256: Chapter 255 Charge Straight Up

The group moved rapidly, navigating the ups and downs and the twists and turns of the underground passage. After about an hour, they finally reached the end.

"We should be able to get out here!"

Huang Xiong stood before the wall at the end, holding his greatshield. There were obvious cracks in it. He tried pushing, and as expected, the wall moved.

Hum—

Accompanied by a dull rumble, Huang Xiong gave a low shout and pushed the wall open. After the group filed in one by one, they discovered that the place looked like a small library.

However, judging by the layout, it felt more like a study.

It covered an area of about two hundred square meters with a ceiling seven or eight meters high. The space was spacious and bright, filled with bookshelves.

The wall they had pushed open was connected to one of the bookshelves.

Once out, they could faintly hear the thunderous sounds of battle in the distance. The group immediately realized that the city was being besieged. Meanwhile, footsteps and shouted commands echoed from the hallway outside.

Jian Mei closed her eyes as if sensing something, whispering, "A squad is about to pass by outside. Only three people... Good timing!"

Jian Mei snapped her eyes open. "Go out now, immediately!"

As Jian Mei spoke, Huang Xiong raised his earthen-yellow greatshield and charged forward with a low grunt. He smashed through the tall chamber doors, slamming right into one of the armored guards and sending him flying.

"Enemy attack—"

The other two guards shouted out.

However, almost before the two guards could finish their cry, Hua Zi tapped his forehead and roared, "Dead Silence!"

In an instant, a ripple invisible to the naked eye spread out, covering a diameter of about thirty meters.

Chu Xuan and the others standing outside this range suddenly couldn't hear any sound from within. They could only see the two guards gripping their greatswords and slashing repeatedly at Huang Xiong, though all their blows were blocked by his shield.

Chen Yong, holding a scimitar, turned into an afterimage. Moving like a ghost, he struck from strange and tricky angles. Sparks flew as his blade clashed against the guards' iron armor, carving gaps into the metal from which blood began to seep.

The other guard was hit by Hua Zi's spear charge, leaving a massive dent in his chest before he was hoisted into the air.

"Don't hold back! Infuse your weapons with spirituality and kill these two quickly. We can't make too much noise!"

As Jian Mei spoke, she also rushed into the spreading ripples. With a flourish of her hands, layers of ice crystals began to manifest on the ground.

This caused ice to freeze over the armor of the three guards, significantly slowing their movements.

Hua Zi seized the opportunity, his spear glowing with silver light as it suddenly pierced through one guard. Meanwhile, Chen Yong's scimitar glowed with a bloody light, cleaving through half of another guard's head at an angle.

The final guard was struck twice with Huang Xiong's shield and then dragged back into the library.

"Chen Yong, he's all yours!" Jian Mei said.

Chen Yong nodded, stepped forward to pull back the guard's visor, and gripped his jaw tightly. "Where is the King?"

"Damn... fools! You won't get anything out of me..." The last guard's face twisted in a hideous grimace. After a moment, he suddenly roared and reached out to grab Chen Yong's face.

Chen Yong jerked backward and instantly swung his blade, severing the guard's neck.

"This really is a Level 10 difficulty mission. These three were just ordinary guards, yet they were so troublesome. Their strength attributes were all above 45, agility was at 35, and they could even use the Berserk skill to temporarily boost their agility and strength by fifty percent."

Chen Yong panted twice, his expression extremely grim. "The key is that the spirituality value gained from killing creatures in other worlds is far less than what we get from killing Specters in our own world. Even though the changes in the world have reduced the gains from killing Specters by a third, other worlds still can't compare. If we keep killing like this by infusing our weapons with spirituality, I'm afraid our strength will fail us."

"Now is not the time to complain," Jian Mei said. "Well? Did you find the King's location when you used Mind Reading?"

"He's discussing matters with his ministers in the sixth-floor study. I already know how to get there!"

Chen Yong took a deep breath. "Luckily his spirit attribute wasn't high, otherwise my memory probe might not have been able to find the King's location."

Chen Yong waved his hand and led the way. Huang Xiong followed closely beside him with his shield raised, followed by Hua Zi and Jian Mei. The four of them formed a peculiar team formation.

Huang Xiong's cold voice came from the front: "You four newcomers in the back better keep up. If you fall too far behind and run into danger, we won't be able to spare a hand to save you!"

"That guy's way of talking is really annoying!" Tan Ziming muttered.

"These four aren't weak. The weakest, Chen Yong, is Level 7. There are two Level 8s, and then there's Jian Mei—I can't detect any results from her, she might even be Level 9! Not only that, their combat capabilities are very strong, and the gaps between their various attributes aren't that large!"

Xu Shuya said with a heavy expression, "I really didn't expect there to be such powerful people among the civilians. This Path of Trials is truly not simple!"

As they spoke, they continued to follow Jian Mei's group of four, moving swiftly down the corridor.

If they encountered a small squad, they would immediately pounce and finish the fight quickly.

Hua Zi used [Dead Silence] to mute the area, Huang Xiong went up with his shield to tank the damage, Chen Yong and Hua Zi fought in close quarters, and Jian Mei used her ice crystals from a distance.

Then they would drag the bodies into a nearby room and continue their infiltration upward.

If they encountered a squad of more than five people, they would avoid the brunt of it, hiding in other rooms and waiting for an opportunity to act.

Using the same method, the group reached the fourth floor after killing over twenty guards. By now, the number of guards had noticeably increased.

Chu Xuan did not act or reveal his strength. He faintly felt that the attitude of these people toward them was a bit subtle, especially when they occasionally looked at him with slightly strange eyes.

"This is bad. According to that squad leader's memories, although a large number of guards were sent out to resist the rebel army, there are still nearly three hundred guards inside this castle."

Chen Yong killed an iron-armored sentry, his expression extremely solemn.

"The higher we go, the more guards there are on patrol!" Jian Mei closed her eyes, sensing. Using her detection ability for a long time seemed to take a toll, as a light sweat broke out on her forehead.

"There's only one hour left. We can't go on like this; we might run out of time... and those bodies we hid downstairs will likely be discovered soon..."

"We probably won't be able to stay hidden much longer. If we get surrounded and attacked by a mob of guards, we're dead for sure."

Everyone's expressions looked quite grim.

A shadow of gloom hung over their hearts, and the atmosphere became very oppressive.

Just then, a calm voice rang out leisurely: "In that case, let's not bother with the trouble. Let's just charge straight up."

Jian Mei snapped her eyes open and couldn't help but frown.