Swords, magic, and martial arts

With that thought in mind, Rhodes took out the tattered iron armor from his spatial ring and put it on.

Just after he put on his armor, a group of people wearing tattered black fur coats and carrying rusty battle axes rushed out of the woods on the nearby mountain while shouting strangely.

The leader was dressed differently from the others, wearing a black priest's robe and a ferocious black mask with a protruding horn on each side of the top.

"These are priests of the Dragon Worship Cult. I don't know why such people would mingle with ordinary bandits and mountain people," Hammer said, standing to the side, gripping his warhammer tightly.

"What is the Dragon Worship Cult?" Rod asked, drawing his longsword from his waist and holding it in his hand.

"They are a bunch of madmen who roam the Nord lands with the aim of resurrecting the dragons that were destroyed by the ancient Nord heroes," Hammer explained.

"Can dragons be resurrected after they die? Why would they resurrect dead dragons?" Rhodes asked a series of questions.

In a certain game, dragons can be resurrected, but this is a real world, and the ability to resurrect completely contradicts Rhodes's common sense.

"Dragons that weren't killed by the Nord royal family can be resurrected through special rituals. As for why they want to resurrect dragons, there are too many rumors. Some say it's for power, others say their families have been servants of dragons since ancient times," Hammer explained.

Surprisingly, he was able to patiently explain things to Rhodes this time.

Soon the group rushed to the vicinity of the caravan and began fighting with the caravan members.

This wasn't the first time Rhodes had encountered a robbery where the attackers started without saying a word.

After Hammer smashed a bandit away with his hammer, he stepped forward and faced the Dragon Cult follower alone. No one interfered with their fight. The Dragon Cult follower, wielding a greatsword, fought Hammer, who was wielding a warhammer, to a standstill.

Rhodes was caught in the chaos, attacked by several bandits who worked together to assault him and a caravan guard he had only spoken a few words to.

These bandits must have fought together frequently; they cooperated seamlessly.

Rhodes originally thought that after practicing basic swordsmanship for a period of time, this battle would be much easier than the last one, but the bandits coordinated so well that this battle was much more difficult.

He used "The Wise Man's Calamity" to parry the bandits' attacks, without even a chance to counterattack. The caravan guard next to him roared loudly, his body already bearing several wounds.

Prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat. Before Rhodes could react, he was struck in the left hand by an axe wielded by a bandit.

A sharp pain shot through his left arm, as if it were about to break off. Rhodes glanced down and saw that the metal plate on his left arm had cracked open and sunken inward, with blood flowing continuously from the wound.

The situation was not good; the intense pain made Rhodes unable to even hold his sword steady.

He took a few steps back and leaned against the car, observing his surroundings. Three robbers were approaching him from the left and two from the right.

"Little brat, if you put down your weapon and kowtow to us a few times, we might spare your life," the robber on the left laughed, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

Behind them was an oxcart; there was nowhere left to retreat, and the only way to survive was to move forward.

Rhodes gripped his longsword tightly; a blue light flashed across the blade before returning to normal.

He suddenly roared and charged towards the two bandits on his left. If he could kill them, he could break through from the left.

Rhodes thrust his sword straight forward, seemingly unstoppable, while the bandit sidestepped his attack.

Just as the bandit thought Rhodes was about to launch a second attack, Rhodes quickly turned around and slashed at another bandit who was approaching step by step from the other side.

The thick fur armor couldn't stop the longsword, which slashed a large gash across the bandit's neck, instantly staining his filthy fur armor red with his gushing blood.

He touched his neck in disbelief, opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound. Taking advantage of the situation, Rod kicked him to the ground with a side kick.

Although the plan wasn't completed, it did result in some casualties on the other side. One against two is much easier than one against three.

The other bandit on the right, who was probably on good terms with him, suddenly became enraged and started hacking at Rod with his axe.

Rod dodged the powerful blow by sidestepping it, and before the bandit in front of him could recover, he thrust his sword at his neck, then quickly withdrew it.

Just then, the remaining bandit roared angrily and swung his axe at him. Rhodes instinctively used the longsword he had just pulled from someone else's neck to parry and block the bandit's axe.

The two of them were locked in a stalemate, weapons at the ready, neither able to get any closer.

Rhodes gripped the longsword with both hands, the pain shooting through his left hand, but he could only grit his teeth and persevere, the sword almost pressed against Rhodes' chest by the man's axe.

He roared, feeling a surge of power within his body that made him as strong as the bandit in front of him.

Just as Rhodes was about to change his tactics, the bandit suddenly spat at him. Before Rhodes could react, the spit landed right on his eyebrow.

That's disgusting. How could there be such a despicable move? How come I never thought of that before?

This inspired Rod, who suddenly lifted the bandit's axe with all his might and then slammed his forehead into the bandit's face. With a "crack," the bandit's nose was broken, and blood flowed freely.

He slammed his head against the wall again, making a loud "bang," and the already dazed robber collapsed to the ground.

Rhodes took out a towel from his spatial ring and wiped the saliva and blood from his face. Perhaps due to the Iron Shirt technique, his head was as if he had practiced Iron Head Kung Fu.

My head may not be as hard as someone who has actually practiced Iron Head Kung Fu, but it is definitely harder than the average person's head. I didn't feel much pain when I bumped into someone's nose.

This might become one of my trump cards in the future.

Rhodes looked down at the injury on his left hand. It didn't seem to be anything serious. After being cushioned by the iron armor, the two animal skin coats, and the Iron Shirt, the axe blow only left a shallow wound on his arm.

The reason it hurt was because the force of that axe blow was quite strong, as if someone had hit his arm with an iron rod.

The melee was still ongoing. Rhodes took out a sturdy rope from his spatial ring and tied the unconscious bandit at his feet to the side of the car. Then, he picked up his sword and prepared to rejoin the melee.

Rhodes still had some reservations about killing, especially since the bandit had already lost the ability to resist.

Moreover, living bandits could be sent to the local lord in exchange for a bounty, while dead bandits were worthless.

If you just take a head, unless the owner of the head is one of the most notorious bandits, how would anyone know if the head belongs to a bandit or an innocent civilian?

The adventurers on the caravan side were generally slightly stronger than the bandits on the other side. Their combat skills were about the same, but the caravan's advantage lay mainly in their better equipment.

A few well-equipped and highly skilled regular soldiers could probably chase these bandits all over the place.

Rhodes noticed that the caravan guard who had fought alongside him for some time was leaning against the caravan, clutching his bleeding chest and wailing loudly.

If this injury is left untreated, he may die soon.

He sighed, took out a high-grade wound medicine from his system space, and applied it to the wound on the chest of the caravan guard.

"Thank you," the caravan guard said weakly, but with sincere eyes.

"It's nothing." Rhodes waved his hand, stood up, and walked back towards the battle group.

I wonder where Baron and Webber went. If they were here now, they would have already taken care of all the bandits.

Rod vividly remembered how Baron had chopped people up like vegetables in a crowd last time.

Just as he was thinking about these things, Baron appeared in his field of vision carrying a bow and arrows and dressed similarly to the previous followers of the Dragon Cult.

Baron slammed the man off his shoulder and onto the ground, then grabbed the steel battle axe from his back and joined the fight.

When Rod saw Baron join the battle, he took his sword and began to ambush the bandits who were focused on fighting and were evenly matched with others. He would slash at one person and then run to the next person, regardless of whether he hit the target or not.

After Baron joined the fight, the situation became one-sided. Every time he swung his giant axe, someone was sent flying. He didn't seem to want to kill anyone; he used the broad axe head rather than the sharp blade to knock people away.

Before long, the bandits fled in disarray. Their original plan was for some to hold off the caravan while others quickly stole the goods. However, since the caravan's goods were packed in large boxes and tied to the carts, their plan failed.

Several robbers ran away with the boxes, but they were quickly caught up and brought back.

Daniel tied up a member of the Baelin cult, forced him into the car, removed his mask, and began interrogating him with a dagger to his neck...