The ratmen nest near the Barren Mountains was quickly destroyed, but the overly curious players couldn't help themselves. Deep in the pit, they witnessed with their own eyes the entire process by which those enormous, twisted mother rats gave birth to ratmen.
Nobody shared those scenes. They simply called them evil, unable to bear recalling them, and set the nest ablaze from the inside out with utter revulsion.
Not all the ratmen were killed. Some fled during the battle, while others were captured by the vampires who had joined the players on the expedition. The captives would be taken back to Crimson Castle for further study to determine all sorts of things about them.
Meanwhile, Murphy's hunting contest for the second chapter of the race storyline ended with the last group of ratmen being burned to death. A-Cha'en, of the Crimson Beast Corps, won by a decisive margin.
His kill count was nearly a thousand higher than that of the runner-up, Sister Pomegranate, and he smoothly claimed Murphy's staff-sword.
As a melee fighter in the dual-wielding speedster branch of the Tomb Guard profession, A-Cha could clearly make excellent use of a one-handed weapon like this. Acquiring this divine weapon, a Dominator-class offensive weapon with the "Unique" trait, had also successfully placed his single-target combat power among the players' top ten.
The student faction clearly considered it a great victory.
They carried A-Cha through the streets in a triumphant parade, announcing their rise above the rest of the player community. But the sight deeply stung Sister Pomegranate, who had narrowly lost, prompting her to make a decision that went against Grand Duke Triss's wishes.
"What? You want to transfer to the Thorn Clan?"
As a group of players rode horses and other strange vehicles, noisily singing the foreign song "The Return