Chapter 217: Tactical Coordination

Before the cave of the eerie valley.

The white-haired female knight’s words sounded utterly unbelievable.

Ronin had not yet subdued her—instead, she had subdued him.

Worse still, she licked her crimson lips, her face radiating an intoxicating allure. This was no admiration for Ronin’s strength—it was desire for his body.

To covet him alone was strange enough, but she desired a whole group.

Was she psychologically deranged?

Elron spoke up sharply, “The woman before you is the Lord of the Ubei Domain, Lord Ronin! Since you dwell upon his land, you are his subject—show proper respect!”

“Kek-k-k…”

The white-haired woman laughed with a sultry, bone-melting tone. “Forgive me, my master is Lord Eliot. You have no right to demand my allegiance, Natalia.”

Eliot?

Ronin frantically scoured his mind for the name—but found nothing.

He glanced at the others: all were either wildlings, low-ranking guards, or summoned entities. None would have encountered such lore.

“Who is Eliot?” Ronin asked.

The white-haired knight’s gaze grew icy. She abandoned her jesting demeanor, no longer willing to waste words on Ronin and his crew.

“You dare trespass into my master’s sacred grounds? You all deserve death!”

“Nebular, you take the red-haired knight—the one who escaped last night. The rest of you, kill every intruder with me!”

“With pleasure, my most revered lady!” The towering knight surged forward, charging straight at Riedal.

But instead of Riedal, he met Macken.

“Your opponent is me!”

As planned, whenever an opponent reached Gold Rank, Riedal and Elron would handle them—Riedal engaging head-on, Elron supporting with spells like Light Bind, not to defeat, but to stall.

Riedal moved like a blur, lunging at the white-haired woman.

“Kill!”

Ronin raised the Flaming Blade high, launching a full-scale assault alongside Riedal.

His target: the Bronze Knight who had survived multiple stabs from Riedal that night.

On the flat valley floor, chaos erupted.

Soldier against soldier, commander against commander.

Their strength matched Ronin’s earlier assessment: Joffrey faced a High Knight; another High Knight was held off by Krami and Bablin in tandem.

The remaining patrolmen fell to Horn and Jenny.

Tom and his three companions waited: if the foe was a Low Knight, they struck; if a Mid Knight, they attacked in pairs—or all four together—to scatter enemy focus.

For safety, Elron cast Rallying Aura and Aurora Shadow upon his allies, while casting Fatigue Halo upon the enemy’s strongest.

This battle plan had been laid out and disseminated two days prior—and now, everyone executed it flawlessly.

CRASH!

Ronin slammed his blade down, pinning his opponent, then kicked hard with his right foot—sending the man flying.

Ignoring the man’s bizarre physiology, Ronin—now at 200/1500 progress in Silver Rank—outclassed him utterly in strength, speed, and combat power. This Bronze Knight was no match.

That night, had Riedal not been careless, he’d never have been slashed across the abdomen.

“Earth Spike!”

The man scrambled up, dropped to one knee, and slapped the ground.

The earth trembled. Spears of hardened soil erupted from beneath his palm—long, needle-sharp, racing toward Ronin.

One misstep, and he’d be pierced through.

But Ronin didn’t dodge.

He planted his sword into the earth, then swung hard.

A crescent of flame erupted from the blade’s tip.

“Instant Ignition!”

The Silver Rank martial technique unleashed—its raw power ripped open the ground before him. The ten-centimeter-thick earth spears shattered before they could reach him.

Though not as devastating as Riedal’s Inferno Slash, it far surpassed the Earth Spike.

“Macken is earth-aligned—I can’t beat him. But you? I’ll crush you.”

Ronin charged forward on the residual heat of Instant Ignition. As the man blocked the flaming arc, the Flaming Blade pierced straight through his chest.

The sensation was unlike any other stab—it didn’t feel like piercing flesh, but like skewering a straw dummy.

“Your blade cannot kill me!”

The man laughed wildly, ignoring the sword in his body, reaching to choke Ronin’s throat.

“Is that so?”

Ronin seized his wrist, locking it in place, then poured torrents of martial energy into the Flaming Blade.

“Hummm…”

The energy transformed instantly into roaring flame.

“AHHHH!”

The man screamed in agony. Cracks erupted from the point where the blade pierced him—spreading across his entire body in less than two breaths.

Ronin stared into his face, as if gazing upon a parched, cracked desert.

With a thunderous *pop*, the man disintegrated into ash before Ronin’s eyes—just as Riedal’s Inferno Slash had turned foes to dust that night.

“So my guess was right. Your bodies resist ordinary puncture wounds—but when supernatural energy is forced inside, you rupture from within.”

Like two incompatible forces colliding—when they met, they exploded.

Sufficient energy, and you turned to dust.

Ronin stared at the gray-white powder scattered on the ground—no blood. Not a single drop.

Strange.

Were they merely shaped like humans… but no longer human at all?

“Utan!”

The towering knight Nebular shouted in panic. He hadn’t expected to lose a man first—especially not his third strongest.

He’d intended to cripple the enemy quickly, end this swiftly—but Macken’s defense was impenetrable. His blade couldn’t wound him in time.

That night, had Riedal not been slashed across the chest unknowingly, then surrounded, Nebular could never have pierced his arm.

Now, one-on-one, Macken held no advantage—but his defense was flawless. He wouldn’t fall anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the white-haired Gold Knight, Natalia, struck with terrifying speed and grace—each blow carrying immense force, overwhelming Riedal.

High-tier wind and fire techniques clashed, turning their battleground into a scorched wasteland.

Natalia flickered forward, appearing before Riedal.

“Die!”

But from the void, four tentacle-like tendrils lashed out—coiling around her like serpents.

Elron’s Light Bind.

“The one who dies… is you.”

Riedal struck with chilling precision. The Instant Ignition technique surged forth in a torrent of searing flame.

Even with a martial energy armor, to bear this blow unguarded meant catastrophic injury.

This move could not be avoided. Natalia raised her voice in prayer: “Master, your faithful servant begs for your power!”

As she fervently called out, intricate dark patterns emerged across her skin, and endless black flames descended from the void, engulfing her entirely.

In an instant, she seemed to possess the energy to obliterate heaven and earth, shattering the Light Bind spell in a flash.

“Disgusting light-element mage—I’ll kill you first!”

Natalia shifted her target, lunging toward Elron.

Though neither the Purification nor the Light Bind had harmed her, both filled her with a deep, visceral revulsion.

“Rydal, protect me!”

Elron cried out. As a light-element mage, his strength lay in support, not offense—he had no chance to stand against a Golden Knight’s assault head-on.

“Rest easy—I won’t let her reach you!”

Rydal had already been positioned beside Elron; even with Natalia’s speed, she could not breach his defense.

Seeing them held fast, Ronin turned his gaze to Macken’s opponent—the Silver Knight Nebular.

“Kill you, and I’ll complete the [King of Slaughter] achievement.”

With a flick of his mental force, he summoned the fourth-tier spell: “Wind Tendrils.”

This spell, similar in nature to the Light Bind, possessed formidable control—and even a Silver Knight could be momentarily restrained.

In battles among the powerful, victory or defeat hinged on a single instant.

“Now’s the chance!”

Macken thrust his sword into the ground. The earth itself seemed to awaken—beneath their feet, the soil surged upward, twisting into a colossal serpent that burst forth, jaws wide as a chasm, aiming to swallow Nebular whole.

“Master, your servant calls upon your power to slay this invader!”

As with Natalia, when dark energy cloaked Nebular, he broke free of the Wind Tendrils and leapt backward.

But too late—the rock serpent clamped its jaws around his leg, thrashing its head violently, tearing the limb clean off.

Boom! Nebular was hurled a hundred meters away by the sheer force.

“Macken, go aid the others—I’ll finish this one!”

Leaving the Silver and Golden Knights to Ronin for the final strike had always been part of the plan.

“Yes, my lord!”

Macken swept his gaze across the battlefield.

Joffrey held firm dominance;

Horn and Jenny, with Tom and the others, had not only suppressed the patrolmen but already slain three;

Only Krami and Bablin were at a disadvantage.

Their opponent was a High Knight—even with Krami at the peak of Mid-Rank, aided by Bablin’s coordination, the fight was grueling.

Krami had been flung back multiple times; Bablin’s waist bore a deep gash, blood streaming freely, staining his armor crimson.

“Then I’ll deal with you first!”

Macken kicked off the ground, launching himself like a cannonball toward the High Knight. (End of Chapter)