The long-handled axe hovered in mid-air, and Howard's somber voice reached the players' ears:
Why is he here?
How should this question be answered?
Could it be that this is a method for skipping class prepared for us by the wise Son of God Child?
Seeing that the people in front of him remained silent, Howard pointed towards the connecting corridor:
"Go open the door. I'll clean you up later."
After saying that, he turned to look at his men:
"Prepare for battle."
[ On the Do Some Farm Work ] Holding the holy image, he arrived at the door of the connecting corridor and pressed the holy image into the recessed part between the two doors.
The entire recess is divided in the middle by two wooden doors on the left and right, and the World Tree statue is cut into two pieces, upper and lower.
As the key was inserted, the entire door seemed to come alive, and the wooden statue quickly merged with the door.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak~"
Without any force being applied, the doors to the connecting corridor opened.
In the West Tower BOSS room Gorn was still recalling the people who had just opened the door. One or two faces seemed somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place them. He could only attribute them to the rebels he might have seen in the city.
Just then, a creaking sound came from the doorway. Gorn looked to his left and saw that the corridor door he had been trying so hard to open had suddenly opened. On the other side of the door stood a tall, burly man with an angry expression, holding a long-handled axe.
" Gorn!!!"
" Howard?! What are you doing here?"
"Why am I here? Shouldn't you ask yourself that question?"
As they spoke, a furious Howard led his fallen priests in an attack, while Gorn, realizing that communication with the enemy was impossible, immediately ordered his Holy Crusaders to form a defense.
Six players' heads peeked out one after another from the corner of the corridor, like mushroom heads that appeared after the rain.
"Wow, it's a battle between fallen priests Fallen Holy Crusaders! Even if they die, it'll be worth it!"
"Death? How could we die?"
[ Clear Soup Master ] said with a smile:
" Howard thought we were a bunch of weaklings, but once they've decided who's going to win, it'll be our turn to step in."
"So, which side should we help?"
"Of course, we'll help whoever loses. Don't forget our original purpose for coming here."
"What's our purpose in coming here? Isn't it to experience the new Dungeon together?"
[ Clear Soup Master ] paused for a moment, realizing a misunderstanding—he didn't seem to have told the players who had come from afar his true purpose.
" Zhongde and Farm Work, brothers, it's like this, I actually started a hidden side quest in this long-term mission..."
After briefly describing the situation, [ Do Some Farm Work ] nodded thoughtfully:
"So our real objective is to kill Gorn, capture the half-dead Howard, and then question him about the disposal of the experimental subjects' bodies?"
"That's right."
"Alright, let's wait and see. It will probably take them some time to determine a winner."
"Bang!"
The long-handled axe struck a thick shield, and although the axe blade was deeply embedded in it, it did not cleave it in two.
"You're insane! Those are our enemies!"
Gorn barely managed to withstand Howard's full-force attack, then shouted loudly.
Gorn's fighting ability is comparable to Howard's, but in terms of pure strength, he is no match for Howard.
The two also have different fighting styles. Howard prefers to use a long-handled axe to unleash a series of smooth mini-combos, positioning him similarly to a berserker.
Gorn, on the other hand, is a classic sword and shield knight who excels in both offense and defense. As long as the enemy's burst damage isn't too high, he can fight for a whole day.
However, the long-handled axe, carrying the surrounding air with it, kept slashing, which made Gorn somewhat unable to defend himself for a while.
In contrast, Howard, though his face was flushed red from the rush of blood, showed no signs of fatigue.
Traitors are more hateful than enemies!
He spat out those words through his teeth, then pulled out the axe blade and began to chop again.
Gorn swung his left arm, and the grooves on his shield began to heal rapidly. He glanced at the mushroom-headed figures in the connecting corridor and asked, unwillingly:
"Then tell me, what have I betrayed?"
Why did you betray me?
"You are the Grand Knight Commander of Fir City, where did I say something wrong?"
"I've quit!"
" Antiya Lisi has only suspended you from your post; you'll be reinstated sooner or later. Do you dare say you don't know that?"
"Nonsense!"
"Besides, if it weren't for your incompetence, I wouldn't have had to clean up your mess and get arrested. Isn't that your problem?"
"Fart!"
The two clashed again using pure force, then maintained a safe distance and began repairing their weapons using Directed Alienation.
Gorn discarded the thick wooden shield in his left hand and instead allowed his skin to regenerate, forming a layer of natural armor.
The longsword in his right hand also began to rapidly evolve into the shape of an armor-piercing heavy mace:
" Howard, I've always wondered why you're the captain of the Second Order of Knights."
You'll find out.
"Wow, it has to be internal strife again. I love watching internal conflicts."
[ Do Some Farm Work ] was recording the screen while marveling at the action, his tone exactly like a certain movie character who loves watching women fight:
"What I love most about movies is this kind of civil war plot, whether it's 'The Alliance ' or 'The Righteous Alliance,' it's this 'beating up my teammates' plot that makes it so addictive."
"Why?"
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] He asked in confusion:
"I still prefer the plot where they team up to fight a foreign enemy, it's so exciting..."
"Because we are now the enemy..."
[ Do Some Farm Work ] patted his head and said:
"Haven't you noticed? When we fight this type of BOSS, we need to figure out the moves and find the weaknesses little by little, but they don't need to. They know each other inside and out, and they must have sparred with each other a lot, but they may never have used their full strength because of pride."
"Now that we're all prisoners and have grudges against each other, we should definitely seize this opportunity to strike hard at each other's weaknesses and settle the score."
"Look at Howard, his fighting style is clearly to force the opponent to block or dodge, and then seize the opening to attack, while Gorn is using his mace to break through armor. If we get hit by that thing, it'll probably be no different from being dead."
"That's why I love this kind of internal strife the most, understand?"
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] Nodding:
"I understand. What you really mean is that Howard and Gorn are a truly star-crossed couple..."
"Take your ill-fated lover and go eat a large portion!" ×5