chsdbacks Chapter 121 Massacre
Chapter 121 Massacre
"Grrrr!"
With a gurgle of blood and a last, rattling breath, the third leader collapsed to the ground. His eyes remained wide open in disbelief, as if he couldn't accept his own death. Ethan wiped the blood from his sword with a satisfied grin, clearly pleased with its performance.
"All done," Ethan said, stepping back from the lifeless body.
"Good work," Justin replied, giving a nod of approval. "Now, let's move on to the next task."
"What should we do with the dungeon rewards the first group had?" Ethan asked, glancing at the loot they had gathered.
Surprisingly, the only group that had any dungeon rewards among the attackers had been the first one. The other two groups carried nothing more than items from standard shops. Perhaps they had already lost their rewards to someone else, or maybe they never undertook any dungeon quests in the first place. It was a bit disappointing, but the ease of their victory made up for the lack of valuable loot.
"Anything useful?" Justin inquired.
"A staff for mages and a two-handed sword for warriors," Ethan replied, looking over the gear. "The staff boosts energy-based spells, and the sword is surprisingly light despite its size."
Justin considered the items for a moment. "Not bad," he thought, though neither seemed to have much use within their group. He already had a better staff, and Derek was the only one who wielded two-handed weapons, preferring his hammer, which suited his brute strength and style far better.
After a brief pause, Justin turned to Zachary. "Give the staff to Nina. She pulled her weight in this fight and deserves a reward."
"Understood. What about the sword?" Zachary asked.
"Distribute it to whoever performed well in this battle. If anyone wants it, let them have it," Justin replied. He saw no point in hoarding an item no one would use. Instead, he could use it to boost morale as a special reward.
Zachary nodded, already planning who might get it. "I'll hold onto it until after the test ends."
"Do that," Justin agreed. "Now that we've finished the distribution, let's get back to work."
With a final order, Justin directed the group to gather the bodies from the third skirmish. When they were done, they had accumulated a total of 51 corpses. It was a number that would have convinced anyone a small-scale military battle had taken place.
"Man, looking at all of them in one place... This is insane," Derek commented, glancing over the piles of bodies. "If they start rotting, the stench will be unbearable."
"That's why we'll finish before then," Justin replied calmly. They had about half a day left to gather the markers, and after three battles, their time was running even shorter. They wouldn't be around long enough to worry about the decay of the corpses.
Once the task was complete, Derek dusted his hands off and asked, "So, is that everything? Are we done?"
"I said, do whatever you want. I'm out of here."
"What? Hey!"
Victor reached out to grab Colin's shoulder, but the other man slapped his hand away and glared at him with wild eyes.
"Are you crazy? You still want to fight after seeing that pile of bodies? We'd be walking into a death trap!"
"But they must be tired! If we strike now, we could—"
"Tired? Look at them. They're coming toward us right now. Doesn't that look tired to you?" Colin hissed, pointing.
Victor's heart skipped a beat as he followed Colin's gaze. Sure enough, the group below was advancing slowly, but steadily, in their direction. There was nothing about their movements that suggested they were coming to surrender.
"They're not tired. They're ready to kill. Do whatever you want, but I'm leaving. Come on, guys!" Colin shouted, waving his followers to retreat.
Without waiting for a response, Colin turned and bolted, running as if the hounds of hell were on his heels. His followers rushed after him, eager to escape the blood-soaked field. Victor stood there, stunned, watching as his so-called ally abandoned him.
But there was no time to dwell on his failed alliance.
"Captain! They're getting closer!" one of Victor's men shouted, snapping him back to reality.
"What? Oh, uh... Right. Let's move!" Victor barked, finally gathering his wits.
By now, Justin's group was close enough that Victor could feel a wave of terror rising in his chest. The idea of joining that heap of corpses became all too real.
"Run! Retreat! We're leaving too!" Victor shouted.
"Yes, sir!"
His pioneers followed the order without hesitation. There were no protests, no complaints. After all, none of them had any personal vendetta against Justin. They had come out of petty jealousy, hoping to bring him down. But in the face of death, jealousy vanished like smoke.
'Damn it! He's even more dangerous than I thought. How does he kill people so easily? And why doesn't his group ever lose anyone?'
The more Victor thought about it, the more his spine tingled with fear. He couldn't believe he had even considered going up against someone like Justin.
'Yeah, there's no need to get targeted by someone like him. After all, there are still thirteen markers out there. If I gather just seven of them, I'll win,' Victor thought to himself. While Justin had a score equivalent to six markers, he didn't actually possess them. The thirteen markers were still scattered across the area—twice the amount of points Justin had. If Victor could gather just half of those, he was confident that the Dark Elf's city would be his.