The Heavy Abyss Pearl suddenly erupted with dazzling light, then in an instant transformed into a massive water azure dragon that lunged fiercely toward the crowd.
The dragon's roar, accompanied by a deafening surge of water, thundered like raging waves.
"What kind of monster is this!" The mercenaries stared in terror at the azure dragon before them, completely frozen in fright—they didn't even have time to think of running.
In the blink of an eye, the water azure dragon swept through, devouring the mercenaries entirely.
Only the sound of rushing water echoed as the mercenaries' bodies shattered instantly under the dragon's impact—not even a scrap remained, as if they had never existed at all.
After completing its task, the Heavy Abyss Pearl slowly floated back into Dan Feng's hand.
Dan Feng looked at the Heavy Abyss Pearl in his hand before putting it away.
"Phew, first time using Imbibitor Lunae power for this long." Dan Feng murmured to himself. He felt a surge of excitement; right now, his body seemed restless, as if the power within him was churning wildly.
Dan Feng glanced around and saw that the boxes containing the magic tools remained intact where they were.
He gathered his thoughts for a moment, then stepped outside.
As soon as he exited, Dan Feng noticed the rain had stopped, and the air felt exceptionally fresh.
However, he sensed that the surrounding temperature seemed even lower than before.
At that moment, Roxy and Steven were standing on one of the carriages outside, busily sorting through the magic tools.
Seeing this, Dan Feng quickly walked over and said to Steven: "It's safe inside now, Mr. Steven. Go check if any magic tools were lost or left behind in there."
Steven nodded, then looked at Dan Feng gratefully: "Thank you, Dan Feng. Without you two, this batch of magic tools would definitely have been taken."
"Among them are the ones the principal entrusted to us, including our reward—so this is what we should do."
Dan Feng then turned his gaze to Roxy. Their eyes met.
Seeing Dan Feng's expression, Roxy asked in confusion: "What's wrong, Dan Feng?"
"I think reinforcements from that side will arrive soon, so we can go house by house to deal with the mercenaries first. Otherwise, I feel like a lot of people in Rosenberg will die today." Dan Feng shared his thoughts.
Though other people's lives weren't his concern, he felt such things shouldn't harm innocent people. Since these mercenaries came for the magic tools, Dan Feng believed he should eliminate them all.
Helping out might even earn a reward later—the principal might give them a few extra magic tools.
"I think that's fine. These mercenaries actually tied up ordinary people—their methods are truly despicable. Were they planning to use the residents' lives to bargain for their escape?" Roxy guessed indignantly.
"Then, Mr. Steven, please stay here and organize the magic tools. I believe there are plenty of attack-type magic tools among them. If any mercenaries show up, you should be able to fend them off using those." Dan Feng looked at Steven.
Steven nodded. "Don't worry. I know there are many attack-type magic tools here." He could still use magic tools—everyone had mana, and magic tools only required a tiny amount to activate.
"Alright. We'll head back immediately once we've finished clearing them out." Dan Feng said quickly, then took Roxy and hurried toward the residential district.
On the way, Dan Feng and Roxy continued analyzing the current situation.
"The residential district was taken last night, but we came from the inn district this morning—so it's certain the inn district wasn't captured." Dan Feng stated firmly.
"Maybe... they were wary of... A-rank or higher adventurers?" Roxy replied breathlessly. She hadn't trained her stamina much, so running was really tough for her—she was already exhausted after just a short distance.
Dan Feng naturally noticed how tired Roxy was, so he picked her up in his arms and sped up toward the residential district.
In Dan Feng's embrace, Roxy curiously stared at the illusory dragon horns on his forehead. Her hand unconsciously moved slowly toward one of the horns until it passed straight through.
"Eh?" Roxy let out a soft exclamation, puzzled by the scene. She tried a few more times and found it still passed right through.
"Dan Feng, can't I touch your horns?" Roxy asked Dan Feng, her face showing confusion.
Dan Feng fell silent for a moment after hearing Roxy's question, then answered: "I still can't condense them into a physical form right now. It'll take a long time."
"I see. Does it depend on bloodline purity?" Roxy murmured.
"Bloodline purity?"
"Some demon races depend on bloodline purity. Like the famous undead race in the books—they rely on bloodline purity. The purer the bloodline, the faster they recover." Roxy explained to Dan Feng.
"So that's how it is."
Afterward, Dan Feng and Roxy successfully arrived at the residential district and began searching house by house for traces of the mercenaries.
Almost every house had one.
Dan Feng was in charge of eliminating the mercenaries, while Roxy handled treating the injured.
What Dan Feng and Roxy didn't know was that most of the mercenaries had been pulled away to confront the incoming reinforcements supporting Rosenberg.
As for why one mercenary was left in each house? It was exactly as Roxy had guessed—if they couldn't win, they would use the residents' lives as leverage to force their escape.
However, their plan was ultimately going to be shattered by Dan Feng and Roxy.
...
At this critical moment, the reinforcements from Basheran Duchy finally arrived outside Rosenberg's city walls.
Strangely, however, even though the reinforcements had arrived, they took no action.
The reason was that atop the western city gate, the count managing Rosenberg was being held hostage.
"Duke of Basheran, why go this far? Let us leave, and you'll only lose some profits. But if you insist on fighting us to the bitter end, the ones who suffer will be the entire city's residents!" Darius's confidant declared without fear.
Since he had never shown his face in public, he could now reveal his true appearance without any reservations.
He held a sharp sword steadily pressed against the neck of a count from Ranoa Kingdom. The count's face was full of terror, his body trembling.
Clearly, he was extremely worried about his own life.
The Duke of Basheran stared fixedly at the other party, his eyes blazing with fury.
This count was crucial to him—an indispensable right-hand man. In fact, he was his own younger brother.
Without this younger brother managing the other cities, the Duke of Basheran would have no time to oversee them.
Therefore, he absolutely did not want anything to happen to this brother.
Moreover, he couldn't launch a reckless assault on the city, or the residents inside might meet disaster.
For now, he could only wait for Ranoa Kingdom's reinforcements to arrive as quickly as possible. Among them was a Saint-class healing magician—once they arrived, he wouldn't have to fear his brother's death.
Even if a sword slit the trachea, Saint-class healing magic could restore it.