Chapter 92 - 91: Repeated Sneak Attacks

Hayden Hanson and Sev Steele had been standing shoulder to shoulder, but suddenly, four or five groundhogs darted toward them. Each was the size of a large orange tabby cat. They leaped and bounded erratically, making their movements incredibly difficult to track.

Seeing this, Hayden took the initiative, swinging his Blade to meet them. With swift, precise strikes, he slashed at two of the creatures.

Sev immediately followed suit, charging forward with a weapon in each hand. She thrust the dagger in her Left Hand toward one groundhog’s head and the other in her right hand toward another’s abdomen. After all, these mutated beasts had thick, resilient pelts that offered formidable defense. Aside from the soft flesh of their bellies, her Blunt Dagger couldn’t possibly pierce their bodies.

If Cannon Caldwell were a normal teammate, he would have proactively filled their vacated positions to prevent other groundhogs from flanking them and breaking the defensive line. However, his mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of Sev’s S Level Dagger. He couldn’t care less about the defensive line collapsing. He stealthily crept up behind Sev and raised his Wolf Fang Club.

Sev had just finished off her two groundhogs when a sudden, intense wave of palpitation struck her. Acting on pure instinct, she twisted sideways, narrowly dodging the crushing blow from Cannon’s club. Fury instantly flared within her.

"What is wrong with you? Your aim is absolute garbage—you almost hit me!"

Realizing his ambush had failed, Cannon hurriedly apologized. "I’m so sorry, I swear I didn’t mean it!

"I stepped up to cover your flank because that rat was trying to sneak-attack you. I meant to hit it, but I tripped over something."

Given his excuse, Sev didn’t have the time to keep berating him. Gripping her daggers, she threw herself back into the fray.

Cannon cursed inwardly, "Tough bitch. I can’t believe she dodged that!" But he only dared to voice his malice in his head. A hard-won opportunity had just slipped through his fingers. Unwilling to give up, he resolved to look for another chance.

The mercenaries were fighting tooth and nail. Seeing Sev and Hayden rush out to slaughter the groundhogs ignited a fiery passion among the Scavengers as well. They were all ordinary people. If a woman and a man with genetic collapse could fight like that, then surely they could too! More importantly, many mercenaries were already injured. Without fresh reinforcements, if the vanguard fell and the defensive circle broke, the Scavengers would undoubtedly face a gruesome death!

Spurred into action, one Scavenger stepped up to join the battle, then a second, then a third... Eventually, almost all the able-bodied adults had joined the fight. Even the elderly and the children watched for openings to land sneak attacks with their Alloy Shovels.

This beast horde was relatively small to begin with, and the number of reinforcing groundhogs steadily dwindled. Consequently, what had started as a desperate defense naturally transitioned into a counter-offensive. Morale surged across the battlefield. The defensive circle dissolved as everyone charged outward to push back the rodents.

Sev and Hayden were naturally in the thick of it. Amidst the chaos of the melee, Cannon stealthily maneuvered behind her once again. By now, the sun had completely set, casting a gray gloom over the wasteland. True nightfall was only moments away.

Cannon raised his Wolf Fang Club, preparing to deliver a vicious, fatal strike to Sev.

The dagger in Sev’s Left Hand had just severed a groundhog’s front paw when that same chilling palpitation washed over her again. Operating on sheer reflex, she threw herself to the side. The moment her body hit the ground, she rolled with the momentum, driving her dagger upward into another groundhog’s belly. Simultaneously, out of the corner of her eye, she caught the lethal descent of Cannon’s club.

Cannon’s eyes were bloodshot with madness. With his second ambush thwarted, he abandoned all pretense. He prepared to swing again to kill Sev outright. The sky was already dark, and everyone around them was entirely consumed by the slaughter. No one would notice his actions anyway.

Sev swiftly grabbed a groundhog corpse, using it as a fleshy shield to absorb the crushing impact of Cannon’s weapon. In that instant, everything clicked. He genuinely wanted her dead!

"Cannon, are you out of your damn mind? Why are you trying to kill me instead of the groundhogs?!" Sev roared the moment she deflected the strike.

Cannon hadn’t expected this woman to evade his lethal blows three times in a row. He had assumed that under the cover of dusk and amidst the chaotic fray, he could bludgeon her to death face-to-face and then toss her corpse to the groundhogs. Everyone would simply think she had tragically fallen in battle. No one would suspect a murder. Besides, as a mercenary, as long as he hid her daggers in his Tactical Backpack, the loot would remain undiscovered.

But not only did this bitch dodge his assault, she even publicly exposed his malicious intent!

"You’re misunderstanding things! I saw a groundhog sneaking up on you and stepped in to intercept it," Cannon hastily argued.

He knew Sev wouldn’t buy a word of it, but the onlookers most likely would. After all, they had no prior grudges. Who would believe a full-fledged mercenary would go out of his way to murder a lowly Scavenger?

If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Sev wouldn’t have believed it either. Even though she had slapped Miss Crowe, the animosity between her and Cannon shouldn’t have escalated to a life-and-death feud.

A few people engaged in nearby combat overheard their exchange, and all of them simply assumed Sev was mistaken. Hayden, however, was the sole exception. He believed Sev implicitly, recalling how she had complained earlier about Cannon’s terrible aim nearly hitting her. Once could be an accident, but twice was no coincidence.

Yet, with the chaotic melee raging around them, there was no tangible proof to confirm Cannon’s murderous intent. Realizing this, Hayden grabbed Sev and pulled her behind him, speaking in a hushed tone.

"From now on, we don’t separate. We fight back-to-back. That way, we can fend off both open attacks and hidden daggers."

"Got it," Sev agreed without hesitation, giving a firm nod.

The chaotic skirmish lasted for another fifteen minutes before the final groundhog burrowed into the earth and fled. The battle was finally over.

Sean Stark led a few mercenaries, carrying outdoor lamps, to gather the Mutated potatoes that hadn’t yet been stored in Space Buttons. He meticulously registered each batch according to the numbers on the small marker flags. Everyone still had to survive after the battle. These vital supplies were bought with blood and sweat; there was absolutely no room for error.

The young man in the black leather trench coat stood before Seth Jennings and tapped his watch open. "Leader, may we exchange contact IDs?"

"Of course! Thanks to your coordination today, my team avoided losing at least half our numbers," Seth replied readily. She didn’t offer effusive words of gratitude. Since they both operated in District Nine, there would be plenty of opportunities to repay the favor in the future.

The young man scanned her QR code and noted her display name: Seth Jennings. It looked exactly like a real name. He smiled and asked, "Your name is Seth Jennings? I’m Ferdinand Vaughn. Can I call you Miss Seth from now on?"

Seth felt a bit awkward. The man was clearly younger than her, so showing some respect wasn’t entirely out of place. But a simple ’Ms. Jennings’ would have sufficed. Why ’Miss Seth’? He wasn’t a three-year-old child!

But this man was obviously raised in a prominent, aristocratic family. The young masters from The Gilded Ward were probably just a bit more eccentric and pampered than kids from The Slums. Perhaps that explained it?

Ultimately, Seth nodded. It was just a form of address; it didn’t really matter. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, she directed the mercenaries to escort the injured Scavengers on their journey back.

The adrenaline high of counter-killing the groundhogs was quickly replaced by the heavy gloom of countless casualties. Everyone walked silently along the narrow path, their hearts filled with uncertainty about the future. They had luckily survived this time, but what about the next? And the time after that?

Ferdinand watched Seth’s silhouette fade into the distance before finally following Keegan Thorne back to their light truck.

Keegan teased, "Vaughn, the moment the beast horde hit, you sprinted all the way here to find Leader Jennings, and then you recklessly followed her to slaughter mutated armadillos.

"Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for her? Heh, you’ve got good taste, but this beautiful lady looks incredibly hard to get."

"An Ability user has a long lifespan. I have plenty of time to wear her down," Ferdinand said, the corners of his lips curling up. A rare smile graced his usually icy face.

Today’s trial had been more dangerous than any previous one, but also infinitely more thrilling. He finally had the chance to fight side-by-side with the woman he had been pining for. If his family hadn’t explicitly forbidden it, he would have joined her Mercenary Guild ages ago.

Fortunately, he had seized the opportunity and secured her contact ID. In today’s battle, he had done his utmost to coordinate with her, willingly risking his life without relying on the life-saving trump cards his family had provided him.

Moving forward, he would grasp every chance to invite her on joint missions. He was confident she would accept his invitations out of camaraderie forged in today’s shared combat.

Opportunities were never meant to be waited on; they had to be seized with one’s own hands!