Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

“You said… things you shouldn’t have said.” Ciel rubbed his fingers together rapidly, and tiny sparks fell from them.

A dark shadow swelled behind Charles, growing to 3 or 4 meters in an instant.

"Roar----"

The surging magical dragon roared and lunged at Ted's position.

Charles shouted, "Leon! Do it!"

"Ah good!"

Awakened by the dragon's roar, the elf rushed out in one stride, but then stepped on the hem of the dress with his left foot, fell face down, and crashed to the ground!

Boom————

The entire scene froze, and Ciel slowly opened his mouth wide.

"What?! You useless elf, what are you doing?!"

Ryu, his face flushed, scrambled to his feet, wiped the blood from his nose, and said in a panic, "Mr. Charles, please don't speak for now, it will distract me."

As she said this, she tore off the hem of her dress, and in the next instant, she grabbed a weapon dropped by a henchman and slashed it into the neck of the magic dragon.

Ciel was stunned:

"You useless elf!!! This dress is worth ten million falies, you have to pay it back!!! And that dragon is mine!"

"Ten million?!?"

Liu froze again, slowly turning her head, this time out of fright.

The magical dragon was blasted away by the immense force and crashed to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, the thug grinned and kicked Ryu in the side, sending her flying into Ciel's arms.

"What's going on?!" Ciel, in a 'panic' manner, grabbed Ryu and fled towards the VIP room, yelling, "Hey, get yourself together already!"

"I'm sorry, it seems I can't do that for now." Ryu pressed down on Ciel's hand that was wrapped around her waist, her ears turning red.

"Stop!"

The casino thugs surrounded him from behind, including many level 2 mercenaries. Charles held an elf in one hand and a fox woman in the other, with a beast-taming whip in his mouth, and shook his head violently.

Snapped--

The sharp crack of the whip hitting the ground summoned the entangled magical dragon back to its senses. It scattered its pursuers, hoisted Charles onto its neck, broke through the gate, and crashed into the outermost hall.

"Whoosh—a monster!"

"A monster has entered!"

The customers outside scattered, but a furious Ted roared, "Seal the gates! Don't let a single person out!"

With a click, the casino guard at the entrance closed the metal door, and the hall fell silent amidst the hum of the machinery.

With Ryu in tow, Ciel retrieved the severely injured and shrunken magical dragon and fled to Astrea's side.

The group of thugs gradually dispersed the gamblers and surrounded Charles and his companions in a corner.

"I see, Astraea, they are your people?"

In a corner of the hall, a gloomy goddess with short black hair chuckled as she tossed dice.

“Hecate…” Astraea softly called the goddess’s name.

"Hmph." Ted snorted coldly, taking the lead and sneering, "I don't care which clan you belong to. No one will leave here alive today. Even Ganesha can't stop us. I said it!"

"Is this also your intention, Hecate?"

Astraea glanced at the gamblers huddled on the other side, her eyes gleaming.

"When you step into my territory and scatter starlight into the night, your path has already been decided." Hecate tossed the die casually, and it spun on the table before landing on a 'four'.

"Ok?"

She turned to look at Astraea with surprise, then threw out three more dice.

Gululu...

Three fours.

Before Hecate could turn around to stop him, Ted had already grinned maliciously and waved his hand, retreating behind the crowd.

"Kill them!"

"Cial, protect Lady Astraea!"

In the critical moment, Liu rallied, grabbed the hilt of her sword and rushed out. Sparks flew as the blades clashed, creating an explosion in the hall.

The terrifying combat power of a level 4 created an astonishing suppression among a group of level 2 members. Forty or fifty clan members were actually suppressed by Ryu alone and were forced to retreat step by step.

"Gurgle—Ahhhhh—"

The back of the knife struck one of the thugs in the neck, who screamed in agony and fell heavily to the ground next to Ted, unconscious.

"Damn it, useless piece of trash!" Ted cursed, shrinking back even further.

His eyes were sharp as he watched his men being knocked down one by one without flinching.

"I knew these cowards were unreliable." He grinned maliciously and shouted, "Come out! Lolo, Fast! Kill this guy!"

Liu's gaze sharpened, piercing through the clash of swords and blades to survey his surroundings.

Ted laughed heartily: "They are notorious bounty hunters and assassins in the black market, known as super killers with a 100% success rate in completing their missions! [Black Cat] and [Black Fist]!"

"So what if you're a Level 2 adventurer from the Astrea Familia? There are plenty of Level 4s who have died at their hands."

"Just watch, they'll transform into shadows and launch surprise attacks from unexpected corners!"

Liu's eyes narrowed. She had heard of those two; during the Dark Ages, they had personally killed many high-ranking officials from opposing forces. They were incredibly powerful!

She became increasingly wary of the surroundings in the hall. Her excessive vigilance disrupted the rhythm of her attack, and she was almost forced back to Charles's side.

Astraea's eyes flickered as she looked at Ciel with pleading eyes: "Go help Ryu, otherwise we might really never get out of here."

“I… I don’t think it’s necessary?” Charles asked with a strange expression.

Did he hear me right? Who did you hire to deal with me?

He stared meaningfully at the clamoring Ted:

"Hey, after all this shouting, where are the 'Black Cat' and 'Black Fist' you've been talking about? Are you just kidding us?"

Reminded by Charles, Liu reacted and began chanting rapidly. In just ten seconds, a large blue orb of light blew away the surrounding thugs, and a sharp blade pointed directly at Ted.

"rat!"

Ted took a step back in fear, his voice panicked: "Hey, Lolo! Fast! What are you doing?! Get to work!"

No one answered...

"Damn it, they took my money and then... at this time! You despicable bounty hunter!"

A person and a cat, carrying money, were running wildly outside the bustling street when they suddenly sneezed.

“Hey, won’t this damage our reputation?” Lunova asked.

"What are you talking about, meow? The boss is already inside, that place is definitely doomed, meow? Do you want to fight the boss?"

"Absolutely not!" Lunova shuddered as she recalled her experience in Dragon Valley.

"So meow, that idiot actually hired us to deal with the boss, that's incredibly stupid, meow."

Chapter 284 You have the Joker standing behind you? Then who am I?

The lobby of an underground casino.

"Ughh ...

One by one, the thugs were rendered immobile by Liu and collapsed to the ground.

The expected powerful defenses did not appear. Ryu easily repelled the servants and guards who continued to surround her, and her sharp blade was pointed directly at Ted.

"Make your men lay down their weapons and surrender, or it won't be the back of the blade that cuts your neck!"

Faced with Ryu's threat, Ted gritted his teeth and forced out the words:

"Who are you?"

"I belong to Leon of [Gale], belonging to Astraea!" Ryu announced himself.

"【Gale】!? That guy who's named after the War Maiden?" Ted took a step back in fear, his bravado masking his inner weakness.

"Ha? Surrender? You think you've already won?"

Ryu's gaze sharpened: "Still trying to bluff? I won't fall for it again."

As soon as he finished speaking, a cold glint flashed across the arc, and the longsword ripped through Ted's eyes, shredding his wisps of beard.

Ted fell to the ground in fear, his face filled with horror: "You really dare to lay a hand on me? Do you know who's backing me?"

"Ha, ha ha ha, let me tell you. I have a big shot backing me! If you don't want to die, stop right now!!"

"Absurd and ridiculous!"

Liu lunged forward, his blade slicing through the air, and said in a chilling voice, "If you don't make your men stop, I'll kill you!"

Staring at the blade drawing ever closer to his heart, Ted gritted his teeth and roared furiously, "Save me! One hundred million Faris! I agree!"

when----

The incoming blade was deflected by an iron rod, and a cloak billowed in front of Ryu's eyes.

A gloomy face wearing a black and white clown mask appeared in front of Ryu. He was hunched over, his skin was weathered, and his facial features were unfamiliar, but the weapon and clothes made Ryu feel afraid.

"Joker?!?"

Ryu took two steps back, raising his weapon to guard against the sudden troublemaker.

The man slowly stood up, turned and stared at Ted: "One hundred million Faris, and I'll save your life. If you don't give it to me, I'll kill you!"

With that, Ted grinned smugly, "Hahahaha, I warned you not to mess with me! This lord is standing behind me! What's so scary about the mere Astrea Familia?"