Chapter 272: Spinning Slash and Scorching Heatwave

The sudden step taken by the mountain dwarf "Shifu," propelled by that inexplicable force, instantly made him the target of everyone's attention.

Even though he had no such intention himself, facing the two scimitars hacking toward him from behind, he was forced to dash frantically toward the altar where the staff lay.

Under normal circumstances, if everyone on the field possessed sufficient intelligence, had adequate relevant experience, remained absolutely calm, and could set aside factors including personal grudges and their own greed to objectively analyze the situation on the field—

Then for Shifu and Xili, the best course of action to maximize their chances of walking out of the valley alive with the spoils would be to temporarily join forces, eliminate Marcus—the strongest and most brutal member of the team—and then fight over the ownership of the staff.

It was just that they were not machines; it was impossible for them to consider the situation on the field as comprehensively and completely as in an ideal state.

They didn't even have enough time to think. Those two ignorant brains, which had never received a proper education and might not even recognize all the characters in the alphabet, didn't have time to process the sudden change in the situation before their bodies had already completed actions driven by muscle memory and instinct.

—The dwarf rushed toward the staff, and the ranger fired an arrow at the dwarf closest to the staff.

Of course, they were all experienced adventurers after all.

The second after the arrow left her hand, the ranger Xili reacted instantly.

She fired a second arrow toward Marcus as if trying to remedy the situation.

It was just a pity that it was too late.

Shifu, the teammate who could have been temporarily recruited onto the same front, had half his head sliced off by Marcus's blade due to his own attack.

And the second arrow she fired was also blocked by the opponent.

Holding her longbow, her tall, slender body was tauter than the bowstring.

Xili stared at those fierce, vicious eyes pierced by a hideous scar in front of her.

Her well-maintained cheeks looked even paler against the cold glint of the scimitar.

In the blink of an eye, the situation had already fallen into the most unfavorable position for her.

She knew clearly in her heart that at such close range, if there were no other teammates to distract him, her win rate in a fight against Marcus was almost zero.

At this moment, the fear of death had already overwhelmed the greed in her heart.

She took a step back quietly, and the longbow in her hand dropped slightly.

Xili forced a stiff smile onto her face:

"Captain, I voluntarily apply to give up the gains from this adventure."

"Whether it's that staff in front or any other spoils in the ruins, they all belong to you. I don't want a single copper."

"We've been working together for a few years now. You know me; I don't usually cause trouble, and I never hold the team back on missions."

"And rangers like me aren't easy to find out there, right?"

"..."

The woman said a lot; the sarcasm and mockery that usually hung on her lips were now something she didn't dare touch even a single word of.

She only brought some panic and haste, randomly trying to prove her value to the fierce man in front of her.

Marcus didn't speak.

He just looked at Xili opposite him quietly.

It wasn't until the other's voice grew lower and cold sweat covered her forehead that he slowly opened his mouth:

"Oh, Xili, my dear Xili." He lowered his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the arrow shaft he had sliced in half on the ground. "Don't you think it's a bit late to say these things now?"

"No, no... I didn't..." Xili looked terrified and took two more steps back.

"Captain, I can explain."

"Compensation... yes, compensation! When this trip ends and we return to town, all the gold coins I've saved over these years can be yours!"

"Also, haven't you always been asking that dwarf to use his clan's connections to forge a weapon? He previously..."

As if remembering something while begging for mercy, Xili hurriedly blurted out what she knew, and Marcus showed a look of interest at the right time.

And it was at this moment, the instant she keenly captured that the opponent's attention had been drawn by her words.

A flash of determination and ruthlessness suddenly appeared on the woman's pale, panicked face.

The wooden longbow that had been slightly lowered was suddenly raised, her right fingertips pinching the bowstring tightly, though there was no arrow on it.

Her forearm exerted force suddenly!

Her right hand pulled hard against the bowstring!

"Hum..."

That was the noise of the bowstring being stretched to its limit and vibrating violently.

Whoosh—

Xili fired the last arrow of her life.

The price was the fine wooden bow that had accompanied her for years collapsing, along with two fingers severed by the bowstring.

Invisible air currents swirled in the air.

The "arrow" that was fired had no substantial body, but one could capture its trajectory through the spiral-shaped void that stirred the thick fog and dust in the air into a mess.

The speed was extremely fast!

As if teleporting, it wasn't until the invisible arrow disappeared from its original spot that the scorching, shrill whistling sound followed.

Enduring the intense pain in her right hand, there was no time to bandage it.

After firing this arrow, the most powerful of her life driven by the will to survive.

Xili didn't even look to see if it hit; she turned decisively and ran frantically toward the church gate.

As her long, powerful legs in tight-fitting clothes moved, they stirred up visible swirling winds that coiled around her calves, causing her speed to soar by another large margin.

In the time it took to catch a breath, she was about to cross the threshold and rush into the thick fog outside.

And it was at this moment that a thick, bloody stench, accompanied by the sound of breaking air coming from behind, entered Xili's nasal cavity with her breath.

As if sensing something, the woman's face was filled with terror, and while rushing forward, she twisted her body to force herself to lower it.

It was too late.

The next second, the scimitar, covered with a layer of thick blood, had already spun and sliced across her body.

From outside to inside, first the long hair that Xili had scattered behind her as her body moved violently, then the light leather armor that had no defensive capability to speak of, inside that was the inner lining soaked with sweat, then her skin, muscles, bones, and internal organs, and finally it sliced out from her front abdomen, repeating the process in the exact opposite order.

Her legs took one last step under the influence of the remaining body signals.

The woman's upper body, however, separated from her lower body due to inertia.

Blood gushed out, scorching with heat, and intestines spilled all over the ground.

Sliced in half at the waist by the scimitar, the body rolled onto the ground.

The pain, which had exceeded the body's threshold, was subconsciously blocked out.

Xili's upper body rolled a few times on the ground before finally lying on its back.

Her pupils dilated and contracted; there was no thought in her brain, only her consciousness gradually dissipating as her perception went numb.

She didn't have any grand, epic story, nor were there any memories worth recalling one last time before death.

Just like the dozens of other adventurers on the Aifala Continent who were suffering the agony of death at this very moment, she passed away silently. ===== CHAPTER 273 =====