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墨書 Inktalez
Garen was momentarily stunned, feeling that the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
At that instant, two sharp sounds of slicing air suddenly erupted! Two gleaming daggers shot out from the forest like black meteors, landing with a clang on either side of the Rodent Tide. Immediately after, a dark figure leaped out from the trees, spinning in mid-air and heading straight for the White-Furred Demon Rat!
The White-Furred Demon Rat's fur bristled in terror as it let out a frightened screech. However, at that moment, the two daggers unleashed a powerful wave of Fighting Spirit, pushing back a large group of Demon Tooth Rats that attempted to come to its aid!
Before the White-Furred Demon Rat could make any further moves, the dark figure had already landed on the ground. With fluid movements, he raised his elbow slightly and then struck down with tremendous force. There was a loud bang as he crushed the White-Furred Demon Rat's skull into the ground!
Only then could Garen finally see his face, which was obscured by a ghostly mask.
Garen was slightly surprised but quickly calmed down.
Just like in that battle two weeks ago, Sharg seemed to be a born warrior, constantly countering Garen's attacks. So it wasn't unexpected for him to disregard the Rodent Tide and kill the White-Furred Demon Rat.
"What are you standing there for? Run!" Sharg suddenly shouted as he turned his head.
As soon as he finished speaking, Sharg dashed toward the outskirts of the Rodent Tide, completely ignoring his earlier heroic image.
Garen focused his mind and immediately used Stormblade to knock away a Demon Tooth Rat. He charged forward over fifty meters with all his strength and then squeezed out the last bits of Fighting Spirit to target another Demon Tooth Rat on the periphery, executing Fatal Strike to break free from the encirclement of the Rodent Tide.
At that moment, two loud explosions rang out—boom! boom! The two daggers at the core of the Rodent Tide suddenly detonated, releasing a powerful wave of level six Fighting Spirit that disrupted the pursuing Rodent Tide once again!
With the commander, the White-Furred Demon Rat, dead, the Rodent Tide seemed to lose its direction. Even those who survived the explosion scattered in panic, unable to pursue any longer.
About half an hour later, they finally stopped in front of some bushes.
"Have some water!" Sharg offered a brown Water Bag.
Garen took the water but did not rush to drink it. Instead, he looked at the large stone where Sharg was perched and said, "Thank you very much for your help!"
"Don't you want to ask me why I saved you?" A laugh came from beneath the ghostly mask.
Garen silently drank the water.
Even in the past, Garen would never ask such pretentious and meaningless questions as "Why did you save me?"
"How boring," Sharg huffed lightly. "Since that's the case, I'll be straightforward. I'm on a mission and need a helper."
Garen suddenly realized something, and his expression darkened slightly.
"Hey! I really was just passing by; don't get me wrong! I have no time to follow you!" Sharg quickly waved his hands. "Of course, if you insist on leaving, I won't stop you. After all, this mission is indeed quite tricky, and..."
Garen handed back the Water Bag and stated succinctly, "I accept your offer."
Sharg was taken aback, incredulous. "Aren't you going to ask what the mission is? What if it's something that leads to your death?"
Garen smiled slightly and replied, "You just saved me; a true warrior does not casually owe favors."
"Alright, you've convinced me..." Sharg paused for a moment before tossing something to Garen. "Drink this; it will help you quickly recover your Fighting Spirit."
Garen caught it in his palm and saw that it was a vial of potion. More accurately, it was a Fighting Potion. Garen had seen such items in the shops of his hometown; they were used to enhance and restore Fighting Spirit. Unfortunately, they were incredibly expensive and unaffordable for ordinary people.
"So what is your mission?" Garen asked without hesitation as he drank the potion.
"Before we embark on the actual mission, we need to find the right path," Sharg shrugged, indicating that he had no idea about the direction. Then, under Garen's puzzled gaze, he slowly added, "But I have another ally who will leave us markers along the way."
The markers Sharg mentioned were simple circles with various lines inside them that resembled a mask at first glance. Ten minutes later, Garen discovered one of these markers at the base of a large tree. As they continued on their path, they found similar markers approximately every 400 meters or so.
Every time Sharg saw those marks, he would pause for a moment, his emotions becoming subtly complex.
"Was he your partner?" Garen couldn't help but ask.
"He used to be," Sharg replied after a long silence.
Garen looked deeply at Sharg, choosing not to press further. It was clear that Sharg and his "ally" had once shared a steadfast friendship, but for some reason, they had gradually drifted apart, even going their separate ways.
Such things were not uncommon; after all, friendship and beliefs had always been two unrelated matters.
Because of the latter, Sharg and his ally were no longer partners, yet due to the former, they could still trust each other unconditionally.
They walked for about two hours.
The colors of the marks became slightly more distinct, clearly having been made not long ago. According to Sharg's estimation, they must be very close to that "ally," perhaps even just ahead.
Garen pushed aside the vines in front of him and suddenly realized something.
Yes, since discovering the first mark, they had been heading north toward the Taroloro Mountain Range. In his memory, Maple's map also seemed to lead north; the routes of both were even quite similar.
Did that mean Garen was likely to encounter members of the Blazing Fire Squad again? Recalling the scene before Ghostvine Cliff, Garen shook his head internally. Although they had made the right choice in terms of overall benefit at that time, on a personal level, Garen would never trust them again.
Just then, Garen noticed that the surface of the vines was covered with a layer of bloodstains, vividly colored and still wet.
Garen raised Stormblade and sliced through the obstructing vines with a sharp sound. He then discovered that at the bottom of the vines, there was a body!
The corpse was drenched in blood, with more than ten bloody holes in its chest. The right arm was bent at an unnatural 90 degrees, and the left arm had been severed. The death was truly tragic.
Garen stared at the left shoulder of the corpse, observing the neat cut. He then shifted his gaze up to its cheek; despite the face being utterly unrecognizable, he could still faintly identify who it was...
Kakashiuro!
Garen couldn't help but furrow his brow. Although he had anticipated encountering the Blazing Fire Squad, he never expected it to happen in such a manner.
At that moment, Sharg also noticed the commotion. He looked at Kakashiuro's lifeless body, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly approached, crouching down before the vines.
Garen glanced at Sharg in confusion, only to see Sharg gripping Kakashiuro's one arm tightly, the force so intense that he could almost hear the sound of bones creaking under pressure.
"You..."
Despite the fact that the Blazing Fire Squad had abandoned Garen, there was still a lingering bond from their time fighting side by side. Just as Garen was about to stop Sharg, he suddenly froze.
He noticed a circle drawn in blood at the fingertips of Kakashiuro.
"Don't worry, I will avenge you," Sharg said in a voice low and primal, like that of a beast.
Shock flickered in Garen's eyes, but he did not interrupt Sharg. He could clearly sense that Sharg was engulfed in extreme rage, his murderous intent palpable enough to be seen. The sound of rustling filled the air as sharp cuts appeared on the surface of the surrounding vines.
"I'm sorry."
It wasn't until ten minutes later that Sharg took a deep breath and finally regained his composure.
"Was he your ally?" Garen asked.
"Yes, his name was Kakashiuro," Sharg replied as he stood up and walked toward a nearby boulder. "He was my best friend during childhood."
With Kakashiuro's death, the markers along the path lost their significance, meaning that Sharg's mission would be difficult to continue. He sat down on top of the boulder, his gaze hidden beneath his mask as he fell into memories.
Garen chose not to interrupt Sharg's reminiscence and decided to hold off on mentioning anything about the Blazing Fire Squad.
"If that incident hadn't happened, perhaps we would still be close friends," Sharg said, looking at the bright red corpse. "Would you like to hear about it?"
Garen found a large rock to sit on and smiled. "It would be my honor."
"Many years ago, a wizard came to the area. You should know that in places like Blackstone Town, it's rare for a wizard to pay a visit, so he earned everyone's respect." Sharg suddenly chuckled, then slowly clenched his fists. "But in reality, he was only there to conduct toxicity tests, a very dangerous experiment."
"Isn't it ridiculous? Everyone revered him as a deity, while he treated his followers as mere test subjects, indifferent to their lives."
Sharg's voice gradually grew somber. "In that experiment, Talina—a girl we regarded as a sister—endured brutal abuse at the hands of that beast. Although she survived in the end, she lost the light in her eyes forever."
"That night, Kakashiuro and I vowed to take revenge for her. Only the blood of our enemy could wash away all her humiliation."
"But how could two underage children possibly kill a wizard? Especially one who was a Second Rank powerhouse! During our most dangerous attempt, not only did we fail, but I was also captured and subjected to experiments. Fortunately, my... unique constitution allowed me to survive."
Sharg touched his cheek beneath the mask and sighed bitterly. "Countless failures left Kakashiuro and me nearly hopeless, which directly led to our final divergence."
"I believed we had to kill our enemy ourselves, but he thought we could never defeat a wizard. His unique path was to join an Adventurer Team; only by connecting with powerful beings at higher levels could we request their help."
At this point, Garen understood the situation.
Clearly, after this disagreement, Sharg immersed himself in solitary training while Kakashiuro sought out various Adventurer Teams, trying to align himself with different powerful figures.
"And then something even more absurd happened. The wizard was long affected by toxins and, combined with his old age, ultimately died in the mountains," Sharg said coldly. "When we learned of his death, we felt no pleasure—only an unending rage... Ha! Not only could we not kill our enemy with our own hands, but we couldn't even find his corpse. What an immense irony!"
"From that day on, Kakashiuro and I completely severed our ties."
"Later..."
Sharg didn't continue speaking but walked over to Kakashiuro's body and began rummaging through his pockets.
"Later, just the day before yesterday, he found me for the first time in five years. He wrote to tell me that he had discovered the relic left by the wizard, that precious Three-Eyed Demon Python he used for toxicity experiments. That's why I came to the Taroloro Mountain Range."
A hint of regret flickered in Sharg's eyes. With Kakashiuro's death, the whereabouts of the Three-Eyed Demon Python had become a mystery.
He pulled something from his pocket and, after wiping away the bloodstains, revealed a similar black mask. However, it was not a ghostly face but one of sorrow, with a weeping expression.
Sharg cleaned the mask and then placed it on Kakashiuro's face.
If only we could have sat down and talked things over back then, instead of severing all ties with cold faces. Perhaps our reunion wouldn't have turned out like this; at least you could have worn it yourself.
We both owe each other a smile.
At that moment, Garen's voice came from behind.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you at this time."
Garen said sincerely with a smile, "But I must remind you that just two miles ahead is the lair of the Three-Eyed Demon Python."
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