That's right, that's what adventure is like!

boom!!!

A scorching fireball erupted inside the wooden house, instantly destroying the already decaying wood and transforming into a giant fireball in the middle of the cemetery, rising with a faint light.

"Cough cough..."

Seth scrambled to his feet and pulled Roland up, his body charred black, but that couldn't hide his anxious expression: "Quick, go! That's my last explosive arrow."

Roland stood up from the ground. Because he was close to the exit and had seen Seth take out the bundle of arrows, he ran relatively fast and was not seriously injured.

However, he really didn't expect that Seth would take the initiative and start the battle with an explosion.

That's right, it's fighting, not running away.

Nourishes—

A crackling sound of electric arcs rang out, and a blue-purple streak swept through the air as two mages appeared, blocking the way out.

From the outside, there wasn't even the slightest burn mark on their black robes, but Austin's expression was slightly distorted, as if he felt a little distressed.

"It's a magical item," Seth's expression changed slightly as he drew the dagger from his waist. "I'll deal with Austin. You go and hold off that damned bastard..."

"no problem."

There was no need for communication; things had already come to this point, so Roland naturally wanted to launch the first attack.

He gently stepped onto the soft soil with his right foot, and his silver-gray longsword sliced ​​through the damp morning air. In the hazy night, he swung the sword fiercely.

Despite the opponent's imposing stature, he knew very well that if it was a mage, victory would be in his hands as soon as he got close.

Unexpectedly, Luca showed no intention of dodging his advance, but simply tapped the ground lightly with his withered yellow staff.

"Gurgle—"

The familiar voice echoed in his ears, causing Roland's eyes to change suddenly. He subconsciously twisted his body and stopped mid-sprint.

This was the right decision, because in just a few seconds, a bluish-gray figure suddenly swept past from a distance, landing precisely in front of Luca and stabbing its claws into the air.

If he had charged straight at it, he would most likely have been seriously injured.

It's a ghoul.

Roland squinted, only to find that this one was quite different from the previous ones.

It was nearly eight feet tall, with unusually large bones, as if it had been pieced together from several human bodies and then expanded using magic.

Metal plates and the carapace of an unknown creature were riveted together with iron nails on the dark blue and deathly gray skin, seemingly serving as rudimentary armor.

Its gaping maw was filled with three layers of interlocking teeth, and its arms were so long they reached its knees, inlaid with unusually thick joints, as if it could smash a tombstone with a single punch.

"This size..." Roland frowned slightly, saying uncertainly, "I think I've seen it during the day?"

That was when they were looting for wealth. There was an exceptionally large adventurer's corpse that Austin dragged to a corner under the guise of burying. He never expected that when they met again, it would turn out like this.

"You're very lucky," Luca's voice was hoarse and particularly jarring in the cold wind. "Of all the corpses that have been here for so long without being purified, this is the only one that best meets my requirements."

really……

Roland took a deep breath, held his longsword horizontally to his chest, and waited quietly for the ghoul to attack.

Judging from the speed it just displayed, he absolutely cannot keep up. Only by parrying and counterattacking can he perhaps gain a glimmer of hope.

Unexpectedly, Luca did not order the ghoul to rush towards Roland. Instead, he personally raised his staff and began chanting a spell.

A pale purple current of energy swirled, within which blue lightning leaped, transforming into countless fine blades that hurtled towards Roland, emitting a sharp whistling sound in the air.

Damn!

This is forcing him to take the initiative!

Roland gritted his teeth, his muscles trembling, and charged towards the ghoul not far away, his longsword pointing straight at its throat.

"Gurgle..."

The ghoul roared as its massive body transformed into a streak of bluish-gray light, its claws, like heavy hammers, slamming down on Roland.

The purple blade surged forward, encompassing the ghoul within its attack range, but only leaving slight marks on its back, unable to stop it in the slightest.

Roland, taking advantage of the momentum of the charge, suddenly sank down, crouched between the ghoul's legs, and darted past, his longsword flashing with a cold, sharp edge.

If you can kill a mage, don't get entangled with monsters!

when--

A pale blue shield flashed, deflecting the sword blade. Luca stared at Roland, who was standing close at hand, and said coldly, "What a pity."

Defensive spell?

Roland's eyes were cold, but he ignored everything. Even though the longsword had a slight recoil, he twisted his body and used his other hand to pull out a dagger and stab it into the other man's throat.

However, the blue light shield reappeared in the blink of an eye, steadily blocking the dagger, and the strong recoil instantly sent the dagger flying to the ground.

Instant shield? Or continuous shield?

Seeing Roland's astonished expression, Luca narrowed his eyes slightly, gently pressing his staff against Roland's chest while chanting rapidly.

boom!

A faint flame burst forth in an instant, and the surging force instantly sent Roland flying, dragging him for more than ten feet across the mud before he finally came to a stop after crashing into a mound of earth.

"cough……"

Roland took a deep breath of the cold air and felt a wave of dizziness. He struggled to stand up and looked down at the wound on his chest.

It was just a scorch mark, not a serious injury. The key to this spell was the impact, to create distance between the attacker and the caster, rather than to kill.

But this casting speed... from the start of chanting to its complete completion, it only took less than half a second, right?

Staring at Luca, who stood silently in the distance, Roland knew he had no room to hold back; only a desperate fight would offer him a sliver of hope.

"Gurgle—"

The ghoul roared and strode toward Roland, its fine teeth bared, revealing a short tongue that glowed with a bluish light.

Roland stared coldly at it, holding his longsword across his chest. He had decided that he had to kill this monster completely before he could fight Luca with all his might.

Flames surged in the distance, and Seth was also trying his best to get closer to Austin's position, but his situation was much better than Roland's.

If I can go back, I must buy a ranged weapon.

The thought flashed through Roland's mind in an instant. He raised his longsword, and a few rays of white light appeared on the blade. A strange sense of calm rose within him.

The ghoul drew closer, its towering form casting a shadow over Roland, and a thick, foul stench filled the air.

With its claws outstretched, it grinned maliciously as it attacked the tiny human, already anticipating the taste of fresh flesh and blood to come.

call!

The sound of the longsword cutting through the air was deep and muffled, not a sharp hiss, but a solid arc of light, without any fancy moves, only pure, upward, and destructive power.

Clang—Snap!

First came the loud bang of metal colliding violently with a hard object!

The sword's edge struck precisely at the junction of the ghoul's broken arm bone and the metal plate embedded in its shoulder blade—the strongest point, yet also the most vulnerable to the transmission of force.

The rusted iron fragments and black bone dust exploded with a sound.

Then came a teeth-grinding cracking sound as the cold, hard blade pierced flesh, like splitting open a bundle of thick, soaked leather.

Finally, that destructive force, spreading purely upwards, like an invisible hammer, slammed into the ghoul's body along the cleaved wound.

"roar--!!!"

The ghoul swayed and let out a strange roar.

Its body was not knocked back, but instead seemed to be "nailed" down, its heavy punches hanging limply downwards, its split chest revealing its already lifeless heart, which had been shattered into pieces.

laugh--

The longsword was drawn, and the massive body began to sway from side to side before finally convulsing and falling to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, like a tower of rotting flesh that had lost its power.

Combat Skill: Heavy Strike.