The story of the black silk female knight

A light blue magic crystal on the golden gauntlet emitted a dazzling light before shattering, and a stream of magic power enveloped Yashiro's entire body.

Surrounded by the azure magical light, Yashiro took a few deep breaths, his expression visibly relaxing, before throwing a punch that slammed into the ground.

"Beast King Torrent Fist!"

Roar!

A gigantic phantom of a lion flashed past Yashiro, and blue waves surged forth, instantly engulfing the arena completely.

Although the rats that absorbed the earth elemental power of the Rock Bear became much stronger and faster, their weight did not increase. They were unable to maintain their balance in the rapids and were easily swept together. The arena's drainage system then swept them all into the sewers.

Snap~~ Snap~~ Snap~~

Before Yashilo could even catch his breath, a strangely rhythmic clapping sounded, followed by a sinister, hoarse, and unpleasant voice:

"As expected of the young lady of the Nora Trading Company... Although your own strength isn't that great, your equipment is quite interesting~~"

"You've finally appeared, Gray Rat."

Despite facing a Radiant-rank powerhouse who was theoretically almost impossible for him to defeat, Yashiro still exuded tremendous confidence:

"You know what? Only rats hiding in the shadows can make people uneasy. Rats that are exposed will only end up being killed."

Opposite Yashiro, the corpse of the Rock Bear and the swarm of rats were gone, replaced by a small, hunched figure.

She had long, gray hair and wore a cheap, dirty gray linen robe, making her look both young and old.

She was young because her face was very young, and her skin was as smooth and supple as a young girl's. She seemed to be a young woman in her prime, much like Qianyecao.

Aging is the aura and feeling she exudes, like an old woman who is about to die... making it difficult to tell whether her gray hair is natural or faded with age.

This person is the Reveler Gray Rat. Valensa has seen her portrait in church materials and would never mistake her for someone else.

Upon seeing the gray rat finally appear, all the experts who had been lying in ambush finally moved.

Six figures appeared instantly in the arena, surrounding the gray rat and protecting Yashiro behind them.

Among them were Rika, a succubus paladin of the Star Glory level; two nobles dressed in gorgeous gowns; and three expressionless but murderous Nora Merchant Guild employees... all of whom should be top-notch military personnel.

"You can't escape, Gray Rat."

One of the middle-aged men, dressed in a red tuxedo and holding a magic wand, had a solemn expression:

"This is the capital of Fran, not a place for revelers like you to run rampant. Are you prepared to face judgment in the flames?"

"The capital of France? Hehehe... That's hilarious."

Despite being surrounded by six powerful experts at the Radiant Rank, Gray Rat remained completely calm and laughed in a very unpleasant voice:

"Don't tell me this is just the outskirts of the capital. Even if it were the royal palace, so what? Back then, that fox could come and go as it pleased... Hmph, to be frank, all of you Radiant-ranked members of the Fran are utterly useless!"

"If she could do it back then, why do you think I can't... huh?"

The gray rat seemed to want to give them a good taunt, but the military experts wouldn't give prior notice like nobles and paladins would.

One of the military soldiers, whose fighting style was similar to Giru's, immediately launched a leaping slash, wielding a greatsword and slashing down at the gray rat from mid-air with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks.

Enough with the nonsense, watch my Mountain-Shattering and Earth-Splitting Sword!

The other two military experts also worked in perfect unison. One chanted rapidly, turning the ground beneath the gray rat's feet into quicksand that swallowed half of her body, while the other drew his longsword and focused intently, ready to deliver the final blow at any moment.

"Hmph, stupid."

Half of his body was stuck in quicksand, and a powerful blow was about to strike down on his head, but the gray rat still showed no sign of panic, and simply snapped his fingers lightly.

Snapped.

In an instant, as if time stood still, the six Radiant-rank experts surrounding the gray rat all turned gray, and the warrior who launched the attack also fell from mid-air.

"Jie Jie Jie Jie..."

Having succeeded in one move, the gray rat laughed even more triumphantly and arrogantly:

"Do you really think I didn't know that sly fox had leaked the news beforehand? I knew all along that there would be a lot of people here to welcome me today, and I made preparations long ago."

How does the petrification curse feel? Hmph... From the moment you stepped into the arena, you were already cursed... How can the sacred gladiatorial combat be interfered with by outsiders? Isn't that the favorite saying of you glamorous types? Yet you yourselves have violated it, so it's only natural that you're now being cursed and punished, isn't it?

Hehehehe..."

After turning all six Star-level experts into stone statues with a curse, Gray Rat laughed maniacally for a while before looking at Yashiro with a cruel smile:

"Well... now it's just us left... Miss... someone as beautiful, wealthy, talented, and with a promising future as you is the person I envy the most!"

So, I, the little mouse... will destroy everything you have, leaving you with only despair for the rest of your life!

Chapter 134 It's broken, it's turned into a figurine.

Six Star-level experts were petrified by Gray Rat in one move?

Valensa was stunned by the magical projection, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth.

She had already greatly overestimated the abilities of the gray rats and had discussed various countermeasures with Tia, but the fact that six Star-level warriors had temporarily lost their combat power right from the start was still far beyond her expectations.

She was eager to meet with Tia to discuss what to do next, but soon realized she didn't have time to worry about Yashiro.

Almost at the same time that the six Star-level experts in the arena were petrified, everything around Valensa suddenly grew larger.

The snack cart next to her, which used to be only slightly taller than her waist, now has wheels almost as long as her.

...No, it shouldn't be that everything around me has gotten bigger, but that I have gotten smaller. This is most likely the curse of the gray rat at work.

But... when was that?

If the petrification curse is triggered by entering the arena, what about the shrinking curse?

Valensa looked around and found that no one in the entire resort had escaped; everyone had been turned into a miniature figurine, just like her.

...Could it be because I saw the magical projection in the sky?

This was the only thing Valensa could think of, and almost everyone at the resort had done it.

"what!"

Suddenly, a woman's scream pulled Valensa back to reality from her thoughts:

"Rat! Look! So many big rats!"

Valensa looked in the direction of the sound and indeed found that many rats had suddenly appeared in the resort and were attacking the people who had been reduced to the size of miniature figurines.

These rats are probably different from the summoned creatures of the gray rats in the arena; they are just ordinary rats. Under normal circumstances, even an ordinary girl could easily stomp them to death if she was brave enough.

But when humans are reduced to the size of miniature figurines, mice will have the advantage.

This not only startled girls who were already afraid of mice, but also many men.

"What are you yelling about? They're just a bunch of rats, what's there to be afraid of?"

At the critical moment, a man who appeared to be a member of the Nora Chamber of Commerce management team stepped forward:

"Don't forget we're employees of the Nora Trading Company! You haven't forgotten your regular monster defense training, have you? Find any usable weapons around you and form a defensive array!"

"Yes, sir!"

That's how humans are; in a panic, as long as someone steps forward and calmly gives orders, even if there's still fear and confusion in their hearts, they can quickly get into action.

In the world of Frenoia, a continent teeming with monsters, protecting goods from being robbed by monsters or bandits is essential for doing business.

In addition to hiring professional guards, the Nora Merchant Guild also regularly trains its ordinary employees so that they can protect themselves when facing monster attacks, or at least not become a hindrance.

The effects of this training are now evident. The Nora Chamber of Commerce employees, now the size of figurines, are fighting off the rats that suddenly appeared, using wine glasses and small plates as armor and knives, forks, and even toothpicks as weapons.

Valensa didn't bother with the ordinary rats; instead, she continued to focus on the magical projection while using the little bat to contact Fran.

"How's the situation on your end? Can the divine magic at the cathedral be activated? Once the petrification curse on Sister Rika and the others is lifted, the gray rats won't be a threat."

"No... no."

Fran was panting heavily, seemingly also fighting the rats, but the situation wasn't good:

"That bastard Gray Rat seems to have anticipated this. Our positioning spell has been interfered with, and we have to re-establish the coordinates at the cathedral before we can cast the spell again... This will take at least half an hour!"

"Half an hour..."

Valensa glanced up at the magical projection in the air again; the situation was already quite dire.

Without the protection of six experts, even with his powerful equipment, Yashiro was still far behind the Radiant-rank experts and was badly beaten.

Not only that, the gray rats were also projecting a magical image, showing Yashiro the scene of the entire resort in ruins due to the rat swarm.

"Did you see that? The young lady from the Nora Trading Company?"

While relentlessly firing spells similar to Shadow Arrow to suppress Yashiro, Gray Rat pointed at the magical projection with immense pride:

"Your carefully planned thanksgiving ceremony is now ruined... Although your chamber of commerce's employees are much stronger than I imagined, they are still mostly ordinary people, and my swarm of rats is endless and will eventually break through their defenses."

By then, the largest merchant guild in the Kingdom of Fran should be finished, right? Just like your wonderful life, young lady, hahaha...

That's not all!

As the gray rat spoke, it revealed an even more vicious expression and played a second magical projection.

!

This time, Yashilo finally couldn't help but panic a little, because the protagonist in the projection was none other than the missing beautiful auctioneer, Lanzhi.

She was wearing a fitted, high-slit black dress, her hands were tied and she was suspended in mid-air, her mouth was stuffed with a wad of cloth, and her feet were about half a meter off the ground.

The background of the projection was very dark, seemingly an underground space, dark and damp.

But that's not the most important thing. What's important is that there are many rats gathering at the feet of the beautiful auctioneer.

These rats can't reach the beautiful auctioneer who's half a meter off the ground yet, but as their numbers increase, they pile up on top of each other, and it's only a matter of time before they can bite Lan Zhi by stepping on their companions.

"See that? Your closest friend is in danger, hehehehe..."

The gray rat seemed quite pleased with the panic that Yashiro had finally shown, and laughed even more wildly:

"I'm not afraid to tell you, the number of rats in that place is closely related to the number here... That's right, for every rat of mine you kill here, your friend's place will have one more rat."

So what should you do next? Should you watch helplessly as your friend is eaten by the rats to protect yourself, or should you take the pain for her and let all your employees see it?

Hahaha... I'm really curious what choice you'll make!

"...You filthy rat! I will never forgive you, never!"

Yashiro gritted his teeth, furious, with blood seemingly seeping from his hair, yet he stopped killing the rats in the arena and switched to a one-sided defense.

Valensa, who had been observing Yashiro through magical projection, saw an unusual spark in Yashiro's eyes.

She recognized the firelight somewhat.

Yashilo likely has another trump card that would allow her to fight even against a Star-level enemy, which is why she wasn't flustered at all when facing the Gray Rat alone.

However, Lan Zhi's arrest made her hesitant to act rashly.

The three curses of the Grey Rat—petrifying six Star-level members, shrinking everyone in the resort, and interfering with divine magic positioning—led Valensa to a hypothesis.

Chapter 135 The Meatball Charges

Miss Thief had warned that Gray Rat's curse was very powerful, and Valensa was prepared, but the curse ability Gray Rat has shown so far is still too powerful.

She instantly used petrification to control six Star-level beings of the same rank as her, shrunk everyone in the resort, and disrupted the divine spell positioning already completed by the Church of the Sun.

If these three things were done individually by the gray rat, they wouldn't be considered outrageous. However, the fact that it could complete these three things almost instantly and then look completely relaxed without even breaking a sweat is clearly abnormal.

Magic can disregard some physical laws, but even Star-level spells are far from being able to violate the law of conservation of energy.

No matter how sophisticated or advanced the technology of an electrical appliance is, if it is overloaded, it will either short-circuit and trigger the fuse to automatically cut off the power, or cause a fire.

The same principle applies to the operation of magic and the maintenance of spells. With such a large consumption of magic power, a normal Star-level spellcaster should have been unable to hold on and should have even suffered a backlash.

The gray rat not only looked relaxed, but even toyed with Yashiro in a playful manner, which clearly indicated that there was another source of magic maintaining the operation of the curse.

Given the arrogance of the revelers, the gray rat likely has no accomplices, so the source of magic power maintaining the curse is most likely some kind of magical item or magic circle.

As long as that destruction can be stopped...

Valensa's eyes flickered as she made her decision.

She stopped paying attention to the magical projection in mid-air and took out the little bat again to contact Fran:

"Where are you? I'll come help you first."

"Hey?"