Chapter 524, Section 523: The Recipient (Thanks to the guild leader, Xu Ri)
Jump to the side, turn around, and quickly reach your hands behind your waist!
The instant the strange noise came, Aurora's body reacted instinctively, trying to pull out the pair of poisoned cross thorns.
However, the result was that they didn't even manage to find a weapon.
Having already grasped her strength, the swordsman lost interest in her.
Aurora felt a gentle breeze brush past her, followed by a strange lightness on her shoulders.
She looked down and caught a glimpse of two familiar arms leaving her at the edge of her vision, tracing an arc in the air before landing with two soft "thuds" on the damp, muddy ground, their fingers still twitching slightly.
After a brief silence, intense pain and realization exploded simultaneously.
"Aaaaaah—! My...my hand!" A piercing scream echoed in the basement.
Aurora staggered backward, her armless body losing its balance, and fell heavily into a pool of blood. She struggled, but without support, she couldn't even get up.
With a soft thud, the Sword Saint coiled one of its tentacles around the drawn sword, its tip untouched by blood. It didn't even glance at the woman on the ground, but casually slashed through the air again, releasing the bound man from his restraints.
The sudden change in the situation left the man, who had just been immersed in a life-or-death hatred, somewhat bewildered.
He stood there blankly, looking at his freed hands and feet, then at his screaming enemy on the ground, and finally at the four swords that had sheathed their swords as if they had only done a trivial thing.
For a moment, I didn't know whether I should first give this magical Pooji a good whack, or rush up and kill Aurora on the ground.
The Sword Saint clearly didn't care what he was thinking.
With a short kick, he leaped out of the basement and chased after the cult's main force, which he sensed was nearby.
Only after the figure disappeared with a thud did the man snap back to his senses. He was panting heavily, his gaze falling on the woman struggling in the pool of blood, then on the cross-shaped dagger that had fallen to the ground.
He picked up the bloodstained murder weapon, turned around and walked step by step toward Aurora, who had lost both arms and was pale from blood loss and fear. He slowly forced a genuine, cheerful smile onto his face.
...
The delegation paused on a forest path.
"Is it really okay to send Fourteen alone?" Inanna stared in the direction where the Sword Saint had disappeared, her brows furrowed with obvious worry.
Number Ten remained unmoved, even quite displeased: "It was that guy who couldn't distinguish mission priorities who acted on his own. Our primary responsibility is to protect you; eradicating the cult is completely irrelevant!"
Number Four in Inanna's arms didn't speak, but just squirmed restlessly.
Inanna sensed its thoughts, released its grip, and said, "Little Four, I'm a little worried about Fourteen. Could you go check on it for me?"
"Yay... cough, no." Number Four immediately jumped up, then tried to appear composed, patting Inanna's shoulder with his tentacle in an old-fashioned manner, "Don't worry, Pinky, leave this little thing to me."
After saying that, he couldn't wait to chase after the direction where Sword Saint Puji had left, leaving behind a series of cheerful "puji" sounds.
Seeing this, Number Ten didn't say anything more, but moved closer to Inanna, his magic ready to be unleashed.
...
When the fourth set off, Sword Saint Puji had already caught up with the cult's group.
The two black-robed believers at the back of the group noticed the disturbance and turned around abruptly. Before they could unleash their poisoned short blades and the spells they were about to cast, their movements froze instantly, their heads slowly shifting away from their necks, and they fell to the ground along with their bodies.
"It's Puji again!" Charon turned around, wanting to deal with the Sword Saint Puji.
An arm covered in armor blocked his way.
"My lord?" Charon was stunned.
“You are no match for it. Command your troops to disperse and retreat. I will deal with it.”
"Disperse and evacuate?" Charon could not hide his shock, because it meant that Lord Seral did not have a sure chance of victory.
The opponent is just a poopy, isn't it?
"Go now!" Seral hissed, offering no further explanation.
He gripped the black greatsword on his back with a reverse grip, broke away from the group, and blocked the path of the Sword Saint's pursuit.
In the clearing in the woods, only one person and one mushroom remained, locked in a standoff.
Elwayne is feeling really bad right now.
It's not hard to tell from the aura that this guy in front of me is the strongest among this group of cultists; I can finally put my skills to good use.
He usually asks a question or two at times like this.
But Puji can't speak, and the other party isn't inside the fungal network.
I feel terrible.
Therefore, without further words, only the sword was drawn.
One of its tentacles deftly coiled around the scabbard, drawing out a sword that was constantly dripping water.
With a flick of its tentacle, an almost transparent line of water slashed through the air and shot toward Seral!
Seral's massive body displayed an unexpected speed as he abruptly dodged to the side.
However, the water line, though seemingly gentle, was actually incredibly sharp and its speed was beyond expectation.
With a soft sound of metal being easily cut, a corner of Seral's heavy shoulder armor on his left shoulder was neatly sliced off, the cut as smooth as a mirror.
What a terrifying attack.
Seral realized that his expensive armor was probably useless against this Puji, except to slow him down, but there was no time to take it off now.
Seral was on high alert, but the four swordsmen opposite him curled up into a ball.
[Rolling Charge LV10]
【Sword Mastery】
The tentacles wielding the sword flailing wildly, and wherever the sword saint rolled, even a leaf was sliced into countless pieces.
However, Seral was not injured. He dodged in time, only blocking two swords at the edge, and the Sword Saint flew straight past him.
The Sword Saint stopped abruptly at a distance.
It's not easy to turn when swinging a sword...
Despite his initial failure, the Sword Saint remained unfazed, even considering several other combinations.
Elwin just hoped that the guy on the other side wouldn't die too quickly!
Seral's black greatsword clashed frequently with the Sword Saint's four swords, the crisp metallic clangs as dense as a torrential rain!
However, a sense of humiliation rose in Seral's heart.
As the exchanges continued, he clearly sensed that his opponent still had room to maneuver.
He, Seral, the recipient, was used as a live test subject by a mere puffball!
But the insurmountable barrier of strength cruelly lies before us.
When Puji is using only one sword, he needs to exert all his strength to fight back.
When the other three tentacles also coiled around the sword hilt, the inhuman and bizarre swordplay completely disrupted his rhythm. If his opponent hadn't been in no hurry to kill him, he would have been torn to shreds long ago.
However, he was not without the power to resist; he was waiting...
It's here!
Sword Saint's body contracted rapidly, then he sprang forward like a spring. At the same time, his tentacles showed amazing flexibility, transforming into a sharp stab that was difficult to see with the naked eye, heading straight for Seral's chest!
This attack combined the explosive power of a jump with the unpredictable trajectory of a tentacle thrust, making it fast, accurate, and ruthless, effectively blocking most evasive angles.
However, he never intended to dodge!
Two longswords pierced his chest, the impact damaging his internal organs and forcing him backward.
However, beneath Seral's visor, a ghostly blue flame ignited, and almost simultaneously, the same ghostly blue flame erupted from the black greatsword.
The flames had no heat, yet they exuded a chilling aura that devoured life.
The recipient!
The Sword Saint immediately recognized what was in front of him.
A heavy horizontal slash swept across the waist of the Sword Saint, who was still in mid-air and had not yet landed!
But there are still two swords.
The swords clashed, and using the force of the recoil, the Sword Saint released the two swords still stuck in Seral's body and escaped the sweeping range.
But it wasn't without any results.
The swordsman's short leg was still touched by the flames, and the mycelium was visibly withering and burning...
However, before Seral could even show a smile on his face beneath the mask, the Sword Saint swiftly slashed down with his sword, cutting off that part of the mushroom.
The mycelium at the break point is wriggling and gradually recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Standing on one leg for the time being, Elwayne became increasingly satisfied with his chubby body.
Aside from being a bit short and having some inconvenience when carrying a sword, it's almost entirely advantageous.
If a human body were to come into contact with this blue flame, it would be quite troublesome.
The "poop" method is much more convenient; just cut it wherever it gets stuck, and it will grow back in no time.
Moreover, Puji is light, so even if both of his feet are cut off, he can still move freely using his tentacles.
This, however, caused hardship for Serar.
He intended to kill the enemy by inflicting serious injuries, but ended up killing nothing.
Severely injured, he couldn't even serve as a sandbag anymore.
Sure enough, the Sword Saint stopped holding back and tapped the ground with the tip of his sword, transforming into a spinning top as he swept past Seral.
“Death is nothing but a return to…the afterlife…” The head of the recipient fell to the ground.
It's a decent punching bag, just a little less comfortable than the Fifteenth one. The speechless Sword Saint silently gave his assessment in his mind before chasing after the remaining cultists.
...
...
...
Sword Saint Puji and Number Four returned to the delegation one after the other.
Sword Saint Puji Mushroom Hat stretched out, its four tentacles still mimicking the trajectory of sword moves, as if the afterglow of the previous swing still lingered—it had already begun to consider new moves.
Number Four, however, was unhappy.
It threw itself into Inanna's outstretched arms, its mushroom cap drooping deflated.
It ran swiftly but encountered no enemy. The slow-running cultists had long been wiped out by Fourteen, and the fast-running ones were nowhere to be caught by its short legs.
He was excited for nothing, but in the end he only came back with a belly full of resentment. Now he could only snuggle in Inanna's arms, his tentacles idly twirling the ends of her hair, sulking to himself.
A dozen or so disheveled figures had appeared beside the delegation.
They were the survivors, all in a daze, clearly greatly frightened, but apart from the man in the lead, they had no external injuries.
They were overwhelmed with gratitude towards Inanna: "Thank you, my lady, thank you... the warriors of the Mushroom Clan..."
The rescued man first kowtowed to the Sword Saint, then turned to Inanna: "I am Eugene, a poison master, whom you and this mushroom warrior rescued from the clutches of death. If you do not mind, I am willing to give you this body and the remaining years of my life. Just give the order, and even if there are burning thorns or frozen abysses ahead, I will not hesitate!"
(End of this chapter)
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