Chapter 64: Second engagement

On top of one of the tall rocks was Smith on his wheelchair, flanked by Brenda and Vesper. She had lured the snakemen to this location, just as they had planned from the very beginning and Smith had seen everything unfold.

​This was the strategy they had discussed earlier with the girls. They had agreed that sneaking around and taking out groups of snakemen one by one would consume far too much time—and time was something they simply did not have. Thus, they devised a plan to lure the snakemen at once. Initially, Smith had been reluctant to approve it. Although individual snakemen were slow, even a thousand ants could bite an elephant to death. But the girls argued that even if they couldn’t win, they could still run. Reluctantly, Smith had agreed. Now, seeing the situation unfold as planned, his worried heart was finally put at ease as he continued to observe the fight.

​Back on the battlefield, the intermediate rank snakemen decided to step up and join the fight themselves. Though their numbers had been cut in half, their core combat power remained intact. Realizing this, the girls became far more serious, knowing the real battle was just beginning. Their earlier tactic had merely been to screen out the lower-ranked snakemen so they wouldn’t interfere in the main clash.

​As usual, Magenta initiated the attack. This time, she didn’t hide behind Fiona’s defense line. Joined by her pawns, she charged straight toward the group of intermediate rank snakemen. Activating her title, she immediately unleashed her second skill: Heavy Strike. Pivoting her left leg on the ground and holding her battle-axe with both hands, she plunged directly into the center of the enemy rank.

​The snakemen didn’t just stand by. They activated their own physical enhancements and thrust their spears toward Magenta. Ignoring their incoming spears, Magenta charged right into the center of the formation and executed a 360-degree Whirlwind Attack.

​A single wave of her attack immediately killed five intermediate rank snakemen. Although they had activated their enhancements, their defenses proved useless against her oversized battle-axe. The blow created a sudden gap in their formation, allowing her two pawns to follow close behind.

​Though her pawns were only at the Upper Novice rank—possessing half of Magenta’s aura level—they unleashed their own Heavy Strike upon the snakemen, snapping the enemies’ weapons in half. Although the strikes didn’t kill the snakemen instantly, the secondary penetrative damage shattered their internal organs, leaving them with no chance of survival.

​Magenta didn’t stop there. Taking a side step, she executed a Heavy Stomp in the middle of the group disrupting the snakemen and took another step forward, and activated Heavy Strike once more, cleaving two more snakemen in half.

​Nearby, her pawns had successfully slain two snakemen, but they were quickly surrounded by the rest of the group. Seeing their precarious situation, Magenta briefly retreated from the formation. Shortly after, Fiona and her pawns entered the fray.

​Having stored energy from their earlier clashes, Fiona and her pawns shifted their title focus from attack and defense to attack and speed. Releasing their accumulated force, they delivered a powerful blow with their maces onto the intermediate snakemen.

​While Fiona’s blow wasn’t as exaggerated as Magenta’s, she successfully took down the snakemen surrounding Magenta’s pawns, freeing them to retreat and prepare for another attack. In that single exchange, the snakemen lost a dozen intermediate-ranked warriors in an instant.

​The snakemen tried to retaliate, but it was already too late. Magenta and Fiona used the same rotational tactic to wear down the intermediate snakemen until every last one of them was killed.

​On Velvet’s side, the fight was a display of precision. They utilized a kiting strategy against the snakemen. While the pawns distracted the intermediate snakemen in head-on combat, Astra and the pawns shot down the enemies occupied by Velvet’s forces.

​The snakemen found themselves in a helpless situation. Just as they blocked an attack from Velvet’s pawns, an unseen arrow would pierce their heads before they even knew what hit them. This scene repeated itself several times as Valeria and Velvet gradually eroded the snakemen’s forces using their range tactics. Though not as fast as Magenta’s side, it was equally effective.

​Once Magenta and Fiona finished off their targets, they pinched the remaining enemies in the middle, executing them one by one.

​When the last snakeman fell, the group stood exhausted. They had expended a massive amount of energy clearing the horde. Though it felt long, the entire engagement had taken less than five minutes from initial contact. Adding the earlier chase by Vesper, the entire sequence of events had taken at most a quarter of an hour.

​With the enemies dead, the commotion they had caused left them no time to rest on the field. They quickly collected the loot dropped by the fallen creatures—for even though it was called a "slaughterhouse," it was still a dungeon where slain creatures can drop loot.

​After clearing the battlefield, they relocated to another area to avoid being ambushed in there exhausted state and ending up in a dangerous situation. This was why Vesper hadn’t directly participated in the battle; her role had been to scout for incoming groups while Brenda was responsible for protecting Smith.

​They moved to a new location. With everyone exhausted and the sun dipping below the horizon, they decided to make camp. Smith pulled a box-like item from his inventory—a storage artifact similar to the item Alexander had used in their second dungeon. It was given to him by Jacob due to his status as a Grand Elder, with the understanding that he would pay for it later using contribution points.

​Using the storage artifact, Smith pitched a large tent. Having scouted the area earlier, they knew this spot was ideal: situated on a cliff flanked by boulders, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Furthermore, because nightfall brought a bitter cold, the cold-blooded snakemen would be less active. Confident in their position, they set up camp without lighting a fire and retreated inside the large tent, keeping their armor on in case of emergency.

​Smith distributed food to replenish everyone’s energy. As they ate, he spoke up:

​"As we’ve seen, pulling enemies into one area is very effective, but it is also extremely risky. By my estimate we have killed almost the same number of snakemen and the the earlier slow searching so it is seen that it is a more effective way to hunt, even though we’ve killed a large number of snakemen, we still don’t know how vast this place is and our objective isn’t just to farm points; it’s to clear this slaughterhouse. We will rest tonight, and starting tomorrow, we’ll search for clues regarding the location of the snakemen’s dungeon core. Along the way, we’ll continue training and gathering as many points as possible. But for today, that’s enough and I am truly impressed by all of you."

​The girls didn’t cheer, but they nodded, filled with pride.

​Smith continued, "We can’t all sleep at once. To sleep peacefully, we need one person outside on lookout and to wake us if anything happens. We’ll rotate shifts so everyone gets enough sleep."

​Since Vesper was the least exhausted, she volunteered to take the first watch. The others agreed without objection, especially Magenta, who had expended the most energy in the main fight.

​The girls went inside to sleep, while Vespa stepped outside the large tent to stand guard. As the night deepened, silence settled over the land.