Chapter V. Mutations

　　Facing this kind of weird and horrifying scene, Lucien really had a feeling of shaking hands and feet, his mind was swollen, and his thoughts such as what to do and what not to do were mixed up into a mess, reacting to the surface, that is, Lucien was frozen in fear, completely unresponsive. 　　"Holy Emblem, wait, I still have the Holy Emblem of Truth!" 　　The panicked Lucien thought of his greatest defense, and subconsciously focused his mind, wanting to recite the incantation to stimulate the first-ring divine art "Holy Light Shield", no matter what, protecting himself was the most important thing. 　　"Ha!" At this moment, a thunderous roar rang in Lucien's ears, causing Lucien's back to tighten, his cold hairs to stand on end, and his panicked and chaotic thoughts to stall violently. 　　"Light spell." Gary's calm and steady voice reached Lucien's ears, the person who had just let out a roar and awakened Lucien, Correia, and Hausen from their disoriented vibrations was Gary. 　　Gary's calm and composed attitude infected Lucien, allowing him to quickly regain his minimum reaction, and without much thought, he rubbed the holy emblem and whispered an odd syllable, "Gaya." 　　A spherical white light appeared in front of Lucien and the others, dispersing the deep darkness. 　　Then, Lucien saw a sea of black rats, which were of normal size, but with red eyes, gathered on the floor, walls, and human-shaped strange plants of a secret room, so dense that Lucien couldn't help but feel his scalp tighten. 　　As soon as the white light appeared, these rats were like seeing their natural enemies, squeaking and squealing, like a tidal wave, surging towards Lucien, Gary and the others. 　　As the red-eyed rats dispersed, the appearance of the secret room was revealed to Lucien and the others, a desk was in the corner, three books flickering with a strange shimmering light were placed, a flat, wide and strange table was in the center, on which there were a lot of strange patterns drawn on it, there were red, blue, green, and it was inexplicably similar to the pattern around the cross of the "Holy Emblem of Truth", and these patterns were also similar to the pattern around the cross of the "Holy Emblem of Truth", and the pattern around the cross of the "Holy Emblem of Truth". red, blue, green, and inexplicably similar to the pattern around the cross of the "Holy Emblem of Truth", and on top of these patterns were small stoves, small pots, glass bottles, and other things. 　　Neither Lucien nor Gary had time to take a closer look, because the crazy rats, with their foul odor and weirdness, had already swarmed in front of them. 　　The silent Hausen, and the acerbic Correia, after being awakened by Gary's yelling, skillfully gripped their long swords and shields, and leaned on Gary left and right, forming a simple battle formation. 　　Facing rats, not strange other magical creatures, Lucien, infected by Gary's composure, eased his tension more and more, only that the number of rats was too many and too weird, still making Lucien unable to hold back his heart palpitations. 　　The red-eyed rat at the head of the group leaped up and lunged towards Lucien, his mouth opened, revealing two long and sharp teeth. 　　Lucien, who was holding the Sword of Radiance with one hand, was busy swinging the blade of light condensed towards the red-eyed rat. 　　The lightsaber summoned by divine magic, its sharpness was far better than the general knight longsword, but Lucien swung this sword in a panic, but misjudged the speed and weirdness of the red-eyed rat's jump, the lightsaber could only slide past it. 　　Where the red-eyed rat and the lightsaber rubbed, the black fur quickly scorched, spreading to the flesh, but at this time, the red-eyed rat had already pounced in front of Lucien, the red pupils that flashed indifferently were clear and unmistakable, and the stench of decay in its mouth was vaguely audible. 　　A sword swing is empty, red-eyed rat close to the eyes, Lucien immediately panicked, both want to swing the sword back to cut, but also want to directly extend the left hand to resist, under the contradiction, almost even the sword of light fell to the ground. 　　Seeing that the red-eyed rat was about to bite his own chest, Lucien was at a loss and had no way out. 　　Suddenly, a longsword that flashed with cold light reached over from the side, just in time to chop on the neck of that red-eyed rat, cutting it into two. 　　"Don't panic, if it's too late to resist, avoid the vitals, there are healing divine arts." Gary's low voice came out. 　　Correia's sharp voice sounded at the same time, "Retreat to the back and lean against us, are you a rookie standing alone in front looking for death?" 　　In such a situation, no matter what negative impression Gary, Correia, Hausen and the others had of Lucien, they all understood that he, who held the holy emblem, was a combatant that could not be underestimated, and even more so when other changes occurred, it was the key to turning the situation around, and no one knew what monsters or magical traps were still there after the red-eyed rats. 　　After dodging the red-eyed rat's bite, Lucien who became flustered again quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and calmed down again, compared to Gary who has been trained and even has rich combat experience of high-ranking knights and squires, in the face of dangerous scenes, in the face of the sudden changes, they all seem to be too young, too young, too unarmed, not everyone is born with the talent of fighting, or encountering dangers and still able to remain calm, not everyone is gifted. Not everyone is a natural born fighter, or a person who can remain calm in the face of danger. 　　In the first real battle of his life, being able to have a veteran like Gary to guide and help him on the side is a great fortune, and is a valuable experience when facing battles and dangers in the future. 　　This time Lucien didn't panic, and while swinging his lightsaber forward, he slowly moved backward and retreated to Gary and the others. 　　The red-eyed rats that were pouncing and biting were no longer just one or two, but dozens of them, and behind them was a steady stream of rats. 　　The lightsaber was bright and sharp, and a faint shadow of light remained where the sword passed, Lucien swung this sword according to Gary's instruction, to defend and give full play to the characteristics of the Sword of Radiance, while evading the flaws of Lucien who had not learned any sword arts at all. 　　The radiance brought up by this sword seemed to form a pale white barrier in front of Lucien, the rats that lunged and bit, those that hit directly on top of the lightsaber were split into two halves like dirt without any force, their internal organs and disconnected skin were scorched black, and they fell heavily to the ground without half of their blood flowing out. 　　And those that were not swung by the lightsaber, as they passed through that residual light, the fur on their bodies began to dry and scorch, slowing down and either landing in front of Lucian or being swung at by Gary and Correia on either side. 　　"Hey kid, not a bad job, that sword killed more than ten monster rats straight away." Correia whistled, and it wasn't clear if he was praising or being sarcastic. 　　Lucien himself wasn't complacent, being able to kill so many red-eyed rats with a single sword was entirely due to the strength of the Sword of Radiance as well as Gary's instructions, and at this moment, "I feel the power of the Sword of Radiance starting to drain away." 　　After killing the red-eyed rats this time, Lucien felt that he had somewhat adapted to this kind of scene. 　　Gary matched Lucien's swings of the Sword of Radiance and kept chopping and stabbing his longsword to repel the rats that were leaking, "Don't be nervous, the remaining power is enough to kill these demons." 　　After being killed back a batch, the red-eyed rats once again swooped over, this time in a black mass, there seemed to be hundreds of them. 　　Lucien swung his slashes more and more skillfully, although he was slightly afraid in his heart that he wouldn't be able to completely block these hundreds of rats, he still fully trusted Gary and Correia, believing that they would be able to help him block the rats on both sides. 　　The Sword of Radiance slashed diagonally from top to bottom, drawing a beautiful shadow of light in mid-air, crackling and snapping, an unknown number of red-eyed rats crashed into the sword, crashing into Lucien's hand, doubling the pressure, as a commoner who hadn't been trained as a knight, he almost couldn't hold the Sword of Radiance anymore. 　　There were too many rats, even though many half and half bodies fell in front of the Sword of Radiance like rain, there were still dozens of rats that broke through Lucien's block and passed through the wall of light and shadow drawn by the Sword of Radiance. 　　"So many rats, Gary and Correia can't stop them unless they can swing five or six swords a second!" It was too late for Lucien's Sword of Radiance to cut out again, so he could only think inwardly with worry, "Perhaps the high-ranking Knight Squire trained by the Church will have some power similar to divine magic." 　　Just when Lucien was thinking blindly, what blocked from both sides was not two sharp knight long swords, but two round small shields wrapped in silver gray metal skin. 　　The imposing two small shields swung out violently, dozens of impacts converged into one thumping sound, and those red-eyed rats were directly sent flying out, landing on the ground, twitching and quickly dying completely. 　　Correia let out a laugh, "A good knight can be more than just a longsword, and must be equally adept with a shield." 　　Lucien sighed in relief while continuing to wield the Sword of Radiance, fending off the attacks of the red-eyed rats. 　　The red-eyed rats seemed to have sensed that something was wrong when their pounces and bites repeatedly failed, so some of them stopped pouncing and ran directly from the ground, while some of them climbed up the wall, preparing to come at them from above the heads of the four of them. 　　The situation became precarious all of a sudden. 　　"Leave the ones on the head to me." Hausen, who had been silent and tall and robust, suddenly said. 　　Lucien swung out his Sword of Radiance and blocked the rats in mid-air and on the ground from top to bottom while asking, "Should I use 'Holy Light Shield'?" 　　Gary shook his head, "Wait a little longer." 　　The four of them were like a small boat in the midst of a shocking wave, staggering among the red-eyed rats falling from the sky, swooping in mid-air, and surging on the ground, as if they would be swept away at any moment. 　　Suddenly, Hausen's block was missed, a red-eyed rat landed on Correia's shoulder, Correia's longsword and shield were fending off the front, too late to defend, was directly bitten in the neck, let out a grunt of pain, shoulder shook, shook that red-eyed rat out. 　　Correia said hatefully, "The wounds are numb, they seem to carry some toxicity." 　　"Okay, I'll inspire the Healing Divine Art." Lucian said as he rubbed the holy emblem with his empty left hand. 　　Gary stopped it, "There's no hurry, Correia can still hold out. It doesn't look like there's any way to completely block it, so wait for a few more bites before activating the healing divine spell." There were simply too many rats, and the healing divine arts had to be used sparingly. 　　Before the words left his mouth, he also stifled a grunt and was bitten by a red-eyed rat between his boots and knee pads. 　　With this encounter, Gary, Correia, and Hausen all changed their fighting style a bit, although the rats could bite, their teeth weren't sharp enough to bite through the armor, so they relaxed a bit where they were protected by their locks and knee pads, and fully defended themselves against the rest of the area, and the situation instantly got better. 　　Only Lucien, wearing a short linen top and pants of the same color without any semblance of protection, was immediately bitten in the ankle by a red-eyed rat. 　　A numb, itchy sensation rose from the ankle and quickly spread up, Lucien was almost unsteady on his feet, at the same time his mouth was dry and he wanted to drink water very badly. 　　"Your physique is much worse than ours, first use the Holy Light Shield, then use the Healing Divine Art." Gary discerned the situation, at this point the red-eyed rats had already died almost half. 　　It was a matter of concern, Lucien did not delay, his spirit focused and rubbed the holy emblem: 　　"Smen." 　　The odd mysterious incantation rang out, and a pale white shield of light appeared on Lucien's body. 　　Lucien couldn't concentrate mentally after inspiring the divine spell once, so he took a step forward, relying on the holy light shield and the Sword of Radiance to block all the red-eyed rats on the front. 　　The rats that dodged the Sword of Radiance attacked the Holy Light Shield from the front, but between the flashes of light, the Holy Light Shield didn't shake halfway, giving Gary and Correia the chance to decapitate and fly the rats from the front. 　　After two or three seconds, Lucien's spirit recovered, rubbed the holy emblem again, and recited the awkward incantation, "Gurthi." 　　A white light shot out from the holy emblem cross and landed on Lucien's feet, and the tingling sensation immediately disappeared. 　　With Lucien holding the holy light shield in front of him, although occasionally Correia and Gary still had moments where they couldn't dodge enough to be bitten, the situation had gradually turned around, and as the red-eyed rats were getting fewer and fewer, the danger was slowly receding. 　　Lucien took the time to stimulate the holy emblem, healing the injuries on Correia and Gary. 　　After a short while, Correia gently exhaled after slashing a red-eyed rat with his sword, causing it to spatter with blood, "Finally, I've killed it cleanly." 　　The ground was already full of red-eyed rat corpses, as well as a pool of dark red blood that had accumulated. 　　Lucian looked at this a little dazed, unable to believe that he had done this, Gary nodded, "Lucian, you did well." 　　Lucian looked back, ready to thank Gary. 　　Gary, on the other hand, took a breath. He instructed, "Hausen, you and Lucien go into the secret room and take a look." 　　Lucien had a holy light shield, and Hausen had been standing at the back without being nibbled by the rats, so at this time, Gary naturally had to play everyone's role. 　　But it was quiet back there, and the ever-silent Hausen didn't answer. 　　Correia looked back strangely, then he was filled with shocked panic emotions and said brokenly, "Hausen, Hausen is gone." 　　Howson, who had just repelled the red-eyed rats overhead and stoically stood guard behind the three men, had disappeared? 　　Lucien had the creepy feeling again.