The city lord never doubted Sara's words. Not only because Sara had always been loyal to his house, never showing a sign of betrayal; but also because Erika's unconscious body was on the ground beside the black-dressed men. That was enough evidence.
Thus, he did not hesitate to use his full strength since the start!
Of course, Bloed's plan had some loopholes and it was just a matter of time before the city lord discovered that something was wrong with Sara's story, but by then, it would be too late.
Bloed was slightly surprised by Sara's acting skills. With such an oscar-winning performance, it was not strange that the city lord was fooled.
Now that she did her part, it was their turn.
"Regina, Liu Ying, let's go!"
"Understood!"
"Roger!"
Just like that, the fight against the black-dressed men started.
The leader of the black-dressed man scowled.
"Dammit, such shitty luck."
He, however, knew that it was not time to hesitate. "Onde, contact sir demigod! As for the others, kill them quickly! It will be bad if more people are attracted here!"
One of the black-dressed men nodded and took out a communication crystal to relay the sudden change in the situation to the demigod fighting Sebastian. At the same time, the other six charged towards Bloed and the others.
The leader decided to take care of the city lord himself. He looked around and sighed in relief when he realized the city lord was the only A-Rank.
His side had two extra A-Ranks, so the situation was in their favor. Moreover, the city lord was tired and injured after resisting the beast wave. Thus, although the situation was bothersome, it was not critical yet.
The leader even regretted asking for the demigod's help.
Unfortunately, his expectations were soon betrayed.
Before the other two A-Ranks could kill someone, Bloed's group moved.
Regina was the first to step forward, forming two energy blades in her hands and intercepting one of the A-Ranks.
Bloed, Liu Ying, and Leto faced the second A-Rank. At the same time, the men that came with the city lord charged towards the other enemies.
Sara, on the other hand, had disappeared at some point without anyone noticing.
The A-Rank Bloed was facing smirked and twisted his neck. "Get lost!"
*BOOM!!!*
The A-Rank's punch created a shockwave that impacted the surroundings!
Bloed's eyes flashed. Before the punch could touch him, Leto's body turned into a barrier that protected him. At the same time, he moved below the metallic barrier and slashed towards the A-Rank!
The A-Rank snorted. Although he was slightly surprised about Leto's transformation, he was not too concerned about a B-Rank monster.
As for Bloed and the others, just how much problem could a group of C-Ranks cause?
The black-dressed man looked at Bloed's attack disdainfully. He just gathered mana around his arm and extended it to stop the saber. That was more than enough to deal with a C-Rank brat.
But in the last second, his expression changed.
A huge sense of danger assaulted him. Without hesitation, he withdrew his arm and took a step back.
But Bloed's saber managed to cut his arm. The [Molecular Disintegration] ability in the saber easily cut through the mana defenses and sliced the flesh!
Unfortunately, the black-dressed man managed to react in time, barely moving his arm away and saving it from being severed.
"You…!"
However, he did not have time to be surprised. At that moment, he saw a punch coming to him from the side.
This time, the A-Rank man did not dare to be careless. He instinctively answered with a hurried punch of his own!
Then–
*BOOM!!!*
"!!!"
The monstrous strength on Liu Ying's punch assaulted the man. The man hurriedly twisted his body, managing to redirect great part of that strength to the ground, but even like that, he felt his arm hurting.
'This is…!'
Unable to hide his surprise, the black-dressed man jumped back. But this time, he saw two blue rays of lights coming towards his face!
His instincts kicked up making him raise his arm. As soon as he did it, he felt a searing pain burning through his flesh!
The two bullets had pierced his arm, burning his skin and showing the man's bones.
But the A-Rank man did not have time to register what happened. He instinctively jumped away, barely avoiding another three bullets that Bloed had shot!
Then, the black-dressed man looked fixedly at Bloed and Liu Ying before looking at the injuries caused by the saber and the bullets.
"You two… Hahahaha, to think I would be injured by two C-Rank brats! Great great! However, do you think you can defeat an A-Rank so easily!?"
When the man finished speaking, a powerful wave of mana erupted from his body.
Bloed's expression was grave and his muscles were completely taut. Although the black-dressed man was surprised that Bloed managed to injure him, Bloed was even more surprised.
'This monster… To think he received two bullets head-on and he is only slightly injured!'
For the first time, Bloed saw for himself the formidableness of an A-Rank. Until now, Bloed's bullets were one of his main means of attack. Even a B-Rank practitioner didn't dare to receive them head-on.
However, it seemed that they could only play a supporting role against this new enemy. Perhaps the sniper rifle would be more useful, but in the current circumstances, he could not use it.
Fortunately, his saber continued being as useful as before.
Bloed narrowed his eyes and focused completely on the fight. His eyes were in overdrive, catching each change in his surroundings.
Bloed was aware that in this kind of fight, he could not allow himself to make even the slightest mistake.
The next second, the A-Rank enemy kicked the ground!
Bloed's blue eyes caught the enemy movement. Without hesitation, he gave an order to Leto.
The metallic sand turned into a shield protecting Liu Ying. An instant later, the man's punch impacted the shield!
*Boom!*
But this time, the shield was unable to endure even a blow!
Liu Ying's expression changed. She hurriedly moved aside and barely evaded the attack. However, she saw another attack coming for her head!
Fortunately, Bloed's energy bullets flew towards the A-Rank's head at that moment.
The A-Rank did not have more options than move back to evade them. But before Bloed could sigh in relief, a punch was coming towards his face.
The punch was so fast that the only reason Bloed managed to see it was thanks to his enhanced eyes!
Once more, Leto's metallic sand saved his life. At the same time, Bloed slashed with his saber!
However, the black-dressed man was already not there. Instead, a kick was coming towards him from behind.
'Dammit!' Bloed barely managed to order Leto to form a shield. However, the shield did not endure even a blow. Bloed had to roll aside to barely evade the attack before shotting his gun again.
The black-dressed man snorted. His body flashed and disappeared from his location, appearing this time above Bloed.
Bloed's expression changed. He once more rolled in the ground and evaded the attack. Then, he willed Leto to turn into a wave to restrict the man's movements.
But the man just punched and created a hole through Leto before using it to rush towards Bloed!
Liu Ying appeared at that moment. She jumped from a blind spot and punched towards the man's head! This time, though, the result was different than last time.
Astonishingly, the man used his shoulder to receive Liu Ying's punch, only taking a few step backs and letting out a grunt. Then, he unleashed a punch towards Liu Ying's belly!
Fortunately, Leto's barrier mode once more managed to save the day.
Liu Ying hurriedly jumped back, retreating beside Bloed.
"How are we supposed to win against someone so strong?" She grimaced.
Bloed replied with silence. In fact, he was thinking the same inwardly.
Facing someone two entire ranks above him, Bloed felt helpless.
The black-dressed man did not continue his attacks. Instead, he looked at Bloed, Liu Ying, and Leto in curiosity.
Then, he smiled like a predator playing with his prey.
...
We are already reaching the end of this arc!
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels