Chapter 42

"Another thing I hate has just been added to the list." Gulathias barely avoided the explosion, his injuries worsening, and the killing intent emanating from him grew even more intense.

In a brief moment, he figured out the reason for encountering such a situation. No one would do this, but what if the one doing this wasn't a person? That squirrel!

There weren't many bombs placed here...

He fought more cautiously for a while, gradually grasping a bit of the low-level tactics. He had exposed many weaknesses, but Zheng Chen hadn't seized the opportunity. Even though the metal wires around him became dense again, he had suffered many losses and could quickly react every time he came into contact with them, rendering the metal wires ineffective.

Such tactics wouldn't work anymore. As soon as he felt something was wrong with the metal wires he touched, he would immediately throw them away, and even if they triggered an explosion, it wouldn't hurt him.

His opponent, Zheng Chen, now also felt the trouble. Even though he was injured, he was still difficult to deal with, and his speed hadn't slowed down much. If it were just him, Zheng Chen wouldn't care, but another battle was still ongoing. So, if there were any entanglements...

His eyes changed, and Zheng Chen seized a weakness when Gulathias touched the metal wires. He swung the crossbow arm at the hand holding the weapon. Seeing this, Gulathias sneered, and the black aura on his long sword instantly expanded, moving at an incredible speed to slash at Zheng Chen's arm.

Cutting off one of my hands, it's time to cripple one of yours!

Clang!

Zheng Chen's crossbow arm was deflected. As expected, the long sword would cut off Zheng Chen's arm and split him in two.

Another loud collision sounded. What's going on!? How can he still block?

This mistake wasn't intentional but a genuine one. One mistake was enough.

Zheng Chen's other hand had already pressed against his chest, and a splash of blood instantly shot out. After landing a hit, Zheng Chen maintained a defensive stance, crouched down, and retreated a few steps in a different direction.

"…I see." Gulathias, standing stiffly, looked down at the spreading blood on his chest and then at Zheng Chen's undamaged forearm sleeve during the battle.

The place that was cut revealed a metallic sheen, with a faint cut mark, but it wasn't broken... This thing blocked his attack, a forearm guard? This was just one aspect; the other was a deadly weapon.

On the brink of death, and with Zheng Chen's killing move exposed, he quickly figured out the whole situation. From the beginning, he hadn't escaped his opponent's tactics, thinking the killing move was the traps around him. He even anticipated a large trap somewhere, but he overlooked the final killing move coming from Zheng Chen himself!

From the start, Zheng Chen had shown a weakness in combat, even if he suppressed him, it was by using the terrain and traps around. This weakness made him overlook the most critical and fatal part.

"I lost, but it's not over yet!!!"

A jet of blood spurted from his chest, and Gulathias' eyes widened, staring at Zheng Chen, who was on guard to prevent his final counterattack. The black aura on the long sword covered the surroundings, and in that instant, the speed he exerted was hard for Zheng Chen to detect!

However, this last-ditch counterattack was destined to fail. A few drops of blood dripped from a metal wire hidden in the shadows above Zheng Chen.

With the death of the bonded partner, the Holy War Angel could no longer maintain the bond. The Holy War Angel, holding Gulathias' head, glared at Zheng Chen with eyes full of resentment from under the cap.

Picking up a smoking pipe that had rolled to his feet, Zheng Chen threw it...

The relationship between the Holy War Angel and the bonded partner... was profound.

A few ripples appeared in his eyes, but Zheng Chen quickly regained his composure. There was still a battle to resolve!

At the same time, the players involved in the battle saw hope. The feeling was like grinding a boss, and they had finally worn down the boss's health. They could see that Gureiaz and Lassadi's attacks were already very tired, and there were only about thirty Phiro left. Their side had a significant advantage!

They didn't know how Gulathias was doing...

A player who was secretly preparing to shoot a black gun was strangled, suddenly turning into a soul state, still in shock. Who the hell attacked me!?

At this stage, few players could resist the fatal damage from a throat cut. As the battle continued, the other players also noticed something was wrong. Why did so many people die for no reason?

Through the system's built-in channel, they learned that Zheng Chen had returned!

"…Don't hide, quickly group up!" The players immediately responded. If they continued like this, they would be slowly ground down to death, let alone winning!

Without the players' hidden attacks, the pressure on Gureiaz and Lassadi greatly decreased, and the arrows shot from the forest further relieved their pressure.

"Boss, did we win?" Gureiaz couldn't help but ask, his voice loud, specifically to shake the fighting will of the remaining Phiro.

Hearing his words, the fighting will of the Phiro in battle declined. The leader had been taken care of?

Hearing Gureiaz's shout, Zheng Chen reloaded his crossbow and walked out.

"Want to continue?"

Zheng Chen raised his crossbow, and the Phiro being pointed at couldn't help but take a small step back. This weapon was too deadly, and they didn't want to follow in the footsteps of their fallen comrades. As for the players, they also grouped up, but their numbers had already decreased by nearly a third!

"Truly the killer of players at this stage..." The surviving players couldn't help but mutter. The survival rate for dealing with normal or abnormal situations was high, but as long as it involved players, the fatality rate was generally high.

However, the players' perception of him was only for the current stage. In the future? He would definitely be able to dominate!

It's just a matter of who does it first.

Noticing that the Phiro were unwilling to leave easily, Lassadi's eyes narrowed, and he forcibly rushed to Zheng Chen's side with Lei. Their current state was not good, and the only one who could still intimidate them was Lei.

Seeing Lei being brought to Zheng Chen's side, the hesitant Phiro immediately chose to retreat. Continuing the fight was meaningless. Gulathias hadn't returned, but Zheng Chen had, clearly indicating that he had met his end. This ambush mission had completely failed!

For the players, the failure of the mission didn't matter much. The impact was merely the experience points they would gain after the battle. If they succeeded, they would gain more experience points and rewards within the organization. If they failed, they would just get less experience. With so many people acting together, how severe could the punishment be?

If pushed to the limit, they could all leave!

"Boss, did we really win?" Gureiaz let out a long sigh, and Kokovit, who had just been released from the bond, sat on the ground without any ladylike demeanor, clearly exhausted.

Zheng Chen didn't say much, turned, and walked into the forest. Although he was very tired, he still led Kokovit and Lassadi and the others. The squirrel jumped out from behind a tree and climbed onto Lei's shoulder. Compared to the bloodied Zheng Chen, the clean and beautiful girl was a much better resting place...

"Ah." It turns out he was collecting items.

Seeing Zheng Chen continuously pulling out barely noticeable metal wires from around, Gureiaz felt a chill. If these weren't collected, any unlucky person who came here in the future might not even know how they died!

At first, it was just metal wires, but as Zheng Chen pulled out more and more exaggerated items, hidden crossbows, spikes, and even grenades, it became clear that he had used a lot of materials.

No wonder when he woke up yesterday, he found that his luggage had decreased significantly, even the steel for repairing the cable car was missing a large part. It seems they were all used here.

Most of the traps he retrieved were discarded in one place, and only the special metal used for the metal wires and crossbows was recycled. This material was precious, and he needed to conserve it until he found a new source.

Gureiaz scratched his head. How to put it, it felt reassuring. Even if the Phiro hadn't retreated and continued attacking, they wouldn't necessarily lose. Luring them all here, the outcome wasn't determined by numbers.

So, how many things did Zheng Chen set up last night?

"Them?" Gureiaz looked at the bodies on the ground and immediately recognized them. Gulathias and his Holy War Angel. He never thought Gulathias would die like this...

"Strange, that Phiro doesn't seem to have appeared."

Gureiaz said, a bit puzzled.

"Dead." Zheng Chen replied coolly. Gureiaz's mouth twitched, and he forced himself to hold back his next words. Uh, it's better not to ask too much at this time.

"…This isn't right, is it?" Looking at the dead Holy War Angel holding Gulathias' head, Lei couldn't help but say, feeling a bit sad. Even though their positions were different, they were still of the same race, and the dead always deserved more leniency.

"Um, even if they are dead, the core stone of the Holy War Angel… Uh?" Seeing Zheng Chen's expressionless gaze, Gureiaz was taken aback, realizing he might have said something wrong.

"Go dig a hole."

Zheng Chen pressed on the pile of steel to be discarded, and the missing part reappeared in his hands, turning into a shovel and throwing it to him.

"…"

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