One Worth Ten

(TN: title is kinda inaccurate)

　　Fortunately, the danger was foreseen in advance.

　　Han Dong only got halfway there before stopping...and leaving Cass to investigate deeper on his own.

　　If not, once they reached the end of the road and tried to escape, they wouldn't have been able to escape with Han Dong's body.

　　Although judging from the sound, Cass was still a hundred meters away from Han Dong, the situation was rather critical.

　　Chen Li immediately showed up and supported Han Dong, speeding up her escape from the secret passage....

　　"From the overlapping number of claw sounds, the number of ghouls that are chasing us is at least three... As long as we can escape back to the basement where we were before, there's still a way."

　　With Chen Li's help, Han Dong escaped back to the basement first with the running speed of an ordinary person.

　　"Miss Chen Li, hurry and hide... I'll have you come out to help at the necessary moment."

　　" Okay."

　　Han Dong guarded the entrance to the secret passage alone, waiting for Cass to arrive.

　　Not long after.

　　Cass, holding a torch, came into view.

　　Clearly visible, the goggle-wearing Cass had a small amount of dark lines around his eyes... exactly the appearance appearance of being subjected to 'visual pollution'.

　　Behind Cass, there were at least five or more ghouls in different forms.

　　By the light brought by the torch, this was the first time Han Dong saw the true face of the [Ghoul].

　　It was a humanoid creature with rubber-like, stretchy dark green skin.

　　Protruding bones and sharp teeth that could easily chew through bones were exposed.

　　The curved backbone, which was partially protruded outside the body, covering the entire body with tight and strong muscules.

　　Whether it's the skin, the teeth or the horrifyingly sharp claw table, the surface is covered with a dense black fungus.

　��Once torn through the human skin, it will instantly cause infectious damage.

　　Once the wound is left untreated, it will immediately become pus and fester...and in a short period of time, even gangrene will appear and the limb will have to be amputated even if it survives.

　　If you look closely, you'll also notice a dangerous and unnoticeable 'detail'.

　　On the surface of these ghouls' bodies, there are a few less conspicuous natural wounds.

　　A short form of tentacles would sometimes appear on the surface of these wounds, which was bizarre .

　　.......

　　The movement speed of the ghouls was comparable to that of Cass who had invested three [Fate Points].

　　In particular, one of the mature ghouls that was over one and a half the size of a normal ghouls, with its backbone completely protruding from its body, was even faster.

　　Its claws could even easily leave scratch marks on the stone walls.

　　Even faster, it was even gradually distancing itself from the ghouls behind it as it chased... and would catch up to young Cass in the eye.

　　Claws were just cutting into the surface of the armor on Cass's back.

　　Rushing out of the passage.

　　For a moment, Cass lost his center of gravity and fell forward as he rushed out of the passage.

　　Han Dong seized the moment, reached out and touched the switch, and the secret door closed!

　　Ka!

　　It was just right.

　　The closing of the secret door allowed the Ghoul at the front to get out, while the Ghouls at the back were locked inside the secret passage.

　　The stone secret door with a thickness of nearly two meters, these ordinary ghouls couldn't destroy it yet....

　　This extraordinarily large, two-meter-long ghoul with a little linen rag hanging from the surface of its torso seems to be the one leading this incident.

　　The culprit that killed the woman.

　　It didn't care if its companions followed or not, the black orbs of its eyes locked dead on the young Cass, he must be killed, to hide the lair.

　　Claws and fangs.

　　Going straight for Cass' head.

　　Dang!

　　The loud metallic crash echoed in the basement.

　　Although Cass fell to the ground, he was always in his battle-ready gear... and swung his shield with his backhand.

　　A "perfect block" was formed with just the right amount of blocking.

　　While completely blocking the attack, it also bounced the ghouls a certain distance away, giving Cass time to adjust his state.

　　"Yah~ah!" Just as the ghoul let out a strange roar and prepared to take its next attack.

　　A green energy cloud filled with danger shot straight at the back of the ghoul's head.

　　Some sort of extremely corrosive plague immediately spread out on the back of the head.

　　Hiss! A sound similar to the corrosion of an acidic liquid was heard.

　　In a short period of time, the plague energy actually corroded a small hole in the skull, which in turn eroded the brain tissue inside... The effect was even stronger than expected.

　　This plague ray was naturally unleashed by Han Dong.

　　When he triggered "Plague Doctor's Short Blade", Han Dong clearly felt that the mass of energy in his brain had been partially extracted... Based on the amount of energy remaining, this attack could be used about five more times.

　　If it was a newborn ghoul, it would have already fallen to the ground.

　　But...the current situation wasn't that simple.

　　As the plague was about to act on the brain, a bizarre scene appeared.

　　A short, slender shadow tentacle appeared in the ghoul's crushed skull.

　　The tentacles squirmed and intertwined with each other, counteracting the plague while actually repairing the skull.

　　"Tentacles! Self-repair!"

　　This time, the ghoul changed its 'target' even more.

　　Turning its ugly head while looking at the weak Han Dong... The sticky saliva mixed with the fungus was continuously flowing out from between its teeth.

　　Zee~Zee~Zee! (Electromagnetic interference sound)

　　As the ghoul's black eyeballs locked eyes with Han Dong, a noise similar to electromagnetic interference sounded in his mind... Something faintly flashed in the ghoul's eye pupils.

　　However....

　　With such a close stare, Han Dong was perfectly fine.

　　Unlike Cass whose fate points were a little higher than his.

　　Han Dong didn't suffer from any so-called 'visual pollution', any sensory discomfort, any headaches or hallucinations nor any dark streaks near his eyes.

　　It wasn't the effect of the goggles.

　　Han Dong had a sneaking feeling that even if he didn't wear the goggles, there wouldn't be any danger.

　　Of course, the visual pollution was secondary... how to take care of this ghoul was the key.

　　Right at this moment.

　　Bang!

　　A ball-shaped holy water bomb drops on a ghoul (i.e., a ball container with holy water in it)

　　Zzzz! A large amount of white steam rose.

　　The ghoul rolled wildly on the ground in pain, but it was not good to get close enough to make up for it as it waved its claws haphazardly.

　　"Friend Andeva, get behind me...a mature ghoul, we can still deal with it."

　　Taking advantage of the opportunity the holy water bomb fought for.

　　Han Dong immediately stood behind Cass to avoid being left alone.

　　"Just look for an opportunity to attack from long range like you just did!

　　The [Ghoul] is a low-level monster that still can't be separated from humans in terms of its physical structure, and should know better than me... Just aim for their head and heart."

　　"Hmm."

　　Saying just that!

　　Cass took up a fighting stance.

　　Shield in his left hand, standing in front of him.

　　Sword in right hand, attached to the back of the shield.

　　Such a stance seemed to have a special meaning....

　　"The power of the crusade.

　　For a time, the blond-haired, silver-armored Cass' body overflowed with a faint silvery glow around him.

　　Even a shallow cross mark appeared on his forehead.

　　It was similar to a temporary augmentation skill .

　　The ghouls that had been corrupted by the holy water recovered again in a short period of time... and were already in an enraged state overall, with some black smoke spilling out between their black pupils!

　　Swoop.

　　It's bound to break Cass in pieces.

　　..........

　　"Whew..."

　　Deep breaths.

　　The center of gravity sinks.

　　The moment Cass pounced on the ghoul, the veins in his forehead bulged and his back leg stomped on the ground, pouring his full strength into his shield-holding left arm.

　　"Shield Slam.

　　Clang! (dull metallic clanging)

　　The two-meter giant ghoul was actually knocked out of the sky by a shield strike from Cass.

　　"It's heavy... it's a bit strenuous."

　　Cass endured while suppressing the trembling feeling in his arm.

　　Retracting his shield, he lunged forward swiftly.

　　The moment the ghoul landed on the ground, Cass swung out his silver sword.

　　"Cross Cut"

　　Where the silver mane reached, the ghoul's flesh was completely sliced open.

　　The black heart hidden beneath the ribs was clearly visible!