Chapter 178 - Undead World ( 4 )

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Sounds of light footsteps can be heard at one of the tunnels.

Cyril and Melody immediately perked up and held their weapons. It has already been six hours and this is the first time they've heard something.

"Someone's coming."

"I know. But if it's our fellow explorers turned into a zombie, should we also kill them?" Melody asked.

"Of course. There's no way we could turn them back." Cyril answered. Even in his past life, there was no solution found to the people who turned into zombies after being infected. This problem can only be prevented and can't be cured even with the mighty Artifacts around.

Well, this is from what he knows as an F-Rank Awakened before. Well, there is definitely an option if he requested it from Xagan who seemed to be capable of doing anything as long as the price is right.

"I see…" Melody nodded as they waited for the person coming.

Soon, they saw a small figure and he seemed to be carrying something on his back. Nevertheless, the figure can move swiftly and has light footsteps. It seems that his shoes have some kind of ability to lighten his weight.

"Ahh! Someone! Help us! We're being chased!" The voice came from a familiar young man.

Melody and Cyril looked at each other before nodding their heads. They recognized that voice and they needed to help.

Without any more words, the two rushed forward to meet him.

"You're Eron, right? Just stay calm. What creatures are chasing you?"

Melody asked as soon as they have gotten closer. Cyril also noticed that Eron is actually carrying his sister on his back.

It seems that she was unconscious but she's still breathing. She needs some medical attention before it's too late.

Cyril quickly pulled out a lesser healing potion. The payment for that can be done later.

"Take this… She lost too much blood."

"T-thank you! Be careful! They are Skeleton Mages… There are too many of them. If you don't have magic resistance Artifact, it's better to hide from them."

Eron immediately said as he took the potion.

"Got it. Melody, I have better equipment on me. Take Eron back to our base. I'll handle the mages myself."

Cyril said and without waiting for her reply, he immediately moved. He wanted to end this as quickly as possible. Aside from that, he wanted to take all their Mage Staff for himself! They can be sold quite easily after all!

"You---" Melody pouted after seeing how Cyril just moved like that.

"This… There should be about 20 of them… We only managed to kill 5 or so. Do you think he'll be alright?" Eron said weakly after seeing Cyril's figure disappear from the darkness.

The two felt worried but Cyril was already gone… Since they really don't have much time, Melody can only trust Cyril as she carried Evalia in her arms. Eron is also quite injured and it might be too much for him to continue using his Artifact to lighten his sister's weight.

As the two left the tunnel, Cyril finally pulled out the Magi's Robe and wore it quickly.

Then, he brought out his Conqueror Staff to deal with the Skeleton Mages.

'Nineteen Skeleton Mages, huh. Not bad.'

Cyril smiled after seeing the well-equipped Skeleton Mages. They have decent Mage Robe and Mage Staff with them. Normally, Skeleton Mages can be a World Boss inside some low-class Arcane World.

However, in this place, there are too many of them which is quite an impressive sight.

"Alright, thanks for bringing your precious items to me." Cyril smiled as he swiftly activated his Conqueror's domain even before they could cast their Magic.

Because he can't let Melody and the others notice that he's using an S-Rank Aura, he made sure to limit his domain for a few meters enough to cover the Mages as he goes forward.

"Kneel!"

Cyril shouted as he pounced at them with his sturdy staff.

He already used a huge chunk of his Aura to suppress the Skeletons, so right now, he's planning to smash their skull with his wooden staff!

If he uses his Rank-A Artifacts, he thought that it would be a waste of their durability. Well, not because the Skeletons are too tough but they would lose their durability just because he has to use his S-Rank Aura to control it, which is not advisable to be used on lower rank Artifacts.

This is why he thought of using his Rank-S Artifact instead since they wouldn't lose any durability by just smashing a few skulls.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

As expected, a blunt weapon is better against the Skeletons. Though his Black Sword was really sharp, cutting their bones may not be the best way to defeat them. Shattering them into pieces is the way to do it!

Cyril continued doing this for almost 20 minutes before he finally defeated them.

'That's tougher than I expected. Though they are being suppressed, they still managed to find a way to move. As expected of magicians, they have tricks they can use despite their weakness… Since there are too many of them, they somehow managed to find a loophole. I'll have to work on that for the next time.'

Cyril then spent a few more minutes taking all the valuable items to his Storage Space. He took a couple of Mage Staff with him as he's planning to give it to the others.

He wanted them to be well-equipped for the boss battle after all.

Though the Skeleton Mage Staff may not be suited with them, it's still a good emergency weapon since they're unsure what kind of monster they'll be fighting on that door.

'Hmm…'

Cyril looked deeper into the cave and heightened his senses. He wanted to make sure that he didn't miss any monsters at all. Aside from that, he's hoping that the other explorer would come out as well.

'Sigh~ I just hope that they're still alive…' Cyril shook his head as he finally left the tunnel.

At this point, he's thinking of changing their plans.

Instead of finding a safe zone, since there are already four of them, he might consider going inside the boss room instead to "clear" this Arcane World and obtain a pass to go in and out of this place freely!

***

"You want us to sell our shop? That's quite a decisive move right there. We haven't even been open for a month." Bonnie asked in surprise.

"That's right… Do not worry about the short time you've been in business. We can see that your shop has potential and of course, all the people working here can retain their job. As a matter of fact, we will all be sending you to a larger and better facility so you can all showcase your talent. If you don't know much about our Corporation, you can try searching it a bit."

Brodie confidently said.

Nevertheless, Manager Bonnie complied as she looked at her laptop and searched the Navi Corporation.

She briefly read that this Corporation is actually supporting the newly advanced First Tier guild called Blood Knights and a few Second Tier guilds.

It appears that through their financial power, they managed to sign two veteran A-Rank Awakened making the Blood Knight Guild at the first tier of the country.

Considering that there is no official S-Rank Awakened in the country, the Blood Knights Guild was placed at the top 20 guilds.

However, as far as she knows, the difference of power between the Top 3 guilds compared to the Top 4 and below was immense.

If the Top 3 Guild has 50 A-Rank Awakened each, it was said that the Top 4 to Top 20 Guild wouldn't even have a total of 50 A-Rank Awakened combined!

'In short… The Blood Knights Guild isn't that strong… They're just unaware that this shop is backed by an A-Rank Awakened… He's even my nephew. Lastly, Cyril said that this woman beside is stronger than A-Rank Awakened!'

With that in mind, Bonnie no longer felt pressured after realizing that the Navi Corporation isn't that much.

"Thank you for your offer, Mister Brodie. However, our shop is not for sale." Bonnie answered decisively.

Brodie and his bodyguards appear to be shocked after hearing such a direct rejection.

"Hey… Hey! Woman—Ehem… I mean, Manager, I think you should think about this carefully. You don't want our company to get treated like this. Just tell us your conditions and we'll discuss it from there."

Brodie was no longer smiling as he looked at Bonnie with a threatening gaze. His bodyguards also placed their hands on their pockets which is quite suspicious.

'Guns?' Bonnie wasn't sure but she's most likely correct.

'They want to force me now?!'

Bonnie gritted her teeth. She could tell that if she rejected him again, they would surely act against her so she didn't immediately answer.

Instead, she looked at Amaris to get some advice.

Luckily, Bonnie heard the lady whisper to her ears.

"They're bugs. Do you want me to kill them?"