203: Chapter 203 What did you say? I don't understand.

Gu Changming was the first to charge, but in the end, both of them reached the Leopard-eared Man at the same time.

Gu Changming slashed his blade toward the opponent's neck.

The Leopard-eared Man raised his right hand, his short blade parrying night erosion. The blades clashed, sending sparks flying.

At the same instant, the spotted tail behind him whipped around fiercely, whistling through the air as it lashed toward Gu Changming's face.

Gu Changming kicked off the ground and took a step back, the tail narrowly grazing the tip of his nose.

Just as he retreated, Noel's attack arrived.

That body composed of energy suddenly expanded, covering the Leopard-eared Man from the other side like a giant net.

Immediately after, the condensed energy exploded in front of the opponent with a dull, heavy boom.

However, at the exact moment the energy ball burst, the Leopard-eared Man's figure vanished from the spot.

A second later, he appeared dozens of meters away with only a few slight scorch marks on his body, his aura remaining steady.

After the first exchange, the three stopped for a moment, sizing each other up from a distance.

The Leopard-eared Man's gaze rested on Gu Changming for half a second before shifting and fixing on Noel.

As for this human, he could already tell from the exchange just now that the threat wasn't significant.

In those two brief exchanges, the opponent's performance had been mediocre: striking with the blade, being blocked, retreating, and dodging. Standard melee tactics, nothing remarkable.

In contrast, Noel's strike just now had almost injured him.

Thinking this, the Leopard-eared Man focused his attention on Noel, a hint of wariness appearing in his eyes.

He had to be wary of this guy; with one careless mistake, he might actually be eliminated by him.

Meanwhile.

Noel was also sizing him up.

From that exchange, he had roughly gauged the opponent's strength.

The gap wasn't large.

Especially with both sides' combat power leveled out, the gap was even smaller.

As long as...

Noel's gaze flickered toward Gu Changming.

As long as this human could cooperate well with him, taking down the opponent shouldn't be much of a problem.

When he looked over, the human also noticed his gaze.

Their eyes met.

The next second.

The other party even gave him a smile.

...

Soon, after they finished sizing each other up.

The three were locked in battle once again.

This time, the Leopard-eared Man took the initiative. With a flash, he lunged straight at Noel, his speed so staggering that his form left an afterimage in the air.

Noel reacted quickly as well. The moment the short blade was about to pierce him, his body suddenly burst apart, turning into several streaks of light that scattered in different directions.

The Leopard-eared Man's strike missed, and he was about to turn and adjust his stance.

But at that moment, Gu Changming charged in from the side.

With a flash of blade light, night erosion went straight for his heart.

The Leopard-eared Man had no choice but to stop his turn and bring his short blade across to parry.

With a crisp 'clang', the blade and short blade collided once more.

The moment the two clashed, the scattered streaks of light gathered again, surrounding them from all directions. Energy began to condense and compress before violently exploding.

The Leopard-eared Man's eyes sharpened as he realized something was wrong.

He wanted to dodge.

Exerting force through his feet, he retreated.

But he had barely taken half a step back when Gu Changming's attack arrived. This slash precisely cut off his path of retreat.

Looking at the surging streaks of light, the Leopard-eared Man's expression finally changed.

“Boom!”

The energy exploded.

Dazzling white light erupted on the arena, and the shockwave of the explosion spread in all directions.

The Leopard-eared Man stood at the center of the explosion, his clothes tattered and his skin covered in large areas of burn marks.

He was seriously injured.

Noel's body reformed, floating in mid-air as he looked down at the Leopard-eared Man.

He turned his head and glanced toward Gu Changming.

This human seemed a bit better than the previous ones.

Gu Changming also looked up at him.

The two shared a look.

In the next instant, they moved simultaneously.

The two pressed their advantage, giving the opponent no room to breathe.

The Leopard-eared Man had learned his lesson. Knowing he was no match for the two working together, he kicked off the ground and shot backward like a bolt of lightning.

He intended to use his speed advantage to separate the two. As long as he could pull them apart, he could create a one-on-one opportunity.

One-on-one, he feared neither.

However, Gu Changming and Noel naturally understood his plan.

They didn't give him any chance to split them up.

The Leopard-eared Man tried several times but failed to find an opening.

A moment later, the three were fighting again.

Another round of attacks ended.

The three separated, each catching their breath.

This round of combat was even more intense than before.

The Leopard-eared Man had sustained several more wounds, including a deep gash on his left shoulder that revealed the bone. His breathing was heavier than before, his chest heaving violently.

At the same time, Noel's energy body fluctuated slightly and grew dimmer; he had clearly taken some damage in the recent fight as well.

After glancing at the Leopard-eared Man to ensure he wouldn't launch a sneak attack, Noel's gaze swept toward Gu Changming nearby.

Gu Changming was panting heavily, his face pale and his forehead drenched in sweat, looking completely exhausted.

Looking at him, Noel wanted to speak: to tell him there was no need to fight so urgently, as they had the advantage and could take it slow.

In the previous battle, the other man had charged in the moment he saw a flaw, which was far too reckless and forced Noel to act at the same time.

There was absolutely no need for that; they had the upper hand, and being too reckless might lead to a disaster.

“You don't need to...” He was just about to offer a reminder.

But after just a few words, Gu Changming looked up and stared at him with a puzzled expression.

He then pointed to his ear and spread his hands, looking as if he had no idea what Noel was saying.

A language barrier?

Noel's brow furrowed slightly.

He was wondering if he should also exchange for some kind of communication-assisting potion...

But then, the Leopard-eared Man nearby seemed to realize they were trying to communicate and immediately charged, giving them no chance to talk.

This time, he didn't go for Noel, but headed straight for the weaker Gu Changming.

Seeing this, Noel could only sigh helplessly as his form turned into a streak of light and charged from the side.

The three sides were back in the fray.

...

But as the new round of fighting began, Noel felt increasingly awkward as the battle progressed.

The problem lay with Gu Changming.

This man was still using the same reckless fighting style, charging in the moment he saw a flaw without considering whether the timing was right.

Noel felt frustrated.

Several times, he wanted to stop and first exchange for a bottle of communication potion to tell the other man not to be so hasty.

But the Leopard-eared Man gave him no such chance; the moment Noel's attention wavered, the short blade would thrust from a tricky angle, forcing him to respond with everything he had.

So he could only keep fighting like this.

The more they fought, the more chaotic it became, and the more chaotic it became, the less they could extricate themselves.

In fact, Noel wasn't the only one who felt this way.

The Leopard-eared Man felt the same.

Several times he had tried to break away from the combat zone to distance himself and find a new opportunity.

But every time he made a move, those two seemed to have anticipated it, perfectly blocking his retreat.

The three sides fought with increasing chaos, and the situation grew more and more disordered.

All three of them were dragged into this mire; no one could stop, and no one could pull away.

Only when one side completely fell could this deadlock be broken.

The battle continued in this manner.

After three minutes, all three had reached their limits.

Gu Changming's hand trembled as he swung his blade, each strike looking as if it consumed all his strength. Noel's energy body had also become so unstable it seemed it could dissipate at any moment.

The Leopard-eared Man was in no better shape, covered in severe wounds and only a hair's breadth away from elimination.

Everyone was at their limit.

If they continued, it would simply be a matter of who collapsed first.

Just then, the human's blade slashed down once more.

He sidestepped to dodge and was about to counterattack when he caught a glimpse of the dim energy body to his side suddenly brightening.

A beam of light shot straight at him from the side.

The Leopard-eared Man didn't have time to fully dodge.

In that instant, he made a decisive move.

Holding the short blade in his right hand, he grabbed his own right arm with his left hand and gave it a violent yank.

With a 'pfft' sound, a mist of blood exploded.

The severed arm instantly transformed into a streak of bloody light in his hand, shooting toward Noel.

At the same time the energy beam pierced through him, his own bloody light hit Noel's energy body.

In this situation, it was the optimal solution.

Of the two, the energy body was the strongest. He had to take him down with him as well, lest he pose a threat when his own side's people arrive later.

Two flashes of white light flickered almost simultaneously.