novelhk Chapter 93 Casualties
Chapter 93 Casualties
At this moment, the cheetah had arrived in front of Suren, and it opened its blood-red mouth wide.
Etherine couldn't help but feel anxious. Although the chains hadn't affected her for long—she regained her mobility in just a second—that time was still not enough for her to rescue Suren.
Just as the cheetah's sharp teeth were about to touch Suren's neck, Suren suddenly vanished!
The cheetah missed its bite and fell to the ground due to inertia, its dark yellow eyes filled with confusion.
Where Suren had originally stood, a puddle of water reflected a dazzling light under the sun.
Despite her many doubts, Etherine did not hesitate at all. She quickly stepped forward and caught up with the cheetah, thrusting out two daggers and leaving two more gruesome wounds on the cheetah's body.
Meanwhile, the white buds on the cheetah's body continued to expand, growing from a finger's width to the size of a palm.
The intense pain caused it to scream, and its originally fierce eyes now held a hint of fear.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Just then, two gunshots rang out, splattering two brilliant streaks of blood onto the cheetah's body.
The one who fired the shot was Suren, who had reappeared in the same spot.
The ensuing battle was a foregone conclusion. Under the fierce attacks of Suren and Etherine, the cheetah was killed by the two before it could even use its other abilities.
When the battle ended, Kayla regained her mobility, but since she was only a support-oriented "Overseer," it was normal that she couldn't be of much help in this kind of battle.
Etherine turned to look at Suren, who was tidying her clothes, and asked in confusion, "Why did you suddenly disappear?"
Suren chuckled softly and deliberately replied, enunciating each word clearly: "It's a secret."
Looking at the smiling Suren, Etherine felt an inexplicable urge to stab him.
Suren shrugged. It wasn't that he didn't want to reveal it, but it involved his own secrets, so he had to remain a riddle teller.
But this feeling is not bad.
Ignoring Suren's pretentious act, Etherine crouched down and began examining the cheetah's spoils.
She frowned as she looked at the shriveled corpse that had been devoured by the fleshy buds.
As Suren watched Etherine's retreating figure, he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
In the battle just now, Etherine displayed an exaggerated level of physical strength, but it seems that she doesn't have any other special abilities besides that.
Is the "Oath's" extraordinary ability an enhancement of the physical body?
Suren shook his head, deciding that he needed to observe the other "Oath" ability users before drawing a conclusion.
At this moment, the leopard's corpse had been transformed into three materials: "Dominion of the Demon Heart Seal", "Demon Heart", and a derivative material.
When it came to distributing the spoils, Suren chose the "Heart Seal of Domination".
He doesn't have any way to process the other two materials for the time being. If he's just selling them for gold pounds, the "Dominion of the Demon Heart Seal" is easier to sell.
Aiselin and the others had no objections to this. The price of a second-tier "Demon Heart" plus its derivative materials could sometimes even exceed that of the "Dominion Demon Heart Seal".
Putting away the "Demon-Suppressing Seal," Suren couldn't help but ask with some curiosity, "Since hunting demons is so profitable, are there any professional demon-hunting organizations in other cities?"
"Some people have tried, but they all gave up in the end."
Etherine put the two materials into the "Endless Pocket," shook her head slightly, and said, "The appearance of demons is unpredictable, and searching for them is a huge waste of time."
Monster coordinate maps are time-limited, and frequently purchasing maps is a huge expense.
Moreover, if one lingers too long in the wilderness, one might encounter a sudden appearance of a Level III demon.
"There must be superhumans with reconnaissance abilities, right?" Suren asked almost instinctively. "Wasting some time to identify a hunting target feasible?"
"In bustling cities like Libraton, the church regularly sends people to clean up the surrounding demons, so if you want to hunt demons, you have to go to a deeper area."
Etherine quickly tidied her hair, which was disheveled from the battle, and said as she walked towards the caravan, "In this way, even with reconnaissance capabilities, relying solely on foot and the carriage, plus the time spent on reconnaissance, would take too long in the wilderness. The risk is too high, and no one is willing to do it."
Suren nodded, understanding what Etherine meant.
The entire Protected Continent covers an area of just over three million square kilometers, including those dangerous wilderness areas, so it's not really that big.
However, more advanced modes of transportation, such as airships and steam trains, were under the control of the church. This left ordinary people with only horse-drawn carriages and walking as their means of transportation.
"Moreover, although there aren't many types of demons, their abilities are all stronger than those of ordinary awakened beings, so even with thorough preparation, hunting them is still quite difficult."
Etherine turned to look at Suren and said, "The reason that cheetah was so easy to kill was because our abilities were exactly what countered it, and your attack..."
Etherine frowned as she thought of the disgusting growths on the cheetah's body.
Before Etherine could speak, Suren preemptively replied, "It's a secret."
"Hmph." Etherine snorted coldly, turned her head away, and ignored Suren.
Suren followed Etherine, but her mind was on something else entirely.
Etherine was considered well-informed among the people Suren knew, but even she seemed to be seeing the power of "Ellie's Tears" for the first time—or more accurately, the terrifying ability to devour life force, an ability belonging to the "God of Life."
This shows that the title of "God of Life" is not widespread. After all, widespread use would mean that a large number of items would be circulating among the people, so that an organization like "Eternal Oath" would not have any related information.
Suren had initially thought that his lack of knowledge was the reason he didn't understand the so-called "God of Life," but now it seemed that his thinking had been wrong all along.
So how did Ellie obtain such rare books about gods?
Is Ellie's incident related to the ruins in the "Land of Lamentation"?
While Suren was pondering, the three of them had already returned to the caravan's temporary camp.
Inside the camp, Henry and his party had not yet returned; the coachman and Charles's servants were resting on the grass.
Upon seeing the three return, Loft quickly approached them, asking with a tone of confirmation, "You three killed that Overlord Demon so quickly?"
"We were lucky; that Dominator Demon was relatively weak," Suren replied with a smile, without revealing too many details.
Nevertheless, Loft's eyes still held a hint of awe.
The Dominator Demon is, after all, a Level II demon; how weak could it be? The fact that Suren and the others were able to defeat it so quickly speaks volumes.
After exchanging pleasantries, everyone rested for a while.
About an hour later, Henry and the others finally returned.
Suren stood up and noticed that they weren't in very good condition.
Henry's right hand was hanging limply at his sides, and it looked like the bone was broken.
The other black-haired "Prydringer" was in an even more miserable state; his right leg was deformed, with bone and flesh mixed together in a bizarre twisted state.
Suren did a quick count and found that Henry's group was missing one "Seeker," who was probably in grave danger.
Of Henry's entourage, the other survivors all suffered minor injuries, except for Miss Margaret Cooper, who remained unharmed.
The group found an open space to sit down, and Kayla, as the only healer in the group, was extremely busy.
Suren did want to help, but his ability could only accelerate the regeneration of minor wounds and the recovery of vitality. It didn't offer much help for more serious injuries, and he didn't really want to expose himself.
Suren plopped down next to Henry and asked about their situation.
Henry said somewhat helplessly, "We weren't very lucky. We encountered a Dominator with special abilities. And although we outnumbered them, we lacked offensive methods, so the battle dragged on for too long."
"If Margaret Cooper hadn't foreseen the danger, our casualties would have been even greater..."
He glanced at the man with the injured leg, sighed deeply, and said with a hint of self-reproach, "If only I had acted faster, Charlie's leg wouldn't be like this, and Oliver wouldn't be dead."
Suren looked at the grief-stricken Henry and didn't know what to say, so she could only pat him on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Kayla was also trying to treat Charlie, but the results were not ideal.
Suren stood up and walked behind Kayla. She discovered that after the blue light in Kayla's hand entered Charlie's right leg, the injury not only did not improve, but the twisted flesh seemed to be tightening, causing Charlie to let out a scream.
Kayla stood up helplessly and shook her head, her voice low: "His right leg structure is damaged. This is no ordinary injury. I can't heal him with my skills."
The only way to restore him at present is to find a "proxy" or use the church's rare healing items...
Her voice grew softer and softer, and Charlie's face showed despair, because it was almost impossible.
The prices for "Agents'" treatments and rare healing items are astronomical, generally starting at tens of thousands of pounds, which is beyond the reach of Charlie, a "Seeker of Reason."
Kayla then came to Henry's side, just as she was about to treat him, but Henry waved his hand and refused: "My recovery ability is very strong, so I won't trouble you."
Looking at Kayla, whose face was pale and whose forehead was covered in sweat, Hunter smiled and said, "You must be very tired after using your abilities so many times. Get some rest."
Seeing this, Kayla stopped insisting, sat back down next to Etherine, closed her eyes, and began to recover her over-exhausted "Source Knowledge".
Suren sat down next to Aiselin and whispered, "Charlie's leg injury isn't a simple one; his entire physical structure has been altered. This means that any medical treatment would determine that his leg is actually healthy, which is why conventional treatments are ineffective."
He couldn't help but sigh at this point: "Perhaps none of the methods Kayla mentioned can cure him; only reconstructing his body can."
Aiselin looked at him with some surprise and said slowly, "You still care about the lives of other people?"
"What kind of image do you actually have of me?"
Suren chuckled, then turned to look at the pained Charlie and murmured, "I just felt compelled to say this because I thought I might end up like that myself someday."
"Becoming an agent is different. At that time, your physical body will transcend and become a truly non-human existence." Aiselin followed Suren's gaze, then looked at the somewhat dejected Henry. "And in the end, it's because the leader is too weak that this kind of thing happens."
Suren turned her head to look at the girl's face, noticed the seriousness on her face, and said nothing more.
Time passed quickly, and after a short rest, the group set off again.
The journey became much easier from then on. After passing through the territory of the two dead ruling demons, the carriage soon embarked on the church's newly built road.
Suren sat in the carriage, listening to the sounds of the wheels and hooves, enjoying the rare tranquility with his eyes closed.
However, not long after, the carriage slowly came to a stop.
Suren lifted the curtain of the carriage, peeked out, and looked ahead at the caravan. He saw several men dressed in church monks' robes blocking the way, and Henry and Loft were negotiating with them.
Suren sat back in the carriage, but couldn't help frowning. He wondered what kind of trouble the church was up to now.
After thinking for a moment, Suren decided to get off the carriage and ask Loft.
Seeing Suren get out of the carriage, Etherine and Kayla followed suit, and Suren didn't say anything about it.
At this point, it seemed that the two sides had finished their negotiations, and Loft was walking back.
Loft's expression was not good at this moment. Seeing Suren get out of the car, Loft forced a smile and said with some helplessness, "Mr. Dantès, it seems that our trip will be delayed for a while."
He turned to look at the church members, leaned forward and whispered, "I don't know what mission the church is carrying out, but the road ahead is temporarily blocked, and we don't even know when it will be open."
After saying this, he bowed to Suren and the others, then walked quickly toward the carriage where Charles was, seemingly to discuss the next steps.
Suren had no choice but to return to his carriage and wait for further instructions.
After a few minutes, the carriage started moving again, but this time it changed direction and returned to a crossroads they had passed before, heading towards a side road they hadn't taken before.
Bald Toby peeked out to see the direction the carriage was heading, then opened the map he always carried with him with some surprise.
Suren, noticing his serious expression, asked with some confusion, "Is there a problem?"
Bald Toby stretched out his finger and gestured on the map, seemingly confirming something.
After a moment, he put away the map, looked at Suren with a strange expression, and said, "This road requires passing through Weldu..."
"Vildu? What kind of place is that?" Kayla, standing next to Toby, looked curious.
Suren noticed that Etherine, who was standing next to him, also looked confused.
Bald Toby looked around, about to laugh it off, when Suren spoke up, "863, right?"