Chapter 77: Cleansed and Claimed
’This could be good... or bad, depending on what we choose to do from now on,’ Azrael mused, surveying the faces of the Chosen.
They knew that there were Proven on the other side of the cursed lands, but they hadn’t expected to meet them so soon. As they heard the words of Isolde echo in their heads, they halted, wondering what they were supposed to do.
"I suggest we go to them." Azrael was the first one to break the silence. He wanted to get close to them to determine if there was a Cleansed one among them. Usually, he couldn’t attack anyone when he was in the bases full of people, but when they were outside in the wilderness? Accidents do happen, and even the mightiest could fall.
He wouldn’t bother killing anyone with a Purity Rank of Blessed since he would need to kill a hundred to rank up. This was why he had yet to kill anyone in Seraphina’s base; aside from her and Isolde, the others were too weak to net substantial benefits.
But it was another matter for the Proven ones; he had been in their base and seen how many Cleansed members they had. Just ten would be enough for him to evolve once more.
Whether he could actually best the Proven in battle didn’t matter. Ambushes and backstabbing have existed for as long as humans have lived, and he wasn’t a person that would shy away from them if they could get him what he wants.
This was one of the most important lessons the Skinwalker had drilled into him when he had been young, and he wasn’t about to change his nature any time soon.
After Seraphina considered his word for a few moments, she nodded in agreement. "We would meet with them. However, be warned it’s possible that they would want to move us to their base... Maybe even use some more forceful methods, so be cautious."
The Chosen nodded, changing their course.
Sadly, the hard-to-see-through mist still lingered, and the torches weren’t lit up during the daytime, so they had to move cautiously, trying not to gather attention.
Azrael’s gaze moved swiftly from one corpse to the next, even if the Corruption and Divine power in his body were relatively high. He couldn’t afford to use [Inspect] recklessly. And since he didn’t have true faith in Isolde to be able to sense if one of these corpses was playing dead, he was ready for the worst.
As they moved west, the clash of steel against steel echoed in the far distance.