Our Family Has Fallen

The adventurers started moving at the first ray of sunlight. From above, one could see the strength displayed by the mercenary corps, which directly pushed the skeletons emerging from the ruins into several distinct trails.

"Those guys are pretty impressive."

"A group of mad men whose eyes are only on Gold Coin."

"That’s actually not bad; they’ll help us clear out the monsters inside."

On the observation post tower were Barton and a few others.

If those people hesitated to move forward, they planned to arrange several teams of soldiers disguised as mercenaries to go up and knock those skeletons leading the charge.

But now it saved them a lot of trouble; those guys are even more greedy than imagined.

"I estimate that more people die by human hands than by monsters inside." Dismas looked at the swarm of adventurers and calmly stated.

As someone who climbed up from the bottom, he knows well that danger mostly comes from between humans.

He’s been robbed by others, and he’s robbed others himself; the evil in human nature can’t withstand the slightest test in such environments.

"That’s why the Lord is great, isn’t he?" Reynard’s voice was a bit muffled, but his resolve was unwavering. This is the truly great crusade, not slaughtering unarmed civilians in the desert.

"Are we just going to watch them?"

Tadiff usually doesn’t like to talk, but as a mercenary, he too has quite some interest in those ruins.

"The Lord said that before the Necromancer occupied this place, it was the main area for the evil cultists to be active. Even if there were good stuff, it would’ve been scraped clean by now.

Inside, if you encounter a huge sum of money, you should be extra cautious, because you don’t know if it’s a trap left by those evil cultists."

Tadiff wasn’t qualified to attend the meeting, not because he wasn’t loyal enough, but because he wasn’t involved in affairs and didn’t need to know too much.

"Brother, money is important, but more important is having a life to spend it. Where did the evil cultists we repelled go? They can only be inside here."

Balistan’s steady advice came, it’s better for the young not to be so easily tempted.

As a veteran, he wasn’t willing to see his soldiers go toe-to-toe with evil cultists in such complex environments; it’s better to let them go up, no heartache if they die.

"Say, how could those evil cultists sneak in? Why don’t so many skeletons attack them?"

"Who knows, these guys are like weeds growing from the ground, can never be completely eradicated, and can appear anywhere."

"Maybe it’s an underground passage similar to a Beast Lair; I think they’re more like rats."

After a round of complaints, watching their casual demeanor, Junia on the side was a bit worried.

"If too many people die, it might make those evil cultists even stronger, right?"

Junia also didn’t attend the meeting, so she naturally didn’t know the subsequent arrangements. She cared more about a situation everyone knew but hadn’t mentioned.

"Please, you can question their character, but you can’t question their professional ability. Even for survival skills, our soldiers need to learn from these guys."

Dismas wanted to continue explaining, but Reynard’s words were more direct.

"That’s why we still have follow-up actions, clearing out some trash."

Something that Junia could think of, would Lance not be able to think of it? Not to mention, during the meeting, someone would definitely bring up this crucial problem even if he ignored others.

Which is sending so many adventurers into the ruins, could it accelerate Ascension Sect’s apocalyptic ritual? Could it make them stronger?

Regarding this issue, Lance’s explanation was: "Yes, but as long as we act faster."

Not many could understand what this "faster" meant, because Lance didn’t reveal too much about the plans for the Dark Dungeon. Knowing too much wouldn’t be good.

However, he did research with everyone on how to weaken the Ascension Sect’s power as much as possible.

Soon, the plan came out: after those adventurers entered, the Honor Guard was also divided into small teams to enter.

Their mission was not treasure hunting; they were cleaners.

All the corpses found were cleared with drugs, and bones were smashed to prevent the Necromancer from reviving them.

Simultaneously, they acted against those evil cultists and disruptors of order.

For this, Lance directly dispatched the Honor Guard, only they and those heroes could have the ability to enter the depths; as for the periphery, it was given to the army, just right for training.

Scarecrow targets still needed to be set up, but skeletons were too numerous to count.

Now the plan was to have those honor guards familiarize themselves with their state in the periphery.

At the same time, a team formed by heroes roughly kept up with the first echelon of adventurers, mainly for reconnaissance or surveillance.

Like Reynard, Dismas, Laura, Tadiff, these seasoned adventurers.

Also Balistan, Junia, Margaret, and some competent honor guards.

Currently, Barton was in charge of the town. Fortunately, the artillery had already laid the foundation, so he didn’t need to command it personally, otherwise, he’d be overwhelmed.

Similarly, because all these adventurers flooded into the town, Hamlet’s public security pressure was greatly reduced, and William and Fergus were also transferred over.

Alhazred had to stay in town; although he held the Purification Coral, due to the Mendicant Monk and the Wandering Mage’s reasons, he couldn’t move freely.

These were considered reserves, only moving when needed.

For the army, they were just training on the periphery while staying alert.