No Attacking

The two Raiders charged in from outside the cave, giving Vera and the others no time to react.

Grongba laughed loudly and used Charge, targeting Feiyin, who was dressed head to toe in Mage gear.

Yet even in the face of the sudden attack, Feiyin still could not understand why her detection spell had failed to spot them in advance.

Vera roared as she drew her scimitar. Her body slid across the ground as though she were standing on ice, intercepting the Dwarf in front of Feiyin.

The broad-bladed axe collided with the scimitar, spraying countless sparks.

The moment they clashed, Vera fell into a disadvantage. The axe blade pressed all the way down before her collarbone.

Vera braced the blade with both hands, barely stopping the axe from splitting her in two.

"Not bad weapon you've got there, kid. It ought to fetch a good price."

At such close range, Vera could even smell the stench of alcohol on the Dwarf's breath.

"Feiyin!"

Only when her name was called did Feiyin suddenly snap out of her panic, hurriedly casting several enhancement spells on Vera.

[Strength Boost]

[Agility Boost]

[Stamina Stimulation]

Empowered by the buffs, Vera retreated and flicked her scimitar in a flourish, forcing the Dwarf to pull several steps away from her again.

Having failed to gain an advantage, the Dwarf immediately cursed at his partner, who had been loafing behind him.

"Half-Ear, what the hell are you watching for? Deal with that little brat holding the staff!"

"What's the rush? Do you think cocking a crossbow takes no time?"

Nasa approached from behind with a crossbow in hand. Yet instead of firing, he pulled out a small pouch and tossed it at Feiyin.

Vera watched the pouch fly toward them, but Feiling did not shoot it down with an arrow.

"Feiling?"

In the end, Vera could only step forward and stab it with her blade herself, causing a cloud of pale blue powder to burst forth.

Vera hurriedly covered her nose and retreated with Feiyin. At the same time, she looked toward Feiling, only to find her lying where she was, unable to get up.

"Paralysis Fluid extracted from a Seven-Layer Flower Demon. Just a tiny bit can leave someone unable to move. Pretty effective, isn't it?"

With a smile, Nasa aimed his crossbow at them and pulled the trigger. He loved seeing prey panic helplessly.

Feiyin hurriedly cast a spell, but the Mana Shield only formed a rudimentary shape in midair before collapsing.

"Like I said, rookie. You can't even recognize the powder of a Magic-Suppressing Flower."

"Despicable!"

In her desperation, Vera still stepped in front of Feiyin to shield her. She turned her blade aside to block the bolt, but the impact left both her hands numb.

This was exactly the moment Grongba had been waiting for!

The muscles in his arms swelled, and hot air burst from his nostrils.

The Dwarf swung his broad-bladed axe in a full arc at Vera's waist.

Vera could only barely press her scimitar against her body before the axe sent her flying out of the cave.

She had not died, but she had only a breath left.

After Vera fell, Feiyin, a Mage unable to cast spells, was naturally knocked unconscious in just a few blows as well.

The entire battle had remained under the control of the two Raiders.

But Vera and the others could not really be blamed. Their only combat experience had been against Monsters, and the same was true of the items they carried.

The Raiders' tactics, tools, and skills, however, had all been designed specifically to deal with people.

With a prepared ambush, a level advantage, and targets that were not seasoned veterans, they rarely ever failed.

Grongba raised his axe, ready to finish them off one by one, but Nasa stopped him.

The Dwarf said impatiently, "What? You saw they're twins and want to have some fun?"

Nasa gave him a disgusted look. "What are you thinking? When have I ever touched cheap trash without Elf blood?"

Grongba did not care for that inexplicable sense of superiority. Nasa himself was a mixed-blood bastard, after all.

Of course, he had never said that to Nasa's face. As partners, Nasa's endless supply of little tools was still quite useful.

"Then what do you want?"

"Tie them up. Once they wake up, we'll play a game of who dies and who gets released."

It was a game Nasa had come up with himself. Simply put, he made the captives decide among themselves who would live and who would die.

Of course, they would all be killed in the end. Nasa merely wanted to enjoy the spectacle of teammates betraying one another to survive.

Grongba rolled his eyes. He did not share that particular fetish.

He might have loved drinking, gambling, and killing, but compared to his perverted partner, he was practically a good Dwarf.

Still, he did not care about Nasa's hobbies. If Nasa wanted to play, he could play.

Right now, Grongba was more interested in the oversized Walking Mushroom inside the cave. He had seen it pull a shield out of its body with his own eyes.

Could it be stuffed full of good things inside?

Pain!

So much pain!

Broken ribs pierced into flesh. The bone in her left arm had punctured through her skin and stuck out, while blood mixed with pieces of her organs flowed from her mouth.

Vera had been awakened entirely by the pain.

She tried to move but could not, only then realizing that she had been tied to a tree.

Her two childhood friends were tied to two other trees in front of her, both still unconscious.

"Feiling... Feiyin..."

Under Vera's weak, unceasing calls, the two women slowly woke up.

The first thing they saw was Vera, barely clinging to life.

"Vera, you're badly hurt! Damn these ropes..."

Feiling struggled to free herself, but she could not break free at all.

She could only look toward her sister.

"Feiyin, use magic!"

"I... I can't cast anything... Sob... I can't cast anything..."

Feiyin had never seen Vera so badly injured before. Unable to use magic herself, she broke down crying in panic.

"Want to leave? I can let you go~"

A nightmare-like voice came from behind the trees. Nasa toyed with a small knife as he walked smilingly between the three of them.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Nasa pressed the knife to Feiling's cheek and lightly sliced a small cut into it. "One is your sister, and the other is your little lover. Pick one."

"Pick what?"

"Pick who dies!"

Nasa grinned as he spoke, his tongue constantly licking his teeth. He could not suppress the excitement in his voice.

"Pick one to die, and I'll release you and the other one. How about it?"

Feiling suddenly thrust her neck forward and tried to bite his hand, but Nasa dodged in time.

"Pick your mother to die, you piece of trash! You animal! You bastard who'll get bitten to death by wild dogs sooner or later!"

"Tch."

A slap landed on Feiling's face. It was so powerful that it knocked out a broken tooth.

Feiling was slapped unconscious on the spot, while Feiyin on the other side cried even harder at the sight.

"Boring trash."

As he spoke, he was about to ask the other twin whether she would choose when he heard Vera's mosquito-like voice.

"Kill..."

Nasa's eyes immediately lit up, and he hurriedly leaned closer.

"Yes, yes. Tell me, who do you want killed? Don't worry. Once you choose, I'll give you a Life Potion. I guarantee you won't die."

Afraid that Vera would not believe him, he actually took a bottle of Life Potion from his pocket.

"Kill... me... let... them go..."

"You? Hah..."

Nasa straightened up and swept a cold gaze over the three of them before finally raising his knife.

"How boring. You like sacrificing yourself, do you? Then watch them die first!"

Meanwhile, inside the cave.

Grongba tried every method he could think of—prying, pulling, and yanking—but he could not open Fat Puji's pouch, which had the Resilience skill.

At last, the Dwarf ran out of patience and decided to take a more direct approach.

Standing before Fat Puji, he raised his axe over his head.

[Heavy Cleave LV6]

Amid an earth-shaking boom, Grongba turned into a rain of flesh and blood that poured over Nasa, who had fallen to the ground.

Nasa: ???

Linden: ???