Chapter 445 Spinning to the Ground

The Horned Shark Gang's hideout was incredibly concealed.

The highly complex environment of the shantytown, combined with the extremely transient population of the surrounding area, gave the gang members a special layer of camouflage.

Add to that their strict internal discipline during this sensitive period and the hidden supply channels they had already established.

With dozens of Horned Shark Gang members hunkering down in the chaotic sprawl of the shantytown, finding any trace of them would require at least a couple of weeks of meticulous searching—unless a Class Holder specializing in tracking intervened.

Yet this was exactly the kind of situation that highlighted the importance of having a Spellcaster in an Adventurer Squad.

Even though Hein was only a Coral Society druid with a relatively restricted spell list, she could still use the corpse of the "Bloody-Nosed Rat" to cast [Naleka's Octopus Spirit-Seeking Spell]. Highly efficient and precise, she led the group through numerous alleys and shacks, arriving at the Horned Shark Gang's hidden base in just thirty minutes.

As the group drew closer, Xia Nan's Perception quietly took effect.

He might not have been able to articulate the exact details he was picking up on, but his intuition warned him to pay close attention to the shack ahead.

With the enemy's location completely locked down, the rest would be easy.

Xia Nan and the others had already gathered intelligence on the Horned Shark Gang's specific combat strength from Hera.

The strongest member was the gang leader Lyle, known as the "Horned Shark," with a Class Level around Level 5. Next was the second-in-command, Batti, known as "Broken Brow," who was Level 4 at most. The two had previously been teammates in an Adventurer Squad.

As for the other members, they weren't worth mentioning. The vast majority hadn't even obtained a Class Level, and the few Class Holders were washed-up failures who had dropped out of the adventurer profession. Their actual combat capabilities were far worse than active frontline adventurers of the same level.

On Xia Nan's side, while their numbers were fewer, their average combat power far exceeded the enemy's.

All five were genuine frontline adventurers who had undergone extensive real-world combat training and still regularly accepted commissions.

They even had a Spellcaster like Hein among them.

In a battle where they had ample time to prepare and detailed intelligence on the enemy, the combat power a Spellcaster could unleash effectively doubled.

Not to mention they had Xia Nan, an "overpowered monster" whose Class Level essentially functioned as a Challenge Rating.

The Horned Shark Gang was entirely within the group's capacity to handle.

As such, planning the ensuing battle was straightforward.

First, under the protection of the twin Warriors, Hein would take the initiative to approach. She would use her abilities to confirm the situation inside the room while simultaneously drawing the attention of the gang members within.

Meanwhile, Xia Nan—who had already explained his highly mobile combat style to his teammates on the way—would quietly circle to the back of the shack and prepare for a surprise attack.

To be honest, they had never fought side by side before, so they naturally lacked any unspoken synergy.

Both Xia Nan and Hein were well aware of this.

Therefore, they didn't opt for any complicated tactics.

The overall plan was extremely simple.

Knock on the door—attract attention, confirm the targets—send the signal—ambush—decapitate.

"Screeeee!!!" The eyeless, flesh-colored octopus, covered in slime, locked onto its targets. It shook its head and let out an ear-piercing, high-frequency shriek.

Invisible sound waves instantly rippled through the air.

Most of the Horned Shark Gang members inside the shack hadn't even figured out what was happening before a cacophony of noises joined the spirit octopus's shriek and assaulted their ears.

Boom—this was the explosive blast of the wooden shack door smashing open.

Thrum—a bizarrely high-pitched Lute melody seeped through the cracks in the walls, filling the thugs with an irritable restlessness that made it hard to think straight.

Awooo—a long, desolate wolf howl erupted from behind them. The accompanying sound of tearing air felt like a declaration of impending death.

Splinters flew as the door exploded outward, as fragile as paper under the powerful impact. Wielding a shield in his left hand and a short sword in his right, the towering twin Warrior, the older brother Ryan, forced his way into the shack.

Freezing rain poured in with the fierce wind. A sudden sense of crisis welled up in his heart, causing "Broken Brow" Batti to slam the brakes on his movement. As he kicked off the ground, the outstanding Agility granted by his [Rogue] class allowed him to maintain his center of gravity despite the sudden maneuver.

His eyes flickered as the shadows beneath his feet writhed. It was as if he had been draped in a translucent, grayish-black veil; his presence plummeted instantly, and as his silhouette shifted, he vanished into the depths of the darkness.

During the journey to Cliff Rock Island, having fought alongside Xia Nan, the Halfling Alton knew that his companion possessed a combat technique capable of plunging enemies into a state of shock.

He specifically adjusted his sheet music. Instead of buffing his teammates, he chose a melody that would agitate the enemies and weaken their willpower, perfectly coordinating with Xia Nan.

The effect was remarkable!

When the pitch-black Winter Wolf, its mane swaying, tore open the wall of the shack with a howl, its Wolf Head emerged eerily from the curtain of rain. As its deep wolf eyes shifted, sweeping its gaze over everyone in the room...

...[Night Mother's Gaze] was invisibly pushed to its absolute limit.

"Gaaaaah!"

Fear spread.

Panicked, bloodcurdling screams tore from the mouths of these petty thugs who usually swaggered down the streets.

They possessed impressive-looking muscles, and some even sported flashy gang tattoos, giving them a fierce, barbaric appearance.

Yet right now, they were acting like domestic chickens in a coop, screaming and scurrying around frantically, having tossed their weapons away without even realizing it.

There was not a shred of mercy.

Against these weak enemies who had completely lost their will to fight and could only run blindly instead of resisting, the black wolf's speed and mobility were showcased to their fullest.

It was practically a one-sided slaughter.

Often, with just a flash of an arcing blade of light, several round heads would fly off their shoulders in geysers of blood.

The headless corpses and the surrounding walls were shredded and mangled by the freezing gale wrapped around the black wolf, reduced to a ruined mess of perforated flesh.

"Aaaahhh!!!" A frenzied roar nearly churned the air into a visible sound wave as the "Horned Shark" Lyle stood his ground, wielding a double-bladed greataxe and bellowing madly.

As he vented his emotions and boosted morale, a layer of faint red energy coated his body.

His muscles contracted and writhed, his entire body expanding rapidly as if being inflated.

Naturally, they couldn't just let him build up his power. The twin Warrior Ryan charged into the shack and headed straight for him, intending to engage in close combat according to plan.

But before the steel sword in his hand could descend, the broad, thick face of the axe—comparable in size to a normal person's torso—slashed diagonally from the side, accompanied by a fierce gale.

Ryan reacted swiftly. Realizing he absolutely couldn't take this axe strike head-on, he immediately pulled back and raised his left arm, bringing his iron-studded wooden shield in front of him to block.

[Action Surge]!

In the next second, he felt two successive, overwhelming bursts of force transmit through the round shield on his arm in extremely short succession, nearly overlapping each other.

His entire left arm, along with half of his body, went completely numb. His toes left the ground as he was forcefully sent flying by the sheer impact of the blow.

Even at a time like this, seeing his older brother pushed onto the back foot and in critical danger, Ryan's twin brother, Gordon, maintained a military-like discipline. Though his eyes revealed a hint of anxiety, his body remained firmly rooted beside Hein outside the shack. He stayed vigilant against surrounding dangers, showing no intention of stepping forward to help.

The Spellcaster was the core of the entire team, and often the key target enemies would try to break through. Protecting Hein was undoubtedly the absolute top priority of their pre-battle plan.

Unless the situation on the battlefield deteriorated to an extreme degree, he would never leave the druid all alone.

"Woom..." She gripped the [Practice Staff] tightly with both hands; an emerald green light barely condensed in the air before scattering like little specks of starlight, raining down on Lyle as he stepped forward to deliver a finishing blow.

Sizzle—

Dark green strands of seaweed sprouted and spread all over Lyle's body wherever the emerald motes of light had landed on him.

They twisted and tightened.

Making his movements gradually sluggish and stiff.

But he was, after all, a Warrior with a Class Level as high as Level 5. In terms of pure physical Strength, no one on the field could match the "Horned Shark."

Streams of air jetted from his nostrils. The knotted muscles covered in red light abruptly swelled, the veins under his skin writhing like earthworms.

He didn't even need to make any obvious struggling motions; simply stomping his foot and exerting force caused the seaweed tangled around his body to shatter completely, falling away as useless fibers.

Even so, this bought a crucial half-second of reaction time for Ryan, who had just been sent flying and was temporarily stunned on the ground.

Ignoring his disheveled state, he rolled sideways, narrowly dodging an axe strike aimed straight at his skull. Propping his round shield against the ground, he stabilized his center of gravity once more and stood up.

"Come on, you bastard!" Banging his sword against the face of his shield, Ryan spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and loudly taunted Lyle.

The stoicism on his face had long vanished, replaced by the inherent ferocity of a seasoned adventurer.

Even though there was a clear gap in strength between them, he still fulfilled his duty, risking his life to buy time for his teammates.

Wait...

Buy time!?

As if suddenly realizing something under the influence of the Lute music echoing in the air, Lyle's bloodshot and slightly dazed eyes abruptly narrowed as his reason returned.

Right now, how long had it been since the battle started?

Ten seconds? Or half a minute?

Since when... why had the surroundings suddenly become so quiet?

The terrified screams of his gang brothers, which had deeply irritated him just a moment ago—

Now, he couldn't hear a single one.

Subconsciously, he turned his head and cast his gaze to the other side of the battlefield.

There, the wolf beast from the unfathomable darkness had already completed his hunt.

Incredibly focused on efficiency.

Facing his enemies, he never showed mercy.

He didn't hold back just because his opponents were ordinary people who hadn't even obtained a Class Level, nor did he feel there was anything wrong with slaughtering enemies who had succumbed to fear and lost the ability to resist.

When the Wolf Fang descended, the only thing it brought was death.

One by one, severed heads spun and tumbled like autumn leaves. Coated in blood, they twirled through the air and landed on the scarlet ground, which was paved with mangled flesh so shredded it was unrecognizable.

The pitch-black Winter Wolf, its mane swaying, slowly paced through the gore. With a snap of its Wolf's Maw, it flung away the final head.

He had died very cleanly; the cut at his neck was perfectly smooth, and his face still bore lingering traces of fear.

Lyle recognized that face.

It was a lackey who had joined the gang not long ago. He was enthusiastic and lively, always eager to volunteer for any task.

Just ten minutes ago, this very person had handed him a cup of tea.

But now, only a head remained, and God knew where his body had gone.

"Dieeeee!" His mind, constantly provoked by the Lute music in the air, completely detonated at this moment. Lyle roared like a madman, the red light on his body growing thick and radiant.

Ignoring Ryan, who was glaring at him like a tiger watching its prey, he twisted his waist and violently charged toward Xia Nan.

A Warrior driven by anger, momentarily stripped of reason.

No one would miss this opportunity.

Even though the few of them on the battlefield hadn't communicated openly, they displayed an identical unspoken coordination at this very moment.

Hum—

Emerald light flashed. Seaweed rapidly sprouted, only to be instantly shattered, yet it caused Lyle's figure to freeze for a split second.

It was exactly this stiffness, lasting less than half a second, that allowed a small, silver-black snake—hanging upside down from the shack's ceiling and waiting in the shadows for a long time—to poke out its diamond-shaped head.

It struck the back of Lyle's neck, retreating the instant it made contact, leaving behind a lethal venom.

"Schlick!" Ryan's steel sword pierced through the Warrior's back and protruded from his chest, dragging out bits of mangled flesh.

The endless Rage allowed Lyle, a Warrior with a Class Level as high as Level 5, to block out the agony transmitting from all over his body.

In his wide, glaring eyes, only the black wolf before him remained.

Rumble—

The massive axe blade was raised high. At this moment, it was as if all the thick red light coating his entire body had converged onto this double-bladed axe.

Overwhelming power flowed from his arms into the axe handle. With a terrifying sonic boom tearing through the air, the giant axe, dyed blood-red by the light, crashed straight down toward the black wolf's head.

Yet ironically enough.

Faced with this desperate strike that condensed all of Lyle's power.

The black Winter Wolf, with its long, slender limbs and swaying mane, barely even reacted.

With just a light, nimble hop backward, it let the axe fall into empty air.

Pumped by his rapidly flowing, surging blood, the snake venom at the back of his neck spread throughout his entire body in the time it took to take a single breath.

Moreover, the gaping hole pierced through his chest was rapidly draining the man's life force.

Lyle had never felt the axe blade in his hands to be this heavy.

Just as he gritted his teeth, attempting to pull the giant axe free from where it was wedged into a crack in the ground...

In front of him, the lithe and pitch-black Winter Wolf leaped forward and lunged at him.

Vwoom—

A field of ochre-red energy drew a perfect arc through the air.

The Wolf Fang descended.

The world spun.

The burly, muscular body still maintained its posture of gripping the axe with both hands, but the head belonging to the leader of the Horned Shark Gang had already left its rightful place, vanishing from atop his shoulders.

Amid the fading echoes of a wolf's howl, it spun through the air and hit the ground.