Catato Patch 

Terms of surrender? Hah, do you think I’m some kind of kind-hearted samaritan?

 

A cold smile crossed my lips as I waved my hands. “Drag him away and kill him

 

“Understood Master.” No.3 signalled to a few guardsmen and began escorting away the ratman overlord.

 

It was only when No.3 reached out for his furry shoulders did that foolish ratman finally realize that something was wrong. As he stumbled away from his captors, he desperately pleaded his case in his usual chitters.

 

Though I still didn’t understand them, Violet Snow was here to fulfill that role of translator, which she did so faithfully even now. “He says that he’s the overlord of the ratmen and that he commands a large number of clans. Furthermore, he says that he’s an influential rodent and if we kill him like this, it would cause a mountain of troubles later on when we want to subjugate the rats.”

 

“A mere captive actually wants to negotiate with me and even dares to threaten me? If I accept his terms now, then I might as well forget about capturing any other prisoners of war. No exceptions, get rid of him right this instant.” With another wave of my hand, I firmly rejected this notion of negotiation.

 

Hah, you actually want to f**king negotiate with me? How about you go have a chat with Hades in the underworld first.

 

Just looking at his panicked eyes, I bet he was thought something along the lines of “the devils will make an exception for me because I’m valuable and that’s how this story always goes.”

 

Well too bad, all I can say is that you’re thinking too much about it; we aren’t even looking at the same story, got it?

 

Now that No.3 and the other guardsmen were in arms reach, it finally dawned on him how much trouble he was in.

 

Fortunately or perhaps unfortunately depending on whose perspective you took, his stupidity wasn’t ingrained into his bones. The moment No.3 tried to reach out and grab him again, the ratman knocked the devil away with a punch. Tail muscles flexed, he swung his long, thick tail towards the other guardsmen like a metallic whip and swept them away.

 

“Chit chit!”It was an angry chit directed at me. The ratman overlord immediately rushed off to my right where the defenses were the thinnest. Looks like he had planned this from the very start, he probably thought that it would be easier to escape the blockade that way. Well, I’m sorry for shattering that fantasy of yours but there’s no escaping for you.

 

At that same time, Violet Snow chimed in with a “He swears that he will get his revenge.” Even with this surprise development, this little puppy didn’t forget her role as a translator.

 

“I don’t need you to translate that for me, I know what he’s saying even without your help.”

 

“Oh, I never knew you learnt to speak rodent.”

 

Ignoring the fact that she rolled her eyes at me, I coldly laughed and gave out another command: “Surround it.”

 

“Understood, Master!” Having recovered from that punch, No.3 immediately got to his feet and rushed at the ratman overlord. However, No.3 was just a three-star Demon Child; in terms of strength, he was vastly inferior to the ratman. Dodging the morningstar in No.3’s right hand, the ratman overlord used the centrifugal force of his twist to throw a forceful kick at No.3’s bone shield and sent him flying.

 

The ratman overlord immediately tried to resume his escape but unfortunately for him, No.3’s distraction bought the rest of the guardsmen enough time to rush over and surround him.

 

“Dearest, this Harpy is here to help you!” Because of the ruckus occuring at our side, Numila abandoned her pointless argument with Elena and promptly flew over to aid us. With a forceful leap into the air, she instantly appeared above the ratman’s head where her trusty weapon, Flametail promptly started to revolve around her once more and radiate that terrifying level of heat she showed earlier.

 

“Elena is here too!” Not wishing to be outdone by the more assertive Numila, Elena flew over as well and a second later, threw the ratman overlord below her a pointed, dangerous glare.

 

Thanks to their extraordinary speed, it merely took the blink of an eye for the two of them to catch up and block the ratman. Now that he was beset by these two witches, the ratman slowed down his attacks on the guardsmen, instead choosing to focus on Numila and Elena.

 

“I detest rats.” My right hand reached for the hilt of Shadowfang as I slowly walked towards the ratman overlord. Seeing that, the two witches came to the conclusion that I planned to handle this myself so they lowered their altitude and merely tried to block the ratman from escaping.

 

Even though an Abaddon Rodent was much weaker than their counterparts at the same star level, this ratman overlord seemed to be an exception to the rule. The strength he displayed so far was impressive to say the least and was several times stronger than the other four-stars under his command.

 

Thanks to the addition of Mo En’s forces upon my return to the Prison of the Dead, my guardsmen were at the very least two-stars now with some of the squad leaders at the level of three-stars similar to No.3 and Big 4. Armed with my crafted bone shields and bone broadswords, they definitely held an advantage over the empty-handed ratman overlord. Even so, these elites were powerless before the ratman overlord who shattered their shields as if they were made of porcelain.

 

Fortunately, the arrival of Numila and Elena restricted his movements so he wasn’t able to cause too much damage to my guardsmen. Every punch he threw, he made sure to reserve some energy to guard against the two harpy witches. This rodent knew full well that he had no chance of escaping.Still, he didn’t give up his will to live and instead struggled desperately against the guardsmen surrounding him in hopes of a miracle happening.

 

As his thick tail and giant claws raked through the air, guardsman after guardsman were thrown into the air without mercy. This was the third time No.3 was thrown away and as he fell onto the ground with a loud crash, I saw his body stiffen. From the looks of it, he won’t be getting up anytime soon. For a race known for their sturdiness to be injured so greatly by the ratman, it only proved my point about this ratman’s formidable strength.

 

“Ooooh, looks like you’re going to fight now.” Seeing me walk towards the ratman overlord, the idle to the point of causing my nonexistent balls to hurt Mimiya clapped her hands excitedly and began cheering for me: “Wooot, fight, fight fight! Mimiya is cheering for you!”

 

At the side, Vick twerked his body as if he was dancing some strange dancing while smiling that silly grin of his. However, seeing how spooky his dancing was, I’ll skip the description.

 

“Hmm, this is the first time I’ve seen her fight alone.” Arms folded around her chest, Manasha threw me an interested gaze.

 

“That’s Shadowfang, an epic weapon. Even though Master Mo Ke hasn’t unlocked its full power yet, Master Mo Ke’s stands a great chance of beating that ratman just by wielding it.”

 

As the son of Shadowfang’s former owner, he naturally knew how powerful its true strength as. His words weren’t hard to dissect either: the blade’s impressive grade was enough to suppress the ratman and allow me to defeat an opponent above my grade.

 

“I believe in Harlow.” said Majosha. Though she was a four-star herself and knew how vast the gap was between a three and four-star warrior, she had no choice but to re-evaluate her views after seeing that awe-inspiring performance by Numila and Flametail. With such a terrifying power embedded within, she couldn’t help but believe that even a weak three-star was able to challenge a four-star.

 

As I approached the scene, the guardsmen automatically made way for me. Noticing my presence, the ratman seemed to have realized something and roared at me.

 

No words were exchanged between us as we glared at each other. Within his eyes, I saw a faint trace of hope. He must’ve thought that his chance had arrived; as long as he took me hostage, he could make his escape.

 

The next second, the ratman overlord broke into a beastial sprint with all four of his furry limbs propelling him forward as he charged at me. Running at the fastest speed he ever managed in his lifetime, his elongated rat mouth briefly opened up and the pungent stench of his saliva wafted towards me.

 

On my side, I broke into a sprint as well. With my right hand clasped around Shadowfang’s hilt,I lowered my body and adopted a running pose similar to the ninjas you saw on the big screen.

 

With neither side intending to retreat, the gap between us was closed in an instant.

 

Just as everyone thought that we were about to collide, my feet seemingly stumbled for an instant. My body twisted in an unexpected angle and rotated away from the ratman, dodging his claws by a hair’s breadth. At the same time I dodged that collision, I drew out Shadowfang.

 

The sinister blade left a trail of blackened light as it flashed across the air and, under the disbelieving eyes of the ratman, sliced into the back of his right leg…

 

I didn’t even feel the least bit of resistance as I easily severed his right leg.

 

Without his right leg to stand on, his body immediately lost its balance and stumbled away to the side several times before crashing into the bony wall nearby with a vicious crunch.

 

That wall crash had inflicted even more injuries on the defeated ratman. From the looks of it, he won’t be getting up anytime soon.

 

In that very instant I felt my blade bite into his leg, I merely felt a smidge of resistance before it sliced through whatever it was that blocked it. This move, with it’s physics-defying body rotation was a move I created recently by mimicking the moves I already knew. In other words, it was born from the Inverse Cut.

 

The logic behind this move, which I named the Revolution Slice, was simple. It can be used on flat ground without any preparation of any sort or it can be used in a fashion similar to what I did just now. By faking a headon clash with my opponent, I could confuse and at the instant we were about to collide, rotate my body, cutting him with a slice reinforced by the centrifugal force of my nearly 360 degrees rotation.

 

Originally, I intended to slice apart his chest. Unfortunately, it failed because of my lack of familiarity with the skill and the fact that his speed exceeded my expectations. Thus, the Revolution Slice only ended up taking away his right leg. However, this was fine. A powerless enemy suited my needs just as well.

 

“An instant kill! Dearest, you’re the coolest husband in the world, this Harpy has fallen for you all over again!” Seeing my crushing victory over the ratman, her unease instantly disappeared as she launched into a frenzied celebration. Just like always, she leaped onto me and pressed my face into her mounds with a tight hug. “Dearest, you’re the best!”

 

“Elena thinks so too.”

 

That icy sensation on my back was probably from Elena.

 

By the way, that rat isn’t dead yet…should we really be celebrating like that?

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