37: Good name

"Don't rush, there's more." Seeing the ice shards scattered everywhere, Ronan immediately changed his approach.

The single-target attack of the Elemental Ice Arrow was too high; the damage was a bit excessive.

After the ice arrow pierced through the black creature, it even had enough power to hit a distant tree, causing the entire tree to be covered in frost.

It seemed he had underestimated the additional elemental damage and special effects brought by elemental transformation.

In that case... Ronan retreated a few steps, continuously observing the black creatures' movements.

At this moment, another ice arrow condensed in his hand.

After an elemental transformation, unless the caster actively cancels it or transforms it into another attribute, subsequent Flying Arrows will all have that attribute.

As long as Ronan didn't change it again, he could keep condensing ice arrows.

The group of black creatures gradually approached, but Ronan didn't make a move, always waiting for the right moment.

"Captain, they're getting closer." Evil Axe unconsciously moved closer to Ronan.

Ronan had been looking for an angle; he didn't want to wait for the black creatures to line up and pierce them with one arrow.

The black creatures were surrounding them from all directions, so they couldn't form a straight line.

What he wanted was for the black creatures to get as close as possible, even closer... The group of black creatures converged, and under Ronan and Evil Axe's deliberate positioning, they gradually formed a crescent shape.

Now!

The ice arrow in Ronan's hand was already poised, and he shot it towards the ground beneath the black creatures' feet.

The ice arrow instantly hit the ground, but instead of leaving an ice crater, it rebounded off the hard earth.

Then, it scattered into a shower of ice petals, completely covering the crescent-shaped formation of black creatures.

Ronan counted; there were eight black creatures in this wave, all within the range of this scattered arrow.

All the black creatures thoroughly suffered the full ice attribute bonus damage.

More importantly, the freezing effect fully took hold, and the eight black creatures instantly became eight ice sculptures.

"Evil Axe, go!" Ronan turned and shouted at Evil Axe.

Evil Axe had been waiting for a long time but didn't move; instead, he chuckled,

"Captain, it's rare to have stationary targets. Watch me show you something."

With that, he leaned forward.

His twin axes flew out of his hands in a strange manner, from back to front.

"Spinning Throwing Axe!" Evil Axe shouted.

The twin axes spun in an arc, flying towards the eight black creatures frozen into ice sculptures.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

With eight consecutive sounds, the two axes turned into two afterimages in the air, shattering all the ice sculptures at once.

Then they flew back, crossing paths, and were steadily caught by Evil Axe.

"Not bad, Evil Axe." Ronan was surprised to see Evil Axe use a skill-type move for the first time.

"Hehe, Captain, next time, freeze a few more." Evil Axe said smugly, showing off,

"I also have an enhanced version of this move; its power is immense, but it takes a bit longer to prepare."

"There's an enhanced version?" Ronan had never heard of an enhanced version of a skill before.

"That's right, it's a modified skill based on my own conditions. I plan to call it the 'Super Powerful Invincible Spinning Flying Axe.' What do you think?"

"...A good name."

Ronan hesitated for a moment, finally suppressing the urge to complain, and gave his approval.

After dealing with this group of black creatures, Ronan was about to catch his breath when he felt the card in his robe pocket buzzing.

He took out the card in confusion and saw the number "7" on the front of the card flashing continuously.

"This card isn't going to explode, is it?" Evil Axe subconsciously took two steps back.

Ronan didn't answer him; instead, he turned his head and looked in another direction.

Red energy had already begun to gather in his hand.

Elemental Flying Arrow has rich functions and considerable power, but in terms of casting speed, Scorching Ray is still faster.

Evil Axe followed his gaze,

A fully armored man was walking towards them.

He also held a constantly buzzing card in his hand.

Ronan, using his Spiritual Power net's perception, saw that the card also had the number "7" engraved on it.

This was a Knight Guard from the Counts Manor, and also the Area 7 supervisor.

"Adventurers Guild Team 408..."

The Counts Manor guards always kept themselves hidden in airtight armor, making it impossible to see their specific appearance.

This was the first time Ronan had heard the voice of the Area 7 supervisor.

"I thought you wouldn't last until I arrived, but I didn't expect you to actually kill all the Polluters."

His voice was deep and hoarse, as if speaking two more sentences would cause him to lose his vocal cords.

"What kind of eyesight is that?" Drill Mouse's voice came from afar. "Is my vision blocked by the armor, buddy?"

"Didn't you see there's still one here?"

He was continuously throwing daggers at the black creature in front of him, looking quite disheveled in battle.

The armored man glanced in Drill Mouse's direction, slowly assumed an offensive stance, and said mockingly,

"However, I imagine your consumption isn't low... If you were attacked now, how would you respond?"

Upon hearing this, Ronan instantly raised his hand.

The red energy on his fingertip transformed into a scorching white light, directly blasting the black creature in front of Drill Mouse from a great distance.

The black creature's upper body instantly vanished.

The remaining parts immediately ignited under the high temperature, turning into ashes in an instant.

"Oh my god!"

This was Drill Mouse's first time seeing such a ferocious attack, and he almost thought he would be taken away by this terrifying Ray as well.

Never make the captain angry again... Drill Mouse felt his legs go a bit soft, so he simply sat down on the ground.

Ronan effortlessly eliminated the last black creature without even looking.

He stared directly at the armored man who was challenging him with an attacking stance, and said coldly,

"Want to try?"

"…"

The armored man was silent for a long time, then resumed his standing posture,

"As expected of a renowned team from the Adventurers Guild; even with a change of members, you still possess such strong combat power."

"My name is Harris, and I apologize for my reckless probing."

The armored man said, taking off his helmet, revealing a face full of scars.

"Did you release these black creatures?" Ronan asked.

From what he said, the Earl's side should have known the details of these black creatures long ago.

"Of course not." Harris shook his head, denying it,

"These are all ordinary people who were contaminated and transformed; we call them 'Polluters'."

"Contaminated by what?" Ronan wondered, could there be nuclear wastewater in this world too?

"This is also the objective of this mission's investigation."

Harris seemed reluctant to discuss this topic and changed the subject, saying,

"However, I am here to inform you of another piece of news:

"A team in their assigned area was attacked, and two members are missing... The Earl is currently organizing a new round of rescue operations, and I am specifically here to ask,

"Are you interested in participating in the upcoming mission?

"Of course, the reward will surely satisfy you all."

Ronan and Evil Axe exchanged glances, both seeing a refusal in the other's eyes.

Such a mission, with no intelligence and involving unknown forces, was far more dangerous than entering the depths of the Monster Forest.

Ronan was about to refuse when, on a whim, he asked, "By the way, which area was attacked?"

"It's Area 82, which is very far from Moonless City."

Ronan paused, feeling a sense of familiarity, when Harris remarked,

"Speaking of which, the team responsible for that area also has the number 408, just like yours."