Since this was a “time-limited event” without any prior notices, few players could participate in time.
Players were more inclined to reside in Roseburg than the rural Freezing Water Port. After all, the city was relatively more developed. It was much more convenient for food, clothing, housing, and transportation. In addition, there were opportunities for odd jobs to earn some money and upgrade their equipment.
After all, even their feudal lord already resided in Roseburg, so they didn’t even have the task of bodyguarding their lord there.
However, some players would visit Freezing Water Port once every three days to farm the dungeon instances.
Fortunately, there were about 30 players in Roseburg, and the strongest 4 players were all in Roseburg right now.
Only Salvatore was still living in the Freezing Water Port.
His laboratory was just below the city lord’s residence. It would be troublesome to move the place, and he would be leaving soon anyway.
In fact, after he had gotten the Venerated Skeleton’s Bone Blood Trigger, he could already return to Swamp’s Black Tower.
The reason why Salvatore didn’t leave immediately was to not leave the mess to Annan.
Salvatore admitted that he owed Annan, involving Annan in a fight that had nothing to do with him. This guilt even deepened after learning of Annan’s true identity.
However, Annan didn’t think so. He never felt that Salvatore owed him anything, and he even thought that he had used Salvatore so many times that he felt uneasy for his conscience.
Somehow, Salvatore was quite firm in his view.
He had already made up his mind that when Annan went to the capital, he would follow along as well before he returned to Swamp’s Black Tower.
Of course, Annan thought that Salvatore must be feeling lonely on his journey.
Although Annan couldn’t get Salvatore’s help in this operation, he had summoned another helper, Kafni Noah, on his way in getting his equipment.
Kafni, who was left alone in Roseburg by the Fourth Prince Albert, was now Annan’s chief bodyguard.
She lived in the room next to Annan.
After advancing into Silver Rank, the most significant difference was the “Perception” and “Will” attributes.
A Dragon Monk’s extraordinary perception allowed Kafni to detect every movement in Annan’s room, even through walls. Whether there were thieves or assassins, she could directly sense their location as if she had seen them with her own eyes.
At this moment, Annan brought Kafni to the side of the warehouse. She was sensing the curses in the warehouse over a distance, with her eyes closed.
“I can feel it…” Kafni closed her eyes slightly and whispered, “There are remnants of rituals over there. It’s fresh… and there are many varieties.”
“Can you detect what types of ritual there are?” Annan asked eagerly.
Kafni shook her head, “I can’t sense the ritual’s outcome. It must be the doing of a veteran. He must have added the wall with a layer of lead. If I haven’t advanced into Silver Rank, I can’t sense any trace of ritual even if I’m a Dragon Monk.”
“Can you give me a rough number of the rituals?”
Annan urged in a low volume, “If you aren’t sure with the type, count what’s in there. You don’t need to be accurate with the numbers, but tell me what you sense.”
Hearing Annan’s instructions, Kafni closed her eyes again and poured her perceptions into the warehouse.
“I felt the essence of ‘Bone’, ‘Dead’, ‘Fear’, ‘Betrayal’, ‘Shadow’, and ‘Blood’. I don’t know how many summoned creatures are there or which of these smells are material, influences, or a summon. But to be on the safe side, we must be prepared to face up to 7 Transcended enemies.”
Kafni said seriously, “If there are more than two Silver Rank enemies, I may not be able to protect you.”
As she spoke, she glanced back at the players who were gathering up. Then, she whispered into Annan’s ear, “If the battle situation is unfavorable, can we let them occupy the enemies as we retreat? In that case, I’m confident that I can buy you time.”
…That should be fine. Annan thought.
In actual fact, Annan summoned the players with the same intention.
From this point of view, Kafni and Annan shared the same thoughts.
But in front of the players, Annan naturally couldn’t admit it so readily.
“Annan” was an NPC on the player’s side. Moreover, he was a future Grand Duke who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside like a prickly pear. Also, he had to display himself in being resolute, responsible, and wise. So how could he be timid before the fight?
“It doesn’t matter.”
Annan patted Kafni’s head lightly, feeling the warmth of Kafni’s head, and whispered comfortably in her ear, “I have another ‘that’ to use — it won’t be dangerous.
“If the situation is unfavorable, I will activate it.”
Although Annan wasn’t well-prepared equipment-wise compared to the battle with the Rotten Man, he still had the incomplete Sage’s Stone with him.
In addition, Annan also brought along [Elven Skin Glove], [Barrier Destroyer’s Right Arm], and [White Guillotine]. Then, he put the [Blood-stained Kitchen Knife] in a carry-on bag.
The main reason for not taking out the kitchen knife directly was because the curse [Painting Destroyer] might put Annan in a difficult situation.
[Painting Destroyer: If the holder sees a portrait of a middle-aged woman while wielding the [Blood-stained Kitchen Knife], he must throw the kitchen knife out within 3 seconds. Otherwise, the holder will be injured by the kitchen knife.]
They were about to assault a warehouse, with the owner of that warehouse being a ritualist.
Certainly, rituals often required something bizarre and less common. Annan dared not say that there were absolutely no “portraits of middle-aged women” in that warehouse.
If he saw the painting when he entered the warehouse with a kitchen knife, he would have to disarm his weapon immediately in front of the enemy.
It was better to hide it from sight and use it as a one-time throwing weapon at critical moments. After all, the kitchen knife had a handy curse [Extraordinary Throw].
[Extraordinary Throw: When this item was thrown, it would automatically search for enemies in a small area as if the Edict school spell of the same name was applied.]
In the previous battle with the Rotten Man, this skill didn’t come in handy because it was just an ordinary kitchen knife, and it couldn’t harm the Rotten Man.
Sending it over was like an act of giving a gift.
Worse still, the Rotten Man might catch the knife and throw it back.
After all, curse vessels wouldn’t recognize their masters.
Annan was confident that a kitchen knife thrown by Rotten Man would be fatal.
At present, however, the current enemies were feeble mortals.
They weren’t even Transcended yet.
Hence, the kitchen knife had a purpose in this battle.
At present, Annan wielded a hammer with his right hand and a guillotine blade in his left, giving off a ferocious air — if you ignore his body size and young face.
Even though Annan had a sullen face and made a look of “I’m super fierce now”, the players just whispered among themselves and pointed at him secretly.
“—To be honest, he’s kind of cute.”
“—The cute style of being angry.”
“—Come on. Annan can break your head with a hammer.”
“—Even if he does, I wouldn’t stop him. It’s because of my love for him!”
“—Alright, stop now. You’re making us embarrassed.”
Looking at the lively forum, Suuankou and Citalopram felt a touch of “What, I’m actually playing a game”.
After the players were all gathered, Annan commanded in a deep voice, “The only door on the front has a trap, which Suuankou had set up. Then, we’ll take a different path. Let’s go in from the place where there is no door! I’ll break the wall first, and then you all shall charge in—everyone pairs up in twos for the first assault. After getting close to the enemy, Kafni, Yiyi, and I will enter from the side of the battlefield.
“Remember to attack the summons first while giving priority to your safety. You don’t need to kill them, and your goal is to hold them back. The front exit of the warehouse is installed with traps, and you can also force the enemy there. Kafni and I will focus on defeating the ritualist first.
“Then, let’s all get ready…” As Annan spoke, he raised the hammer in his hand.
If this hammer wasn’t a hammer but only a staff, it resembled the infamous Shaolin weapon — Qi Mei Staff. After counting the hammer in, it would appear that Annan’s height was relatively inadequate.
Annan waved the [Barrier Destroyer’s Right Arm] at the next moment.
It gained an extra boost of 10 Strength when attacking a “wall”.
As Annan slammed the hammer with all his might, the earth trembled.
On the next hit, that side wall of the warehouse was full of cracks.
On the third hit, a hole about one person in height and five meters wide was broken into the wall. Many bricks and debris splashed inward with the dust flying up in the air.
As the warehouse wall collapsed inward, the players charged in with killing intent!
Indeed, the players had heard the instructions. There were many “summoned creatures” and killed anyone you see.
Since our goal is to hold them back, defeating them directly wouldn’t be a problem, right?
The players had watched the live stream on summoned creatures before and learned that these creatures would give a lot of experience.
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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.