Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

After I stepped into the portal for quite a while, the paladin Druf finally arrived with his druid wife Hana and his good friend, the assassin Marton. Seeing the now empty cave, the three of them immediately turned pale.

Druf, a 15th-level paladin, was already considered a skilled fighter in the Rogue Encampment. Along with Hana, a 13th-level druid, and Marton, a 14th-level assassin, all three had extensive combat experience. Their team was well-known even throughout the entire Rogue Encampment.

A few days ago, at Marton's suggestion, the three of them came to the Evil Cave again, hoping to get lucky and encounter the Corpsefire. They had fought the Corpsefire multiple times, and the entire Evil Cave was like their backyard.

With their familiarity with the Evil Cave, it didn't take them long to navigate through the maze and reach the depths of the cave. Although the Corpsefire's respawn location was random, the other monsters in the Evil Cave were too weak to stop them, which greatly accelerated their search. After a few days, they found the Corpsefire. After careful planning, they spent half a day clearing the surrounding small monsters before slowly engaging the Corpsefire. With their previous experience and默契 (默契 means默契, but in this context, it can be translated as "cooperation"), they quickly reduced the Corpsefire's health to about one-tenth.

Just when they thought they could easily finish it off, as they had done before, and were even fantasizing about blue equipment drops, the Corpsefire went berserk. Frequent ghost strikes put them at a disadvantage. Although they had never experienced such a situation before, Druf had heard about such sudden events from his seniors. He never thought such a low-probability event would happen to them, especially when a group of Fallen appeared right at that moment. As the team leader, he had to consider the safety of his teammates. This was not a monster worth risking their lives to defeat, so he had no choice but to order a retreat, planning to attack again once the Corpsefire calmed down.

Now, they looked at the empty cave. The Corpsefire was gone, and the group of Fallen that had just respawned had also disappeared. Even the items dropped by other small monsters were all gone. The answer was clear: the Corpsefire had been killed by someone else, leaving nothing for them. The only ones with such strength were likely the Transcenders.

"Damn it, who the hell is it?"

Marton punched the wall hard, his eyes bloodshot with anger. Anyone in this situation would feel the same pain.

"Marton, you need to calm down. How can you become an excellent assassin if you always get so agitated?"

The paladin Druf said calmly.

"But, we worked so hard to fight the Corpsefire, and someone just took it from us. How can I...?"

Marton's voice choked up. Despite their shiny equipment and extensive experience, all of it had been earned with their lives. Behind the glory were countless sweat and tears. Now, after finally finding a Corpsefire, they thought they could get some equipment, but someone else had beaten them to it. Even the usually gentle Hana clenched her fists tightly.

"Marton." Druf's eyes were sharp like knives, piercing Marton's.

"I ask you, how much health did the Corpsefire have when we left?"

"About... about one-tenth left, I think."

Marton, intimidated by Druf's sharp gaze, looked away.

"Then I ask you, if you were alone, could you have killed the Corpsefire with only one-tenth health left?"

"No... no, I couldn't."

"You, Hana, could you do it?"

Druf turned to his wife, knowing full well her frustration.

"I... I couldn't either."

Hana lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong.

"Yes."

Druf took a deep breath, trying to calm his anger, not at the Transcender who had taken the Corpsefire, but at the two closest people in front of him.

"You couldn't, and neither could you."

Druf pointed at Marton, then at Hana, and finally at himself.

"I couldn't either. Even with one-tenth health, we needed to work together to defeat it."

The person who killed the Corpsefire must have stayed nearby, evading our notice. This means they were few in number, no, we can be sure it was just one person.

"We couldn't, but he did. That's the fact. In this world, the strong rule."

Druf said in a steady voice. He was just as frustrated, if not more so, but there was nothing he could do. The Transcender who killed the Corpsefire was clearly stronger than any of them.

If the three of us were together, we might not fear him, but what would that change? Finding him and making an enemy of him? Making an enemy of a strong person? Unless we could kill him, which would be the most unwise action, and even if we did, it would be the most unwise action. Transcenders fear each other's battles the most. Even if we could successfully kill him, what if someone found out? Killing a Transcender for a Corpsefire would likely result in the entire Dark Continent not letting us off.

Publicizing this and letting all Transcenders criticize his actions? No, that would only make others mock him. They would remember one fact: with the strength of three, they couldn't even defeat a Corpsefire, and instead, another person succeeded. From then on, their team's reputation would be ruined.

This continent is like this: beyond justice, the strong rule. As long as you don't violate justice, the one with the strongest fist is the boss.

"The Corpsefire isn't something we raised. Why should we be the only ones allowed to kill it?"

"Is it because we fought it before? Yes, that might be true, but don't forget, we had already retreated. So, anyone has the right to continue the challenge. We can only blame our bad luck." Druf said in a steady voice, partly to calm the other two and partly to console himself.

Yes, although this might seem a bit unfair, since we chose to retreat, others have every right to step in and kill it. The Corpsefire isn't reserved for us. There's no rule that says we can take a break and come back to continue, without others interfering. If we were strong enough, we could do that, but the facts show that the other person is clearly stronger than any of us.

"Let's go back."

Druf's voice was loud but carried a hint of fatigue. As the team leader, he had put in the most effort to kill the Corpsefire, but it all went to waste. It was the will of heaven.

After saying that, Druf activated the portal scroll. The other two exchanged glances and sighed heavily, then took out their scrolls from their inventory. After about thirty seconds, three beams of light appeared, and the three of them disappeared from the cave.

I had imagined that things like portals would be like the time tunnels that some time travelers experience, with weightlessness, nausea, and other unpleasant sensations. And for me, a time traveler, each passage might even strengthen my body with mysterious temporal powers.

Unfortunately, this beautiful wish was destined to be shattered. When I touched the energy column formed by the portal scroll, my body was involuntarily sucked in. I didn't even have time to react. The next moment, I found myself on a large terrace.

As I stepped out, the setting sun hit my eyes like hot pepper water. Having been in the dark Evil Cave for almost half a month, I hadn't seen sunlight in a long time. Even the gentle sunset almost blinded me, and tears streamed down my face. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the light, but I still felt dizzy.

"Respected sir, you must be the new druid Wu Fan. Welcome back."

As I slowly opened my eyes, a Rogue with a bow and arrow approached, bowed, and said respectfully.

"Um... um, hello..."

It had been about a month since I came out, and a month of solitary life had made me forget how to speak to people.

The Rogue in front of me seemed to understand my awkwardness and smiled. "Sir Wu Fan, I'm sure you must have been through a fierce battle and now want to relax. Would you like me to take you to the best inn to rest?"

"No, thank you."

I waved my hand, and the Rogue tactfully stepped back.

"Sir, please walk slowly."

As I took heavy steps, my brain, dazed by the sunlight, gradually cleared up—where am I?

I looked around. I was standing on something like a temple, at least several dozen meters high. The entire temple was pure white, and on the temple floor, countless intricate lines and runes were carved. These lines and runes were embedded with a beautiful, golden-like color, emitting a dazzling light, adding a touch of luxurious mystery to the temple.

This must be the portal that Akara mentioned. It's too magnificent and impressive. Compared to the simple portals in the game, which are just a cross and a circle with a lamp on each side, this is like a child's mud sculpture.

I slowly descended the stairs from the temple. The portal was in the central area, so I was now in the central area. It was really convenient.

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