Watching Colin poised to strike and Liamy slipping into the shadows, Gawasa’s expression darkened deeply.
He never imagined that the Paladin not only survived the cave collapse but was actually allied with that female assassin! Could they have anticipated my move all along? Yes, that must be it! It can’t just be bad luck on my part.
Putting aside these futile speculations, Gawasa pointed his right hand at Colin. A small magical circle on his palm emitted a streak of purple light, but it was instantly blocked by the barrier that had suddenly formed around Colin, which remained perfectly steady without the slightest flicker.
Seeing this, Gawasa realized he was no match for him. However, the teleportation magic still required some time to activate. Before that, he had to find a way to buy enough time.
At that moment, the shadow behind Gawasa suddenly stirred. It detached from the ground and stabbed straight at him.
Unexpectedly, the shadow passed directly through Gawasa’s body and fell back to the ground, while Gawasa’s form flickered and vanished.
Not far away, Gawasa reappeared as if he had just dispelled invisibility.
Before he could take the next step, a brilliant light instantly filled the corner of his eyes.
Taking advantage of Gawasa dodging Liamy’s attack, Colin swiftly swung the Temple Sword in his hand. The sword’s light cut straight through Gawasa, cleaving the dense grass around him as well. Gawasa’s figure was blasted backward, landing on the barren dirt ground.
No sooner had Gawasa landed than a shadow darted past beside him.
But when Liamy moved in to finish him with a blade, she noticed cracks spreading across Gawasa’s body, glowing with a faint purple light.
This is… he’s going to self-destruct?!
Seeing this, Liamy immediately retreated, putting distance between herself and Gawasa. Yet she did not hear the anticipated explosion. Looking back, she saw that although the cracks remained, the purple glow had vanished.
He forcibly suppressed his self-destruction magic? Just as Liamy prepared to lunge again, a large magical circle lit up beneath Gawasa’s feet.
Gawasa spat out several mouthfuls of blood. Even he hadn’t expected to survive Colin’s strike earlier. Looks like his luck isn’t that bad after all.
Whether by luck or otherwise, Gawasa didn’t care. Wiping the corner of his mouth, he smiled weakly, “Finally, the time has come.”
Colin was about to swing his sword again when several imps appeared out of nowhere, attacking his barrier.
These imps were leftovers from the previous attack on the “Furnace Hook.” Because they hadn’t targeted the orcs, Colin hadn’t noticed them. Now, Gawasa sent them to harass Colin and buy time.
Though the imps’ attacks were useless—the barrier did not waver in the slightest—Colin’s attention was momentarily diverted.
When he refocused on Gawasa, he saw a figure wrapped in thorn-like vines had appeared in front of him.
Gawasa looked at the figure excitedly. It was his demon friend summoned through the magical circle. The “imp breeder” Gawasa had mentioned earlier had come from this entity.
Although Gawasa called it a friend, he knew very little about it. They had done many transactions over time, and since Gawasa had few friends, he ended up referring to it this way.
He even gave it a cute name—Garuru (of course, this demon disliked the name, but since Gawasa was her regular client, she had no choice but to tolerate it).
While Gawasa didn’t understand Garuru well, he knew one thing: Garuru was very strong! At least far stronger than him!
Though Gawasa wasn’t sure if Garuru could resolve this crisis, he had no other options and could only hope Garuru’s power would help him escape alive.
Colin cut down all the imps attacking him with a single swing, then turned his gaze toward Garuru.
He once again let the Temple Sword glow brightly, ready to strike at any moment.
Meanwhile, Liamy’s shadow blades grew darker and more solid as she whispered a spell, preparing for a powerful attack.
As the teleportation circle’s light faded, Garuru’s form stabilized. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Colin holding the radiant Temple Sword and Liamy wielding two abyss-black shadow blades.
Garuru froze instantly. She slowly turned to look at Gawasa, who was watching her expectantly, as if urging her to deal with the two.
Seeing this, Garuru reluctantly faced the battle-ready Colin and Liamy.
Colin’s expression stiffened the moment he saw Garuru—this demon was a level 70 high-rank demon! That demon lord could actually summon her? And judging by their demeanor, they clearly knew each other well. In fact, they looked quite familiar. So the rumors about demon lords cooperating with demons were true…
Putting that aside for now, Liamy was no match for her. If they fought, Liamy would likely get hurt…
But if Liamy didn’t join the fight, she definitely wouldn’t agree. What to do? How to keep Liamy from battling that demon? Should I just go all out and cut that demon in half with a single sword strike? Not impossible…
As Colin pondered how to protect Liamy from harm, Gawasa, hiding behind Garuru and taking advantage of the distraction, began to blur and fade.
Garuru understood her old client’s plan and immediately cast an illusion at Gawasa’s vanished spot to pretend he hadn’t disappeared.
Unfortunately for them, all this was meaningless to Colin, a Paladin much higher level than them all. He immediately saw through their scheme.
However, this worked perfectly for Colin’s plan.
He plunged his sword into the ground and cast a “Mass Dispel.” From him radiated a wave of holy light that covered Liamy, Garuru, and the fleeing Gawasa.
Gawasa’s form immediately reappeared, while the illusion shattered instantly. Even Garuru was affected somewhat, her entire body trembling.
Realizing his form was exposed, Gawasa’s face grew grim, but he didn’t stop. He dashed toward the distant forest without a moment’s hesitation.
Liamy moved to intercept him but was blocked by Garuru, who stood between her and Gawasa’s escape route.
Colin spoke at the right moment: “Brother! You go after that demon lord. I’ll deal with this one.”
Liamy glanced at Colin, who returned a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, brother. I’ll catch up soon.”
Seeing this, Liamy stopped hesitating and instantly transformed into a shadow, pursuing the fleeing Gawasa.
Garuru tried to stop her but was cut off by a flash of sword light. She looked at Colin, who was readying another strike, realizing that unless he was dealt with, she couldn’t hold Liamy back.
Thus, Colin faced Garuru, and Liamy pursued Gawasa. Opponents assigned, the pure battle was about to begin.