Chapter 379 - 131: Bloody Hand! I’ve Been Waiting for You for a Long Time

Chapter 379: Chapter 131: Bloody Hand! I’ve Been Waiting for You for a Long Time

SQUELCH~

Esther’s figure transformed into a bolt of crimson lightning, instantly appearing behind a Tier Two Warrior. Her sharp fangs bit directly through his neck.

"Urgh—!"

The Tier Two Warrior didn’t even have time to react before all the blood and life force were drained from his body in an instant. His form shriveled at a visible rate, turning into a horrifying, desiccated corpse.

"You beast! Stop!"

Johnny’s eyes were practically bursting with rage. He let out a furious roar as his body shot forward, his blood-red Longsword slashing toward Esther with ferocious Sword Qi.

However, Esther simply gave a light flap of her wings. Her body flickered away as gracefully as a willow catkin, easily dodging the blow.

"Come on~ Come and get me~"

She giggled at Johnny, then flapped her small wings and flew to the other side of the battlefield to find a new target.

Johnny was seething with rage. But he couldn’t fly, and he was nowhere near as fast as Esther. All he could do was watch helplessly as the damned little Vampire wreaked havoc across the battlefield, draining one officer after another into a dried-up husk.

"Boss! Boss!"

Just then, his adjutant, a Tier Four Berserker, rushed to his side covered in blood. "We can’t keep fighting!" he yelled hoarsely. "Boss, this is a trap! A complete and utter trap! If this keeps up, we’re all going to die here!"

"We have to break out, Boss! Lead the men and break out of here! Where there’s life, there’s hope! Boss!"

In such a desperate situation, even a Berserker couldn’t afford to be reckless.

A jolt ran through Johnny, and his mind, which had been clouded by rage, finally regained some clarity.

He glanced around and saw that more than half of the elite Soldiers who had followed him as the vanguard were already lost. Corpses, flames, and those damned Skeletons and ghosts were everywhere.

And as for himself, he had been pushed into this desperate corner without even laying eyes on Lynch.

’I can’t accept this... I can’t accept this!’

Johnny roared at the sky, his voice filled with grief, indignation, and despair.

He didn’t understand. The plan had been so perfect. Lynch’s main force should have been at the Grey Stone Pass. Why was there such a terrifying ambush here? Why did it seem as if that Lynch fellow knew everything in advance?

However, now was not the time to dwell on such things.

"All of you who can still move," Johnny snarled, gritting his teeth. He pointed his blood-red Longsword toward the forest on the right and bellowed, "Charge with me! We’re breaking out through the woods on the right! We’ll cross Red Ridge Mountain and get back to Iron Hammer Town!"

Before his voice had even faded, he was already charging forward. An aura of blood-red battle energy erupted around him as he shattered the few Skeletons blocking his path with two swings of his sword.

Seeing this, the remaining Soldiers from the vanguard and middle ranks gritted their teeth and followed, swarming after him toward the forest on the right in a disorderly stampede.

Fortunately, while there were many Skeletons in the forest, they were not densely packed. He actually managed to lead his men through the encirclement and break free.

Behind them, the sounds of battle raged on as Lynch’s forces gave chase. Soldiers who were too slow were constantly being struck down by arrows or cut down by Skeletons.

Johnny didn’t dare to stop for a second, leading his surviving troops in a mad dash through the forest.

They scrambled over mountains and ridges, pushed through dense woods, and waded across streams, never daring to rest for a moment.

「They fled like this for two or three days.」

Only when the sounds of battle had finally faded into the distance and everyone was on the verge of collapse did Johnny dare to stop and catch his breath.

He leaned against a large tree, gasping for air.

He looked around.

The grand army of two thousand that had set out with him was now reduced to a mere four or five hundred. Every one of them was wounded and disheveled, with none of their former elite bearing left.

They had set out in high spirits, confident of victory.

Now, they fled like stray dogs, living in constant fear.

Johnny looked at his exhausted subordinates, then raised his head to gaze into the distance.

There, the silhouette of Red Ridge Mountain was faintly visible. Once they crossed that mountain, they would be in Sardinia Province, back at his stronghold of Iron Hammer Town.

"Lynch... Blackwood..."

Johnny ground his teeth as he muttered the name.

He had been utterly defeated in this battle.

He hadn’t even seen his enemy’s face or reached Lakefront Town, yet he had already lost three-quarters of his forces.

But no matter how intense his hatred, he didn’t dare linger in the Red Ridge Mountain area with these few hundred survivors.

With so few men, they would be nothing but easy pickings if they ran into Lynch’s main army.

The only plan now was to find a way over the mountain pass, return to Sardinia Province, and plan for the future.

However, compared to Gray Claw Gorge, this mountain pass was completely undeveloped, primeval forest, filled with dangers at every turn.

Steep cliffs, slippery moss, bottomless ravines, and elusive venomous snakes and fierce beasts—each one claimed the lives of his remaining soldiers.

Johnny led his men over the mountains, as pathetic and wretched as a pack of wild dogs being chased by hounds.

One man, his injuries too severe, lost his grip while climbing and fell screaming into a deep gorge.

Another was bitten by a venomous insect in the jungle; his body quickly turned black, and he collapsed dead after taking only a few more steps.

Yet another missed his footing, tumbled down a slope, and smashed his head against a rock, his brains splattering. He was dead beyond dead.

When this remnant force finally crested the mountain pass, emerged from the primeval jungle, and set foot on the soil of Sardinia Province, their numbers had dwindled to fewer than four hundred. Every single one was wounded and gaunt-faced, utterly bereft of the imposing might of the Blood Cross Gang.