17 A Surge in Experience, The Birth of the Slaughter Squad
At dawn, the sun rose.
Henry, his legs trembling, leaned on the wall for support as he walked slowly.
His face was pallid, as white as a vampire's.
After numerous passionate encounters with Queen Adele the previous day, which ended only when he was completely drained, did this insatiable woman finally allow him to leave.
He had previously agreed to curse the Mask of Algado for Queen Adele, but now Henry was having second thoughts.
The next time they met, he knew she would pounce on him like a wild beast again...
Damn it, no.
A man cannot admit defeat in such matters; next time, he vowed to leave her begging for mercy!
The square was a dreary grey, filled with devout believers and awakeners reciting scriptures.
Aside from the two girls in his squad, no one noticed the tired figure blending into the crowd.
Having not returned all night, Anna and Emily had already guessed what adult activities transpired between Henry and Queen Adele.
Anna, visibly displeased, walked up to Henry and touched his male organ.
Indeed, compared to the impressive size it had been before, it now seemed somewhat deflated.
"Henry, you've met your match, haven't you? That saucy woman drained you dry," Anna said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"I warned you before entering the palace to control yourself! You didn't take my words seriously at all!"
Emily, standing quietly by the side, didn't speak, but her sullen expression spoke volumes.
"I made a sacrifice for the team; don't think of it so narrowly. There's something I need to tell you both,"
Henry quickly changed the subject, sharing with the two women the matter of Queen Adele's request for the magus relic's mask.
"This matter is of great importance. No matter the outcome, we must ensure that mask ends up in our hands," Henry asserted.
"The deity known as Algado has set his sights on us. We need to strike first, actively weakening his power," he added.
The two women understood the gravity of the situation.
The conversation shifted gradually, and Henry successfully diverted the topic away from Queen Adele.
...
In the blink of an eye, three days passed, and the group received notifications of leveling up.
Emily, needing a massive amount of experience, had reached level 20, while Henry and Anna were at levels 21 and 16, respectively.
Even among the awakeners in Snowland, their squad's combat strength was among the top.
Soon, the third round of tasks was announced.
"Ding. Snowland's third-round task: The magus relic is now accessible."
"All awakeners can undertake this task. Please reach the Burial Mounds in Snowland within 30 minutes and enter the tomb of the magus."
The many awakeners in the square sprang into action, rushing towards the direction of the Burial Mounds.
The Burial Mounds of Snowland were essentially a massive block of ice.
The dead were sent there, part of the ice melted into water, and then the bodies were placed within to freeze again.
Thus, what lay before everyone was a vast group of bodies, each one lifelike, some even with their eyes open, as if they had never left this world.
And in the center of these numerous corpses, a faint, dark purple glow could be seen rising.
It emanated from a coffin that stood out starkly against the surrounding bodies.
Everyone was encased in blocks of ice, save for a single coffin in the middle.
Without much thought, the awakeners realized that the one in the coffin was the target of their mission.
Suddenly, above the ice, appeared a figure in a grey robe - the archbishop from the square. He smiled gently, gazing at the gathered awakeners.
"Welcome," he began. "This place holds the true treasure of the magus. But to obtain it, you must undergo a trial."
"You will face these resurrected corpses in your teams. Only those who endure to the end and annihilate all the corpses before them will emerge victorious."
Immediately, the higher-level awakeners buzzed with excitement; these conditions were exceptionally favorable for them.
The elite team, recently bested by Queen Adele and having lost a teammate, was eager to prove themselves.
Among the awakeners present, their level was the highest.
"Darrell Mura, your sacrifice won't be in vain," the leader of the elite team vowed coldly, eyeing Henry's gold-tier equipment and clenching his fists.
He was determined to reclaim their honor.
A level 30 awakener team had been humiliated by a sub-level 20 awakener, losing a teammate in the process.
It was a disgrace, one that would make them the laughingstock of other awakeners if word got out.
"Fellow awakeners from afar, are you ready for your challenge?" the archbishop asked, waving his hand.
Suddenly, the bodies in the ice came to life, bursting forth and charging towards the awakeners.
They screamed, as if seeing delicious prey.
Numerous awakener teams quickly formed their battle formations.
Henry, as the leader of his squad, also tensed up, donning his golden armor neatly.
He intended to join the fight, but Anna and Emily stopped him.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked in surprise.
"Joining the fight," Henry replied, somewhat bewildered.
"You're a support class. Instead of adding to the chaos, just lie back and stay out of it," she retorted. "Don't we still have some ice bear jerky? Sit there and eat it slowly."
Anna spoke like a domineering CEO protecting her boyfriend, while Emily, ever so considerate, used her magus skills to craft a bench out of ice and snow, offering it to Henry.
"Having a bench might be more comfortable for you to sit on," she said.
The two women were adamant about not letting Henry join the battle.
Resigned, Henry took the bench and sat down, watching the two women fiercely fighting in front of him, while he nibbled on ice bear jerky.
This scene instantly sparked envy among the other awakeners.
"Damn it, what's this guy even here for? I saw him riding an ice bear earlier, as if he's on a vacation," one commented.
"Now it's even worse. He's just sitting on a bench, munching on jerky. There are thousands of zombies out there. Isn't he going to fight? Does he not value his life?"
Meanwhile, the two women looked like agile female bodyguards, protecting their young master.
Of course, Henry wasn't entirely idle.
After all, this competition was about outperforming other awakener teams; one less zombie killed by the opponents meant a significant advantage for his own team.
Thus, Henry launched into a verbal assault, furiously taunting the competitors.
"Can you even handle it? You can't even take down a single zombie, utterly feeble," he mocked.
"Hey, you over there, you fight like you're holding a needle, not a sword. What are you doing, embroidery?"
His potent verbal barrage indeed impacted some teams.
One person, engaged in a fierce battle with a zombie, became so enraged by Henry's words that he nearly got slapped to death by the zombie in his distraction.
Particularly the level 30 awakener team, they received the brunt of Henry's taunts.
Fortunately, they eventually realized they should ignore his provocations and treated his words like background noise.
As time progressed, a third of the zombies emerging from the ice had been dispatched.
The fighters began to sweat, noticing something amiss.
"These zombies seem to be getting stronger. The initial ones were around level 15, standard fare, but this last one I killed felt almost level 20. It took a lot of effort," one of them observed.
Hearing this, others agreed.
Especially the level 30 awakener team.
The zombies they first encountered were already level 20, and now the zombies' strength was nearing level 30, posing a considerable challenge to their team.
"It seems the strength of the zombies we face is related to our team's power, and their levels rise as more are killed," one analyzed.
"No wonder, I knew this task wouldn't be so straightforward."
"Wait, have you noticed that awakener team over there? They seem to be having an easier time the more they kill."
The crowd looked in one direction, where Henry was still nibbling on his ice bear jerky.
Meanwhile, the two women in front of him transformed into veritable goddesses of war.
Anna's sword, like a spear, shot out, striking down zombies with deadly precision.
Emily, growing more exhilarated with each battle, was expanding the scale of her magical array.
"Did you notice the change in their experience points?" someone asked.
"They... seem to be continuously leveling up?"
