As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

Moen sprinted between rooftops. The cooldown of [Frosty Shadow] had just finished, and he activated it again without hesitation, his whole body turning into a blur as he traversed dozens of meters of the city.

In his haste, he didn't even bother to avoid the outstretched branches, resulting in numerous abrasions on his body.

"Faster, faster!" Moen muttered as the path up the mountain came into view.

At the gate of Blackberry Manor, several thugs lay frozen solid, Lily's handiwork.

The gate she had sealed with ice before retreating was now open, and several fully armed reserve knights were stepping through the broken ice into the courtyard.

"Damn it, didn't the intelligence say there was only one alchemist, one female mage, and one little girl?"

A prospective knight, wielding a heavy shield, stared at the ice sculpture on the ground, still shaken. "This level of frost magic, without even needing to be chanted... are your instruments really okay?"

"Shut up, you idiot." Walking at the back of the group was a woman wearing a dark blue robe from the Star Pattern Academy.

She was holding a buzzing, pyramid-shaped instrument in her hand.

"The jammer is working normally. The little girl can cast spells because she has a special constitution. She is burning her own life force to forcibly cast spells."

The woman sneered, looking at the tightly closed main gate of the house ahead: "That kind of outburst wouldn't last long; she's probably unconscious by now."

"Don't...go over there!"

The group was still arguing when a hoarse roar came from ahead.

With trembling hands, Green gripped a rusty longsword that he had somehow produced and stood blocking the entrance to the hall.

He was just an alchemist, and his sword-wielding posture was clumsy and completely out of touch.

But he did not back down, because behind him were his daughter and his hard-won daily life.

"Hmph." The leading prospective knight let out a disdainful sneer.

He didn't even draw his sword; he simply raised his foot casually and kicked Green hard in the chest with his iron boot.

Without any resistance, Green flew backward and crashed into the courtyard wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood, unable to get up no matter what he did.

"Don't waste your time searching."

The female sorcerer said impatiently, "Just set them on fire and smoke them out."

Several burning torches were thrown through the broken window, instantly igniting the dry wooden furniture, sending thick smoke and flames soaring into the sky.

Only half a minute had passed.

"Cough cough cough."

The door opened, and Alvin rushed out, carrying the unconscious Lily.

The house was already filled with thick smoke. Lily was already weak, and if she didn't come out soon, she would suffocate to death.

"Oh, you're out?" Several of Buck's thugs immediately surrounded him, looking at Alvin with lewd grins on their faces.

"Tsk tsk, is this the female mage? She doesn't look that great."

Another thug punched the one who spoke, saying, "Forget about the big one! Grab the small one! The boss said the small one is worth more!"

"Get out of my way!" Elwin yelled, trying to cast a spell.

However, under the force field of the [Ether Disruptor], the etheric energy within her body could not be mobilized at all.

"Snapped!"

A prospective knight slapped Elwin across the face, knocking him to the ground.

Lily tumbled out of her arms and was immediately grabbed by the hands and feet by two thugs, who lifted her up like cargo.

"Don't touch her!" Alvin, his hair disheveled and blood trickling from his mouth, desperately tried to crawl over, but a pair of iron boots pinned his hand down.

"Don't rush, it'll be your turn soon." The knight grinned as he drew his sword.

In that moment of despair, a dark figure descended from the sky and slammed into the center of the courtyard, the shockwave even knocking back the knight who was stepping on Elwin's hand.

As the smoke cleared, Moen knelt on the ground, covered in blood, his mammoth leather armor bearing numerous scratches.

"Mr. Moen!" Alvin's eyes lit up with hope.

"Oh? You're back already?"

The female mage stood at the back, not flustered at all, but instead revealing a mocking smile:

"Looks like you've killed everyone over there. But it doesn't matter. In the realm of the [Ether Jammer], a warrior like you, who only knows a few folk tricks, is nothing more than..."

Before he finished speaking, Moen pushed off with his feet and charged straight at the female mage holding the jammer!

"Naive." The female mage flicked her fingers.

The magical artifact on her body activated, and a pale yellow physical defense barrier instantly rose up.

"Clang!" The longsword struck the barrier, only to be bounced back by the enormous recoil.

"It's no use. In the magic-forbidden zone, you can't enchant or use combat skills, so how could you possibly break through my..." The female mage's words caught in her throat.

Because she saw that the man who was thrown back did not retreat, but instead smiled.

Moen glanced at the skill bar.

All the skills that require mana are grayed out, but there is one skill that is still shining brightly.

White thorns in bloom

[Cost: 10% of current health]

"You think I'm using magic?" Moen roared, slamming his hand down on the ground.

[Current health is below 30%]

[Passive Trigger: Resurrected by Death (Skill range doubled, and inflicts severe bleeding on hit enemies)]

[Passive Trigger: Last Stand (Final damage increased by approximately 30%)]

"Open it for me!!"

Centered on Moen, countless thick, arm-like, blood-red terrifying thorns instantly pierced the ground of the manor and grew wildly in all directions!

【造成伤害：(80+已消耗生命值1168×1.5)×1.3=2381点物理穿刺伤害！】

"What is this...?"

The two prospective knights who were besieging Elwin didn't even have time to scream before they were pierced through the chest by blood-red thorns that shot out from under their feet.

Sold out instantly!

The female mage's prized physical barrier shattered instantly in the face of this attack.

A thorn pierced her abdomen, pinning her and her magical artifact to the wall behind her.

Blood gushed from the female mage's mouth, and the [Ether Interference Device] fell to the ground.

She stared in horror at the man standing amidst the blood-soaked thorns, her eyes filled with disbelief: "This power... this isn't magic at all..."

"Who exactly are you?"

Moen walked up to her and drew his longsword.

"Go ask in hell."

With a flash of sword light, the female mage's throat was slit.

The courtyard was deathly silent.

The remaining thugs were terrified. They screamed and tried to escape, but Moen caught up and killed them with a few sword strikes.

Alvin stared blankly at Moen.

That scene was so shocking—the crimson thorns exploding everywhere, the terrifying destructive power, the domineering nature that completely disregarded the laws of forbidden magic…

"What are you daydreaming about!" Moen's voice interrupted her reverie.

He panted heavily as he sheathed his sword and yelled at the still-smoking main house, "Turn off that damn jammer right now! Then put out the fire with water magic!"

"If the fire keeps burning, my house will be gone!"

Alvin snapped out of his daze and quickly got up.

She ran to the mage's corpse and picked up the [Ether Disruptor]. After fiddling with it for a while, the buzzing of the device stopped, and Elwin felt the ether return to his control.

"Rainstorm Technique!"

The rain that fell from the sky smothered the fire, and only then did Moen sit down on the ground.

He glanced at Elwin, who was still casting spells not far away, then at Lily, who was unconscious but breathing steadily, and at Grin, who was leaning against the wall and barely managing to stand up.

Moen was exhausted and lay on his back on the grass covered with ice shards and ashes, surrounded by corpses lying in disarray.

He looked up at the starry sky above and let out a long breath.

Thankfully, we made it in time.