Chapter 63

The black knight rode as swiftly as he could on his shadow horse towards the location where Lennix and Mari were. He was not alone; several veteran adventurers also hurried toward the area. Most of them were on foot, while some rode horses, and a few drove steamwagons.

"Are we going to reach them before the adventurers do?" Elanor asked, poking his head out from behind the black knight. He had decided to accompany the black knight to speak on Lennix's behalf when the time came.

"I should be able to outpace most of them. Only the ones driving steamwagons are an issue," replied the black knight. He attempted to urge his shadow horse to go faster, but it was a struggle. For some reason, he couldn't output his mana properly. *Did weaving that shadow tree really take that much out of me? I haven't been able to use my mana properly since early morning,* he pondered, before refocusing on the road ahead, setting aside his concerns for the moment.

Suddenly, an explosion echoed through the air, and the ground shook beneath them. Everyone looked up to see dust rising from the area they were all rushing towards. The black knight and Elanor grew very concerned about what could be happening there.

"What could have possibly caused that?" Elanor asked breathlessly, his worry evident in his voice. The black knight just let out an annoyed and tired sigh. "Whatever it may be, it definitely isn't good." With renewed urgency, everyone continued rushing towards the area, determined to reach it as quickly as possible.

**Back to Lennix**

The onlookers observing the fight between Lennix and Dash appeared thoroughly confused. "Wha-what even happened?" someone asked, bewildered by the sudden turn of events. One moment, they were on the verge of starting their fight, and the next, Lennix stood with a dislocated shoulder, nearly buckling over, while Dash shouted, "What's wrong? Let's keep going!" in excitement.

"Did they fight?" another onlooker questioned, scanning the scene with uncertainty. "I don't know. I didn't see anything," replied another, equally puzzled by the abrupt outcome.

Meanwhile, Vrax and his companions shared a similar state of confusion. "Are they moving so fast that we can't even see them?" Julia wondered aloud, voicing the thoughts swirling in their minds. Ryo nodded in agreement, adding, "Shit, even with my enhanced vision, I could barely make them out."

Vrax gritted his sharp teeth, (How many times has he done that now?) "It doesn't matter if we can see them or not. That vampire's losing, and that's all that matters," he declared angrily, his frustration evident to those around him. However, Jamey couldn't help but note the contradiction in Vrax's statement. *It very obviously matters to you, Vrax,* he thought to himself, watching the scene unfold with nervous apprehension.

Lennix sighed heavily. "Man, why do you even think I can fight you in any way? I can't even hurt you," he said, his tone resigned.

But Dash grinned enthusiastically, dismissing Lennix's doubts. "Wrong! You can hurt me! You just don't know how to yet!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist with confidence.

Lennix stared at him, thoroughly confused. "What are you even talking about?" he asked.

"It's simple! If you use that transformation ability of yours properly, then you can beat me!" Dash declared, pointing at Lennix with excitement.

Squinting in confusion, Lennix glanced at his dislocated shoulder and transformed fingers before turning back to Dash. "Mate, I can't even pierce through armor with these. There's no way I can puncture your skin with them. Especially when my knee damn near broke from hitting you," he explained wearily, feeling the strain of the injuries as his shoulder naturally healed itself, while his wrist and knee were still in the process of healing.

"Don't give up, Uncle Lennix! You can win!" shouted Mari from Minx's arms, offering her support.

Lennix was about to respond, but he was rudely interrupted as Dash yelled, "Yeah! What she said! You can win, Uncle Lennix!"

"Don't start calling me uncle as well, you lunatic!" Lennix retorted sharply. At the same time, Vrax and his party members joined in, yelling, "Don't start cheering for him, you lunatic!"

Dash looked confused. "But isn't that your name?" he asked Lennix, who looked utterly flabbergasted. "Did you think my name was Uncle Lennix?" he asked in disbelief.

Dash nodded his head, leaving Lennix to facepalm. *He's so damn stupid! How is it possible for someone to be stupider than me!?*

"Ah, whatever, let's start back up! I'm going to use one of my serious punches now!" Dash declared confidently. Lennix instinctively took a step back, his mind racing with uncertainty about what Dash had planned.

"What's he going to do now?" Lennix whispered to himself, his confusion evident to those around him. Suddenly, everyone saw Dash's fist get surrounded by a bright yellow flame.

"What the fuck is that!?" Lennix exclaimed, unable to hold back his fear and surprise. In his 170 years of unlife, he had never seen anything like it.

"It's a Dash Ardent special! I call it Super Punch!" Dash exclaimed proudly proudly before punching the ground. The moment of impact was accompanied by a blinding explosion that shook the ground beneath them.

Lennix felt himself being launched into a nearby building, his body crashing through the wall and as the dust cleared, he found himself lying on a bathroom floor. "This is the second time this has happened," he muttered to himself as he slowly got up, surprised to find that his body wasn't as hurt as he expected. "Am I meant to be a bathroom rug or something?" he joked to himself as he glanced around.

To his astonishment, he saw a woman in the middle of a shower, hiding behind the shower curtain. "How are you taking a shower right now? Did you not hear everything that happened outside?" he asked, shocked by her seemingly obliviousness to the chaos.

The woman shook her head in response.

"That was a rhetorical question," he added with a sigh before walking over to the hole in the wall he was launched through. Peering outside, he saw that the surrounding area was undamaged, and the people were fine as well. The only noticeable difference was the dust rising into the sky.

"Hey! Come down! Let's keep fighting!" Dash yelled from the street below, prompting Lennix to somehow feel his vein pop in frustration. "Oh my goddess! Why the hell do you want to keep fighting!? It doesn't matter, I can't do anything to you! Just stop already!" Lennix shouted at Dash before jumping back down to the street.

"Are you okay, uncle Lennix?" asked Mari, showing concern. Lennix turned to her and exclaimed, "Surprisingly I am! Thank you for asking!" before turning back to Dash in anger. "Seriously, this is just dragging on at this point! Just beat me already!" he yelled, his frustration evident.

"But I wanna keep fighting you," Dash replied stubbornly, like a child asking their parents to stay up late. Lennix felt his eye twitch in irritation. "I don't care anymore! Just punch me and get it over with!" he exclaimed as he started walking towards Dash with a clenched fist.

Suddenly, they all heard the sound of steamwagons approaching. Turning to the sound, everyone saw high-ranked adventurers rushing to the area. Lennix felt all his anger in his body quickly get replaced with fear. "Ah crap, they're going to kill me!" he exclaimed.

But Dash shook his head confidently. "Don't worry! People like to listen to me for some reason. If I tell them to leave you alone, they won't do anything!" he said with a wink, smile, and a thumbs up.

"I sure hope so 'cause I really don't want to die a second time," Lennix said before he instinctively hid behind Dash as the adventurers arrived.

(The fight hits a temporary stop as adventurers come to end Lennix! How will they manage to get out of this one!?)