Chapter 646

Chapter Thirty-One Four People

Tap, tap, tap…

The sound of boots echoed clearly on the petrified sand in the spacious cave. Holding a lantern in my hand, I placed my right hand on the hilt of the sword at my waist and stepped over the corpse of a giant lizard. The flickering light illuminated most of the cave, which was filled with stifling air that reeked of decay and blood. What lay before me were countless more giant lizards, their bodies twisted and dead in horrific ways.

“Ugh… cough, cough.”

The pungent stench made my stomach churn and my throat feel raw, causing me to cough lightly. As I moved slowly forward, my gaze swept over the nearby dead lizards, furrowing my brows deeper.

These lizards had died in vastly different ways…

For example, the one on my left, like the previous one, had its head cleanly sliced off by a sword, a single blow ending its life. There was no need for a second strike.

But the one beside it had been burned to death, its body charred black, scales cracked by intense heat, revealing black bones… This didn’t look like it had been scorched by karma flames; creatures hit by karma flames usually turned to ashes, leaving no such remains. This was the power of flame order.

Decapitation, burning…

Most of the corpses on the left side of the cave were like this. On the right, a few had fallen into sand pits, showing signs of sword wounds and scorch marks, but not as if they had been burned. Their stiff, upside-down postures indicated they had been struck by lightning… yes, this was the power of lightning order.

Various forms of death for the giant lizards. Glancing around, there were at least a dozen corpses in this spacious cave—this place might have once been a large den of lizards, but someone had beaten them to it and killed them all.

Damn it…

Who could it be?

They stole my food…

I walked to the center of the cave and kicked a giant lizard’s corpse, which seemed to have been riddled with bullet holes, full of holes. Pouting, I felt quite angry.

Suddenly, under the light, I saw what appeared to be ash from something that had been burned on a slightly higher ground. I climbed up the yellow earth slope and approached it. Kneeling down in front of the ash, I placed the lantern aside and picked up a little with my fingers, sniffing it.

This is charcoal ash…

Someone had lit a campfire here.

Around the ash, there were smooth stones that seemed to have been brought from somewhere. I nodded and counted them: one, two, three, four… There were four stones arranged around the campfire, likely used for sitting. Each stone had chewed lizard bones beside it, and not far away, there was a dead lizard with its tail cut off, presumably cooked and eaten.

There were four people who had stopped here…

But they have long since left…

I stood up, turned my head, and shouted toward the direction I came from, “Betty, come out.”

After a moment, slow footsteps sounded, and in the darkness came a startled “Ah!” followed by a “Plop.” The little girl seemed to have tripped over a lizard’s corpse. She screamed, “Dead, dead! Oh… so many dead!”

“Lower your voice.”

“It smells so bad… Ugh—”

As the little girl shouted, sand fell from above. I brushed my hair aside and watched as Betty quickly ran over, entering the range of the firelight. Only then did she seem to feel safe, her shoulders slumping. However, she couldn’t stand the smell in the cave and bent over to vomit near the base of the dirt slope.

“Betty.”

I picked up the lantern and walked down from the high ground to the little girl’s side, gently patting her back and handing her the lantern. “Tell me, Betty. Did you see those two men who claimed to be knights when they visited the town?”

The little girl instinctively took the lantern, looking somewhat bewildered by my gesture of patting her back. She looked at me, saying, “Betty, I saw them from afar…”

“Then tell me about their appearance and features,” I said again.

Though old Robert

I have said it once, but I still want to see if Betty can provide a more detailed description.

“Um…”

The little girl lowered her head and thought for a moment: “I remember there were two of them… A young woman and an old man. They were wearing clothes from the Eastern Continent, not armor, but their clothes looked very expensive, made of fine fabric, with swords at their waists… The old man had a sword, but the woman didn’t. Her hair was red, like wine…

“Anything else?”

“There’s also that she had a very large chest, really big… She kept a stern face and didn’t speak much, looking rather fierce. But the old man had a cheerful face, about the same age as my grandfather… maybe a bit older? He looked ordinary, nothing like a knight, but if he were a knight, it wouldn’t seem strange either… It’s just strange itself.”

As she spoke, the little girl herself became confused.

“… That’s all?”

“Yes, that’s all… Betty only saw them from afar, and can’t think of anything else for now.”

“Alright.”

I patted her head and began to ponder.

A busty redhead woman, a kind-looking old man…

Hmm…

Definitely not someone I know, and I haven’t heard much about them either. I can’t think of who they might be.

But if they are knights, they definitely aren’t ordinary Church knights; this much is certain…

“Are you sure it was only two people?”

I asked her again, and the little girl nodded earnestly: “Betty only saw those two people.”

Two, not four…

But I can’t be sure if they have any other accomplices waiting elsewhere. I suspect those few people were here before, killing all these lizards. When I came with high hopes, there was nothing left to eat…

What bad luck.

You better remember this.

“Forget it, Betty, let’s continue…”

Just as I was about to say something more, suddenly, my ears twitched, and I faintly heard a “rustling” sound coming from outside the cave.

!

Something is coming… from all directions… Not humans, and not just a few!

“Sister, what happened?”

The sounds were getting closer, but Betty hadn’t heard them yet. She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I surveyed the area and drew my claw from my waist: “Quick, hide.”

The “rustling” sound continued to approach. I felt excited, unable to hold back a smile, my voice revealing my excitement, but Betty panicked: “W-what… What’s happening…”

“There’s food, right in front of us.”

I pushed her back, and at the same time, a huge purple beast crawled out from the darkness on the other side of the cave. It was the giant lizard. Its head entered the range of the firelight, while the latter half of its body remained hidden in the shadows. Raising its head high, it met my gaze, hissing with its tongue, its throat moving as if about to spit something out.

“Ha!”

I laughed loudly and threw my short sword directly at it!

Whoosh—thud—

The sharp blade whistled through the air, accurately embedding itself into the lizard’s head. Amidst the bursting scales, the massive beast screamed in pain, rolling on the ground. A green, venomous liquid spurted from its mouth onto the ground.

“Betty, close your eyes!”

In the next moment, I leaped over three meters into the air. My left hand gathered black mist, and in a blink, I charged forward. As I pulled out the short sword, I slapped the giant lizard’s head, causing a cloud of dead smoke to surround it, instantly engulfing and dissolving it into ashes. The fallen giant lizard twitched a few times before rapidly disintegrating and vanishing.

Greenish-white smoke penetrated my chest, sending instant sensations through me. At the same time,伴随着更多的“沙沙”声，一只又一只的巨蜥，从洞窟的四面八方接踵而至，吐着毒蛇般的信子，将我和贝蒂团团包围。

The sound of rustling increased, and one after another, giant lizards emerged from all sides of the cave, hissing like snakes, surrounding both Betty and me.