The blazing flames shot straight out, igniting the forest. The roaring fire dispelled the darkness, bringing ample light to offset the disadvantages of night combat.
Meanwhile, the enemy's first wave of attack arrived as expected.
A man closest to Lynch rushed toward him and Yuri from the front. His body was rigid, but his speed was astonishing, covering more than ten meters in the blink of an eye and reaching Lynch's front.
"Whoosh!～"
A fierce gust of wind swept across the flat terrain. The Cross Sword traced a sharp gleam in the air and, in the next second, appeared directly above Lynch's head.
"Clang!"
The sound of metal clashing echoed as a Cross Sword blocked the enemy's attack steadily in front of Lynch. Yuri had stepped forward and stood in front of him.
The first strike had been thwarted. The man swiftly withdrew his sword for another slash, but Yuri stood like an immovable wall in front of Lynch. The relentless metallic clangs of "ding ding ding" reverberated without end.
Meanwhile, Lynch's spell was already prepared.
A few strange plants, supported by thick stems and bearing oval fruits covered in coarse bristles, sprouted up from the ground.
As Lynch raised his hand and pointed forward, the front ends of the bizarre fruits split into four sections, exposing a small mouthpiece underneath. The mouthpiece contracted inward then opened outward, accompanied by a distinct "pop" as a pea-sized black seed was shot toward the enemy ahead.
"Boom!"
The inconspicuous black seed exploded the moment it made contact with the enemy's body, causing significant destruction—a bowl-sized hole appeared on the man's torso.
No blood spewed from the cavity, only foul-smelling rotting flesh scattered everywhere.
"Pop! Pop! Pop!"
The attacks continued. Several more pitch-black seeds shot out, all hitting the man squarely. After a series of deafening explosions, the man's legs were completely obliterated, and he collapsed to the ground.
Yuri was startled and exclaimed, "What the heck is this?"
Lynch replied, "I call them Pea Shooters."
These were magic plants Lynch had modified, modeled after Pea Shooters from Earth. The main body was made from a local magic plant called Magic Vine Squash, which shoots seeds out of its squash mouth to reproduce and spread once it reaches maturity.
Lynch had implanted the Blast Fruit's bud embryos into its seeds, giving them explosive properties upon being shot. He also incorporated fast-growing magic plants like One Night Grass into its design to adjust and refine its composition, ultimately creating a magic plant resembling Earth's Pea Shooters in functionality.
Upon entering its pollination state, the plant continuously generates seeds to attack enemies. Its maximum range is around twenty meters, and the explosive power of the seeds is roughly equivalent to one degree.
"You created this?"
Yuri was incredulous. Although Lynch had ranked first in the previous assessment, Yuri, like others, had assumed it was sheer luck. Could their perceptions have been completely wrong?
"Now isn't the time to chat. Hold them down for me!"
Lynch reminded Yuri while stepping forward, transforming the magic wand in his hand into a long iron hook. He called Yuri over to hold down two twitching corpses lying on the ground, then swiftly and precisely extracted Soul Devices from their bodies.
"What are these now?" Yuri asked.
"Soul Devices. Think of them as the central brain of these undead. To stop them, you must remove these."
As they spoke, two more enemies charged forward. Lynch summoned Parker to confront them while commanding the Pea Shooters to target their legs. Although these undead creatures wouldn't die no matter how much damage they received, crippling their legs limited their mobility.
Yuri was shocked.
Despite spending the same three years at the Tower, he now felt like a complete fool. Undead? Soul Devices? Had they even learned about these in training? When had this even been covered?
Watching Lynch calmly confront the enemies, Yuri couldn't help but wonder: Was Lynch truly a farmer and not the heir of some Wizard Family?
"Hey, are you just going to stand there and watch? My Pea Shooters can't handle so many!"
Lynch's slightly dissatisfied voice finally brought Yuri back to reality.
"Ah, sorry!"
His cheeks flushed slightly, and he quickly brandished his Cross Sword, dashing forward. Earlier, he had boasted loudly; standing around stunned now was unacceptable.
Yuri leaped into action, charging into a group of four or five undead warriors, battling against overwhelming odds.
Before entering the Tower, Yuri had undergone years of Knight Training and was a bona fide Apprentice Knight. His three basic attribute coefficients were all about 3, just one step away from becoming an official knight.
Looking at his wrist and blade, one could see silver vortexes of Fighting Spirit emanating from his wrist and forming silvery glows on his sword. This was clearly the Fighting Spirit of a knight.
Although he hadn't yet advanced to an official knight due to various circumstances, he had used Magic to boost his abilities, choosing the Cell Fusion path of Body Refinement witchcraft.
He had fused Abyss Worm cells, granting him extraordinary regenerative powers. As long as the injuries weren't fatal, his body could quickly heal.
With solid foundational ability and the regeneration granted by the Abyss Worm cells, Yuri's actual combat power was exceptional despite not formally advancing to knight status. Even when vastly outnumbered, he still held his ground.
'This side should be fine...'
After confirming Yuri's situation, Lynch shifted his focus back to the battlefield's overall dynamics.
He remained incredibly calm, with no trace of fear or panic visible on his face. He appeared like a battle-tested veteran rather than a newcomer to war.
Even Lynch himself found it odd. Had the blood and fire from earlier tempered him? Or perhaps he simply adapted quickly?
No, perhaps this was just the nature of humanity.
Lynch recalled chatting with a Vietnam War veteran during his school days, asking whether people felt fear in battle. The elderly man's response still resonated:
"Who has time for those thoughts?"
"On the battlefield, when you hear the signal, you grab your gun and charge. See the enemy? Shoot. Who has time to think about anything else? Fear?"
Indeed...
When adrenaline surges and life or death hangs in the balance, the mind cannot afford distractions. All that remains is the drive to defeat the enemy and end the battle.
'I must find that spellcaster quickly!'
Commanding the Pea Shooters to intercept enemies, Lynch simultaneously released his spiritual power to its fullest, striving to perceive every corner of the battlefield.
Although they appeared to hold the upper hand for now, Lynch knew these were mere undead constructs, no different from his Pea Shooters in essence. The true enemy was the hidden spellcaster controlling these undead. Only by eliminating them could the battle end.
'Where could they be...?'
Lynch didn't fully understand the mechanics of controlling undead constructs but had read that such large-scale assaults required direct involvement from the spellcaster. Hence, they likely wouldn't be far—surely somewhere nearby...
'Found them!'
At that moment, Lynch distinctly felt an unfamiliar spiritual field emanating from behind a bush in the southeast corner. Besides him and Yuri, the rest were soulless, spiritless undead constructs. This spiritual energy source was self-evident.
He directed Parker to stealthily approach and prepared to bathe the culprit in flames. But just then, Lynch suddenly sensed intense elemental fluctuations coming from the bush—it was clearly the precursor to a spell being cast, and the spell's trajectory was unmistakably...
Lynch's expression changed drastically: "Yuri, watch out!"
Almost the instant his words landed, a deep gray beam shot forth from the bush, heading straight for Yuri amid the battlefield.
Yuri was tangled in combat with several undead creatures. Though he instantly heightened his caution upon Lynch's warning, he couldn't evade the abrupt beam shooting out from the bush, which struck him squarely in the chest.
"Ah!"
Yuri let out a tragic cry and fell backward as though he were a kite whose string had snapped.