Two marauders burst in from outside the cave, giving Vera and the others no time to react.
Grongba laughed heartily as he used [Charge], targeting Feiyin who was dressed in full mage equipment.
Facing the sudden assault, Feiyin still couldn't understand why her detection spell had failed to discover their opponents in advance.
Vera roared as he drew his curved blade, his form sliding like skating on ice as he glided in front of Feiyin to intercept the dwarf.
The wide-bladed axe and curved sword collided, sparking countless flames.
From the moment they clashed, Vera was at a disadvantage—the axe blade pressed down until it nearly reached Vera's collarbone.
Vera braced the blade with both hands, barely preventing the axe from cleaving him in two.
"Nice weapon, lad. Should fetch a good price."
Standing this close, Vera could smell the stench of alcohol on the dwarf's breath.
"Feiyin!"
Called by name, Feiyin finally snapped out of her panic and quickly cast several enhancement spells on Vera.
【Strength Amplification】
【Agility Amplification】
【Stamina Activation】
Empowered by the enhancements, Vera retreated while flourishing his blade, forcing the dwarf to pull back several steps.
Having failed to gain an advantage, the dwarf immediately cursed at his slacking partner behind him:
"Half-Ear, what the hell are you watching? Deal with that staff-wielding brat!"
"What's the rush? Cocking a crossbow takes time, doesn't it?"
Nasa emerged from behind carrying a crossbow, but instead of firing, he pulled out a small pouch from his chest and threw it toward Feiyin.
Vera watched the pouch fly toward them, but no arrow came from Feiling to intercept it.
"Feiling?"
In the end, he had to step forward himself, piercing it with his blade. It exploded in a cloud of pale blue powder.
Vera hastily covered his nose and retreated with Feiyin, looking toward Feiling only to find her collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.
"Paralysis extract from a sixth-layer flower demon. Just a little bit can render someone completely immobile. Great effect, isn't it?"
Nasa smiled as he aimed his crossbow at them and pulled the trigger, relishing the sight of his prey's panic.
Feiyin hurriedly cast a spell, but her magic shield only half-formed in mid-air before collapsing.
"This is why they call you rookies—can't even recognize demon-bane flower powder."
"Despicable!"
In his desperation, Vera stepped forward to shield Feiyin, deflecting the crossbow bolt with his blade, though the impact left both his hands numb.
This was exactly what Grongba had been waiting for!
His arm muscles swelled, hot air snorting from his nostrils.
The dwarf swung his wide-bladed axe in a full arc toward Vera's waist.
Vera could only barely press his curved blade against his body before being sent flying out of the cave by the axe blow.
Though not dead, he was left with barely a breath of life.
After Vera fell, Feiyin—a mage who couldn't cast spells—was naturally knocked unconscious with just two strikes.
The entire battle had been under the control of the two marauders.
But this couldn't be blamed on Vera and his companions. Their only combat experience was against magical beasts, and their equipment was the same.
Meanwhile, the marauders' tactics, equipment, and skills were all designed specifically for fighting humans.
Combined with the advantage of surprise and superior levels, and targeting inexperienced prey rather than seasoned veterans, they rarely failed.
Grongba lifted his axe, preparing to finish them off one by one, but Nasa stopped him.
The dwarf asked impatiently, "What? Seeing they're twins, you want to play with them?"
Nasa showed a disgusted expression upon hearing this: "What are you thinking? When have I ever touched those mongrels without elven blood?"
Grongba was dismissive of this inexplicable sense of superiority—after all, Nasa himself was a mixed-blood mongrel.
Of course, he'd never said this to Nasa's face. As partners went, Nasa's endless array of little gadgets was quite useful.
"Then what do you want to do?"
"Tie them up. When they all wake up, we'll play the 'choose who dies, who lives' game."
This was Nasa's own concocted game—simply put, forcing the captured group to decide internally who would die and who would live.
Of course, he'd kill them all in the end. Nasa just wanted to savor the spectacle of teammates betraying each other for survival.
Grongba rolled his eyes. He had no such twisted hobbies.
Though he was addicted to drink, gambling, and killing, compared to his pervert partner, he was practically a good dwarf.
Still, he didn't care about Nasa's preferences. If he wanted to play, let him play.
Right now, he was more interested in that oversized walking mushroom in the cave. He'd seen it pull a shield right out of its body earlier.
Could it be packed full of good stuff inside?
————
Pain!
Such pain!
Broken ribs piercing into flesh, his left arm bone protruding through torn skin, blood mixed with internal organs flowing from his mouth.
Vera was awakened entirely by pain.
He tried to move but couldn't budge, only to discover he was tied to a tree.
On two other trees in front of him were his childhood friends, still unconscious.
"Feiling... Fei... yin..."
Under Vera's continuous weak calls, the two girls slowly awakened.
Upon waking, they immediately saw Vera on the verge of death.
"Vera, you're so badly hurt! Damn these ropes..."
Feiling struggled to break free from her bonds but couldn't escape at all.
She could only look toward her sister.
"Feiyin, use magic!"
"I... I can't cast anything... *sob sob*... I can't cast anything..."
Having never seen Vera so severely injured, and unable to use magic herself, Feiyin burst into tears.
"Want to leave? I can let you go~"
A nightmarish voice came from behind the trees as Nasa emerged, playing with a small knife and smiling as he walked between the three.
"What do you want?"
"What do I want?" Nasa pressed the small knife against Feiling's cheek, lightly cutting a small wound. "Here you have a sister and a little boyfriend. Choose one."
"Choose what?"
"Choose who dies!"
Nasa's mouth split into a grin, his tongue constantly licking his teeth, his voice unable to suppress its excitement.
"Choose one to die, and I'll free you and the other. How about it?"
Feiling suddenly stretched her neck forward, trying to bite his hand, but Nasa dodged in time.
"Choose your mother to die, you scum! Beast! You'll be bitten to death by wild dogs, you mongrel!"
"Tsk."
A slap struck Feiling's face with such force that it knocked out a tooth.
Feiling was directly slapped unconscious, making Feiyin cry even harder.
"Boring mongrel."
Just as he was about to ask the other twin if she'd choose, he heard Vera's mosquito-like voice.
"Kill..."
Nasa's eyes immediately lit up as he hurried closer:
"Right, right! Who do you say to kill? Don't worry, once you choose, I'll give you a life potion. I guarantee you won't die."
To convince Vera, he actually pulled out a bottle of life potion from his pocket.
"Kill... me... release... them..."
"You—sigh—"
Nasa straightened up, coldly scanning the three, finally raising his small knife.
"How boring. You like sacrifice, do you? Then watch as these two die first!"
At the same time, inside the cave.
Grongba had tried peeling, pulling, tugging, and various other methods, but couldn't open Fat Puff's pouch protected by the [Toughness] skill.
The dwarf finally lost his patience and decided to try something direct.
Standing before Fat Puff, he raised his axe above his head.
【Heavy Cleave LV6】
In the earth-shaking explosion, Grongba transformed into countless raindrops that showered down on Nasa, who had been thrown to the ground.
Nasa: ???
Lin Jun: ???
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