Chapter 80: Have We Met Before?

“Who is that person?”
Even while entangled with the Crimson Skeleton King, Link did not let it hinder his observation of LeBlanc’s situation. From the moment the mysterious woman appeared, Link had been watching the whole process, though the distance was too great to hear their conversation.

Still, since the mysterious woman was fighting LeBlanc, it meant the situation was turning in their favor, especially after she displayed strength nearing the sixth rank.

“Now I just need to deal with this troublesome monster.” Glancing back at the relentlessly pursuing Skeleton King, Link pondered a way to break the stalemate.

At that moment, Phantom suddenly brought news that a group of people was approaching from afar. Link looked up and, aided by the moonlight, saw ten figures hurrying towards them in the distance. His eyes narrowed as a smile played at his lips, and he immediately ordered Phantom to head in that direction.

As they drew closer, Link saw it was none other than Uther leading the elite paladins. Link breathed a sigh of relief. “At last, they’re here.”

The arrival of Uther and his team had been arranged in advance. Link had first stationed the Knights of the Silver Hand at the town entrance to hold off the hellhound army, buying time for the others. Once some of the townsfolk had evacuated, a part of the militant defenders would go reinforce the Silver Hand, allowing Uther and the rest to come support this front.

When the two sides joined up, Uther hurriedly asked, “Archbishop, are you alright?”

Link shook his head. “I’m fine. Form ranks—this monster is at the early fifth rank and can turn corpses into undead, making it very troublesome. However, your Holy Light is effective against it. Don’t try to overpower it directly; just focus on weakening it.”

At his words, the paladin squad all turned their gaze toward the approaching Crimson Skeleton King. Under Uther’s command, they swiftly formed formation. Though few in number and with the strongest among them only at the early third rank, the team had tanks, damage dealers, and support. Relying on their formidable paladin powers, they did not fear even a fifth-rank monster.

The support paladins in the rear cast numerous buffs on the two defense paladins, who then shouted and channeled the Holy Light, greatly enhancing their defenses before charging at the Skeleton King.

Seeing this, the Crimson Skeleton King raised its massive scythe in a sweeping attack. The defense paladins immediately raised their shields, Holy Light shimmering upon them. When shield met scythe, two sharp metallic clangs rang out, and a surge of Holy Light exploded, forcing the two tanks back four or five steps. Yet, the Holy Light’s repulsive force also made the Skeleton King retreat a step, leaving it momentarily staggered.

The damage-dealing paladins seized the opportunity, launching a fierce assault under Uther’s lead. The Holy Light’s unparalleled power against evil flared, igniting golden patterns and flames upon the Skeleton King’s bones.

These effects inflicted tremendous damage. The monster let out a grating, pained screech and swung its scythe at the paladins, but the tanks moved in to block every blow, creating openings for their companions. The support paladins kept healing the wounded, allowing the team to maintain their fighting strength.

The seamless cooperation among the three paladin types was akin to players raiding a boss in an online game, and the Crimson Skeleton King was steadily battered, its might swiftly waning.

Though a monster, the Skeleton King was not without intelligence. Realizing it could not overcome the paladin squad, it let out a long howl, summoning undead reinforcements and forcing the paladins to split up. This allowed the Crimson Skeleton King to regain some advantage.

But its advantage did not last long, for Link, who had been waiting for the right moment, now made his move.

While the paladins engaged the enemy, Link had been adjusting his breath and gathering strength atop Phantom. Once the Skeleton King had been weakened enough, he charged into the fray.

By now, the Skeleton King had been greatly diminished by the Holy Light. Though still powerful, its bones—once harder than steel—had grown brittle. The paladins might not have been able to crush it, but Link was another story.

Link and Phantom sped toward the Skeleton King. As the monster raised its scythe to strike, the pair split apart; Link leaped onto the scythe, sprinted along its shaft, and, drawing upon his inner strength, unleashed two Mighty Vajra Palms at the monster’s right hand.

Both palms struck true, shattering the already fragile bones into fragments. Normally, such wounds would heal quickly, but with its regenerative powers suppressed by over ninety percent due to the Holy Light, this injury was fatal.

But Link had no intention of stopping there.

After smashing the right hand, he vaulted onto the Skeleton King’s left shoulder and struck again, shattering the left shoulder and tearing off the left arm, leaving the Skeleton King handless and greatly weakening its combat ability.

The paladins’ morale soared at the sight. Uther roared, “The Archbishop has gravely wounded the monster! Don’t let his efforts be in vain—give it everything you’ve got!”

With a shout, Uther activated his ultimate skill, a pair of golden light-wings appearing on his back, boosting his power. The others followed suit, using the same skill.

This was the paladins’ burst skill, Wings of Vengeance, which increased both offense and defense by about twenty percent—impressive, though it doubled the consumption of Holy Light. It was a true all-out move.

With the paladins throwing themselves into the fight and Phantom coordinating attacks on the monster’s legs, Link played the role of demolitionist, shattering the Skeleton King’s framework piece by piece with his Mighty Vajra Palms.

No matter how tough a boss, it cannot withstand being beset by a determined team. Link and his allies were far from mere underlings, and under their onslaught, the Crimson Skeleton King could not hold on. After a brief struggle, it was finally reduced to a pile of bones and incinerated by Holy Light flames.

With the fall of the Skeleton King, the undead lost their power and collapsed, reverting to corpses.

At this, everyone rejoiced, but with the mastermind still alive, there was no time to celebrate. Link immediately led the paladins to regroup with Altair and the others, then hurried toward LeBlanc’s location.

At that moment, LeBlanc was besieging Lin Xi with a pack of hellhounds. Yet Lin Xi’s martial prowess was such that she was unfazed by being outnumbered—each strike felled a hellhound instantly, her overwhelming presence making LeBlanc break into a cold sweat, never daring to close the distance.

Lin Xi herself felt rather helpless. The hellhounds she did not fear—one punch was all it took to finish them. The problem was that the hellhounds seemed endless; for every wave she killed, another appeared. She wanted to close the spatial rift that spawned them, but she had no knowledge of such things.

Just then, another pack of hellhounds appeared. Lin Xi took a breath, preparing to dispatch them, when two youthful yet resolute voices rang out.

“Pegasus Meteor Fist!”

“Lion Cub Bombardment!”

As the voices sounded, two powerful forces—one white, one gold—swept through the hellhound pack, blasting many of them away. Immediately after, the armored paladins arrived, charging fearlessly into battle under the lead of the tank paladins.

Lin Xi was taken aback by this turn of events, but then a gentle voice sounded: “By the Father above, lady, thank you for your courageous help. If not for you, we might not have arrived in time.”

At those words, Lin Xi looked up to see Link riding over on Phantom. “You are…?”

“By the Father above, my name is Neil Night, Archbishop of the Father’s Church in Qinco Town,” Link introduced himself with a smile, his manner cordial, clearly wishing to befriend this formidable female warrior.

To his surprise, Lin Xi’s face showed delight and astonishment, as if she had found someone very important. But then, recalling something, her expression grew complex. “Neil, do you remember me?”

Now it was Link’s turn to be stunned. After a moment, he replied in puzzlement, “By the Father above, beautiful lady, have we met before?”

Hearing this, Lin Xi’s face fell, disappointment clouding her features. She shrugged, then managed a wry smile. “I suppose it makes sense—it’s been eight years since we last saw each other. We can talk about this later. For now, we must deal with that man—he’s LeBlanc Anthony, Archbishop of the Star God Church.”

“Eight years?” Link looked at her in surprise, searching his memories. After merging with Neil Night’s memories, he could recall past events, but those from so long ago had grown blurry, and anything beyond vague nostalgia was hazy at best. He simply could not recall anything from eight years ago.

But now was not the time to dwell on such things. Link nodded, setting the matter aside. “I know—he’s a troublesome opponent. Lady, if you could cover me, I need to seize the magic scroll from his hand. That’s the key to closing the space-time rift.”

“Space-time rift? You mean that thing is a space-time rift?” Lin Xi’s face betrayed her shock—she clearly understood what that meant.

“Yes, which means time is short. We can discuss the rest later—look out!” Link’s warning was cut short as a massive red scythe suddenly emerged from the second rift, slashing toward them. Both he and Lin Xi dodged aside.

Immediately, a new Crimson Skeleton King emerged—it was LeBlanc, summoning another of the dreaded monsters.

With its arrival, the corpses once more became undead. However, the Skeleton King’s necromantic powers were not limitless—after converting about sixty hellhound corpses, it could manage no more.

Even so, the pressure on their group was immense. Facing over a hundred monsters, their numbers were far too few.

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This is today’s third update, a small burst of chapters.