Chương 438: Chapter 409: An Unorthodox Approach

Thalion sped up the moment he entered the side corridor that acted as a staircase upward—perfect, since he needed a way around the combatants. They could fight to their heart's content; in the meantime, he would take the grand treasure. They probably wouldn't mind. There was no room for mistakes or hesitation, and Thalion shot upward like a rocket until he emerged onto a bridge roughly fifty meters above the fighters.

The first thing he noticed was the massive apparatus connected to the ceiling—this had to be the mechanism leading into the volcano and the grand treasure. Below it sat a workshop with its entrance on the far end of the bridge. Those were the positives. The negative was that several rangers were already inside. The door wasn't translucent, but with his bloodvision he could still make out outlines. The stone here interfered with his skill far more than usual, and he could only identify rough shapes.

Why was Thalion certain they were rangers? Well, because one stood guard in front of the door—staring directly at him. Which was horrible… but also a boon. He had been discovered, but the fellow didn't seem to carry any treasure that protected him from Crimson Gaze. The skill showed its true power as the man's eyes rolled back and he simply fell backward. Thalion sprinted over and caught him before he made any noise that could alert the fighters below.

If they discovered him now, things would become very unpleasant. Standing before the door, Thalion still couldn't hear anything from inside, which meant the sound isolation was excellent. The ranger wore the typical green cloak that reminded Thalion a bit of Robin Hood. The problem was just that he couldn't take the man's clothes while he was still alive. Thalion had considered letting him live so Kael and Ethan would get super furious later… but best to take this seriously.

A vine killed the knocked-out ranger, whose soul was already heavily damaged. The body vanished into Thalion's spatial ring. A moment later, after unequipping and equipping gear, Thalion wore the ranger outfit, the green hood pulled as low over his face as possible. He hoped it would buy him enough time to open and close the door without anyone making noise and alerting the others. His bloodslaves waited on the other side of the bridge for his signal. If everything went well, he would call them over.

Now Thalion stood before the door, contemplating whether he should open it slowly to avoid noise, or rush in as fast as possible. Either could work. Rangers all had high perception, and the disguise would only fool them for a moment. After a few seconds of pointless strategizing, Thalion concluded he didn't know shit and simply opened the door, walking in casually with his face hidden under the hood—hoping his eyes wouldn't stand out too much.

The moment he entered and the archers looked up, Thalion realized all the thinking and costume work hadn't made the slightest difference. Maybe because of their high perception—whatever the reason, they didn't hesitate. Thalion slammed the door shut behind him, hoping no one would notice the clang, then unleashed multiple vines and bloodthorns as the claws of the Blooded Templar formed around his hands. The rangers were well-trained, and the metal consoles inside gave them good cover.

Thankfully, some reacted too slowly and were hit in the chest or shoulder. Even though they had instantly seen through Thalion's disguise, it still took them a moment too long to act. Seven of the eleven rangers died instantly as bloodthorns struck vital areas—heart, face, throat. Normally, a heart strike wasn't an instant kill anymore, but bloodthorns were different. The Sanguis Impera immediately took control of the thorns, letting them absorb blood and burst through the victims' bodies within seconds.

Against high-vitality targets, it could take longer—but rangers were bred for agility, not endurance. Sadly, Thalion couldn't hit everyone. Two rangers were incredibly fast. Instead of ducking behind the metal panels, they darted between the bloodthorns, short swords appearing in their hands. That was a feat Thalion wasn't sure he would have been able to pull off himself. Luckily, both made the mistake of locking eyes with him. Neither carried charms against mental attacks.

The first ranger went completely limp, slamming his head into a metal panel at the speed he'd been moving. The second was luckier—he only crashed to the ground before a bloodclaw slash carved into him. The final ranger had ducked behind a console, but even he didn't spot the vine coming for him in time. Thalion had to admit that everything had worked out quite nicely. After the rangers finished donating their blood, he opened the door and motioned for his bloodslaves to come over.

Once everyone had assembled in the room, he needed to figure out how to open the pathway. If he wasn't mistaken, the moment he started moving the massive machinery on the ceiling that opened the path, everyone nearby would notice. How the system worked without lava pouring down on them, Thalion didn't have the slightest idea. But now, standing so close to a very hot and very dangerous bath, he had to address another issue.

He knew the stages up to the islands—where he was supposed to find a grand treasure—but what came after that? Was this the last one before the final stage… or were there multiple stages afterward? Either way, he needed answers before randomly pressing buttons on the many panels in front of him. There were a lot of them. They looked like a keyboard made from solid metal. But first—questions.

His suspicious feelings toward his bloodslaves had only intensified, and Thalion began to worry that Veylana might have found a way to fool his title.

"Before we snatch the grand treasure, I need to know if there are more stages after the ninth. What information do you have about the tenth stage?" The moment he finished speaking, Thalion already knew he wouldn't get a reliable answer. Just the way the bloodslaves glanced at Veylana told him something had been brewing for quite a while.

"There are two more stages after the ninth. The tenth stage is—" Veylana began, but Thalion had already stopped listening to her fabricated explanation. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The most intriguing—and worrying—part was that his title wasn't reacting. He had a bad feeling just standing in front of her, yet the title didn't flag the obvious lie. The way she avoided his gaze, looking down or off to the side.

The way she tried to explain what was supposedly coming next. Combined with the knowledge that there had to be ways to trick his title… Thalion didn't show that he knew. He simply nodded along, feigning interest. This was bad. It was clear now that the bloodslaves were planning mutiny. And the punishment for mutiny? Well, letting them live wasn't an option—but Thalion had one edge. He watched as Veylana already struggled to stand still, the hunger creeping back slowly but steadily.

Since they were no longer useful to him, they could at least buy him some time. There was blood right beneath them, and Thalion was confident his bloodslaves were greatly overestimating themselves. They wouldn't be able to resist the call. No—this would likely be the last time he saw them. Hopefully Ethan wouldn't realize they were connected to him, or that Thalion had cultivated an extremely dangerous and powerful curse.

It had its downsides—like bloodslaves eventually turning against him—but those were problems he might be able to fix in the future. It didn't affect weaker bloodslaves, but Thalion wasn't interested in a weak army anyway. No—he wanted to bend elites to his will. Maybe even a chosen. But before any of that, he still had to press a few buttons and find a way into that volcano. God, that was going to hurt. <-- The clashes intensified as both combatants unleashed more and more of their power.

Ethan didn't want to alert anyone else to their position. There had to be other chosen in the capital—after all, even he had found his way here. At first, they had tried to hunt for prey in the stage itself, but instead they discovered the underground. After finding the map, it became clear where the main center of attention would be, and they hurried straight to the dwarven capital for the massive red crystal.

Ethan wanted it primarily to kill other chosen, but a treasure like that had to be worth a huge amount of leaderboard points as well. Yet now, after clashing with the Second Daughter, he began to regret his earlier confidence. Ethan had believed his combat-focused bloodline would give him an edge over the competition. Even his patron had assured him that what he could do was unique.

It offered countless advantages in battle, and on top of that, the enemy would never feel or suspect anything—only that Ethan always seemed to be in the right position. But now he was fighting some kind of mutated centipede. In fact, Ethan had no idea what the woman truly was. She constantly shifted between an animal form and a humanoid one. Normally, that wouldn't have mattered—Ethan already knew what would happen before it did. Anticipation was his greatest strength.

The problem was that this stupid centipede was too fast, too strong, and her chitin armor protected her even from his arrows. To be fair, he hadn't been able to fully charge them properly, but even so, it was more than just a little impressive. With that combination of advantages, it was almost impossible for Ethan to fight her effectively. They were nearly equal in level—she was only three levels behind—but it didn't feel that way.

Ethan doubted anyone on his team could land an attack that was both accurate and strong enough to deal real damage. Sure, a hit to the eye would work—but with her reaction speed, fast enough to dodge even his own attacks, an arrow wouldn't stand a chance. At least not if she saw it coming. He could have ordered his hunters to flank her, but the moment she noticed them lining up a shot, she would go for them.

That was something Ethan wanted to avoid—especially after sacrificing so many points by sharing his antidotes. Another issue was that the Second Daughter wasn't tiring at all. If anything, she was releasing more and more aura with every passing second. Ethan was a brilliant fighter, but like most rangers, he had a second weapon: poison. In the System, most people didn't die from a single arrow through the heart or spine. Unless it was a headshot, they'd usually chug a health potion and keep going.

That was where poison came in. If a wound stayed open long enough, bleeding could finish the job—but Ethan didn't stop there. His goal was simple: one cut, one kill. He had acquired some truly potent samples. The problem was that he couldn't even leave a scratch on the chitin armor of that thing. Getting to the softer underbelly in her beast form was impossible, and in her humanoid form, she simply never got hit. This fight was going badly for Ethan.

Then a loud crack thundered down from above as the metal machinery roared to life. Ethan couldn't look up to see what was happening. He had suspected the machine would open some kind of hidden passage—the entire construction didn't match what the map suggested—but with his opponent growing more aggressive by the second, he couldn't afford the distraction. Suddenly, he felt several powerful auras descending from above. They were below his level—but still dangerous.

Whoever they were, they were at least on par with his hunters. The newcomers also caught the centipede woman off guard. She paused her assault and looked up, giving Ethan the chance to do the same. What descended toward them looked like demon lizardmen and birdfolk. Red mist poured from their mouths—and from the birdfolk's feathers—and their eyes glowed crimson. Ethan's bloodline immediately showed him their targets. Most were going for his hunters. One was aiming straight at him.

Another charged the centipede woman. Are they stupid? That was Ethan's first thought as he leapt upward to meet his attacker—a broad lizardman. He didn't need his bloodline to predict the strike; the creature was clumsy. Ethan slipped beneath the blow and decapitated it with a swift cross-cut of his short blades. Above them, the machinery continued to rumble, dust and stones raining down. Ethan rushed to assist his rangers, but one was already dead—his head bitten clean off.

The rest of the fight lasted only seconds. Every attacker was killed, though one died far slower than the others. The centipede woman didn't kill her target outright. She pinned it in place with her many sharp legs and began eating her way through the body while the victim screamed until its lungs gave out. Ethan watched in horror, unsure whether attacking now was even an option. There was no way she would leave herself open without preparing something.

What truly unsettled him was the direction the creatures had come from. They had descended from the control room above. Which could only mean one thing. His rangers up there were likely dead. What the hell even happened up there? Had those beasts been guarding the red crystal? Ethan's thoughts were cut short as the centipede woman spoke, once more in her humanoid form.

"Delicious. What a beautiful curse. Do you need those corpses, or can I have them? I'll give you a ten-minute head start if you hand them over." Ethan had to fight the urge to turn away in disgust at the sweet purr in which the monster spoke. On the other hand, he had no use for the bodies—but agreeing would also mean backing down, and Ethan didn't back down. Before he could answer, the machine turned once more.

This time, a portal appeared directly beneath the ceiling, and a moment later a man in a ranger outfit—with red glowing eyes—appeared, cursing like his life depended on it.

"Good lord, is that stupid volcano hot. You'd think you could just dive in and grab the thing, but no. God, I hope the maker of this treasure hunt appreciates the pain I'm going through here." For Ethan, the man's rambling made little sense—until his eyes widened at the level and leaderboard position. This was Thalion. The man his patron wanted dead. And he had just presented himself on a silver plate.

"Don't even think about reaching for your escape token—we're prepared," Ethan shouted upward, pointing toward Kael, who was holding the item that disrupted escape tokens when activated nearby. This was it. He would kill the man, reclaim his patron's item, secure the blood plant, and take first place in the treasure hunt. Yet Thalion didn't seem bothered by the terrible position he was in and continued rambling.

"Ah, what a surprise. Here we see each other again. So you're the chosen of the god who tried to kill me in the tutorial. Interesting. And you look a lot uglier than your sister. Wasn't the thirteenth daughter allowed in this trial? Or was it the eleventh? Hard to remember such details—especially when your brain has been fried by stupidly hot lava." Ethan had to reconsider everything. This man knew the centipede woman? Just what the hell was going on? Before he could say anything, Kael spoke up.

"Finally. Looks like you fucked up for good. Like the boss said—don't even try using the escape token. It won't work." This, too, didn't seem to bother Thalion. He just kept smiling.

"Well, you know the thing about bad escape tokens? They take forever to..." His sentence cut off as the man vanished, leaving everyone staring at the empty space where the first-ranked contender in the treasure hunt had just been standing.