Our Family Has Fallen
Chapter 72: Scouring_1

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Scouring_1

A wolf’s howl resounded in his mind, startling him awake. Only then did Lance realize that a strange fragrance was numbing his nerves.

"The air is poisonous! Get out!"

Lance shouted, raised his gun, and pulled the trigger, aiming directly at the woman.

"BANG!"

The loud noise echoed through the room, snapping everyone out of their enchantment.

Fortunately, the team had just entered and had not inhaled too much of the strange fragrance. They reacted immediately after the gunshot.

The team retreated in an orderly fashion. Once they stood outside the room, the fresh air rushed into their nostrils, causing them to tremble involuntarily. Even Balistan’s firm steps seemed to falter.

Lance himself also felt weak and enervated. Even his thoughts became sluggish.

Damn it! I was still a step too slow and got afflicted with a negative status.

What was more troublesome was that Lance’s shot had actually missed her.

Realizing she’d been discovered, the woman rose from the bed. The bedsheet slid off, revealing her thin clothes and exposed body.

The Incense Burner hidden behind her was also pulled out.

It was a fist-sized spherical Incense Burner, connected to a delicate chain the woman held in her hand. Faint white smoke could be seen drifting from its holes.

The woman stood up and raised her hand, casting some Curse Magic at Lance—the only one still standing firm. She chanted an arcane incantation incomprehensible to the others, a strange look of pleasure emerging on her face.

Then Lance saw a stream of black smoke form out of thin air above her hand. It then detached and rolled towards him.

As the black fog drew near, a ghostly blue Wolf Spirit appeared. It was just a wolf’s head apparition, its body insubstantial.

The Wolf Spirit, despite appearing fierce, seemed rather cartoonishly cute to him because it was only the size of a fist.

But it still bravely charged forward, fulfilling its pact to protect him.

Regrettably, the Wolf Spirit was too weak to resist. It appeared listless after being hit by the black fog and was forced to retreat back into Lance’s body.

Through their spiritual connection, Lance could even hear the Wolf Spirit’s faint whimpering.

This ignited anger in Lance’s heart. It was protecting me, and yet she harmed it! This wasn’t just an attack on the Wolf Spirit; it was a slap to my own face!

"Kill!"

Lance roared. Bless activated! The surge of vitality from the Strengthening dispelled the negative status. With a punch, he dispersed the black fog.

What bullshit Curse? Before me, it’s less useful than spitting!

The woman watched Lance enter a state of rage, a look of surprise on her face.

Why didn’t my Soul-Entangling Curse work? Instead, it seemed to have enraged him, looking as if he entered a Berserk State.

But before she could react further, Lance suddenly brandished dual guns.

"BANG! BANG!"

The gunshots rang out almost simultaneously. The next second, the pistols in his hands vanished into thin air, immediately replaced by a long gun, aimed and ready.

"BANG!"

Two shots hit the woman’s body. Screams accompanied the vivid blossoming of blood and Flesh.

The last shot blew her head clean off. The woman fell back onto the bed, face up.

It seemed that even a Witch who mastered the evil cult’s secret techniques couldn’t withstand the power of bullets.

As if his anger was not yet fully vented, or perhaps out of caution, Lance took another gun from the Exhibition Room and pulled the trigger.

The bullets passed through her body without any further reaction. Confirming her death, he then held his breath and moved in to extinguish the Incense Burner.

So it was the scent from this thing that confused everyone. Now, coming to his senses, he realized she was just a decent-looking woman—slightly better than the village girls, perhaps, but far from seductive. The sensation just now was entirely the effect of a drug. My Sanctuary trait seems to only protect against spiritual erosion; it offers no defense against these kinds of drug-induced attacks. Still, the Wolf Spirit’s reaction was a surprise. The little creature gave a good warning, showing it wasn’t just a useless mascot.

Feeling the still-weak Wolf Spirit, Lance felt a pang of guilt for previously underestimating it.

I also hadn’t expected it to actually intervene. In reality, that black mist, visible only to me, would have been completely ineffective even if it had touched me.

He Sacrificed the woman, who clearly had ties to the evil cult. It returned a normal amount of experience points without any anomalies.

Looking back at the others, they were still slowly recovering from their weakness. Lance, however, had no intention of cleansing their status effects, letting them recover on their own.

Let them suffer a bit to reinforce the lesson, so they won’t fall for the same trick again.

After checking the room, which was clearly the captain’s quarters, he easily found a locked chest. Opening it revealed all sorts of wealth looted along their journey. Compared to the poverty of the Wolf Faction, the artillery team’s haul was much richer.

This was likely due to their looting along the way. The chest clearly contained Gold Coins, gemstones, and similar valuables—Coins not accessible to commoners and used only in large transactions. It was possibly the capital of a merchant convoy they had plundered.

The only disappointment was the absence of any traces of Extraordinary items.

It seems these objects are still quite far removed from normal human society. No wonder the captain showed such eagerness.

Reynard and the others took nearly half an hour to fully recover. Their wary looks told Lance they would be more cautious around attractive women in the future.

"My Lord, what do we do next?"

The end of the fight left them somewhat adrift. The recent crisis had been averted only by their Lord’s actions.

"Let’s go. Take everything and everyone and leave this place. We’ll head this way..."

Lance took out a rudimentary Map and marked a route that avoided the remaining bandits.

"But what about after we leave? I’m afraid..."

"Don’t worry. Those bandits haven’t seen us fight. They won’t easily give up the fat prey that is Hamlet. I’m certain that within three days, they’ll gather to attack the town."

Lance knew what they were worried about: they feared that the remaining bandits, upon discovering the disappearance of the two factions, would scatter and flee, complicating the situation.

But Lance didn’t share this concern. He had struck at several smaller bands of bandits before. While Dismas focused on battle, Lance paid attention to other details.

Like resources, for example. They were so busy looting money that they have almost no food. And with Hamlet claimed by the two larger factions, the remaining bandits wouldn’t dare make a move without their approval.