Chapter 281

281 Fear the gauntlet’s destruction

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[Third Eye activate.]

[High Nine Paths Bane description.]

[A curse that disrupts the flow of the meridians of life with the use of corrupted tainted mana and poison.]

[The afflicted will suffer from less strength depending on the potency. The usage of skills, abilities, traits, and spells will become impaired depending on the potency of the curse.]

[The afflicted need to take one bloom of the [Nine-Headed Hydra Flower] once every seven days to keep the curse from spreading further.]

[Every seven days without consuming a bloom will add one stack. Each stack represents a path for the bane to spread. The more stacks, the more potent the condition becomes.]

[The afflicted will die at nine stacks.]

[Taking an additional nine blooms will reduce the stack by one.]

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[Taking an additional nine blooms at zero stacks will disable the condition’s effects for seven days.]

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[No wonder the flower can be found in the Northern Content with a description like this. The condition might be a cultivator’s bane, yet it found its way to this city. Could the Blackhearts have connections with an evil demonic sect?]

-Let’s think about this later.-

Vincent went in front of Lilith’s mother and said with the friendliest hoarse tone possible, “I will pull out the poisoned arrow to heal the injury.”

Vincent didn’t leave a second go to waste. He grabbed the arrow and pulled it out perfectly, leaving the wound size the same.

Vincent wasn’t gentle since Teresa Lionheart was unconscious. It was quick and precise, as if taking out a cactus spike, but it looked painful, and the haste made it look like a vicious thing to do.

Leonis frowned, and the old injured maid almost fainted. On the other hand, Maid Xu didn’t look too shocked and angry because she already saw Vincent heal Iris while Lilith placed all her trust that Vincent would not betray her.

“Soul Power Minor Heal.” He said, blessing Teresa with bright green healing light.

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[-20sp used for Soul Power Minor Heal on Teresa Lionheart. 20sp Remaining.]

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Leonis became overwhelmed by how the man who appeared to have a strange combat class could also heal as well. Additionally, Leonis thought he was dreaming when Vincent didn’t chant for the spell to cast and activate.

Lilith, on the other hand, had her expectations of Vincent blown away. She never thought Vincent could use the spell every Healer Class desires to awaken. Lilith read how Minor Heal could take decades of training to attain the spell.

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[Name] Teresa Lionheart

[Condition] Minor Injury, Exhausted, Minor blood loss, High Nine Paths Bane (4 Stacks), Unconscious

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“Teresa is out of danger now. Leonis, protect the family while I eradicate them.” Vincent gave Lilith one last look and climbed the towering Alpha Grizzly Bear’s stomach.

[They are about to shoot again! I can feel mana around the arrows! It must be Wild Blow empowering the bows!]

Vincent couldn’t use Inspection on the ten assassins because they remained beside the wall. The wall was dozens of meters away from the entrance of the mansion.

Vincent closed his eyes and took a long deep breath. He used Overflow to suck in as much mana as possible in this lungs. When he felt his lungs were about to pop, he stopped.

Sakura and Sofy opened the entrance door and saw an unbelievable sight. A massive headless bear’s corpse and Vincent on it. Behind the monstrosity of a body were those that Vincent was protecting.

Sakura and Sofy wanted to assist in any way. Sakura clenched the sword and shield she found on the ground while Sofy held her whip tightly. However, their intentions of helping were short-lived.

*Tsss...ROOAARR!!!* Vincent’s loud monstrous hoarse roar filled with massive bloodlust and resolve to protect struck fear in the hearts of whoever heard it.

Leonis, the old maid, Maid Xu, Lilith, Sofy, and the three little girls shivered in fear. A cold shiver rushed down their spine multiple times as the roar’s intimidating and dominating intent was amplified my mana and the mutation. Only Plow and Sakura remained unaffected.

The assassins shot the powered arrows a fraction of a second before Vincent loudly roared. The arrows wobbled in the air, and their trajectory changed. Most tilted down and stuck in the ground while the remaining powered arrows went sideways, hitting trees or flower beds.

The roar soon reached them, and their bodies became momentarily paralyzed with fear. However, they were used to any situation to happen in their jobs.

As if they were programmed, each assassin took out a small dagger and jammed it in their leg at the same time. They almost looked like doppelgangers.

The assassins hurt themselves with a special dagger only to be used for emergencies. The blade was coated with a numb powder to make the injury hurt less. Additionally, inside the hilt were eight needles that extended when the blade found resistance. The needles had a variety of temporary stat empowering coating.

The roar weakly reached the gate where the old Lionheart-sponsored soldiers, Lenn, Renn, Fliara, and Eliara, fought against twelve strong assassins.

Everyone was temporarily shivering in fear from the unexpected burst of murderous intent.

The twenty three old veteran soldiers started regaining control of their bodies, but it was slower than using the special emergency daggers in the assassin’s hands. A few seconds of delay could mean life and death.

However, before the assassins could boost themselves by using the dagger, Lenn and Renn moved towards the half-sisters. The twins were used to Vincent’s and Lupa’s strong bloodlust when they trained or sparred. It was easier for the twins to regain control of their bodies faster than the others.

Lenn and Renn placed their hand on Fliara’s and Eliara’s shoulders. The twins closed their eyes and followed what Vincent and their father taught them to do in such situations.

The twins thought of protecting the two women as they didn’t want to see them get hurt. The potent intent of determination to fight back influenced the half-sister’s body to stop being afraid and move.

The twelve assassins stabbed themselves. Then they noticed two women casting a spell each. The assassins decided to rush forward to start killing any person in their path and stop another fireball from almost killing them. However, such a plan was short-lived.

Lenn and Renn swapped equipment and went to intercept the first assassin to regain mobility and attack. Lenn raised two shields and blocked the assassin’s attack while Renn swung two swords at the assassin Lenn stopped.

The assassin couldn’t move as he wanted, yet it wasn’t enough to lose against the twins.

Two more assassins regained their movement and rushed forward. The twins were in a predicament.

On the other side beyond the wall, Vincent puffed a large cloud of green steam, and his eyes shone brighter than before. The ten assassins murmured “Monster ” before they drew their bowstrings with a trembling hand to shoot.

Vincent raised his hand, and a bright green light materialized a gauntlet in his hand. “Begon!” He loudly shouted before he swung horizontally the fully charged gauntlet created from Overload form.

It was dark, and the long green arc illuminating the surroundings resembled a green crescent moon. It flew forward with heat and destruction, and any grass, flower, or tree in its path caught fire. Furthermore, the arrows empowered with Wild Blow disintegrated the moment they crashed into the green crescent moon.

Regrettably, its power waned the more it traveled, and it became smaller as well. However, its destruction barely weakened. The closer it got, the more terrified the assassins became.

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The assassins tried to get out of the way, but it was too late for most. The destructive green crescent moon sliced through six assassins without any resistance. They were sliced in half, and their bodies caught on fire.

*Boom!* The green crescent moon crashed into the wall. The forceful impact caused broken pieces of stone to shoot in all directions and fall on the ground a few meters later. Additionally, a lot of the stones caught on fire.

Fortunately, the power inside the green crescent moon waned by a lot, and it disintegrated in mere seconds after destroying the wall. There was no additional damage other than green flaming stones shooting everywhere. Two of the remaining four assassins ended up getting hit, and they didn’t get up after that.

The stalemate gate situation had to pause the fight for a moment. The force of the impact reached them, and a few flaming rocks flew in their direction because they weren’t too far.

The assassins stopped attacking and circled to the opposite side of the blast to use the old soldiers for cover. The assassins now had the advantage. They made a signal with their hands and prepared to attack.

Unfortunately, Eliara and Fliara lost control of their concentration, and the spell chant failed. Lenn and Renn were shocked, but they learned enough from Lupa that the first one to make a mistake got to die first.

Lenn and Renn noticed the half-sisters were slightly wobbling as if they were dizzy. The stones didn’t reach them, but the assassin’s weapons could. The twins rushed to their side to at least deter the assassins from attacking the helpless women.

From the start until this point, no side lost a person from their group because of their experience, teamwork, and carefulness. However, it was about to change soon.

The old soldiers split into two groups. Twelve to fight the assassins while the others tried to recover after getting hurt from the flaming stones. Some old and less strong soldiers got injured from blocking with a bad form, while others were unfortunate, and a flaming stone hit them.