Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 263 Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west
"Uh, thank you, I can do it myself."

Rean felt a little better and quickly let go of Hela's hand, putting some distance between them.

"You despise me."

Without a doubt, Rean was left with a pair of injured eyes.

Rean, however, couldn't bring himself to say it, not because of his current girlfriend, Sallyman, who was likely watching the live stream.

She knew about the delicate relationship between Rean and Hela, and wouldn't be jealous of such things.

Rean sighed and sent the message in a telepathic message.

[My idiot father is really harsh on my satisfaction rating; he's expressing his dissatisfaction with me in his own way. He'll cause me trouble whenever I get close.]

All the satisfaction I had painstakingly built up vanished in an instant just from holding hands.

The most ridiculous thing is that if Rean didn't help Hela, or even if he was harsher on her, he would have deducted even more money.

Deducting a penalty for being too far away, and also for getting too close.
"Or, Mr. Lex, why don't you come out and substitute for him?"

Having a client like this is truly tragic, especially when the client is about to "pay salaries".

Rean could sense that Lex's power was rapidly waning.

Forcibly expanding the selection scope of the Hall of Heroes, and the arbitrary use of his power during the previous "one day," greatly shortened its lifespan.

"Ignore him!" Hela snapped when she heard Lex complaining.

Her agitated words, and even a little broken in voice due to her excessive excitement, were uttered.

This is quite unusual for her, who always faces everything with a calm smile. It seems that Lex's performance recently has put a lot of pressure on her.

Feeling sorry for his unreliable father's poor daughter, Rean sighed.

"Yeah, ignore him."

As he spoke, Rean turned around and took Hela's hand, comforting the emotionally unstable "little girl".

He vaguely sensed that Hela wasn't as mature as she appeared. This sudden outburst, tinged with a hint of hysteria, likely meant that a large hole had been torn in her heart.

It's not noticeable on ordinary days, but once a sensitive issue arises, it can easily escalate completely.

Rean's warm hand and calm smile gradually calmed the girl down.

Satisfaction rate -1%

Go ahead and deduct whatever you want.

"He's completely dead; the important thing is for us to live our lives well."

Rean then looked at Hela with even more pleasure; she puffed out her cheeks, seemingly a little annoyed.

Clearly, Lex wasn't the only one who was awkwardly unsure how to interact with others.

This messy family affair is getting more and more complicated. After his small act of revenge, Rean turned his attention to serious matters.

The ground was already a bloody mess of fragments. In a sense, Rean, with his high attack, high defense, and armor-piercing abilities, became a master hunter of the "undead beasts."

Judging from the communications with the Little Mirror Demon, having already hunted seven Horned Apprentices, I have entered the first tier of Hunter Achievements from the Data Room.

This is already quite remarkable, considering that other teams not only have more people, but are also generally composed of highly skilled professionals (level 5 or above).

On Rean's side, the main force is Rean himself. Even Hela, a high-ranking warrior, is far less efficient than Rean in killing the beasts.

As it turns out, the most efficient way to "slay beasts" is to cut them into minced meat like Rean did and then roast them with dragon flames and radiance.

Even if other attacks successfully decapitate, the horned creature can regenerate into several smaller squads. To their astonishment, the horned creature, now cut in two, split up and fled.

"Something's not right." Looking at the meat sauce on the ground, Rean felt uneasy.

"Did you notice it too? The strength of these humanoid creatures is off."

While harvesting "deer hearts" to prepare for hot pot soup, Red Feather Arrow responded to Rean's questions.

She also sensed that something was wrong.

"Yes, too weak."

"This is weak?" Hela was somewhat surprised and puzzled.

These monsters have terrifying regenerative abilities. Their brute strength, sharp claws, and beast-like fighting instincts make them true killing machines. "They're like freshly hatched cubs, forcibly matured and then kicked onto the battlefield, unable to even use their gravity manipulation abilities properly." Rean had seen fully-formed versions of these monsters, but these Horned Disciples were at least two levels weaker.

These horned creatures were already difficult to deal with in the eyes of outsiders, but Rean was actually mentally prepared to be hit by gravity cannons underground, buried alive, and then dug out.

Moreover, the opponent's fighting style relies too much on bestial instincts. There is nothing wrong with this in itself; a creature's fighting and hunting instincts make it the most efficient way to attack in most situations.

"The attack pattern is too old-fashioned. I could dodge it with my eyes closed. If I can't dodge it, I can take the hit and then kill it."

If it were outside, Rean could try to hide, but in this underground passage, everyone would just exchange injuries and see who dies first.

"Sounds like a good thing? It seems they suffered heavy losses and were forced to send in inexperienced recruits," Hela said thoughtfully.

The reason for using hastily trained recruits is naturally because too many veterans have died in battle.

It seems that this time in the underground world, the local Beast Order has suffered a heavy blow.

Rean shook his head. For most ordinary people and low-ranking warriors, there was no essential difference between the two; the result was still the same: being slaughtered.

"The key point is that the other side has no bottom line or restrictions on these newly transformed human-beast horned disciples, and they may not be devout followers of the Beast Cult."

Conversion carries a high mortality rate, but if it really comes down to life and death, would these cultists care about the lives of others? They clearly have methods to control young animals, and now they're using methods to force-feed horned disciples.
"You mean they'll kidnap people and force them to turn into monsters?"

"It's highly likely. Whatever they plan to do, they'll need to build up their combat strength."

With that, Rean walked toward the Mirror Demon, as these things needed to communicate directly with the ground.

"That's right. I suspect they'll take advantage of the chaos of the attack and fighting to forcibly arrest people."

When Rean spoke, the liaison officer on the other end had a strange expression.
"In fact, the attacks have already happened, and many people have been reported missing in several districts."

It seems that what was bound to happen has already happened.

"What's the situation in the dock area?"

"The situation there seems relatively stable, but it's quite bad in the other districts."

This attack was almost inevitable; the other side had been lurking in the city for who knows how long, and heaven knows how many nobles had become their accomplices.

However, every step they take leaves a trace, and after tonight, many more hidden individuals will surely be exposed.

"Wait a moment, I just received news that the battle is still raging in the dock area, and it's very intense. Several of the Radiant Guards have joined the fray."

Upon hearing this, Rean was a little confused.

Given the situation in the dock area, why should the Radiant Guards be involved? To put it bluntly, apart from those "troublemakers," the ordinary civilians in the dock area are generally malnourished and unsuitable as sacrifices, let alone for incubating young beasts.

"Ah, the slave market has been attacked, and a large number of slaves have been taken away!"

Okay, that seems to explain part of it.

"Shall we go help them?"

"Wait a moment, let me think about it."

Underground, things seem to have calmed down, and it seems that continuing the hunt is pointless, but Rean still feels that something is not right.

"Wait, they kidnapped quite a few people, didn't they? Where did they leave from?"

Large-scale looting and clandestine kidnapping are two different things; the former will definitely leave traces wherever it goes.

If you can arrest someone, others can naturally follow suit, unless there's a particularly difficult obstacle in your path.
"The Ship Grave Passage! The Urda Bull Demon!"

Now, Rean finally understood.

No wonder they were fighting so fiercely in the dock area. It's possible that the people they kidnapped from other areas were brought to the dock area to prepare for entering the underground ruins through the underground passage of the ship tomb.

But they clearly didn't expect that the dock area is now completely different from what it used to be, and that Dimon's influence and several core members of the alumni association are gathering there.

The initial attack targeted underground adventurers, shocking ordinary citizens and explorers alike, while also serving as a diversionary tactic to draw away some high-level combat power.

By this time, they had already begun their surface-based infiltration operations, employing a rapid-fire, quick-return strategy, capturing or luring people directly underground.

Their planned abduction and evacuation was clearly thwarted by forces in the dock area, leading to a high-level deadly struggle. Perhaps because they didn't have enough "people" in hand, they resorted to desperate measures, attacking the slave market and thoroughly offending certain forces.

"We absolutely cannot let them take the kidnapped people deep underground. Although it's a bit early, let's get rid of that Ulda Bull Demon blocking our way now."

(End of this chapter)