Chapter 195: Desperate |
The hunting team from the Reiss main house was short on people, and their progress was slow.
It took ten days to finally reach the 【Central Prison of Dawn City】.
From a distance, it was a peculiar pentagonal structure, partially collapsed. From its shape, it looked like a gigantic pentagram formation.
"Commander, a cursed space has been discovered in the ruins over there, with a very large coverage area, rated S+, energy fluctuations S+, space stability..."
"Judging by the architecture, it should be a prison, preliminarily identified as a large composite cursed space, requesting assistance from high-level professionals for reconnaissance..."
"It has been ascertained that the space entrance is temporarily inaccessible, requiring special conditions to open..."
"..."
Due to days of fierce fighting, the original team of four to five hundred people had lost more than half, leaving only fifty to sixty wounded survivors. The vanguard of the Cross Society was almost completely wiped out, and the elite troops brought by Rena also suffered heavy losses. Of the more than ten second-order professionals in the team, only six remained.
Even the three members of the supervisory team who never participated in battles had died one after another, and the military from the inner city had sent new replacements.
Looking at the swirling vortex of dark energy above the prison ruins in the distance, everyone's face was etched with despair.
They had never seen such a large space entrance before.
The only piece of good news was that within a certain range of the cursed space, there were usually no distorted creatures or abyssal monsters lurking.
Before long, an elder clad in runic light armor led a scouting team back.
The old man was naturally the only third-order professional butler in the team, Anthony.
Due to the shortage of manpower, second and third-order professionals had to personally lead teams to explore dangerous routes to reduce casualties.
Anthony discussed the reconnaissance situation with the supervisory team,
Those guys then reported the intelligence to their superiors using military communicators as usual.
The team set up camp on the spot.
.......
Since there were not many survivors left, the team members chose a sturdy building that was easy to defend and used mechanical arms and armor to construct a circular encampment.
Upon hearing the order to set up camp, everyone began to take out their marching tents from their backpacks and started to build.
Anthony found Rena, who was setting up her own tent.
Her personal maid had died in the battle three days ago, and now the young lady no longer required anyone to serve her, taking care of all her affairs by herself.
Anthony reported with a heavy tone: "Miss, the entrance to the cursed space is temporarily inaccessible, it seems to require special triggering conditions to enter. Majorie's team is currently trying to decipher it..."
"I understand."
Rena listened, her expression calm, and her hands continued to set up the tent without pausing at the news.
Anthony watched the changes in his young mistress with a trace of relief in his eyes, but he immediately expressed his concern: "Miss... it's preliminarily identified as a 'T-level' space. This time, I'm afraid we won't make it through."
"Mhm."
Rena paused for a moment upon hearing this.
But it seemed she was already mentally prepared, her tone resolute and indifferent: "If it really is T-level, probing in batches is meaningless. Once we find the way in, I will personally participate in the exploration."
Anthony looked at her with a complex expression, "Yes, Miss."
They were all too aware that no one could defy or escape the orders of the Duke's mansion.
If they did not continue the exploration, even if they tried to escape, they would surely not survive and would definitely bring disaster upon the entire Oliver family in Old Lingdun.
Rena had been prepared for the annihilation of the entire army since the start of the expedition.
This moment was bound to come sooner or later.
Rena did not forget to comfort the loyal old butler, "Grandpa Anthony, perhaps the situation isn't as bad as it seems."
"Ah..."
Anthony sighed softly, said no more, and turned to leave.
At that moment, Rena seemed to think of something and glanced at the corner where a solitary figure was pitching a tent, the always aloof Mr. Zolo.
Thinking it over, she walked over and greeted him: "Mr. Zolo."
"Mr. Zolo" responded: "What is it, Miss Rena?"
His face was covered by a crude full-face gas mask with mechanical modifications, making it impossible to see clearly, and his voice sounded hoarse through the filter canister.
"Thank you for taking care of me along the way."
Rena bowed to Zolo, well aware that he had taken great care of her throughout the journey.
Otherwise, during the battle with the third-order 【Three-Headed Humanoid Python】 a few days ago, she would have been either dead or severely injured. At that time, Butler Anthony was restrained by the monster, and her personal guards had all perished. If it weren't for Mr. Zolo, she would have been burned to death by the monster's corrosive poison gas.
Sure enough, her aunt said he was very powerful, and he truly was.
After bowing, Rena continued: "Mr. Zolo, what I want to tell you is, after we figure out how to enter the cursed space, I will lead all the members in. You are not a contracted member of our family, and there's no need for you to join us..."
"No, you don't need to be so polite."
Zolo shook his head, his tone seemingly not as heavy as Rena's, "After all, Sister Qian entrusted me to take good care of you."
"You've done well enough, thank you very much."
Rena thanked him sincerely again, then revealed the harsh truth, "But you don't have to die with me."
Hearing this, Zolo shook his head, seemingly amused, "No, what I mean is... even if I wanted to leave, I couldn't."
He paused, then added meaningfully: "Besides, I never planned to leave."
"???"
Rena was puzzled upon hearing this.
Just as she was about to say something more, the communicator suddenly transmitted an urgent report.
"Miss, we have a large group of people rapidly approaching us from the left... Judging by the flags, they're from the Clark family!"
"Miss, another group has arrived from the right, they're from the Oliver family!"
With that, the entire camp immediately tensed up.
.......
The Dawn Ruins were vast, but dozens of teams were also clearing the area at the same time, so in reality, the distance between each team was not far.
Rena's team was assigned number sixteen, with the Oliver family at fifteen and the Clark family at seventeen.
Although obscured by fog and ruins, making it impossible to see figures, the sounds of gunfire and battle indicated that the teams were actually not far apart. It was like a divided cake; the closer to the core city area, the closer the teams were to each other.
In fact, a few days earlier, Rena's team had already noticed the movements of the teams on both sides.
Those families had enough manpower to divide into several waves to clear the area, making rapid progress.
The hunting teams were at the forefront, with the young masters and ladies' main teams following behind.
And just minutes ago, within the Oliver family's team a few kilometers away from Rena's team.
Danze Junior was leisurely enjoying his afternoon coffee in the tent.
Compared to the brutal frontline battles, although they had also suffered some minor monster attacks, it was inconsequential.
After all, they had the vice president of the Hunter's Guild, the renowned third-order professional Nero Redgrave.
Since the last time he was ambushed by Su'en, Danze had not dared to stray too far from this third-order professional.
He and the bearded swordsman sipped coffee while playing chess on a black and white checkerboard, chatting.
"Mr. Nero, what do you think of that SS-ranked fugitive Su'en's strength?"
"Hard to say..."
"Hard to say?"
"I observed carefully during that ambush. The true strength Su'en displayed was only that of an average second-order level. But his Eight-Armed Spider Lance has an outstanding displacement ability in the ruins, even I would find it difficult to catch him..."
"Just good at running, that's all."
"It's not that simple. Now that we've confirmed that guy is associated with that reactionary organization, we can't underestimate him. Besides, did you notice that he hasn't shown his second-order advancement ability yet?"
"The advancement choices for a puppeteer are limited. That guy is young, yet his puppet control skills are so proficient, he most likely chose to advance in the 'puppet control skills' direction. After all, you know, puppet control requires a lot of time and effort to practice..."
"Mhm, that makes sense."
"In my opinion, that SS-ranked fugitive Su'en seems to be relying on the scythe of a banned item to wreak havoc. That guy is indeed lucky to have obtained a secret technique for refining living corpses that can avoid the curse backlash of banned items. However, now that I have firmly stabilized my second-order realm and have this 【Stanitz's Chessboard】, if Su'en comes again, I guarantee he won't return."
"Although I think Danze Junior should be a bit more cautious. But with this cursed item, combined with 【Puppet Theater】, facing a second-order professional, you indeed have no reason to lose..."
Hearing this, Danze's face showed a smug smile.
As they were talking, a subordinate came to report.
"Young Master, we've received orders from the Black Tower to send people to assist the Reiss main house team in opening a large cursed space..."
Both men looked surprised.
Danze turned, "Mr. Nero, are you interested in taking a look?"
"Of course."
Nero narrowed his eyes slightly and added: "Since we've offended the Reiss main house, we must eradicate them completely. Now that the Black Tower has sanctioned your actions, that Miss Rena and old Anthony must not be allowed to leave the ruins alive. Otherwise, there won't be such a good opportunity next time. Carnegie Reiss is very capable; he survived such a split last time, and if we can't completely break them down this time, a weakened tiger is still a big trouble..."
Danze laughed, "I think so too."
.......
Rena had long known that the Clark family's vanguard team on the left had far surpassed their own team in progress and had been keeping a close watch.
Now these guys suddenly changed their route, obviously with ill intentions.
Sure enough, before long, a group of several hundred hunters emerged from the distant fog.
Judging by the family crests engraved on their equipment, they were clearly the elite team of the Clark family.
The young man leading the Clark family, clad in brand-new hunting gear, was naturally the eldest son, Eli Clark.
This eldest son looked at Rena's few dozen survivors with a tone full of mockery: "Yo, Miss Rena, it seems your situation isn't looking too good, huh?"
The visitors clearly had bad intentions, and Butler Anthony had already protected Rena, eyeing the three personal bodyguards beside Eli with pupils slightly constricting, saying: "Miss, be careful, those are the Ice, Thunder, and Earth elders from the Old Lingdun Mystical Studies Association, very strong elemental sorcerers with powerful cursed items. Together, even I am not confident of gaining the upper hand quickly."
An archer with a blue longbow, a woman in a robe with a thunder-patterned staff, and a punk with green hair.
All three exuded an extraordinary aura, and the weapons in their hands were no ordinary items.
Rena glanced at them and turned to look coldly at the approaching group, responding: "What are you here for?"
Eli led his team swaggering over, lazily saying: "Received a notification from the higher-ups at the Black Tower, saying you might not be able to handle this cursed space, so I brought people over to take a look for you."
He didn't need to come personally, but now that he heard it was Rena's team, this Eli naturally wanted to kick them while they were down.
Rena's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and she glanced at the three white-helmeted supervisors not far away, seemingly inquiring.
The black-faced supervisory team leader responded indifferently: "The order from above is only to supervise your clearing. We won't intervene in your family affairs, nor will we manage them."
After speaking, the three supervisors deliberately distanced themselves, seemingly indicating their stance: you fight, just don't hurt us.
Rena had no expectations for these people to mediate, and upon hearing this, she shouted sharply: "All men, on my command, anyone who approaches the camp, shoot to kill!"
At her command, both sides almost simultaneously raised their guns.
"Click" "Click" the sound of guns being cocked filled the air.
With nearly a tenfold difference in numbers, the Clark family had an absolute advantage.
Eli seemed completely unfazed by the guns pointed at him, signaling his men to lower their weapons.
After all, in this situation, even if the other side fired first, they had no chance of winning.He looked at Rena and continued to provoke, "Yo~ Miss Rena seems to be in a bad mood..."
As if it had been arranged, the moment the Clark family arrived, Danze Junior of the Oliver family also emerged with his team.
Danze Junior, watching the two tense groups, took delight in their misfortune, "Tsk tsk... seems like I've arrived at an awkward time?"
Beside him, there was a heavily made-up young girl who bore a resemblance to Rena.
It was none other than Betty Reiss of the Reiss family, Danze Junior's fiancée.
She played a significant role in the downfall of the main house.
She looked at Rena and gloated, "Sister Rena, long time no see."
........
The two groups together nearly amounted to a thousand people, all enemies.
In this situation, it seemed unlikely that Rena and her companions would be able to enter the cursed space; they might be annihilated right outside.
Anthony, the old butler, stepped forward and pressed, "Miss Rena, shall we talk now?"
Rena, facing the enemies who had closed in to fifty meters, showed no fear and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The gunshot rang out.
The bullet hit the ground at Anthony's feet, sending up a puff of white smoke.
Rena, holding the gun, said calmly, "Come any closer, and the next bullet will be in your head."
Apparently anticipating the bullet's trajectory, Anthony's bodyguards didn't even flinch.
Although Anthony himself jumped in fright, the sneer on his face deepened. He turned to Rena's guards and said something intriguing, "You don't want to live, but don't you care about your subordinates?"
His words seemed to be a signal.
At that moment, a second-rank captain named Pruitt Keith suddenly led a dozen subordinates to distance themselves.
Seeing this, the old butler Anthony bellowed, "Pruitt, what are you doing!"
Pruitt looked at Rena and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Rena. I've given a lot to the Reiss family, but I don't want to die here..."
Clearly, these people had been bought off.
There was no need for them to continue their undercover roles.
Whether it was the cursed space ahead or the predicament here, staying with the Reiss main house seemed like certain death.
As they said this, they held their guns at the ready and walked out of the fortified camp.
Rena's team was already small, and with the loss of a dozen more, a gap in the camp's defenses immediately appeared.
The most critical blow was to morale; with these people gone, the remaining eyes were filled with anger and despair.
The old butler Anthony wanted to kill the traitors, but with enemies all around, he dared not act rashly.
Rena remained silent, her situation worsening, but her demeanor unchanged.
Her gun-holding hand was still steady.
At this time, Anthony, not far away, with even more scorn in his eyes, asked again, "Now, Miss Rena, have you changed your mind?"
The Reiss main house's situation had become desperate.
Rena didn't turn to look but said indifferently to the remaining guards, "If anyone else wants to leave now, I won't blame you."
She knew very well that they were targeted for the destruction of the Reiss main house.
Surrender? It would serve no purpose other than humiliation.
After a pause, she spoke with resolve, "But if you stay, be prepared to fight to the death with me!"
Hearing this, the morale that had been dampened by the betrayal of their officers suddenly surged.
The guards rallied around Rena, ready to fight to the death.
"Miss, we won't leave!"
"We swear to live and die with the family!"
"Yes! We swear to live and die with the family! Fight to the end!"
"..."
The crowd was fervent, and the spirit of the few dozen people was like a blazing fire, holding its own against the nearly thousand enemies surrounding them.
And the old butler Anthony seemed to have unleashed some secret technique, suddenly growing horns on his head, his bones cracking, and his body swelling into a nearly two-meter-tall muscular humanoid goat.
Looking at this group, the experts from the Oliver and Clark families frowned, even the third-rank professional Nero looked solemn.
He watched the old goat whose aura had suddenly exploded and muttered to himself, "Anthony, the champion of the Old London fighting tournament twenty years ago... tsk tsk, it's been a long time since I've seen this form."
A third-rank professional fighting for their life is no joke.
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