The Importance of Finishing the Job

"Something might have happened up ahead."

John looked at the flames in the distance before striding in that direction.

"Come, let's go over there and take a look."

"Oh!"

Parr tightened the package on his back. His empty hands held onto the black sword as he followed closely behind John.

…

"People are coming!"

Two men in black were hiding on the treetops at the side of the road ahead. Karan arranged this, and their purpose was to prevent other people or caravans from coming, which would ruin his plan.

Therefore, Karan gave two men an order. If one or a few people came, they should get rid of them. If it were a caravan that traveled through the night, although the possibility of danger was very small, they would need to try and buy as much time as possible.

There was no doubt that the two archers, who had undergone a certain level of training, could do this in the dark. Therefore, when the two of them discovered John and Parr, they raised their bows and aimed at one person each.

"You take the big one, and I'll take the small one."

"Okay."

After confirming their targets, the two archers released their fingers, and arrows shot out.

Swoosh!

"Eh?"

Parr, who was following behind John, felt his heart tighten. His Danger Foresight was triggered, and he stopped without thinking. He slightly tilted his body, and the arrow almost brushed past his head. Following closely behind was John's hand, tightly holding onto the end of the arrow aimed at him.

Clang!

John's sword also blocked the other arrow.

Seeing that Parr was okay, John let out a long breath. Then he threw away the arrow in his hand and turned to look at the two archers. His eyes were filled with anger. It was so close. If it wasn't for Parr's vigilance, the arrow might have already killed him. It seemed that John had been careless.

John did not know that Parr had the Talent of Danger Foresight. He only thought that Parr was lucky. His past experiences made him very concerned about his apprentice, and he got furious. The anger of a Bronze-level Knight was not something anyone could withstand.

Bang!

Without saying anything further, red Battle Qi appeared on the surface of John's body. Then, he took a big step forward.

"Charge!"

In an instant, John turned into a red phantom and approached the position of the two archers at a breakneck speed.

…

"Damn it! It's a Bronze-level Knight!"

The two archers, who were only Advanced Knight Apprentices, widened their eyes and cried out in surprise when they saw the red Battle Qi on John's body. Their reactions were different. One of them drew his bow and shot an arrow. In just three seconds, he unleashed five arrows. The other turned around and ran away. He wanted to tell Karan what had happened here. The both of them had encountered a Bronze-level Knight.

Clang!

John's sword kept knocking away the arrows. None of it managed to hit him.

"Blood Moon Slash!"

After reaching an attacking range, John's sword flashed with red light. A blood-red crescent shot out.

"Ah!"

The archer who had been stalling for time let out a scream and was cut into two halves. John followed closely behind. He aimed his sword at the archer who had run away and unleashed another blood-red crescent. In the end, because the distance was far, the blood-red crescent only managed to chop off one of the Archer's arms.

"Ah!"

The whole process was swift. In less than five seconds, John had finished the battle. Because he remembered that Parr was still behind him, John had to allow the archer to escape for the time being.

"So powerful! Is this the true strength of a Bronze-level Knight?"

Parr was dazzled by John's series of actions. He only came back to his senses after everything had ended. Then, he ran to John and asked,

"Uncle John, why do I feel that you are much more powerful now compared to the night we fought against the cultists?"

John understood Parr's words. He sheathed his sword and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"If it weren't for the fact that I had spent most of my Battle Qi on my journey that night, I would have easily smashed that cultist to death!"

With that, John turned around and walked towards the direction where the archer had escaped. As he walked, he warned,

"Little boy, you should follow closely. It might be even more dangerous ahead!"

"Yes."

Parr continued to follow. When he passed by the archer's corpse, he looked at it with some pity. In his heart, he wondered how many Life Energy Points he would have obtained if he was the one who killed the archer?

Rustle.

John and Parr followed the blood trail of the archer. Then, they saw him in an open space in the forest. The archer with a missing arm leaned against a big tree with his head lowered. His slightly panting chest proved that he was still alive. Two other people stood beside the archer— the pale-faced Karan and the seemingly dishonest middle-aged man.

Both parties discovered each other's presence. The middle-aged man directly hid behind a tree, his entire body trembling as he revealed his head to look at John and Parr. Karan narrowed his eyes and then performed a traditional aristocratic salute.

"Hello, adventurers."

"Are you a nobleman?"

John pursed his lips and asked. If the other party were a noble, it would be difficult for him to make a move.

"No, but my grandfather is. I'm trying to restore the glory of my family." Karan shook his head and denied it. It was a big crime to pretend to be a noble in the Wind Wolf Kingdom. Thus he couldn't bear to do so.

"In that case, can you hand that person over to me?" John pulled out his sword and pointed it at the missing-armed archer.

"If I hand him over to you, will you leave just like that?" Karan narrowed his eyes and asked.

"Yes, I will leave because that merchant group over there seems to have encountered bandits. As an adventurer, I will not let go of this opportunity to make money."

John nodded his head very readily, but his words were against Karan's wishes.

"What I meant was to leave here and not meddle in other people's business."

Karan revealed his intentions in a serious tone. If possible, he did not want to conflict with John because he had just reached Bronze-level and was not a match for John.

"I can't do that."

John shook his head and walked towards Karan. The sword in his hand was covered with a thick layer of Battle Qi. He intended to let Karan know that he would not let Karan retreat easily.

However, Karan would not retreat. He had already gambled everything on this plan. If he left, his reputation would be ruined. Quinna would definitely take revenge. He could not allow that to happen. Yet, he did not want to fight because he could not possibly beat John. The only way was to make John retreat on his own initiative. How could he make John do so?

Karan's gaze moved slightly. He looked at Parr, who had been standing at the same spot all the while.

The archer who had lost his arm had already explained the situation. Karan thought for a moment and came up with a solution. Although this method would offend John, he could not care too much about it. At worst, he could just go back and hire assassins to get rid of John.

Karan's trump card was the cold-faced man in black who was currently hiding. That man was at Peak Apprentice Knight and was the strongest person under Karan's service. He was good at archery and hiding. He was also an assassin. Thus, it shouldn't be a problem for him to kidnap a child.

"A child actually asked me, a person who is about to reach Bronze-level, to help him. It's really a waste of talent. Fortunately, no one else knows about it. Otherwise, how could I possibly bear the shame!"

The cold-faced man was not as cold as he looked. On the contrary, he was very lively. It was common for him to talk to himself. 

Rustle.

With almost inaudible sounds, the cold-faced man touched a tree behind Parr. After adjusting his position, he stretched out his hands and measured. After confirming that he could grab Parr, who was watching the show, he kicked off and directly jumped down.

Crash!

As the tree branches swayed, the cold-faced man jumped down, but what greeted him was a flash of sword light.

Slash!

Parr instantly turned around and drew his sword. With the help of his Night Vision, he had long noticed the cold-faced man and also understood his intentions.

Therefore, Parr directly played along. He pretended to watch the show, but his attention was entirely focused. When Danger Foresight was triggered, he turned around and drew his sword.

"Dodge!"

The cold-faced man widened his eyes. Although he was shocked, he was not a pushover. He instantly stretched out his leg and kicked the trunk of a tree. He did a backflip and flipped over Parr's head. He barely dodged Parr's attack, but his pants were slightly cut.

"Success!"

But just as the cold-faced man heaved a sigh of relief, Parr turned his sword and body, directly launching another attack.

"Horizontal slash!"

"How can this be..."

Thud!

The cold-faced man's body fell to the ground. His brain was split open, and his eyeballs flew away. Hearing fighting sounds, John turned his head and looked back before raising the sword in his hand to block Karan's backstab.

"Good!"

John turned his head to look at Karan, who had failed his sneak attack and was now retreating. A dangerous smile appeared on his face.

"You still want to run?"

"It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

Karan had already chosen to abandon his plan. When he saw the cold-faced man being killed by Parr, he was stunned for a moment. Then, he looked at John, who had turned around. His brain twitched as he withdrew the sword in his hand. He wanted to take the opportunity to stab John to death, but he failed. Now that he could feel the increasingly dangerous aura coming from John, he hurriedly waved his hand to explain.

"Sir, please listen to me..."

"I'm done listening! Die!"

The red Battle Qi on John's body exploded. He activated the Battle Qi suppression mode, facing Karan, whose realm was weaker than his.

"Uh!"

Karan, who was covered in blood, lay on the ground. His lifeless eyes looked at the sky. His teeth moved slightly. A pill hidden in the back of his teeth turned into a warm current and entered his stomach. Then, the medicinal efficacy flowed through his entire body, saving his life.

On the surface, Karan closed his eyes and seemed to be no longer breathing on the surface. This was his final trump card. A magic potion that enabled him to fake death had successfully fooled John.

"You're really weak!"

John kicked Karan. After confirming that he was dead, John walked to the middle-aged man behind the tree who had already peed his pants. When John passed by the unconscious archer, he casually killed him with his sword. Then, he grabbed the middle-aged man's neck and dragged him towards the direction of the convoy.

"Little boy, follow me!"

"I'm coming!"

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away. Karan, pretending to be dead, let out a sigh of relief in his heart. He knew that he had escaped this disaster. Then, he hurriedly gathered the remaining Battle Qi in his body, wanting to seize the opportunity to escape. 

However, when he opened his eyes, he saw that Parr had not left at all. He squatted in front of Karan and stared at him with his eyes emitting a faint light.

"Sir, why hasn't the Battle Qi on your body dissipated? Can you explain it to me?"

Parr asked the question while stabbing the black sword in his hand into Karan's heart.

"Uh!"

Karan died for real this time due to being stabbed by a low-level Knight Apprentice.