"Damn it!" Raymond didn’t dare turn his back to the enemy.
He pushed off the ground with both hands, flipping his body around in midair.
That’s when he saw it. At the other end of the hallway, a guard had his bow fully drawn, aiming at him again. "You filthy prisoner, trying to escape? You deserve to die!"
The guard grinned.
Whoosh!
Another arrow flew straight at Raymond.
Raymond was still in the air, with nowhere to step for a dodge.
Right at the last second, Raymond felt like the arrow was moving slower than before.
He twisted his body - and somehow managed to dodge the shot midair.
It was the Swift Reflexes talent kicking in.
"Look carefully! I’m a guard! Attack me again, and I won’t go easy on you!" Raymond landed, tore the junior guard badge from his chest, and held it up.
"Hmph, a lying escapee. You think pretending to be a junior guard will save you? Die!" The archer didn’t listen at all. He drew his bow again.
Raymond’s face turned dark.
This archer was doing it on purpose.
He wanted to kill him.
Archer. Guard. Someone with a grudge. Raymond put the pieces together and instantly knew who this was.
He was Bucky’s brother, Barron!
Raymond pulled out his longsword and stared coldly ahead. "You want to die?"
Barron ignored him and fired two arrows at once. "Threatening me? Let’s see where you hide now!"
The two arrows were shot one after the other, but they flew side by side.
It was the archer’s signature move: **Double Shot**.
Raymond pushed off the ground and charged forward.
Barron’s Double Shot made the two arrows fly side by side, blocking Raymond’s escape routes. But it also slowed the arrows down, giving Raymond more time to react.
In the narrow hallway, Raymond pushed his Swift Reflexes talent to the limit.
He twisted to dodge one arrow, and at the same time swung his sword to knock the other one away.
Barron’s jaw dropped. "What kind of monster is this?!"
Before Barron could finish speaking, Raymond was already rushing toward him.
In a panic, Barron fired two more arrows, but Raymond dodged them both.
"How is this guy so fast?" Barron cursed, then pulled out a short knife from his belt. "Fine, you’re quick. But you’re at most a level 10 loser. You think you can match me, a level 18, in strength?"
Raymond’s sword came down hard.
Barron sneered and raised his knife to block.
Clang!
"How is this possible?!" The moment Barron’s knife met Raymond’s longsword, a huge force hit him, shaking his whole body.
Bam!
Barron was knocked back by Raymond’s strike and slammed into the wall.
"You’re definitely not level 10!" Barron yelled, his face full of disbelief.
"So you already knew who I was!" Raymond swung his sword again.
With nowhere to go, Barron had no choice but to block once more.
Clang!
Raymond’s sword slammed Barron into the wall. The wall cracked instantly, and pieces of stone fell to the floor.
"You piece of trash! Look carefully, I’m a junior guard! Keep this up and I’ll kill you!" Barron was furious. He also pulled out his own junior guard badge.
"Bold prisoner, pretending to be a guard and attacking me? You deserve to die!" Raymond didn’t care. He knew Barron wanted to kill him, so he could kill Barron right back.
"You’re shameless!" Barron was furious when Raymond threw his own words back at him.
A seasoned archer, cornered by a low-level swordsman - it was pure humiliation.
Raymond swung his longsword like a madman, forcing Barron to block against the wall.
Three straight strikes, each one a heavy hit!
Barron was completely pressed into the wall, like a living decoration.
Meanwhile, Hal was running wildly through the prison corridors with a group of junior guards.
"Are you sure Barron and Raymond are both patrolling this section?" Hal’s face was tense, and a bronze-colored aura was flickering around his body.
The junior guards behind him didn’t dare lie. They all nodded.
They already knew Barron was going to cause trouble for Raymond.
They didn’t want to get involved, so they had stayed out of it.
But they never expected Hal to care so much about Raymond. They whispered quietly among themselves...
"All the Memory Stones in this section have been destroyed. Barron clearly wants to kill Raymond."
"Barron’s been patrolling for half an hour. By the time we get there, Raymond’s probably already dead."
"It’s all Raymond’s fault for not knowing his place. He knew Barron was level 18, but he still cut off Bucky’s ear. He was asking for it."
"Shh! Keep your voice down. Don’t let Captain Hal hear you!"
At that moment, Hal already had his hand on his sword, ready to draw it at any moment.
"Barron! You’d better not have hurt Raymond! If you did, not even the Warden himself can save you!"
Just then, the sound of metal clashing reached Hal’s ears.
"Someone’s fighting!" Hal shouted, speeding up even more.
The junior guards following him also heard the noise and looked shocked.
"Is that someone screaming?"
"I hear bricks cracking too."
"Man... Barron must be beating up Raymond. That’s rough for him."
Hal heard it too.
"Barron! Stop right now!" Hal’s eyes went wide, veins bulging on his forehead.
In the next moment, a gust of wind kicked up beneath his feet, and he shot forward like an arrow, charging straight toward the corner ahead.
Warrior skill: Valiant Charge!
Crash!
Stones flew everywhere as Hal’s charge smashed through half a wall.
"Touch Raymond again and I’ll kill you!" Hal didn’t even bother brushing the dust off his face as he jumped out of the rubble.
But when he saw what was in front of him, he froze.
Raymond was standing by the wall, swinging his sword again and again at Barron, who was stuck in the wall.
Barron was desperately blocking the strikes, trying to find a chance to climb out. But every time, Raymond’s sword slammed him back into the wall, followed by a kick.
It was like a tiger toying with a sheep on the edge of a cliff.
"What the hell... Am I under some kind of mind spell?" Hal slapped himself hard across the face. The sharp sting told him everything he was seeing was real.
Just then, the junior guards who had been lagging behind finally caught up.
When they saw Barron - blood dripping from his mouth, face swollen and bruised, curled up in the corner of the wall - they were completely stunned.
"What... what happened here?"
"Holy crap, Raymond won!"
"A level 10 beating a level 18? How is that even possible? Someone explain this to me!"
As they were all talking, Raymond kicked Barron right in the chest.
Clang!
A sickening sound echoed through the hall.
Raymond’s longsword snapped!
Barron looked at his own short knife, now full of chips and dents, then at his bloody hands. His voice trembled. "Can you stop now?"
Raymond glanced at his broken sword and tossed it away.
Clatter!
Barron finally let out a sigh of relief and started to pull himself out of the wall.
But then Raymond pulled out the scabbard from his belt and swung it at Barron again.
"Son of a bitch!" Barron screamed as Raymond smacked him right back into the wall.
This time, Hal finally saw Raymond’s swordsmanship clearly. His face was full of shock. "He only had one day, and he already raised Basic Swordplay to Master level? Is he some kind of monster?"
Wait.
No.
Even if Raymond had raised Basic Swordplay to Master level, a level 10 couldn’t beat a level 18 archer like this.
Unless...
He wasn’t level 10.
Thinking about this, Hal swallowed hard.
He knew he couldn’t let Raymond’s real strength get exposed.
Just as he was about to step in and stop Raymond, three squad leaders - Carlton, Milton, and Hilton - rushed out from the other direction and pulled Raymond away.
"Kid, stop! Keep this up and someone’s going to die!" Carlton pulled Raymond behind him, and only then did he notice the junior guard badge on Raymond’s chest.
"God, this kid is a junior guard? Barron’s about to cry from getting beaten up!" Milton looked at Raymond, then at Barron stuck in the wall, completely stunned.
Hilton stared hard at Raymond. Suddenly, it clicked. He gasped. "It’s him! The junior guard who hit Black Iron Stage 18 damage in the training ground last night - that’s him!"
Raymond saw that someone had discovered what he did in the training ground last night, and he was trying to figure out how to explain.
Just then, two squads of guards suddenly burst out, and a cold voice rang out from a distance: "Who’s fighting in the prison block?"
...