Four Split Personalities

Game Time AM09:27

In Misha County’s Southern Territory, the plains road marked as Special Observation Zone S13

Yu Chen and his party were galloping quickly along this desolate and empty road. Every face was tinged with paleness from tension, and not even Snow Mane•Strong Hoof, the strongest among them, was an exception. The formidable female Knight’s forehead was covered in beads of sweat. Every few tens of seconds, she would involuntarily glance back, and even though she never saw a hint of the enemy each time, her tension only wound tighter, her breathing progressively heavier.

Under Motan’s near-constant guidance, the group had been tearing through the Southern Territory for almost an hour, deep into this land where every inch of air was thick with death. Yet, bizarrely, despite traveling what felt like an incredible distance, they had not encountered a single Mutant since their initial skirmish—an assuredly unscientific occurrence...

Everyone, who had the plan memorized inside out, knew perfectly well that though Cordova and Xia Lian had lured more than sixty percent of the Mutants from the entire Southern Territory in the first phase, there were still areas they had to leave untouched due to distance limits and time constraints for returning. For instance, the area beneath their feet, temporarily named Special Observation Zone S13, wasn’t included in those two people’s route; hence, it should be teeming with Mutants, yet as they saw for themselves, there was not even a single hair.

It was eerie, but not surprising, for they all knew that if the Black Vatican Priest had not lost control of the situation, what they were witnessing now would be the norm.

However, from another perspective, if the situation were truly unfolding according to the original plan, then, without any surprises, there should already be a vast number of Mutants "’watching’ this small team, surging towards here like mad from beyond their range of sight—the numbers..."

"Forgive my impertinence, Your Highness the Saintess."

Although Snow Mane had said this just a few minutes ago, she couldn’t help but ask the girl in her arms again, "Are you sure there are exactly three thousand defiled creatures closely following us?"

Gently nodding, Yu Chen whispered in a low voice, "To be precise, it’s about three thousand two hundred, but they’re not all directly behind us. About one-third of the Mutants are converging on us from all directions; it’s just that there’s some variation in their relative distances... Hmm, this was stated by Hei Fan, so it must be accurate."

Even a high-ranking Holy Knight like Snow Mane couldn’t help but shiver at these words. Though they had an overwhelming advantage in individual combat power, she didn’t believe that her people could stand more than a fifty percent chance when facing an enemy force over one-hundred-fifty times their size. Those Mutants were not lambs to be slaughtered. While they were only the lowest rank of Undead Creatures, they still had combat strength far surpassing an average person, and they were difficult to kill completely. Given the current outrageous numerical discrepancy, even if every member of the Princess’s guard was an ’elite’, with strength at least on par with Tero’s, there was still a high chance they’d be overwhelmed by those monsters that would fiercely bite even when reduced to mere heads. Aside from the three high-ranking Holy Knights, absolutely no one would survive more than two minutes amidst the tide of corpses!

Perhaps you could chop off ten or so heads with a single strike, but at the same time, you might find your arms trapped by four or five claws, monsters climbing onto your back, six or seven enveloping your throat—just one moment of carelessness would spell certain death.

Even high-level powerhouses tire eventually. No number of Divine Arts’ blessings could maintain their peak condition forever. When spirit, will, and physical strength deteriorate to a certain extent, it often takes just one careless moment for them to fall, never to rise again.

After all, even a few thousand rats can gnaw a healthy adult to bones in short order.

Three thousand two hundred Mutants, a number still rising with time—even without having encountered the enemy so far, Snow Mane found it difficult to remain calm...

If the information was correct, could that young Priest of the Church of the Dawn really lead everyone back to Hodir Mountain Pass safely?

Having joined the main force only a few days ago, Snow Mane felt an involuntary surge of doubt.

In fact, most of the Princess’s guard, largely composed of recently reinforced powerful elites, shared such doubts, having either been en route to Misha County or holding the blockade line previously, thus not having carried out many missions under Motan’s command.

On the other hand, a different faction led by Tero remained remarkably calm. They understood the high risk of the mission but still placed unconditional trust in the Commander who had fought alongside them for a long time. In their eyes, if even Hei Fan failed, then no one could do any better.

"Gentlemen!"

Sitting upright on his warhorse, Tero suddenly tapped his shield with his Longsword and bellowed, "Stay alert. Our task is less than half completed."

Though somewhat inappropriately timed, this blunt Knight still raised his voice, trying in an awkward manner to Inspire his comrades.

Meanwhile, a golden light appeared at the tip of Yu Chen’s finger, swiftly disintegrating into several dazzling Auroras that swept over everyone, soothing their emotions.