Frederick dodged an ax aimed at his throat. These people were strong, but for some reason, he found them to be still lacking compared to his speed and reactions. However, their boss made up for each one of them. The guy was fighting Juliet bare-handed, with a grin on his face, and every time she was about to land an attack, he would try to grapple her.

If Juliet had more combat experience, she would know better than getting scared by those motions, but she did not.

Apart from Joseph, who was surprisingly holding his own, every other person had already been injured or had fled. Frederick himself had told them to run toward the second room and try to evade as much as possible.

Juliet was wielding the ax clumsily since she had never before held a weapon between her hands. However, their boss, John, seemed perfectly comfortable with his style and threw her for a loop.

“Juliet! Hold tight!” Frederick shouted while disarming the guy in front of him and landing a solid punch on his windpipe.

The guy he had just hit collapsed to the ground, suffocating.

He felt something coming from the back and jumped forward, barely avoiding getting skewered by a spear.

Frederick’s body had one extensive injury on his side, where a guy had landed a cutting blow with his ax. So even though his Qi was strong, stronger than those fakers, he was still sorely outnumbered.

Joseph had downed a couple of guys if he had not been mistaken, but Frederick feared that the guy would soon go down himself.

We cannot win, Jake. Where the f*ck are you?!

Almost ten minutes had passed. Even with Frederick trying to stall for time before the real battle began, they still managed to waste only that much time. If Jacob did not come back with a solution and did not do that fast, they would all die.

He steadied himself and got ready to

…

Joseph jumped back from an uppercut that almost landed on his chin. Every limb of his was trembling, and he could barely stay put.

He only wished to flee, to get back to St. Peter and get under his beloved blanket. His grandma had made it for him, hoping it would keep him company while studying in St. Peter. The woman spent most of her time in the hospitals in Rome; otherwise, she would have been in the little town to keep him company.

Jacob had taught him what he defined as a simple fighting style, but he had barely learned the first set of movements.

The Eleventh Saint Martial Style.

It was a mix of minor Techniques that created a signature fighting style used by one of the greatest fighters ever existed in Jacob’s time. However, to avoid giving out too much power, he had taught Joseph only the first Kata.

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It was focused on defending and counter-attacking, and it was the easiest to learn.

Eleventh Saint Martial Style – Upward Waterfall

Joseph saw a telegraphed punch from his opponent that would have landed on his cheekbone and simply trusted what Jacob had told him.

He leaned slightly to the side, in the clumsiest manner possible, and then pirouetted with an elbow raised at face level.

Crunch

The other guy went down like a leaf.

It must be the sixth, or maybe the eighth?

He had lost count after four and now stumbled back, avoiding the charge of another two guys who were trying to get him to the ground.

He had barely had time to practice what Jacob had taught him, but, somehow, he had not yet received one cut nor blow.

I wonder what he taught to Juliet, then…

Unknown to Joseph, Jacob had made the mistake of not teaching anyone aside from him a proper fighting style. Juliet had a body as hard as steel, which could probably take direct blows from the guys she was facing, but she did not know how to use it effectively. Similarly, Frederick could rely on his reactions and sharpness, but he did not know anything about fighting.

When Jacob had transferred the Eleventh Saint Martial Style to Joseph, he had given him mental images and knowledge that equated to real-world combat experience. In a world of novices and amateurs who never killed anyone, Joseph had downed one-fourth of the enemies by himself. The strangest thing was that he was unaware of his own capabilities; the fierce fighting had made it impossible for him to realize such a fact.

The guy with only a 2nd level Cockroach realm Qi was probably the most proficient fighter among all of them.

…

Juliet was fighting John and was as scared as one could ever be. She feared what the guy would do to her if she got caught. But, once again, like Joseph, she was not aware of her own strength.

Jacob had left them alone because in a prolonged battle, not only would someone die, but for the exact reason, they were not winning.

Juliet, Joseph, and Frederick – and for what mattered the rest too – were all kids in his eyes. If he could not end the battle in one move, he did not know who would die and who would not. He had no way of managing all these people at once while fighting a larger-scale battle.

And right now, there were around twenty people left on the enemy sides and only six of them, the magic three plus three other fighters who were either gravely wounded or were going to be in a few minutes.

If their enemies had any teamwork, they would have won in a flash. However, everyone was new to fighting in this world.

Everyone but one person who was still not showing up.

Juliet got a punch to her stomach, one of the most vulnerable places, and faltered. The hit was not even close to how strong one would expect since the guy was at the 6th level of Qi cultivation in the Cockroach realm. Nonetheless, she was scared, and her mental state was in disarray.

John was a ruthless man, and he disarmed Juliet with one swift chop to her hand. Next thing, he was on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

Juliet’s strength, thanks to the Sacred Phoenix Body Transcension, was off the charts. Even at the 4th level of Qi cultivation, she should have easily gotten this guy off her. Instead, however, she was flailing around, terrified.

The guy punched her a couple of times in the face, leaving her dizzy and stunned.

Frederick, on the side, got distracted while watching the scene and got hit to his lower chest with a spear. He went down, spitting blood and screaming.

Joseph, with most other fighters down, was struggling to keep all his opponents at bay.

It had been fifteen minutes, and the fight was finally over.

Juliet felt her clothes getting ripped, and a tear went down her cheek.

“I’ll now get my reward for winning against this little beauty,” John looked at her like a hungry beast.