25: Finally, the stone monster has come out!

"Savage Stone, Red Hammer! Retreat first."

The Grey Elf shouted, rapidly waving their short staff.

A golden orb of light flew out from within, suspended in mid-air.

Immediately, the orb cast a bright light, illuminating a golden circle on the ground large enough to accommodate several people.

The Grey Elf pulled Ronan into the circle, and the distant Orc and Female Dwarf also retreated at the same time.

"What's going on? Where did all these Blood Slaves come from?" The Orc looked around, asking with a dark expression.

"Who cares where they came from!" The Female Dwarf looked at the Grey Elf. "Who the hell gave us this intel?"

Ronan didn't know if all Dwarves spoke this way, with an extremely high 'mother-f***er' count.

But he was sure that this Female Dwarf and Evil Axe would get along well.

"Blood Controller, Higgs." After the Grey Elf spoke, the Orc and Female Dwarf both looked at Ronan.

Ronan remained silent; he had never even heard that name before.

However, Red Star clearly knew him. The Grey Elf continued, "The senior who arranged for you to come here."

"What a show of love-hate between a senior and a junior..." The Grey Elf scoffed, then said seriously,

"This mission is canceled, and the advance payment will not be refunded."

"Also." The Grey Elf pulled out a small notebook and quickly jotted down a few lines,

"We will settle Higgs's account separately, but both of you will be blacklisted. Our team will not have any further business dealings with you in the future."

Ronan looked innocent. "It has nothing to do with me, right? Actually, I..."

"Shut the f*** up!" Having lost her Employer status, the Female Dwarf treated Ronan equally.

Actually, I'm the real victim... "Damn it, I have to use my trump card right after getting here." The Orc spat on the ground.

He reached out and ran his hand along the blade of his great axe. A strange power controlled his blood, evenly smearing it onto the axe blade.

The entire great axe was instantly covered in a bloody glow.

The Orc excitedly leaped out of the circle, sweeping his axe horizontally with both hands.

A radiating blood-red light flashed, and the three nearby Blood Slaves were all cut in half.

Then, he pushed off the ground and quickly retreated back into the circle.

After this series of actions, the Orc's chest heaved, seemingly having expended considerable energy.

"How much time is left on the Blood Crystal?" The Grey Elf asked the Female Dwarf.

"About a quarter of an hour."

The Female Dwarf kicked the Orc. "Useless trash, can you maintain this feeble state for that long?"

"Talk about the fight during the fight!" The Orc was displeased, and his gasps for air even quieted down a bit.

The Grey Elf inverted their short staff and shot another green orb of light towards the center of the ground.

Within the light circle, a green array pattern suddenly lit up on the ground.

Ronan suddenly felt as comfortable as if he were soaking in a hot spring; his physical fatigue was relieved, and even his Spiritual Power was rapidly recovering.

"What is this?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Restoration Ritual Technique." Seeing his clueless expression, the Grey Elf simply added, "It's an extremely rare form of magic."

"You're a magician too?" Ronan blurted out in surprise.

"I guess so..." The Grey Elf replied with a hint of guilt.

Under the recovery of this unusual magic, the Orc's state quickly returned to normal. He held his great axe and leaped to the other side.

Another horizontal sweep easily cut down four approaching Blood Slaves.

But this was merely a drop in the bucket; the Blood Slaves continuously approached, having already surrounded the light circle.

"Don't worry, the 'Holy Light Ritual Art' can effectively block these kinds of evil creatures."

Watching Ronan constantly glance between the orb above and the circle on the ground, the Grey Elf patiently offered comfort, feeling a pang of pity: "Speaking of which, Red Star is also a victim. He surely didn't expect to be plotted against by his own senior..." The number of Blood Slaves was too great, forcing the Female Dwarf to use the same method as the Orc.

The number of Blood Slaves was too great, forcing the Female Dwarf to use the same method as the Orc.

Her hammer was stained crimson with blood, and each strike generated a localized tremor, spreading its power outwards.

One hammer strike could flatten four or five Blood Slaves.

The destructive power was astonishing.

Even so, the Grey Elf's expression remained grim.

"Stay vigilant. Don't think there are only these Blood Slaves; the more powerful Gargoyles haven't appeared yet!"

"And..." The Grey Elf's gaze fell upon the Blood Slaves that had initially been cut in half.

At this moment, the two severed halves of the bodies were continuously wriggling, moving closer to each other, showing no signs of having died.

"Can Blood Slaves revive?" Ronan also witnessed this scene.

"I don't know, but you'd better hope they can't."

The Grey Elf observed her two teammates fighting on the front lines and said, "Otherwise, we might not last for a quarter of an hour."

Although the Orc and Female Dwarf's attacks were fierce, their stamina was poor, and they had to return to the light circle to recover for a moment after only a few blows.

This not only slowed down their attack progress but also gave the previously killed Blood Slaves time to revive.

Indeed, Ronan and the Grey Elf both noticed that the first three Blood Slaves had automatically healed and stood up alive again.

Not only that, but a worse situation occurred.

A strange cry suddenly echoed from deep within the old castle.

The Blood Slaves instantly became frenzied, surging towards the light circle recklessly, completely disregarding the attacks from the Orc and Female Dwarf.

The Grey Elf tried her best to maintain the light circle, and the Holy Light barely kept the Blood Slaves at bay, but it couldn't withstand the later arrivals pushing forward.

Seeing the encirclement shrinking, Ronan prepared to act.

Just then, the Orc cursed under his breath and shouted to everyone, "Get down!"

The Female Dwarf reacted the quickest, instantly dropping to the ground.

The Grey Elf tackled Ronan, and both of them lay down next to the Female Dwarf.

Ronan's Ray, which he was about to unleash, was interrupted. As he wondered why, he saw a red glow emanate from the Orc's entire body, extending to the great axe in his hand.

Immediately after, he spun in a circle on the spot, and his great axe unleashed a circular slash.

The slash instantly spread to all the Blood Slaves, decapitating them all.

After this strike, the Orc's flesh withered, his robust figure shrunk, and he lay on the ground gasping for air.

Judging by his appearance, he wouldn't be able to fight again for a while.

"How much... how much time is left?" he asked with difficulty.

"7 minutes."

The Female Dwarf stood up, her gaze fixed on the depths of the old castle from where the eerie cry had come.

At this moment, a huge bat statue was slowly emerging with heavy footsteps.

"Finally, you've decided to come out, stone monster."

The Female Dwarf scoffed, and her heavy hammer glowed with blood-red light.

Her entire body, like the Orc's, glowed with blood-red light. Then, she charged up and threw it.

The blood-red heavy hammer, as if guided, flew towards the Gargoyle that had just emerged.

"Thud."

A deep thud.

The Female Dwarf's hammer shattered in response, yet it only left a few broken marks on the Gargoyle's skin.

Ronan frowned; he could roughly estimate the destructive power of the Female Dwarf's hammer strike.

He hadn't expected such a powerful and heavy blow to cause so little damage to the Gargoyle.

The Gargoyle's physical defense truly lived up to its reputation.

And this particular Gargoyle was clearly more troublesome than an ordinary Gargoyle, and also a size larger.

"Can the Restoration Ritual Technique still be used?" Ronan turned and asked the Grey Elf.

The Grey Elf's desperate lunge earlier had already interrupted two of her ritual magic spells.

The Grey Elf shook her head somewhat despairingly,

But still cast a green array pattern at the feet of the Orc and Female Dwarf. "It's no use, it can't recover that quickly..."

No, I meant for me, why did you place it so far away?

Ronan, helpless, could only get up and walk towards the array pattern.

"Don't do anything foolish!" The Grey Elf called out weakly; it seemed maintaining the ritual art also took a considerable toll on her.