The turquoise card flew out of Rod's hand, and soon turned into a winged spirit bird, flying towards Marlene's back.

Marlene, on the other hand, was completely unaware of this anomalous change, and in her opinion, the Storm Ward she cast would definitely withstand any sudden attack. She didn't believe that Rhodes didn't take offensive action, and once he attacked, then she would be able to immediately turn defense into offense and kill him by surprise.

Because of this, when the sound of birdsong suddenly sounded from behind Marlene, the girl's first reaction was dazed and at a loss.

What happened? What is it?

The girl instinctively wanted to turn around to see what was going on, but as soon as she turned her head, a huge wave of qi burst in.

"Boom!!"

Storm Guardian can indeed block most attacks, but unfortunately Rhodes has taken the simplest and deadliest method——— for the elves composed of wind elementals, even a raging hurricane is nothing more than a fish swimming in the sea.

Under the huge impact, Marlene was unsuspectingly flipped to the ground, and the violent impact made her eyes black, and she almost didn't breathe, but at this time, she was attacked by external forces, and the robe on Marlene's body immediately shone brightly, and soon, several golden rays of light appeared out of thin air, surrounding the girl's side, forming a solid multi-faceted crystal shield. And Marlene also endured the feeling of churning in her heart, turned around, and soon, she saw Rhodes standing behind her.

When did he appear there?

Marlene was a little flustered, but she still managed to calm down, raised her staff, and tried to attack Rhodes again, but this time, Rhodes didn't even give her a chance.

The eldest lady's strength is good, but it's a pity that she lacks experience.

After seeing Marlene's response to the soul bird before, Rod had given up his plan to continue to entangle with her, and the girl did not look for what attacked her, but instead set her eyes on him, which shows that Marlene's sense of battle is quite unqualified, since this is the case, then Rod doesn't mind using a big defeat to make this proud lady sober up, anyway, ——— thinking of this, Rod took the time to glance at the sidelines.

Anyway, Lijie is here.

Thinking of this, the corners of Rod's mouth curled, and then, his right hand moved slightly.

The turquoise card resurfaced in his palm again, then flipped over and turned fiery red.

The turquoise whirlwind also changes color at the same time.

For the girl, what happened in front of her was completely beyond her imagination, just a blink of an eye, and suddenly a bright red flame mixed with the wind whistled down, hitting the shield, and under the impact of the huge force, the solid crystalline shield let out an overwhelmed moan. And just as Marlene was about to take countermeasures, suddenly a sharp claw reached out from the flames and slammed into the shield.

"Phew!!"

Originally, it was just a low-level shield spell, and it couldn't withstand a powerful attack for a long time, so under this claw, the girl's last guard also completely fell apart, and then the pitch-black hound flew out of the flames, opened its fangs and claws, and pounced on the girl.

Marlene was really scared silly this time.

The fight was completely beyond her expectations from the start, she didn't get the upper hand as expected, on the contrary, she was passive on the field, and she couldn't guess what the young man was trying to do. Although Marlene had not practiced such battles and duels in the academy before, when facing Rhodes, her previous experience seemed to be on paper.

Mages need to protect themselves before attacking?

Strive for the most powerful attack to deter and damage the enemy in the first place?

Of course I know, but what to do now!!

In the face of the attack of the black hound, Marlene was almost on the verge of collapse, but at this moment, her aristocratic pride finally made her barely get rid of the confusion, and the girl almost subconsciously raised her hand and pointed at the black shadow that pounced fiercely on her, and then shouted.

“Jir！”

The whirlwind condensed on the ruby at the tip of the staff, then spun and squirted forward, and in the face of the sudden attack, the Flame Slayer's body suddenly stopped in the air, and then flew backwards with a wail——— which reassured Marlene as she steadied herself and raised her staff. …,

At this moment, the card in Rod's hand had turned white.

Flashes of brilliance.

Marlene only felt a chill on her wrist, she subconsciously distracted and glanced at her wrist, but then, the girl immediately felt cold.

The originally gorgeous and noble robe has been torn out of a crack at this moment, revealing the girl's snow-white lotus root arm inside, but at this moment, on top of this snow-white, the bright red is slowly oozing out and spreading around.

It hurts.

That was Marlene's first thought, and her second thought was.........

Am I hurt?

Am I hurt?

I'm hurt!?

At this moment, the girl only felt that her brain was blank, and there was nothing in her eyes except the dripping bright red on her arm, as for the defensive plan she thought of just now, and in the face of Rod's counterattack, it was completely left behind by Marlene, she even reflexively threw away the staff in her hand as if she was burned by fire, and grabbed her wrist tightly, at this moment, what battle, what duel, she has completely given up, in her eyes, only her own injury is the most important!

How could I get hurt? What will hurt? I'm injured now, what should I do?!

I have to say that although Marlene is a very resolute rose, she is still a flower in the greenhouse. A genius like her, who is so self-disciplined and full of self-confidence on weekdays, is naturally carefully praised by others, and has hardly encountered any setbacks. But now, she's confronted something she's never encountered in her life.

The cold chill brought the girl back from her daze, and when she regained consciousness and looked ahead, the first thing that caught her eye was a white and immaculate sword that shone with a cold light.

"Whew!!"

The starmark grazed the girl's neck and stabbed into the ground.

And only then did Marlene sit on her knees like a puppet with a short line, her legs weak, her eyes staring blankly at the sky, completely unsure of what to do.

"Being able to cast spells by merging multiple elements shows that you really have a deep understanding of spells."

Rod's flat voice sounded, he raised his right hand as he spoke, and soon, the white card disappeared from his palm, and the white sword that was originally inserted on the ground next to the girl also disappeared in an instant.

"But that's how you behave in real combat............ If you're doing the same in the mission, then I'm going to give up on you. Lijie, go help her heal her wounds, and then take her to rest, it seems that this eldest lady can't relax for a while. ”

"Ah, yes!"

Lijie, who was already worried next to her, heard Rod's order, and hurriedly ran forward and began to treat Marlene's wounds, while Marlene's whole person seemed to have lost her soul, sitting on the ground at the mercy of Lijie, but she couldn't say half a word, and the whole person was like a puppet who had lost her soul.

Seeing Marlene like this, Rod frowned, but didn't say anything. He is still very confident in the girl's psychological quality, after all, since she can be called the "queen of the mercenary world" in the future, then the psychological quality will not be too bad, and the next thing is up to her. After all, if this eldest lady goes in this state, then the annihilation of the group is almost a sure thing——— and Rod has no interest in sending him to death.

As Rhodes said, Marlene's understanding of spells is quite thorough, but these are completely useless in actual combat, which is a common problem for many people, even players. It's like when you get off a dungeon, everyone will read the dungeon strategy, and everyone knows the weaknesses of the boss, but what if you actually fight? It's good if you can follow your own mastery and development, but what if something happens? The mob opened early.,The boss is a critical hit.,The position is not coquettish enough.。 At such times, if you don't deal with it properly, it will be a tragedy. Rhodes was sure that if the battle had followed the eldest lady's idea at the beginning, then she would definitely be as brave as the god of law descending to earth and the legend returning. It's a pity that the real-life battles are not CG animations after all, and they are set in stone. When you encounter an unexpected situation, it immediately becomes so unstable, which is the biggest hidden danger.

After instructing Lijie, Rod turned around and walked back to the old mansion, but it was Old Hank's face on the side, he didn't expect this young man to be so strong, the magic genius who was given high hopes in the Golden City was beaten under him without even finishing a move, and on the other hand, he didn't marvel that this young man was really so ruthless, he could do it to such a beautiful young lady, but now it was bitter Old Hank, he looked helplessly at the back of Rod leaving, I looked at Marlene, who slowly stood up under the support of Lijie, and her face was pale like a bird that had passed through the stormy waves, but she didn't know what she should do at all. …,

Sitting on the soft bed, Marlene stared quietly at the window, silent.

After that, she was taken to her room by Lijie, and finally calmed down. I have to say that this is definitely the most significant blow in her life for Marlene. It's like an idol being worshipped, suddenly being pulled from the top to the ground, and then kicked in the face a few times.

She heard Rod's words, and although she was very unwilling, Marlene had no way to refute them. Indeed, she could complain that this man's way of fighting was too eccentric, too insidious, too shameless, and even less graceful. But now she also knows that this is the real battle, the two sides fight to the death, and if they survive, they are the winners. Put yourself in your shoes, if Rhodes was really his enemy, then I am afraid that he would have been killed by him a long time ago. And who can I go to at that time to complain about the other party's shamelessness and insidiousness?

"How do you feel? Marlene? ”

Lijie placed a cup of hot tea in front of Marlene and asked in a low voice.

"Much better, thank you, Lijie."

Marlene barely showed a somewhat stiff smile, although it is indeed a very happy thing to be able to meet her former friends here by accident, but the impact of this battle on her is too great, she has not lost, but she has never lost so embarrassed, and most of the battles between mages are very civilized, and there is even less blood between them......... Marlene shook her head, realizing that she was acting too weak.

"Frankly, I'm thinking a little simple."

She sighed softly.

"I originally thought that with my strength, it would not be difficult to complete these mercenary tasks. But......... I can't even do ordinary battles right now. Obviously, I knew what to do, but my body didn't listen to the command at all, and later, I didn't even know what to do. ”

Saying this, Marlene showed a wry smile.

"I used to laugh at those stupid geese who didn't have the skills, but now it seems that my performance is not much better than them, is it?"

"Not so, Marlene."

Lijie stood up, took her hand, and stared intently at the girl's burgundy eyes.

"There's a gap between the real fight and what we imagined, and so did I. Marlene, before joining the mercenary group, I was also full of fantasies, I wanted to be able to rely on my own ability to help people get out of injuries, they took me in when I needed help the most, and at that time, I also wanted to be able to help them. ”

Saying this, a trace of sadness flashed in Lijie's eyes.

"But the first time I actually participated in the battle, I was almost stupid when I saw everyone flying blood, I didn't have time to treat everyone, and many people were seriously injured. Although the regimental commander did not reproach me, everyone looked at me with deep disappointment, and I knew that they needed my help very much, and I had the ability to help them, but I flinched at the most critical moment............ The regimental commander told me that everyone faces such a test, without exception. And after that, I worked hard and worked hard to finally ........."

"I understand........."

Marlene lowered her eyes, and there was a hint of mixed emotion in her beautiful eyes.

"I understand what you mean, Lijie, as the gentleman said, if I behave so badly in the mission, no wonder he would want to give up on me, but ........."

Saying this, the girl clenched her fists.

"I still wanted to give it a try, I knew I wasn't inexperienced, and I knew that what I was proud of wasn't getting me the most out of it. But I'm not going to run away like a coward, because I'm Marlene. Shania, I carry the glory and pride of my family, I will never allow myself to retreat like this, no matter how difficult and arduous it is, I will grit my teeth and hold on, I have decided. ”

"Family Glory ........."

Hearing Marlene's words, Lijie's face darkened, but she didn't say anything more. And Marlene also seemed to sense that something was wrong with the other party, and she quickly raised her head and looked at Lijie suspiciously.

"By the way, Lijie, you haven't told me yet, why did you come here to be a mercenary? Why do you want to leave the Golden City? I wasn't there at the time, and I didn't know what was going on. By the time I got back, you were gone, and I searched for you for a long time, but I couldn't find where you were. Why are you leaving? ”…,

Hearing Marlene's inquiry, Lijie's face became a little sad, and she bit her lower lip tightly, but in the end, she still spoke.

"Because......... This is the decision of the family council. ”

"You were expelled?!"

Hearing the words "family council", Marlene stood up in disbelief and looked at the girl sitting beside her in surprise and anger.

"How can those old stubborns do that! How dare they expel you! Didn't Mr. Drekman stop them?! ”

"My father agreed."

"This ............"

Hearing this, Marlene seemed to have been drained of strength all over her body, and the momentum just now suddenly disappeared.

"He, how can he ........."

"It's not surprising."

Lijie shook her head with a self-deprecating smile as she reached out a hand and fiddled with her golden ponytail.

"After all............ I'm not like them. I'm not Lijie anymore. Calant. Belled. My name is Lijie now. Noailu ......... This is who I am now. ”

"Those self-righteous old stubborns!"

Marlene raised her eyebrows and sat down coldly, but soon, she looked at Lijie with concern.

"Well, you ......... in the future"

"As it is now."

Lijie replied quietly and softly.

"I'm going to stay in the mercenary group and live like this all the time, and it's dangerous, but there's nothing wrong with it for me. Mr. Rhodes promised me that he would revitalize the mercenary group, and I thought it would make more sense than if I was wearing a fancy dress and juggling between those balls and banquets, wouldn't it? ”

Looking at the girl in front of her with a calm and gentle smile in some surprise, Marlene felt that her mood was a little complicated.

The little girl who used to cry......... I'm grown up now.