Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 622: Section 437: John Wick (3)

Chapter 622: Section 437: John Wick (3)

The children of the House of Brice seemed to fight as part of their routine, the young ones brawling in a tussle. Those strengthened by Malin cut a swath of destruction through their ranks, and even though his brothers were both tough and troublesome, the combination of Fio and Lorrin failed to inflict any real harm. Malin’s judgment wasn’t mistaken—the youngsters of the Brice family were unruly but not major villains capable of great evil, not even meeting the common standards of Paradox Interactive players.

The midsize boys instigating that kid named Domi were all hammered to the ground. Domi, having vented his anger, returned Fio and Lorrin to Malin.

"Thank you, Your Grace."

"I just felt that you and Spotty Madam both needed a thorough path of vengeance. If she had joined the fray, I’m afraid all your brothers would likely be dead, so better you than her," Malin said as he comforted a child and glanced at the adults of the Brice family.

Noticing that both the Duke and his wives were simply smiling without any thought of intervening.

Indeed, in such a dangerous world, large families instinctively raised many children. Having many made the loss of a few inconsequential.

Ah, this poor world.

Malin motioned the child to find Shelton, then signaled for Logan to come over.

"What’s the matter?"

"Just now, Ragel came back; they caught a deer with rot disease. The Brice family’s territory is in trouble."

"What, rot disease?" Malin was curious, so he followed Logan to where Ragel and his group were and saw the deer—still able to move and struggling, but its head was half-rotted away, with its left-side ribs clearly visible and its internal organs blackened and shriveled.

"Zombie?" Malin asked as he took the Holy Water handed by the butler of the House of Brice and drank it.

"No, it’s rot disease, a virus carried by the Nagoth cultists themselves. This proves there’s their presence in these woods, and we must find them. Otherwise, not just this forest, but many more places will be affected," Ragel said, noticing the presence behind Malin, "His Grace the Duke of Brice."

"It’s truly rot disease, Ragel. You’ve helped me, catch." The Duke tossed a bag to Ragel, then looked at Malin, "I apologize, Lord Malin, for exposing you to the decaying side of this forest."

"Let’s deal with these troubles first."

"Don’t worry, let my troops handle it."

"No, Your Grace, I’ll join as well. We’re professionals," Malin said with a smile.

The Duke of Brice pondered for a moment: "...Very well then."

So be it, Malin first took Spotty Madam to find her young ones, then had Colin watch the supplies, allowing Spotty Madam to comfort the cubs. Malin went to meet Clovis, the Bunny Girl who was making a salad.

After telling Clovis about the situation, the Bunny Girl frowned, "The appearance of a deer with rot disease indicates that Nagoth’s corruption has surfaced here. We must deal with this thoroughly. You need an archer, right?"

"No, I need my assistants for action, you, Maya, Matilda, and Lillim, come with me." This time, Malin only wanted to bring four girls.

Faye, Nova, and Rewo were not suitable for moving in mountainous terrain, Jessica was good at melee combat but not shooting, and Malin’s current plan was that distance made for beauty—Jason’s intel stated that combat against Nagoth must maintain enough space, otherwise, getting contaminated would be troublesome.

With the personnel decided by Malin, the other girls, including Faye, raised no objections, so Malin opened a portal to go back and get equipment.

First, he armed himself to the teeth.

.........

"Is this child named Malin always so eager to help?" Shelton’s mother asked, coming to his side.

"Yes, mother. Lord Malin indeed is a very warm-hearted young man. Don’t worry, with him here, we will certainly find Chaos and deal with them promptly," Shelton said, needing to be armed as the heir of the House of Brice. He was reassuring his mother while his sister helped him with his armor.

"Brother, are you going to act alongside Lord Malin this time?" His sister handed him his helmet.

"No, brother is going to take the family’s private soldiers to the place Ragel found the deer to set up camp. We’ll spend a few days there searching for the minions of Chaos."

"Can I come with you?" The girl asked softly.

"No, this is brother’s war. You are too young. When you grow up, I’ll take you to battle, though by then, you might be fighting alongside your beloved." Shelton smiled, patting his sister’s head gently.

My silly sister, how could I bear letting you go to war? Don’t you know, your older sister lost her life in an accident. I won’t let such a mistake happen again, so I won’t let you go to battle.

.........

Malin chose a 12-inch short-barreled Type 81 with a folding stock, double-row magazine, 2x scope, integrated foregrip and metal handguard for himself. On the left was the newly developed visible light laser system, manually operable, and on the right was a counterweight.

On the left side of the 2x scope, there was a slanted mini red dot sight, suitable for close-quarters combat.

Clovis’s EBRM14 had a 17-inch barrel with a red dot mounted atop the 4x scope, suitable for both long and short distances.

Lillim carried a Type 81 with a 16-inch barrel, with a selector switch for semi-automatic and fully automatic fire, serving as Clovis’s support shooter.

This time, Maya also picked up a Type 81, with a 16-inch barrel, but only in fully automatic mode; this girl was able to perform very strict short bursts.

Matilda used a 14-inch barrel, extended tube semi-automatic shotgun with a double magazine, alternating between hollow point bullets and buckshot.

Malin and Matilda, as the vanguard, with Clovis and Lillim 150 yards behind them, had Fio and Lorrin covering them from the left and rear, while Maya was on their right.

Malin also picked out a set of Snow Leopard camouflage stab-proof clothing for Spotty Lady—Malin would take her along. In the woods, Spirits in the form of Snow Leopards have unmatched mobility and vigilance.

As for the fur color, that was simple; Malin cast a transformation spell on the lady, turning her fur into camouflage colors.

Alright, you are a camouflaged leopard now.

Armed to the teeth, Malin slid the door back and returned to the scene, exchanging baffled looks with Shelton, who was clad in full plate armor.

"Hold on, what’s with this get-up?" Shelton asked, looking at Malin’s complete ghillie suit with confusion.

"Camouflage," Malin replied, stepping back ten paces and standing amidst some bushes. Shelton frowned, "Indeed, it is camouflage, with no reaction to any spell formation—this isn’t a magical effect, is it?"

"Of course not, don’t worry, the last time I was in the North of Carterburg, I killed several Liches."

Malin’s words finally put Shelton at ease—he had heard about that battle; although the military didn’t mention who had done the killing, sniping someone from hundreds of yards in the woods meant more than just awareness and battlefield selection.

Malin received the map that marked the location where the decayed deer were captured.

Bidding farewell to Faye and the others, Malin led the girls northward.

.........

Duke of Brice watched Malin and his companions enter the woods; with his eyesight, as soon as Malin was about thirty meters away from him, he could no longer be sure of their presence.

"It’s not a spell formation at all, just a very simple form of deception through the special clothing they wear," the Duke’s old friend from the Mage Tower, an elderly man, confirmed the function of Malin’s clothing: "The tattered scraps on them may look like those of a beggar, but because they are so ragged, they disrupt the visual recognition of the human form, making them seem as if they have disappeared."

With this conclusion, the Duke of Brice nodded, "No wonder my son is so stubborn about maintaining our relationship with him. What does the Mage Tower think of him?"

"He is the husband of Miss Clovis, the great alchemist from our Mage Tower, and certified as a seventh-circle mage—of course, he’s one of our own," the old man said with a smile.

"In that case, wouldn’t it be nice if he became my son-in-law as well?" the Duke of Brice said with a chuckle.

"You’re really confident in your daughter, aren’t you?" the old man grinned, "My little cousin, you could try, but I can assure you, your daughter will certainly not catch his eye."

"That’s not necessarily true; this kid is the most nostalgic person I’ve ever seen, and I can tell," Brice said before turning to his butler, "Issue a call to arms, tell our Lin Jing allies it’s time to unite against the Chaos."

When the butler left, the Duke of Brice nodded to his approaching spouse, "This time, I don’t wish to take you with me."

"We know, so take care, dear," she said.

"Don’t worry, I’m not a child," the Duke of Brice replied with understanding and a smile, "Alright, I’ll bring everyone back."

.........

Entering the woods, Malin had Spotty Lady scout ahead while he followed, cradling his rifle.

The forest was eerily quiet; Malin slowed his pace, trying to hear insects or any other sound.

But nothing, just the whistling of the breeze passing through the woods.

"The decay is more severe than we thought," Malin sighed, with Maya at his side, "Yes, I can hear the woods crying. How far are we from the scene?"

"A straight distance of seven hundred meters. We’ll circle from the left and position ourselves downwind for safety first," Malin replied as he continued.