Chapter 89 Chapter 88 Warrior Chamberlain
If it were someone else facing such a sudden change, it would already be too late to react, and they could only watch helplessly as they were struck. It’s like when you’re playing a game, just checking the mini-map, and suddenly a stone golem jumps out of the bushes at the roadside and charges at you; most people can only stare at the golem crashing into them on the screen, while a few only realize it when they hear the sound.
However, Ji Ma was one of the very few who could execute a “blink” ability in time. Years of battle experience allowed her to throw herself down to the ground without even turning her head to look ahead, immediately activating her extraordinary ability and using desire to enhance her “extraordinary charm” effect.
The invisible bias force field around her intensified immediately. The sharp wood block that was originally aimed at her back was all deflected to the side by an invisible hand, and dozens of wood splinters flew past her body.
Even the airwaves were affected; they swirled around her, tracing out an oval protective deflection field next to her. That was the protective effect brought by “extraordinary charm.”
The dust-covered floor pressed against Ji Ma’s face as her hands swiftly slapped the ground.
“Thump.”
Her forehead still hit the floor, causing the dust to choke her. The sound of wood crashing against steel reached her ears, echoing along with the booming noise from the earlier explosion.
Ji Ma couldn’t care less about checking for injuries; she pushed herself off the ground and dashed around to the back of George, who resembled an iron tower. At this moment, she was immensely grateful for the agility boost brought by her level-up, as it allowed her to escape so quickly.
Through the smoke at the entrance, a figure emerged. A dark-faced man with a terrifying scar across his face and a single eye stepped out of the mist. He too was clad in heavy full armor, thicker than ordinary full armor, with a high black faceplate. He wielded a long sword surrounded by crimson flames in one hand and held a metal shield in the other.
It was Chamberlain.
Upon seeing George, he was momentarily surprised and said, “I didn’t expect you to be sent by the church… that makes sense.”
Behind him, several extraordinarily tall soldiers bent as they walked out from behind Chamberlain. They stood nearly 2.2 meters tall, their arms heavily muscled, with one arm thicker than Ji Ma’s torso.
Ji Ma recognized them.
She recalled when the benevolent lord who mastered the “flesh-and-blood master” profession started researching the unique extraordinary abilities to enhance one’s power through body modification. Upon learning about this, Ji Ma bragged to him, claiming broad knowledge.
She mentioned having seen an emperor who unified Terra successfully inventing forbidden techniques to strengthen the human body. After enduring a series of failures with many eliminated prototypes, he eventually perfected it. Nineteen surgeries produced terrifying warriors with three lungs and two hearts, towering nearly 2.5 meters tall, capable of suppressing a city’s rebellion with just twenty of them.
Later, a man named Korr Doraemon improved the method, enabling the mass production of these terrifying warriors akin to baking bread.
All of this was just Ji Ma’s exaggerated recollection, which stunned the benevolent lord. He also aspired to become an emperor, secretly conducting research for years. It seemed that his persistence had finally paid off.
These soldiers could tentatively be referred to as the big muscle men. Clad in chain mail, wearing steel helmets, and wielding swords and shields, they appeared markedly different from the earlier beast-like failures; they possessed a degree of intelligence and could actively engage in combat.
George was empty-handed a moment before smashing a nearby table leg with a punch, grabbing it as a weapon. Ji Ma also refused to fall behind, picking up a folding stool and raising it as her weapon.
Chamberlain raised his hand to stop the big muscle men from continuing to charge into the room, to avoid provoking George, advising, “You have nowhere to escape now, George. This place is already surrounded by my soldiers. I believe you can fight your way out against soldiers without any extraordinary power, but they can hold you back, and I have just advanced to gold recently. You’ve seen my tall companions; they aren’t ordinary soldiers. In short, we can kill you.”
Ordinary soldiers in extraordinary combat are simply used as meat shields and walls. That is their value for existing.
“Moreover, you’re holding onto a burden without any weapons; killing you would bring me no honor. How about this: you drop the table leg and surrender obediently. We in Shalin City don’t want to offend the church further. As long as you promise to fight a few battles for us, we can let you go. If you won’t fight, the church could pay a ransom too.”
It made a lot of sense. Everyone in the world knew that the church’s paladins valued promises and did not lie… It seemed he hadn’t recognized that George was the hero who impaled the demon king; when he finds out his true identity, he might just want to kill him…
Ji Ma thought about this and worried that George might not grasp the underlying principle; if he surrendered, she would likely suffer. After all, she was just a succubus, worth her weight in gold!
Just as Ji Ma was about to remind George, he said, “I appreciate your goodwill, but why do you believe I can’t escape?”
Chamberlain replied unyieldingly, “Your strength is at least silver tier, at most gold tier. Unless you are the hero George with the same name; if you were him, I’d probably be lying on the ground by now. You can’t even escape this room. Let me tell you, if you jump out of the window, my flames will burn you, including that girl.”
The big muscle men next to Chamberlain began to lose their patience. Their eyes turned red, like enraged bulls, nostrils flaring, feet scraping the floor.
With that, Chamberlain’s burned face turned toward George and said, “I’ll give you five seconds to consider, five…”
George threw the table leg.
The table leg spun through the air with a whooshing sound, heading toward Chamberlain, who raised his shield. It smashed against the shield’s surface and broke into three pieces.
George pushed off the floor, his heavy armor feeling as light as a feather, and charged toward Chamberlain.
“Seeking death.” Chamberlain said coldly, lowering his faceplate. With a swing of his sword, a blazing fireball was instantly formed and shot toward George.
Ji Ma quickly ducked down, hiding behind the bed. The scorching blast swept over her, and the explosion sound had just ceased when there came a series of loud crashes; George and the enemy had already engaged in combat.
Based on her years of battle experience, Ji Ma knew George was at a disadvantage on paper. He was currently at the gold tier and also a paladin, which meant his direct destructive power was inherently less than that of warriors focused on battle. But if victory were to be decided purely based on paper strength, there would be no need for fights; people would just report their levels.
Experience, skills, and treasures matter. Back in the hero league of her past life, the two assassins with almost equal economy; a low-health assassin could still take down a full-health one.
In Ji Ma’s view, George had an over 80% chance of winning. First of all, he had been demoted from diamond to gold, unlike Chamberlain, who was just a little fish that had recently leveled up from silver.
Secondly, Ji Ma firmly believed that George was an overpowered entity from another world; it was normal for him to kill enemies above his level — otherwise, how could she have been stabbed to death by him at the bedroom door? Everyone else only saw the demon king as the weakest in history; it was clear that this guy, George, was simply too strong.
As Ji Ma was lost in thought, she raised her head from behind the burning bed.
George was simultaneously being attacked by three people. Chamberlain found an opening, thrusting his shield forward to cover his attack, and his flame-wreathed longsword struck with incredible speed, appearing as a streak of fire. But George had already caught the trajectory of Chamberlain’s attack; he placed one hand on the shield and, with the other fist, charged toward the flame sword.
He was playing with fire! The thickness of the gauntlet was insufficient to block the blade.
Ji Ma’s heart skipped a beat just as she was thinking of how to turn the situation around.
However, she saw George’s fist not colliding head-on with the fiery sword but instead skimming past its blade, producing a shower of sparks, deflecting the sword, and landing a punch straight into Chamberlain’s stomach. The sound of metal buckling filled the entire room; while it didn’t cause any actual damage, that punch forced the heavily armored Chamberlain to step backward.
Using offense to replace defense, he applied the mindset of swordsmanship to his fists.
Ji Ma suddenly understood.
But George did not have just one enemy.
The big muscle men roared, swinging their swords down from both sides at George. With his fist still extended, regardless of how fast he was, he would undoubtedly take a hit.
Just then, one of the large blades struck his thick shoulder guard, deflecting to the side and creating a shower of sparks. George retaliated with a powerful punch against the other blade, grabbing the big muscle man’s wrist, and with a push against the ground and a twist of his waist, he easily hurled the entire big muscle man down toward the floor.
With a resounding “boom,” the entire room shook as the big muscle man crashed through the wooden floor, creating a hole as he fell through.
“Ji Ma, hurry!”
Just as George’s voice fell, flames surged behind him.
Without hesitation, Ji Ma jumped down the hole and, upon descending, saw George’s figure engulfed in flames. She landed on the big muscle man’s body, rolling on the splintered wood, and quickly scrambled up. Just as she was about to get up, her ankle felt as if it were clamped in an iron vise, causing her to grit her teeth in pain. Turning back, she came face-to-face with a pair of furious red eyes. The big muscle man on the ground was snorting hot air, his huge hand gripping her ankle tightly.
At this moment, George fell down from the hole, his steel boot delivering a heavy kick to the big muscle man’s chest. The chainmail was soft and provided little protection; the man’s chest crunched as it caved in. He turned to face George, who then stomped down hard on the big muscle man’s wrist, freeing Ji Ma.
“My sword?”
“Turn left when you exit.”
George pulled Ji Ma as they burst through the door, a loud crash resounded behind them. As Ji Ma stepped out, she glanced back to see it was Chamberlain; George was dragging her along, sprinting past soldiers in the corridor who had yet to react.
“Stop him!”
Just as Chamberlain’s furious shouts echoed, Ji Ma felt flames lick her back.
“Fire!”
Ji Ma shouted, and George let go of her hand, unhesitatingly grabbing a soldier who had been knocked down and throwing him back. He struck the fireball perfectly, dispelling the immediate danger.
The soldiers quickly reacted, thrusting their short spears and long swords at George. However, most of them were ordinary soldiers and couldn’t position themselves effectively in the corridor; George barreled through like a tank, absorbing their attacks without blocking. The spear tips and blades hit him, creating clanging sounds. Ji Ma followed closely behind, dodging and weaving to avoid the strikes.
Just as they turned a corner, they happened upon a group of big muscle men with axes and polearms, filling the yard and staring menacingly at them.
“Don’t even think about escaping!”
The one-eyed Chamberlain plunged out of the building, flames trailing behind him.
———
PS: Remember to play “Bestow the Ruler.” The water sprite mini-boss has a permanent “extraordinary charm” buff, increasing her defense level alarmingly. The whole team struggled to take her down for almost two minutes; it left quite an impression.
PSS: I do not recommend “Bestow the Ruler”; it has too many ridiculous setups.
