The two shot through the forest like high-speed trains, trailed by long streams of snowmen. Though the “locomotives” barely missed each other, the massive snowmen behind collided head-on.

The impact scrambled their aggro completely. Ou Tao’s fifty-plus white-scarfed snowmen and the stranger’s horde of black-and-white-scarfed ones now turned on each other, slamming their round bellies together in a chaotic, furious-looking brawl.

In truth, it was a futile scuffle between creatures with zero attack and zero defense—no wonder it looked so evenly matched.

Ou Tao’s expression darkened. With aggro scrambled, his snowmen wouldn’t follow him anymore. Gathering a hundred was now impossible.

He heard labored footsteps to the side. The culprit was still fleeing, panting heavily, body swaying. Her hands were bound behind her back. Under the moonlight, three cold glints flashed—long swords plunged into the snow directly ahead and on both sides of her.

Blue sparks flickered. Three goblins materialized: two wielding ice blades, one a curved saber, blocking her path.

“Damn it—goblins? No… summoned undead!” She stumbled back—

Only to freeze. A man stood behind her, black curved blade in his left hand, knight’s sword in his right.

“Who are you?” she gasped, mouth agape.

Ou Tao sized her up. *Interesting.* An iron collar circled her neck, chained to manacles binding her wrists. Fiery red hair framed a rustic, girl-next-door face. Lean muscle sculpted her athletic frame. The chain pulled her toned chest higher. Sun-kissed skin, glistening with sweat, gleamed under the moon—smooth, dewy, strikingly alluring. Bound helpless beneath the dark sky, she looked like a toothless tiger, vulnerable to anyone’s whim.

Ou Tao flicked a finger. *No wonder fitness isn’t a thing here. A blacksmith—level 39. TN-tier profession. She wouldn’t last against even a level-7 swordsman.*

“Kai Eugene? Into SM, or just ambushed by snowmen in a snowy forest?”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying!” Kai turned away, cheeks flushed with shame. “Laugh if you want! I have to save the village children!”

“You can’t save anyone trussed up like that. Besides, our snowmen got mixed up.”

Kai’s eyes lifted. Despair flickered in her pupils as she saw the tangled snowmen behind her.

“It’s over!” She collapsed to her knees with a thud, tears tracing her face as she buried it in the snow. “The children… they’ll all die!”

Ou Tao ignored her. A glance sent the goblins swarming forward.

The observer had expected him to free her—but the goblins only patted her down.

“Gagaga! (Swordmaster, she’s got nothing valuable!)”

“Tch.” Ou Tao snorted coldly and walked off.

“Damn it! He was robbing her all along?! I thought he’d help! No wonder they call him Ou the Pillager!” the logistics officer roared.

After a few steps, Ou Tao’s right hand flicked.

*Spiritblade Knight Level 10 Skill: Reverse Edge.*

Blades within sight transform into soul surges, returning to the wielder while striking enemies along the path. Weapon effects may trigger.

Kai’s face paled. Trapped between three swords, she realized—he was using Reverse Edge with his back turned. *Three blades… He’ll kill me! Is he Dark Guild? Silencing me? That looting routine… he’s gotta be high rank!*

“Y-you’ll die horribly! I curse you!” she sobbed, tears streaming.

But the moment the surges launched, Ou Tao spun and leaped. The trajectory shifted upward—three luminous trails grazed precisely past her neck and elbows. Perfect calculation. Within that single airborne second, the surges snapped back into their sheaths. He landed, turned, and walked away without looking back.

The motion was effortlessly cool—a midair dance. Kai stared, breathless. Then—*crack*. The manacles on her neck and wrists shattered.

*He did that?* Her mind reeled. *Calculated the angle so perfectly? Recalled three blades, severed the chains… without a scratch? Coincidence?*

“Don’t overthink it. This is a robbery!” Ou Tao drew the slender sword he’d just sheathed. “Your black-and-white-scarfed snowmen? Mine now.”