Mas stood perfectly still, calm as a statue.
Jasper and the others didn't attack either. They simply watched, waiting for Mas's reinforcements.
Jasper wanted to see who Mas dared call.
If this hooks a big fish… even better.
From the nearby woods came the rustle-rustle of armor through brush. A fully equipped squad emerged.
"A whole unit?" Jasper thought, lifting the Altair Longsword. "I thought he'd call friends—"
A shrill, whining voice cut in.
"Ah! Damn it! Cousin—it's him! That arrogant bastard! Last time he ruined my plan! Do you know how hard it is to get near Lin Li without that stinking Steward? He wrecked everything and beat me half to death! Cousin, you have to get justice for me!"
The speaker wore polished, fancy armor, face twisted in tears and rage.
Jasper narrowed his eyes.
Cassian Zhang.
Then a tall man stepped forward—broad shoulders, steady breath, the kind of presence that made the air feel heavier.
Cassian's cousin.
Zane Zhang.Bronze Tier Rank 7.
Zane clearly knew what kind of trash his cousin was—drunk, idle, hollowed out by pleasure, obsessed with the House Lin heiress, then crying to family after getting beaten. Zane looked weary just standing next to him.
But it wasn't only family.
It was face.
He couldn't ignore it.
Jasper studied Zane.
At the same time, Zane studied Jasper.
Zane felt it immediately—dense killing intent, and an instinctive sense of danger.
He didn't rush.
Instead he spoke coldly. "You injured my cousin. Then killing you is only reasonable."
He flicked his hand.
Behind him, archers drew and released—a rain of arrows screamed toward Jasper's trio.
Jasper's eyes turned flat.
"Then we'll kill you all."
He said, "Skyhawk—shield."
Skyhawk planted his knight shield and a bright golden barrier bloomed out.
Arrows struck it like hail on stone—thud-thud-thud—but nothing pierced.
Zane's pupils tightened.
Light Knight…?Troublesome.
He drew a slender mithril longsword, the blade cut with pale grooves—high quality at a glance.
Zane dashed forward, battle qi condensing at his tip, trying to spear through the barrier by brute force.
Even though he was two ranks above Skyhawk, the Watch Knight shield wasn't something you "just" broke.
His sword point hit the barrier.
Yellow sparks flared.
The barrier flickered once—then stabilized like it hadn't been touched.
From behind, Cassian screamed, "Archers! Shoot the shield kid! The weakness has to be him!"
Skyhawk almost laughed out loud.
Hit the barrier? 90% reduced. Hit me? 99% reduced.Cassian's brain really had been squeezed by a door.
The archers focused fire on Skyhawk anyway.
The barrier didn't even tremble.
Zane's expression darkened. He finally realized this wasn't normal defense.
He barked an order. Guards surged outward, trying to surround them.
"Rank 5 using a protection skill like this?" Zane sneered. "Must burn battle qi like crazy. Let's see how long you can hold."
Skyhawk's grin widened.
The shield did drain battle qi—but his battle qi pool was over double a normal Rank 5, and he'd even shrunk the barrier to five meters.
"If you stop attacking," Skyhawk thought, "I can sit here for hours."
Sable's gaze snapped sideways. "Enough playing."
Then his eyes narrowed sharply.
"…Mas is gone."
Jasper's stomach dropped.
Right. Mas.
He had been right there—then Zane arrived, and everyone's attention shifted.
Mas had used the chaos to slip away in Stealth.
Jasper's face turned cold.
"Then we don't waste another second."
His body blurred—
and vanished.
The remaining guards panicked.
Even Zane lost track for a heartbeat.
Skyhawk dropped Distant Utopia and switched to the cheaper, aggressive skill—
Wind Bastion.
Golden wind blades spun out, carving into armor, while the pulling force dragged enemies inward, step by unwilling step.
Skyhawk surged forward with his knight sword, hacking through the crowd.
Sable joined in immediately—poison arrows snapping out in rapid rhythm, and every few shots a heavier pulse—
Elven Arrow—
exploding, marking, poisoning, scattering.
Zane's confidence collapsed into shock.
"These people—what the hell are they?!"
His guards died too fast. His formation broke too fast.
Zane tried to retreat.
Cassian stumbled after him, face drained of blood.
The last guards threw themselves into the gap, desperate to cover their masters.
But the death count only climbed.
Sable's arrows were a reaper's footsteps—every impact another body.
Zane, for all his Rank 7, was a drug-pushed hollow shell, the weakest kind of Rank 7.
Against Jasper's trio—each one battle-hardened, each one amplified by monstrous secondary systems and professions—he was nothing.
Zane's mind raced with fantasies as he ran.
Just reach Bluehaze City… call the family… crush them…
He snarled over his shoulder, "You wait! If you dare step into Bluehaze City, I'll make you beg for death!"
His face was twisted with venom.
Then—
his world turned red.
Jasper appeared in front of him like a nightmare stepping out of shadow.
The Assassin wrist blade flashed once—clean and flat—
and Zane's throat opened.
Zane collapsed into the grass, staring at the sky as blood painted the ground.
Is… this my blood? I'm dying?
Rank 7… for what?
No—NO—
His fingers twitched, reaching for a life already slipping away.
Jasper didn't look back.
To him, Zane was already a corpse.
Cassian screamed, voice cracking. "Jasper! Please! Don't kill me! I'll give you anything! I swear I'll never bother Lin Li again! It was my fault! Don't—don't come closer!"
Jasper stepped in.
The Altair Longsword went straight through Cassian's heart.
Cassian's eyes widened once—
then emptied.
Around them, the last guards were hunted down by Skyhawk and Sable until no one remained standing.
Jasper wiped Cassian's blood from the blade out of habit and sheathed it.
Then—
something black slammed into him like a battering ram.
Jasper flew backward and hit the base of a tree, vision swimming.
He looked up—
Mas stood at a distance, grinning.
"Hehe. That sword strike earlier had some punch. My hand's still numb." Mas waved lazily. "So I brought you a toy."
He pointed.
"Have fun. I'm leaving. Bye-bye."
The "black thing" wasn't a person.
It was a zombie.
A few seconds ago, it had been alive.
Now it was a freshly turned Bronze Tier Rank 7 zombie—
Zane Zhang's corpse.
Jasper's head buzzed.
Mas used something… something that forced a corpse to rise this fast… and this strong?
Skyhawk sprinted over. "Boss! Are you—"
"Don't come closer!" Jasper roared. "Zombie!"
Too late.
The zombie's head snapped toward Skyhawk's voice.
Its lips peeled back, exposing jagged teeth.
It lunged—
and drove Skyhawk to the ground.
Skyhawk's scream tore through the trees.