Xyrin Empire

Chapter 65: Chapter 65 Fire Blade Mercenary Corps

According to the information transmitted through our spiritual connection, we arrived at a small valley about ten kilometers away from Kabei City, where Lin Xue and Sandora were already waiting for us.

Since the distance was not very far, Asida and Asidora’s Space Jump system directly sent us to our destination, a task as easy for them as eating.

For us, it was not that simple, because we almost threw up our dinner from a few days ago.

Compared to our disheveled state, Dingdang of the Divine Race was not affected at all. She flew around curiously in the air and immediately caught Lin Xue’s attention.

Once my vision finally stabilized, the first thing I saw was Sandora’s trademark heartless smile. She almost pressed her face against mine and chuckled, “Chen Jun, it looks like you need another body enhancement!”

Behind Sandora, Lin Xue looked at my staggering form and beamed with laughter, but thankfully, Dingdang’s allure was greater, sparing me from embarrassment in front of this nemesis for too long.

“I didn’t expect so-called instant movement to be this uncomfortable…”

My sister, leaning on a nearby tree and looking green, complained.

Asida and Asidora appeared very embarrassed and apologized uneasily, “Sorry, we forgot about the characteristics of carbon-based life…”

“It’s okay. Pandora has introduced me to even worse modes of transportation; I’m somewhat used to it now…”

I thought about the sensation of sailing against the wind on Little Loli’s shoulders, and immediately, my stomach churned again.

“Speaking of which, why haven’t Pandora and Sicaro arrived yet?”

I looked around, but didn’t see either of them, which was quite strange. Although they couldn’t compare in space transmission abilities to Sandora, a Xyrin Emperor, or the twin sisters, who were space experts, any Xyrin Apostle should be able to easily perform instant movement over such a distance, right? Why haven’t they appeared yet?

Sandora’s expression suddenly turned strange, and with an awkward tone, she said, “Well… Sicaro went to the city to buy some things, and Pandora has already arrived, but she ran into a little trouble…”

“Ran into trouble?” @@novelbin@@

I was shocked. I knew very well what kind of power Pandora held; an unrestricted Pandora was like a strategic-level military fortress. Could it be that she single-handedly charged into the Abyss entrance and clashed with those monsters?

Qianqian and my sister immediately became anxious. Although they knew of Pandora’s identity as a Xyrin General, in their eyes, Pandora was still the blind little girl who evoked sympathy, and hearing that she was in trouble made them panic.

“It’s not what you imagine,” Sandora quickly explained upon seeing our worried faces, “The trouble that girl encountered is a bit special… Never mind, just come with me, she’s nearby.”

Following Sandora, we made our way deep into the valley.

It turned out, this valley was actually a base for a mercenary group!

In this world, mercenaries are a common profession. Due to monsters roaming the continent and continual warfare, people’s daily activities are greatly restricted. Wealthy but non-combatant individuals often delegate tasks to mercenary organizations, letting those with the capability but in dire need of money handle their affairs. These tasks might involve escorting individuals or objects to a certain location, searching for treasure in dangerous areas, or, as in some cases, having these mercenaries fight on one’s behalf for money.

Fire Blade Mercenary Corps—that’s the name of the group stationed in this valley.

Of course, they didn’t initially station themselves in this barren forsaken place.

Mercenaries, even though they experienced bloodshed daily, were ordinary people, not sword-wielding wanderers detached from worldly attachments, usually setting up in bustling cities for easier task acceptance.

But the Fire Blade Mercenary Corps was rather unusual, or perhaps, just unlucky.

In the past, they were not considered a large organization yet held a notable reputation among nearby groups. About ten years ago, during a mission, the Fire Blade Mercenary Corps unfortunately encountered a group of demonized creatures that, in a sudden surge of madness, attacked the city. In the fierce battle, the corps’ former leader tragically perished, and many key members died surrounded by monsters, leaving the corps seriously weakened. The position of leader was taken over by the former vice-leader, Reck. Although this brave fifth-order warrior possessed considerable personal strength among mercenaries, regrettably, he lacked the essential skills as a leader. Despite being well-trusted, he was unable to prevent the gradual decline of the entire team—by then, the corps no longer had any members stronger than him suitable for leadership.

Wherever there were humans, conflict was inevitable, especially among mercenaries. The weakening of the Fire Blade Mercenary Corps immediately gave their rivals an opportune moment; several competing mercenary groups joined forces to kick them while they were down, further exacerbating the corps’ decline.

Now, this small-sized corps was teetering on the brink of dissolution. As top members left one after another and their strength diminished, the tasks they could take on decreased, and they could no longer afford their headquarters in the city. This forced them to relocate to this small but relatively safe valley away from urban areas.

Faced with a dire situation, Reck, the current leader, made a rather risky decision. He mobilized all the combat power of the corps to capture Green Lizards in the Poison Mist Swamp south of Kabei City!

These creatures, small magical beasts less than half a meter long and covered in emerald green, lived year-round in the swamp, possessing a rare trait of immunity to Abyssal Power corruption—a belief people held due to what they thought was the creatures being blessed by the Life Goddess. Of course, I know now it merely happened because Dingdang had accidentally landed on one of those swamp lizards when she arrived in this world. Unconscious, her life energy wildly dispersed, causing mutations in all the swamp lizards, transforming them into this new life form that could resist the influence of the Abyss.

Green Lizards could produce a clear secretion in their abdominal glands, which held excellent affinity with the Water Element—but more importantly, it healed Abyssal corruption!

This viscous fluid, known as Holy Oil, possessed miraculous powers to dissipate the power of the Abyss. Even a small amount could restore a mad person to sanity; if scattered on the ground, it could even revive a decayed land making it fertile once again—provided there were enough Green Lizards to cover the entire continent with their secretion…

Green Lizards themselves were weak in combat, but the Poison Mist Swamp was home to numerous Swamp Mud Dwellers, very troublesome demonized creatures. Numerous and extraordinarily resilient, even large adventure groups were reluctant to confront them. Thus, capturing a Green Lizard became a highly challenging task. Although Green Lizards and Swamp Mud Dwellers counteracted each other, in these instances, the latter seemed to act as protectors of the former; most adventurers died by the saliva of the Swamp Mud Dwellers surrounding the Green Lizards, and those who were lucky not to die found it extremely difficult to leave the perilous Poison Mist Swamp alive.

However, compared to other missions of equally high danger and no shortcuts, capturing a Green Lizard in the Poison Mist Swamp seemed a bit more feasible. With some good luck, finding a Green Lizard without alerting the Swamp Mud Dwellers wasn’t entirely impossible. In the mercenary world, there had been such a case where a small adventure group of just ten members had accidentally wandered into the Poison Mist Swamp and incredibly caught a mature Green Lizard. Upon their return, they quickly made a fortune and, since the Green Lizard they brought back saved two generals who had suffered from Abyssal corruption, this previously unknown adventure team almost overnight became a heroic group!

It’s worth mentioning that this outrageously lucky adventure group only enjoyed their success for less than three days before they were completely annihilated in an encounter with monsters—such a pity…

Considering the future of the mercenary corps, Reck made this adventurous decision, staking the entire fate of the corps on this operation. With good luck, they would rise to great heights; with bad luck, they would meet utter ruin.

As it turned out, their luck was not good.

Because they had directly blundered into the encirclement of the Swamp Mud Dwellers.

Despite their fierce resistance, since the high-ranking members had already left, the rest, other than their leader Reck who were average third-tier mercenaries, lost all their combat prowess and hope within seconds under the attack of the demonized creatures.

Then, Pandora appeared.

A mysterious, aloof little girl, wielding inconceivable power, she annihilated the waves of incoming demonized creatures!