The sky curtain makes you a useless class monitor, yet you act arbitrarily for eternity?

Yan Dachui drew his longsword from his waist and walked toward the heavy knight, the tip of the sword dragging a shallow ditch along the ground.

The heavy knight mustered all his strength, trying to flip over and dodge.

The moment his shoulder left the ground, the longsword pierced through the seam of his breastplate.

"Well!"

Yan Dachui gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands and pressed the blade down further.

The heavy knight's health bar quickly dropped into the red zone.

Yan Dachui leaned close to his ear and said with a loud laugh.

"Listen up: Our team was attacked by a criminal player gang in the wild! You two fought bravely, but were ultimately killed."

"And I, single-handedly, wiped out all the villains and returned alive!"

The heavy knight opened his mouth in anger, wanting to utter a few curses, but blood gushed from his mouth.

Yan Dachui drew his longsword and thrust it into his throat again.

On the team interface, the Heavy Knight's health bar was completely cleared.

His mark flashed twice, then turned gray, and his entire being vanished as data.

Yan Dachui laughed louder and louder as he looked at Ye Chen.

"Hahaha--"

Ye Chen was still supporting his body with his elbows.

His breathing was slow.

The paralyzing poison blocked the limbs, but did not cut off the sense of pain.

My tongue was stiff, and every breath I took was accompanied by a metallic, sweet taste in my throat.

Yan Dachui walked up to him and kicked away the two swords that had fallen to the side.

"Hey, it's all because of you, brat, that I had to kill an innocent person, but you seem pretty happy about it."

Ye Chen raised his eyes.

There was no fear or anger on his face.

The silence made Yan Dachui very uncomfortable.

"Why would someone like you join the Dawn Guild? Wouldn't a murder guild suit you better?"

Ye Chen stared at the sword in his hand and spoke with difficulty.

"What guild?"

"That's right—the Killing Guild. I learned this paralysis technique from there."

Yan Dachui finally smiled.

"Well, let's stop this small talk. The poison's effects will wear off if we keep going. It's time to settle this!"

The longsword pierced Ye Chen's shoulder, the pain piercing through his numb muscles and crashing directly into his consciousness.

His fingers suddenly curled up, and his health bar dropped.

Yan Dachui did not attack any vital points.

He drew his sword, changed position, and stabbed again.

One sword.

Another sword strike.

Blood soaked through Ye Chen's black clothes, dripping down his arm onto the grayish-white bone sand.

The health bar dropped from green to yellow.

They then began to approach the red zone.

Yan Dachui's breathing became heavier and heavier, and the smile on his face became completely distorted.

"How does it feel to know you're going to die? Tell me about it."

Ye Chen gritted his teeth and did not respond.

He is waiting.

The duration of the toxin's effects was not shown, but the numbness in the body had begun to loosen.

If he could just hold on for another ten seconds or so, he would at least be able to control his right hand.

Yan Dachui plunged the sword into his abdomen again.

"Hey, say something! You're really going to die!"

Ye Chen's health bar dropped into the red zone.

My vision started to go black.

He thought of the wooden house by the lake.

He thought of the note Jiang Liyu had left under the corner of the book before she left, and he also thought of her tired eyes when she returned to his side.

She's still waiting for him to return to the Dawn Guild.

He had promised that once he finished his training, he would accompany her to buy a new sword tassel.

My tongue has finally regained some sensation.

Ye Chen swallowed the blood in his mouth.

"I can't die...!"

Yan Dachui's smile suddenly widened.

"Oh? So you really are afraid of death? Really? That suits me just the way it is! Die! Die! Die!"

The sword blades fell continuously.

Ye Chen's health bar was down to its last bit.

at the same time.

Inside the Dawn Guild's headquarters, Jiang Liyu sat in a corner of the mission hall, with the guild map always displayed in front of her.

A small point of light representing Ye Chen is hovering at the entrance to the Bone Maze.

From the moment Ye Chen left the base, she checked his location every few minutes.

Although the three-person training team is independent, the mission coordinates will still be open to the core members of the guild.

There were originally three dots on the map.

The next moment, the light representing the Heavy Knight went out.

Jiang Liyu's finger stopped on the map.

The team member died.

The remaining two people did not move.

There was no retreat, nor any violent coordinate fluctuations caused by combat.

Jiang Liyu suddenly stood up.

The chair tipped over and hit the floor.

She opened Ye Chen's status bar.

The health bar, which was originally obscured by the mission permissions, was briefly revealed.

red.

Only a little bit left.

Jiang Liyu rushed out of the mission hall.

She didn't even wait for the guild mount; she leaped off the city wall and charged towards the northern wasteland on her flying sword.

The wind pressure tore at the hem of her clothes.

The speed indicator turns continuously red.

She did not slow down.

Someone inquired about the situation in the guild chat, but she didn't have time to reply.

On the map, the spot of light belonging to Ye Chen is getting dimmer and dimmer.

"Master..."

Jiang Liyu's hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably.

"Wait for me a moment."

"Just for a moment..."

Before the labyrinth of withered bones.

Yan Dachui raised his blood-stained longsword and aimed it at Ye Chen's heart.

"it's over."

The sword blade pierced down.

A streak of icy blue sword light pierced through from the edge of the wasteland.

"Master—"

The sword light slammed into Yan Dachui.

Jiang Liyu fell off the flying sword, her knees hitting the bone sand hard.

She didn't even bother to get up; she rushed to Ye Chen's side and pressed a recovery crystal against his chest.

A vibrant green light covered the wound.

The health bar, which was about to reach zero, stopped.

Then, his health began to recover little by little.

"We made it! We made it! Great, we finally made it!"

Jiang Liyu cupped Ye Chen's face in her hands.

Her fingertips were icy cold, and her hands trembled so much that she could barely hold onto the crystal.

"You're still alive...you're still alive, right, Master?"

Ye Chen looked at her reddened eyes.

The recovery crystal is being deactivated from paralysis, and he is now able to lift his arm.

"Um……"

He grasped Jiang Liyu's wrist.

"I'm alive."

"You wait, it'll be over soon."

Jiang Liyu lowered her head, her forehead touching his brow.

Once she confirmed that Ye Chen's breathing had stabilized, she closed her eyes.

When she looked up again, she released Ye Chen and picked up the [Frost Annihilation] that had fallen to the side.

Yan Dachui had just gotten up from the ground.

Before he could even regain his footing, the icy blue blade had already pierced his shoulder.

The first sword strike pierced the armor.

The second sword cut open the wrist.

The third sword strike knocked the longsword away.

Yan Dachui's health bar plummeted from yellow to red.

He tried to fight back, but he couldn't even touch the hem of Jiang Liyu's clothes.

Rapiers fell from all sides.

Each wound avoided vital areas, yet precisely sealed off all his movements.

Yan Dachui staggered backward, his knee colliding with the heavy knight's corpse.

He looked down and saw that face with its eyes still open, and his legs went weak on the spot.

thump!

Yan Dachui knelt on the ground.

"Lord Jiang Jianxian, this is just training! Yes, an accident during training!"

Jiang Liyu drew her sword and walked towards him.

The sword was dripping with blood.

"I surrender! I was wrong! I'm leaving the group! I'll never appear in front of you again! So, please don't kill me!"

Jiang Liyu stopped in front of him.

Yan Dachui kept his head down, his shoulders trembling.

"I really know I was wrong..."

His right hand quietly slipped behind his waist, and his fingertips caught a throwing knife.

Just as Jiang Liyu was about to speak, Ye Chen's voice came from behind.

"Be careful!"

Yan Dachui suddenly looked up. The throwing knife flew from his hand.

The target is not Jiang Liyu.

Instead, it was Ye Chen who was still sitting on the ground.

Jiang Liyu stepped aside to block Ye Chen.

The blade pierced her left shoulder.

Her body was pulled back half a step by the force of the impact, but her right hand had already been thrust forward.

【Frost Extinction】pierced through Yan Dachui's throat.

Yan Dachui's lips parted as he gripped the sword's edge tightly with both hands.

Jiang Liyu did not give him a second chance.

She drew her longsword and slashed his neck again.

Health bar empty.

Yan Dachui's body fell into the bone sand, turning into data fragments that gradually dissipated.

The wasteland fell silent once more.

Jiang Liyu pulled the throwing knife from her shoulder, and blood immediately gushed out.

Ye Chen has resumed his actions.

He took out a high-level recovery potion from his backpack, walked up to Jiang Liyu, and handed it to her.

"I drank it."

Jiang Liyu took the medicine, but did not use it immediately.

Ye Chen looked down at the wound on her shoulder.

The heavy knight is dead.

Jiang Liyu almost died from that flying knife.

Those thoughts he had suppressed resurfaced and entered his mind once more.

Anyone who gets close to him will be drawn into danger.

That's how the squad in the tavern was.

The same applies to heavy knights.

Now it's Jiang Liyu's turn.

Ye Chen's fingers tightened, and the empty medicine bottle cracked under his grip.

Jiang Liyu looked at him for a few seconds.

The next moment, she crashed into Ye Chen's arms and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

Ye Chen was knocked back half a step by her.

Jiang Liyu buried her face in his chest, and only looked up at him when his arm stiffly lifted up.

"Master."

"Are you thinking again that it's all because of you that I almost died?"

Ye Chen's lips moved slightly.

The words "Stay away from me" stuck in my throat; I just couldn't say them.

Jiang Liyu hugged him even tighter.

Don't worry!

"Your disciple will not die, because I am the one who came to protect you."

She pulled Ye Chen's hand and pressed it onto her recovering health bar.

"Look."

"It has already rebounded."

"I am very strong, and I will always protect my master."

"That way, Master will never have to worry about killing others because of him."

Ye Chen looked at her.

Jiang Liyu's face was still a little pale, but her eyes did not dodge.

After a long while, Ye Chen raised his hand and pressed it against the back of her head, pulling her back into his arms.

"It's settled."

"We must not die."

Jiang Liyu leaned against him and nodded gently.

"Um."

"It's settled."