Dark Fairy Tale raised his head and saw another person appearing on the platform, pointing a smoking handgun in his direction.

He inhaled sharply. Eteliria's Magic Guided Guns were quite obsolete; their precision was just mediocre. Long rifles were fine, but a handgun being this accurate at such a distance, amidst the piercing cold wind.

What's with these back-to-back monsters on this platform?

And judging by the opponent's attire, he's a Musketeer, meaning a Musketeer with primary swordsmanship skills also possesses the shooting skills of a Gunslinger?

Bakins squinted with his injured eye and spat. Although his level had dropped significantly, it was mainly due to his physical condition; his past experience still remained. Getting hit by this shot was within expectations, but he didn't expect the opponent to be so alert.

He tossed aside his gun, untied a cable, and like an old sailor leaping between ships, drew his sword and swung downwards holding the rope.

"Watch out, another one's coming!"

Dark Fairy Tale heard someone shout from behind, clearly indicating that others in the Ragnarok team also saw Bakins breaking through the icy mist.

He hadn't forgotten his duty and turned back to command, "Don't panic—Iron Guard, protect the Spellcasters. Chen Shu, you go up and block that guy." The one he called was the substitute Musketeer of the team.

As a substitute, naturally, he's not as formidable as the Musketeer in melee with Xiesta. Though inferior in shooting skills, he still had a commendable sword technique—of course, something he took pride in among the Invokers at this level.

Dark Fairy Tale, through the system, had already noted that Bakins' level wasn't high. He thought that while the opponent might excel in shooting, his swordsmanship should be quite ordinary; otherwise, the level experience wouldn't make sense.

With Chen Shu's skill, there shouldn't be much problem stopping the opponent.

He was, in fact, a bit helpless too.

In a team of limited people, it's impossible to cover all bases. They had a total of thirteen people, excluding the useless Alchemist without combat capability, leaving only twelve.

Among them were two Healers, one Magic Guided Conductor, and two Elementalists, totaling five Spellcasters, nearly half the team. Protecting so many Spellcasters necessitated two Iron Guards, who couldn't be put into frontline combat.

Among the remaining five, besides him, there was a Two-Handed Swordsman, two Musketeers—one main and one substitute, and one Nightingale. But that Nightingale was sent to find the little girl, leaving only this substitute Musketeer.

But what he never expected was—

The moment Chen Shu faced that Musketeer, he suffered a sneaky loss. As the Musketeer dropped the rope in his hand, lunged forward, and struck with his sword, their swords clashed with a resonant clang.

But the latter didn't retreat, merely sliding his blade down, employing the agility of a Swordmaster's 'Shearing'—naturally, the Musketeer's rapier had a hilt guard, hence no worries about losing fingers.

Seeing this scene, Chen Shu was overjoyed, thinking he'd succeeded and readied himself for a heavy counter, stepping forward and thrusting his sword. Dark Fairy Tale, watching the spectacle from the side, could tell immediately it was bad news, suspecting the Musketeer's calm demeanor was a lure.

Sure enough, just as Chen Shu made his move, Bakins burst into a dazzling display, spinning the rapier hilt onto Chen Shu's blade, ensnaring the rapier, then kicked him off directly.

"You're too hasty," he said, removing the rapier from between the hilts and tossing it back to the young man, "To be a Swordsman, you still need more practice."

The sword clanged beside Chen Shu, startling him as he finally realized the opponent had spared him.

He stood stunned, unsure if he should pick up his sword and attack again. Seeing his confusion, Dark Fairy Tale almost blew a fuse: "What are you waiting for? Go again!"

But Chen Shu hesitated and said, "But he didn't kill me, and according to Swordsman code, I can't attack again."

Dark Fairy Tale was speechless, realizing he couldn't rely on this fool until he snapped out of it. If no one could halt that Musketeer, and he made it to the rear ranks, that remaining Iron Guard wouldn't likely stop him.

He already realized Bakins' previous swordplay wasn't exceedingly formidable, but the finesse of the agility Swordmaster's 'Sword Seizing Technique' gave away his seasoned experience—this was a Native, he realized immediately.

Disregarding Xiesta's situation, he turned and aimed his Longbow at Bakins.

Bakins glanced at the swordman, nodded slightly, then retreated into the blizzard. He had no intention of confronting Dark Fairy Tale head-on, having gauged that this young man was no ordinary individual.

He had managed to subdue the swordsman with experience, but the team was primarily Spellcasters, and if he got delayed by the Ranger, once their Spell preparation was complete, he and Xiesta would stand at a disadvantage.

Seeing Bakins disappear, Dark Fairy Tale almost blacked out—the opponent also had Nightingale level skills, perhaps not high, but sufficient in this wintry storm. Realizing this intuitively, he grabbed the Communication Crystal and shouted:

"Nightingale, be careful! Someone's coming your way."

There was a pause on the other end, then a muffled grunt from the crystal, evidently already under attack.

"Damn it!"

Dark Fairy Tale cursed furiously and hurriedly grabbed his bow, chasing in that direction.

However, Bakins didn't seem intent on breaching their backline anytime soon, a small relief for Dark Fairy Tale.

...

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