Chapter 91: Beatings and Choices

A crackling arc flashed, followed by a blaze of blinding light, one burst after another, like apocalyptic thunder falling without end.

The stone wall summoned jointly by the three villains began to split.

"Hmph. Just a mere team captain—just you wait."

"He won't be arrogant for much longer."

"Huh? It stopped? He's out of battle scrolls! Attack now!"

Cowering behind the wall, one of the three keenly noticed that after the last streaks of lightning, everything seemed to have gone still.

He waved his hand and commanded the familiar spirits beside him to launch a magical assault.

As for the three of them, they exchanged glances at one another, all of them looking grotesquely disheveled, hair standing on end.

If anyone saw their present wretched state, the name of the Three Demon Swordsmen would surely be disgraced.

With a snap, Luo Yong pried off several runic gems, and his level dropped back to ten. Then he swiftly sent a blade of wind toward the opposite side.

This wind blade at level ten was far inferior to the one at level twenty, both in power and size.

But it would not drain his stamina.

After exhausting the lightning scrolls, Luo Yong drew out wind scrolls instead, sending a wind blade first as a taunt.

A little childish, perhaps, but he did it anyway.

If the other side dared show their heads, he would unleash a large-scale wind spell without hesitation.

Indeed, just after Luo Yong fired off that wind blade, the enemy answered with magic of their own.

A fireball burst near Luo Yong, scattering earth and stone in every direction, some of it even striking him.

Then, as he moved to evade, a water arrow and a round stone came crashing in together, blocking his path.

With a flash, Luo Yong blinked far aside, and then immediately changed to a fire scroll.

Originally, he had intended to finish the battle with wind scrolls.

Once that cyclone came out, even with the stone wall in the way, the moving storm would have flung the three swordsmen skyward.

Even if one sweep did not kill them, a few more scrolls, a few more spins, and they would be done for.

Wind magic was unlike the other elements: weak when weak, but truly terrifying when strong.

Unlike fire magic, which was always powerful.

But when it failed to explode, it really did fail to explode.

Still, Luo Yong had changed his mind.

After using Blink, he now stood at another angle. Though he had not completely bypassed the enemy’s stone wall, he could already make out the figures of the three swordsmen.

So he activated the fire scroll in his hand.

"Behold the art of a whale-carrying tycoon!"

Boom!

Compared with the fireballs unleashed by the familiars, the fireball facing the three swordsmen was several times larger, and it came with astonishing speed.

Boom!

That enormous fireball, carrying terrifying heat, exploded right beside the stone wall...

"Aah! Too hot, too hot! How does he still have battle scrolls?!"

"Dammit, dare you fight fair?! What kind of skill is it to keep using battle scrolls?!"

"One-on-one? I'll crush you with one hand!"

The three swordsmen circled around the stone wall, dodging the blasts while shouting and posturing without pause.

"I'll beat you with one hand and one foot and still wreck you!"

"Dare to stand out like a man!"

"If you've got guts, don't use battle scrolls!"

Boom!

Their answer was yet another massive fireball.

Listening to their cries, Luo Yong wore a look of disdain, coldly and emotionlessly activating the scrolls in his hand.

"Hmph. Do you take me for an idiot?"

He knew perfectly well that his level was lower than theirs, his swordsmanship inferior, and his combat experience less than theirs; and yet, with an advantage in hand, who would run off to duel them?

Wasn't it better to lie down and win?

Thinking of this, Luo Yong hurled scrolls with even greater delight.

Back when they had been farming monsters in the secret realm, the team members had all obtained a great many battle scrolls. After each had kept some for themselves, the rest had all been sold to the general goods shop.

By Luo Yong's decision, that shop belonged to them as well, and from then on they would never need to worry about money again.

With so many scrolls flooding the market at once, prices inevitably fell, and the general goods shop's prices were already very friendly...

As for Luo Yong, he had accumulated even more. If all of them were put up for sale in the shop, battle scrolls might well have collapsed in value.

After another long while, a thunderous crack startled Luo Yong. He looked toward the sound and saw that the stone wall had been blasted apart, while the three devil-may-care swordsmen seemed to have been blown half to pieces.

One of them was using a longsword to hold up a strip of white cloth, waving it back and forth as he shouted hoarsely, "We surrender... We give in... Stop bombing us..."

The other two were sprawled in a deep crater, staring blankly up at the sky.

They seemed to have begun to question life itself.

"What kind of people did we run into..."

"Even our Order of the Crimson Moon doesn't have this many battle scrolls put together..."

"So fast, and they're already broken?" Luo Yong checked the battle scrolls remaining in his possession. There were not many left, so he decided to stop.

This round had nearly cleared his cache.

Mainly because storage space was limited, and Duoduo was already practicing how to make storage gear.

Even so, her forging specialization was still not quite enough.

"You three, throw down your weapons and come out from cover!"

Luo Yong stood at a distance and shouted at them, not approaching.

If not for his elven adjudicator wife, then by the traditions of Blue Star, he should have gone over to finish them off.

After waiting a moment, the three battered figures staggered out of the crater one after another. It was not just their bodies that had been wounded; even their spirits seemed shaken, all that earlier vigor gone.

"Not so arrogant now, are you?"

Luo Yong sneered. These people simply had not been beaten enough. Without some setbacks, they would never behave, always thinking themselves the greatest of heaven and earth and ungovernable by anyone.

Once again, a gate of light opened.

At the same time, all three of them shuddered, as though they had developed a reflexive fear of scrolls and the like.

"On the other side is the Mage Guild. You will receive a fair judgment," Luo Yong said.

The three swordsmen looked at one another, then walked toward the gate of light.

Luo Yong flashed to the other side and once again produced a scroll in his hand.

Seeing it, the three hesitated again, their steps slowing as though some other thoughts had entered their minds.

"You don't want to go? Fine. Then we'll continue."

Luo Yong coldly opened the scroll and activated it directly.

"No!"

"We're going! We're going right now!"

"Don't bomb us!"

The three shouted as they summoned all their strength and rushed toward the already flickering gate of light.

Boom!

A huge fireball exploded behind them.

A wave of heat, carrying immense force, flung the three of them away, and the gate of light shattered under that same power.

Thud, thud, thud...

The three fallen figures lay face-down on the ground, unable to get up for a long while.

"Last chance."

Luo Yong threw over a teleportation scroll, one specially preset: the moment it was touched, it would activate instantly, leaving them no chance to alter the coordinates.

With a whoosh, the gate of light opened.

All three hesitated.

The Order of the Crimson Moon was not above the Mage Guild; they were only moderately famous.

They had been reckless just now, but even recklessness had to depend on place and on whom they were facing.

But...

"Do you want to go through the portal, or would you rather have me bomb you all the way there?"

Luo Yong's voice carried over.

A chill ran through all three of them at once.

There was still a long road between here and the Mage Guild. Bombed there by battle scrolls?

Before, they might have doubted whether Luo Yong had that many scrolls, but now they no longer had the courage to doubt.

"Go... we'll go now..."

The three struggled up from the ground and filed into the gate of light one after another.

Luo Yong then unleashed another battle scroll, smashing the gate of light from this side.

Then, from another direction, he opened yet another gate that led straight to the Mage Guild.

Standing before the Mage Guild's entrance, the appearance of the three swordsmen drew a crowd, who pointed and whispered among themselves.

The three had certainly made a name for themselves now...

Luo Yong ran directly into the Mage Guild and explained the situation, then asked Frost Archer to identify them.

After some time under treatment, he was no longer in serious danger, though his mental state was not great.

When he saw Luo Yong, the expression in his eyes was complicated and hard to read.

"Melin, is he all right?"

"He is. It's just... sigh..." The Storm Sorcerer sighed, looking at the three swordsmen, and for a moment she did not know what else to say.

"Luo Yong, if it weren't for you this time, I fear that..."

"Nothing. This is what I, as captain, should do."

Luo Yong felt a little embarrassed. It was true that, during this period, he had indeed forgotten about this Frost Archer who barely seemed to exist.

"Frost, once your injuries heal, if you still want to stay in this team, then come and move with everyone else. If you don't want to, then wherever you wish to go, I won't stop you."

Luo Yong could also see what he meant. This Frost Archer did not seem able to remain in the same team with him.

Otherwise, sooner or later they would come to blows.

If that day ever came, it would put the other teammates in a very difficult position.

He did not want that.

"You don't need to drive me away. I will leave," the Frost Archer said coldly.

"Frost, what are you talking about? When did Luo Yong ever drive you away?" the Storm Sorcerer asked.

"Melin, will you leave with me?" the Frost Archer suddenly asked.

"I..." The Storm Sorcerer faltered, looking at him, then at Luo Yong, and did not answer.

Why should she leave?

And why should she leave with Frost?

There was simply no reason.

"Fine. I understand. You're the same as them," said the Frost Archer.

"Frost!"

The Storm Sorcerer said with some irritation, "Back then, yes, our feelings were truly very good. We grew up together, childhood sweethearts... but you were the one who gave up first. Between us there has never been anything beyond friendship."

"..."

The Frost Archer said nothing more. He simply rose quietly, still weak in body, swaying as he walked, and left the Mage Guild like that.

"Frost..." The Storm Sorcerer seemed as though she wanted to say more, but in the end said nothing. It was Frost Archer's choice.