“Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!!!”
The sound of arrows piercing flesh rang out one after another, with blood and screams mingling in the air.
Except for the squad leader and a few of his team members, all seven others present were hit by arrows.
The sharp arrows shot straight through their bodies, and the sheer force even sent them flying backward.
One by one, the squad members collapsed to the ground, groaning in agony as large pools of blood oozed from their wounds.
They had completely lost the ability to fight.
This was still Luca showing mercy, deliberately sparing their lives.
If he had intended to kill them, not even their corpses would remain.
“You… you…” The squad leader’s expression was one of sheer terror, his heart trembling uncontrollably.
This young man’s strength was far more terrifying than what he had previously witnessed!
There were only about a dozen members of the squad present, and yet, in a single move, Luca had incapacitated seven of them!
And these weren’t just random nobodies—they were Bronze Grade city guards!
The remaining two guards were equally fearful.
The way they looked at Luca was as if they were staring at a monster!
How could this young man’s strength have reached such a terrifying level?
Luca calmly put away the magic runes in his hand and said, “From now on, just pretend nothing happened here, and I’ll act like you don’t know anything. Otherwise, you know the consequences.”
After delivering this warning, he paid no further attention to their expressions. Grabbing his Black Steel Spear, he followed the tracks left by the eagle mouse, intending to deal with Matthew and Freeman—the instigators behind all this.
It wasn’t until Luca disappeared into the forest that the squad leader and the remaining two guards exhaled in relief.
Watching Luca’s figure fade into the woods.
One of the guards hesitated before saying, “Boss, should we inform Young Master Matthew?”
Another person also turned their gaze toward the squad leader, eyes filled with concern.
If not for their duty, they truly didn’t want to make an enemy of Luca.
Luca had already shown mercy. If they pursued him further, who could guarantee he wouldn’t strike to kill?
Just as the squad leader hesitated, a cold female voice suddenly rang out.
She said icily, “Captain Kohler, for the sake of our past working relationship, we can pretend you were unaware earlier. But if you continue to act as accomplices to that scum, I will definitely report this to Riverfall City upon our return. I hope you understand the consequences.”
The squad members were all startled, turning their heads to look.
Catherine, clad in armor, was approaching slowly, her expression frosty.
Behind her were Kaman and the rest of Catherine’s squad.
At this moment, they were all glaring at Kohler and his men, weapons tightly gripped in their hands.
It seemed that if any of Kohler’s group made the slightest wrong move, they would strike.
“So, you’re here too!” Captain Kohler’s face twisted with bitterness at the sight of Catherine and her team.
He had thought Luca was acting alone, never expecting reinforcements.
Catherine remained expressionless, her cold gaze fixed on him without a word.
Kohler struggled internally, but finally, he sighed deeply.
Nodding, he said, “I understand. I’ll take my men back to Riverfall City to treat their injuries.”
“That’s for the best,” Catherine replied calmly.
She then waved her hand, and Kaman and the others quickly moved to catch up with Luca.
Once they were out of sight, the burly man who had earlier wanted to invite Luca for a drink, Lennard, clicked his tongue in amazement. “It seems Luca the Witch Doctor’s power has grown again. How long has it even been? He took down so many city guards just like that. This guy really is a freak of nature!”
The rest of the squad agreed wholeheartedly.
To avoid attacks from other teams, they hadn’t strayed far from Luca.
Yet, in such a short span of time, half of the squad had been taken down by him!
They remembered that when they first came to Beast Forest, Luca wasn’t this powerful.
But in just a short time, he had grown strong enough to easily incapacitate seven or eight Bronze Grade professionals.
They had also encountered other adventurers, and though their strength improved quickly as well, their combat experience was severely lacking. Compared to Luca, they were like two entirely different species.
Admiration shone in Kaman’s eyes as he said, “It’s not just his strength—Luca the Witch Doctor’s medical skills are incredible too!”
Lennard agreed, “We really owe it to him this time. Without Luca, we wouldn’t have found Matthew so easily.”
The mention of Matthew darkened everyone’s expressions.
Just thinking about what that bastard had done stirred an uncontrollable fury in their hearts.
Catherine tightened her grip on her spear, and it seemed like flames were burning in her eyes.
She spoke coldly, “No matter what, we will make sure that bastard pays for his blood debt today!”
Up ahead, Luca’s figure moved swiftly through the forest. Whenever he encountered city guards, he skillfully avoided them.
For those he couldn’t avoid, he left them to Catherine and the others to handle.
All along the way, they avoided causing too much commotion.
Following the tracks left by the eagle mouse, Luca soon spotted Matthew and Freeman.
The two were sitting comfortably in their camp, enthusiastically watching the Iron Mountain army battle against the monster horde in the distance.
Nearby, someone had prepared pastries and tea for them.
Matthew, looking pleased with himself, said, “Hahaha! As expected of Elite monsters, the Iron Mountain army doesn’t stand a chance against them. It won’t be long before those fools are all dead, eaten by the monsters!”
Freeman sipped his tea contentedly and replied, “He’s just a brat. I’d like to see how Luca plans to deal with these monsters this time!”
At that moment, Matthew seemed to notice something and let out a small sound of surprise.
He asked, puzzled, “By the way, where did Luca disappear to? And Catherine and the others? Don’t tell me they deserted!”
Freeman waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. The Iron Mountain army is surrounded by monsters. If they try to break through, they won’t be able to do it quietly.”
“If they do manage to escape, that’s even better. We’ll be able to take care of them ourselves.”
Hearing this, Matthew relaxed and burst into hearty laughter. “I really have to thank you, Dr. Freeman. Once Luca is dead, you can be sure I’ll reward you well!”
Freeman smiled too. “Not a problem, not a problem.”
Earning the favor of Celephais would surely ensure his bright future in Riverfall City.
The two of them were engrossed in their conversation. They unaware something.
The person they were discussing was now less than ten meters away.
Not far off, Luca listened to their rampant laughter and mockery, his gaze fixed on the smug smiles on their faces.
He tightened his grip on the magic spear in his hand, a flash of icy, bone-chilling killing intent flickering in his eyes.
“It seems the two of you hold quite a grudge against me,” Luca sneered, as golden runes began to glow on his steel magic spear.
Behind him, several metal arrows quickly took shape, their sharp tips gleaming with a cold, menacing light.
The sudden icy voice made Matthew and Freeman, who had been laughing moments before, freeze in shock.
When they turned around and saw Luca standing there, both of them shuddered in fear.
“You! What are you doing here?!” Matthew sprang to his feet, his face filled with disbelief.
He had never imagined Luca would appear here.
Wasn’t this guy supposed to be fighting monsters on the battlefield? How did he find them?!
Freeman’s eyes widened in astonishment as well, exclaiming, “I clearly used a secret technique to conceal us! How did you find this place?!”
Luca scoffed, “You dare flaunt that garbage secret technique in front of me?”
He had no interest in wasting time with these two.
Pointing his spear at them, the arrows behind him shot forward in unison.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!”
One after another, the metal arrows whistled through the air like lightning, hurtling toward Matthew and Freeman.
Neither of them was an agility-based fighter, and their reaction speed was much slower.
Before they could even think of defending themselves, the steel magic rune arrows were already right in front of them.
But to Luca’s surprise, just before the arrows made contact, they seemed to sink into an invisible quagmire, unable to move any further. Every single arrow was blocked.
A pendant hanging from Matthew’s chest glowed with a bright green light, radiating powerful life energy.
In front of the two of them, a green barrier had appeared.
“A Life Protection Pendant? As expected of the city lord’s son, you really are loaded,” Luca remarked with a chuckle.
The Life Protection Pendant could instantly activate a mid-level life shield when its wearer was attacked, capable of defending against mid-tier assaults.
On the black market, this kind of item would easily sell for over 3,000 gold coins. It was in the same class as Luca’s Black Gold Robe, showing just how deep Matthew’s pockets really were.
Matthew’s face darkened at Luca’s taunt.
He pulled a red crystal staff from his storage ring, fixing Luca with a murderous glare. “I don’t know how you found us, but that doesn’t matter anymore!”
“I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get to kill you myself earlier, but now you’ve walked right into my hands!”
He sneered viciously. “Good, very good. Since you’re so eager to die, I’ll personally send you on your way!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the red crystal staff in Matthew’s hand flared with a bright red light.
The surrounding fire elemental energy rapidly gathered, forming a massive fireball over a meter in diameter in front of him!
Pointing the staff at Luca, Matthew snarled, “You filthy peasant, die for me!”
The fireball, as if receiving a command, shot toward Luca like a meteor!
But Luca’s expression remained unchanged, even as the fireball hurtled toward him.
“You still don’t understand your situation,” Luca said, raising his magic spear. A blue light glowed on the back of his hand. freewebnvel.coɱ
Magic runes appeared, and the icy blue patterns quickly spread across his steel spear, forming a menacing lance, seemingly carved from ice itself, slowly taking shape in the air.
The spearhead gleamed coldly in the sunlight, emanating a bone-chilling frost. The surrounding temperature plummeted instantly as the thick cold air radiated from it.
Looking down at Matthew, Luca said calmly, “If I wanted to kill you, it would be as easy as slaughtering a dog.”