Chapter 72: The End
Although he was the one who had charged into their encirclement, the Dark Elves’ faces changed drastically. They suddenly felt a strong sense of being surrounded.
One elf raised his twin blades, trying to distract Asker, his feet light, ready to flee. Another elf stealthily approached from behind, drawing a dagger for a backstab.
Asker thrust his sword forward, the Celestial Ninefold Strike’s Sharp Break. The tip of his sword pierced the gap between the twin blades with pinpoint accuracy, striking the Dark Elf’s throat.
The elf attempting the backstab felt a chill and lunged forward with his dagger, but a dark muzzle suddenly appeared in his vision.
Bang.
Asker, still in his forward thrust, extended his pistol from under his right arm, muzzle flashing behind him.
The bullet, as if guided, struck the elf’s forehead, breaking his neck. The force of the impact threw his body backward.
The last remaining Dark Elf, seeing that the situation was hopeless, suddenly froze. He bit the poison capsule hidden in his false tooth and instantly collapsed, dead.
Asker looked back and saw the Spartans, with Medea’s help, finally kill the remaining Dark Elf.
“Tandanio, hold on!” Rudashius rushed to the wounded Spartan warrior’s side and quickly removed his damaged arm armor.
The warrior’s arm had been slashed in the battle. The flesh around the wound was bruised and purple, clearly poisoned by the Dark Elves.
“It’s some kind of fast-acting neurotoxin. The trouble is, we don’t have a doctor here.” Asker picked up a poisoned blade from the ground, examined it, and said, “You can cut open the wound, there’s a chance of draining the poisoned blood, but if detoxification fails, the best-case scenario is paralysis, he’ll be crippled.”
“The other option is to amputate. That will save his life. Whatever you choose, don’t wait more than ten minutes.”
“Tandanio, what’s your choice?” Rudashius asked gravely.
The Spartan warrior, Tandanio, didn’t speak. He gritted his teeth, raised his injured left arm, and with his right hand, swiftly severed it.
The severed arm fell to the ground and rolled a few times. His face was pale as a sheet from the intense pain, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.
Another Spartan warrior took out bandages and a splint from his pouch, trying to stop the bleeding from the severed limb.
“That won’t stop the bleeding,” Rudashius said, picking up his greatsword and heating it on the burning Dark Elf corpse.
“Cauterize the wound.” He said calmly to the Spartan beside him. “And find something to put in his mouth so he doesn’t bite off his tongue.”
The other Spartan stuffed the broken arm armor into Tandanio’s mouth. Rudashius said, “Bear with it,” and pressed the red-hot greatsword firmly against the wound.
Even Tandanio, who hadn’t flinched while having his arm cut off, now convulsed in pain, sweat pouring down his face, his whole body trembling.
In just a few seconds, the wound was cauterized. Rudashius removed the greatsword. Tandanio supported himself on the ground with his remaining arm, spat out the armor piece, and gasped for air.
Faint teeth marks were visible on the piece of armor.
The Spartan beside him, his expression unchanged, helped his one-armed comrade up and quickly applied medicine and bandages to the wound to prevent infection.
“Can Miss Nuo heal him?” Rudashius asked Asker.
“No.” Asker shook his head. Regenerating a completely severed limb required at least a Life IV ability. “But you can take him to Solomon City. They can clone a new arm for him.”
“Clone?” Rudashius didn’t understand the word, but he memorized it and nodded in thanks.
…
Dark transcendental characteristics slowly emanated from the Dark Elves’ corpses – a fusion of “Sharp Weapon I,” “Dodge I,” and “Intuition I.”
The Spartans, knowing the use of these characteristics, didn’t take any, giving them all to Asker.
After all, he had saved them.
Asker accepted them without hesitation.
After a hasty farewell to the three Spartan warriors, Asker and Medea quickly rushed to the other floors to find the rest of the girls.
Dark Elves were indeed formidable opponents for Level 3 Transcendents, especially with the poison on their weapons. A single scratch could have dire consequences.
However, the other two groups were led by Eleanor and Thira. Asker trusted their tactical skills. If they were outmatched, they would evade and avoid direct confrontation. They wouldn’t throw their lives away needlessly.
After all, he had trained them himself.
In the central square of the residential area on the 52nd floor, they finally found Thira’s team at the scene of the battle.
Because this was an upper-class residential area, not only Spartans but also additional mage troops were stationed there. Relying on their numerical advantage and the range of their arcane magic, they had dealt with the invaders with relative ease.
Eleanor’s team on the 30th floor, however, had encountered serious trouble. The guards there were almost all killed, forcing them to fight alongside the arriving Spartans.
With her sturdy Magic Copper Armor, Eleanor played the role of a tank, absorbing most of the Dark Elves’ attacks.
When Asker arrived, they were being besieged by more than a dozen Dark Elves, their line on the verge of collapse.
However, the tide of battle quickly turned. With Asker and Medea joining the fight, the Dark Elves, who originally had the upper hand, were quickly divided and isolated, then annihilated.
After the battle, they discovered that Mia’s shoulder had been cut at some point and poisoned. Fortunately, Nuo was there and performed emergency surgery, cutting open the wound and letting the blood flow. Using “Life I” to stimulate blood flow, she managed to remove the toxin.
Medea was relieved, but also felt a twinge of regret.
Quintus quickly arrived with his men and collected the Dark Elves’ bodies, preparing to send them to the specialized department for identification.
Judging from the noble officer’s furrowed brows, he, too, realized that the appearance of the Dark Elves was an unexpected variable.
But as Asker had said, this had nothing to do with the Azure Longsword mercenary group.
For Azure Longsword, this was a valuable experience in independent combat, demonstrating that even without Asker present, the girls had the basic ability to deal with enemies on their own.
“I’m dying of pain!” Mia, her shoulder bandaged, cried tearfully upon seeing Asker. “That Flash Step thing is useless! I ran straight into his blade!”
“That’s why I said you’re only at the beginner stage. When you can freely control your direction changes during Flash Step, then you can be considered to have initially mastered this technique.” Asker said helplessly, taking something out of his bullet pouch and handing it to Mia.
“What is it?” Mia asked with a pitiful expression.
“A lollipop. Here, have it.” Asker said.
Mia tore open the wrapper and focused on enjoying her lollipop, making the other girls giggle.
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