Judgment Bloodline
Cass dodged the first wave of attacks at the cost of three wounds on his body.
Years of combat experience allowed him to avoid being injured in his vital spots. Although the three deep wounds bled profusely, it didn't affect his combat strength for a short period of time.
He quickly distanced himself from the skeletons.
Although the narrow terrain in the tunnel prevented him from fully unleashing the advantage of the huge sword in his hand, it also prevented him from facing more than two enemies at a time.
Although the skeletons shrouded in mist looked strange, they weren't a match for him. Cass suspected that even if he didn't swing them with all his might, the weight of the black iron sword alone was enough to shatter them to pieces.
The troublesome thing was that despite scattering them, they would reassemble and continue attacking him persistently.
Perhaps it was better to say that their fragile and unstable bone joints made the power of every attack easily negated as if he had punched a puff of smoke.
Under such circumstances, he could only scatter the enemies; he couldn't reduce them to bone powder that couldn't be pieced back.
If this continued, his stamina would sooner or later be exhausted by these unkillable skeletons.
With this in mind, Cass took a deep breath and looked at the half-human, half-spider monster.
It was better to ignore those brainless monsters and kill the fellow who was enjoying its front-row seats.
Cass judged the situation.
He didn't believe that the monster's head could be pieced back together.
After visually estimating the width of the passageway, Cass swung his huge sword to the greatest extent without flicking his blade. The skeletons blocking him from the spider monster were minced into pieces.
He directly leaped across the fragments that had begun to reassemble and rushed forward to fight the spider monster.
Sparks constantly flew from the collision of the chitin bone blades and the black iron sword in the dim tunnel. Chinks sounded incessantly. Occasionally, there would be the crisp sound of bones cracking and muffled groans.
Clang!
Another collision caused Cass's breathing to become a little chaotic. He couldn't help but take half a step back, and his palm felt numb from the impact while gripping the hilt.
However, before he could catch his breath, the two mist-covered skeletons behind him reconstituted their bodies and attacked him.
The narrow space in the tunnel prevented him from directly splitting the two skeletons in half. He could only half-turn around helplessly and use his sword as a shield to block the other party's attack. Then, he raised his huge sword and stabbed forward, pinning the two skeletons to the wall and shattering them into bones.
However, before he could pull out his sword, the mist stirred, and the shattered skeletons began to tremble slightly. Under the guidance of a certain force, they were about to reassemble.
"Are you done?"
Cass, who was surrounded by enemies, steeled his heart and twisted the hilt of his sword.
He no longer attempted to conserve strength.
With a soft crack, the mechanism on the hilt lodged, and the Sealed Magic runes buried in the hilt were activated, releasing the magic power sealed inside.
Crimson fire runes swarmed over the sword, and the entire black iron sword turned red like a branding iron.
The temperature in the tunnel rose rapidly, and the shattered bones on the ground were burned into flying ashes in a few breaths.
Level 6 Fire spell, Breaking Dawn.
When he was in the Bramble Mercenaries, he spent a lot of money to get an enchanter to engrave the trump card in this weapon.
Cass wasn't a magic chanter to begin with, and because he was wanted, he couldn't recharge the magic power in the Sealed Magic rune after it was depleted. Therefore, this enchantment could be said to be a trump card that could only be used once.
"Enchanted runes?"
The half-human, half-spider monster looked at the flaming sword in Cass's hand, and for the first time, his voice carried a hint of seriousness.
"But you're not a Spellblade. How long can you rely on the magic power in this sword? Two minutes, one minute?"
"It's enough to kill you."
The flames of the huge sword formed a curtain of fire that attacked it.
Even the monster didn't dare take this powerful strike head-on. The six spider spears on its back stabbed into the stone wall as it crawled higher.
However, Cass didn't give it a chance to climb up. The flames on his sword transformed into a crescent-shaped flying blade as he brandished it, severing the three spider spears on its left.
With a crack, it slid down the wall a few meters and barely managed to stabilize itself with the other half of the spider spear, but this distance was enough for Cass to deliver a strike.
Seeing the crimson sword slash over, it raised its bone blade to receive it.
This time, the chitin bone blade was sliced open like butter. Under the terrifying heat, the sound of cracking came from its appendage-like hands, and an unpleasant charred smell filled the air.
Seeing that Cass was about to chop off its head, the monster suddenly shouted, "Mist Nightmare, if you don't make a move, the two of us will return to the Moon Realm together!"
With a snick, Cass felt something pierce his body from behind.
A strange slippery feeling came from his abdominal cavity. He lowered his head and found that a hand filled with mist had penetrated his stomach.
It was the mist on those skeletons…
Cass thought as the taste of blood rose in his throat.
He turned around. The skeletons from before had scattered and piled up on the ground. The mist that originally enveloped them gathered, forming a blurry humanoid behind him.
No wonder they could resurrect infinitely…
That layer of mist was the main body of those monsters. Skeletons were just puppets under its control.
Cass swallowed the blood in his throat. It was too late to turn around. He planned on beheading the monster in front of him while the enchantment effect was still active.
But it was already too late. The other party's severed limb struck his wrist. Coupled with his severely injured abdomen, Cass's hands lost all strength, and the huge sword fell to the ground with a clang.
Without his will, the enchanted runes on the sword instantly extinguished, and the black iron sword quickly turned cold.
The hand that had pierced him retracted, and Cass's knees buckled as he knelt down. He placed his hands on the ground and panted heavily.
"Did you have to wait until now to attack?"
"Didn't you say that you could deal with him alone?"
"The information you gave didn't say that his weapon is sealed with a fire spell specially used to counter demons."
"I've never seen him use it. How would I know?"
"Forget it… Have you found the two who escaped?"
"I marked that woman's dream. I've already gotten my subordinates to go over."
The two voices seemed to come from afar. Cass—who was gradually losing consciousness—understood their conversation with difficulty.
He felt that he couldn't collapse now.
He struggled to reach out for the huge sword that had fallen to the ground, but the sword was already too heavy for him.
Something slipped out of his chest pocket in his efforts.
It was a Sealed Magic rune that flickered with lightning.
"If you feel like you need help one day, crush it."
He recalled the words of the gray-haired and silver-eyed mysterious magic chanter.
He reached out and pressed down on the Sealed Magic rune.
However, before he could crush it, a sharp sound tore through the air.
Whoosh!
A silver arrow pierced the spider monster's neck.
Before Cass could react to what was happening, the sound of a few more arrows tearing through the air reached his ears.
Compound eyes, proboscis, joints, neck, heart…
Every silver arrow accurately nailed the monster's vitals. It didn't even leave a word before turning into black salt crystals and dissipating.
Cass turned his head. Not far away was a tall blond woman wearing a triangular hat and light leather armor. At this moment, she was half-kneeling on the ground as she aimed an exquisite repeating crossbow in his direction.
Seeing that the spider monster had already begun to dissipate, the woman turned to shoot at the blurry mist humanoid.
However, the arrow only penetrated the wall behind it and didn't cause any effective damage.
Upon seeing this, the blond woman decisively threw down the repeating crossbow, drew the silver rapier she wore at her waist, and rushed over in her long leather boots.
The misty humanoid transformed its hands into two sharp short swords as it charged forward.
"What are you…"
The woman ignored the misty figure's words and elegantly dodged the other party's attack like a swan. Then, she slashed with her sword, leaving a faint silver trajectory with the rapier.
The moment the human-shaped mist touched the silver light, it dissipated like the morning fog seeing sunlight.
With just one strike, the misty humanoid disappeared without a trace.
The blond woman nimbly retracted her sword and extended her hand to Cass.
"I'm sorry I'm late. It's an honor to meet you."
"Who are you?" Cass asked hoarsely. He had never seen such a person if his memories hadn't failed him.
"Who I am isn't important. What's important is your identity."
The woman's voice was very cold and straightforward.
"Identity? Do you mean as a mercenary or a wanted criminal, or a person who is about to die?"
Cass forced a laugh.
The woman shook her head, her expression unchanged like a puppet.
"We've been looking for you for a long time, Cass Durant, the last bloodline of Blake Saba."
Cass asked with blood in his mouth, "Whose bloodline?"
"Blake Saba, fourth of the 13 Judges—Bloodline of the Black Swordsman."