Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 218 - 16: The Sword Saint Grandpa

Chapter 218: Chapter 16: The Sword Saint Grandpa

After preparing the identity recognition signals, everyone set forth once more.

There were basically two ways to cleanse an abnormality:

One, find the source and eliminate it. The source could be a specific monster (like the Undead Spirit of Alexander’s corpse last time), or it could be some Extraordinary Items that had gone Burst, etc.

Two, if the source could not be found, then simply clean up all the monsters within the abnormality, and the source would naturally be exposed.

Although the mechanism by which anomalies were formed was not yet clear, this world was, after all, born from the "Iron and Fire" online game. An online game would not allow "unsolvable instances" that forcefully deceived players and ruined their experience, and so this world naturally would not either.

The two Mercenary Groups maintained a sufficient distance between them while progressing: The Azure Longsword on the left, Free Wind on the right.

This time, however, the Free Wind’s members did not grip their sword hilts constantly, wary of them. It seemed that after some time off to rest, everyone’s tense nerves had also relaxed quite a bit.

Ahead, the street was dim and indistinct, when suddenly numerous figures emerged. The mercenaries promptly halted and readied their weapons for battle.

What appeared before them were figures staggering along. Their clothes tattered, their skin festering, limbs emaciated, and faces riddled with pits and craters from maggots. Their hair was tangled like dead branches and fallen leaves.

"Is this, a zombie?" Medea asked over the Mind Channel.

A zombie, a walking corpse, was also a common monster among the undead. Its characteristic was the lack of vital body parts, high endurance, necessitating decapitation for a complete kill. It belonged to a lower class soldier of Ghouls, also containing one of the ingredients for the Flesh I formula.

Of course, given the previous situation, the monsters in this anomaly could not be killed to extract Extraordinary Power, no Spiritual Material would drop, and only Wizard Stone Fragments could be harvested, indicating that they were mostly fake copies created by the anomaly, and not real Extraordinary Creatures.

Having already fought a real Ghoul once, no one was afraid of these weaker counterfeits, but the sheer number of monsters on the other side was overwhelming; those in front had already come within about ten meters, with more continuously emerging from the end of the street.

It was quite oppressive.

"Squad Leader, they seem to have no desire to attack," one of Matthews’s confidants observed. "It’s as if... it’s as if they are just ordinary townsfolk taking a stroll down the street."

"If they have no intention to attack, then let’s not strike first," Matthews said slowly, watching the zombies who drooped their heads, leisurely taking a stroll. "The middle of the road is empty anyway, let them pass."

"What should we do?" Over at The Azure Longsword, Medea also asked through the channel.

"Two options," Aske said leisurely. "First, we strike and initiate combat."

"Second, we wait until they walk to the middle of the road, separating us from Free Wind, and then they suddenly attack, forcing us into combat."

The girls: ......

Clearly, the first option was the choice!

Matthews had just instructed to remain combat-ready but not to attack first... when he saw Mia and Peggy from The Azure Longsword had already bolted out.

"Holy shit!" Matthews nearly lost it, weren’t all The Azure Longsword just a bunch of pretty girls? How could they be so aggressive!

"Draw swords!" Obviously, he couldn’t stop the two ladies who had already charged forward, so he quickly ordered the mercenaries to draw their weapons, ready for battle.

The short distance of ten meters was almost instantly covered by the two ladies. As they charged into the group of monsters, two zombie heads were already sent flying high.

"Bibi?" Peggy vigorously shook the filth off her Short Sword, quickly asking, "I can’t use that swordsmanship."

"Come on," Mia also said, her spirits high.

With the death of their comrades, the horde of zombies became like a disturbed swarm of bees, quickly falling into commotion.

Some tried to besiege the two of them, while others, like a school of sharks sensing blood, charged towards the two Mercenary Groups.

"Into the alley," Aske immediately commanded.

So the girls quickly turned 90 degrees and retreated into the alley between two buildings.

Ellie and Sigrdrifa took positions on either side and immediately sealed off the entrance. The ferocious zombie horde charged forward, like waves crashing onto rocks, and were instantly shattered to pieces.

Medea, Miel, and Thira, the three ranged attackers, climbed onto garbage bins against the wall and then started unleashing insane firepower on the creatures outside.

The freest were Peggy and Mia, who, with their high-speed maneuvers, darted in and out of the zombie horde, the monsters unable to even touch them.

Peggy’s Short Sword was extremely lethal, beheading a zombie with every swing.

Mia’s Dagger was not as powerful; after all, a dagger was more suited for stabbing, so it took two slashes to behead a zombie.

"Wow, Peggy! You’re cheating me!" Mia, realizing the issue, suddenly roared.

"You’re out-skilled, just give up," Peggy taunted with a laugh, suddenly rebounding off the ground and rocketing upwards as a massive Flame swept beneath her, turning four nearby zombies into firemen.

"Medea!" she turned and bellowed. If she hadn’t jumped when she did, that fireball would have engulfed her too.

"Oops, my bad," Medea giggled, conjuring another Fireball in her hands.

"Aske!" Peggy quickly returned to Ellie’s side, planning to find the Squad Leader behind them to complain, "Medea is picking on me! Aske..."

Her eyes widened in shock, for Squad Leader Aske was not in the alley.

Medea’s gaze swept around, her expression turning grave.

The Squad Leader had disappeared.

——————

Aske, with a hand on his Longsword, surveyed the mist around him.

The anticipated change had indeed occurred.

As a Mind and Dream class Mutant, a common tactic was to deliberately separate a player’s team, commonly known as "the switch."

He had merely blinked, and the environment around him had completely changed; he wasn’t even aware of when the switch had happened.

Hmm, perhaps his double had already appeared alongside the girls.

Luckily, Aske had provided special training and guidance on both identifying doubles and on how to fight without the Squad Leader’s command.

Now that he had been Teleported here, he could only hope they were able to fend for themselves. After all, if he kept covering for them, the girls wouldn’t be able to grow quickly or become independent.

Aske advanced with his hand on his sword, his footsteps steady. The mist enveloped him on all sides, thick and hazy, almost obscuring the outlines of anything else.

The ground beneath his feet seemed boundless, giving him the sensation of walking through a desert.

However, a figure soon appeared ahead.

Aske drew his Longsword, and almost at the same time, the shadowy figure also drew a Longsword and turned.

Upon seeing his face clearly, Aske was taken aback:

What the fuck, it’s the famous Physical Demigod and Divine Luo Sword Saint from "Iron and Fire," the renowned NPC known as "The Old Master."

Richarter!