The surrounding air seemed to be suddenly sucked dry and burned away, making it hard to breathe.

　　At this critical moment, William Reed's mind was instead exceptionally cool and clear. Grace Foster's attacks were fierce and overbearing, carrying an unstoppable momentum; to clash head-on would be unwise. For months, he had spent nearly every moment in a state of anxiety, one battle after another, which had given him a wealth of combat experience.

　　……

Chapter Two: Counterattack from Desperation

　　The thunder-attribute battle energy within his body surged rapidly. With a slight lift of his wrist, the longsword Iceflame swept upward from below at lightning speed, a cold gleam flashing as crackling arcs of electricity danced along its edge.

　　“Clang～”

　　The sound of metal clashing rang out sharply.

　　The flaming iron whip was successfully parried and deflected half a foot away, grazing William Reed's body before smashing into the snow with brutal force. With a thud, snow flew everywhere, highlighting Grace Foster's fierce and crazed expression.

　　Parrying such a powerful strike, William Reed did not escape unscathed; half his arm was numb, and he could barely hold his sword.

　　Facing these three people, in his current state, William Reed would struggle against any one of them, let alone being besieged or attacked in turns by all three. He dared not delay even a moment. His steps moved in quick succession, faint sparks of electricity seeming to flicker beneath his feet as his body traced an arc, spinning around like a phantom to appear behind Grace Foster, his longsword Iceflame slashing toward the back of her neck.

　　This was the hallmark of the Lei family's famous movement technique, Flashing Thunder—swift as lightning, impossible to predict. It was thanks to this technique that William Reed had repeatedly escaped death and survived until now.

　　Whoosh～

　　Grace Foster didn't dodge or evade; instead, she spun her body, swinging her nearly hundred-pound iron whip backward with a heavy, dangerous whoosh.

　　“Crazy woman.”

　　William Reed had long heard of the Red Tyrannosaurus Grace Foster's madness and brutality, but he hadn't expected that every move she made was so reckless and determined, as if she intended to die together with her enemy. No wonder even some silver-ranked powerhouses would show grave expressions at the mention of her name.

　　Even in such a desperate situation, William Reed still didn't want to play a mutual destruction game with her. At the last moment, he changed his move from an attack to a deflection.

　　Another muffled collision sounded. Even though William Reed had neutralized four or five tenths of her strength, he was still sent flying backward. But this was exactly what he wanted; twisting in midair, he landed on his toes, rapidly stepping across the snow, charging straight at the Shadow Wolf Scott.

　　It wasn't that William Reed was reckless, thinking of killing at such a critical moment. It was because he knew all too well how dangerous this sinister man was—no matter where you ran, he would track you like a hungry wolf, and when you showed fatigue or let your guard down, he would strike like a ghost.

　　This had already happened several times in recent months. Like recurring nightmares, William Reed didn't want to experience being hunted like that ever again.

　　Only by seriously wounding or killing him could William Reed be confident of escaping.

　　The two were already close, only four or five zhang apart. Taking advantage of the momentum, William Reed leapt forward, relying on the explosive speed of Flashing Thunder. In almost an instant, he appeared before Scott, his wrist flicking as the longsword Iceflame burst forth like fireworks, stabbing seven or eight times in the blink of an eye, each strike as fast as lightning, each carrying a flickering arc of electricity.

　　The Lei family’s secret technique, "Threefold Heavenly Thunder," was a legacy passed down from their ancestor, renowned even in the Tianlan Kingdom. The battle energy it cultivated naturally contained a trace of lightning. Thunder-attribute battle energy not only allowed for extremely fast attacks, but once it invaded an opponent’s body, it could also paralyze them. If the lightning was strong enough, it could even directly shatter the opponent’s heart meridian. Truly, it was a powerful battle energy technique.

　　The Lei family ancestor had relied on this thunder battle energy to achieve great feats in the founding war of Tianlan, eventually being granted a hereditary countship and enjoying unmatched glory.

　　Unfortunately, the Lei family had now fallen into decline, never to regain its former splendor.

　　Even so, the Lei family’s battle techniques were still not to be underestimated.

　　The Shadow Wolf Scott hadn’t expected that this pretty boy William Reed, even under Grace Foster's fierce assault, would dare to come after him. But after all, he was a seasoned mercenary with countless lives on his hands. In a flash, he reacted, pupils contracting as he retreated and raised his claws to defend.

　　Ding ding ding.

　　A series of crisp clashes rang out as Scott blocked six of William Reed's strikes in an instant—no one could say he was slow or weak. But what he failed to block, he failed to block. Of the remaining two strikes, one pierced his armor and stabbed into his chest, the other went straight through his throat.

　　As hot blood splattered onto William Reed's face, he could even see the shock and disbelief in Scott's blue eyes. He probably never imagined he would die so suddenly at the hands of this pretty boy William Reed.

　　But to William Reed, this was only natural. In this sudden assault on Scott, he was quite confident of seriously injuring him, and had a fair chance of killing him outright. Luck was on his side—because Grace Foster was present, the usually cautious Scott let his guard down.