Chapter 285: The Crimson Tide

  This slap didn't seem to have any sense of dominance or power. The skin was delicate, slender, and well-shaped, and apart from the slightly prominent knuckles, it could be called beautiful. But with a slap from this very hand, not even clenched into a fist, the huge head of the Minotaur Guard Commander, which could withstand a blow from a warhammer, shattered like a biscuit under a heavy fist.

  The owner of this hand was a red-haired woman. Just as Stoic was swinging his giant axe and roaring, she silently emerged from a crack in a nearby rock. At the same time as she turned the Minotaur Guard Commander into a headless commander with one slap, she also kicked her foot onto the chest of another Minotaur warrior. This Minotaur let out a strange, muffled grunt. As a large pit appeared in his chest, he sent the two warriors behind him flying as well.

  The entire massive cavern trembled with a loud rumble. The three Minotaurs smashed a huge dent into the rock wall, and no one could tell that they had once been three Minotaurs.

  This woman looked to be around thirty years old. She had a head of fiery red hair and tight black leather armor. Although her features were beautiful, her angles and contours were a bit too sharp, like the face of a strong-willed woman deliberately sculpted by an Impressionist sculptor. But in the center of her yellow eyes were a pair of narrow, lizard-like pupils.

  A woman so fierce, intense, and excessively sharp and violent would seem, in any case, to have nothing to do with weakness or fatigue. Especially since the Minotaurs, who were twice her size, were like paper dolls under her hands and feet. But now, this woman was panting. After killing four of the most elite Minotaur warriors with a raise of her hand and a stomp of her foot, she bent over slightly, panting heavily a few times.

  It was only now that roars and cries of alarm erupted from the mouths of the Minotaurs. More than forty Minotaurs surged toward this strange woman like a tide. Although they didn't yet know who this woman was, she was undoubtedly the enemy. An absolutely terrifying enemy.

  The moment he saw this woman, Lancelot's pupils shrank abruptly.

  He knew that the woman's slap or kick could have been aimed at him or the other Temple Knights. It was just that he and the other Temple Knights were standing too far away, with too many Minotaurs in between, so the woman had targeted the Minotaur Guard Commander at the very front, who was also the strongest.

  There was no Battle Qi in that one hand and one foot, just very simple and direct movements. But Lancelot could see that if he had been in Stoic's position, the result wouldn't have been much better. The Minotaur commander would be dead, and he himself would undoubtedly be injured. This woman had actually completely concealed her aura and presence beforehand. Even in this attack, there wasn't the slightest hint of killing intent, just like a butterfly flying out from a crack in a rock. It wasn't just fast; it also made people feel no alarm or vigilance upon first seeing her.

  All the Temple Knights saw this woman, and the astonishment on their faces was equally irrepressible. But just like Lancelot, they did not move, still standing at the cave entrance.

  The woman was still panting, seeming very tired and weary. This expression of weakness was very incongruous with her overly strong features. She just stood there, bent over and panting, facing the Minotaur warriors who were swarming toward her like a tide.

  Amidst the chanting of the Minotaur priests, magical auras on the Minotaur warriors flickered continuously. The eyes of these Minotaurs, already red from killing intent, seemed as if they could drip blood, and a layer of stone-like armor quickly condensed on their skin. These priests were specially selected for this battle. Their Bloodthirsty Aura, Haste, and Stoneskin could all be considered master-level.

  Lancelot still didn't move, but he turned his head and gestured to a nearby Temple Knight with his eyes.

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  A Temple Knight immediately knelt on one knee and began to chant a prayer: "By the grace of the Lord, in the name of the Lord. Please bestow the Lord's radiance upon the brave warriors... In the name of the Lord, give your blessings to the warriors..."

  A blinding white light lit up above the heads of these dozens of Minotaur warriors. The crystal-clear white light fell like rain upon the bodies of the Minotaur warriors. This type of white magic was not unfamiliar to the Minotaur warriors. They had seen it many times in battles against the Church and Erathia. They just never thought that one day they would also be able to enjoy this blessing and prayer, known as the gift of the Lord's grace. Not all Temple Knights only specialized in martial arts. The level of these two white magic spells was not much worse than that of bishops.

  As this white light scattered in large patches over the Minotaurs, another, denser and more brilliant white light also lit up from the bodies of the Temple Knights.

  The top-tier auxiliary white magic attached to the Temple Knights' Radiant Battleplate, "Divine Aegis of the Heavens," was activated simultaneously. The huge cavern was filled with the light and fluctuations of white magic, making this dragon's lair seem as sacred and bright as a church, with a faint hymn flowing in the air.

  Not human. This was Lancelot's first reaction upon seeing that woman.

  Although it looked like a human body, a human face, and human movements. One could even tell it was a woman with a strong personality who was now very weak. But Lancelot knew it was definitely not human.

  No one could be that strong, and no one could kill without revealing the slightest hint of killing intent. Lancelot was certain that even he, and someone like Gru who had cultivated martial arts to near perfection, could not kill without revealing the slightest hint of killing intent. Even a knight like Tamika, who saw killing as eating and drinking, might have no killing intent when making a move, but at the very instant the person was truly killed, there would instinctively be a trace of it. This was absolutely unavoidable; it was instinct. Only when humans kill things they don't subconsciously identify with, like ants or insects, would there be no killing intent.

  This woman had no killing intent when she struck. In her eyes and in her heart, these Minotaurs, who could rival any warrior, were nothing more than things like ants or green caterpillars. Even a Behemoth, facing these elite Minotaur warriors, could not possibly have such a mindset. On this continent, there was only one who could have such an aura and such power. Not one person, but one being.

  Five pillars of snow-white light, the "Divine Aegis of the Heavens," enveloped the five Temple Knights. Amidst the immense fluctuations of white magic, the figures of two Temple Knights, who were not emitting white magic light, disappeared like reflections on disturbed water.

  The number of Temple Knights who came here with the Minotaurs was not seven, but only five.

  These two figures, who looked no different from real people, were the effect of the top-tier water magic, Mirror Image. Although the mirrored illusions could not attack, they were indistinguishable in appearance and could even make corresponding sounds. The Temple Knights did not speak, so the Minotaurs naturally could not tell them apart.

  Slaying the dragon was certainly important, but there were other, more important matters. These two Temple Knights had gone to do those more important things.

  The remaining Temple Knights were not in a hurry to move. Wilskey had already raised the huge Golden Battle Bow in his hands. An anti-magic arrow of fine steel was nocked. The mixed light of Battle Qi and white magic transferred completely from his body to the bow and arrow, aiming at the woman.

  The woman was still panting. Facing the Minotaur warriors surging in like a tide, she still had the expression and demeanor of someone who was fragile and could fall at any moment. Her body swayed and she fell into the bright light of the giant axes swung by the foremost Minotaurs.

  In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere.

  But it was not the woman's flesh and blood, but that of the Minotaur warriors.

  The red-haired woman's figure, in the torrent of more than ten giant axes sweeping around her, was like a small boat, tossing and turning, seemingly about to be torn to shreds at any moment. But this "any moment" never seemed to arrive. Instead, the woman's seemingly not-so-powerful hands and feet continuously hit, slapped, and touched the bodies of the Minotaur warriors, and these warriors, with muscles as solid as rock statues, immediately fell apart like soggy bread.

  The Minotaur priests continuously chanted the unique curses of the Horned Demon cult from behind, but they seemed to have no effect on the woman in the fray. The priests then summoned earth spikes that sprang from the ground, but the sharp spikes condensed from this earth magic began to crumble and fall apart the moment they touched the woman's body, having no effect whatsoever.

  The priests began to panic. A few of them seemed to have realized something and roared in the Minotaur language. But no one could hear their words clearly; the roars and howls of the Minotaur warriors had already filled the cavern.

  With a "pu" sound, a Minotaur's battle axe finally struck the red-haired woman's body successfully.

  Before this, it wasn't that no Minotaur warrior could hit her at all. After all, these were dozens of carefully selected warriors. Not only were they surrounded by the magic of the Minotaur priests, like Bloodthirsty Aura, but they also had the prayers and blessings bestowed by the Temple Knights. This could be said to be the strongest state the Minotaurs had ever been in. Even if a fly were surrounded, the swift and dense axes would have torn it to pieces.

  But the red-haired woman was not just dodging; she was also parrying. She casually grabbed two of the Minotaurs' battle axes. The fine steel axes, which were a bit larger than her body, were as light as straw in her hands. She waved them at a speed barely visible to the naked eye, forming two screens of white light as she weaved through the crowd of Minotaur warriors.