adventurers in the sewers

Louis and his party cautiously made their way toward the large pit.

The only way the female members of the Silver Hunter squad could have survived this long is if they were sacrificed.

Who knows how far Eric has progressed the sacrificial ritual? We must destroy the offerings and the ritual as soon as possible.

Standing beside the pit, Nora first scanned the bottom of the pit with her 'Aiming Eye' to make sure there was no danger before Louis dared to stick his head out and look down into the pit.

Below the pit was a huge and deep basement, with an altar standing in the center, covered with strange and eerie patterns drawn in blood, which seemed to be some kind of array to summon demons.

A row of crosses still stood on the altar, most of which were covered with dried blood and mutilated flesh, seemingly remnants of the last sacrifice.

Only one cross was relatively clean, as if it had just been erected. On it hung a disheveled woman with deep cuts on her wrists, from which blood was gushing.

It was the female member of the Silver Hunter Squad.

Judging from the bloodstains on the ground, she had been bled out for a long time.

Fortunately, professionals are indeed resilient, which has allowed her to live to this day.

Nora took a rope from her magic pocket and tied it around Louis's body. Louis jumped into the pit and quickly untied the woman from the cross.

He looked around again and found that apart from the altar, there were no living creatures or demons left.

Back on the ground, Louis laid the woman down, and Merry quickly cast a healing rune on her to stop her bleeding wounds.

Everyone gathered around the woman, observing her condition.

As someone who experienced the Hysen Estate incident firsthand, the other party must know a lot of useful information.

The woman's eyes were unfocused. Although she was pretty, her cheeks were deeply sunken, and there were bruises on her face from being beaten. She also had an unpleasant smell emanating from her body.

Clearly, the torture she suffered was not just as simple as being hung on a cross and bled.

Dai Na cursed him under her breath, then asked in as gentle a tone as possible:

"Ma'am, could you tell us what happened?"

"Relax, don't be nervous... Um, what's your name?"

Hearing the voices around her, the woman's unfocused pupils focused slightly, and tears welled up involuntarily in her eyes.

She struggled to raise her hands to cover her face, sobbing sadly.

After a long while, she began to mutter in a self-deprecating tone:

"My name is Milissa. I took your advice and decided not to become an adventurer."

"If you are defeated, what awaits you is a lifetime of torture, even if you kneel down and beg for mercy, and the succubus silver markings that you will never be able to remove..."

"Why didn't I die with the captain and the others? Why was I the only one captured alive?! Why?!"

Louis, Dana, and Nora exchanged a complicated look after hearing this.

Through Milissa's tattered clothes, they had already noticed that her body had been marked with evil demonic patterns.

I initially thought it was a magic rune related to sacrifice, but it turned out to be...

Adventurers' jobs are really tough; even professionals suffer this kind of torment when they mess up.

Dai Na didn't have any good ways to persuade her, so she could only keep reassuring her that everything was over.

After a while, Milissa seemed to have calmed down a bit and began to recount the Silver Hunter team's experiences over the past few days in fits and starts.

"After Captain Ronan and I arrived at Hysen Manor, we quickly wiped out the monsters besieging the manor. We thought it would be an easy mission, but little did we know it was all a trap set by Eric!"

Eric invited us into the estate and, in gratitude, took us to the estate's wine cellar.

"But right here in this wine cellar, when everyone let their guard down, a parasitic demon suddenly sprang out and corrupted us with its demonic energy."

"As professionals, they have a certain ability to resist even if they are ambushed, and they can crush that parasite. But Eric summoned the monster he created by sacrificing all his relatives and besieged us."

"After failing to break through, the captain and Ronan didn't want to become sacrificial offerings, so they committed suicide at the last moment... Only I backed down."

"Because I failed to commit suicide in time and was captured, I suffered a lot of torture in this cellar..."

At this point, a look of pain returned to Milissa's eyes, as if she were recalling something she didn't want to remember.

After pausing for a while, she continued:

"Because I was the only living sacrifice, the sacrificial ceremony that was supposed to involve several professionals could not proceed."

"So I was hung up and bled out, hoping that I could produce enough blood by myself, and then make up the shortfall by sacrificing ordinary people in the wedding ceremony."

"I thought I was going to die on my wedding day, but I never expected to meet you all..."

Finally, Milissa glanced at Louis and the others, clearly recognizing them, and especially the impressive silver-haired boy, Merry.

She let out a long sigh, tilted her head to one side, and seemed lost in thought.

The sewer team listened to everything in silence.

No wonder Eric's eyes lit up when he realized that Louis and his group were professionals.

It turns out that two of the three professional-level sacrificial offerings attracted last time committed suicide in time, successfully delaying the progress of the sacrificial ritual.

Ryan and Ronan are both pretty good guys.

Putting yourself in Louis's shoes, you might not have had the courage to commit suicide.

With a sigh, Louis said:

"Dena, Merry, you two take good care of Miss Milissa. Nora and I will go clean up the battlefield."

Arriving at the devastated battlefield, Louis began looting the corpses.

He first collected the attributes from Ryan and Ronan.

[You have picked up the corpse of the 'Shield Guardian' with the following attributes: Extraordinary +1.5, Strength +2, Stamina +3, Vitality +2. You have also gained the skill "Guardian Shield".]

[Gained Profession Talent: Giant Shield Impact]

[Giant Shield Impact: While sprinting at full speed with a giant shield, power will continuously accumulate. The longer you travel in a straight line, the greater the power of the first impact.]

[You have picked up the corpse of the 'Ranger Pro'. Attributes: Extraordinary +1, Perception +3, Dexterity +2. Skill: Animal Friend.]

[Acquire Professional Talent: Crisis Warning]

[Crisis Warning: A significantly enhanced intuition for danger in daily life; the body will instinctively issue a warning when faced with a deadly threat.]

The massive amount of attributes he gained from the two professionals rapidly improved Louis's various physical stats, giving him a feeling of being reborn.

"I can't believe he can even steal the talents of professionals. This guy's cheat ability is incredible..."

Louis sighed inwardly. As the quality of the corpses he touched increased, the benefits his cheat ability could bring him also increased.

However, such a feast will only happen during the period immediately following the job change.

After all, most level 1 professionals are only at the level of Ryan and Ronan, or even worse. If they want to gain more than ten attribute points in one go like this, they would have to find a professional with stars.