With no time to think, the blue-purple worms had already lunged, and the mages of the Black Unicorn had no choice but to engage in battle.
Rhode watched calmly as they displayed their skills; some used a magic wand to shoot fireballs, while others cast magic bullets that seemed to have a dark attribute.
There were also Ability Element mages, who had a slightly higher hit rate than those using the magic wand, and their power was a bit stronger.
Besides, there were Demon Swordsmen and other melee types who spontaneously stood on the outermost ring, coordinating with their companions to fend off attacks.
Overall, they seemed more effective than ordinary scatterbrained groups, showing a bit of cooperative combat ability.
From Rhode's perspective, these guys were probably considered quite formidable within the Dark Guild, having already wiped out a third of the hundreds of Void Worms before they even got close.
Rhode was mainly keeping an eye on two individuals using Wind Magic and five or six wielding swords, trying to determine if the murderer was among them.
Moreover, he wondered if there were any high-level combatants present—so far, he hadn't sensed any particularly strong magic power.
The magical bombardment had come to a halt, as ordinary mages couldn't sustain magical combat for long, and now it was time for close combat.
The worms were no match for the Demon Swordsmen, but none of these swordsmen were capable of unleashing the kind of powerful sword skills he imagined.
In that case, he would have to capture the guys using Wind Magic and their president for interrogation.
The most conspicuous one giving orders, if not the president, must be a cadre or something.
As the worms disappeared entirely and the opposing mages, only ten or so, were left gasping for breath, slowly walking toward him, Rhode showed a friendly smile.
"Summoning, Canyon Vanguard!"
A gigantic purple beast suddenly appeared, roaring toward the sky, its enormous size and fierce appearance exerting immense psychological pressure on the members of the Black Unicorn.
"What... what is that monster?"
"That guy's specifically targeting us!"
"Boss, what do we do now?"
The boss had no idea what to do; he hadn't heard of any famous mage using such powerful magic. To use Summoning Magic of this caliber, one should be quite renowned.
In his memory, those capable of using Summoning Magic were one of the people the Oracion Seis—the great trees the guild relied on.
The other was known as a Beast Tamer, a member of a Legitimate Guild. But that person seemed to play with things like crabs, birds, and wolves…
Hold on!
Crabs?!
They hesitated, but Rhode had no such reservations: "Knock them away, but try not to kill them."
The Canyon Vanguard thought the summoner was asking too much, but it had no choice but to comply.
It ran forward with a thunderous rumble, without any trailing purple light, probably not using any skills, just a regular running charge.
The massive creature's movements always appeared sluggish, but its actual speed was anything but slow.
Amidst screams and shouts, over twenty people were sent flying by the Canyon Vanguard's charge.
The remaining dozen or so attacked the Canyon Vanguard with various assaults, some completely unable to breach its defenses, some making it feel slightly aware.
Then they were met with a sweeping giant tail.
Rhode stood in place for 10 seconds, seeing only groaning and struggling people, and no one jumping up to enter a second phase.
Feeling assured, he summoned the Shadow Wolf and River Crab to come pick people up.
Elsewhere, Mira noticed the disappearance of the Shadow Wolf, but as other summoned creatures remained, she knew Rhode had resolved the situation without encountering any tricky enemies.
So, she exchanged farewells with the village chief's wife, instructed the summoned creatures to stay on guard, and prepared to head outside the village to see the situation.
When Mira arrived, Rhode was interrogating a few unlucky ones.
Two of them used Wind Magic, and one was the leader.
All three had received a bit of special treatment, their faces appearing somewhat indistinct.
The leader, named Klune, was speaking indistinctly:
"It's because the Oracion Seis, for some reason, suddenly increased the amount of the 'regular fee.' We are a guild under their command, so we must obey orders, and could only find a way to gather the money."
The Balram Alliance of Dark Guild, consisting of three major powers: Gate of the Underworld, Demon Heart, Oracion Seis—all three major guilds had underling guilds.
These small guilds were sheltered by the three major guilds, the cost being that they had to obey their commands when needed and pay the regular fee on time—bluntly put, it's a protection fee.
Just now, these people attempted to use the name of the Oracion Seis to threaten Rhode, resulting in getting slapped several times by the claws of the Shadow Wolf.
Rhode casually said, "So your way of gathering money was to rob the village?"
"Actually… originally, we planned to rob a commercial guild or a bank, but the risks were too high, so it was more convenient to rob a slightly wealthy village. A few days ago, we heard there was going to be a festival here, and we wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make some money…"
Thinking this might have set them up for punishment, Klune quickly added a word for himself, "We only intended to steal, not to harm anyone."
Rhode didn't believe his nonsense: "Then what's with the murders from a few days ago?"
The three were taken aback: "Murders, what murders?"
Rhode frowned, judging by their expressions... no expression was discernible, but their reactions didn't seem like they were lying.
Mira understood Rhode's use of extrajudicial measures and expressed concern whether he needed help.