Rody turned the vine into a whip, wrapping it around himself, and beckoned to Lot.
Lot snorted coldly and shot towards Rody like lightning, leaving a trail of afterimages in mid-air. Before he even arrived, his sword qi had already torn through the air. The hard stone surface of the arena was marked with a long crack by his sword qi, stretching straight from his hand towards Rody's feet.
With a nimble side somersault, Rody dodged the direct attack of the sword qi.
He tucked in his knees and dodged Lot's subsequent waist-high slash. Hitting the ground with one palm, his body bounced up, evading Lot's whirlwind-like flurry of slashes for the third time. The vine rapidly spread on the ground, pulling Rody through the air, allowing him to glide effortlessly to the other side of the arena. Lot's sword qi and flurry of slashes missed, and turning back, he found Rody standing steadily in his original position, slowly beckoning to him again.
Lot was furious, but the audience applauded vigorously, cheering for Rody.
Although just a one-star novice magic apprentice without a magic shield or fighting spirit protection, the miraculous kid's agility and perfect coordination with the vine were truly astonishing.
"Go Rody, you're the best, we support you, keep it up, keep it up!" The girls from the fan group jumped and shouted.
"Fight, hit him hard, make him lose his teeth!" Stanley jumped up excitedly.
Lot swung his sword continuously, unleashing dozens of sword qi, surrounding Rody's position. No matter where Rody tried to dodge, up, down, left, or right, he couldn't escape the dense sword qi.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats, wondering if Rody could dodge it.
There seemed no way for a one-star novice magic apprentice to evade such dense sword qi attacks. It was impossible to dodge without a magic shield or fighting spirit protection, or by flying into the air.
Rody didn't move; he lacked the ability to fly away.
Countless sword qis slashed through his body, hissing as they left numerous marks, as if he was being sliced into countless pieces.
People covered their eyes, unable to bear the sight of him dying on the spot. Without magic or fighting spirit protection, it was impossible for him to survive under such a barrage of sword qi. But when people moved their hands away from their faces, they were shocked to find Rody still standing in the same place, the stone floor beneath his feet marked with sword qi slashes.
If not for those marks, they wouldn't believe that Rody had just safely passed through the dense sword qi.
"What exactly happened just now? Magic cameraman, please replay the footage and slow it down fifty times so that everyone can see how Lieutenant Rody did it!" The pop diva's request echoed everyone's thoughts.
"Yes." The magic cameraman replayed the footage, slowing it down for a closer look.
In the slowed-down replay, people could see Rody's feet moving in a mysterious, incredibly graceful manner, akin to an elf wandering through a flower field or a white crane dancing in the snow.
As Lot's sword qi continuously attacked, Rody first moved slightly slower towards the later attacks, then towards those brushing past him. He perfectly glided through the tiny gaps between the sword qi, as effortlessly as a fish swimming through coral reefs, as easily as a dancer letting his partner pass under his arm, as naturally as a breeze passing through willow branches...
The tiny gaps created by the swinging of the sword qi allowed him to precisely capture and navigate through them.
Even in the replay, people watched with bated breath, not daring to disturb his fluid movements. Any slight error in such navigation could have disastrous consequences, but Rody's movements were flawlessly executed, beyond criticism, only deserving of admiration. If an ordinary person tried to replicate his movements, not to mention avoiding incoming sword qi, even walking slowly in a fixed position would be difficult. Rody's ability to capture and dodge the sword qi attacks was so impressive that even the agile Ghost Stinger and Shadow Thief were left astounded.
"Clap, clap, clap, clap..." The audience's applause erupted like a torrential downpour.
There was no other way for them to express their excitement.
Everyone wanted to cheer, but excitement choked their voices, unable to shout out at that moment. What they witnessed was not just a competition, but a perfect display of martial arts as an art form.
"I wasn't worried at all, you know? I knew he could do it! He's our leader, understand? He's the miraculous kid, he can do anything!" Stanley yelled excitedly, although he had been very worried, he would never admit he doubted Rody's ability.
"This guy is a formidable opponent!" Dragon Knight Nutidora and Prince Vincent exchanged glances, their eyes showing fear.
"Good, good! I like that footwork, oh, I need to practice it!" Red-Haired Saul clapped his hands enthusiastically.
"Interesting." Ice Demon Gao humphed lightly but nodded in approval.
"There's more interesting stuff to come. If you try, you'll know his prowess," Kris said, standing not far from Ice Demon Gao. He smiled slightly, clapping his hands, his expression a mix of pride and arrogance.
In the arena, Lot, hearing the thunderous applause, turned pale with anger, knowing the applause was not for him.
He slowly sheathed his Demon Slayer Silver Sword and charged towards Rody.
In the moment before reaching him, his treasure unsheathed faster than lightning, slashing powerfully at Rody's waist. If the sword qi had been released earlier, Rody could have dodged, but if it was released at the last moment, could Rody still avoid it? In a situation where one couldn't predict his own attack mode, any movement would only create an opening for his own attack.
Lot didn't care whether this sword strike would cut Rody in half. He only knew that killing Rody as quickly as possible was the best method.
Every minute Rody remains on this stage increases the audience's favor towards him.
He must die, and the sooner the better.
Rody allowed Lot's sword to cut him in half, and his upper body somersaulted to the ground...
"Wow!" the crowd exclaimed in shock.
"My God! Rody, Rody is done for!" Many people jumped up in fright.
"No! Don't, please!" The girls from the fan group nearly cried in horror, hardly daring to look at what was happening in the arena.
However, as soon as Lot sheathed his sword, Rody straightened up, unharmed except for a cut in his clothes at the abdomen. This left Lot completely dumbfounded, unable to fathom how Rody could have dodged under such circumstances.
At the pop diva's signal, the magic cameraman replayed the scene three times in slow motion.
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It took three viewings for the audience to clearly see what happened.
At the moment of the sword qi's impact, Rody's eyes were closed, and as the sword edge passed, his upper body performed a forward somersault.
While flipping, his legs kicked straight out, stretching his body in mid-air, allowing Lot's Demon Slayer Silver Sword to slash just beneath him. The illusion of speed made it look like he was split in half and the upper half flew away.
The audience didn't have time to ponder why Rody could dodge Lot's waist-high sword slash with his eyes closed; they just clapped frantically.
It was thrilling!
Among all the contestants, perhaps only the miraculous kid could perform such an incredible and beautiful dodge. As a novice magic apprentice, he stood his ground against the powerful temple knight, not only holding his own but also effortlessly outmaneuvering him.
No wonder he was invincible on the orc and demon battlefield, returning triumphant with zero casualties.
"God of Light above, mental imprisonment," Lot suddenly took out a scroll and unfurled it.
A beam of light rapidly expanded, shooting out thousands of light strands, eventually engulfing the entire arena like a sea of light. When the light dissipated, Rody was found lying in the center of the arena, his ever-present life vine nowhere to be seen.
The crowd was astounded. What kind of power was this, so domineering?
The miraculous kid, impervious to sword qi, was now lying on the ground after a flash of holy light? Even his summoned vine was forcibly unsummoned and vanished? Those in the know turned pale, while those unaware were confused and still discussing. The fan group and the elite team all stood up anxiously, looking at Rody in the arena, their hearts filled with worry.
Everyone knew that Rody was a one-star novice magic apprentice who couldn't even cast a small fireball, using his mental power as his strength.
If there was any power that could imprison his mental power, then he was in danger...
Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands, Rody stood up.
Rody's face was expressionless, with even a hint of a mocking smile at the corner of his lips. Slowly, he drew a silver dagger from his bosom and made a cut on his arm. Blood dripped down, and the green vine, in response to the blood on the ground, shot out rapidly. Before the crowd could cheer for him, countless points of light emerged in the arena, forming a hand of light that grabbed the green vine and then disappeared with it.
In mid-air, it seemed as if angels were chanting, with countless points of light forming light feathers that fluttered down. Amid these beautiful and pure light feathers, Rody seemed to be struck by a barrage of arrows, clutching his body in agony, blood gushing from his mouth. His golden mental power, not to mention forming a war hammer, didn't even take shape as a single thread of light, dissipating into nothingness. Despite repeatedly cutting his arm and shedding blood, Rody couldn’t summon the life vine.
Lot charged at Rody, flashing past him.
Rody roared and quickly took off his clothes, throwing them to the ground. The clothes shattered on the ground, turning into stone.
Rody's right leg, like his clothes, was also turning to stone. The black petrification rapidly spread up his right leg, stone-encasing it up to the knee in an instant. Then, Lot coldly smiled, waving his Demon Slayer Sword, slashing out continuous sword qi. With one leg petrified, it was impossible for Rody to dodge through the sword qi as he had before, requiring the butterfly-like coordination of both feet.
Faced with continuous sword qi, what could Rody, with a petrified right leg, do? Lot didn’t give him time to think, slashing out double the amount of sword qi. In the final slash, he sheathed his sword and rushed forward, preparing to deliver a waist-high slash to Rody, as he had done before.
This time, without his right leg, could Rody leap like a fish as before?
...
"Ahhh..."
A scream rang out, but it wasn’t Rody’s; it was Lot's.
People didn't understand what happened, although a few powerful beings like Ice Demon Gao did. The magic cameraman was the first to replay the footage in slow motion, slowed down to the limit, a hundred times slower, allowing everyone to clearly see the entire sequence of the fight.
Amidst the countless sword qi, Rody didn’t dodge. He protected his head and face with his arms and bent down.
The sharp sword qi slashed across his body, causing instant injuries and blood to splatter. At this moment, Lot charged forward, his Demon Slayer Sword flashing out of its sheath. But Rody simultaneously reached out to forcibly grab Lot's sword. Lot's foot heavily kicked Rody’s petrified right leg, toppling him, while the sword was pulled from Rody’s hand and thrust into his left chest.
As Rody's body slid to the side, the bloodied sword slipping out, he somersaulted downwards, backward-kicking with his left leg towards Lot's face.
As his left foot repelled Lot, his right hand holding the silver dagger used the momentum of the kick to swiftly stab, stopping at Lot's throat. Although the demon-breaking dagger pierced through Lot's protective magic shield and fighting spirit, creating a red dot on Lot's throat, Rody's expression of anger softened, eventually withdrawing his hand.
But as he withdrew, Lot thrust his Demon Slayer Sword once more, piercing Rody's left chest completely through the back.
The fierce expression on Lot's face was clearly seen by everyone, forming a stark contrast with the sorrowful expression on Rody's face. Once again, people saw that right after being stabbed, as Lot was about to punch Rody's head, Rody lifted his left hand to block Lot's energy-charged fist. Rody's left leg kicked high, holding the demon-breaking silver dagger that had fallen from his right hand and nailed it into Lot's left eye.
That was the reason for Lot's agonized scream.
Lot, covering his face with his hands and bleeding profusely, howled in pain like a wounded hyena.
Rody, standing not far from him, was covered in blood.
He stood upright, slowly pulling the Demon Slayer Sword that had pierced his chest, eventually dropping the blood-soaked blade to the ground with a clang. Everyone watched him speechlessly, unable to offer any words of comfort. They couldn't imagine the depth of sorrow Rody was experiencing. Betrayed and assassinated previously by strangers, and now once again under the eyes of a hundred thousand people, he had been betrayed by a family member, his own brother...
In the last moments, he spared his brother, despite knowing his brother's intent to kill.
But he withdrew the demon-breaking dagger.
The anger on his face softened in that moment, resembling a saint's mercy. But Lot took advantage of that moment to thrust his sword straight into Rody's chest. The fierce expression that appeared on Lot's face in that instant sent chills down everyone's spine. Such a terrifying grimace was something people associated with evil demons in the scriptures of light, yet it appeared on the face of a temple knight.
And this knight, under the watchful eyes of everyone, plunged his sword into the heart of his own brother.
Despite Rody being an illegitimate son and popular among girls, as an elder brother, he shouldn't have struck such a merciless blow, something even a stranger would hesitate to do.
"I didn't know you hated me so much, nor that you wanted to kill me so badly!" Nearly everyone was moved to tears by Rody's soft, sorrowful words, which were more heartbreaking than thunderous cries or roars of rage. The entire arena was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard, everyone holding back tears, listening intently to Rody's words.
"Lot, I never wanted to acknowledge this truth, never. General Quentin asked me if I wanted to investigate the nonexistence of the vanguard army. He knew you gave the order, that you couldn't be unaware there was no vanguard army... But considering you were my brother, and since I returned alive from the land of evil, I didn't want to bring up the past. Every member of our elite squad knew, even before we set off, that there was no vanguard army. By your order, we were sent to our deaths, transporting supplies... We are soldiers, duty-bound to obey orders! Lot, you exploited this, under General Quentin's command, sacrificing our small unit, turning us, the elites from various nations, into unarmed logistics soldiers. We didn't protest; we are soldiers!" Blood gushed from Rody's mouth, contrasting with the blood from his chest, a harrowing sight.
"..." The hundred thousand spectators silently shed tears. Although Rody didn't cry out, everyone felt his pain deeply.
"Losing you as a brother, I don't feel regretful. In the land of evil, your captain of the guards' sword strike gave me over a hundred brothers, not of the same blood but more than ten times closer. They shared life and death with me, not born of the same mother or father, but we are closer than brothers! I should thank you, Lot. I never had a brother's affection, it was your assassination attempt that brought me these hundred brothers!"
"Boss, oh... oh!" Stanley burst into tears.
"I knew it was you, Lot, but I never said it. My comrades also knew it was you who sent the assassins, but they kept silent for my sake. Look at Keri, General Quentin's son, this man who lost his arm for me, he is my true brother, my kin. He traded an arm for my life, and he even joked afterwards that trading an arm for the life of a military genius was a matter of pride and honor!" Rody coughed, blood spurting from his mouth.
"Rody, my brother," Keri rushed out, shouting: "Not just an arm, even if it were two arms, or all of our arms, or our lives, we would not hesitate to exchange them for yours!"
"Do you hear? This is the voice of my brother...cough, cough," Rody slowly sat down.
"Rody, we are all here, always here! You have no brother, but we are all your brothers! Even if a villain betrays you, we will never, never do that!" The elite team, with tears streaming down their faces, shouted out loud. Keri rushed to support Rody, tears flooding his face, saying, "Let's go, Rody, let's go home! Mom is waiting for us at home..."
"Mom..." Upon hearing this, Rody's tightly closed eyes slowly opened, his pupils dilated and unfocused, muttering: "I think I see mom, she's smiling! Hold me, mom..."
"Give him to me, quickly!" Kris rushed out, taking Rody into his arms and feeding him a mysterious potion.
In an instant, Rody's body emitted a faint rainbow light.
Kris conjured a white blanket, wrapped Rody in it, and gently picked him up. The elite team rushed forward, confronting the temple's people attending to Lot. Kris shouted, "Elite team, let's go! Knights of the temple, if you want to assassinate Rody next time, please don't stab his left chest again, because his heart is located slightly to the right compared to normal people. Of course, it would be best if you could step over our dead bodies before doing so!"
"This is slander, the greatest slander! You want to use malicious attacks to cover up your desecration of the gods!" Archbishop Gao Pero stood up and coldly snorted: "You want to use this to cover up that Rody is a necromancer? Ridiculous! People of the gods, Rody, your miraculous kid, is a wicked necromancer!"
"Wow..." The crowd was not shocked but in uproar, unable to believe that the archbishop of the temple would say such things at this moment.
"What else can you do besides labeling those you want to kill as evil heretics? What else can you do besides persecuting the heroes who have defeated orcs and demons in the land of evil, overshadowing the fame of your temple?" Kris scoffed, causing another uproar among the people.
"In the land of evil, your people were the first to arrive for the rescue, why did you want to kill us to silence us? It's because you are afraid of us..." Keri also shouted loudly.
"You fear Rody, fear his military genius and wisdom!" Stanley roared angrily.
"You of the temple fear Rody, fearing that he has stolen your people's hearts and prestige! You bloated, useless trash! In our eyes, you're worse than dog shit!" This vehement curse was, of course, from Lopeck.
"Blinded Elite Team, you are deeply bewitched by evil, with only slaughter and bloodshed in your hearts, unable to discern right from wrong. No matter what you say, it cannot cover up the truth. Rody is a wicked necromancer! His blood is blasphemous. At the age of eight, the God of Light revealed that he is the source of evil. When Lot was about to burn him at the stake, he fled with his mother to the rebellious nation of Felik, gradually increasing his evil necromantic powers! You saw, in the recent divine law of the God of Light, Rody's necromantic powers were imprisoned and sealed, while Lot, a knight of justice on the same arena, remained unharmed and even had his powers doubled," Archbishop Gao Pero exclaimed.
"That scroll's power of law would imprison not only Rody's mental power but even my magical power," Ice Demon Gao coldly snorted.
"Rody uses mental power, absolutely not necromantic power! There is no necromantic power in the world that shines bright gold. Only gods, benevolent sages, or powerful archmages possess such pure mental power!" Red-Haired Saul also stood up to refute loudly.
"My arrival is to fulfill the will of the God of Light," said the Power Angel Phoebus, flying in mid-air and shining with thousands of holy lights, solemnly decreeing, "In the name of the God of Light, I pronounce the evil human male Rody guilty of blasphemy, necromancy, slaughter, and bloody destruction!"
"Wow..." The crowd gasped in shock.
Even William II and the other royals stood up in disbelief.
To deal with one Rody, the temple had resorted to all sorts of means and now was forcefully suppressing the people with the will of the God of Light. Did they really have such a grudge against Rody that they had to destroy him?
"We've always said, whoever wants to kill Rody must step over our dead bodies!" Kris's statement put the entire Elite Team on alert.
"Anyone defending the evil man Rody, the temple declares them complicit in sin, subject to judgment, no pardons!" Archbishop Gao Pero waved his hand, and all the knights and magicians of the temple surrounded them. Thousands of temple soldiers descended from the sky, filling the sky.
"Can everyone listen to me for a moment?" Suddenly, amidst the chaos, people heard Rody's voice...