Chapter 61 — Welcome to the Underworld
Chapter 62 — Welcome to the Underworld II
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After traversing for a while, Socrates finally found structures... But the structures he could see were swallowed by snow debris and blizzard... Some were dilapidated, while others had been half-destroyed, their frames creaking faintly under the weight of ice.
"Why is the weather condition so terrible?" Socrates asked himself as he breathed out nothing but cold, freezing air that stung his throat.
Every part of his body was covered with snow shards, and they were wearing down his movements, clinging to his clothes and skin.
"I need warmth... I need to find warmth, or I might die." He said to himself as he continued walking, when he found a cluster of settlements...
He hastened his steps to walk over there, boots crunching against hardened snow, just to see that the doors of the structures were locked... It was the same for every structure around. He went over to one and knocked on it...
Kpo* kpo*
But there was no reply...
'I could sense people in here... Why aren't they replying?'
He turned around and left for another structure, but it was still the same... When he got to the third structure, before he could even knock, he heard a voice from within.
"Go away, Brownhounds... We've got no business with the girl. We are protected citizens of Ronowa Street." It was a female voice, firm but restrained.
'Brownhounds... Ronowa Street...'
"Ma'am, you're mistaken... I'm not a Brownhound..." Socrates announced, but he received no reply, only silence pressing from behind the door.
"Damn... Just what's happening? Who are the Brownhounds, and why are these people afraid of them? Are they top cultivators?" Socrates asked himself as he looked up, squinting through the storm, to see two silhouettes jumping across the rooftop, their movements swift despite the blizzard, while wearing brownish-red fur coats, black pants, and brown boots...
Socrates looked at himself... If not for the coat, their dressing was almost the same...
"Brownhounds..." Socrates breathed out cold air as he immediately trailed after the men... That very reason why they were being feared by the citizens... He wanted to know it...
He trailed them to the middle of irregular structures stuck together, frost clinging to their edges, where he stood at the corner, partially concealed by a broken wall, watching a purple-haired girl being surrounded by dozens of men...
"Kill her..." He heard the command from one man, and two armed members of the Brownhounds charged at her instantly.
Socrates watched the girl as a feeling of déjà vu hit him... He saw himself in that same situation she was in... Surrounded by multiple enemies with no way out...
He was supposed to be dead... but then one man helped save his life, and because of that man, he was able to make it up to this point in his journey...
'Spidey...' The purple-haired lady called as she attached the box to her belt pockets... Her toy made random noises as it climbed from her shoulder to her head, and out of its mouth, it shot out web which bound the duo that was coming to attack her.
But they weren't just two, as two other men flanked her from both sides... Their plan was simple—if she shot one, she couldn't possibly shoot two...
But they were mistaken, as the toy spider faced leftward with its pincer angled backward... And it shot out web from both its pincer and mouth simultaneously, binding the two men mid-motion.
"Bring her down..." The members cried out as she breathed heavily, the cold weather straining her movements, her chest rising sharply, as the toy spider rushed down from her head and descended to her right hand...
It attached itself to her wrist before splitting parts of its body, its pincer elongating into a sharp, finely curved blade that gleamed faintly.
Slash...
One of the members of the guild dropped his sword, but the lady was able to deflect it with the spider's pincer, metal clashing sharply in the cold air...
"Nice toy you get there... I'll take it to myself..." The guy grimaced, causing her to spit in his face, the saliva freezing almost instantly.
"You're not worthy..." She raised her boot and slammed him hard backward, pushing him towards the others...
She turned, and in the process of doing so, bent forward while dodging a club that was going to smash her head, the wind of it brushing past her hair, before slashing out with her blade, tearing across the member's face, causing him to yell out in great pain before collapsing onto the snow-covered ground...
A sword stab was sent straight at her, but she sidestepped, grabbed the man's wrist with her free hand, and connected her knee into his abdomen, causing him to vomit out water as he was sent flying backward, his sword knocked out of his grip—which she claimed without hesitation...
She looked up to see that the number of men hadn't reduced at all... They were still more than a dozen of them, tightening around her.
"Kamira... Number 156... known for her basic combat skills but widely recognized for her craftsmanship... That power core—you wanted to use it to complete a project, isn't it...? Unfortunately, I need it... The Brownhound guild needs it..." The man that had cut off the web earlier said to her, his breath steady despite the cold.
"I don't understand, Brawyn... If you need something, then you get it yourself..." Kamira, the purple-haired lady, replied in all seriousness, her grip tightening.
"This is not the arena, Kamira... You've already made the Brownhound guild lose face... So you've to die to cleanse that shame..."
"Don't hold back... Kill." Brawyn ordered with great intensity, and energy started rising as those that were bound by the web got released instantly, strands snapping apart.
They all looked at Kamira the way predators look at their prey, and then they charged at her with great force...
One came crashing down with his sword, but Kamira deflected the attack with the sword she claimed and drove her pincer straight into his chest, drawing out blood that steamed faintly in the cold before pulling it out...
Another came from her left, but she twirled without hesitation, dodging the strike with her hardened pincer before turning instantly and shooting out a concentrated web from it...
The web fired like a gun, catapulting the man backward, hitting the others—but what Kamira didn't take account of was a man jumping down from a settlement above with a wooden club...
She was preparing to counter the silhouette in front of her when she noticed the presence behind her—but before she could turn, the club hit her at the back of the head, and her vision spun instantly...
Her eyes turned blurry as she countered that straight slash with the sword as she had intended, but the sword was slapped from her grip, spinning away into the snow...
She raised her pincer, but then her legs faltered as they were struck heavily by a kick, sending a jolt through her frame...
Her vision spun as the next thing she heard was a loud noise... A dull, heavy bang as her body dropped onto the cold snow-covered floor, followed by a ringing sound in her ears...
Her blurry vision made out a silhouette holding a club, smiling mischievously at her through the haze... The silhouette raised the large club and then slammed it down toward her face with great force and intensity, the motion cutting through the air, scattering the surrounding wind—
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