Lord: I can see loyalty.

Before the smoke from the fire could even reach the treetops, roars and footsteps shattered the brief respite.

"Just as I expected!" Albright cursed under her breath, her eyes blazing with fury. "Cooper's warriors! Let these monsters know who truly rules these mountains!"

With a roar, he charged ahead, charging towards the densest horde of enemies emerging from the woods directly in front of him! Valerie followed closely behind, like his shadow.

The remaining Cooper hunters also roared in battle and charged into the fray against an enemy force several times their size without any hesitation!

Using the terrain to their advantage, they leaped and darted among trees and rocks, accurately throwing hunting bows and spears, and launching surprise attacks with machetes and axes at close range, instantly tearing several gaps in the enemy ranks.

Although the militiamen in the southern border were also stunned for a moment by the sudden ambush, they were, after all, veterans who had experienced many battles.

After a brief moment of shock, the muscle memory developed through long-term training immediately took over.

"Form a circular formation! Shields facing outwards! Spearmen forward!" a scarred veteran roared hoarsely; he was a militia captain.

More than twenty elite soldiers from the southern border quickly moved closer, forming a tight defensive circle back to back.

The shield slammed heavily to the ground with a dull thud, and spears thrust fiercely out from the gaps in the shield, knocking down the first few barbarians who rushed forward.

The swordsman gripped his weapon tightly, breathing heavily, his eyes fixed intently ahead.

Vio stood slightly forward in the formation, his sand breathing technique already pushed to its current limit.

His dark skin gleamed in the flickering firelight, and the Southern Will in his hand trembled slightly.

His sharp eyes quickly scanned the battlefield.

The number of enemies far exceeded expectations, at least two or three times that of the assault team, and most of the barbarians were clearly in a different state than the ragtag troops they had just encountered.

Their eyes still held a frenzy, but their movements seemed more coordinated, and their surfaces faintly shimmered with an unnatural, earthy yellow sheen.

Behind the enemy ranks, near the shadows of the mountain wall, Vio spotted a figure that stood out from the crowd.

The fellow was also draped in a dirty animal skin, but instead of a crude weapon, he held a wooden staff covered in feathers and black mud.

He stood on a slightly higher rock, his body swaying in a strange rhythm, his chapped lips opening and closing, emitting low syllables.

As he moved and chanted, the earthy yellow sheen on the surrounding barbarians seemed to become more pronounced, and their charge appeared more disciplined... at least they knew how to avoid the harassment of the Cooper hunters and instead try to concentrate their forces in one spot of the Southern Militia's circular formation.

[Status: Madness, Bloodlust, Earth Priest's Blessing]

A barbarian warrior's stats were brought up, confirming Vio's observation.

Vio took a deep breath and accelerated instantly, arriving beside Albright, who was fighting nearby, in just a moment. "Albright, see that guy with the wooden staff? Take him down first!"

Albright pierced the chest of a barbarian and kicked him away, glancing briefly in the direction Vio was pointing.

He also noticed the strangely behaving fellow and the unusual state of the surrounding barbarians.

But he also noticed the unusually dark skin on Vio's skin after he fully activated his breathing technique. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but it was instantly replaced by an even stronger fighting spirit.

He didn't have time to ask any more questions, he just nodded emphatically: "Valerie, come with me! Kill that charlatan first!"

The two instantly changed direction and charged towards the priest's location.

The Cooper hunters understood immediately and automatically assigned some of their men to try to hold off the enemy on their flanks.

However, the resistance they encountered was far greater than they had imagined; the "blessed" barbarians had significantly enhanced defenses.

The Cooper Hunters' sharp weapons could only cut shallow wounds when they struck them, and the bone spears required even more force to penetrate.

Albright thrust his powerful spear directly into the chest of a burly barbarian who tried to stop him; normally, this strike would have been enough to kill him instantly.

puff!

A dull thud, like piercing hardwood, was heard. Although the spear tip pierced the flesh, it encountered strong resistance and was tightly stuck less than two inches into the flesh!

The barbarian roared in pain, but instead of being knocked down, he went berserk, grabbing the spear shaft with both hands and trying to drag Albright over.

"Damn it!" Albright decisively abandoned his spear, drew the heavy cleaver from his waist, and slashed at the other man's neck with all his might. This time, he barely managed to sever the neck, and blood splattered everywhere.

Vio saw this and became even more certain that he had to get rid of the priest first.

Without further hesitation, he shouted to the sergeant beside him, "Hold the formation!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already transformed into a gray-black afterimage and rushed out.

His speed, driven at full power by the sand-breathing technique, made him appear like a ghost in the melee.

Ordinary barbarians couldn't even catch his movements; they only felt a strong gust of wind pass by before they fell to the ground, their throats or chests pierced by his sword.

The priest had clearly noticed the dangerous enemy rapidly approaching.

He quickened the pace of his shaking of the wooden staff, his chanting became sharper, and finally he pointed it at Vio.

Immediately, seven or eight of the most burly barbarians, their bodies gleaming with a rich earthy yellow sheen, roared as they abandoned their opponents and stood like human shields in Vio's path, slamming their rough stone axes and wooden clubs down!

But Vio's eyes were cold, neither flinching nor avoiding.

"drink!"

He exhaled and made a sound, his muscles bulged beneath his dark skin, and his power exploded!

puff!puff!

The two precise sword strikes pierced the exposed throats of the first two barbarians, killing them instantly.

With a swift movement of his feet, Vio sidestepped through the gaps between the fallen corpses, dodging the enemy's attack. With a backhand slash, he severed the wrist of the third barbarian and, amidst the man's screams, swept his sword across his neck.

As soon as he opened his eyes, the enemy blocking his way was torn open, and Vio was less than a hundred meters away from the priest!

The priest's face finally showed obvious panic. He screamed and waved his wooden staff, as if trying to release something, but in his haste, only the black mud on the tip of the staff twitched a few times, and he failed to do so.

The last two barbarians beside him roared and pounced on him.

Vio didn't stop, dodging a falling stone hammer, and his left hand shot out like lightning, his dark-skinned fist slamming into another barbarian's face!

"Crack!" His face instantly collapsed, and the sound of his facial bones shattering reached the enemy's ears. The barbarian fell backward.

At the same time, Vio drew his longsword in an arc with his right hand, severing another barbarian's arm and weapon along with him!

With one step, he stood before the stone, facing the terrified priest.

The priest raised his staff in an attempt to block, his eyes filled with despair and a final act of resistance.

Without uttering a single word, Vio unleashed a sword strike, imbued with the power of his breathing technique, slashing diagonally downwards!

The sword fell, whistling through the air!

The head adorned with feathers and bone ornaments flew high into the air, its murky eyes filled with disbelief. The headless corpse swayed and fell off the stone, its wooden staff snapping in two with a "crack".

As the priest died, the earthy yellow sheen on the surrounding barbarians faded rapidly at a visible speed, and their movements lost their sense of synchronization, becoming pure and chaotic once again.

However, before Vio could even catch his breath, an intense sense of crisis suddenly surged into his heart!

It didn't come from the chaotic enemy ranks, but... from the upper side!

He barely thought, relying solely on his enhanced perception from breathing techniques and the muscle memory from swordsmanship, and lunged to the side with all his might!

The instant he left the spot—

boom!!!

A huge rock, more than half a meter in diameter and covered with black mud, crashed down where he had just been standing!

The hard rocky ground was smashed into a large crater, and rubble flew everywhere like shrapnel. Several nearby barbarians were also affected and fell to the ground screaming.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, Vio rolled on the ground and half-knelt to his feet. Looking up, his face showed shock for the first time.

The fighting on the entire battlefield came to a halt, and countless eyes were turned in horror towards the direction from which the boulder had flown.

From the deeper shadows of the forest, an enormous, unbelievable figure slowly emerged.

That was the same Black Mud Giant Ape that Glenn had encountered before... no, it was a monster several times larger than the one Glenn had encountered before!

It was much taller than the three of them, with bulging muscles all over its body, but it was covered with black mud that they could smell all the way, which was wriggling like a living thing!

Within the black mud of the head, one could vaguely see scarlet eyes.

Its arm, which had just thrown the boulder, was now slowly retracting, and with each step it took, the ground trembled.

"roar--!!!"

The monster roared to the sky, its deafening roar almost shaking the battlefield. Its eyes slowly moved, finally locking onto Vio, who had just killed the priest and was now standing up.