Chapter 230: The Hero’s Suicide Squad
Qin Chu felt a bit helpless.
What did she mean by “collect all the Witches”? Was he that greedy? Besides, he wasn’t doing this for himself, but for the sake of all living beings, to save the goddess trapped in the Void. And Ireta was a Witch herself, suffering from the torment of Divine Authority. He was just trying to ease their pain.
So please don’t look at him like he was some kind of pervert. It was disrespectful to his noble cause!
He protested Ireta’s insinuation, but she didn’t seem to care. Perhaps because her heart was beating again, and the death aura within her had lessened, she seemed more lively.
“My dear Hero,” she teased, “you can’t be too greedy…”
“How could I? I’m not that kind of person,” Qin Chu denied, shaking his head. “I just think it would be troublesome if the Flame Witch is controlled by the First Demon Beast Prince.”
“Is that so? But even if you have other intentions, it’s useless.”
Ireta’s voice turned sad. “The Flame Witch has already gone completely mad. She can’t control her flames, even her own body has been consumed. She’s just a raging spirit of fire, attacking all life indiscriminately. Perhaps, in a few decades, even her soul will be consumed by the flames, and then she’ll finally be free.”
If her own death aura continued to spread, she might end up the same way one day. She was lucky to have met him before that happened.
“The First Demon Beast Prince knows this and wants to seal this spirit of fire within himself, to gain her power.”
“But sealing her won’t be easy. Although she’s mad, her power hasn’t diminished.”
“You have a special power. It can cleanse the death aura on me, but I’m not sure if it can restore the Flame Witch’s sanity.”
“In any case, if you’re going there, please be careful.”
…
Meanwhile, at the camp, a slender, petite figure appeared.
It was Eileen, one of the Twin Thieves.
After escaping the Demon Beast territory, she had followed Loseweisse’s coordinates, dodging pursuers and rushing here as fast as possible. She had to inform her companions of the situation.
Inside Loseweisse’s tent.
Ekaterina, Athena, Loseweisse, Eileen, Airi, and Sylph. All the remaining members of the original Hero Squad, except for Muse the Mad, were present.
Eileen drained her teacup in one gulp. The journey had exhausted her.
Loseweisse, after expressing her concern, finally asked, “Eileen, what happened?”
Eileen took a deep breath. “Just as I told you, that idiot Lomond has somehow become smart. He launched a large-scale attack, burning down the entire forest where we were hiding.”
The women’s faces darkened. There was nowhere to hide from such an attack.
“Ronald and I were separated, our invisibility broken.”
“Lomond and his forces attacked. Ronald knew we were no match for them, so he told me to escape and he would hold them back.”
“He said the Hero Squad had already suffered too many losses.”
Eileen recounted their ordeal, her voice filled with self-blame.
The others’ faces were grim.
This was terrible news.
Loseweisse, however, cared only about the soul fragment.
“Eileen, don’t blame yourself. Did Ronald give you anything before you separated… like, Jie Luo’s soul fragment?”
Eileen shook her head blankly. In the chaos, she had forgotten.
Loseweisse’s face hardened, and she cursed Ronald inwardly for his foolishness. And Eileen, you idiot! Couldn’t you tell what was most important?
Why were her teammates such idiots?
She couldn’t rely on them. The plan to resurrect Jie Luo still depended on her. She feigned sadness, tears welling up in her eyes, “And Ronald… is he…?”
She had to know where the soul fragment was.
“No,” Eileen said, “I overheard some Demon Beasts talking. It seems Ronald was captured alive by Lomond and is being held prisoner. That bastard wants to interrogate him.”
“He might be tortured. We have to save him!”
Eileen felt guilty for abandoning him.
The others exchanged glances.
“Eileen, it’s a trap,” Athena said calmly, “Lomond is using him as bait.”
“His territory is filled with traps. If we go there, we’ll be…”
She didn’t finish, but the implication was clear.
They couldn’t save Ronald.
Eileen’s face darkened, but Loseweisse spoke, “No, we have to save him.”
Athena looked at her in shock, unable to believe that she couldn’t see through such an obvious trap.
“He’s our comrade! And think about it, how many of us are left? Eight. If Ronald dies, there will be only seven. There are eight new members! We’ll lose our influence in the Hero Squad! Our plan to resurrect Jie Luo will be ruined!”
“And Jie Luo’s soul fragment might still be with him!”
Loseweisse’s passionate plea, appealing to both loyalty and self-preservation, swayed the others.
Damn it… she thought. She still hadn’t found any soul fragments. She couldn’t give up.
“I know it’s a trap, but we have to do it.”
“And there’s trouble with Muse. We have to send someone to help her. If both missions are successful, we’ll have two soul fragments!”
“We’re doing this for Lord Jie Luo! It will be worth it!”
Tears glistened in her eyes.
The others sighed, seemingly convinced.
“But how do we arrange this? We can’t all go,” Sylph frowned.
“We’re just rescuing someone, not fighting a war,” Loseweisse said, “We need stealth and skill with traps and barriers.”
Her gaze fell on the Twin Thieves. “Eileen, Airi, and Sylph, can I entrust this to you three?”
Eileen agreed immediately, and after a moment, Airi nodded as well.
Sylph hesitated. She was more concerned about the Evil God’s thread within her, but this was for Lord Jie Luo.
She finally agreed.
The rescue team was formed.
A suicide squad, in Qin Chu’s eyes.
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