In the central square of the Rogue Encampment, Max had already released all his summons from his summoning space. He indeed had the capital to be arrogant: 8 Skeleton Warriors, 3 Skeleton Mages, and one Clay Golem.
The twelve summons were arranged in an orderly formation. It seemed that in a duel, one would have to fight a whole crowd by themselves; Max was indeed difficult to handle. Unfortunately, he was facing Inceyste.
As expected, the battle between the two ended very quickly. After Inceyste finished applying her buffs, she teleported directly behind Max and unleashed a flurry of output. Powerful fire elements triggered a dense series of intense explosions. Poor Max didn't even have time to react before he fell to the ground and lost the match.
Max lay on the ground, his body turned green and twitching incessantly. Although he didn't die due to the protection of the contract, the poisoning had put him in a near-death state, making it impossible for him to crawl up. Finally, Buckle couldn't bear to watch any longer; he helped him up and poured detoxification and healing potions down his throat.
"Max, give me a call once you've recovered." Leo was already somewhat impatient to deal with this kid.
Max proved to be quite stubborn. After shivering and resting for about ten minutes, he stood up once more to face Leo. This time, he didn't dare be overconfident and chose to strike first by casting the Amplify Damage curse on Leo. He commanded the undead like an army; the Skeleton Warriors formed a phalanx and pressed forward with synchronized movements. The Skeleton Mages and the Clay Golem were responsible for harassment and protecting their master from the rear.
Leo had to admit that despite his annoying personality, Max's strength in commanding summons was the real deal. Having understood Max's power, winning wouldn't be hard—but winning beautifully wouldn't be easy. He silently opened his skill panel and added his last two skill points.
> Thorns: When active, reflects melee damage back at enemies. Radius: 10.6 yards. 250% damage reflected. Level 6 skill. No prerequisites.
> Sanctuary: When active, damages and knocks back undead creatures. Radius: 3.3 yards. Damage to Undead: +150%. Magic Damage: 8-17. Each level of Cleansing adds +7% magic damage. Level 24 skill. Prerequisites: Thorns, Holy Freeze.
>
To give Max an unforgettable lesson, Leo directly activated the Sanctuary aura and walked slowly toward him. Although he had only invested 1 point, with the skill bonus from his shield, the skill level was already 2, giving it a radius of a full 4 yards. Though the area wasn't wide, it was sufficient.
The Skeleton Warriors in front were constantly pushed back, unable to step forward at all. From behind, the Skeleton Mages fired magical bolts of three elements, trying to halt Leo's pace. Unfortunately, Skeleton Mages were mere ornaments in the game; their damage was pathetically weak. Now, under the weakening effect of the contract, this bit of damage was even more trivial.
Seeing Leo walking closer and closer, and noticing that his Skeleton Warriors—though surrounding the opponent—could do nothing to him, Max finally commanded the Golem to step forward and block Leo's path.
To completely crush the opponent's self-esteem, Leo chose not to charge directly at the summoner. Instead, he opted to use Zeal, swinging his short mace frantically at the Golem. The Golem simply couldn't withstand this full round of strikes; by the fourth hit, it collapsed with a crash.
Max watched, dumbstruck. This was a Paladin majoring in auxiliary auras? I don't believe you for a second. Without a thought, he summoned the Golem again. Unfortunately, against a nimble Leo, the only function of this slow-moving giant was to block the line of sight for the Skeleton Mages. After summoning six Clay Golems in a row, Max finally ran out of mana.
Seeing the opponent had no mana left and could no longer summon Golems to block him, Leo continued walking toward him. Soon, the Skeleton Mages were also forced back by the aura. Cold sweat poured down Max's face. He tried to swallow to ease the pressure, but felt only the uncomfortable friction of a dry throat; he involuntarily retreated along with the Skeleton Mages.
Clack, clack. The skeletons, long tormented by the aura, finally found release and fell apart one after another. Max was slowly cornered, the sound of falling skeletons ringing out like his own funeral knell.
Leo held the short mace in his left hand high, a warm smile on his face, his eyes constantly locked onto Max's.
"Now, do you have anything else you'd like to say to my sister?"
More sweat beaded on Max's forehead, trickling into his eyes. Even though his eyeballs were twitching from the irritation, he didn't dare blink in the face of the man before him and the blunt weapon hanging over his head. He shouted out in a breakdown:
"I... I... What's wrong with liking someone? I'm being sincere!"
Leo hadn't expected the kid to actually have some guts. He felt a surge of mania enter his heart—an impulse to instantly destroy the object before him—yet his brain remained exceptionally calm. His smile grew even more radiant, revealing a mouthful of bright white teeth.
"Well then, my short mace tells me it's not wrong for it to hate you either. It says it wants to taste your blood, the organs in your belly, and the brains in your skull. Do you agree?"
The youth before him was scared into a kneeling position on the ground, tears and snot flowing freely. He clutched his head with both hands and wailed loudly: "Even if you beat me to death today, I won't take back my words! Liking someone isn't something I can control myself!"
Seeing the youth in such a wretched state yet still holding his ground, Leo stowed his weapon and helped him up: "There, there. As an open-minded brother, how could I stop someone from pursuing my sister? I was merely testing you. Remember, from now on, you must never make my sister unhappy, no matter what."
He smiled and patted the youth's shoulder: "And don't say the Captain is bullying you. Let's call it a draw today, shall we?"
An indescribable sense of gratitude surged in Max's heart. This man hadn't just refrained from beating him; he had even allowed him to save face. A sickly red flush appeared on his face as he lowered his head and replied respectfully: "Yes, Boss. Although I still had many trump cards, since Boss says it's a draw, then it's a draw."
The squad traveled across the Cold Plains for three days. The harvest during this period was pathetically low; everywhere they went, people were competing for monsters. With great difficulty, they finally discovered a gap in the mountains to the southeast and found the road leading to the Stony Field.
Standing on high ground, Leo took a careful look. The Stony Field was also surrounded by mountains and was quite vast. The vegetation was similar to the Cold Plains, still dominated by coniferous forests and alpine meadows, though the trees were relatively stunted—likely because the soil layer below was thin and barren.
The gap in the mountain formed this passage. On the rock walls below, traces left by rushing water remained; a large amount of soil and rock had been washed away by the current, leaving only the exposed bedrock.
This soil and rock had followed the water through this valley. When passing through the slightly gentler terrain below, the larger materials were the first to settle, forming the expansive Stony Field below. As for the fertile soil, it was likely carried away by the current until it deposited in areas with even flatter terrain.
Originally, this gap was a location easy to defend but hard to attack, but unfortunately, there was a risk of flooding. They would have to head into the Stony Field to find a more suitable location.