Chapter 50: Lucas the Sun-Chaser

"Ahem, since there's no one around, this totem weapon must have been left behind by some strong warrior who came here before."

Yeling picked up the totem righteously, stowing it into his backpack at a speed neither of the three could react to, and then cleanly clapped his hands.

Compared to swords, totems were actually a rather expensive category of weapons; not only did they require a large amount of material, but they also demanded extremely high standards for the engraving of magic.

At the same time, totems and crosses were among the very few weapons that could still exert a bit of effect even without a master.

Ah, satisfying. Selling this totem for tens of thousands of gold coins would be absolute child's play, and besides, he got it for free.

Getting money for nothing, who wouldn't love that!

Yuna was still feeling depressed with a few flickers of lingering anger in her heart. Having her underwear accidentally glimpsed and then receiving such a description from him had made her so furious she almost used her newly comprehended Confession Thunder to strike straight down on the top of his head.

She didn't care about this totem either, because she had no idea at all about the four-member Priest squad entering the Castle in the Sky; Granis had only casually mentioned that "she and Bishop Mayger would find a way."

"Let's change our clothes. Short skirts really aren't very suitable."

Women all loved beauty, and West Coast was picturesque—who wouldn't love dressing up prettily for a trip?

"Turn around!" Shiatte gave a cold snort, holding her sword like a temple guardian. "You guys change first, I'll watch this fellow."

Yuna looked troubled and embarrassed. "I didn't bring any clothes to change into..."

"I have some..."

"You do? Pervert!"

Her reaction was identical to Shiatte's from before. A man carrying women's clothing around with him—wasn't that the definition of a pervert?

A rustling sound of changing clothes came from behind. Yeling obediently stood still in a standard posture, not even daring to turn his head to the side.

Shiatte's Hidden Dragon Greatsword was still resting against his neck; a single move would result in torn skin and flesh.

Swish~

A small wyvern about a meter long actually flew down from the upper staircase. The moment it saw them, it instantly flapped its wings, baring a mouth full of sharp fangs as it lunged forward.

Puff~

The greatsword slashed horizontally from top to bottom, cutting the wyvern precisely in half, its blood and organs spilling all over the ground.

What was somewhat unexpected, though, was that Shiatte and Yuna were quite calm about this—which he thought was normal—yet Maelu also showed no overexcited reaction, and even looked rather interested.

He could only sigh that she truly lived up to being Nimer's avatar; this level of bloodshed was practically nothing to her, and she barely cared at all.

Pointing at the suspension stairs, he whispered, "There are Dragonmen above, let's go."

Since they had all changed into long pants, Maelu took the lead again, followed closely by Yeling, the reason being that Yuna felt unhappy; whenever she remembered that word, she still got angry.

Bang!

Maelu held her shield in her left hand to block a suddenly incoming halberd, closed in with a forward press, and pointed the broadsword in her right hand straight at the Dragonman's neck.

Divine Wood Pierce!

Yeling, who had just come up, accidentally got sprinkled with a few body fragments. Wiping his eyes, he became even more convinced that Maelu's strength should be roughly on par with Shiatte's; this calm and collected composure was all the more rare.

Following closely behind, both Shiatte and Yuna changed their expressions. There were Dragonmen inside this tower, and an extremely large number of them at that.

Especially in the center of the area, there was a tall Dragonman whose entire body crackled with electric light. Its eyes streamed with thunder energy that looked almost tangible, and the silvery-white halberd in its hand kept flashing with lightning. Surrounded by other Dragonmen, it looked like a noble king!

Lucas the Sun Seeker!

A mutant among the Dragonmen, Lucas commanded a small amount of light-attribute magic. His offensive power was probably no less than that of the centennial Goblin Thunder Kaelo, and perhaps even superior.

"A boss fight right at the start? This is going to be a bit tough..."

Lucas clearly displayed extreme hostility toward the intruders. With a wave of its halberd, dense and surging swarms of wyverns filled the air like a blanket, shrieking, roaring, and charging down in a frenzy.

Thunder Strike!

Shiatte had signed a Master's Contract before climbing the tower. Facing the swarms of wyverns, she unhesitatingly summoned a crystalline greatsword and slashed forward.

Boom~

Sword qi burst forth, tearing apart the bodies of the swarming wyverns, which fell to the ground wailing, though the impact of the sword qi on the Dragonmen was minimal.

"Dragonmen are light-attribute; their resistance is very high. Changing your sword to the dark attribute will work a bit better."

While speaking, Yeling rapidly harvested the surviving wyverns using the *Fast *GSD Swordsmanship*. *Fast *GSD Swordsmanship* wasn't just a matter of executing a few quick slashes and calling it a day, but rather a complete set of swordsmanship comprising various offensive and defensive moves.

"Yuna, protect yourself and don't get close."

As the strongest offensive Vagabond, Shiatte ought to seize the opportunity for a one-hit kill. Lucas the Sun Seeker was quite famous among adventurers, and quite a few people had suffered setbacks at his hands.

Clatter~

A metal cage descended from the sky, firmly trapping an unprepared Yuna and leaving her face full of astonishment.

"Don't touch it. Lucas has mastered some of the traps in the Castle in the Sky; that thing might be dodgy."

As he spoke, three columns of thunder descended from the sky, striking down in a continuous straight line toward Shiatte, Maelu, and Yuna. Judging by the trajectory, it was bound to hit right in the center of the metal cage—in other words, squarely on Yuna.

"Crouch down!"

With no time to waste words, the Flaming Sun in his hand instantly transformed into a metal katana, extending above Yuna.

Taking a hit himself wouldn't necessarily spell doom, and since he was basically a freeloader and a sub-character anyway, getting a little hurt didn't matter. But if the healer got injured, it would be extremely detrimental to their subsequent operations, so he had to protect her.

Divine Protection!

A translucent, egg-shaped protective shield formed around her, and at the crucial moment, she knocked the katana away.

The thunder fell, striking the eggshell above Yuna's head with pinpoint accuracy. The eggshell shattered after a single breath, but the thunder vanished along with it.

"So you had this trick up your sleeve..."

Yeling let out a sigh of relief, joining Shiatte and Maelu to charge head-on at Lucas.

Shiatte's dark-attribute sword, Balisada, possessed a built-in corrosive effect that caused massive trouble for the light-attribute Lucas, leaving a horrifying wound on its abdomen.

Maelu's shield, moreover, possessed a miraculous property capable of nullifying the lightning on Lucas's halberd while remaining completely undamaged.

A tank, a support, a DPS, plus him as a freeloader—what a perfect party composition.

"Eliminate all intruders!"

Lucas flicked its figure and instantly appeared in the center of the arena. Its halberd touched the ground, and magical arrays suddenly lit up from the floor. Violent thunder energy radiated wildly from the halberd, making everyone's skin tingle faintly.

"You guys are the intruders, alright? Don't let it finish charging, burst it down!"

Flash... Triple Slash!

Shiatte nodded, holding her breath with focused concentration. Receiving support from three others, she was unprecedentedly powerful at this moment, and the potency of her skills scaled up accordingly.

Then, at the exact instant the sword qi flashed outward, a burst of lightning erupting from the ground coincidentally struck her wrist, deflecting the sword qi off course.

"Three boosting one, and you still managed to miss?"

Yeling wore a look of utter disbelief. At such a critical, practically fatal moment, her attack had suddenly gone wide?

Elven Leap!

Maelu held her high-leveled sword and leaped into the air, charging toward Lucas just as it reached the crucial moment of its charge. Holding her shield at a forty-five-degree angle in front of her knees to block the overflowing lightning arcs, she then violently smashed both herself and her shield into Lucas's head, driving her broadsword deep into its neck!

"Well done, Maelu."

Yeling applauded in praise, though his expression shifted slightly the next instant. He could tell that Maelu's previous strike had required an immense amount of courage, and furthermore, everyone had already been fighting for quite a while before Lucas appeared.

"Hehe~"

Though breathing heavily, Maelu wore a satisfied smile. Taking deep breaths, she failed to notice the violent heaving of her chest.

"Stop shaking, stop shaking, you're making me dizzy."