Life wasn't a game. If you died, you really died.
Strong or weak? High or low rank? In reality, there was no fundamental difference.
If a person was killed, he would die. His head would explode into a bloody flower. A small wound that couldn't be stopped from bleeding. In a desperate situation, he lacked food and water. Since the end point was death, there was no difference in reality.
Strolling in the wilderness, listening to the sound of the wind and distinguishing the direction and species of the beast roars, Rorschach, who quickly became a ranger, easily avoided all kinds of dangers. He ignored all natural and man-made traps. He simply and stubbornly hunted his target.
One day, one oath, one shot, and one corpse.
There was no pity, no pleading, and no communication. A hunt that originated from revenge didn't need any extra words.
On the first day, the peak of the second rank archer, Kuer, died from a headshot while setting up camp. This completely eliminated the possibility of the wild bandits' counterattack.
On the second day, the ambitious pharmacist was shot in the thigh tendon while crossing the river. He bled profusely and couldn't walk.
After becoming a burden to the team, he died because of a "mistake" in his companion's amputation surgery. The team members were all in danger.
On the third day, the remaining three members of the team fled in all directions. After combining all the information he knew, Rorschach chose the beastman Ken, who had the highest chance of escaping.
The third rank berserk wolf, the pride of the werewolves. After going berserk on the battlefield, he was a terrifying destroyer comparable to the fourth rank for a short period of time … He died very wrongly and even somewhat shamefully.
At the last moment, the zero rank ranger Rorschach didn't even fire a shot.
He only appeared in the necessary position at the necessary time so that Ken could see the black shadow in the black fog. It was the blood-red gaze of a hunter.
The werewolf, who was targeted by the Grim Reaper, was already scared out of his wits. He didn't even think of the possibility that he could kill the hunter who was only thirty meters away from him with a single slap.
The werewolf, who saw through the trap on the cliff, was chased away like a stray dog.
Step by step, he lost his rationality and took the initiative to walk into the "cliff".
When Ken broke into the bear's den and was torn apart by two raging and thirsty demonized berserk bears, the werewolf, who hadn't eaten for six hours and was exhausted, even revealed a relieved smile.
"It's finally over. At least, it's not …"
* Bang! *
Unfortunately, since he had already sworn to take revenge, he had to fulfill his promise.
Before he was torn to pieces, a bloody hole appeared between Ken's eyebrows, and in the next moment, he turned into a blooming flower of blood.
Her twisted face was half joyful and half despairing. It was deeply engraved in Rorschach's mind.
In order to not have such a moment for himself, the memory of this scene naturally became the food for his growth.
On the fourth day, as expected, the leader of the bandits, Grand Knight Woody, reunited with the rookie bandit Shakel.
Ken probably would never have thought that the so-called splitting up to escape, which seemed to be the most advantageous for him, was actually equivalent to taking the initiative to become bait.
From the moment they parted ways, Udi knew that Ken was dead for sure. The most important thing was how much time Ken could buy for himself … Laughably, Ken didn't doubt his boss' intentions even until the very last moment.
He was so moved by his boss' suggestion that he had the highest chance of escaping. There was even a moment when he almost asked to stay and die together with his boss due to his guilt.
Even until the very end, Ken didn't know that he had perfectly completed his boss's "mission" — sacrificing himself as bait to buy time.
Based on the road signs, Udi discovered that he was less than one day away from a large city. He was overjoyed … and chased away his last remaining companion, the rookie Shakel.
Udi took away all of the rookie bandit's weapons and clothes, as well as all of his survival equipment. He left only his underwear and a dagger for self-defense. Then, Udi threatened to kill Shakel if he didn't scram.
The reason?
In this line of work, no matter if you were a bandit or a mercenary, reputation and prestige were all very important. Abandoning one's companions would be the same as cutting off one's own future. Veteran bandits wouldn't be as easy to fool as beastmen or rookie bandits.
Why didn't Udi kill the rookie bandit to silence him?
That would have been such a waste. Perhaps that rookie bandit could have been used as bait again to delay the assassin.
What if the rookie managed to survive?
Haha. Even if the rookie bandit survived, as long as Udi was still alive, he would "become" the reason why Shakel betrayed his companions and caused the bandit group's destruction. In the end, he would be killed by Udi's "righteous revenge" on the spot.
The moment they parted ways, Udi even kindly explained why a decent bandit group like his would recruit such a rookie in order to make Shakel leave more decisively.
"This is an unspoken rule. The boss will always take a rookie meat bun with him. When there's a lack of food or water or when we're in trouble and need to use the 'Hell's Compass' to try our luck, we'll force the rookie meat bun to scout for us."
"If you're taken out like a meat bun, you're basically dead. If you don't die this time, you'll die the next time. You can't always be lucky. Next time, remember to find a real rookie group and train them bit by bit. Trying to reach the top in one step is the same as actively seeking death. Heh. I'll treat these words as payment for traveling together with you … If there's a next time, scram, you little brat. "
Udi activated the Reaper Magic Armor and waved it at the pitiful rookie bandit. The rookie Shakel immediately fled.
However, Udi was probably going to be disappointed. The rookie bandit didn't even have the talent to become bait.
The fleeing bandit Shakel was even worse off than Ken. He directly threw aside the Iron Law of the Mist Traveler who kept his distance from the forest and river. He didn't even take two steps before he fell into the river and was dragged down by a black crocodile. He became a delicious meal for the carnivorous aquatic magical creatures.
It was fortunate that Rorschach had rushed back before they parted ways, which was why he was able to save Shakel.
On the fifth day, Udi, who had abandoned everything, saw the tall city walls of a city. When he confirmed that this was a divine city belonging to a True God, he had an expression of joy from the bottom of his heart, as if he was the most devout believer.
Which God's divine city was this? Actually, this wasn't important at all.
However, divine cities were the foundation of all Gods. Killing someone in another God's divine city was tantamount to starting a divine battle. This meant that as long as Udi entered the divine city, he would be temporarily safe.
It was always the darkest before dawn. Joy before dawn would bring about weakness and death. The veteran Udi saw a way to escape, which actually made him even calmer.
He was completely focused on being on guard. The last part of the journey took him almost twice as long. Only when he saw the tall city gates and two black-cloaked guards chatting outside did he finally relax.
"… Our Valiant mercenary group angered a powerful ranger during a gathering mission. He chased after us … Everyone else died, and I'm the only one left … That bastard was unreasonable. We only gathered some vegetables, and he didn't even intend to let us go …"
A divine city was the foundation of all Gods. It wouldn't be easy to enter.
According to the rules, Udi told them about his recent experiences and his reason for coming here. In order to avoid any Divine Arts that could detect lies, he told them the "truth".
After all, if he was refused entry, that would be the same as forcing him to die.
However, in order to avoid being looked down upon, and to avoid the fact that he had abandoned his companions being leaked, he deliberately added fuel to the fire on his already strong image of a hunter. He forcibly created the image of an omnipotent demon that killed without batting an eyelid.
"… A red-eyed demon killed all of my companions. I was only able to survive until now because of my companions' sacrifice …"
If it was really as Udi described … then Demon Lords and assassins should still be in the Chaos Abyss. How did an ordinary mercenary group like you survive until now if you really met such a Demon Lord?
Since the bell for detecting lies didn't ring, then … at least, most of it was the truth. Udi's story was rather interesting, but the guards' reactions were somewhat different.
The older guard seemed to have seen many similar stories before, so he didn't take Udi's story seriously at all.
He yawned and drank some wine as he looked around in boredom. He almost hurriedly let Udi in.
However, the younger guard was quite supportive of Udi's story. His expression would change along with Udi's story, with obvious changes of joy, anger, sorrow, and joy.
The story wasn't long. Even though Udi was so impatient that he wanted nothing more than to immediately rush into the city, he still patiently finished telling the story.
"… Um, this is a little specialty."
In the end, Udi naturally told him about the usual items — the entrance fee and bribe the guard.
The older guard saw that the bribe was quite generous, so he yawned and directly opened the city gates.
Just as Udi was about to enter the city with a delighted expression, someone tugged on his sleeve. He turned around and saw that it was the younger guard.
Udi suppressed his anger and forced out a smile. Could it be that three times the entrance fee wasn't enough?
"Since it's such an interesting story, and you're so generous, I'll give you a little hint. Yep, it'll be helpful to you, and it'll be related to your life and death."
The tall young guard smiled. His smile was very pure, just like that of an innocent child.
With such a pure expression in his eyes, Udi figured that he was probably a newbie who rarely went outside. Udi sighed in amazement, but he was actually quite delighted.
What hint? Was it related to the hobbies of the Gods in the city? Or was there some powerful individual living in seclusion in the city that he could ask for help?
The big kid smiled and pulled open his cloak mysteriously.
"Let me show you a big treasure first."
What treasure? A God's keepsake? A clue to a powerful individual living in seclusion?
Uke hurriedly lowered his head and looked inside the cape. Suddenly, he felt a chill in his mouth.
The moment he lowered his head, he took the opportunity to stuff a silver gun into his mouth. This gun looked a little familiar.
"Wuwuwu … What kind of joke is this?"
The older guard laughed even more happily.
"The Cursed Magic Gun you were talking about, is it this one? The red-eyed demon you were talking about, does it have these eyes? "
Patting his head, the goggles on his head were activated. The red lens shot out a demonic blood-red light.
"Wuwuwu, you …"
Despair? Awakening? Annoyance? Confusion? Regret? A hundred changes in a single breath, but the avenger didn't have the habit of appreciating the beauty.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, and brains and blood splattered everywhere. Only the old guard's nagging continued.
"Sigh, youngsters are still lacking. Now that we're so short on manpower, how could we send two Descenders as guards? What a pity, what a pity. Youngster, you almost entered the city safely. Sigh, just a little bit more. Heh, what a pity. "
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