five others in combat, using precise tactics that left the first opponent in awe—how could she fall first when she was the strongest? The unfairness of it all left him spitting blood.

Rui Mengmeng on the other side didn't need assistance either. When the enemies saw her unsheath a broken sword, they burst into laughter, mocking her with glee.

Rui Mengmeng wasn't the kind of person who could ignore others' opinions. She blushed when she heard their mockery, feeling embarrassed.

Actually, Adrian had given her two swords—one was a regular double-edged sword, while the other was a broken sword from the battlefield of Camlan.

Today, she had chosen to use the broken sword because she remembered Adrian's words, "The day the broken sword is reforged, the knight returns."

Being a chuunibyou teenager, she thought that fighting with a broken sword might make her look particularly cool. Moreover, the quality of this broken sword was far superior to a regular one, making it feel more comfortable to use.

As a result, the enemies initially laughed with joy, but now they were crying miserably.

They hadn't expected this seemingly easy target to be so fierce in battle. Each strike aimed directly at their vital points—both physically and symbolically.

At the moment she executed her first strike, the innocent girl-next-door transformed into a battlefield queen. She even felt like she wouldn't seem out of place if she followed up with a few mad laughs.

Watching for a while, Tom realized there was only one person who might need his assistance.

The burly man, tripped by Tom, probably didn't understand what had happened, but Adrian saw it all clearly.

At the instant that man turned to flee, Tom, who was two meters away, extended his leg as if to trip him.

Calculating the distance, Tom's leg wouldn't have reached, but like a pair of chopsticks dipped in water, it suddenly bent in the middle, extending to the exact point where it could trip the man.

A slender, seemingly flexible cat leg tripped a towering giant over two meters tall. Quite reasonable.

Adrian rubbed Tom's head and held his sword to the burly man's neck.

"Tom, well done!" Adrian praised with a smile. Although he could've caught up on his own, he didn't want to let Tom's good intention go to waste.

Tom grinned, his good mood usually stemming from simple things.

"This… organ trafficker, right

? Can you tell me who that person was, the one who showed interest in our organs?" Adrian had started pondering how to interrogate him if he didn't talk.

Should he scratch his foot with Tom's tail tip? Or should he recreate the injuries Tom had endured on the man's body?

The latter was a bit too cruel, so that's still undecided.

"It's a guy with an explosive hairstyle." The burly man smartly saved Adrian some effort.

In truth, he felt tricked. With their group's strength, they could've taken on a 40-50 million bounty pirate. There was no way they should've lost to a small tavern. Clearly, the employer had hidden something from them.

Estimating his grim fate, he decided to spill the beans. If he had no hope of winning, it was better to drag someone else down with him.

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