Despair and Hope

"Captain, something's wrong with these skeletons!"

At first, the Slave Hunter Group had thought they were just a bunch of sewer skeletons who could only launch sneak attacks. Once they reacted, they would be able to smash them to pieces.

After fighting for a while, Urgot and the other knights of the Slave Hunter Group grew grim.

These skeletons were far too strong. Each one was as powerful as an Apprentice Knight, and their bones were so tough that they slaughtered the Slave Hunter Group's battle-hardened warriors like pigs.

A First-Rank Knight went forward to steady the line, but before he could accomplish anything, the Transcendental Skeletons hacked him to death.

These skeletons were beyond anything they had imagined, and they could feel the danger closing in.

"Urgot, can you kill them all?"

The slave merchant couldn't bear to abandon the slaves in the camp. He looked expectantly at his deputy, Urgot, hoping the Second-Rank Knight would give him an encouraging answer.

"Captain, there are too many First-Rank Skeletons. I'm not sure I can win."

Urgot felt uneasy and had no confidence in his chances.

There were more than a hundred First-Rank Skeletons outside the temporary camp. Given how tough their bones were, they could wear him down to death.

"But one thing's certain: while I'm fighting them, I won't be able to spare any attention to protect you, Captain."

Urgot didn't want to risk his life. Speaking tactfully from the slave merchant's perspective, he advised that they abandon the slaves and break out.

"Retreat!"

Money could be earned again, but he had only one life.

The slave merchant took Urgot's advice and ordered the Slave Hunter Group's knights and elite warriors to cover his escape.

"Damn it, where did all these skeletons come from?"

They had thought that once they got out of the temporary camp, they could escape the encirclement and make it out alive.

Instead, they had merely gone from one encirclement straight into another, a pocket formation carefully laid out for them.

Outside the temporary camp, dozens of Minotaur Skeleton Warriors were waiting for them.

"Follow me!"

The skeletons behind them were closing in, and Urgot knew they absolutely couldn't stop now.

He activated his Battle Qi and charged at the front, hoping to tear through the encirclement formed by the Minotaur Warriors.

Whoosh!

A Minotaur Warrior swung its hammer, the blow cutting through the air with a sharp rush.

Urgot raised his sword to block, but the terrifying force startled him. He quickly redirected the blow and leaped back.

He escaped, but the horse he was riding wasn't so lucky. Its head was smashed into a pulpy mess by the Bone Hammer.

If even a Second-Rank Knight had to avoid the hammer's edge, how could the Slave Hunter Group's First-Rank Knights withstand it?

Some were killed by a single blow without a sound. Others were left crippled and gravely wounded, screaming in pain.

Seeing that things were going badly, Urgot abandoned the slave merchant and tried to save himself.

Their relationship was based on profit: they earned money together, but when trouble came, each fled on his own.

"Urgot, you coward!"

The abandoned slave merchant cursed furiously, then dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.

The Minotaur Skeletons didn't smash his head in. Instead, several Bone Spirit Assassins rushed over and tied him up.

One Slave Hunter Group passing through here might have been a coincidence, but a second one had to mean there was a reason.

Medivh had been considering crossing the Winter Mountains to sneak into the Gewalt Federation and trade. Lately, Skeleton Assassins had been wandering the mountains, searching for a route.

The Slave Hunter Group had bypassed Winter Fortress and come this way, so they must have known a mountain path into the Gewalt Federation.

Medivh had kept the slave merchant alive to ask for directions, not for the ransom money he claimed to offer.

Besides the slave merchant, several of the Slave Hunter Group's warriors had also been captured.

"Taunt! Divine Shield! Earth! Heal..."

"Weaken! Bleed! Dim! Sleep!"

With only Urgot, a Second-Rank Knight, left, the Minotaur Shaman skillfully cast a Taunt Totem to draw him back into the fight.

Then various buffing totems came down, strengthening the Minotaur Warriors holding the front line.

Unlike the previous hunt for the Blood Crow Captain, Kurd City now had an Orc Skeleton Prophet.

Four different curses struck Urgot, inflicting all sorts of debuffs on him.

The Orc Skeleton Prophet didn't cast Curse of Pain. That curse conflicted with Sleep Curse and Taunt Totem; to a degree, pain could actually heighten the target's alertness.

Urgot was even more desperate than the Blood Crow Captain had been. He couldn't kill the Minotaur Skeleton Warriors, couldn't escape, and had to fight under the effects of various curses.

He didn't last long. As he begged for mercy, the Minotaur Skeleton Warriors killed him.

Medivh hadn't captured prisoners to recruit them. The slave merchant and the other captives would be enough to get the information he wanted, and there was no need to take a Second-Rank Knight who would be difficult to guard.

After clearing the temporary camp of enemies, the skeletons began searching the area and removed the cloth covering the cages.

The cages were full of Cat-men. When they had heard the commotion in the camp, hope had appeared in their eyes, but when they saw the skeletons in the firelight, their anticipation faded.

The hero they had hoped for hadn't appeared. Given the Cat-man Horde's current situation, they truly couldn't afford to expect too much.

Whether they fell into the hands of a Necromancer skilled at desecrating bodies and souls, or were toyed with as slaves, the outcome would be utterly hopeless.

"Queling, what happened to the tribe? How did you all get captured by the Slave Hunter Group?"

When Suixiang and Suixin learned that the Slave Hunter Group had captured only Cat-men, they hurried over.

They recognized many of the companions in the cages. Suixiang grabbed one of the Cat-girls and asked her what had happened.

The Cat-girl had once been Suixiang's teammate, an Apprentice Spirit Rune Warrior.

"Suixiang, what are you doing here?"

Hearing a familiar voice, the Cat-girl named Queling excitedly tried to stand, only for the clanking chains on her hands and feet to pull her back down.

To prevent the Cat-men from harming themselves or one another, the slave merchant had chained their hands and feet.

At the sound of Suixiang's voice, the despairing Cat-men who had been staring down at the ground looked up, hope rekindled in their eyes.

Suixiang and Suixin could move freely among the skeletons. They must have some connection to the Necromancer behind them.

"Suixiang..."

Queling began to explain through tears what had happened to the tribe after Suixiang and Suixin were captured by the Slave Hunter Group.

During the great famine brought by the Bloodthirsty Mosquito Swarm, the old chieftain had been gravely wounded while fighting other tribes for food. She died not long afterward.

Riddle, the Cat-men's Warlock Chieftain, had always been in poor health.

Riddle was the Cat-men's respectful title for their Warlock Chieftain. It meant the one who led the tribe.

She had feared that no one would protect the tribe after her death, and had clung to life, hoping a younger member would take on the heavy responsibility she and the old chieftain had borne.

After the old chieftain died, Riddle had been left to shoulder everything alone.

While the Cat-man Horde was fighting its enemies, the Slave Hunter Group had taken the opportunity to raid their territory and capture a large number of Cat-men.

"They deserve to be torn limb from limb!"

When they heard that Cat-girls had also been taken away, Suixiang and Suixin searched the tents.

When they came out of the slave merchant's tent, they glared at him with icy expressions, making his back go cold.

Because they had captured so many Cat-men, this Slave Hunter Group hadn't treated them as valuable merchandise the way the previous group had. The slave merchant had taken more than a dozen Cat-girls and enjoyed himself with them alongside his trusted men.

While the skeletons and the slave hunters were fighting, the Cat-girls who had endured such abuse managed to escape their captors. Unable to bear the humiliation, they had taken their own lives.