Ivan's sneak attack was impeccable in terms of speed and suddenness. It wasn't until the sound of rushing wind reached his ears that Feng Bujue realized what was happening.

But by then, it was too late for Brother Jue to react.

No matter how amazing Feng Bujue was, he couldn't have prepared a comprehensive response to such a premeditated, high-speed sneak attack, especially since he had no idea there was a "fourth person" involved.

Therefore, he was helpless.

If nothing unexpected happened, Brother Jue would be struck in the back of the head by the opponent's knife hand in the next second, instantly turning into white light.

However, the unexpected did happen after all.

In that split second, another figure rushed into the open space with a speed even faster than Ivan's, barely beating Ivan to the punch, and grabbed the latter's wrist.

"Mmm—" Ivan couldn't speak, and when his infallible strike was firmly caught by his opponent, he only let out a muffled groan.

He immediately raised his eyes and saw that the person stopping him was actually a middle-aged man dressed as an ordinary sailor, with a hunched figure and a face full of pockmarks.

"F*ck!" A second later, Feng Bujue turned his head. His reaction was extremely fast. As the two words burst out of his mouth, he used the momentum of his turn to unleash a side kick.

*Bang—*

This kick solidly struck Ivan's chest, making a sound like a siege ram hitting a gate.

And the moment Ivan was hit, the pirate who called himself "Ken" also cleverly continued to clamp down on the former's wrist. In this way... Ivan couldn't alleviate the impact by "flying backward," and could only stand in place, completely absorbing the force of the attack.

"Pfft—"

Even if Feng Bujue's close combat skills in his normal state weren't as good as those of the world's elite Bosses, he was still a level 51 player with an S-rank in Fighting Specialization. This kick was enough to make Ivan spit blood.

"Hehe... you're still the same..." After watching Brother Jue's kick, Ken revealed a smile. "You still don't know how to fight at all..."

As he said this, he let go of Ivan's hand. Because of the kick just now, Ivan was still in a "stiff" state, unable to escape, and only staggered back a few steps.

"Let me demonstrate it for you..." Ken said, and then suddenly lunged at Ivan. His hunchbacked body didn't hinder him from making agile and powerful movements. "...what a kick technique is!"

Before the words were finished, a crimson glow burst forth.

Also a side kick, but Ken's kick... was accompanied by a large rotation, and the angle between his legs had opened to more than one hundred and twenty degrees; and under this premise, his body axis was still straight and upright, as stable as Mount Tai.

Compared to Feng Bujue's side kick that barely reached a horizontal position, Ken's kick was as sharp as a blade and as fierce as a storm. Although his figure was hunched and his image was wretched, this kicking motion was much more beautiful than Brother Jue's kick.

*Shua—*

In an instant, the spinning kick flashing with a crimson glow accurately hit Ivan's head.

And then... Ivan no longer had a head.

And his headless body immediately knelt down, lay down, convulsed... until finally, it stopped moving.

"So it's you..." When Ken kicked, Feng Bujue had already shifted his attention from Ivan. After looking at Ken for a few seconds, he said, "Heh... how should I address you now? K1-Akagane (Red Iron), or..."

"Saying 'you' isn't quite accurate." Unexpectedly, before Brother Jue finished speaking, another person's voice came from "Ken's" mouth, interrupting him. "It should be 'you guys'."

"Oh?" Feng Bujue quickly noticed the other party's change. He re-examined the other party with his data vision and continued, "Hmm... two Derivates sharing one body... and it's a defective body that originally belonged to an NPC..."

"That's a long story." Akagane (Red Iron) seemed to have regained control of the conversation. He spoke faster and more directly. "Let's clean up those guys first."

After saying that, he turned his head and cast his gaze towards Kronon and the others in the distance.

At this time, Kronon had finally caught his breath. Tureus had also used holy light to restore himself to a good state. Only Idiente... had not yet recovered from the side effects of "Berserk State" and was still paralyzed on the ground... In some ways, his move was quite similar to "Devil Descent."

"Tch... another troublesome guy seems to have arrived." Tureus spat and glanced at Kronon, saying, "I say... are you still okay?"

"I..." In Kronon's sinister eyes, a fire-like expression flashed. "...I will die... but I'll drag Feng Bu..."

"You're thinking too much!" Feng Bujue shouted lightly. Before the other party could finish speaking, he stepped over with a Moonwalk acceleration, and the [Bell's Usual Knife] in his hand stabbed straight into Kronon's crown.

*Ka—*

At the same instant, accompanied by a burst of bone proliferation and explosion, a "bone cage" that could just cover one person like a phone booth appeared around Kronon.

"I expected you to suddenly attack..." Kronon was, after all, someone who had studied Feng Bujue. Although he couldn't be said to anticipate the enemy's moves in every battle, he still had the necessary defenses.

He and Ivan both belonged to the type of people who..."place themselves in the position of the weak and try to challenge Feng Bujue." This type is very common among players, but among Unique NPCs and Derivates, there are very few who fight players with this mentality.

Most of the high-level beings Feng Bujue had encountered before had fought Brother Jue with the mentality of "I am stronger than this alien traveler." However, after the Twilight of the Gods incident, the situation was different... Nowadays, any high-ranking being in the main universe who can recognize Brother Jue is unlikely to make the low-level mistake of "underestimating the enemy." Therefore, it will probably be difficult to implement routines such as "Bear Child's Lower Whip Leg + Must-Break Defense Blade Headshot" in the future (of course, the Must-Break Defense Blade is already broken).

"I also expected that... with your close combat skills, you simply wouldn't be able to dodge or block, and you could only use spells to defend." As Feng Bujue said this, his other hand had already taken out the [Tiangang Disha Box] and began to use this item to absorb the magic energy on the other party's "bone cage."

Seeing this, Kronon belatedly realized that... Feng Bujue's sudden stab was just a feint. The hand holding the small knife hadn't exerted any force at all, so it hadn't been stabbed by the sudden appearance of the bone cage spikes.

"Ha—" On the other hand, Tureus was also good at assessing the situation. Seeing that Brother Jue and Kronon were in a temporary stalemate, he immediately took advantage of the situation and swung his giant sword towards Feng Bujue's back spine.

"Too slow!" How could Akagane (Red Iron) let Tureus get his wish? He rushed over like lightning again, aiming an upward spring kick at the swinging sword.

Immediately afterwards, a "bang" was heard.

Under this kick, the trajectory of the giant sword's swing suddenly changed and became an upward trend, just grazing Feng Bujue's back of the head... and swinging into empty air.

"Annoying fellow..." After Tureus swung his sword into empty air, he wasn't flustered. He simply turned around, raised his hand, and directly used the skill "Hand of Judgment" on Akagane (Red Iron).

A golden energy containing the power of holy light immediately spurted out, hitting Akagane (Red Iron) head-on.

"I already said..." However, Akagane (Red Iron)'s voice immediately appeared behind Tureus, "You..."

When this word came out, Akagane (Red Iron) had already grabbed Tureus's shoulders.

"Too..."

When this word came out, Akagane (Red Iron) threw Tureus into the air.

"Slow..."

And when this word came out, Tureus had quickly fallen, and Akagane (Red Iron) had grabbed him horizontally in front of him.

"…ly!"

When the last word came out, Akagane (Red Iron) had already used a standard "backbreaker" on Tureus's spine with his knee.

"Pfft—" When Tureus spat blood after being hit, his face was full of disbelief.

As an NPC with the ability to fly, he originally thought that he could break free from the other party's control during the gap when he was "thrown," but the judgment of "chain throws" prevented his attempt.

After this blow, it could basically be declared that Tureus was KOed.

On the other side, the offense and defense between Feng Bujue and Kronon... had also reached a critical point.