Chapter 978  978


    "No. This can''t be happening. This all has to be the illusion." Holden said, his eyes looking unfocused and his body shaking.


    For a few seconds he was trapped in denial about what had just urred, but as reality sunk back in, he could no longer hide from the truth.


    "You… you monsters! What did you do to me?!"


    The moment Holden realized what had happened he beganshing out at everyone in the expedition squad.


    He as undoubtedly a very loyal man to the Vothurg Empire and knowing that he had just given away ssified information to an enemy organization was an even greater blow to him than losing his entire team in the field.


    Holden had been prepared to die while exploring this ind, but he never anticipated being tricked into giving away state secrets.


    While for many nations the adventurer''s guild was seen as a trustworthy and magnanimous organization that helped to move valuable goods and offer protection, for those that opposed the guild, they were a terrifying group that wielded an immense amount of power.


    ''Damn. I didn''t think that he would react this way.'' Marcus thought, watching Holden''s reactions.


    Fairly quickly he seemed to cycle through the stages of grief. Starting with denial, before moving onto anger.


    Finally, once he had reached eptance, Holden lowered his head and said, "Please, just end it already."


    After having his team destroyed and his mind vited, Holden''s will waspletely broken and he knew that all that awaited him was death.


    Every second he remained conscious only gave him more time to ruminate on his failures and bad luck.


    "Very well. I will release you from your suffering." Evette said, walking towards Holden.


    When she reached him, she extended her left hand and tapped his forehead with her index finger.


    A small pulse of dark energy shed from her finger into Holden''s head, and one of the Vothurg Empire''s top generals met his end.


    All at once the life in his eyes vanished and his heart stopped. There was no damage to his body in any way, his life had simply ceased.


    ''Talk about a scary spell. I can see why she earned the moniker Saint of Life and Death.'' Marcus thought while watching Evette work.


    As much as her healing magic was at the level where it looked like she was performing miracles, her death magic was equally powerful and could end lives with only the slightest effort.


    "Okay, the battle is won, and we have obtained the intel we wanted. Let us gather whatever items of value they have. Our expedition is still ongoing, and we may find some items that are of use to us." Cassius said, taking charge of looting the soldiers from the Vothurg Empire.


    It took them a couple of hours to gather and catalog everything that belonged to the rival squad, but the effort was worth it. They were able to procure plenty of mundane items like foodstuffs to replenish their stocks as well as several useful magic items.


    However, the crown jewels of what they acquired were four lesser elixirs and a map that detailed arge area of the ind that the expedition squad had not searched yet.


    "This will save us several weeks of exploration. Plus look at everything they found. Seeing it all at once really shows what a treasure trove this ind is." Mrazivy said excitedly as she looked over Marcus'' shoulder at the map.


    He was currentlyparing the map that the Vothurg squad had created with their own in order to merge them.


    Why this job had been given to him, he had no clue. But simply using his stupidly high stats he was able to do a passable job.


    "With this I would say we now have about fifteen percent of this ind mapped. We''re about halfway done with what the guild wants from this expedition." Marcus said.


    Naturally their goal was not tob over the entirety of the ind, that would simply take too long and many of their members had other obligations that they would need to return to eventually.


    Instead, one of their major goals was to explore around thirty percent of the ind and locate a rtively safe area where the guild could set up anding base for further operations on the ind. After that, the guild wanted to know whaty at the center of the ind since it was clear that the more valuable treasures appeared the further ind you went, and the center would be home to the greatest treasures.


    Of course, the danger of beasts and monsters increased rtive to the value of the items that could be found. Hence why the guild also wanted to know about the creatures that lived at the center of the ind.


    "it''s too bad that they didn''t find the end of that stupidlyrgeke." Marcus said with a sigh.


    Just like their squad, the group from Vothurg had been following the shoreline of theke in search of a way to the center of the ind.


    Unfortunately, this meant that it looked more and more likely that they would have to pass over theke itself to reach their destination. Something that proved too difficult without epting losses.


    "Hey, no need to give up hope yet. We have no idea how theke is actually shaped. It might end sooner than we think." Mrazivy said optimistically.


    "I hope you''re right. Otherwise, we are likely to be asked toe backter with specialized nautical equipment. And we will have to fight that giantke monster."


    Marcus could still picture it clearly and he really did not want to have to fight it.


    Mrazivy likewise shuddered at the thought of the towering creature that had risen up from the depths.


    "We have to find and route. If we are going to deal with a monster like that, I at least want solid footing to work with. Having to fight on the surface of thatke was the worst." Mrazivy said with a clenched fist.


    However, at this point neither of them realized that what awaited them at the center of the ind was far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.