CH 191

Rode's vision flashed white, and then he was punched in the chest. A cold sensation followed as a translucent ice sword was pressed against his throat.

"Hey!"

Rode hurriedly shouted, "I was just joking! We've lived and died together so many times, our bond goes beyond blood. There's no need to treat me like this..."

Mephisto looked at him with cold, silver eyes and said expressionlessly, "I'm sorry, I don't remember having any deep feelings for you. We only cooperated once, and you took all the rewards for yourself."

Rode scratched the back of his head. "Didn't you also get your fair share from that sucker? Besides, I killed all the monsters... um, what I mean is, don't you think we're a perfect match? Our strengths and weaknesses complement each other. Have you considered my suggestion?"

Mephisto coldly replied, "No, I don't think so, and I won't consider it."

Rode smiled and said, "Don't reject me so easily. I sincerely want to be your partner."

He paused and said seriously, "Although they don't want to have anything to do with you, I don't believe you're an untouchable harbinger of doom. I don't think you'll spread misfortune like a disease to others. You can safely interact with me, that's what I wanted to express."

Mephisto lowered her gaze, and with a flick of her finger, the ice sword disappeared.

"You can work with them, don't you know my identity?" Jon asked curiously.

"What identity? Jon said you're restricted by the Silver Oath, so aren't you a monster?" Rode asked.

Mephisto turned around and looked at the distant Fire Protection Ritual Grounds. The fire reflected off her silver hair, making it shine brightly.

She asked softly, "If I said yes, what would you do?"

Rode laughed, "It's okay, I have good dental hygiene. So what if you're a monster? Xu Xian even slept with a snake. With your fair skin, silver eyes, and silver hair, I dare to..."

His mouth suddenly felt cold as a large piece of ice covered it.

Mephisto didn't say anything, but Rode saw a blush spread across her cheek.

"Oops!"

Rode forcefully bit through the ice. He wanted to take a few sips, but the ice disappeared after it shattered, leaving only the cold sensation. Not a drop of water touched his lips.

He coughed and said cautiously, "Mephisto, I sincerely invite you to be my partner. You will receive my goodwill and respect, and have the freedom to make your own choices. I won't force you to do anything, and we will share our benefits equally. I will also protect your safety until the day I die."

Mephisto didn't answer, and Rode didn't say anything either. The two stood silently, with the noisy sounds from afar becoming a background of silence.

After a long silence, Mephisto asked softly, "Why? Why choose me?"

Rode replied, "Your control abilities are very suitable for me. I saw it during the fight just now. You're used to controlling enemies with ice and killing them with ice. If you can cooperate with me, I can handle the rest..."

Mephisto suddenly said, "I am a taboo."

"Oh."

"I belong to the Taboo Armament under the Silver Oath. The Calamity Curse is just the outermost curse that seals me. In non-combat situations, most of my powers are sealed. Only at this time can I appear as a hunter in the Hunter Branch Tavern."

Rode smiled, "It's okay, I can wait for you."

"The Silver Oath's orders surpass everything. I might abandon you during a mission."

"It's okay, I accept."

Mephisto turned around, her silver eyes and hair shining in the firelight.

She said softly, "You just want to sleep with me, right? You want to play with me, control me with the puppet wood you bought to satisfy your perverted desires, right?"

"I..."

Rode was about to explain when she suddenly said, "Fine."

"I agree. I'll give you this chance. Come find me at 17 Hawthorn Street in fifteen days. If you don't come, then I'll assume that everything you said before was a lie to deceive me."

Mephisto turned around, leaped into the air, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Rode scratched his head, feeling very conflicted.

He had no problem with engaging in play, but his original intention was to use her to help him hunt monsters.

As for the silver-haired beauty's body, it wasn't his main goal.

If she minded, he could just be a pure good friend and maintain a pure friendship.

Sigh, he would explain it to her later.

Rode thought to himself.

As long as you agree to be my partner, we can play whatever games you want.

He turned around and headed towards the Fire Protection Ritual Grounds.

Although they had reclaimed the city of Laiso, the battle was not over. They still had to reclaim all the outlying strongholds and wait for the military to send troops to take over the city's defense and strongholds.

It's worth mentioning that Miss Green Feather also seemed interested in becoming his teammate.

However, that girl was a bit too strong, and she also had the dual roles of Guardian and Candidate for the King, which made things more complicated, and time might be limited.

Mephisto was still better.

While Rode pondered, he activated his ability, "Awakening."

The ability "Awakening" was truly amazing.

Every time he used it, the crisis would temporarily stay away from him, like borrowing money. Although each time he borrowed, he would sink deeper, as long as the financial chain didn't completely break, he wouldn't be in danger.

Rode wanted to see where its limits were, to determine how much he could use it in the future.The feeling of spiritual power pouring in from the void was simply too good. This free power shouldn't be wasted.

As for the price of this power?

Please, I'm already dead, it's a bad debt.

Hahaha.

Rode gave himself a thumbs up for his wit.

---

After a brief rest, the elite combat cluster resumed their campaign.

This time, they had the major stronghold of Soren City. The threat of the abyss had been cleared, making the battle much easier and smoother.

Jon and Green Feather divided the cluster into dozens of small teams, each setting out on their own.

Rode was in Soren's team, riding Soren's spirit horse, and throwing thunderstones on the heads of monsters.

This tactic achieved excellent results. A large number of monsters suffered devastating blows, greatly relieving the pressure on the expedition teams and accelerating the speed of recapturing the strongholds.

The most perfect part was that it fully utilized their characteristics, maximizing their roles.

Soren's spiritual power was exhausted in the battle with the giant serpent, and he couldn't exert his powerful combat power for a while. It was just right for him to ride the spirit horse and carry Rode to bomb the monsters.

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Rode's actual combat ability was weak, but his spiritual power was profound and long-lasting, making him perfectly suited to use thunderstones.

Soren's spirit horse was fast and agile, and Rode's thunderstones were powerful and numerous, inexhaustible. The combination of the two made these two almost useless individuals shine.

Soren was incredibly impressed. This kid's mind was flexible, able to come up with such a tactic and make use of the useless.

Thunderstones were not particularly precious resources. The royal city didn't use them on a large scale, only because they consumed too much spiritual power.

This kid's spiritual power was so deep, he was a natural thunderstone user... Perhaps the royal city could reimburse his thunderstones, allowing him to use them without limit.

Soren thought as he soared through the sky on his spirit horse.

"Fly over there! That way, are you an idiot?"

"Haven't you eaten? Fly faster!"

"Don't make such a big circle when turning, don't you understand sharp turns?"

Listening to Rode's nagging behind him, Soren secretly made up his mind to teach him a lesson about the authority of an instructor when they got back.

Six hours later.

All the strongholds in Soren City had been recaptured. Jon and Green Feather reported all the news to the Supreme Military Department.

The Supreme Military Department seemed to have anticipated the results long ago and had everything arranged.

The hastily formed city defense corps rushed over and quickly took over all the strongholds, reigniting the guardian flames in them.

They were ordered to support the Iron Armor Fortress and assist Sir Arlan, the First Knight, in recapturing the remaining strongholds.