In a relatively confined area like this alleyway, magicians would find themselves at a severe disadvantage against martial artists. If Erwin were on his own, he would've used a combination of instant-release spells and space split techniques to open up some distance between himself and Talan, but Onean still hadn't fully recovered from her injuries yet, so it felt too dangerous to leave her to face two martial artists on her own.

Thus, Erwin engaged Talan in battle while making sure to not stray too far away from Onean. As a result, he was willingly placing himself at a disadvantage, and it was already becoming quite a struggle. What made things even worse for Erwin was that as the leader of a mercenary legion of convicts and bandits, Talan was naturally one of the most powerful warriors of the entire legion, which already made him a very tough opponent for Erwin.

What Erwin was unable to understand was why Talan had insisted on picking him out as his opponent.

It was clear to everyone that Larwood was the commander of their mercenary legion, and Chase was the one who had hurled all of the insults at Talan and his subordinates just now, so Erwin couldn't understand why he was the one being targeted.

"I recognize you, Erwin Friar," Talan said as a...