### Chapter 370: The Perfect Stalemate
“Riya…” Dazzy tugged at Yuliya’s hand.
“It’s fine,” Yuliya shook her head, “It makes no difference to me.”
“We’ll take turns watching over you. Nothing will happen!” Brook said loudly, making sure everyone else heard him.
“Thanks a lot.”
Yuliya nodded and climbed up onto a branch of the tree, resting against it under everyone’s watchful gazes.
The adventurers started to organize their own things, but their eyes kept darting towards Yuliya’s tree occasionally.
But as adventurers, they were all quite cautious; they wouldn’t let down their guard just because they had a common suspect.
Including the soldiers, the Soldier Leader, and even their own teammates.
This night was the quietest yet, devoid of the previous days’ campfire chatter, replaced only by an atmosphere heavy as water.
Not a word was said throughout the night.
But when morning of the sixth day broke, more than twenty people had still met their demise.
It was light outside, yet their eyes remained dark, their hearts plunged into icy depths.
Many glanced at Yuliya, but she resolutely stayed perched in the tree.
The Soldier Leader also wore a stern expression: “People on guard last night, report the situation.”
At first, everything was fine, but as the night wore on, some began to stammer.
“Speak clearly.”
“I… I fell asleep halfway through my shift! With so many people on watch, what’s one less supposed to matter?!”
“I… I dozed off too.”
“Me too.”
After adding it all up, they realized many on watch had dozed off after midnight.
“We didn’t sleep! We were watching closely! Riya didn’t do anything, just stayed in the tree!”
Dazzy shouted, “Riya was keeping it honest, and something still happened! She’s innocent now!”
The Soldier Leader ignored her, his brow furrowing further.
“All experienced adventurers, how could they all fall asleep? Something feels off here.”
One adventurer chimed in, “I don’t know, I just inexplicably felt drowsy.”
“Could someone be messing with us?”
“Must be an accomplice!”
After being glared at by Brook, that person quickly backtracked, “Not her… I meant either it’s not her or she has an accomplice.”
Skepticism works like that; no need for basis or reason.
“So what do we do today?”
“Should we head back? We’ve come this far; we might as well clear out some quests on the way.”
The Soldier Leader shook his head. “The mission is still incomplete. We push on. As I said yesterday, I’ll lead the way.”
He suddenly turned to Yuliya. “But you need to be right by my side.”
“Right! You have to be up front! You can’t just hide in the back forever!”
The other adventurers echoed this.
Yuliya shrugged nonchalantly. “I have no objections. I’ll follow the plan. But we’re down to a small number now; you need to be careful. I’m really worried if we’ll finish our mission successfully.”
“I’ll handle it; you don’t need to worry. Team, forward!”
Dazzy stepped forward, looking concerned. “Riya, are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Well, you’re going to have to be out in front today…”
“Don’t worry; I have my own safety measures. Just keep an eye on yourselves.”
On the sixth day, they marched again.
More troubles awaited them along the way.
They were now deep in the forest, and since the group intentionally headed toward some monster nests, the attacks they faced were fiercer than ever.
The Soldier Leader charged ahead, unstoppable; those Silver Level monsters were dealt with in a matter of three hits.
Only now did the adventurers realize just how extraordinary this Soldier Leader was.
Even compared to the other Gold Level adventurers in their ranks, he was clearly in a league of his own.
Naturally, someone from a military background had a combat ability that far surpassed that of a self-taught adventurer.
Yuliya followed him at a distance, just blending in.
She was great at finding the right spots, always dodging monster attacks. When she did encounter some, she’d poke them and then slip away, leaving the rest to the following party.
Her motto was simple: I’m weak, and taking it easy is totally understandable.
The “following party” referred to Dazzy and the others.
They chose to stick close, ready to assist in case of problems.
Yuliya had special lazy techniques, while the others were all Gold Level strong, making the overall situation manageable.
But for the others trailing behind, things were starting to get complicated.
“This doesn’t make sense! Why are there still so many monsters?!”
“We’ve got the route all wrong! We shouldn’t be going this way! This area is one we wouldn’t dare enter normally!”
“What about the Soldier Leader? He…”
Some wanted to say more, but seeing the Soldier Leader had already engaged with a Gold Level monster, they shut up instantly.
Just as he said, he was leading the charge, taking on the toughest pressure.
Thus, the rest could only grit their teeth and follow.
That day, over a hundred more fell.
As night fell, it was yet another nerve-wracking evening for everyone.
Except for Yuliya.
The corners of her mouth curled slightly beneath her mask.
“Looks like it’s time to speed things up.”
On the seventh morning, the customary bodies appeared.
This time, there were over fifty.
But twenty of those soldiers claimed they had fled and been captured for failing to follow orders, and thus were executed.
Now, only about two hundred adventurers remained, and the Offering Ceremony had just hit its halfway mark, but nearly four hundred had already perished.
Aside from the adventurers, the soldiers had started with a hundred and were now down to just over eighty.
When the Soldier Leader commanded the whole squad to advance again, someone finally couldn’t hold back.
“We’re not going! If we keep going, we’ll all d*e! I’m done with this mission! Let’s just scatter!”
“Yeah! This is nothing like before! People aren’t supposed to keep dying like this!”
“You idiots! Soldiers are idiots, and adventurers are idiots too!”
A few shouted angrily, stepping out to break away from the group.
In response, the others just stared at them, remaining silent.
“Are you guys… mute? Say something! We still have so many adventurers! Why would you want to march to your d*ath when it’s clear we can’t continue the mission? Are you out of your minds?!”
After a moment of silence, someone finally replied.
“Don’t you think the insider last night might have said something like you did to lure people out?”
“…”
The atmosphere plunged into silence.
Many shared this sentiment.
In such times, who would dare break away from the main group?
Moving forward meant facing monsters, possibly leading to d*ath. But going back invited not only monsters but also a lurking traitor.
So relatively speaking, wouldn’t continuing forward increase their chances of survival a bit?
After all, there were still these soldiers, and a Soldier Leader so formidable.
In that silence, Yuliya suddenly spoke out: “I think we’ve had enough killing by now.”
All eyes turned towards her instantly.
“Ah, haha, I was referring to the monsters,” Yuliya added with a smile, “We should have reached the required number for the mission. So theoretically, we can head back now.”
“Not enough,” the Soldier Leader replied sternly, his eyes flickering. “Keep pushing forward!”
(Tune in tomorrow to wrap up this little storyline!)
