Looking at Matthew’s corpse pinned to the tree.
Catherine and the others still felt a sense of disbelief.
Matthew was dead?
Although they had all wanted to kill that bastard Matthew themselves, they were fully aware of the consequences.
If Matthew died at their hands, Lord Rudolph wouldn’t let the matter rest, and things would only get worse. The best option had been to hand him over to Sophia to deal with.
Yet Luca had gone ahead and killed him!
Catherine walked over with a complicated expression, sighing, “You acted too rashly this time. Lord Rudolph only has Matthew as a son, and his mother, Lady Lina, is from the Franco family of Southwind City.”
“Also, Freeman’s brother Curtis is somewhat well-known in the Southern Territory. You’ve killed both of them, and the people behind them definitely won’t let you off easily.”
Kaman and Lennard nodded in agreement. While Luca’s actions were satisfying, Rudolph and Lady Lina wouldn’t let this go.
Especially since the Franco family was a prominent clan in Southwind City.
They have a Diamond-level warrior in their ranks. Not even Lady Sophia could restrain such power.
Luca’s killing of Matthew was bound to have serious repercussions.
However, Luca didn’t seem bothered by their concerns.
He casually removed the Storage Rings and gear from Matthew and Freeman’s bodies, then turned to the others with a smile. “Relax, a mere Diamond-level family can’t touch me.”
Though Luca wasn’t someone who sought trouble, he had never been one to fear it either.
The Franco family? A Diamond-level family was nothing special.
In his past life, he had wiped out countless families like theirs.
Even though his current strength hadn’t reached its peak yet, he wasn’t someone they could push around.
With his talent, once it was revealed, there would be countless factions vying for him. At that point, the Franco family, with just one Diamond-level warrior, would be the least of his worries. Even if they had an Earth-level warrior, he still wouldn’t be afraid.
The others clearly didn’t understand Luca’s mindset, and could only exchange helpless smiles.
They thinking Luca just didn’t grasp how terrifying high-level warriors were.
After all, in the entire Emerald State, there was only one Diamond-level warrior!
Catherine sighed inwardly.
There was no use talking about it now.
All she could hope was that Lady Sophia would help Luca deal with the aftermath when they reported this to her.
Meanwhile, Luca had finished inventorying all the gear and items from Matthew and Freeman’s bodies.
It was quite the haul!
Looking at the large pile of equipment and materials before him, a smile crept onto Luca’s face.
Indeed, there’s nothing more lucrative than looting after a kill!
From Matthew alone, he had gained two pieces of Silver-grade equipment, three mid-tier items, and six low-tier items.
The Life Protection Pendant had been damaged, which was a bit of a shame, but Luca had managed to acquire two high-level items in return.
The Spatial Teleportation Talisman and Fire Essence.
Luca already had a Spatial Teleportation Talisman, but he could never have too many of these life-saving items.
The Fire Essence, much like an elemental potion, was a consumable that could boost one’s strength. After use, it would enhance fire element damage and fire affinity, with a chance to mutate fire-based skills.
Although it wasn’t particularly useful for Luca, it was a top-tier item for fire mages.
Plus, since Luca hadn’t yet decided on his second Secondary Profession, he might still find a use for it.
If not, he could always trade it at the guild for high-level materials to craft his first permanent magic rune.
As for the two pieces of Silver-grade equipment, they were the Blazing Crystal Staff and Mana Loop Bracelet.
[Blazing Crystal Staff: Silver-grade equipment, usable at lv. 20. Grants +260 Magic Attack, +90 Spirit, +15% fire skill damage, and reduces fire skill cooldown by 10%.]
[Mana Loop Bracelet: Silver-grade equipment, usable at lv. 20. Grants +75 Spirit, +500 Mana, and +50% mana regeneration speed.]
Both items were Silver-grade mage gear. Luca would be able to use the Mana Loop Bracelet once he leveled up.
But the Blazing Crystal Staff wasn’t an option for him. As a Demonic Rune Mage, he could only wield spears, so he’d have to sell it.
Freeman didn’t have as many valuable items on him, mostly mid- and low-tier materials.
Fortunately, were just what Luca needed.
Recently, he had been planning to level up his rune-drawing skills, which required a huge amount of materials.
Freeman’s stash came at the perfect time.
In addition to all of this, Luca also found 2,057 gold coins on the two of them.
Combined with the 2,144 coins he already had, he now had a total of 4,200 gold coins—enough to buy a decent piece of Gold-grade equipment or a large supply of mid-tier materials.
While high-tier materials were still beyond his budget.
But it was more than enough to level up his magic rune-drawing skills.
What excited Luca the most was discovering a high-tier material on Freeman!
Purified Water Flower, a rare material with petals like crystal, shimmering with a pale blue hue. It only grew near special spiritual springs and was incredibly scarce.
“Didn’t expect to find this so soon,” Luca thought, his eyes lighting up with joy.
With the Fire Essence included, he now had three high-tier materials in total.
He only needed two more to complete the set for drawing the Hydra Magic Runes.
Of course, he still had to acquire materials from the Hydra itself.
Even a mirrored avatar of a Hydra-class monster would drop rare materials upon defeat.
Right now, his top priority was to head back to the city for reinforcements, bringing in high-level fighters to deal with the Hydra.
And while he was at it, he could complete the task Cassman had assigned him.
After they defeated the Hydra’s avatar, with the help of his two mentors and Sophia.
It would be much easier for Luca to acquire the Hydra’s dropped materials.
With that thought in mind, Luca packed everything away.
By this time, Catherine and the others had finished dealing with the bodies of Matthew and Freeman.
Though it felt a bit like covering up what was already obvious, they couldn’t help but do it.
After all, even though they hadn’t caused too much of a scene on their way here, several guards had seen them. Now, with Matthew and Freeman suddenly missing, it wouldn’t take much for anyone to figure out what had happened to them.
Still, leaving the scene without cleaning it up left everyone uneasy.
So they decided to destroy the evidence completely, ensuring Matthew and Freeman’s bodies were eliminated.
Seeing Luca finish packing everything, Catherine approached and asked, “Should we head back to report this to the Iron Mountain army, or go straight to Riverfall City for reinforcements?”
After witnessing Luca’s skills firsthand, Catherine had developed a great deal of respect for his abilities.
Even though he looked about the same age as her younger brother.
But his capabilities far surpassed many mid-tier professionals.
Luca thought for a moment before asking, “What’s the situation with the Iron Mountain army now?”
While Luca knew the sobering potion was effective, he wasn’t entirely sure how well it worked.
He given that the lure potion was a high-tier item, and the sobering potion was only mid-tier.
Hearing Luca’s question, Catherine and the others exchanged smiles.
Catherine replied, “I had Lennard check earlier. Your potion is working. The monster horde’s attack has slowed down, though the Elite monsters are still a problem. But Captain Cassman has them under control.”
Lennard laughed heartily, adding, “After using Luca Witch Doctor’s potion, those monsters are behaving like scared little kids. We won’t need to worry about them for a while.”
Luca sighed in relief. The scariest part of a monster horde was always the low-tier monsters.
As long as those settled down, Cassman wouldn’t need much time to handle the few Elite monsters.
With this, Luca made up his mind.
“We’re heading straight to Riverfall City for reinforcements!” he said firmly.
The sobering potion was only mid-tier—it wouldn’t hold off the monsters for long.
The Hydra could emerge at any moment.
They had to return quickly and bring reinforcements from Riverfall City to deal with these monsters.
…
Meanwhile, in the council chamber of Riverfall City.
Lucia, Franklin, and several other high-ranking figures were studying the Blood-Sealing Formation.
Bayou, the head of the Adventurers’ Guild, squatted on the floor, tugging at his snowy white beard, muttering in frustration, “It shouldn’t be like this. The method I used should have had some effect at least. How could it have done nothing at all?”
Beside him, Franklin sneered, “Bayou, you really are regressing with age. You’ve been trying to break this formation for so long, and you still dare to call yourself the most knowledgeable person in Riverfall City?”
Bayou was already irritated by the Blood-Sealing Formation.
And Franklin’s mockery only made his temper flare.
His hair practically stood on end as he glared at Franklin. “Franklin, you old fossil! If you’re so capable, why don’t you try it?”
Bayou snapped angrily. “This is a high-level secret formation, something most people would have no clue how to break. If I had any other options, I wouldn’t be wasting my time on this!”
Franklin snorted, “If I could break the formation, I’d have done it already. Do you think I’d sit here watching you make a fool of yourself?”
“Then if you can’t, why the hell are you talking?!” Bayou shouted, his face turning the color of liver as he roared in frustration.
Lucia rubbed her temples, sighing in exasperation. “You two have been bickering non-stop since this started. Could you just stop for a minute? There’s a battle going on outside, remember?”
Kurk, the city lord of Redwind City, was lounging nearby, casually munching on fruit. He shrugged and said, “President Lucia, the problem is this secret formation can’t be broken. Even if the sky were falling outside, we’d still be stuck here waiting.”
Lucia let out another sigh.
Though she had studied many secret techniques, breaking them was not her strong suit.
Rudolph, observing everyone from the shadows, took note of their helpless expressions and smirked inwardly.
He smiled in his mind.
Fools. This formation had been personally set by Lady Tia.
Did they really think they could break it with their paltry knowledge of secret techniques? What a ridiculous notion!