NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1261
Chapter 99: The Third Party
Regardless, since the gates of the estate have been “opened,” no matter how much everyone wants to complain, we can only focus on more pressing matters now.
First and foremost, we must search this seemingly deserted yet oddly eerie large farm for any valuable clues that may exist within, as well as for ways to enter the “Shadow World” space referred to by Captain Marcelo and the cultists of the Church of Truth.
To ensure efficiency and safety during the search, Enrique divided everyone into three groups, each led by a legendary adventurer, responsible for searching the second floor, the first floor, and the basement respectively.
Given their rapport, naturally, Miss Vilyric chose to act together with her close companions, Miss Le Qiao Qiao and Hong Yan. While they searched the estate, Miss Thief could also attempt to find any hidden rooms, after all, that was her specialty.
After determining their roles, the adventurers dispersed and began an orderly search.
This estate looked like a winery, not only was there a structure at the bottom, but there were also many densely arranged wine cellars in the backyard. However, as they delved deeper into their investigation, they quickly discovered an issue.
“What is going on? There are so many wine jars, yet they’re all empty… What are these people doing with a bunch of empty jars in the cellar?”
In the underground storeroom, Le Qiao Qiao was rummaging through the barren jars, and just as she was about to complain to Miss Vilyric a short distance away, she found the latter intently staring at a certain empty corner of the room, her gaze seemingly containing an unusual glow, as if she were seeing something beyond the space. Curiosity brewed within her.
“Boss? Did you find something interesting?”
Upon hearing her voice, the Priestess turned around, smiled, and shook her head noncommittally.
“Oh… it’s nothing. Have you two found anything?”
“What the heck, all mysterious… As you can see, there’s nothing at all! We’ve rummaged through seven or eight basements and it’s just empty jars, I can’t take it… Are they planning to pickle vegetables with so many jars?!”
At that moment, Hong Yan approached from another side, her hand subtly resting on the hilt of her sword, she whispered in a tone only the three could hear.
“Miss Vilyric, do you feel… some kind of pricking sensation on your back? Something is watching us from the shadows.”
“Huh?!”
Miss Thief jumped back, hurriedly retreating a few steps away from the empty jars, anxiously scanning her surroundings while whispering with her hand over her mouth.
“Hey now, I don’t see anything else… Little Hong Yan, don’t scare me! Could it be the legendary jar ghost?”
Ignoring Le Qiao Qiao’s jest, the Priestess merely smiled calmly.
“When we entered, we made so much noise; if there was anything in this farm with functioning hearing abilities, it definitely would have noticed us. Spying is inevitable, the only question is… what side is the other party on?”
The Swordswoman was slightly taken aback.
“So you broke the door on purpose like that? Is there really a third party hiding here? If they’re not from the Church of Truth, who else would interfere at a time like this? Should we pretend we didn’t notice?”
“Hehe, don’t worry, the other party should act soon, as for their stance…”
“Boom!!!!”
Before the Priestess could finish her sentence, a thundering boom erupted from above, no less deafening than the noise from when she forced the door open!
“It’s from the second floor! Miss Vilyric…”
“Let’s go, we’ll talk after we go up.”
Leaving the basement and proceeding in the direction of the explosive sound, the three soon found the source of the commotion in the first-floor hall of the estate.
The ceiling of the first floor was smashed in by some violent force, and amidst the rubble, a young girl with dark red hair, fair skin that looked almost unreal, and dressed in a luxurious classical gown was battling against the trio of Tree Wall, Tree Branch, and Tree Monkey led by Sophie.
She wielded a giant battle axe that was bigger than her whole body as if it were a featherweight twig. Even though it was three against one, she held her ground, and with unreasonable damage exchange techniques, she almost swiped at Tree Branch or Tree Monkey several times with that terrifying axe. It was only thanks to Sophie’s timely aid that her awful offensive was thwarted by a wooden shield.
Even so, the scholar-dressed Tree Branch bore several scrapes oozing blood, his left arm hanging at an odd angle, clearly having sustained serious damage in the initial wave of attack.
“What’s happening! Ugh… a Blood Clan?”
When Miss Vilyric and the others arrived, Enrique, who was searching the first floor, also brought Qionghua and another teammate from a different room upon hearing the commotion. Although they all quickly drew their weapons to prepare for battle, when Tree Bow saw the girl with dark red hair, she couldn’t help but gasp, looking somewhat puzzled.
Yes, that girl was indeed a member of the Blood Clan.
This was evident from her iconic hair color, the pair of bat-like black wings fluttering at her waist, and the noble aura exuding forth, reminiscent of a dancer, even while in combat.
The Blood Clan was a mythological race; precisely speaking, only the very few Blood Clan members with high titles could be regarded by that name, and they had significantly declined and faded away, rarely appearing on the continent. However, even the weakest strand of a mythological race possessed an absolute tier difference compared to ordinary beings.
This Blood Clan girl evidently held a high position among her kind, and her strength was the best indicator of that.
“Captain! Now is not the time to hesitate, she’s attacking us!”
The final member of the legendary adventurer team, Tree, was a standard sword-and-shield fighter known as Tree Fortress, serving as a middle-guard for the assisting Tree Wall. Though he wasn’t of legendary strength himself, due to some special talents, his contribution in team battles was not too far off either.
He donned full-body armor like a heavy infantryman, never taking even his helmet off during rest, so Miss Vilyric didn’t know what he looked like inside, but his voice suggested he was a steady middle-aged man.
Due to their positions in the field, Enrique and the others hadn’t been able to join forces with Miss Vilyric’s party, and were instead split on either side of the battlefield. Hearing Tree Fortress’s urgent calls, the Treant Tribe youth clenched his teeth, suppressing his dread of the enigmatic Blood Clan, raising his blade bow toward the rapidly moving girl.
“This is likely a duke-level Blood Clan… Miss Vilyric and the rest have arrived; I’ll shoot arrows to suppress her, you all assist Sophie in subduing her, but remember, don’t heavily wound or kill her.”
“The Blood Clan is particularly protective of their own, but most high-ranking members are somewhat reasonable. It’s very possible they have other clan members nearby; we must leave room for negotiation.”
But just then, a soft, elegant chuckle that seemed to see through the world’s ups and downs suddenly echoed beside them!
“Hehe… little one, you seem quite knowledgeable about our clan; your status within the Spirit Wood must be quite substantial, am I right?”
“?!?”