Boom!
With a powerful thrust, Alice unleashed a surge of crimson sword energy that expanded into a massive beam of light, engulfing the giant lion and shattering its head as if it were a cannon blast. A single strike, a perfect kill, eliminating the giant lion.
However, after this explosive effort, Alice found herself utterly exhausted, needing some time to recover. As the mist spread, visibility in the area quickly diminished.
Along with the mist came the Misty Crimson Beast, a natural-type zombie that Rosen had encountered once before. The beast emerged from the thick fog, revealing a large, transparent hole in its chest, a remnant from when Rosen had unexpectedly attacked, piercing it in a single blow.
For the beast, as long as its head remained intact, it could continue to fight. Moreover, unlike last time, it now sported eight slender mantis-like arms and a pair of horns. Its eyes reflected a hint of humanity, but the expression was one of ferocity.
It emerged from the mist behind Alice, thrusting its eight arms toward her body. Alice seemed to sense it and heard Rosen's warning. She turned abruptly, but could only watch helplessly as the arms were about to pierce her. Even in that final moment of her life, she did not relinquish her weapon, preparing to fight to the death, with her dagger raised.
But the Misty Crimson Beast was quicker, and Alice was too drained; before she could reach the trajectory of its attack, she would be killed first.
"Sandstorm Slash!" At that moment, a cold voice rang out. A figure cloaked in yellow sand flew in like a storm.
Swish! A figure appeared before Alice, wielding a sandy bronze sword, severing the first three mantis arms that had reached this position. It was a tangible entity, not a natural one. This meant the arms had been implanted, rather than grown from within.
Rosen was unaware, but after losing its arms, the Misty Crimson Beast displayed a pained, angry expression. It was different from before, now showing a semblance of intelligence similar to the horned demons.
Stronger, it seemed slightly more powerful than before, but judging by its stiff arms, it had likely just undergone the implantation of these limbs and hadn't fully adjusted yet; otherwise, it might have been even stronger.
Alice looked at the tall figure in front of her, feeling a complex mix of emotions. She had never imagined being saved by someone; death had always been her destiny.
"You handle those horned demons. I didn't save you for nothing; remember, this is a debt you owe me," Rosen said calmly.
Facing the enraged Misty Crimson Beast, eyes filled with battle intent, it was a natural-type zombie; bring it on, let's see how much stronger it has become since last time.
"Dream on. If it comes down to it, I'll just return the favor," Alice sneered in her heart but understood her current state; she couldn't possibly handle a beast that was not weaker than the giant lion. The fact that it was a natural-type user made it potentially more troublesome than the lion, but she could still manage the horned demons, albeit with significant risk. Compared to the beast before her, however, they were undoubtedly much smaller threats.
Rosen didn't want to be caught between two powerful species, as that could lead to disaster, so he saved Alice to draw the fire of the horned demons. He decided to take down the Misty Crimson Beast; the situation had arisen suddenly, and he couldn't miss this opportunity.
To complete his task, Rosen believed he needed to contribute significantly or take down the enemy on his own to meet the requirements.
"Die!" the Misty Crimson Beast mumbled a vague death threat.
Then Rosen noticed the fog around him thickening, and the air growing more humid. As he reached out into the void, he could feel the dampness, indicating that the mist could be harmful to him.
In the fog, he spotted several horned demons and some scattered zombies that had climbed onto the city wall. In an instant, the Misty Crimson Beast vanished into the mist.
"Sandstorm Burial!" Rosen remained calm, using his Observation Haki to narrow his focus and prepare for the beast's sudden attack.
He pressed his hand against the ground, summoning a sandstorm that surged down, targeting himself. Centered around Rosen, the fog-covered area was instantly disrupted by a blast of yellow sand.
Several sandstorms swirled around Rosen, stirring the mist away, clearing his vision nearby.
As another natural-type user, if the Misty Crimson Beast thought mere mist could interfere with him, it was woefully mistaken.
"Bang!" A horned demon burst out of the fog, and Rosen, wielding his sandy bronze sword, slashed through, beheading the bull-headed demon.
Although the horned demons were engaged in a fierce battle with Alice, some still slipped through to this area; it was inevitable. After all, in a real battlefield, how could one expect enemies to arrive according to one's own plans? That was unrealistic.
At the same time, a large number of zombies appeared behind him. Under Rosen's command, two sandstorms whirled around like meat grinders, completely engulfing these ordinary foes in the sandstorm.
Seizing the opportunity, one horned demon, thinking it had found a weakness, jumped out of the mist at high speed, like a black lightning bolt attacking from the left.
"Concentrate, Dragon Grip!" The sandy bronze sword rushed back to Rosen's left shoulder, forming a normal-sized hand.
The hand opened into a claw, directly grasping the horned demon's head, and with a slight squeeze, he crushed the four-armed demon.
However, it seemed they had locked onto Rosen, and as he took down one, two new four-armed demons charged at him from both sides.
"Hey, woman, you can't handle these bull-headed demons?" Rosen didn't want to waste time fighting these pointless monsters; the true target hidden in the mist was the Misty Crimson Beast.
"Be careful," Alice shouted. The two horned demons were supposed to be her distraction, and she was also engaged in combat with several four-armed horned demons not far from Rosen.
But these horned demons were too fast; even at her peak, she would struggle to secure victory instantly.
Suddenly, two horned demons split off to ambush Rosen, prompting her to shout a warning. Although she still wasn't fond of the outsider, he had just saved her life, and now they were fighting side by side. After all, living humans were still more pleasant to the eye compared to monsters.
Just as her voice faded, Rosen's fist was enveloped in black energy, striking one of the horned demons and sending it flying a hundred meters away. The immense force exploded its body.
The other horned demon that had lunged at Rosen missed its target as he took a step back and leaped into the air.
Seeing this, the horned demon roared in anger, using all its strength to leap, but Rosen struck it mid-air with a punch.
The monster's body plummeted like a meteor, crashing into the city wall and smashing through it into the ground below. A section of the wall crumbled alongside the horned demon.
"This outsider is so powerful?! How is that possible?!" Although Rosen had ambushed the Misty Crimson Beast, Alice saw it as merely the result of a charged attack—just a show of strength.
She hadn't expected to struggle against one or two four- or five-armed horned demons, despite her poor condition. She was acutely aware of how strong these new species were.
But this person, taking down one with a single punch?! And that kind of power was reminiscent of Lady Queen; could it be that he was not weaker than her? How could that be possible?! The Queen was the strongest human ever recorded in Lantis' history.
Whoosh! As Rosen hovered in the air, the lurking Misty Crimson Beast finally made its move. Vast clouds of mist formed swirling water mist spears, appearing like spiraling smoke yet containing droplets that created small whirlpools.
All around Rosen, these mist spears converged without any blind spots. Not only that, but some monstrous figures made of mist were also forming, roaring and raging, coming to life as if reflecting the beast's current mood.
"All-out assault? It seems there's still some battle instinct left." Rosen observed and stood still in mid-air, raising his hands to the void. A swirling sandstorm gathered in his palms.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…" The mist erupted as thousands of mist spears descended like a torrential rain of arrows, completely surrounding and attacking Rosen.
But a natural-type user's large-scale bombardment against another natural-type user was destined to be futile.
"Sandstorm Starfall!" An equal number of large yellow sand swords exploded outward from Rosen's center, like fireworks shooting in all directions, creating a thunderous barrage.
Within a kilometer radius, a deathly silence reigned; countless zombies and even the weaker two or three-armed horned demons were torn apart like paper before the overwhelming might of the two natural-type users.
Only those with a bit of strength could survive this cataclysmic cleansing. Once the bombardment subsided, the mist was completely dissipated, and Rosen smiled at a direction: "So, you were hiding here."
(End of chapter)