Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 407 - 33: Amputations_1

Chapter 407: Chapter 33: Amputations_1

"I’ve already seen the bodies, two of them." Lina pointed towards the grassland a dozen meters ahead where there was a conspicuous dent in the half-man-high green grass that was hard to ignore.

"Bodies?" Catherine placed her shield in front of her and cautiously advanced towards the bodies, keeping her eyes heavily on the prone corpses. Behind her, Lina and Vivian stood on either side, their attention on their surroundings, watching for sudden appearances of others. In a foreign and abnormal place, any small mistake could lead to unbearable consequences, even if the area appeared calm and peaceful at first glance.

Catherine moved next to the bodies but didn’t examine them. Lina slowly squatted down, reaching out to perform a detailed examination of the bodies. Catherine kept her gaze fixed on the corpses. In a region ravaged by the undead, even a true corpse could pose a threat. Contrary to Catherine’s focus, Vivian’s eyes wandered about, not daring to glance at the bodies even in her curiosity.

"The deaths occurred no more than thirty minutes ago," Lina’s delicate hands smeared with blood, yet the color of the blood was strangely dull, "But there’s something odd about these corpses. The condition of the blood makes it seem as if they’ve been dead for quite some time."

"Stand down," Mr. Pannis came over, "I’ve checked the area. Aside from these two bodies, there are no other people around."

"Hoo." Catherine exhaled, moving her shield aside trustingly and coming closer to the corpse. The body lay quietly in the grass, an older beastman of the cat race. He looked frail, his face twisted in a grimace. The six whiskers at the corners of his mouth were still flipped upwards, his eyes wide open with disbelief and surprise. A fist-sized blood hole in the chest region was still seeping out blood. The pungent smell of blood drowned out the fresh scent of the nearby grass.

"Impressive," Mr. Pannis’ mouth twitched in admiration, "This was done by hand. The heart was punctured from the back and destroyed. The victim didn’t see it coming, he died not believing that he could be ambushed like that."

"There is a serious problem," Lina said with a slight frown, "He doesn’t have a heart."

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked in surprise, "Wasn’t his heart destroyed by this attack?"

"No, it wasn’t destroyed," Lina shook her head, "There’s no heart to begin with. Hence, the blood is so strange. Does this remind you of any unpleasant memories?"

"Divine Servant." Catherine frowned, "The ghoul of the Divine Servant we encountered in the sewer looked just like this."

"Right," Lina nodded, "Mr. Pannis, according to you, ghouls replace their hearts with something special during their resurrection, right?"

"That was my first time seeing a real ghoul in the sewer," Mr. Pannis explained, "But from what I know, that’s indeed the case. Undead Mages use Soul Crystals to replace the hearts of the deceased for the purpose of resurrection."

"Here it is," Lina snorted, "Looks like we’ve met an old adversary. What a surprise."

"Actually, it can be expected," Catherine examined the corpse, "Given that the Divine Servants are followers of the Grimreaper, it’s normal for them to have ties to areas haunted by the undead. Now, I’m concerned about their strength. The ghouls and mages of the Divine Servants we’ve encountered were all of Legendary Rank."

"Yeah, that’s a concern," Mr. Pannis added, "And there’s that."

"That? Oh yes, there’s another body." The four ladies ran a few steps forward to the second body. The second body was a seemingly ordinary middle-aged human. His head had been chopped off and was lying on the side, his hand still clutching the curved longsword tightly.

"A person from the Falar Empire," Catherine determined, "This is the curved sword most favored by the knights in the western part of the Falar Empire. Well, to put it more accurately, he was likely a person from the Falar Empire before he was resurrected."

"Also Legendary Rank?" Lina asked.

"Yes, also Legendary Rank," Mr. Pannis held the severed head, examining it carefully, "And he was quite powerful."

"Huh." The women exchanged silent glances, feeling the situation slipping out of their control.

"But we’ve also got allies, right?" Catherine suddenly asked, "At least they are the enemies of our enemies. I believe the owner of this leg would agree with my sentiment."

"Are you sure they are in conflict?" Lina queried, "And also, are you sure that their battle has ended?"

"This leg clearly belongs to a living person." Pannis wriggled out the sword that was nailed into the thigh and picked up the leg. It was long and had been hacked off from the midpoint of the thigh. There was no clothing on the leg, it’s pale skin was exposed to the air. The only attire was a pair of soft, tight-fitting boots on the foot. The long leg was slim and fit, with no trace of excess fat. It suggested that its owner possibly had an enticing figure.

"The body wasn’t recovered, and the severed limb was left behind." Catherine made her conjecture: "This indicates that both parties fled in quite a hurry. Furthermore, there must have been at least two people on the living side, in order for them to have the energy to escape after one of them had their leg severed. With proper assistance, they might not necessarily lose when facing a Legendary Rank adversary."

"I’m afraid that the living side was at a disadvantage." Lina voiced her concerns: "After all, one person already lost a leg. The remaining combat power might not be able to fight off these ghouls. If they were completely wiped out before we find them, it would be very dangerous."

"So we need to catch up as soon as possible." Catherine declared, "We might just be too late if delayed."

"No, what we need to do now is not to rush after them." Pannis waved the severed limb in his hand and countered, "What we should do is rest on the spot immediately."

"Why?" The ladies questioned in confusion, "At such a critical moment, how can we afford to rest?"

"How much mana do you have left? Aggression? How much longer can you fight?" Pannis asked back, "Even if you catch up now, can you still fight? You’re supposed to assist and lend a hand, not become burdens. Rushing there in your current state is asking for death. Hence, everyone needs to rest here for an hour before considering the rescue."

"But what about time..." Lina attempted to argue but was cut off by Pannis: "Let’s say you arrived and found them, here, try to reattach this leg for her. Do you have enough mana to do that?"

Lina fell silent and shook her head.

"You don’t have to worry so much." Pannis stroked the leg in his hand and announced, "I can roughly guess who this leg belongs to. Given her abilities, if she decided to escape or hide, an hour delay should be manageable."

"You can guess?" Catherine looked at Pannis in surprise, "Just from a severed limb?"

"Of course, don’t underestimate my eyes." Pannis responded with a hint of pride, "Hahaha, my eyes have been trained to be quite sharp over the years. With such beautiful legs, how could I possibly forget after seeing it once? Even if I forget my own name, I wouldn’t forget these. It’s a pity that the thigh was severed from the middle, if it were a bit higher, I would be even surer. Hahaha."

The girls cast slanted glares at Pannis, and Catherine questioned in an odd tone, "Dear Mr. Pannis, I have two doubts I hope you can help us clarify. Firstly, do you usually look at women like this, focusing on the legs and the thighs, the higher the better?"

"Eh," Pannis suddenly sensed danger, laughed awkwardly and replied, "No, no, no, of course not. Hahaha. Who would do such a thing? This is an exception, truly an exception."

"Also, I have a second question." Catherine mocked, "Could you explain what you’re doing with the severed limb of a lady in your hand? I really hope you’re just examining it, but somehow, it doesn’t quite seem like it."

"Ah? It’s just an examination, nothing more," Pannis quickly hid the hand that was stroking the fit leg, looked up, and defended himself, "I was just looking at it very carefully, hahaha."

"Sigh, nevermind. Catherine massaged her forehead vexedly and directed, "Vivian, go freeze the severed limb. Once we find the person it belongs to, we’ll have Lina reattach it. Also, Pannis, you’re right. Rushing there might lead us into enemy traps. Let’s rest for an hour as you suggested. Recover as soon as possible, we don’t need to return to peak condition, but at least be ready for the most intense battle. The last two hours of fighting have drained us significantly."

With the mention of the two-hour battle, everyone’s faces were unnerving. The intense, long, and seemingly endless battle left a deep imprint on them. Facing the seemingly countless Undead, the enemies who never knew fatigue or fear, or death, any crafty tactics were pitifully weak. The only solution was to fight head-on, to rip apart the Undead’s blockade and assault with raw power.

"Big sister, please don’t say any more." Lina covered her face and sighed, "If possible, I want to forget everything about the recent past. The pressure was too heavy. In my dreams for the next few days, I’ll probably keep fighting with the Undead."

"That’s why the Undead are terrifying." Catherine sighed as well, "In the past, when I heard tales of heroes, I never dreamt that facing the Undead would be so daunting. Especially the last time I dreamt about Lady Nellie, who was facing billions of the Undead and managed to lead a charge in the opposite direction, I only felt passionate and brave then. But now I understand how terrifying that feeling can be, beyond being passionate and brave."

"Hmm? You dreamt about it?" Pannis who was sitting by the side, raised his eyebrow and appeared to casually question, "What exactly did you dream about?"

Catherine didn’t answer, she seemed to be lost in the reminiscence of the recent past, or perhaps, they all were stuck in the memories of the previous two-hour battle. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to visit qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)