What exactly had been forgotten?
Caiman could only hope that luck was on his side.
But the Desert Sword Attendant swung its blades in a fury, slashing directly at Caiman.
It seemed whatever had been forgotten wasn't an important skill!
Feeling the crushing weight of the blow, Caiman landed on the desert sand, his enhanced Sword Qi blocking all the damage.
He used his Sword Qi to deflect every splash of the Forbidden Fire, not daring to let even a single spark touch him.
Watching from a distance, Zeno confirmed the ability the Desert Sword Attendant had forgotten through Tongmu.
[Toxic Lv. 3]
The Forgotten Hero could trigger its Oblivion effect repeatedly, forcing a target to forget up to three abilities.
However, the success rate would drop significantly after that.
Damn it, this magical artifact is far too dependent on luck!
Caiman turned into an afterimage, kicking up plumes of dust as he circled around to find an opening in the Desert Sword Attendant's defense.
"Captain, what's the plan?"
On the other side of the desert, the Red Rose team was also closing in on the battlefield.
Even though their identities had been exposed, the members of the Red Rose team did not remove their concealing cloaks.
The Grey family's influence in the Northern Territory was simply too vast.
They could feign ignorance, but they could not openly declare themselves and offend the Greys.
"Our objective is the Candelabra. Seize the moment, grab it, and retreat immediately."
The materials and treasure chests dropped by the Desert Sword Attendant would surely be incredibly precious.
But the Candelabra linked to the Forbidden Fire was the true treasure of this dungeon.
At this moment, the Desert Sword Attendant was still in an unstoppable state fueled by the Forbidden Fire.
However, the Forbidden Fire on its body was merely a low-quality, experimental consumable.
Even with the Candelabra's preservation, the power of the Forbidden Fire was beginning to wane, steadily flickering toward extinction.
As a third-rank swordsman, Caiman was keen enough to notice this.
"It only has the Forbidden Fire's residual embers on its body! It's not real Forbidden Fire!"
"Keep stalling! Wait for the fire to burn out!"
Caiman's voice reignited the fighting spirit within the fearful knight order.
However, a flicker of clarity suddenly appeared within the Desert Sword Attendant's fire-filled eyes.
In an instant, it squeezed out every last drop of residual Forbidden Fire from its body, erupting like a volcano as massive plumes of fire surged outward.
The desert sand beneath its feet melted instantly.
A light as blinding as a scorching sun shone down upon everyone.
In that moment, everyone felt a surge of uncontrollable madness rising within their hearts.
The Forbidden Fire. This was its true power!
Three blades slashed down simultaneously, and in an instant, two heavy warriors who couldn't dodge in time were swallowed by the Forbidden Fire, descending into madness.
Caiman suppressed the madness within him and gripped the Forgotten Hero tightly, shredding the incoming waves of Forbidden Fire Sword Qi.
The power of the Forbidden Fire Sword Qi was instantly weakened by the Forgotten Hero's special effect.
Without needing an order from Caiman, the knight order quickly pulled back to escape the wide-reaching reach of the Forbidden Fire.
Caiman held his sword with both hands, deploying the defensive Sword Qi barrier enhanced by the Forgotten Hero.
The attacks, already weakened by the Sword Qi, were all successfully blocked by the barrier.
However, the madness continued to pool within Caiman's heart.
Caiman maintained his defense, retreating alongside the knight order.
He soon discovered that some members of the knight order were already succumbing to madness.
Despite not being touched by the flames, they were stumbling around in a daze, acting like mindless beasts.
Surprisingly, the first to lose their minds weren't the front-line heavy warriors or swordsmen.
They were the battle priests and mages.
The vast mana within the priests and mages granted them a powerful spiritual sensitivity, allowing them to excel at detection and sensing the approach of magic and monsters.
But in the presence of the Forbidden Fire, this sensitivity acted as an amplifier for madness.
It was a scene of utter chaos.
The Desert Sword Attendant's final explosion of Forbidden Fire seemed to have exhausted the last of its strength.
At that moment, there was no movement within the center of the Forbidden Fire.
The Red Rose team seized the opportunity, rushing toward the Desert Sword Attendant from the other side.
"Don't you even think about it!"
Caiman didn't care about his chaotic subordinates; anything related to the Forbidden Fire was his top priority.
The more powerful the Forbidden Fire appeared, the more delighted Caiman became, and the more determined he was to claim it.
As long as he secured the Forbidden Fire for the family and earned this merit...
He would surely become a core member of the family. Even if he didn't become the family head, he would have the chance to inherit the ring seal stone and become a supreme angel.
At this moment, Caiman's thoughts were racing, his mind consumed entirely by the Forbidden Fire.
He gripped the Forgotten Hero and used his Sword Qi to shield himself from the surrounding flames as he charged into the heart of the fire.
The Desert Sword Attendant was now nothing more than a charred torso rooted in the desert sand.
A blackened arm, resembling a scorched branch, still held the Candelabra.
Caiman's eyes widened and his breathing quickened as he poured all his strength into reaching for the Candelabra.
On the other side, Leoward of the Red Rose team raised his crossbow and fired a Crescent Arrow from a distance.
The loosed Crescent Arrow transformed in the blink of an eye into a sharp, crescent-shaped blade of Sword Qi, flying toward Caiman.
A magical artifact! Realizing what it was, Caiman gripped the Forgotten Hero and spun around to slash at it!
The crescent Sword Qi was split in two by Caiman's strike, crashing into the sand on either side.
That split-second delay caused Caiman to fall half a step behind.
Serafina lunged from the other side, reaching for the Candelabra.
"You bastard!"
With madness building in his heart, Caiman abandoned all noble elegance and decorum, shouting out in a rage.
Raging Sword Qi slashed toward Serafina without mercy.
Serafina drew the twin swords from her waist to meet Caiman's attack.
A second-rank swordsman was naturally no match for a third-rank one.
While a second-rank swordsman could manipulate Sword Qi, a third-rank swordsman's power had undergone a qualitative change; their Sword Qi was no longer confined to the blade but emanated from their entire body.
At the moment of impact, a tsunami of sharp silver Sword Qi swallowed Serafina.
Serafina gripped her twin swords tightly, barely managing to block the attack with her own Sword Qi. However, she had no strength left to counter; her form broke, and she went rolling across the sand.
Caiman snorted coldly and swung his blade once more.
But Serafina was not alone.
Isolde, the heavy warrior, charged from one side, while Caspar, the priest, was ready with vines that lashed out to bind Caiman's blades.
Remel took the chance to lunge for the Candelabra.
Caiman let out a roar as Sword Qi erupted from his feet, instantly shattering the restraints. At the same time, a sharp blast of Sword Qi struck Isolde, halting his charge.
He raised his sword to cut Remel down.
However, Serafina quickly grabbed a clump of the dying Forbidden Fire from nearby and hurled it at Caiman.
This insane move momentarily froze Caiman in his tracks.
This was the Forbidden Fire, even if it was just a tiny, flickering remnant of its residual embers.
The fire's nature of madness and destruction meant he didn't dare be the slightest bit careless.
He surged his Sword Qi to deflect the small clump of Forbidden Fire.
But under his horrified gaze, Serafina grabbed another clump of the dying fire and smeared it onto her own blades.
She wasn't being burned by the Forbidden Fire at all.
It was the Forbidden Fire Blessing! Only those marked by the Forbidden Fire Blessing were qualified to touch it.
Rate on N.U.
