Our Family Has Fallen
Chapter 64: Collector_1

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Collector_1

Lance was able to discern the precursor to the spatial fluctuations, but in the eyes of Reynard and the others, it appeared as if an unclean abomination draped in a Yellow Robe had materialized out of thin air in front of the team.

The indescribable appearance of the creature dealt a great shock to everyone, particularly to Balistan and Reynard.

Conversely, Dismas, having previously witnessed the Butler’s transformation with his flesh warping and piling up, found the monster’s skeletal head to be less impactful.

"Don’t panic, monsters are hardly a rarity on this land," Lance said calmly as he eyed the enemy ahead.

In fact, he had recognized what the creature was as soon as it appeared.

In the game, if a player’s inventory exceeded two-thirds capacity, there was a chance this creature would appear, belonging to a class of roaming bosses that could be encountered anywhere.

This fiend existed outside of normal reality. Its searching gaze swept over each of the adventurers as if selecting items from a store shelf until it found its target. Its grotesque body would then emerge from the Void. It would employ twisted and cruel methods to murder the adventurers, subsequently extracting their heads along with their spines to serve as containers to imprison their souls as part of its collection.

It was this particular trait that earned the creature its name—the Collector!

However, the Collector’s strength was not too difficult to handle within the game. Players familiar with its tactics could easily defeat it, and it dropped valuable items, which is why it was also nicknamed "the Philanthropist" among players.

Although it was unclear why the Collector had appeared here, Lance certainly had no intention of surrendering without a fight.

As he reloaded his ammo, he issued combat instructions, "Its weak point is its head. Dismas and I will shoot, while Balistan and Reynard are responsible for protecting us."

Although Lance was quite familiar with the Collector’s combat mechanics, this was reality, not a game. He therefore chose not to rashly command close-quarters combat, opting instead for ranged attacks.

Of course, there was another reason: the Collector had appeared at some distance from the team.

At first, he was a bit puzzled, but the Collector’s next action immediately made Lance understand why it had appeared there.

Because directly in front of the Collector was the alpha wolf—it wasn’t targeting him, but the alpha wolf!

"Quick! Don’t let it touch the body," Lance exclaimed, realizing what was happening.

The Collector’s main combat method was to control its collections, which housed the victims’ souls and retained the power from their former lives.

If the alpha wolf became one of its collections and rose again, it would mean not only that his prior efforts had been in vain, but also that they would now have to face two powerful foes.

What was more terrifying was that nobody knew just how many collections the Collector possessed. Once it was protected by the alpha wolf, they would be facing a dreadful battle of attrition.

Moreover, the Collector was very selective; it didn’t care for the heads of ordinary people. Only the heads of the strong were worthy of becoming part of its collection.

This also meant that the strength of its collections was no weaker than the alpha wolf, which would be a scene of despair.

No, he absolutely couldn’t let it succeed!

Lance raised his gun and fired a shot, then charged forward without caring whether he had hit the target, contradicting the very strategy he had set.

Now was not the time to consider those things. Lance knew he had to stop it from taking any further actions.

Although ranged combat was safer, it could lead to a passive situation. If he got close enough for the Collector to raise the alpha wolf, he would engage in close combat, trading blows if necessary—it was a matter of whether its collection was larger or his blessings were more abundant.

You’re ruthless! I’m fucking meaner than you!

It was the first time Dismas and the others saw Lance so agitated, but none had any intention of backing down. Dismas sprang into action immediately.

"The Power of Holy Light is surging through my entire body..." Reynard had long since recovered, quickening his stride, the power of the earlier Bless still flowing within him.

Balistan walked with a steady gait, fearless.

Lance’s shot indeed hit the Collector, but as the bullet entered the Yellow Robe, it elicited no response. It didn’t even flinch.

Damn it! Although Lance had anticipated this, seeing the ineffectiveness, he understood that physical attacks probably didn’t cause much harm to these Aberrant Demons: they didn’t have the physiological structure of normal living beings, let alone the bizarre Supernatural Powers within them.

However, his attack succeeded in drawing the Collector’s attention, but it just glanced at them.

Though it had no face, one could still feel it didn’t care about Lance and the others, much like how people wouldn’t bother with ants on the sidewalk.

Its hand still inched closer to the alpha wolf, looking at the ghostly blue glow in its palm. Was it about to extract the wolf’s soul?

Seeing this scene, Lance’s face darkened and he could only sprint desperately, for they were too far away to do anything...

But what happened in the next second took him by surprise. Suddenly, an ethereal wolf head emerged from the alpha wolf’s corpse, unleashing a silent roar. The glow in the Collector’s hand extinguished, and the wolf head dissipated right after.

This scene unfolded before Lance’s eyes. Sensing a turn of events, he didn’t hesitate to draw his Short Sword and charge.

The feeling of being ignored earlier was bottled up inside him, and now he was ready to show the Collector just how painful the bite of an ant could be!

As Lance approached, the Collector finally made a move. Lifting its hand, a strange sound emanated from underneath the Yellow Robe, like flesh writhing and bones colliding.

Soon, a head with an indecipherable face flew out from under the Yellow Robe, bringing with it a spine floating in mid-air. Below the head, other than the spine, several tentacle-like non-human limbs had grown, swaying in tune with the head’s movement.

Then, the collection—originally just a head and spine—suddenly emitted a blue light. This light then began to spread along the spine, expanding as if developing, and somehow formed a torso, limbs, and even weapons.

The incomprehensible spectacle occurred right before Lance’s eyes. In less than five seconds, a blue-light figure stood there, its head and spine fitting perfectly, as if it were a living person.

Bizarre, mad, twisted...

Lance found it hard to describe the Collector’s abilities with words and terminology. Was that blue light the victim’s soul? As for the tentacles writhing within the blue light, they felt like the nerves that control the limbs in a brain.

Lance was full of doubts, but the Collector had no intention of playing with him. The collection had already started moving, swinging a weapon formed from condensed blue light at Lance.

Lance was startled by this entity, his Short Sword instinctively raised to block, but to his surprise, the sensation transmitted back from the blade wasn’t that of a solid object. Before he could react, the weapon in the collection’s hands cut straight through the Short Sword and into his body.

The image seemed to freeze at this moment, prompting Dismas and his companions to cry out in shock.

"My lord!"

"You filthy beast, I’ll kill you!"

"Damn it! Protect the lord quickly."