[Fu Zhu: On your left!]
Upon seeing the message, Dan Heng subconsciously glanced to his left.
A portal suddenly opened, and several figures emerged.
Fu Zhu was the first one out, raising his hand in a cheerful greeting to Dan Heng.
"Yo, Dan Heng! Long time no see. You haven't changed a bit!"
Dan Heng chuckled. Only Fu Zhu could spout such cliché pleasantries so naturally and without a hint of awkwardness.
"You too."
"Really?" Fu Zhu stroked his chin. "I feel like I've changed quite a bit."
Dan Heng played the straight man perfectly, asking, "For example?"
"My looks, for one."
Standing beside Fu Zhu, March 7th had originally planned to greet Dan Heng as well, but the exchange between the two men made her burst out laughing. She couldn't help but pat Fu Zhu on the shoulder.
"Could you two please look at the situation!"
Down below the city walls, the [Strife] Titan was still wreaking havoc! And these two were up here doing a comedy routine!
---o---
March 7th let out a faint sigh. A moment ago, Fu Zhu had used a portal to bring them to the royal palace of Castrum Kremnos. The first thing they saw upon arrival was Dan Heng running towards the city walls.
March 7th had been about to call out to him, but Fu Zhu stopped her and, without another word, opened another portal.
She had thought he was planning to attack the [Strife] Titan directly, but she never imagined he had opened the portal on Dan Heng's left side just for the sake of that gag.
Reminded by March 7th, Fu Zhu reined in his playful mood and turned to look down at the battlefield.
The [Strife] Titan was overwhelming the Black Tide and the city's defenders. Although the Iron Golems were assisting in the defense, the Titan seemed to have experience fighting them. It consistently avoided the Golems, merely using ranged attacks to wear them down from a distance.
"What do you think? Do you have a way to deal with it?" Dan Heng asked, moving closer to Fu Zhu.
"Hmm..."
After a soft hum, Fu Zhu stared at the colossal [Strife] Titan and fell into deep thought.
Dan Heng stood by quietly, not rushing Fu Zhu to act, simply waiting for him to think.
It was at this moment that Mydei, who had reached the battlefield before Dan Heng, finally noticed the group on the city wall. With a powerful leap off the wall, he vaulted upwards and landed not far from Fu Zhu and Dan Heng.
"You couldn't be... Fu Zhu?! You're really back?"
Mydei's voice was filled with elation. He strode over quickly and asked again, "Fu Zhu, do you still remember me?"
His train of thought interrupted, Fu Zhu turned to the ecstatic Mydei and nodded. "That look of yours is hard to forget, Mydei."
Seeing that Fu Zhu still remembered him, Mydei wrapped an arm around his shoulders and laughed heartily.
"I'll take that as a compliment!"
Fu Zhu raised an eyebrow. Had he said anything complimentary just now? He didn't think so.
"So? Fu Zhu, care for a match?"
Even with danger looming over the city, Mydei hadn't forgotten the challenge he had issued to Fu Zhu a thousand years ago. He clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
"I'd love to have a proper match with you, but the current situation doesn't allow for it. How about this, let's see who can kill more enemies!"
"OK!"
Fu Zhu agreed instantly, then promptly snapped his fingers.
[System: Eliminate all Black Tide creatures.]
Following his command, the Black Tide creatures that had been battling the defenders and the Titan were instantly wiped from the battlefield, vanishing without a trace.
The battlefield was suddenly and eerily empty. The sheer strangeness of the scene stunned the soldiers of Castrum Kremnos. Many of them stood frozen on the spot, even forgetting to dodge or defend against the Titan's attacks.
Fortunately, Dan Heng reacted in time, leaning over the wall and shouting down, "Move, now!"
Only then did the soldiers snap back to reality from the shock of the Black Tide's disappearance, scrambling and rolling on the ground to dodge the Titan's assault.
---o---
The recently battle-hungry Mydei was completely dumbfounded by this scene. He wasn't an idiot; he knew instantly that Fu Zhu was responsible, though he had no idea how he'd done it.
But why hadn't the Black Tide creatures disappeared sooner? Why did they vanish only after he had accepted the challenge and Fu Zhu had said a single sentence? The implication was painfully obvious!
"You..."
Mydei's eyes were wide as he stared at Fu Zhu, unable to form a complete sentence for a long moment.
For the first time, he felt that the dictionary of Castrum Kremnos might be a bit thin. He simply couldn't find the right words to express what he was feeling.
Fu Zhu, however, stroked his chin and glanced at the feedback from the kill command, saying with a smile, "My turn is over. I took out about three hundred thousand Black Tide creatures. Now it's your turn, Mydei."
Mydei's brow twitched as he surveyed the battlefield. The only enemy left in Castrum Kremnos was the single [Strife] Titan. No matter how many times he killed it, he could never match that number!
"I lose."
Mydei admitted his defeat, a mixture of joy and resignation in his voice.
Though he had lost, Fu Zhu's intervention had effectively saved countless lives in Castrum Kremnos, which was still something to be happy about.
Fu Zhu, for his part, was quite satisfied hearing Mydei concede. It was just a shame Mydei hadn't added the words "Damn, you're good." Otherwise, he felt he would remember this scene for the rest of his life.
Down below the wall, the [Strife] Titan also noticed that the pests that had been harassing it were gone. Though it didn't understand why, it seized the opportunity to launch a furious assault on the city's defenders and the Iron Golems.
Instantly, the defenders and the Golems found themselves unable to hold their ground.
The defenders were mere mortals; a single hit would mean either death or grievous injury. The Iron Golems, on the other hand, simply lacked reach. The [Strife] Titan gave them absolutely no opportunity to get close.
Dan Heng noticed the dire situation and frowned. "Fu Zhu, this isn't looking good. The Iron Golems' attack range is too short. They can't even touch the [Strife] Titan!"
Fu Zhu glanced over, looking equally helpless. "There's nothing to be done about it. They're just standard Iron Golems. Even with the power of a Path supporting them, their attack range hasn't changed much."
If they were the Iron Golems from certain golem modification mods, it would be a different story.
But alas, Fu Zhu didn't have any golem modification mods installed. Even if he did, there wasn't enough time to modify these Golems now. The effort required for such modifications would be far greater than just him joining the fight himself.
Still, there were always more solutions than problems.
"I have three strategies: a high, a middle, and a low one. Which do you want to hear first?"