Ch. 81 Nelius, Invasion Failed!

“You bastard, give me your name, then honestly kneel and apologize to these guys after you die!”

Facing the man in the cloak and hood clutching the blood-red twin daggers—Bloodfinger Nelius—Patches didn’t back down in the slightest.

“Heh…” The man’s brow twitched.

He naturally took Patches’ statement as a provocation.

“Good spirit. Let’s see if you still have that energy after you become my, Nelius’s, blood servant!”

The man lowered his body like a leopard; beneath his voluminous robes, his muscles were already coiled and ready.

This action signaled the start of the battle.

Not to be outdone, Patches let out a shout and charged forward with his greatshield and spear.

‘Glintstone Pebble’

With a flash of blue light, Mia, who possessed long-range attack means, immediately raised her staff. A blue magic crystal whistled toward the Bloodfinger.

How could a Bloodfinger, having survived countless battles, fail to notice Mia as a caster?

Especially after she had dealt with all the Putrid Bloodmen in a single move.

From the start, the Bloodfinger had been closely watching the movements of Mia’s hands. Finally, the moment he saw the blue light appear, a faint, almost imperceptible look of triumph surfaced on Nelius’s face.

He dodged the swift Pebble that was flying straight at him.

A Pebble, which traveled at a speed similar to an arrow, would be absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to dodge at this distance.

But he was Nelius, a Bloody Finger who served the Lord of Blood and had received the Lord’s grace—the Blood Noble, Nelius!

Nelius slid to the side. The moment the swift Pebble grazed past him, the blood within his body seeped from the veins in his wrists and flowed onto the daggers in his hands.

He turned as elegantly as a noble, and then the blood-soaked daggers slashed through the air in succession. Two red blades of light actually burst forth through the air!

The one right at the front was Patches.

Patches charged toward Nelius while holding up his shield and leveling his spear.

Mia’s eyes widened.

This guy was actually willing to be the first to charge?!

The red air-slashing strikes slammed into Patches’ shield. The frontal force made him pause for half a step. Just as he thought his usual ‘turtle’ tactics were proving effective…

…the fishy smell of blood made him feel a wave of dizziness.

Those two blood slashes undoubtedly contained heretical power. Upon hitting the greatshield, the slashes immediately reverted to their original form, becoming splashing blood.

Much like the blood mist released by the Putrid Bloodmen earlier, the blood slashes were like water balloons; they burst immediately upon touching the shield, dyeing it red and sending droplets flying everywhere.

That blood was ominous blood.

When it dripped near his feet, the blood inside Patches’ body seemed to be drawn by some kind of attraction. He could feel his own blood leaping, thirsting, yearning to become one with the Bloodfinger’s blood.

“I absolutely cannot let his blood touch me!”

Patches was horrified.

If not for this tower shield that could cover his entire body, his own blood would likely have burst out of his body the moment he touched the Bloodfinger’s blood.

A golden light came from behind.

“Quite sharp, aren’t you?” The Bloodfinger suddenly leaped back a distance.

This wasn’t a retreat due to being at his wit’s end, but rather like a cobra coiling its body and arching its neck back before striking—it was the precursor to an attack.

Whoosh—

Nelius dodged another Pebble.

Mia frowned.

She was feeling a bit cramped.

Wilden and Patches were both in front of her, and the space inside the cave was limited. She couldn’t release unavoidable area-of-effect magic against Nelius as she had with the Putrid Bloodmen.

She didn’t have a third-person God’s-eye view; all she could see was Nelius constantly jumping between Wilden and Patches.

Even casting consecutive magic required caution, caution, and more caution.

She even had to limit the power of the Pebbles she could release.

Otherwise, she might damage the cave, leading to incalculable consequences.

She was starting to hate caves.

The girl’s gaze crossed Patches’ shoulder and met Nelius’s eyes.

In that instant, Mia felt the chill of being targeted by a predator.

Nelius’s killing intent was palpable.

Upon him, the phrase ‘as if walking out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood’ was no longer an exaggerated metaphor.

It was a reality!

Under Mia’s white starlight, the blood-colored twin daggers took on a viscous, paint-like reflection.

Blood continued to flow from Nelius’s wrists, defying gravity and the acceleration of his swings, clinging tightly to his skin as if an invisible external vessel connected the two.

Blood flowed continuously into the daggers.

He intended to keep using Bloody Slash.

However, his target was no longer the troublesome greatshield in front of him.

It was the caster at the very back, Mia, who had neither armor for protection nor a shield for cover!

Holding his twin blades, the agile Bloodfinger lunged forward.

Patches thrust his spear at him, but Nelius easily bypassed it.

Patches immediately swung his shield in that direction to bash him.

Though he sometimes acted treacherous, cunning, or even cowardly…

He was not weak.

At the very least, as a Tarnished who had made a name for himself in The Lands Between, Patches possessed enough strength to form his own bandit troupe in that lawless land.

He even qualified to join Volcano Manor, and could even join the fray when players fought Radahn…

Even if he was just there for the spectacle.

Patches’s shield bash missed.

Then he suddenly realized Nelius’s target wasn’t himself.

He was charging toward Mia!

Even though Wilden still stood between the two of them.

But Nelius didn’t even spare a glance for Wilden; his crimson eyes were locked onto Mia like a wild dog staring down its prey.

After all, in his eyes, Wilden was nothing more than a mere Royal Army Soldier.

How could he possibly stop Nelius?

How could he stop ‘Bloodfinger’ Nelius, a Tarnished who served the Lord of Blood and had become a Bloody Noble?

In the single moment they crossed paths, he could slit the Royal Army Soldier’s throat and seize his remaining blood.

The dagger in his right hand, held in a reverse grip, had already lashed out.

Clang—

Nelius was pulled by the resistance against his right hand; his body jerked, and he nearly lost his balance.

His pupils shrank as he turned his head in disbelief.

The strike that should have finished off this Royal Army Soldier had actually been blocked.

It was blocked by that native dressed as a Royal Army Soldier in a surcoat, using twin swords!

‘How is this possible?! How could a Royal Army Soldier have such reaction speed?’

‘With such reaction speed, how could he be just a Royal Army Soldier?’

‘Are you wearing those clothes just to make a fool out of me?!’

In a fit of rage, Nelius’s other dagger followed immediately like a venomous snake’s tongue.

Clang—

Nelius had two daggers.

Wilden also had two straight swords.

Twin daggers against twin swords; for a moment, Nelius actually couldn’t do anything to Wilden.

Nelius suddenly realized that this guy of unknown identity—a wolf in sheep’s clothing—was superior to him in terms of strength!

If this stalemate continued, he would be the one to fail!

Cold sweat seeped from Nelius’s forehead.

Within this brief second, Nelius analyzed the situation.

In front of him, besides the Soldier, there was that caster who was already making a move.

Behind him was the bald man with the spear and greatshield.

If it were just one Soldier, dealing with a clunky greatshield would be a simple matter, even easy.

But there were three enemies.

As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands.

And now, it was two fists against six hands.

‘What should I do?’

He had undoubtedly underestimated his opponent.

This Royal Army Soldier was actually so powerful.

But was it his fault?

What kind of jerk likes to play the pig to eat the tiger like this!

There was no time to think of a strategy; Patches’s spear was already coming for his kidneys.

He took a proactive step back, resolutely giving up on blocking Wilden’s blades.

Pfft—