Within the Giant Beast Bone Field shrouded by a spiritual field, a group of sudden intruders would be particularly conspicuous.

The search team led by that officer was like this, as was Krug, who was disguised as a mercenary.

They inquired about the magic array in the bone field, and this matter was soon noticed by some local residents. Under the influence of the spiritual field, the information that "there are several unfamiliar faces inquiring about things they shouldn’t" was transmitted layer by layer through specific channels to the ears of Earl Bonar.

Upon receiving the intelligence, the Yellow-covered Book almost instantly realized that the remnants of the Hand of Death might have really fled in panic to the vicinity of the Giant Beast Bone Field.

These three outsiders with ulterior motives were highly likely to be scouts or resource seekers sent by the other side.

Since real cultists had come to them, it happened to save them the trouble they had prepared for, thus reducing vulnerabilities.

Therefore, it halted Bonar’s plan to use a batch of prisoners as the murderers of the search team and had him send the information of these three people to the officer, preparing to reap the benefits with personnel already in place.

...

In the original excavation site, workers swarmed like ants, transporting the collected materials.

Krug and two cultists hid in the shadows, staring at the temporary warehouses constructed of logs and thick canvas in the distance.

There were sparse guards around the warehouse, but their alertness seemed not very high.

They had previously tried to purchase the materials needed in the market and even the black market, but in the end, the harvest was meager.

Seizing the temporary warehouse at the excavation site became the only option.

Whether or not they could find enough materials in the warehouse was uncertain, but doing so would certainly expose their location and attract encirclement and suppression.

But the situation of the High Priest did not allow him to act slowly and stealthily anymore.

Before the action, Krug lowered his voice to remind the two accompanying cultists one last time: "Remember, rush in and only take the items on the list, as quickly as possible. After you get the things, don’t care about anything else, leave immediately according to the planned route and return to the hideout. If you alert the guards, I will buy you time and hold off all pursuers, understand?"

The two cultists of the Demon Race exchanged a glance and firmly replied in unison: "Understood!"

...

The heavy wooden warehouse door was pushed open by Krug, outside of it, the two guards leaning on their spears napping had already collapsed on the ground, their neck bones twisted at a bizarre angle.

The inside of the warehouse was far more spacious than it looked from the outside, rows of crude wooden shelves and stacked crates filled the space. Krug and the two cultists immediately dispersed to search.

The initial search made Krug extremely anxious.

It wasn’t that he feared being discovered or the subsequent pursuit, but what he feared most was that there were no materials they needed here, which would render everything meaningless.

Fortunately, soon good news began to arrive one after another.

"Found it, the main root of the Weeping Blood Vine!"

"I also found the giant beast marrow!"

"Good!" Krug was overjoyed.

At this moment, in several shadowy corners of the warehouse seemingly piled with clutter, and atop the thick beams above them, several soldiers crouched within pre-traced concealment magic arrays, pressed the triggers of their crossbow arrows.

The speed of the crossbow arrows was extremely fast, directly targeting the vital points of Krug and the other two!

As soon as the piercing sound rang out, the power of the blessing surged within Krug’s body, forming a thin yet tenacious dark gray shield around him. Several crossbow arrows struck the shield fiercely but were all deflected.

But the other two cultists did not have this kind of strength.

The crossbow arrows hit their vital points almost simultaneously, nailing them to the wooden racks. The dark red blood quickly stained their black robes, and after a few twitches, they fell silent.

The heavy shelves were pushed aside, and a squad of fully armed Imperial Soldiers filed out, quickly occupying advantageous positions, their enchanted strong crossbows once again being drawn, aimed at the only one still alive, Krug.

"Trap..." Krug’s face looked grim.

The leader was the officer who had visited Earl Bonar before.

He walked steadily forward, his gaze sweeping over the two bodies on the ground, finally landing on Krug, surrounded by the dark gray shield, who looked as if facing a great enemy: "What a pity, if it were explosive crossbow arrows, this round should have taken all of you down."

However, he was just saying it casually. After all, this place was the property of Earl Bonar, and the materials in the warehouse were also quite valuable.

To catch three cultists, blowing up someone else’s warehouse along with a large batch of materials wouldn’t make sense either emotionally or logically.

"Kill!" The officer waved his hand, and the soldiers fired their crossbow arrows again.

Krug kept blocking with the dark gray shield while not forgetting to snatch the found materials from the bodies of the two deceased cultists during the dodging intervals.

In terms of individual strength, that Diamond Level officer on the opposite side was by no means Krug’s match.

But at this moment, what surrounded him were a hundred well-trained and coordinated regular soldiers of the Empire, crossbow arrows, blades, and even the mages who had not moved yet.

In the distance, the sound of more footsteps approaching could be heard, clearly reinforcements coming, which made Krug dare not linger in battle.

However, Krug barely rushed out of the warehouse, only to be met by mages who had been waiting for a long time.

"Earth Bind!"

"Touch of Ice!"

Krug desperately struggled, but facing well-prepared Imperial soldiers, he inevitably got tangled up in place.

"Meow—!"

"What?!"

The two mages focused on casting spells only felt the ground shake violently under their feet, with no time to react, the solid ground suddenly turned into a wave of earth, instantly swallowing them up!

The earth rolled back and compressed, leaving only two slightly protruding mounds of soil and half-exposed magic staffs.

Meanwhile, a petite, agile figure burst from the edge of the surging earth wave!

She was on all fours, running like a true beast, her speed creating afterimages.

As she ran, the ground rumbled, walls of earth sprang up just enough to shield her, blocking the flying arrows and magic.

In the blink of an eye, the figure had reached Krug’s side.

At that moment, her hood slightly slipped, revealing a pair of faint-colored cat ears trembling from the intense movement.

"Why are you here?!" Krug said in surprise.

"The High Priest briefly awakened and said there’s a powerful spiritual field here!" the Catman Priestess spoke rapidly, her amber slitted eyes fixed on the encircling enemies, "I was worried you’d run into trouble, so I came over!"

"Spiritual field?!" Krug’s mind flashed as if lightning struck.

That’s it, the strange feeling that never left upon entering this place is because of this!

The Catman Priestess let out another brief "meow", magic power surged into the ground, a bridge of earth broke through the surface, extending out of the excavation site.

"Stop them!" the officer’s shout came, soldiers tried to rush up to destroy the earth bridge or intercept.

"Rise!" the Catman Priestess gritted her teeth, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

With her urging, more earth walls and sharp stone spikes rose abruptly on both sides of the bridge, temporarily blocking the pursuers.

Krug didn’t hesitate, grabbing the slightly fatigued Catman Priestess from continuous casting, sprinted along the earth bridge.

The officer furiously swung his sword, shattering the wall before him, leading his elite trusted aides through the earth obstacles, but the two figures had already run far ahead.

"Damn it!"

Meanwhile, Count Bona’s troops arrived late.

Leading them was the former mercenary captain, Cang Bone.

The soldiers under him seemed "panicked" as they flooded into the battlefield, apparently trying to cooperate in the interception.

"Why are you so late?" the officer was furious but quickly suppressed his emotions, retrieving a communication crystal from his chest, "You go chase, I’ll immediately signal..."

Splurt!

Before he finished his sentence, a short knife with a blood groove, unceremoniously sliced into the armor seam on his chest, piercing the heart, its tip emerging half an inch from the back, stained in blood.

The officer froze, the communication crystal slipped from his powerless fingers, dropping into the dust.

He turned his head incredulously, reflecting Cang Bone’s indifferent face inches away in his eyes, while his ears heard the sudden attack and screams of his subordinates.

"You...you all..." the officer opened his mouth, blood gushing from the corner, "dare to...betray...the Empire..."

Cang Bone twisted his wrist sharply, the short knife churned within the internal organs, completely cutting off all life.

"The Empire? No, we’re merely clearing out all uninvited guests."

Simultaneously, the Catman Priestess being held by Krug suddenly warned loudly: "Careful! There’s something ahead, meow!"

"What?" Krug didn’t notice anything but instinctively shielded the two of them with a protective barrier.

The next moment, the barrier vibrated, forcibly stopping Krug in place.

In front of the two priests, a round, chubby figure slowly emerged from the air.

"It’s...Puki?"