Chapter 544: Chapter 276: Vortex Slash and Blazing Heatwave
The Mountain Dwarf “Stone Belly,” propelled by an inexplicable force, took a sudden step forward, instantly becoming the target of everyone’s wrath.
Even though he had no such intention, faced with the two scimitars slashing toward him from behind, he was forced to dash madly toward the altar where the magic wand lay.
Under normal circumstances, if everyone on the field had enough intelligence and sufficient experience, maintaining absolute calm, they could objectively analyze the situation, setting aside personal grievances and desires.
For Stone Belly and Qianli, the best option to maximize their chances of escaping the canyon alive with their loot would be to temporarily join forces, take out the strongest and most brutal man in the team, Captain Marcus, and then compete for ownership of the magic wand.
But they are not machines and cannot comprehensively consider the situation on the field in the most ideal manner.
They didn’t even have enough time to think—their uneducated and naïve minds, which might not recognize all the letters, didn’t have time to process information before their bodies were already moving by muscle memory and instinct.
—The dwarf charged toward the magic wand, while the ranger aimed an arrow at the dwarf closest to the wand.
Of course, they were both seasoned adventurers.
In the moment after the arrow was released, Ranger Qianli quickly realized the situation.
In a desperate attempt to remedy the situation, she fired a second arrow at Marcus.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Stone Belly, who could have been a temporary ally on the same front, lost half of his head to Marcus’s blade due to Qianli’s attack.
And her second arrow was deflected by Marcus.
Holding the longbow, her slender and graceful body was more taut than the bowstring itself.
Qianli stared at the fierce eyes in front of her, which were scarred and menacing.
Her well-maintained face appeared even paler under the cold glint of the scimitar.
In just a blink of an eye, the situation had turned to the side most unfavorable to her.
She knew very well that at such a close distance, without other teammates to distract Marcus, her chances of winning the fight were almost zero.
At this moment, the fear of death overshadowed her greed.
She silently took a step back, her longbow dropping slightly.
Qianli forced a stiff smile onto her face:
“Captain, I voluntarily withdraw from the rewards of this adventure.”
“Everything, whether it’s that magic wand up ahead or any other loot in the ruins, it all belongs to you. I don’t want a single copper coin.”
“We’ve been working together for a few years. You know me, I don’t usually stir up trouble and never hold back during missions.”
“Plus, rangers like me are quite rare outside, don’t you think?”
“…”
She spoke a lot, but the usual sarcasm and mockery that hung at the corner of her mouth were absent; she didn’t dare utter a single humorous word.
With a mix of panic and hurriedness, she tried to demonstrate her value to the fierce man ahead.
Marcus did not speak.
He simply watched Qianli quietly.
Until her voice faltered and cold sweat covered her forehead, only then did he open his mouth slowly:
“Oh, Qianli, my dear Qianli.” He slightly nodded, glancing over the arrow shaft he had cleaved in two on the ground. “Don’t you think it’s a bit late for this now?”
“No, no… I didn’t…” Qianli looked terrified and stepped back twice.
“Captain, I can explain.”
“Compensation…Yes, compensation! When this journey is over, when we return to the town, I can give you all the gold coins I’ve saved over the years!”
“Additionally, haven’t you been asking that dwarf to get his clan to forge a weapon? He told me something about it a few days ago…”
As she pleaded, recalling something, Qianli quickly revealed the information she knew, and Marcus showed a moment of interest.
It was then that she caught, in a flash, the moment when Marcus’s attention was drawn by her words.
On her pale, frantic face, a determined and ruthless look suddenly appeared.
The slightly lowered wooden longbow suddenly lifted, and her right hand pinched the bowstring tightly, even though there was no arrow on it.
Her forearm tensed!
Her right hand yanked the bowstring fiercely!
“Buzz…”
The buzz was the noise erupting from the bowstring when it was pulled taut and vibrated dramatically.
Whoosh—
Qianli shot the final arrow of her life.
The cost was the collapse of the fine wooden bow that had accompanied her for many years and two severed fingers cut by the bowstring.
Invisible currents swirled in the air.
The “arrow” she had shot had no substance, but its trajectory could be captured as it stirred the mist and dust in the air into a spiral void.
So fast!
It appeared to flash instantaneously, and only when the invisible arrow vanished from its origin did its fierce and piercing whistle erupt.
Enduring the severe pain in her right hand, she had no time to bandage it.
After firing this most powerful shot of her life, driven by her survival instincts,
Qianli didn’t even glance back to see if it hit the target and decisively turned, sprinting wildly toward the church’s grand doors.
As her long, powerful legs moved quickly, the whirlwind-like current, visible to the naked eye, coiled around her calves, making her speed surge even more.
In just a breath, she was about to cross the threshold, rushing into the dense fog outside.