Battle in the Tavern

Rhine’s scream had barely begun before it turned into a muffled whimper, her mouth clearly covered by someone.

What was happening next door did not interfere with Rosie’s movements in the slightest.

She quickly buckled the straps connecting her breastplate and spaulders.

Then she reached for the full-face helmet on the nightstand, her hand just brushing against the cold metal surface.

With a heavy thud, the door was violently struck.

The door panel dented inward, but because Rosie had wedged the chair under the door handle earlier, it didn't budge.

The wood fibers groaned under the pressure, but the chair legs held firm against the floorboards.

Rosie calmly slipped the helmet over her head, adjusted its position, and buckled the chin strap.

Then she picked up her meteoric iron sword, popped the guard with her left thumb to unsheathe the blade, and tossed the scabbard onto the bed.

The second impact was even heavier than the first.

The door panel deformed under the impact, a crack splitting the frame and a large dent appearing in the middle of the wood, but the levered chair still held the door firmly shut.

Muffled whimpers and dragging sounds came from next door, along with the clatter of an overturned chair.

Someone seemed to be forcibly dragging Lady Rhine away.

Rosie decided not to wait any longer.

She hooked her foot and kicked the chair aside.

The next second, the person outside threw themselves against the door for a third time.

Deprived of the chair's support, the door burst open.

The man outside had used too much force. Unable to check his momentum, he stumbled directly into the room.

In the next instant, a cold gleam flashed before his eyes.

The meteoric iron sword slashed upward from a low angle. Combining the man's forward momentum with her strike, the blade sliced cleanly across the side of his neck.

Flesh split under the razor-sharp edge with almost no resistance, the cut slicing halfway through his neck.

A hissing sound filled the room—the sound of blood spraying under high pressure from his carotid artery, sounding clear and jarring in the darkness.

In the dim light of the oil lamp, Rosie saw the silhouette of the intruder.

He was an exceptionally muscular man, at least six foot three, covered in lean muscle, with arms thicker than her thighs.

Unfortunately, muscle was useless here.

Flesh and blood could not withstand cold steel.

His body stumbled forward another half step due to inertia, then stopped.

One of his hands instinctively rose to clutch his neck, trying to stem the spurting pressure, while the other reached out toward Rosie, clawing weakly at the air.

Rosie didn't even give him a second look, sidestepping him to step out into the hallway.

A heavy thud came from behind her as he collapsed.

An oil lamp flickered in the hallway, its weak flame dimly lighting a portion of the corridor.

Rosie’s gaze quickly swept across the space.

Three figures stood scattered in the hallway.

At the far end of the hallway, a man was dragging a girl away.

It was Rosie’s quest target, Lady Rhine. She was being held by the back of her neck, her feet dragging along the floorboards, having already lost the strength to struggle.

When Rosie stepped out of the room, the figures in the hallway froze simultaneously.

The man in front turned around, his face filled with shock and suspicion.

He clearly hadn't expected the burly man who broke into the room to die just like that.

But he didn't hesitate. Raising his blade, he lunged forward and slashed down hard at Rosie's helmet.

Rosie raised her meteoric iron sword with one hand, catching the blade on her crossguard.

With a sharp clang, the blade was deflected.

Immediately after, she threw a left punch, smashing into the man’s face.

Unlike the slap she had given the city guard back in Port Osborn, she didn't hold back at all this time.

With a heavy thud, the man spat a mouthful of blood and teeth, flying backward and crashing into his companion behind him.

The companion, who was just about to step in, stumbled backward from the collision.

Rosie closed the distance, stepping in front of the two.

A flash of sword light passed, spraying a line of blood. The man who had been crashed into wobbled and collapsed.

Then came another flash. The third man, who was trying to resist with his blade, was slashed across his carotid artery by Rosie’s reverse strike.

She withdrew her longsword, thrust it downward to pierce the throat of the man she had knocked unconscious, and yanked it sideways, cutting halfway through his neck.

Blood sprayed out.

The last man dragging Rhine finally reacted.

He yanked Rhine up with one hand and held his blade against her neck.

“Don’t come any closer! Or else—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the meteoric iron sword in Rosie’s hand flew from her grip with a whistle, the entire weapon hurtling forward like a javelin.

A silver light flashed in midair, and the tip of the sword sank directly into the man’s forehead, piercing through the back of his head.

The impact sent him flying backward, and the sword held against Rhine’s neck slid down, cutting a shockingly deep wound.

“O shining Holy Light! Respond to my call and bestow your power upon me!”

“Holy Light!”

Golden light instantly enveloped Rhine, illuminating the entire hallway and rendering the dim flame of the oil lamp completely obsolete.

The wound on Rhine’s neck closed rapidly in the golden light, and even the bruises from being dragged faded away.

The golden light dissipated.

Rhine slumped to the ground, clutching her neck with one hand.

Her fingers touched smooth skin, devoid of any wound.

She froze for a moment, looked down at her palm, and then looked up at Rosie.

She opened her mouth, her throat moving, but no words came out.

“What’s going on up there?!”

A shout suddenly came from downstairs.

“Butch, go up and see what’s happening.”

Immediately after, a heavy set of footsteps came from the bottom of the stairs.

The wooden stairs groaned under every step, as if they would fall apart at any moment.

Rosie took two steps in one, stepped in front of the corpse, and pulled out the meteoric iron sword stuck in the man’s skull.

She flicked the blood off the blade, then whispered to Rhine, who was still sitting on the ground in a daze:

“Get back to your room!”