NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50: Release That Girl!
A low-pitched alarm seemed to sound on the third underground level of the Monster Cage guild, directly activating many construct guards hidden in the shadows.
After figuring out these guys' strength, David finally relaxed and had the mood to observe their construction.
Actually, they were vastly different from the steam knight deep in the sewers. These construct guards were only the size of normal people, and their attack power wasn't much stronger than ordinary monsters.
Most construct guards' movements were also very stiff. The only thing worth praising was probably their very hard metal shells.
But this level of hardness still wasn't enough in front of David's level 5 Hand of Monster. As long as he tore open their shells and destroyed the gear cores inside, they'd completely stop.
David held his bowler hat with one hand, casually strolling through the underground passage. Behind him, the Hand of Monster swung randomly, slapping a construct guard to death with one claw—unstoppable.
He hadn't brought that exaggerated upgraded Heavy Hammer. That gun was too conspicuous and couldn't be snuck into the venue, but this wouldn't have much impact on the battle's outcome.
Worst case, enemies would rush over during the Hand of Monster's cooldown and stab him a few times...
Honestly, those thermal blades could only pierce David's skin. It hurt, but the damage was limited. Of his 640,000-plus life energy, only seven or eight thousand health had been chipped away so far.
When he entered the fifth underground level, the swarm of construct guards had all fallen.
The guild's alchemists had never imagined an enemy with such absurdly high life energy would invade their headquarters. Under normal circumstances, such a group of construct guards in narrow underground passages would be enough to stop an entire Imperial army!
Even if high-tier hunters came, they were confident they could block enemies in front of the steel gate leading to the deeper levels.
Because of this arrogance, the people behind the gate still hadn't realized the upper level had turned into complete chaos...
Actually, David wasn't the only one causing the disturbance—this rough, invading "assassin."
Almost the moment the alarm sounded, a terrorist attack occurred in the upper auction hall.
When that group of "strange people" wearing hoods and masks threw off their black robes, people discovered in horror—those weren't "people" at all. They were all construct warriors with lightning flashing across their bodies!
Thunder-singing blades pierced the bodies of venue guards, electrocuting their corpses into charcoal.
Panicked nobles scattered and fled. Monster Cage guild members were slaughtered at will. After those thunder construct warriors killed all the venue guards, they formed an encirclement and pressed step by step toward the underground...
...
At this moment, David had already reached that gate leading to the depths. He used the Hand of Monster's claws to scrape shrill, piercing sounds on the iron door.
Sparks flew. The claw blades dug deep into the iron door, leaving five terrifying scratches on it.
The guard behind the door was so scared by that sound he dropped his coffee and trembled as he rushed out of the guard room.
The piercing scraping sound rang out again. This time, he even saw the sharp claw blades had already penetrated the iron door...
An eye appeared behind the torn gap, and a ghostly voice came through: "Open the door... or I'll rip off your skull..."
Open the door!? Open my ass!
The guard turned and ran with a whoosh, letting out a pig-like scream: "Help! There's a monster breaking in! This is really bad—!!!"
In the screaming, those fierce synthetic beasts sleeping in cages on both sides of the passage opened their eyes. That heavy steel gate was also torn open with a hole under the claws' ripping.
The sound of bending metal completely woke the synthetic beasts. Quite a few let out frenzied roars.
David stepped through the large hole in the iron door into the passage. Seeing those roaring synthetic beasts, he showed an interesting smile.
Walking through the passage, he casually swung his claws. The cages were torn open one by one, and the monsters inside broke free.
They didn't dare attack the person who'd freed them. The opponent gave off a terrifying aura. But they hadn't forgotten those guys who'd once tortured, transformed, and ravaged their souls...
The ferocious synthetic beasts charged into the underground depths. Soon human wails echoed through the passage.
David followed the beast swarm deeper. After reaching this place, the intel he'd gotten from that warehouse guard earlier became useless.
Outer personnel couldn't spy on the core area. David could only kill his way toward the wails, giving anyone he saw a claw.
Anyway, His Highness's order was "leave no one alive."
...
The suffering Dorothy curled up in a cage. Her body without lower limbs looked small and deformed, appearing quite pitiful.
She was enduring hunger, waiting for death. The test subjects in other cages around her had already been eaten. According to the schedule, tonight she would become monster food.
But the situation seemed to have changed...
When that hunchbacked guard picked up the cage containing her, she discovered she wasn't being sent to the monster's pen.
"Hehehehe, you're in luck. A noble gentleman has taken a fancy to your soul. You don't have to die anymore, oh..."
The hunchbacked guard said in a sleazy voice as he walked: "The masters will use a ritual to wash away your memories, then fuse your soul with those cute little things, hehehehe..."
Dorothy in the cage listened with wide eyes.
No...
She didn't want this ending...
That wasn't an ending at all! It was another endless torment, endless nightmare!!!
Fusing with a monster to become a noble's toy?
No! She'd rather die in a monster's mouth!
Dorothy screamed, crying and shouting loudly. The hunchbacked guard just stuffed a ball-like thing in her mouth and picked up the cage to admire her terrified, despairing little face.
"Tsk tsk tsk, how did they transform you to be so cute? What a waste..."
Soon, Dorothy was thrown into a huge altar. Several mysterious people in black robes and brass masks surrounded her. In the distance, some people were watching—they all seemed to have been waiting impatiently.
She saw another "monster" lying beside her—a hairless synthetic beast that looked like a little lamb.
"Mmm!!! Mmm—!! Mmmmmm—!!!!!!"
Dorothy struggled with all her might, tears flowing from the corners of her eyes, but no one present seemed to care about her will.
"Begin!"
The masked people nodded to each other and quickly started the ritual.
The altar stained with blood lit up with an eerie glow. Something was casting its gaze from the void.
Just then, a scream rang out outside the altar room's door.
Then came the roar of beasts, the sound of tearing flesh...
The people inside finally realized something was wrong. The noble's guards rushed out but were pounced on by wolf-shaped synthetic beasts charging at them.
The fat noble following behind jumped out in terror, stepping on his own people's bodies, showing surprising agility.
However, the moment he turned the corner, a blue arm tore out his throat.
David frowned. Discovering the person fallen before him was a noble, he blinked. "Well, that's your bad luck, nothing to do with me. The Hand of Monster is the killer..."
He turned to look at that wide-open altar room. The angry synthetic beasts seemed somewhat afraid of the ritual power inside the room and had already charged elsewhere.
But there were still several black-robed people inside who were unwilling to stop the ritual.
No, it wasn't that they were unwilling to stop—they couldn't stop...
The soul fusion ritual was very bizarre. If they rashly stopped, something big would definitely go wrong, especially since a dark tide was happening outside right now!
David entered the altar room and immediately saw that cage at the center of the formation, and the little girl without legs inside the cage.
Pale skin, disheveled long hair that had lost almost all color, desperate crying...
He realized this was the disgusting perverts' ritual for fusing people with synthetic beast souls.
No need to harm people when death was imminent.
"Release that child."
David called out coldly, but he didn't give the other party a chance to act. With one claw he tore apart the black-robed person beside him. The ritual's light instantly dimmed.
"Stop!!! You madman! Don't interrupt the ritual!!!"
The person across the formation removed his mask in shock and anger. This person was the second of the three master alchemists...
Before he could say more, the center of that formation suddenly erupted with black light. Terrifying wails from the darkness instantly filled the entire underground chamber!