Chapter 258:Sword Qi slashes the black bear!
The surprise attack by the Wuto Mercenary Corps caught Charlotte and his companions off guard. Jona pleaded for mercy but had already prepared for the worst. He stayed behind to create an opportunity for Charlotte and Celia to escape.
Facing a level four black bear spirit and three-level three werewolves, Jonah, a level three-and-a-half orc, took on the rear guard position, essentially seeking death with no chance of survival.
Celia clearly understood the situation and chose to let Charlotte go alone, staying behind to accompany Jonah.
The siblings' choice undoubtedly moved Charlotte.
"We have no grudges against each other. Why do you want to kill us?" Charlotte didn't leave, but looked up at the black bear spirit standing on a distant stone pillar and asked.
"Hahaha, do we need a reason to kill in the wilderness? I've taken a liking to this lady and planned to have some fun with my brothers." The black bear spirit laughed without restraint.
The other three werewolves also laughed, their lustful gazes shamelessly lingering on Celia.
Celia's face turned pale in an instant. If she fell into the hands of these beasts, she knew her fate all too well.
"These bastards!" Jonah couldn't help but clench his fists, but facing a level four black bear spirit, the vast difference in strength made him feel helpless.
Even in one-on-one combat against a werewolf, he had little chance of winning, not to mention that there were now three werewolves with equivalent strength to him.
Celia was only at level two now, lacking both speed and strength compared to the three werewolves.
As for Charlotte, he now regretted not listening to Celia and bringing him along. Now he was also in danger, and there would be no better doctor in the Abyss in the future.
"No, there must be something valuable hidden in this Stone Gorge, which is why you're guarding it. We just happened to stumble upon it, so you want to kill us to keep it a secret," Charlotte stared at Wuto and shook his head with a smile.
Wuto's smile froze, and the gazes of the three werewolves turned towards Charlotte.
This seemingly weak human saw through their purpose for staying here.
"It seems my guess was correct. There is indeed something good hidden here." From their reactions, Charlotte had already confirmed that his guess was correct.
It was unlikely for a powerful adventurer team to appear in such a remote wilderness on the outskirts of the Stone Gorge. They wouldn't bother taking on missions like the Meteor Rat, which only paid a mere couple thousand copper coins.
The only possibility was that there was a valuable treasure here, worth them staying and guarding.
Killing for treasure in the wilderness was not uncommon, but being driven by desire was rare.
This indicated that they hadn't obtained the treasure they were after yet, and the waiting time was too boring. Considering their weak strength and Celia's excessive beauty, they wanted to have some fun.
"You're quite interesting. You have tender skin and flesh. I'll strip you and boil you to eat in a moment." Wuto grinned. "That's right, there's a Seven-Star Fruit hidden here. We've been waiting here for three days, and it's about to ripen. You have indeed come at an unlucky time. If it were one day later, we would have left."
"Seven-Star Fruit?" Charlotte didn't know what it was, but if it could make these guys wait for three days continuously, it must be a valuable treasure. Today might unexpectedly bring them some unexpected gains.
"Capture them, but be careful not to harm that lady," Wuto waved his hand.
The three werewolves' sharp claws immediately sprang out, and with wicked grins, they leaped down from the stone pillar and charged toward the three who were surrounded.
"Celia, take the doctor and go first," Jonah tightened his fist and dashed toward the werewolf in front of him. There was a silver radiance flickering on his fist.
Celia bit her lip as she watched Jonah's back. She grabbed Charlotte's hand and ran towards the back, knowing that she had to get the doctor out of the encirclement first. Otherwise, with his ordinary physical strength, he would never be able to escape from the two werewolves.
One of the werewolves leaped high into the air and kicked a stone pillar, causing it to break.
The hollowed-out stone pillar collapsed with a thunderous crash, blocking their path of escape, and sending up a cloud of flying sand.
Celia pulled back on Charlotte's hand and barely managed to avoid it.
The werewolf landed on top of the stone pillar, blocking their way.
And another werewolf emerged from between the stone pillars behind them, blocking their retreat.
"Hehe, there's nowhere for you to run now!" The werewolf standing on the stone pillar smirked mockingly, with a sneer in his eyes.
"Little cub, stay still and let me tie you up. You'll suffer less that way," the werewolf behind had already taken out a rope, his laughter exceptionally grating.
"Stay close to me!" Celia let go of Charlotte's hand, her body leaning back and stretching, then waved her hand, throwing the silver spear in her hand towards the werewolf standing on the stone pillar.
Shoo!
The silver spear flew like a silver stream, shooting towards the werewolf.
And from the tip of the silver spear shot out a three-foot-long sharp edge, with a fierce momentum!
Celia's figure also shot out like a cheetah, a small curved knife appearing in her left hand as she charged towards the werewolf.
"You're way off." The werewolf grinned and reached out to grab the spear.
Slash!
The claws clashed with the spear, sending sparks flying everywhere.
The silver spear, with its fierce momentum, was easily caught by the werewolf barehanded, still only ten centimeters away from his throat. However, he only suffered a small cut.
His main weapon was ready for a powerful strike, but it failed to harm the werewolf.
The absolute gap between a level three werewolf and a level two-and-a-half orc made Celia feel hopeless, but she had no retreat. Behind her was the need to protect Charlotte, as well as a powerful level three werewolf.
Even if she died together with the werewolf, she had to create a path for Charlotte to escape and repay Jonah's life-saving grace.
However, even so, she was well aware that Charlotte had almost zero chance of surviving against the level three werewolf.
Once they encountered this mercenary group, their fate was sealed.
Neither of them could escape.
She, like a nimble cheetah, stepped on the scattered boulders, holding the curved knife in her hand, charging towards the werewolf.
The werewolf holding the spear sneered with a full face, calmly standing on the stone pillar. He even held the silver spear in reverse in his hand.
The werewolf behind him swung the rope in his hand and moved to capture Celia.
Just then, a figure suddenly flashed by.
A foot appeared in front of the werewolf standing on the stone pillar, accurately kicking the rear end of the spear.
The silver spear that was tightly held by the werewolf slipped out of his hand and flew forward.
Nailed!
The werewolf was instantly sent flying by a spear, piercing through its neck and nailing it to the cliff several meters away.
The werewolf instinctively covered its neck, looking in disbelief towards the direction of the stone pillar. Blood gushed out, staining the cliff red. Its legs kicked randomly a few times before it completely lost its breath.
Standing on the stone pillar where the werewolf had originally been, was none other than Charlotte, who had been following behind Celia.
"How... how is this possible!" The werewolf behind couldn't believe what he was seeing, his grip on the rope loosening. He hadn't even seen how Charlotte appeared on the stone pillar, all he saw was his comrade being sent flying by the halted spear, nailed to the cliff.
That seemingly ordinary man had erupted with terrifying speed and strength.
It was too fast, so fast that even his eyes couldn't keep up.
Meanwhile, Celia, charging forward with a determination to risk her life, reached the stone pillar only to find that Charlotte, who should have been behind her, was now standing there.
In shock, she could only retract the curved blade in her hand that she swung forward. Her mind was in disarray, and she lost control of her footsteps, crashing into Charlotte's arms with full force.
Charlotte supported her and turned her body halfway, alleviating the tremendous impact, and preventing her from being knocked off the stone pillar.
Fortunately, she had a considerable safety cushion, cushioning the impact and reducing the pain.
On the other side, Jonah, who was engaged in a brutal fight with the werewolf, looked back and saw the werewolf being nailed to the cliff, and Celia being embraced by Charlotte. His jaw dropped in astonishment. Celia couldn't possibly be a match for that werewolf, which meant that Charlotte had intervened.
"So, you were pretending all along. No wonder you didn't show any panic earlier," Wuto said coldly, looking at Charlotte, his voice low and furious. A loyal subordinate had died simply because he underestimated Charlotte.
Celia stood firm with Charlotte supporting her waist, but her mind was still spinning as she looked at the man in front of her.
Wasn't Doctor Charlotte usually carrying a surgical knife? Why did he suddenly become so powerful?!
"Go get the spear and find a safe place to stay," Charlotte let go of her hand, spoke to Celia, and then disappeared on the spot.
"Step back!" Wuto roared angrily, striding towards the werewolf who had originally intercepted Charlotte and them. His massive figure created craters with each step he took, his clothes torn to reveal his muscular physique.
The werewolf was equally shocked, instinctively waving his hands forward while trying to retreat.
A blur passed by, narrowly missing him.
The werewolf's actions came to an abrupt halt.
A bloodline appeared on his hands and neck, and in the next second, a wolf's head and a pair of sharp claws soared into the sky.
Meanwhile, Charlotte appeared on a stone pillar several dozen meters away, holding a dark sword in his hand.
One strike, the werewolf didn't even have a chance to resist, and he was beheaded.
Wuto rushed over, splattered with blood, but could only watch helplessly as the headless body of the werewolf fell to the ground.
"So strong! So fast!" This time, Jonah finally understood how Charlotte killed the werewolf, who was equivalent in strength to him.
But he still couldn't see it clearly, because Charlotte was just too fast, for him to even see how he drew his sword.
One thing was certain, if that sword strike had come at him, he would have died just as quickly as the werewolf.
Doctor Charlotte had been hiding his true power all along and turned out to be an advanced knight?!
Jonah felt numb all over.
Thinking about how he had been boasting about his strength all the way, teaching Charlotte wilderness survival skills with great arrogance, now he just wanted to find a hole and hide in it.
As their companions fell, the other werewolf finally began to feel fear. He no longer dared to engage in a fight with Jonah but instead started to retreat towards Wuto, seeking a sense of safety by his side.
Celia had retrieved her spear and appeared from behind a stone pillar. She couldn't help but gaze at Charlotte with admiration.
Before, she had only noticed that the doctor spoke gently, was skilled in medicine, and had a kind personality. He was a gentle person, albeit a bit weak, completely different from those adventurers who constantly cursed.
But when he nailed down one werewolf with a single step and killed another with a single sword strike, his swordsmanship was exceptional, his body movements graceful and agile. His posture of holding the sword with one hand was simply incredibly handsome.
"You're strong, but not strong enough," Wuto tore off the cloth hanging on his body and let out a roar, his bones cracking and popping. His already three-meter-tall figure once again grew, reaching an astonishing height of over five meters, completely transforming into a massive black bear.
"Bloodline talent?" Charlotte's eyes showed a hint of surprise. After reaching the fourth rank, some orcs had a chance to awaken their bloodline talent, which, once activated, would grant them bloodline power, significantly enhancing their strength for a certain period.
Wuto had awakened the bloodline talent of a black bear, gaining a tremendous increase in size and presumably strength as well.
With a stomp of his foot, the entire Stone Gorge trembled, while his massive form resembled that of a black heavy truck, charging towards Charlotte.
Boom!
A loud noise resounded as the stone pillars, several arms thick, shattered, and debris filled the air.
Charlotte, standing in place, was scattered by the impact, revealing that he had been nothing but an afterimage.
He appeared behind the last remaining werewolf, the dark sword in his hand staking the beast's heart from behind, piercing through the chest.
"You..." The werewolf lowered its head, staring at the slowly retracting dark sword, before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
"Bastard! I'll make you all die!" Wuto's enraged voice echoed throughout the Stone Gorge as he charged towards Jonah.
Unable to catch the elusive Charlotte, he chose to kill Jonah, whose movements were the slowest.
"Brother!"
Celia exclaimed, stepping out from behind the stone pillar, raising her silver spear, and throwing it toward Wuto.
"It's over!"
Jonah looked at the approaching Wuto, turned around, and ran away. The visibly insurmountable gap prevented him from entertaining any thoughts of resistance.
Charlotte squinted his eyes, and swung his long sword towards Wuto, who was charging towards Jonah from a distance.
A crescent-shaped blade aura was slashed out, flying towards Wuto!