Defeat

In the Sword Saint's early years, before his strength had reached its peak, just like in all hero stories, he had also encountered a dilemma.

"Heh, Alvione of the Twin Swords? Your swords are indeed very fast, but from this distance, can they be faster than me cutting off his head?" A panting cultist with his chest slashed open faced Alvione at the door, holding a small knife against the neck of a bound young man.

The young man was Alvione's good friend. It was also thanks to him gathering intel this time that Alvione was given the chance to stop this group of cultists from conducting a sacrifice.

But now, he had been caught.

Seeing the radiance of the ritual light up in the room behind, Alvione knew he couldn't be delayed here any longer.

He looked into his good friend's eyes, and the other party nodded imperceptibly.

"Sorry..." Alvione murmured softly.

The cultist opposite him was completely unaware of this. Seeing Alvione truly stop in place, he couldn't help but laugh out loud: "What 'cult killer'? If you don't want your friend to be harmed, get the hell out of here, hahahaha..."

That time, Alvione saved all the children meant to be used as sacrifices, but the only one he didn't save was that friend.

Why did he suddenly think of these things?

Because, beside the Sword Saint Puchi right now...

...

"Hahahaha, little kitty cat, why do you keep dodging around? Counterattack with the earth magic you're best at! What are you hesitating for?"

Facing the fiercely pursuing Lizardman puppet, the Cat-person Priestess opposite him continuously dodged. The occasional magic she used was also only to clear the Puchis around her, unable to strike at the Lizardman.

Because, for some unknown reason, the head of this Lizardman puppet seemed to still retain its self-consciousness.

"What are you hesitating for? Either run for your life or make a move!"

"I can't run... meow. Kruger, why are you...?"

"Then hurry up and make a move! I can't control myself, hurry up and make a move!" While urging Crescent to attack, the Lizardman shattered the earth wall with one claw strike, leaving three bloody scratches on Crescent's face.

Incomplete puppetization.

This was a new function Lin Jun discovered after [Fusion Parasitism] reached max level. It wasn't very useful, but it was very fun.

The Lizardman was indeed already a mushroom puppet, but the head portion was still under his own control.

Kruger had actually tried to commit suicide by biting his tongue, but under the regenerative ability of the mycelium, merely being able to control a head obviously made suicide impossible.

However, letting him act up all the time was also very annoying. So before setting off, Lin Jun wrapped a sealing cloth around his head, causing his consciousness to fall into a coma, and only controlled his body's movements.

Fortunately, the effort wasn't in vain. This kind of scene where good friends reunite after a long separation always moved Lin Jun so much.

"Kruger, you are still considered alive. I will defeat you, and then send you to the Goddess's side through a ritual!"

"Stupid cat! When did you still think about holding back? Go all out, otherwise even you won't be able to return to Our Lord's side!"

However, facing her good friend shedding hot tears, Crescent could never bring herself to personally commit an act that would cast his soul into the wilderness.

Not far away, the Sword Saint sheathed his swords at some unknown time.

Facing the Hand of Passage, he actually didn't mind using methods like sneak attacks, setting traps, or fighting with a numerical advantage.

Ultimately, they were just a group of evil cultists harming people; there was no need to talk about fairness or justice with them.

But, this scene before him was too unjust!

It made him embarrassed to even participate in it.

Seeing that the Boss had already grasped the situation, the Sword Saint stepped on moonlight, bypassed the battlefield of the cultists and Puchis, and headed toward the hideout in the rear.

However, halfway there, the Sword Saint noticed the mana fluctuation of a ritual inside the hideout.

"They're actually still holding a ritual?" This somewhat exceeded the Sword Saint's expectations, and he involuntarily quickened his pace.

Only, at the entrance, a weak Gini stopped him.

"You, don't even think about interrupting the ritual."

Without any nonsense, the Sword Saint Puchi stepped on moonlight, and the sword edge closed in on Gini's neck in the blink of an eye.

"Fear!"

Having witnessed the Sword Saint's strength previously, Gini also knew she was no match. What she could do now was stall this Puchi as much as possible, even if the price was having her soul completely chopped to pieces!

Under Gini's all-out effort, the Sword Saint once again returned to that scene of being surrounded and rubbed by the crowd.

Alamar even questioned him: "I treated you as a brother, how could you do this..."

...

On the other side, the battle had already reached its end.

The strength of the Lizardman puppet and the Cat-person were originally on par with each other. But Crescent, hindered by Kruger's presence, became more unable to make up her mind to cast spells with full force the more Kruger urged her, resulting in her being severely suppressed.

By the time the already few believers fell one by one into the piles of Puchis, the scales of victory had completely tilted.

With a stone golem blocking the two of them, Lin Jun controlled the Lizardman puppet, exerting force beyond its limits without any heartache. With one punch, it pierced through the stone golem's chest, the price being one arm exploding into powder along with it.

Before the Cat-person could reconverge her defenses, he kicked her flying. She landed among the Puchi swarm, followed immediately by a series of explosions.

Subsequently, the one-armed Lizardman puppet lifted the dying Cat-person up.

Kruger closed his eyes and shed tears.

Crescent said weakly: "Sorry, meow..."

"Meow meow meow, is that an Orc verbal tic?" Accompanied by the complaint from the voice Puchi at the puppet's waist, the Lizardman's sharp claws pierced into the cat's neck, ending this Priestess's little life.

Having "personally" killed Crescent, Kruger finally burst into a string of curses, cursing the Puchis using every foul and filthy word he could think of.

"Are you that affectionate and loyal? Even though you're an evil cult that sacrificed so many people."

Seeing Kruger, who had always maintained an appearance of dying a heroic martyr's death earlier, finally break his defense, Lin Jun's heart of justice was somewhat satisfied.

Mushrooms grew out of Kruger's mouth, then his entire head. His consciousness dissipated along with it, turning into a complete puppet.

Saying it was complete, but under Lin Jun's violent operation, it was already battered and torn.

Added to these surviving Puchis beside him, not much combat power was left.

But fortunately, there was still the Sword Saint on their side.

Just him alone was stronger than everyone else on their side combined.

He didn't know how things were at the hideout; he hoped it wasn't already over.

When Lin Jun rushed to the hideout, he immediately saw Gini collapsed at the door.

She had no wounds on her body, but a pool of fresh blood flowed from her mouth and nose, looking like she was bounced to death alive by [Sword Heart].

What was stranger was that even after arriving here, Lin Jun still hadn't sensed the Sword Saint.

Did he chase after fleeing enemies and run far away?

As soon as he entered the hideout, Lin Jun saw the Sword Saint.

On the ground was flowing darkness. From within the darkness, countless giant octopus tentacles surged out, one of which was dangling the Sword Saint Puchi upside down by one of its short legs.

The Sword Saint Puchi was motionless. Although his status panel was still there, he had completely lost his combat capability. Even those two long swords had become fragments scattered nearby.

And in the middle of that patch of darkness, a pristine white young girl with pitch-black pupils turned her head to look at Lin Jun's Lizardman puppet, speaking gently and softly:

"What a pity, they shouldn't have been your enemies."

(End of Chapter)