Chapter 8: Reencountering “Team A”
“Why is the Azure Dragon Rapid Assault structured in the order of Dragon Spear, Triple Cloud Piercer, and Iron Cutter?” Eleanor asked.
“Because forming a combo requires minimizing the openings between moves.” Asker explained calmly. “Dragon Spear is a grappling technique, lifting and throwing the enemy. Some experienced enemies can adjust their posture in mid-air after being thrown and easily counter your follow-up attack.”
“Therefore, by modifying the Dragon Spear, smashing downwards instead of throwing outwards, and only pulling the spear tip out at the last moment, you prevent the enemy from recovering and reacting after being thrown.”
“Bouncing off the ground after the impact is precisely when the enemy has completely lost their sense of direction and balance. Seize this opportunity and use multiple Cloud Piercers to inflict maximum damage.”
“Generally speaking, Triple Cloud Piercer is safe. If you increase it to four or five, there’s a possibility of being counterattacked.”
“As for the final Iron Cutter, it’s a finishing displacement technique to prevent the enemy from counterattacking, sending them flying.”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Eleanor memorized it seriously, thinking to herself that she still had so much to learn.
It was a pity she couldn’t figure out “The Song of Roland.” She might as well learn something else during this anomaly to change her mood.
The two left the small town and regrouped with the others, who were waiting boredly. Then they continued to sweep through the town.
“There’s the smell of blood in the air.” Medea sniffed. “Say, what did you two do here?”
“Killed a monster,” Asker said.
The four walked forward for half a minute and came to the monster’s corpse. The body was torn apart, already half-rotten and shrunken, revealing scattered green crystals inside.
“Philosopher’s Stones.” Asker picked up a fragment and probed it with his spirituality. “Fragments of Philosopher’s Stones.”
“The reason these monsters appeared is because they were infected by fragments of Philosopher’s Stones?” Medea immediately guessed. “Could it be that someone deliberately poisoned the town, causing this anomaly?”
“Unlikely. You know, such a small fragment…” Asker weighed it and smiled. “…is worth around two hundred marks. The cost of poisoning would be too high.”
“Maybe the culprit is a billionaire?” Mia said casually, then realizing something, her eyes lit up. “Doesn’t that mean we can collect these fragments and sell them?!”
“Hmm.” Asker stood up and looked into the distance. “It seems the biggest danger in this anomaly still comes from other mercenary groups…”
However, Mia completely ignored his musings, activated Ilania Flash Step, and quickly picked up all the fragments on the ground.
The group continued forward cautiously and soon saw the girls of Team A resting not far away.
“Asker!” Seeing Team B approaching, Nuo exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
“How did you fare?” Asker asked.
“Okay,” Thira said from the side. “We killed three monsters and found fragments of Philosopher’s Stones inside them.”
She opened her palm, revealing a pile of loose green stone granules. Asker picked them up, examined them, and handed them to Medea:
“Keep these safe.”
Huh? Weren’t spoils usually kept by Nuo? Medea paused, then felt a strong sense of pleasant surprise.
Asker was finally starting to trust her! Right, with her psychic abilities, she was the most trustworthy person in the team!
She happily put the things away and squinted at Nuo. The gentle girl didn’t seem to have any other thoughts, just smiled at Asker, which made Medea feel subtly annoyed.
“Looks like you didn’t get hurt even without the captain around?” Medea walked forward, blocking Nuo’s view of Asker.
“It was okay. Although without the captain’s command, everyone felt a bit uncomfortable.” Nuo said with a smile. “Fortunately, the enemies this time were just mindless monsters.”
“By the way,” Thira added, “When we were killing those monsters, we saw a figure flash by across the street corner, but unfortunately, he got away.”
“A figure?” Asker looked at Miel. If there were enemies in the distance, this sniper would definitely have seen them.
“About 1.7 meters tall, medium build, wearing a robe and hood, looked like a spellcaster.” Miel described in detail. “He had been standing across from us, watching us since we encountered the monsters.”
“Did you try shooting?” Asker asked.
Miel shook her head. “By the time we killed the monster, he had already turned and disappeared.”
“Disappeared? How did he disappear?” Asker asked.
“In a flash.” Miel said. “Maybe his speed was too fast, I didn’t see clearly how he disappeared, just in that direction.”
She raised her rifle and pointed towards the center of the town.
“Should we go explore in that direction, Asker?” Nuo asked.
“That guy might be related to this anomaly.” Thira said thoughtfully. “I have a strong intuition.”
“Hmm.” Asker pondered for a long time and said, “It’s indeed worth investigating. But we’re currently fighting in separate teams. How about this: you, Team A, explore in that direction, while we, Team B, continue sweeping the area nearby and collect the Philosopher’s Stones from these monsters.”
“Eh? Captain, aren’t you coming with us?” Sidlipha asked in surprise.
“If we go together, then dividing into teams would be meaningless, right?” Asker replied.
“But, since a mysterious figure appeared, it suggests that this anomaly might not be accidental.” Thira questioned. “If there really is a mastermind behind the scenes, isn’t fighting separately making us more vulnerable to being defeated one by one?”
“Not necessarily.” Asker said meaningfully. “If we regroup into one team, there might be even greater risks.”
He suddenly swung his sword, a cold light slashing down. Thira quickly rolled backward, narrowly dodging Asker’s horizontal slash.
“Asker! What are you doing!” Thira scrambled up, shouting in shock.
The other girls were also stunned, raising their weapons one after another, unsure who to help.
“Not bad, you actually dodged my attack?” Asker said with a smile. “The real Miss Thira couldn’t do that.”
“What are you talking about?” Thira looked annoyed. “Are you suspecting that I’m a fake?!”
“Asker!” Peggy, who had been resting nearby, also stood up nervously and said hesitantly, “Could you be mistaken? Thira has been with us the whole time, there shouldn’t be any possibility of her being replaced!”
“Your acting skills are also quite good.” Asker held his sword in his right hand and took the shield with his left.
Eleanor quickly moved sideways with her shield, guarding his back. Mia and Medea also moved closer to Eleanor – Team B almost instantly formed an attack formation, their spearhead pointed directly at the five potentially fake Team A girls ahead.
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