Chapter 84: Shattered Hail
In the secret room, Buck and Colif were rummaging through important items when suddenly, the previously closed door of the secret room began to creak loudly. Shocked, Buck and Colif looked towards the entrance of the secret room, only to see that the door was slowly opening amidst the sound of the mechanism.
“Who opened the door?!”
This was the shared thought of both Buck and Colif as they gazed at the open door, seeing a male figure standing with a g*n in hand, wearing a coat and hat, at the end of the corridor outside the study.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The moment the secret room door opened, Edric, who was standing in the corridor, pulled the trigger and fired continuously at the two inside the room, advancing towards the study door while shooting.
Bullets rained down on them, but the relatively healthy Buck managed to dodge all of them. The heavily injured Colif, however, was hit again and collapsed, unable to stand.
“d*mn it! Have they caught up already? How did he know the password to open the door?”
Grinding his teeth, Buck thought to himself. However, he did not stop moving his hands. After Edric had emptied his clip, Buck also pulled out a dagger from the wall of the secret room and threw it at Edric when he was reloading. Edric dodged the dagger, but left himself wide open.
“Chance!”
Seizing the opportunity, Buck rushed into the study with his sword, charging straight at Edric and piercing him through the chest. Edric’s expression froze, then he lost all life and fell to the ground.
“Huh…”
Seeing the enemy fall, Buck breathed a sigh of relief, but remained vigilant. Just then, a crisp sound reached his ears.
“Click…”
Buck immediately turned his head towards the source of the sound, which was none other than the storage room next to his study!
The storage room’s door was wide open, revealing rows of glass cabinets and porcelain vases inside. It was pitch black since there was no electricity, with only occasional glimmers in the darkness.
The previous sound had come from here, confirming that someone was definitely inside. Before Buck could react further, another sound echoed.
And this time, the sound reverberated…
“—Fus—”
A deafening noise exploded beside him, shattering all the bottles and glasses in the room. The violent shockwave carried by the sound waves burst out of the storage room door and slammed into Buck, who was standing at the study door. Buck was thrown back and crashed heavily against the wall, while the shockwave swept through the study, shattering windows, overturning furniture, and scattering books everywhere, turning the entire room into a scene resembling snowfall.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
After the impact, a painful scream came from the wall of the study. Buck, who was leaning there, was now covered in sharp shards of glass and ceramic fragments. His body was drenched in bl**d, making him look like a bl**d-soaked human, screaming in agony.
‘Bingo, success~’
Hiding in the dark corner of the storage room, Dorothy thought to herself upon witnessing Buck’s miserable state. Using the storage room and the technique of Dragon Roar was her original plan.
Dorothy’s Dragon Roar lacked direct damage power. If she didn’t use the third stage of transformation, it would just be an area-of-effect knockback, capable of blowing people several meters away. Ordinary people would be knocked unconscious, but for a Thirster, it wouldn’t have much effect—they’d just get up after dusting themselves off.
However, if something else was added to the mix, the outcome would be different. Concealed in the storage room, Dorothy used the Dragon Roar to turn shattered glass and ceramics into sharp arrows, spraying them all over Buck like a giant shotgun.
‘Even a Thirster would lose their ability to move after being hit like this…’
Observing the pained and wailing Buck, Dorothy thought to herself.
‘It’s time for the finishing blow…’
Just as Dorothy was about to control Edric to attack again, the situation changed. A dark shadow flashed in from the window, landing on the ground before slowly rising. It was a young man with golden hair and a gentle face, standing silently in the study, surveying his surroundings.
“d*mn, who’s this?”
Surprised by the sudden appearance of the young man, Dorothy was startled, halting her attempt to awaken Edric. She continued hiding in the corner of the storage room, observing the situation in the study through the eyes of a zombie puppet.
“Bi, Bill!? What are you doing here?” Seeing the unexpected arrival of the young man, Buck, who was originally in despair, exclaimed in surprise. The young man named Bill silently glanced at Buck and then said:
“I heard gunshots from your direction, so I consulted my mentor. He instructed me to bring you to him.”
“Mentor? He sent you to save me? Great! But be careful! There’s an enemy over there! Not the An Yin Bureau, but a very powerful one! You need to be careful!”
Pointing at the dark storage room, Buck said, eventually falling silent due to pain. Bill followed Buck’s pointing towards the darkness within the storage room.
“Not good… Do I have to fight another well-conditioned Thirster? The zombie puppets and spirituality are almost depleted…”
Seeing Bill’s gaze, Dorothy felt tense. Just as she prepared to continue fighting, Bill spoke slowly to Buck again.
“My task is only to bring you to the mentor.”
As he spoke, Bill removed several pieces of glass from Buck’s body and shouldered him. Then, his gaze shifted to Colif, who was lying motionless on the ground, reaching out toward them.
“Bill… Me too! Me too…”
Looking at Colif, Bill paused slightly, then picked up Buck’s staff-sword and slowly approached Colif.
“Sorry, Colif, we can’t take two at once.”
Saying this, Bill directly plunged the sword into Colif’s body. Then, with a solemn expression, the red gem atop the staff-sword emitted a crimson glow.
“Aaaah! What are you doing, Bill?! Aaaah…”
Colif screamed in extreme pain as his expression twisted. He began to visibly shrink, transforming from a normal person into a skeleton with skin, then from a skeleton to a mummy.
Finally, Colif’s voice faded away, and the mummified Colif’s terrified expression became even more horrifying. Bill withdrew the staff-sword from the already dead Colif. The red gem at the top of the staff, which had been dull, now glowed brightly with a red aura.
‘Is the “Cup” taken out? Are they having an internal conflict?’
Seeing this scene, Dorothy was stunned. Facing Bill’s actions, Buck was also surprised.
“Bill… What are you…”
“It’s nothing, it makes it easier to carry them back…” Facing Buck’s astonishment, Bill looked at the glowing red gem at the top of the staff.
Then, Bill shouldered Buck, holding the staff-sword, and leaped out of the window.
After some time, the zombie puppet Edric slowly stood up, checking the outside and surroundings. Dorothy slowly emerged from the shadows in the storage room, facing the chaos before her.
On the ground where the dry corpse of Colif lay, a piece of his clothing pressed beneath him faintly flickered with a weak light.
This light vaguely revealed the mark of “Lamp”…
…
On the other side, at a quiet riverbank of the Iron Mud River, several spacious carriages drawn by two horses were parked. Between the carriages, a team of uniformed Hunters gathered together. In the middle of them was Elena, who had removed her mask.
At this moment, Elena was holding a compass that kept spinning wildly. She focused intently on the spinning needle, gradually slowing its movement until it pointed in a specific direction.
Elena looked in the direction indicated by the compass, which was the north bank of the upper reaches of the Iron Mud River, the White Galaxy Beach.
