CHAPTER 263: TRASH GANG

They really should have been ashamed to call themselves gangs. Even their third circle Magus were no match for some of the second circle on the Dragon Hunters’ side, and they were crushed ruthlessly. The fight didn’t even last twenty minutes before the opposing side had been wiped out.

Of course, the Dragon Hunters also had their fair share of wounded Magus and even three deaths recorded, but all in all, it was a clear victory for the type of fighting that usually went down in the mountains.

But it also revealed what the Eboncrypt had done. They likely did not warn the gangs that it was the Dragon Hunters they would be attacking, or maybe they did and downplayed their strength to make the fools attack.

Or maybe the Dragon Hunters were simply that strong.

"They are just sending us a warning, and I’m afraid we’re going to see more as we progress," Vacuse frowned. "They likely want to delay us and then use the opportunity to corner us from the front."

They had been forced to set up a temporary camp in one of the side tunnels to recoup, and with the others in his tent, they were discussing their next plan of action.

Everyone was silent for a while before Harkon said, "But at the end of the day, we really don’t have a choice, right? We still need to move forward."

Vacuse sighed. "Yes. We’ll need to move incredibly fast as well. I want to double our pace so that we can account for any other troubles we meet on our way. Can we do that?"

Kagerou nodded. "I’ll make my team keep their ears on the ground. Any news about anything strange will be instantly reacted to."

"We’ve hunted so much that it should keep us, but if we do hunt, I’ll make it incredibly fast," Devour Bandit said.

"Those that are wounded are already healed, and the dead have been burned. Their ashes will be brought along and dealt with as they wrote in their will," Captain Amros reported.

Hunters in the mountains usually wrote wills and gave them to their leader, and when anything happened, their wishes would be carried out as they wanted. That was the last thing any leader owed their hunters.

Vacuse looked at everyone and nodded sharply. "Good. We’ll eat and rest a while, then we’ll move."

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They doubled their pace as Vacuse wanted, and things went well for three more days. They passed through many territories and hunted when they could, and all in all, there was no more trouble.

But on their seventh day, there was a slight problem, though it was quickly silenced by Kagerou and his team. It turned out to be the same strange assassins as those Vacuse had killed before, but this time there were three of them, and they had the unfortunate experience of meeting Kagerou Vorrakyn.

After that, until the ninth day, they met with no trouble.

"Why are they not doing anything? Just one more day and we’ll be outside," Vacuse pointed out at night when they set up camp.

Harkon shrugged. "Maybe they gave up? Or there was something else that distracted them. We can’t say."

Vacuse didn’t like that. He hated things he couldn’t predict. "It’s better if they keep coming after us. With this, they’ll make planning difficult, as we’ll have to keep watching our backs. I don’t like this."

"Maybe they really have given up. We can’t rule that out either. After all, they are also fighting a war outside. They might leave us to deal with later."

Vacuse didn’t like it, but there was nothing he could do about it, especially now that he was so close to breaking free from the shadows of death hanging above his head.

It was much later, when they were about to break camp and start the last leg of their journey, that they heard the news. Kagerou hurried into the camp with his eyes wide.

"Vacuse, you won’t believe this! I think we can now guess the reason why they left us alone!" Kagerou said, a tight smile on his face as he looked at him.

"What is it?" Vacuse felt as if another variable was about to be thrown into things, and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

"It’s Eboncrypt and Umbracrypt. There are rumors flying around. Apparently, Umbracrypt isn’t as weak as we thought, and Eboncrypt fell into their trap! What happened next isn’t clear, but the rumors say that both lords have perished!"

"There are different rumors. One says the Lord of Umbracrypt killed the Lord of Eboncrypt, and some say it’s the other way around. Either way, it seems a big blow has been struck at the two academies."

When Vacuse heard this, his heartbeat accelerated, and he looked at Lady Slave. He couldn’t help but wonder if it would be possible to take her with him when he left the Great Dungeon, or if the binding would naturally break when he left.

Because if Umbracrypt were to fall and her master with it, then who would break the binding? He didn’t like that idea at all.

"What are we to do now, my lord?" Harkon asked.

Vacuse took a deep breath. "Listen. We will hasten our steps. We need to get out of this mountain as fast as we can. Eboncrypt has a lot to deal with to fight us. That’s likely why we didn’t meet any of them.

"This time, we’ll push out of this place!"

What he did not say was that he was worried and needed to get to Umbracrypt and see Lady Slave’s master.

Either way, they began to move even faster. They didn’t hunt and mostly ate while they walked.

Vacuse himself was feeling a combination of anticipation and worry. Worry because he didn’t know what would happen when they finally reached Umbracrypt, and anticipation because he was simply tired of the tunnels and wanted to see the sun again.