Chapter 125: The Combat Rogue Among Thieves

Was this the legendary genetic mutation? Young Master Chu scratched his head and examined the magical beast before him with a professional eye.

From the left, it was a very handsome wolf, with blue-black fur, gleaming white teeth, deep-blue eyes, and an aloof air. With a little grooming, it would unquestionably be a Netherwolf capable of captivating the entire continent. From the right, however, the creature was rather offensive to Young Master Chu’s aesthetic sensibilities. Growing from the left side of its neck was another wolf’s head. It was tiny—less than half the size of the main head—and pus and foul-smelling blood dripped from it incessantly. It was rather disgusting.

“What are you staring at? Never seen such a handsome Netherwolf before?”

The creature’s words stunned Chu Tian. First, the fact that it could speak meant that it was a seventh-rank magical beast, with strength no weaker than that of Davis, the Grand Mage. Second, Chu Tian had never encountered a seventh-rank magical beast with such an obvious narcissistic streak.

“Commander Davis, I’m sure you know why I’m here.” The newcomer pointed at Davis. “Hand over the Saint Priest Vladino!”

Davis cursed inwardly. He had received intelligence that a thief who looked remarkably like the Saint Priest had appeared in Potter Town. He had therefore brought the experts from his regiment to the town and invited Chu Tian and the other two to join the caravan. Davis had originally intended to use the journey to determine whether Chu Tian was truly the Saint Priest. But under Chu Tian’s superb acting, he had essentially abandoned the investigation.

He had never expected someone to come demanding the man from him now.

Chu Tian sized up the newcomer. He was a man in his fifties dressed as a knight, but he had no mount beside him. Chu Tian tugged at Locke and asked, “Who is that fellow?”

Locke lowered his voice. “He’s the commander of the second-largest mercenary regiment in the duchy. Apparently, he and Davis have been mortal enemies for years.” Locke had also realized that the situation was turning bad and was beginning to panic. “His name is Gatt. He’s a seventh-level Crystal Knight. Very powerful!”

“Where’s his mount?” Chu Tian asked. As long as the mount had not appeared, there was no way to accurately assess Gatt’s strength.

“Keep your voice down.” Locke could not understand why Chu Tian still looked fearless at a time like this. “I heard his mount is a seventh-rank giant bull from the Sunset Mountains. But it’s been missing for a very long time.”

A missing giant bull?

Chu Tian suddenly broke into a grin. On the entire continent, he was probably the only person who knew where Gatt’s mount had gone. Every member of the giant-bull tribe who had emerged from the Sunset Mountains had been summoned to the imperial capital of Kaiser by their chieftain, Kuyata. They were now obediently producing gallbladders for Chu Tian.

By this time, Davis and Gatt had already begun arguing.

“Gatt, all my people are here. Search for yourself! See whether there’s a Saint Priest among us!” Davis pointed at Chu Tian. “This is the man I brought out of Potter Town. At first, I thought he was the Saint Priest too, but… See for yourself!”

Gatt took a mission document from the spatial pouch at his waist and carefully compared it with Chu Tian’s appearance. Chu Tian cooperated fully with the inspection.

“This isn’t him.” Gatt paused, then sneered. “Do you think you can fool me like this? Hmph! Tell me where you’ve hidden the Saint Priest!”

“Gatt, since you refuse to believe me, there’s nothing more to say!” Unable to prove his innocence, Davis simply stopped trying. He waved a hand, and the mercenaries under his command prepared for battle. “You and I have fought for decades. It’s time we finally settled this!”

Chu Tian grabbed Locke and Julia, who were still standing there in a daze. “What are you waiting for? Move!”

A fight was about to break out, and nearly everyone present was at least an intermediate-level professional. In a battle like this, the three members of the Iron Roar Mercenary Regiment could do nothing but run for their lives.

“No one is leaving!” Gatt shouted. He led his subordinates in spreading out and blocking everyone’s escape routes.

“Chain Lightning!”

It was the same spell Davis had used against the foolish bandit earlier. Unfortunately, this time his opponent was a seventh-level Crystal Knight.

“Force Shield!”

Gatt crossed his arms over his chest. A transparent shield formed from battle aura appeared around him. The force shield not only blocked Davis’s spell, but also reflected the pale-purple lightning back.

“Protect the priest!”

The reflected Chain Lightning had lost much of its power and could not injure the experts of the Storm Mercenary Regiment. However, Priest Allen still needed protection.

“Damn it!”

Chu Tian cursed. The situation was urgent, and all of Davis’s subordinates had focused on protecting themselves. Those with enough strength to spare were also guarding the priest. That left Chu Tian, Locke, and Julia completely unattended.

As fate would have it, after bouncing around several times, the lightning flashed straight toward the three of them.

After several rounds of reflection, the Chain Lightning had lost most of its power and was barely stronger than a low-level spell. Even so, Locke and Julia were unable to withstand magic of roughly the third level.

Chu Tian shoved Little White into Julia’s arms, then seized Julia with one hand and Locke with the other, shielding them behind him. Amid the crackling sound of electricity tearing through the air, the lightning vanished against Chu Tian’s body. Apart from a large hole in his clothes, he had not suffered the slightest injury.

Praise the Goddess of Life!

Chu Tian chuckled inwardly. With the Dragon Emperor’s blood protecting him, a mere low-level spell could not hurt him.

“Huh?”

Seeing that Chu Tian was unharmed, Davis was visibly stunned. He had never imagined that anyone could endure the impact of low-level magic through physical strength alone. But he had no time to think about it, because Gatt’s longsword had already appeared before him.

“Andy, are you all right?” Julia asked anxiously.

Locke, meanwhile, stood gaping as though he had witnessed some divine miracle. “Damn, brother-in-law, you’re incredible! You’re actually fine after that!”

Before Chu Tian could boast, Gatt noticed that something was unusual about him. While attacking Davis, he called out to one of his mages, “Take care of that thief!”

Then Gatt shouted angrily at the two-headed wolf, “Come and help me! I didn’t hire you to stand around and watch!”

“Tch.”

The two-headed wolf sneered and lowered its body before charging toward Davis. A chaotic battle immediately erupted in the middle of the road.

The thief’s profession specialized in concealment and assassination, making it a natural enemy of mages. Against opponents of equal rank, if a thief was given enough time to hide his movements, a mage had almost no hope of survival.

But today was different. Chu Tian’s opponent was a genuine fifth-level Advanced Mage, while Young Master Chu himself was only a counterfeit third-level Novice Thief. To make matters worse, he also had to protect Locke and Julia.

Everyone else was busy fighting their respective opponents, while Priest Allen continuously empowered his allies with holy magic under the protection of the others. Thus, Chu Tian had no choice but to face the Advanced Mage alone.

“Andy, take Julia and leave. You’re a thief. That mage won’t be able to catch you.”

Locke stepped in front of Chu Tian, looking as though he had already resolved to sacrifice himself.

“Commander, there’s no need for you to deal with this little mage. Leave him to me!”

Chu Tian had originally intended to run as well. But before leaving, he noticed the professional insignia on the mage’s clothing: two tiny silver flames. As the ultimate professional in the field of magic, Chu Tian knew exactly what the mark represented. Its owner was a fifth-level Fire Mage.

“Andy…”

Locke was dumbfounded as he watched Chu Tian draw his greatsword and stroll contemptuously toward the mage.

“Hey! Don’t say I’m bullying you!” Chu Tian’s manner truly resembled that of someone bullying a child. “I’ll give you a chance. I’ll just stand here and let you hit me!”

With that, Chu Tian leaned on his sword and stood motionless.

“You…”

The mage was so enraged that he could barely speak. Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared, “Explosive Flame Bullet!”

The low-level lightning spell had had no effect on Chu Tian, so the mage proceeded much more cautiously. His first attack was already a fifth-level spell.

“Ooh, what a pretty little flame,” Chu Tian remarked.

The mage went rigid. Half of his shock came from anger, and the other half from fear. The fireball he had just launched had been caught in Chu Tian’s bare hand and was now being toyed with like a trinket.

“Got anything else?” Chu Tian asked. “This one’s too small. Bring me a bigger one!”

Chu Tian was a complete magical idiot and could not cast a single spell. But when it came to magical defense, there were few people on the entire continent who could compare with him. After being tempered in the blood of the Crimson Flame, what fire spell could possibly injure him, short of a fire-based forbidden spell?

“Wall of Fire!”

The mage panicked and released a large-area spell without regard for the energy it consumed.

“Don’t use a Wall of Fire!”

Chu Tian leaped into the air and charged forward with his greatsword. “I’m done playing with you!”

He dared not continue. His body might have been immune to fire, but his clothes were made from ordinary material. Chu Tian had no intention of running naked.

His attack contained no technique whatsoever. He simply brought down the back of his sword.

The mage had even less skill in close combat.

Thud!

The poor mage was knocked unconscious by Chu Tian.

“Hmph, Davis, since when has your mercenary regiment had an expert like that?” Gatt said with a trace of envy as he and the two-headed wolf attacked Davis from both sides. “After you die, I’ll recruit him into my regiment. Hahahaha!”

Under the combined assault of two seventh-rank opponents—one human and one beast—Davis was already struggling desperately. He could answer Gatt’s question only with an angry glare.

“My goodness!”

The bandit leader, who had been ignored for a long time, suddenly cried out, “Who is that guy? He defeated a fifth-level mage in one blow!”

Chu Tian glanced proudly at Locke and Julia. “Commander, I’ve taken care of the little mage.”

The siblings stood there in a daze, as though they had never known Chu Tian at all. Suddenly, Julia pointed behind him and screamed, “Look out!”

A brilliant golden sword aura, sharp as a bolt of light from the heavens, streaked toward Chu Tian’s chest.

Praise the Goddess of Life!

A sixth-level Golden Swordsman?

Damn it! My body can’t withstand sixth-level battle aura!