Swords, magic, and martial arts

Chapter 120 Lesson

Looking at the group of people in front of him, Rhodes felt somewhat helpless. He hadn't expected that there would be people coming for revenge. He had just seen several adventurers who had gotten into a fight on the field shake hands and make peace at the inn, and even sit together drinking and bragging.

"What do you want to do?" Rod asked.

"What? Of course, I'm going to teach you a lesson. You broke both of my arms this morning, so it's not too much for me to cut off the arms of the three of you, is it?" Bill sneered.

Rhodes wasn't particularly afraid of the dozen or so armed men, but Miles and Misell were beside him.

"I don't know them. I just came here to freeload." Miles was clearly frightened; his face was pale, and his voice trembled.

"Don't think I won't recognize you just because you're wearing makeup. You're definitely in cahoots with those two. Don't take me, Blue Bear Bill, for a fool." Bill said, a smug smile playing on his lips.

Compared to Miles, Misell seemed completely unfazed. She sat on a stool, carefully savoring each of Rhodes' cakes. This time, Rhodes had baked the cakes in many tiny iron cups, each topped with different fruits. Rhodes had seen more varieties of fruit in Gulfstream City than he had ever eaten on Earth.

Rhodes thought for a moment, and realized that this wasn't an arena where Messiah could use divine magic, so why was she panicking?

Messiah's divine magic almost instantly killed the Night King's clone, so dealing with these ordinary humans in front of her should definitely not be a problem.

"You've really mistaken me for someone else. Why would a masculine man like me wear makeup? The person you saw this morning must just look a lot like me. I don't know either of them at all. I just came here to freeload. I think with your intelligence, you'll be able to figure out that this is just a misunderstanding," Miles said calmly.

Bill touched his quadruple chin and thought for a moment.

"Then you can leave," he said.

Miles rushed out of the crowd with a sigh of relief.

Although Miles' actions seemed disloyal, it was a good thing that he was able to leave safely; there was no need to worry about his safety when the fight broke out.

"Murder! Murder! Someone's trying to kill someone!" Miles shouted after getting away from the area, guessing that Baron and the others would come to help soon.

Upon hearing Miles's voice, Bill's expression changed, and he said viciously, "Come with me and cripple those two!"

The dozen or so menacing-looking men drew their weapons and, led by Bill, charged toward Rhodes.

Rod kicked the pot in front of him, and the scalding olive oil from frying donuts splashed onto the faces of several people, causing them to scream in pain as they covered their burned faces, rendering them unable to fight.

While Bill and Miles were arguing, Rhodes had already begun to gather his strength, mixing his magic and inner power in the optimal ratio. Facing the remaining dozen or so people rushing up, Rhodes took out the horizontal sword from his system space, poured the mixed power into it, and slashed at one of the people who had already rushed in front of him.

The sword cleaved his weapon in two and then cleaved his head in two. A four- or five-meter-long, colorless blade of energy detached from the sword and flew forward, disemboweling several unarmored men in front of Rhodes, splattering blood everywhere.

Rhodes hadn't expected his strike to be so powerful; he hadn't been able to let the blade's energy leave the blade before.

This is a bit of a problem. Killing someone in a place like this means he probably can't continue participating in the tournament, and he'll likely be hunted down for some time to come.

Bill and the men around him were so frightened by Rhodes's slash that they dared not approach any further.

Since we're going to have to escape later, let's kill them all now to avoid future trouble.

As Rod approached them carrying a bloodstained sword, the menacing-looking men dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground, pleading, "Please, don't kill me."

Upon seeing this, Bill immediately turned and ran away.

"You go after him, I'll take care of these people," Misell said.

A golden chain appeared, binding all the people kneeling on the ground together, rendering them unable to move.

Rod activated his Snowwalking Technique and charged forward, quickly catching up to Bill. He transferred the mixed energy to his legs, activated the Mighty Vajra Leg Technique, and delivered a flying kick to Bill's back, sending him flying and crashing to the ground with a dull thud.

"Don't kill me! It doesn't matter if you kill those people, as long as you don't kill me, nothing will happen," Bill pleaded, lying on the ground. He felt like his back had been broken by that kick.

Rod held his sword to his neck and sneered, "Since I've already killed so many people, killing one more like you won't make a difference."

"No, no, no, they're just death row inmates I brought out. Killing them won't have any impact. Just spare my life, and I promise to help you get rid of them." Bill begged for mercy while kowtowing to Rhodes.

Rhodes originally intended to fight a close battle, but his strike, a combination of magic and internal energy, terrified them all.

"Are you of high status?" Rhodes asked.

"You can find out by asking around. I, Blue Bear, am one of the seven young Blue Knights of the Blue Sea Knights. These death row inmates are all prisoners I brought out of the Knights' prison. They were all ruthless Velen pirates, and they're all going to be hanged in a few days. I promised them that if they help me cripple you, I'll secretly release them," Bill explained in a trembling voice.

"Then why didn't you come alone, or find other members of the Blue Ocean Seven Knights?" Rhodes asked.

"I was afraid I couldn't beat you by myself, and if I went to find the rest of the Knights, they would just laugh at me. So today I secretly released those death row inmates to seek revenge on you," Bill explained.

I never expected someone so big to be so timid.

"Since you say you came here secretly, then all I have to do is kill you and destroy the evidence, so you won't have to retaliate later." Rhodes pressed the still-dripping blood-stained scalpel against the skin of his neck.

Rhodes suppressed his urge for revenge; a moment of gratification would only bring more trouble. Killing him would mean losing his place in the tournament and becoming a wanted man. With luck, he might escape the country; with bad luck, he'd be hanged. If he didn't kill him, he could take him to their knightly order to resolve the matter. If it went as planned, it would be best if nothing happened. But if it was just a delaying tactic, he could cause a huge scene at their order, letting the whole city know, and everyone would see whether Duke Orn would side with the ordinary participant being retaliated against or the powerful knightly order.

"No, no, no, there are others in our knightly order who know about this, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to release them," Bill pleaded again. "I can swear in the name of the sea god."

"Then swear it."

Bill lay on the ground, raised his hands, and shouted, "I, Bill, swear in the name of the sea god that if I ever do anything to harm this person or their family or friends, may I never have peace for all eternity!"

A blue halo gathered around, forming a wave that eventually disappeared above Bill's head.

"Is this alright? We're so close to the sea now, the sea god can hear me," Bill said.

"Alright, once my companions arrive, we'll personally escort you back to your knightly order and then have a proper discussion with your people about this matter," Rhodes said.

Bill looked ashen-faced and sighed, "Fine."

"He'll be utterly humiliated when he goes back this time."