Chapter 208:

It was three hours later when the Witch Hunters entered the sewers. With their arrival, this Ghoul Rampage had already passed the initial chaotic defense phase and moved towards counterattack. As Murphy also personally led people into the sewers, tonight’s battle entered its most intense stage. Thanks to the time gained by the fearless little players in the beginning, not many ghouls had burst out to the surface before the hastily mobilized Kadman People’s Army established several defense lines. However, some ghouls accidentally found the rock walls torn open at the city rift. They rushed out from those almost 90° vertically cut rock crevices, plummeting to the bottom of the deeper rift below, and were then swallowed up by the rolling Astral Realm aura there. What exactly lies at the bottom of the city rift remains an “unsolved mystery” to this day. The impact of over a dozen dimensional meteorites was enough to leave a thick chaotic spirit energy aura lingering there for a long time, making it difficult even for Spirit Sovereigns like Tris to probe the true situation below. But it’s not that they truly can’t enter, it’s just not necessary. Whatever is down there, it won’t affect the surface construction in the short term. Moreover, as time passes, the chaotic spirit energy there is dissipating. Murphy has enough patience to wait for those hidden things to see the light of day again. Most importantly, Murphy simply doesn’t have that many resources to invest in this exploration that might not yield any returns at all. Back to the sewers. With the entry of experts in dealing with ghouls and wraiths, the offensive of these “stinky things” continuously bursting out from underground was quickly contained completely. Witch Hunters are not just simple hunters, among them are also Oak Sages who can cast spells. Besides healing, the most notable feature of their spirit spells is “natural purification”. Under the arrangement of the two commanders, Natalie and Old Eugene, over 15 purification rituals were simultaneously released in the peripheral areas of the first level sewer, completely dispelling the remnants of death spirit energy there. This way, once the ghouls here are cleared out, this area of the sewer will no longer spawn more dangerous entities due to the lingering death spirit energy. The purified areas were filled with the aura of natural spirit energy. This is a scent that ghouls and wraiths absolutely detest, no less than being ignited by flames or exposed to light. Thus, their formation was continuously compressed, and they were systematically divided and lured by the Witch Hunters’ well-planned tactics, ultimately being quickly cleared under the burning of moon dust bombs and alchemical fire oil. Although the Witch Hunters were not large in number, their killing efficiency far exceeded that of other forces. Even the proud Blood Pact Knights had to admit that when it came to clearing these low-level evil spirits, they were not as professional as these Witch Hunters. The strong performance of the Witch Hunters in the sewers tonight also gave some new players, who were following NPCs to “farm the storyline”, some different ideas. Although the vampire race is indeed cool and flashy, not everyone is willing to give up their daytime activity hours. Perhaps embracing the Avalon Church could also be a good career plan? “I salute you! Defenders of the city sewers! I am honored to fight alongside you!” Veteran Norman, who had just swung his war knife to cut down a ghoul while wearing a mask, was about to look for his next target when he suddenly heard a voice expressing gratitude to him. This made old Norman turn back in surprise, and he saw a guy wearing squire leather armor performing a rather standard salute to him. But the problem was, this guy was obviously not a “local”! From his strange accent and his appearance, it could be judged that this was one of Murphy’s warriors. This was an otherworlder! This guy had already inserted a mind microphone plugin into his Computation Bead, allowing him to freely converse with others. Notably, there were two guards wielding swords and shields escorting him. This was even an administrator! “But what is this idiot doing?” Norman thought to himself: “Is he deliberately trying to imitate people from our world? This imitation is terrible.” However, even though he was mentally criticizing, the other person had at least given recognition and thanks, so Norman couldn’t pretend not to have seen it. He therefore nodded rather restrainedly towards that strange little player. This was to indicate that he accepted this “salute”, but he didn’t expect that this response would “cause trouble”. The little player with the ID name “Honorary Knight Typal” immediately stepped forward, very proactively requesting to join Norman’s hunt. He also very systematically emphasized that he had two brave veteran guards and would absolutely not become a burden to Norman. He even intended to discuss the distribution of spoils with Norman. These words made the two veteran guard administrative player escorts roll their eyes. They also didn’t know if their “employer” had some kind of mental issue. But undoubtedly, this guy was completely different from other warriors. Since appearing in the Crimson Citadel, he had been trying very hard to pretend to be a “local”. Unfortunately, although Transia has a fierce and wild folk custom, it also has its own set of local etiquette. A little player who had just entered the game for less than two days simply couldn’t imitate that flavor. “Keep up then.” Norman, annoyed, could only casually say, and then let the drag of a warrior follow him. This scene was all witnessed by Orchid, who was bandaging several wounded nearby. The great traveler nudged Lumina’s shoulder and said: “Look! An RP player just like you. It’s really rare to see such a restless person these days.” “But I’m actually just playing around, that guy is the real RP.” Lumina pouted and said: “This Brother Typal has almost become a ‘player urban legend’ in just two days since entering the game. Someone said they saw him not doing quests, just walking back and forth in the camp imitating those guards, even learning etiquette from the locals, and even complaining about the bad camp food with them. He’s even made friends with several veterans who often gather to drink. However, Professor Malcolm seems to like his humble and studious attitude very much. This is absolutely pure-blooded RP, a true game monster. Ah, there are more and more ‘talents’ among the players. I really don’t know where the development team found these guys. To be honest, this game is absolutely a blessing and holy land for RP parties. What do you say, should I advertise the game in my special role-playing group? What’s the point of those guys running tabletop games all day? Why not come to a real magical otherworld for a run?” They weren’t scared, just disgusted. This was just too filthy. “How many ghouls are there in the sewers?” Onboard Joy Stick’s face also looked very unpleasant. He grabbed his hunting rifle and fired a shot forward, taking down an unlucky ghoul. While reloading, he said to the other brothers: “I feel like this is about the scale of a raid dungeon? Is it reasonable to spawn so many mobs?” “So, this is when ‘professionals’ should make their appearance,” Murphy suddenly said. He stopped his advance and called back his wolf pack. Everyone looked back in surprise along Murphy’s gaze, and soon a slender figure appeared before them. “The Black-Hearted Witch Hunter is here!” Khaki Tony Tai, carrying a large axe, shouted, and was fiercely glared at by Guildmaster Natalie who was striding over. Obviously. She didn’t like her nickname. What do you mean black-hearted? I know the plugins I sold you were priced twenty times higher, which was a bit unfair, but wasn’t that to raise funds for the holy church reconstruction? How can something done for faith be called black-hearted? “My Necessary Evil is a bit picky, it doesn’t like this foul-smelling blood polluted by death. Sacred objects born of midnight are always very temperamental and quite annoying,” Murphy made a “please” gesture to Natalie and said: “Perhaps it’s time to let the glory of the Avalon God descend here to purify these filthy things.” Natalie had no objection to this. The gray-haired Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild reached back and grasped the hilt of the great oak blade, and said to Murphy in the darkness: “However, compared to purifying ghouls, the Watcher is clearly more interested in purifying you. It’s roaring obscenities, telling me to give you a slash. To be honest, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.” “Then it seems I should stay away from it,” Murphy cautiously took another step back. He watched as Natalie walked towards the ghouls howling and pouncing at her, while drawing out the oak sacred blade that was taller than she was. As the Adventurer’s Guild Master softly chanted the divine name, the familiar and magnificent blue-green Purifying Flame ignited on the edge of the elf’s ceremonial great sword. Although its scale and concentration were far from its invincible form in old Finoch’s hands, it was more than enough to deal with a group of ghouls. Natalie took a deep breath, and almost vomited from the stench here. But she still grasped the sword with both hands and assumed the attack stance of demon-hunting swordsmanship. After a few seconds of charging, she flashed into the filth ahead, dragging the great sword. The first swing of the oak sacred blade drew out a burning blade light in the darkness, incinerating all surrounding ghouls to ash. “Holy shit! Awesome!” The little players exclaimed at this terrifying killing power and area clearing ability. With Natalie, this “ghoul pulverizer”, advancing steadily, the group soon arrived at the depths of the ancient sewers. Unexpectedly, they even found some “acquaintances” here. “Damn! Brother Mao? Why are you guys in such a terrible state?” Onboard Joy Stick quickly folded his wings and landed, supporting Brother Mao who was struggling to breathe amidst the swirling ashes. Although the five-man strike team was still alive at this moment, their condition had deteriorated to the worst possible state. Almost everyone had become extremely fatigued and was on the verge of disconnecting due to debuffs like plague and Bleeding after the intense battle. Brother Mao, who was being supported, could barely speak coherently. He just grabbed Onboard Joy Stick’s hand and said brokenly: “Take them... take the children out! Below... below there are bad things... people! There are many people below! Lord Kudel is there! Go help him...” After saying this, Brother Mao’s neck went limp and he passed out, instantly going offline. The other brothers were in the same state. They weren’t dead, but such high-intensity exhaustion meant they definitely wouldn’t be able to log into the game for several hours. However, Onboard Joy Stick couldn’t understand at all what these brothers were saying, until Murphy stepped forward and pushed open a half-collapsed small room that they were guarding fiercely. The lord and his warriors saw 20 to 30 emaciated children curled up inside, looking at these people with terrified eyes. This scene shocked everyone. There were actually living people under the sewers ravaged by ghouls? “Don’t be afraid, children,” Murphy tried his best to appear gentle. But his pitiful 2 points of Charisma as a vampire really couldn’t comfort these frightened children. He had to let Sword Saint Ashina take over, relying on her 6 points of Charisma and the seemingly never-ending candy in her pocket to find out the background of these children. “My lord, there’s a force called the ‘Rat Gang’ controlling their parents in the cavern below,” Sword Saint Ashina reported quickly. She waved her fist indignantly and said: “It’s that bad guy called the ‘Plague Rat King’ who’s manipulating the ghouls to attack us!” “How many living people are down there?” Murphy asked. Sword Saint Ashina made a gesture with her hand and said: “Over 500, the children couldn’t say clearly, but I think it should be a bit more than that. They also said many people who didn’t obey were fed to the ghouls by that Plague Rat King.” “How audacious!” Murphy’s eyes flashed with a crimson glint. He said coldly: “Daring to do such things in my territory, no matter what background this Rat King has, he’s clearly got guts! Someone so gutsy must be prepared to face the wrath of midnight. My warriors, send these children up, then go notify Maxim as quickly as possible, tell him to bring the matriarch’s personal guards down. The Night Mother is thirsting for a blood sacrifice. Let’s resolve this matter quickly.”