160: Chapter 160 Three-Way Encirclement! The Vampire Prince! Instant Kill with Bare Hands!

Deep in the Mess Mountains, in a primitive snow forest.

The massive silver-gray figure of the Lord of Frost Howl moved elegantly and agilely through the forest.

Its giant paws stepped on the snow, leaving only shallow imprints, almost soundlessly.

Suddenly, it stopped in a snowy area surrounded by several ancient trees.

Its huge body turned slowly.

It looked at the human figure that had been relentlessly chasing it, with a look of incomprehensible scrutiny.

The wind and snow whined in the forest, kicking up fine snow dust.

Rowan also stopped, meeting the gaze of the Lord of Frost Howl's giant wolf eyes.

"Human... are you not afraid of death?"

The Lord of Frost Howl was indeed very puzzled.

It felt no threatening aura from this human, so why did he dare to chase it like this?

On what basis?!

Rowan heard this, his eyebrows raised imperceptibly.

It was his first time seeing a magical beast that could speak human language.

The corners of his mouth moved slightly, as if he wanted to reply.

However, just at this moment—

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two sounds of breaking air, almost simultaneously, tore through the whining wind and snow, shooting out from the forest where Rowan had come, and landed steadily behind his side.

Rowan's gaze swept over.

When he saw Viscount Willis among them.

A flash of realization crossed his mind.

As expected!

But on his face, a look of surprise flashed just right, and he spoke directly:

"Viscount Willis? I didn't expect to meet you here! You've come just in time!"

"This beast is very cunning. Come and help me. If you and I join forces, we will surely slay this beast that is ravaging the border today and end the trouble once and for all!"

Viscount Willis heard this and was slightly stunned at first, as if he hadn't expected Rowan to have this reaction.

But then he suddenly looked up and let out a laugh full of malice:

"Hahahaha! Good! A good 'help you'! The Count has given an order, how could I, this Viscount, dare not to obey?!"

Before his voice fell.

His figure flickered like a ghost!

The Red Butcher Knight beside him moved with him as if they were one, stepping forward almost simultaneously!

Bang! Bang!

The snow within several feet under their feet exploded, revealing the yellow-black frozen soil beneath.

At the same time.

Two surging flames of battle aura shot into the sky.

One dark red like congealed blood.

One bright red like Blazing fire.

Instantly sealing off all possible escape routes for Rowan.

Two people and one wolf, from three directions, locked Rowan firmly in the center of the clearing!

Seeing this, the expression on Rowan's face slowly converged, finally returning to a deep, indifferent calm like the sea.

His gaze swept over the ferocious Red Butcher Knight, passed the playful-eyed Lord of Frost Howl, and finally settled on Viscount Willis's slightly twisted face.

"Viscount Willis," his voice was not loud, but it clearly penetrated the wind and snow:

"You colluded privately with the enemy country's Blood Barbarians, conspired with the magical beast ravaging the border, and intended to encircle and kill an Earl of the Empire..."

"Are you trying to... commit treason?"

"Treason? Haha! The Count speaks too seriously!"

Viscount Willis sneered, his voice sharp.

"You act recklessly in your territory, spending millions of gold coins on a beauty pageant, causing public resentment! I am merely removing a scourge for the Empire!"

Rowan heard this and was silent for a moment.

His gaze, for the first time, carefully examined Viscount Willis.

This gaze made Viscount Willis very uncomfortable.

His face sank, and he couldn't be bothered to talk nonsense anymore. He turned to the Lord of Frost Howl, who was waiting leisurely on the side, his tone carrying urgency and a hint of imperceptible fawning:

"Lord Wolf! Long nights bring many dreams, please take action together and end this quickly! Execute this person here! The things promised to you will not be a cent less!"

The Lord of Frost Howl heard this, and its huge wolf head tilted slightly. Its wolf eyes drifted between the three, clearly showing a human-like playfulness.

It seemed to enjoy this kind of human infighting and killing each other.

"Woo... What a buzzkill."

"I originally wanted to watch the show for a while longer."

Its low, hoarse voice sounded, as if carrying a trace of regret.

But the next moment—

Boom!

With it as the center, a cold killing intent, ten times more brutal than a midwinter blizzard, erupted!

The temperature in the clearing plummeted!

A layer of thicker blue-white ice crystals instantly condensed on the surface of the snow!

The falling snowflakes froze in mid-air and fell to the ground!

Its silver-gray fur moved without wind, each strand emitting a metallic cold light.

"Forget it. It's better to end it early. Humans, remember your promise."

"Of course! Lord Wolf, rest assured!"

Viscount Willis heard this, his heart relaxed, he hurriedly bowed and replied, a sneer of victory on his face.

He and Red Butcher Knight exchanged a glance.

The battle aura boiling around them surged again, and the dark red and bright red lights illuminated the snowfield in a bizarre way.

The three-way encirclement completely sealed off all space.

However, Rowan, who seemed to be in a mortal situation, still had a calm face.

Only, deep in his eyes, a glimmer of almost joyful light flickered slightly.

"Finally... everyone is here."

He whispered silently in his heart.

The phantom purple annihilation battle aura spread silently from his body like smoke and mist.

He raised his right hand slightly, his five fingers closing gently, as if practicing something...

"Hmph, death is at hand, and you're still pretending!"

Viscount Willis was completely enraged by Rowan's dismissive attitude, shouted sharply, and struck first!

His hands crossed, and his battle aura condensed into two intersecting red claw shadows, grabbing directly at Rowan's back heart!

The Red Butcher Knight beside him roared at almost the same time, his scarlet battle aura turning into a solid, huge blood axe, and with terrifying pressure, he swung it in a violent vertical slash!

And the Lord of Frost Howl in front opened its huge mouth, and a visible ice-blue cold breath, like a breached flood, erupted, and wherever it passed, the air was frozen into fine ice shards!

Three-way attack, fast, ruthless, and absolute!

Leaving no room for evasion, the goal was to crush Rowan into powder in one strike!

However—

Rowan, who was in the eye of the storm, moved.

His figure blurred in place for a moment.

Not to dodge, but... forward!

He rushed towards the direction of Red Butcher Knight!

Leaving only an afterimage in place.

His real body had already forcefully crashed into the bloody axe light swung by Red Butcher Knight!

"Bastard! Dare to take me as a breakthrough point?!"

Red Butcher Knight was stunned at first, then filled with boundless rage.

As a Great Knight-level powerhouse of the Blood Barbarians, when had he ever been so underestimated?

This was clearly treating him as the weakest link among the three!

"Die for me! Blood Prison Slash!"

In a fit of fury, the blood energy in his body burned crazily.

In the sky, the bright red battle aura instantly turned into a dull black-red color.

The volume of that huge blood blade surged again!

Facing this terrifying blow that seemed to come from the blood prison, Rowan's rushing figure did not stop at all.

He just raised his hand, his five fingers slightly curved, and grabbed straight at the black-red blade edge.

Just at the moment he was about to touch the blade edge—

Rowan locked eyes with Red Butcher Knight.

In those eyes that were originally deep and calm, at this moment, two points of eerie and noble—

Crimson, suddenly lit up!

Like an ancient prince sleeping, opening his pupils in the endless eternal night.

Time, in Red Butcher Knight's perception, seemed to be infinitely stretched and frozen.

A terrifying pressure originating from the very root of the bloodline slammed into his soul!

The blood power galloping and roaring in his body, at this moment, like a lowly subject seeing a king, uncontrollably... completely disordered!

He couldn't even mobilize the smallest drop of blood.

He tried his best to urge it, but it only resulted in his soul trembling violently.

That Blood Prison Slash, which had condensed all his strength and killing intent, dissipated silently in the air less than three inches from Rowan's palm.

No, not dissipated.

It was submission!

It was a humble collapse!

Puchi—!

A soft sound, in this snowy land, was eerily clear.

Rowan's distinct-knuckled hand, as if piercing through thin paper, easily and naturally, plunged into Red Butcher Knight's chest, grasping that heart that was still beating crazily.

The rage on Red Butcher Knight's face froze instantly, turning into a piece of extreme confusion.

He looked down, staring blankly at the hand that had plunged into his chest.

Coldness instantly seized his mind.

"You... you are..."

His throat rattled, his pupils contracted to pinpoints due to extreme fear.

Under the gaze of that eerie red pupil close at hand.

A title that shouldn't have existed here struggled to surface in his consciousness that was about to be extinguished.

"Prin... Prince..."

Rowan was expressionless, his five fingers closing slightly.

Gu—!

It was as if something exploded, or as if it was just a soft sigh.

Red Butcher Knight's burly body trembled violently.

Then, the vitality in his eyes, like a candle in the wind, was suddenly extinguished!

The skin all over his body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if all moisture and vitality had been drained in an instant.

All his blood, rich in life essence, like a hundred birds returning to their nests, turned into slender streams of blood, all pouring into Rowan's palm, flowing back up his arm, and were devoured cleanly.

At the same time.

In Rowan's body, that eternally burning Blazing furnace shook violently!

The massive life essence contained in the blood was ruthlessly extracted by the furnace, turning into the purest energy!

The system prompt flashed like a waterfall in his mind, finally settling:

[Myriad Furnace Breathing Technique Proficiency + 1027]

A one-time, massive increase in proficiency!

Rowan chuckled in his heart.

The Great Knight-level Bloodline origin is indeed a great supplement!

...

And from the perspective of Viscount Willis and the Lord of Frost Howl.

From Rowan's sudden counterattack, to his ghost-like instant kill of Red Butcher Knight, it seemed long, but it all happened in a flash!

So fast that it exceeded common sense!

It even exceeded the scope of combat, more like a one-sided harvest!

Until Red Butcher Knight's corpse, which had completely lost all vitality, was casually thrown away by Rowan—

The man and the wolf were both silent...

Viscount Willis looked at Rowan suddenly.

At this moment, Rowan was gently wiping his hands.

The aura around him became even deeper and more unfathomable, and a lustrous luster seemed to flow under his skin.

The handsome facial features, under the cover of the phantom purple battle aura, presented an almost eerie elegance.

Especially when those eyes were slightly raised.

One could faintly see the crimson that had not yet completely faded in the depths—

Noble, ancient, cold...

Like a god high above, looking down at the insects at his feet.

This was definitely not The Count Rowan he knew!

"Vampire?! No, no... You are not Rowan! Who are you?!"

Viscount Willis's voice was distorted and off-key due to extreme horror, and he subconsciously took half a step back.

All his previous ferocity and complacency were gone, leaving only boundless coldness rushing from the soles of his feet to his crown.

Rowan did not answer.

He just took a step forward.

The figure standing there swayed and faded like a reflection in water.

The next moment.

Mist rolled.

Another identical shadow had already appeared less than a foot in front of Viscount Willis like a ghost, without any warning.

[Shadow] trait—

Short-range Shadow Escape jump!

Two figures were inches apart.

Viscount Willis's pupils dilated crazily.

All the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head at this moment.

He roared, and the battle aura in his body erupted regardless of everything, forming layers of battle aura shields in front of him.

At the same time, his hands were like claws, with desperate determination, grabbing fiercely at Rowan's throat and heart!

This was the most instinctive reaction he could make.

However, Rowan just raised his hand again.

That hand, slender, steady, with an unspeakable rhythm, gently reached forward.

Puchi—!

The battle aura shield that could withstand the volley of magic crossbows, in front of that glowing hand, was as fragile as a bubble under the sun—

Layer by layer, it dissipated silently.

Then, that fair and slender hand irresistibly... plunged into his chest.

The sensation of the heart being grasped by cold fingers.

Slightly cool.

All of Viscount Willis's resistance, all his counterattacks, at this moment, completely froze.

He lowered his head with difficulty, looking at the hand that had plunged in up to the wrist.

He felt the powerlessness and emptiness of life and power being crazily drained along with his blood...

"Heh... heh..."

He wanted to say something, but he could no longer open his mouth.

Boundless fear, despair, regret, and a trace of absurd realization flooded him like a tide.

He suddenly understood why Red Butcher Knight had stood there like a puppet, being killed without any resistance.

It wasn't that he didn't want to resist.

It was that at the moment under the gaze of those red eyes, the body and power had long since... ceased to belong to himself.

That was an absolute crushing from the level of life.

At this time, after Rowan finished appreciating Viscount Willis's expression of extreme regret, he seemed to find it boring.

He closed his five fingers slightly.

Puchi—!

A soft muffled sound.

Viscount Willis's eyes bulged outwards, and the last trace of blood faded from his face.

The next moment, exactly the same as Red Butcher Knight.

All the blood in his body, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, turned into lines of blood, uncontrollably gushing towards the hand on his chest...

[Breathing Technique Proficiency + 609]

"The quality is much worse..." Rowan frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly, seeming a bit dissatisfied.

Viscount Willis's blood, seemingly massive, was actually floating, far less condensed and pure than that of Red Butcher Knight.

The increase in Breathing Technique proficiency brought by smelting was only a little more than half of the other party's.

He pulled his hand back with slight disappointment, and shook off the remaining blood beads casually.

Then, he leisurely turned around slowly.

Those eyes that had returned to amber looked at the huge figure opposite with great interest.

The wind and snow had become smaller at some point.

In the forest, it was dead silent.

Rowan's phantom purple battle aura was still covering his body like light smoke and thin mist, dreamlike and illusory.

A very faint arc appeared on the corners of his mouth.

"Now, it's our turn."

"Lord of Frost Howl?"