Chapter 221 – Surprise Attack

Watching the caravan slowly moving along the main road, Punk’s eyes sparkled with amusement. From his downwind position, he could even catch the aroma of roasted meat, undoubtedly emanating from that luxurious and conspicuous carriage.

“Truly reckless, daring to be so ostentatious while traveling. Are you afraid no one will notice you?”

Punk meaningfully surveyed the entire caravan, noticing five or six Apprentice Rank warriors in gleaming white exquisite armor closely guarding the carriage, appearing exceptionally imposing.

The Formal-Level warrior riding the tall horse at the front of the procession was even more conspicuous—his nostrils practically flared toward the sky. His gold-and-silver-plated plate armor was actually engraved with intricate patterns, clearly the work of a master artist.

This ensemble was truly the ultimate tool for showing off while traveling—boasting a charm bonus of one hundred, high-quality wealth display, and proclaiming rich second-generation status. However… it completely lacked the defensive capabilities plate armor should possess.

In Punk’s view, this behavior was utterly foolish. And now, it was time to teach these arrogant fools a lesson.

As Kulun’s caravan reached a bend in the road, with one hoof of the Formal-Level warrior’s white horse still suspended in mid-air, a faint wintry breeze gently swept through. A dark yellow leaf silently drifted before the leading warrior—the silence of winter always arrived so imperceptibly…

The next instant, this tranquility was violently shattered by a sudden burst of radiance.

The leading warrior only saw colorful light erupt beside the withered leaf before his eyes. In the next second, a luminous gate abruptly materialized right beside him.

“Master-Level Conjuration Spell—Anywhere Door!”

This was Punk’s final “Anywhere Door” for the day. To eliminate this level-ten Formal-Level warrior with maximum speed, Punk deployed it without hesitation.

Before the leading warrior could react—completely bewildered by how the previously silent and secure environment had suddenly erupted into such bizarre phenomena—his enemy, Punk, showed no intention of waiting for his response.

Bursting forth from the Anywhere Door was Golem Two, wreathed in Abyssal energy. Her crimson claws shot toward the warrior’s eyes with lightning speed.

Seeing the blood-red flash charging at him, the startled leading warrior instinctively drew his blade to defend. Though his reaction was slightly delayed, as a warrior who had advanced to Formal-Level, his body had ingrained every move and counter into muscle memory. The gleaming sword instantly met the black-red claws, and a sharp, explosive clang tore through the winter silence like thunder in clear skies.

“Clang!!”

Golem Two unflinchingly intercepted the warrior’s blade with her claws, then twisted her grip to seize the still-vibrating longsword. Torn muscles even writhed to lock the blade within the wound—she allowed the energy-infused sharp edge to slice through her palm precisely to disarm the leading warrior.

“Damn it!!”Seeing the alchemical armor-covered body of the girl-shaped Golem Two, the leading warrior finally realized she was a golem—and golems couldn’t suddenly leap out to attack people on their own. Even as a rookie, he now understood he had fallen into a trap. The bizarre golem’s assault was merely a feint; the truly terrifying killing blow was likely already on its way.

Realizing this, the leading warrior was horrified, his soul nearly fleeing his body. Instinctively, he tried to move from his position to avoid becoming a “sitting duck” for an attack, but his reaction was far too late.

His erupting Battle Aura instantly shredded the white horse beneath him, yet he himself couldn’t budge an inch. At the very moment he reacted, Golem Two’s solidified spell activated fiercely.

“Formal-Level Conjuration Spell—Iron Shackles” ×3!

Punk had already replenished the energy for Golem Two’s solidified spell in advance (a mage can directly recharge solidified spells of their own tier, but a full recharge takes at least over ten minutes). Thus, Golem Two’s solidified spell was now in a “fully loaded” state. Three casts of “Iron Shackles” were unleashed simultaneously as a surprise restraint measure, achieving remarkably effective results.

In less than a second, a mass of sprouting iron branches had spread up to the warrior’s chest. The armored leading warrior was nearly trussed up like a zongzi by the thick iron vines, his weapon seized by Golem Two and beyond retrieval.

At this point, even though the leading warrior had mastered the Formal-Level Combat Skill “Battle Aura Eruption” for breaking free from restraints, he likely had no capacity for action during the at least one-second charging time required.

So when the leading warrior sensed a bone-chilling danger approaching from behind, he could only futilely turn his head in terror toward the source of the threat.

In his fear-dilated pupils, all he saw was a deep purple energy cone that seemed capable of piercing everything, arriving in an instant. With an almost imperceptible “hiss,” all color vanished from his vision.

“It’s over…………”

That was his final thought.

The leading warrior was directly “headshot” by Punk’s “Kinetic Cone,” his entire head instantly transforming into a mist of blood under the powerful kinetic destruction. By now, barely two seconds had passed since Golem Two’s first attack, and the entire battle had conclusively ended.

“Whew, good, good. This guy really was a rookie, not some expert pretending to be weak.”

Seeing the leading warrior was undeniably dead, Punk breathed a sigh of relief. He never underestimated any opponent, which was why he had unleashed a series of lethal moves this time. Even if the warrior had dodged this assault, Punk had five backup plans ready.

“Now, the remaining people in this caravan are no longer a threat, but that ring likely has some powerful contingency. Can’t let that rich second-generation inside the carriage react in time.”Although the only threat had been instantly eliminated by Punk with a single strike, he didn’t pause to deal with the soldiers still frozen in place. He recalled how Kulun had desperately clutched the ring when facing an enraged Trelinka, so Punk was almost certain that once Kulun activated the ring, it would lead to significant unforeseen developments.

Therefore, without bothering to loot the headless corpse of the squad leader, Punk cast “Greater Swiftness” on himself and swiftly charged toward the carriage at the center of the formation.

The speed of a Formal-Level spellcaster at the fourteenth rank was undoubtedly remarkable—at least fast enough to far surpass Kulun’s reaction time. Inside the carriage, Kulun remained unaware of what was happening; he had just swallowed a piece of steak when Punk was already closing in on the ornate carriage.

In the next second, Punk would have torn apart the fragile rosewood carriage and seized the defenseless Kulun along with the ring.

But at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred!

Please subscribe and vote!

(End of Chapter)