Chapter 9: Conflict with the Chosen One

"Kill them all!" the guards shouted, raising their spears and piercing through the head of a resistance fighter.

Even so, the resistance showed no signs of retreating. They threw themselves at the carriage recklessly, wave after wave falling to their deaths.

"A bunch of fools," Eric remarked disdainfully.

Whether in terms of equipment or logistics, the resistance was far inferior to the Kingdom's army. To Eric, such meaningless sacrifice was the height of stupidity.

Mo Xuanyu glanced at him without a word. He kept his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his pale blue eyes scanning the surrounding forest. He could detect any movement in the brush instantly.

When the number of resistance fighters had been cut by more than half and the guards began to lower their guard, Mo Xuanyu’s pupils suddenly contracted. Without a second thought, he grabbed Eric by the shoulder, hurled him out of the carriage, and leaped out after him, landing steadily after a rolling motion to dissipate the force.

Eric, thrown into a mud puddle, was furious, but he was soon stunned by the scene before him.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

Two fireballs, each about three meters in diameter, fell from the sky, slamming into the center of the convoy. The horses didn't even have time to flee or scream before they were swallowed by the erupting flames. Had Eric remained in the carriage, he would have been buried in a sea of fire!

"It's sorcery!" A junior knight, unable to retreat in time, cried out as he collapsed into the mud, half his body charred black by the flames.

For the Kingdom of Nora, which had not yet developed transcendent magic, were such fireballs not sorcery? Only Mo Xuanyu knew that there was no other option besides a "Chosen One" who could produce such a feat.

The "sorcery" falling from the sky caused the Kingdom soldiers' morale to plummet. Seeing this opportunity, the resistance launched an even fiercer assault, and the entire battlefield descended into chaos.

In the bushes, the Fire Spirit slowly let out a sigh of relief, sitting on the ground as if exhausted. "I can't do it anymore. I need to recover; that wore me out."

Having just unleashed her ultimate move, her mental energy was completely drained. It was a pity she hadn't managed to blow up Eric.

"The one next to Eric must be a high-ranking knight sent as reinforcements from the main city, right? No, wait, his badge says intermediate knight." The dark-haired boy lowered his binoculars. "They got lucky to escape. Let's go—don't let them get away!"

"Right!" The heavy warrior and the healer nodded immediately.

The trio charged out of the forest. The dark-haired boy drew his longsword and took the lead, instantly cutting two blocking Kingdom soldiers in half before reaching Mo Xuanyu in a flash.

"You two hold off those junior knights; I’ll take care of this intermediate one! He’s so good-looking, maybe he’ll drop a green treasure chest." The dark-haired boy directed the heavy warrior and the healer.

"No problem!" Coordinating with practiced ease, they quickly intercepted the two junior knights, and the dark-haired boy reached Mo Xuanyu without issue.

Eric scrambled behind Mo Xuanyu, abandoning all pretense of dignity; he had been terrified by these attacking Chosen Ones. In Eric's eyes, the attacker was at least a high-ranking knight. Could Mo Xuanyu hold him off?

"What a pity. As someone who appreciates beauty, I’d rather not attack you." The dark-haired boy said this, but his sword strike was lightning-fast, aiming straight for Mo Xuanyu's head.

But Mo Xuanyu was faster. He stepped forward, his silver-white sword unsheathing in an instant. The dark-haired boy felt a momentary blur, and the blade was already at his throat.

"How is this possible!" The dark-haired boy was horrified. At this rate, before his own sword could touch Mo Xuanyu, he would have his throat slit.

He quickly abandoned his attack, rolling on the ground to barely dodge Mo Xuanyu’s horizontal slash.

Mo Xuanyu did not pass up the chance to strike while his opponent was down. He pursued, his blade thrusting toward the boy's throat. The dark-haired boy hurriedly parried with his own sword. Mo Xuanyu’s eyes were cold and his mind clear; with a flick of his wrist, he changed his move, and the sharp blade sliced off the hand holding the opponent's sword.

This was sword mastery: every move and stance flowed without gaps. Once an advantage was gained, the opponent could be suppressed until they had no way to fight back.

"Ah!!!" The dark-haired boy shrieked in agony. In that moment, he realized that this NPC's sword skills were far superior to his own.

*Damn it!* He knew an A-rank mission wouldn't be this simple!

"Dash!" the dark-haired boy shouted.

Mo Xuanyu, assuming the opponent was about to use a skill, instinctively retreated two steps. But to his surprise, the "Dash" the boy shouted so loudly was actually a dash backward. The boy scrambled away on his hands and knees, using the dash skill to return to the side of the heavy warrior and the healer, not even bothering to pick up his sword, though he did retrieve his severed hand.

"Duo, heal me! This is definitely an elite-level character!" The dark-haired boy was desperate, nearly shouting for his mother.

Duo the healer was also startled and quickly raised her staff to cast her most powerful healing magic, while the heavy warrior provided cover. A soft white light flashed, and the dark-haired boy reattached his severed hand, which healed completely in just two or three seconds. That was the advantage of having a healer.

The dark-haired boy pulled a spare longsword from his storage space, looking much more cautious and tense this time.

Mo Xuanyu did not want to drag this out, so he took the initiative. The longswords clashed, sparks flying. What Mo Xuanyu found frustrating was that the healer in the opposing camp was far too annoying. Every time he slashed a wound into the dark-haired boy's chest, a ball of light would drift into him, and the injury would heal at a visible rate.

"I must kill him in one blow. No chance for them to heal." Having figured out the boy's sword patterns, Mo Xuanyu’s killing intent solidified.

He charged at the boy. The moment their eyes met, the boy felt a chill run down his spine. The cold killing intent seemed to freeze his soul, causing him to hesitate—he didn't know how to defend against Mo Xuanyu's attack. In a life-or-death battle, that one second of hesitation was enough to cost him his life.

The silver blade grew larger in his vision, reflecting his impending doom.

"Who allowed you to touch my teammate!" A cold shout rang out.

A fireball flew from the forest, soaring toward Mo Xuanyu with terrifying heat. Having witnessed the destructive power of these fireballs, Mo Xuanyu did not hesitate; he retracted his sword and leaped back, landing steadily beside a burning carriage.

"Are you okay?" The Fire Spirit, who had rushed from the forest, worriedly checked on the still-stunned dark-haired boy.

The boy's knees went weak; he knelt on the ground, gasping for air, his pupils trembling. He had been one step away from death.

"Th-thank you, Fire Spirit..." The dark-haired boy stammered, still shaken.

Seeing he was unharmed, the Fire Spirit felt relieved, then turned her hostile gaze toward Mo Xuanyu, her voice cold. "I will make you pay the price!"

The Fire Spirit was someone who valued her teammates deeply; she would never allow anyone to hurt her friends. Although she and the dark-haired boy had only spent two worlds together, they had already promised to form their own guild once they returned to the Sacred Geometry.

Seeing their mage arrive, Duo the healer also relaxed. She playfully stuck her tongue out at Mo Xuanyu, hiding behind the Fire Spirit. "Three against one—don't blame us for being mean, but you're just too strong."

"With me here, you won't be able to hurt my teammates." That was the confidence of a healer. Although Mo Xuanyu was strong, as long as he couldn't secure a one-hit kill, the four of them could wear him down until he died.

Mo Xuanyu ignored their words. He glanced at the blade in his hand, which already had several notches; the quality was poor, and it would likely snap after a few more exchanges.

"Sir Knight..."

A faint murmur came from Mo Xuanyu's feet. He looked down and saw Will, the man who had brought him mushroom soup. Will was charred black by the Fire Spirit's magic, half his body crushed under the ruins of a carriage. He coughed up large mouthfuls of blood, his life fading.

"Run, Sir Knight... you must survive." Will finished these words with a tremor, and with a heart full of regret, he closed his eyes forever. A single tear slid from the corner of his eye. In his delirium, Will seemed to see the back of his older brother, the broad back of a man who had died on the battlefield.

"Quite tenacious," the Fire Spirit said with a helpless smile. She looked proudly at Mo Xuanyu. "You'd better not get hit by my magic, or your death might be even more painful than his."

The dark-haired boy had regained his composure and raised his sword again, joking with his teammates. "I bet this guy said something like 'I'll head home after this' earlier. You know how it goes—don't set flags before a fight, or you won't even know how you died."

To the Chosen Ones, the natives of the world were like NPCs; no one cared about their lives. Therefore, Will's death was nothing more than a bit of idle amusement to them.

"I will apply for a pension for you," Mo Xuanyu said softly, lowering his eyes as he spoke to the departed Will.

With that, he turned back to face the Fire Spirit and the others, his expression as calm as before, devoid of the hatred they expected. Whether one called Mo Xuanyu cold-natured or heartless, he always maintained absolute rationality in any situation, rarely wavering. He knew very well that anger would only cloud his mind, leading him to make the wrong judgment at a critical moment.

At this time, Eric, surrounded by his guards, suddenly shouted at Mo Xuanyu, "Hey, change your sword!"

Eric tossed him the sword the dark-haired boy had dropped earlier; he had clearly noticed the poor quality of Mo Xuanyu's weapon. Eric now wished he could drag out and execute everyone who had embezzled military funds—if Mo Xuanyu died because his sword broke, who would protect him?

Mo Xuanyu caught the sword. The Sacred Geometry popped up a notification: it was a green-quality longsword, far superior in quality to the one he had been holding.