Chapter 579 Chapter 578: Nothing Ever Goes Right...
For some odd reason, sometimes things just couldn't go smoothly despite the entire day having been as smooth as silk, with no hiccups or bumps in the road as we hunted down the monsters we needed and harvested the resources that Anput wanted.
We had everything packed up and slung over our shoulders as we prepared to move out towards the entrance of the Cavern, which was located past that long obsidian riverbed flooded with Ash Ghouls.
Everything about what we were about to do was simple and would just take around twenty to thirty minutes to complete, since we needed to traverse a large expanse of land with heavy materials strapped to ourselves, but it was supposed to be easy...
Again though, life decided that not everything would be simple and easy, and as we were making our way through the Plains of Yama with our haul of resources Anput and I glanced at one another, our ears twitching as we heard something peculiar.
Giving her a slight nod, I continued moving forwards and kept my expression blank, my lips barely moving as I said "Don't react or look, but we're being followed by multiple groups. At least... three behind us. Maybe more, and maybe some ahead as well? Either way, be ready."
Jahi and Leone gave me shallow nods as I brushed past them, taking the front while Anput lingered behind, tightening the strap of one of her packs before hastening her pace to 'catch up' to us.
My eyes scoured over the black ash around us, wondering where these stalkers of ours were leading us to or if there were really other groups lying in wait ahead, perhaps over in the tall yellow grass that the Firefang's occupy.
I had to hold back the urge to caress the hilt of my rapier as well as sneer as I listened to the footsteps behind us, wondering just who decided to target us of all people inside the Caverns.
Were they political opponents hoping to rid themselves of the rising star known as Jahi Asmodia, or maybe a group that wanted to hold either Leone or Anput hostage to get at their respective families?
Or did we just get downright unlucky and happen across the sightline of some unscrupulous bandits that believed four women were easy targets for multiple reasons?
The possibilities were all worrying to some degree; even the bandits could be problematic if they were coordinated enough and had backers.
Either way, thinking on it wasn't something that I could afford to do right now, so I focused entirely on the plains ahead of me as I lead us back towards the canyon that connected the Plains of Yama to the upper levels of the Caverns, where the beginners lingered around to gather experience.
Which would be the perfect place to ambush us, making me sigh quietly as I watched the passage that connected the two separate levels of the Caverns together draw ever closer, all while the sounds of footsteps behind us continued to grow.
As we approached the wide opening of the canyon, the sounds of the footsteps reached a crescendo while the noise of rattling armor and weapons could be heard from all around us as people got to their feet and brandished their weaponry, trying to frighten us.
Their gear was diverse, with a few of the ambushers having pristine arms and armor while others had scraps and hand me downs, suggesting a hierarchy of strength inside this group.
All kinds of colors and symbols could be seen amongst the crowd, and they were all of different races and backgrounds as they approached; some were dignified and clean, while others had sneers and dirty features, their gear showing signs of wear as clearly as their skin did with the various nicks and scars.
Nothing seemed to unify this ragtag mob of characters in front of us; no racial unity, no symbolic unity, no colors or styles... all of them were different, but they all had one aim.
To cause us harm.
My eyes flitted around the mob as I counted them down, taking note of the 'elites' and chaff that dared to stand before us.
Roughly two dozen, I couldn't help but sneer a little as I noticed that of those 24 plus enemies, only 8 had good armor and a respectable pool of mana that radiated unconsciously off of their body, meaning we had around 16 fodder to get rid of before reaching the true threats.
Then again, judging a book by its cover never ends well, so I kept my caution about me as I shifted my gaze towards the stocky reddish browned skinned woman that stepped forwards, her bare arms covered in murky black tribal tattoos that enunciated her bulging muscles well.
Clicking her tongue at us, she gave us a small, yet sharp grin as she rubbed her hands together, those almond shaped eyes narrowing with lust as she looked us all over, saying "There's strength in numbers, y'know? It's a general rule of the Caverns - of any dungeon really - that anything below five is asking for trouble. Now... why don't you pretty ladies make this simple for us, hmm~? Hand over the gear and come with us for a bit..."
The stocky woman grabbed the giant claymore on her back and revealed a wicked blade, its serrated edge shining crimson while the black metal it was forged from seemed to growl hungrily as it was unsheathed.
"Or we can do this the hard way, where we cut you down and ravish each of you until you die~? I can give you my word that after a few hours together - should you make things difficult - you'll be begging me for the sweet release of death. Or I can give you my word that if you come with us peacefully, we can have some fun together before going our separate ways? The choice is yours..."
My lips curled up in disgust as I stared at the woman, while the slight hissing from behind me let me know that Anput was showing the same signs as me.
The temperatures rose around us as well, but all three of us couldn't help but watch as Jahi stepped forwards, the giant Demoness towering over the stocky woman in front of us.
Looking down at her, Jahi crossed her arms and tilted her head, making the red skinned woman frown as she tightened her grip on the hilt of her claymore.
Silence shrouded the area around us, nearly palpable as the red and blue skinned women stared at one another, before Jahi snorted as she muttered "Pathetic..."
Confusion appeared on the woman's face, which was quickly replaced with surprise as she felt something piercing her throat, blood spurting from the wound as my dagger embedded itself in her neck.
The silence was shattered as she dropped to her knees, clutching at the blade weakly and gurgling on her own blood before thunking to the ground, dead.
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Sorry for the late upload, had my power go down early in the morning and it just came back up an hour ago... an entire day gone by just like that...
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