Chapter 135: A Hastily Assembled Team
The floral mountain path, winding through the jagged ridges of the Hanz Clan estate’s rear mountain, shimmered under the pale dusk light. Ruru Rosa stood tense beside Cade Barret, her emerald robes torn, revealing glimpses of her porcelain skin. Cade, his dark skin glistening with sweat, gripped his bronze shield, its runes pulsing with dark energy, his Eighth Layer aura flickering as they braced for the figure hurtling toward them from the hill’s peak.
Their initial alertness gave way to shock, their breaths catching as the blur resolved into a woman, her raven-black hair adorned with fading Dao Fulus that shimmered weakly, her stunningly beautiful face marred by a terrified expression. She wore a scandalously scant blood-red dress, its audacious cut barely covering her ample, heaving breasts and the tantalizing space between her rounded thighs, exposing vast expanses of alabaster skin. The dress clung to her curves, accentuating her slender, moon-white waist, yet the sight was more harrowing than seductive, a stark contrast to her former allure.
It was Shirley Quinn, the peak Ninth Layer cultivator and captain of the Suicide Squad, but a shadow of her once-captivating presence, her power and charm shattered.
Shirley’s arrival sent a chill through Ruru and Cade. Gone were the vibrant butterfly Gworms that once adorned her shimmering raven hair. Her signature earrings—thumb-sized, vivid green venomous snake pendants were reduced to a single, lifeless ornament dangling from her left ear. The massive, hairy black spider gworm, once scuttling across her snow-white belly, had vanished, leaving her midriff bare. The black thick centipede gworm that had coiled around her arms was gone, as were the crimson beetle bracelets on her right wrist. Most alarmingly, her ninth-layer twin-tailed fox spirit, a ferocious demonic battle pet that had been her pride, was nowhere to be seen.
Her crimson stilettos, once a symbol of her poised dominance, were gone; she ran barefoot, her crimson-painted toenails flashing with each frantic step, her once-seductive grace replaced by raw survival instinct.
What terrified Ruru and Cade most was Shirley’s alabaster skin. Once fairer than fresh snow, but now marred by gruesome scars, a gaping gash on her left shoulder oozing blood, leaving a crimson trail that glistened on the stone path.
"Thorn Squad!"
Shirley’s voice cut through the silence, sharp with urgency, as she accelerated her barefoot sprint, landing on the stone path behind them with a stumble. "Where’s Garrick Blackthorn?" she demanded.
Cade opened his mouth to respond, "Oh, Captain Garrick was—"