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High-level players like Ada and Ben had already reached around level 15.

They had left most other players far behind.

However, this wasn't the time to celebrate victory just yet.

Although the Hydra had been defeated, the monster horde still raged on.

Particularly, the Lord-level monsters posed a significant threat.

Fortunately, when Ryan returned from Southwind City, he had brought along a large group of third-year students from Red Maple Academy.

Most of these students were Silver-grade or Gold-grade mid-tier practitioners, with their leader, Fratis, being a Platinum-grade Holy Light Priest.

With their assistance, the Iron Mountain soldiers and players quickly launched a counterattack.

The mid-tier and high-tier monsters were held off by the Red Maple Academy students, leaving only low-tier monsters, which couldn't withstand the combined onslaught of the soldiers and players.

The monster horde began to crumble and retreat.

After dealing with the Hydra, Luca was about to jump in and farm more monsters for experience.

At that moment, Lucia and Franklin suddenly flew toward him.

Lucia moved like lightning, reaching Luca in the blink of an eye.

Without hesitation, she pulled Luca into a tight embrace, her face filled with concern. "Luca, are you alright? Did those cultists do anything to you? Let me check you over…"

Pressed tightly against her ample figure, Luca could barely breathe.

He quickly reassured her, "Teacher, I'm fine! They didn't do anything to me."

Hearing this, both Lucia and Franklin sighed in relief.

However, Franklin still seemed furious.

His face dark and stormy. "Don't worry, this won't go unanswered! Once we're back, I'll make sure those cultists pay for what they've done!"

Lucia's expression turned icy as well. "They dared to lay a hand on my student? The Nightmare Cult must be tired of living. I'll make sure they suffer!"

Luca chuckled awkwardly. "Let's talk about that later, teacher. Can you… let go of me for now?"

If this continued, Luca feared he might not die at Jormungandr's hands, but suffocate in Lucia's embrace.

Lucia, however, seemed entirely unfazed. She squeezed Luca's cheeks and huffed, "Ungrateful brat! You're already tired of your teacher, huh? And here I was, worried sick about you."

Just then, Ryan and the others arrived.

"Who is this boy?" The elderly man, Kruse, and the burly warrior, Fred, exchanged surprised glances as they looked at Luca.

They both knew Franklin and Lucia well, as their names were renowned throughout the Southern Territory.

Lucia, in particular, had an extraordinary background.

But what was this boy's connection to them, to warrant such concern from these two powerful figures?

Ryan eyed Luca carefully, his expression serious. "You must be Luca, right? Sophia told me about you earlier. I want to thank you on behalf of my wife and the people of Riverfall City."

Sophia had mentioned Luca when communicating with Ryan, so he already knew that Luca was a student of both Lucia and Franklin. More importantly, he knew that Luca was the one who had first discovered the Abyssal Node and saved Lady Lenna.

As Ryan looked at the boy, he felt a sense of gratitude.

[Ding! "Ryan Howard" has increased your favorability by +300!]

"Count Ryan, you flatter me. I was only doing what I should," Luca replied, his tone polite and humble. But inwardly, he was grinning.

Gaining favor with a count this early in the game was an invaluable opportunity for any player.

At that moment, Franklin chuckled and said, "Ryan, this Abyssal Node incident? My student here did a lot of the heavy lifting. If it weren't for him discovering the node and the weakness of that nine-headed beast early on, we wouldn't have lasted until your reinforcements arrived. You owe him a reward, don't you think?"

Lucia nodded firmly. "That's right. Without Luca, we'd all still be trapped in the Nightmare Cult's Blood-Sealing Formation around Riverfall City. He played a major role in this battle, and you shouldn't overlook that."

Hearing this, both Kruse and Fred were taken aback.

Who would have thought that a mere Bronze-grade boy had played such a critical role in this disaster?

Ryan, now put on the spot by Franklin and Lucia, could only smile wryly.

"Don't worry. Once we've handled everything here, he'll be well compensated. I can assure you that!" he said with a sigh of good-natured exasperation.

With this promise, even Kurk and Bayou looked at Luca with envy.

Getting a personal reward from Count Ryan? That was sure to be something priceless.

"That kid just hit the jackpot!" they both thought.

"Thank you, Count Ryan," Luca said, inwardly giving silent praise to his two teachers.

He had been wondering how he could claim the valuable materials dropped by the Hydra, but with Franklin and Lucia speaking on his behalf, they had just saved him a lot of trouble.

The conversation didn't last long. The monster horde had yet to be fully subdued, and with Ryan and the others free now, they needed to help clear the remaining monsters quickly.

Originally, the horde had been able to put up a decent fight against the Iron Mountain soldiers, but now that a group of high-tier warriors had joined the fray, the battle quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter.

With a single swing of Ryan's sword, a wave of sword energy nearly ten meters long flew out, cutting through the monster horde.

Even Lord-level monsters couldn't withstand it and were killed instantly.

The monster horde was cleared out in large swathes.

Under such overwhelming force, the monster horde broke into chaos, with survivors fleeing in all directions.

Even so, nearly 70-80% of the tens of thousands of monsters were slaughtered by the powerful warriors.

It was safe to assume that after this battle, Riverfall City wouldn't face any monster invasions for quite some time.

Amid the ranks of the Iron Mountain soldiers, Rudolph stood in utter despair.

"How can this be? How could the Church's plan have failed?" His eyes were bloodshot, unable to accept the harsh reality.

Rudolph had risked everything on this plan. Not only did he gain nothing in return, but his son had been killed by Luca, and he himself had been captured by the Iron Mountain soldiers. He had lost everything.

With Ryan and the others now back, Rudolph knew that escape was no longer an option. The contrast between his lofty ambitions and his current situation made him feel as if he had fallen from heaven to the depths of hell.

"It's all that wretched brat's fault!" Rudolph growled through clenched teeth, his hateful gaze locked onto Luca, as if he wished he could tear him apart limb by limb.

If it hadn't been for this boy, the Church's plan would have gone smoothly.

Once the Nightmare Sovereign killed Ryan, Rudolph would have become the rightful Count of the Iron Mountain Army.

But Luca's interference had caused numerous setbacks, ultimately leading to the plan's failure. Now Rudolph was nothing more than a prisoner, with nothing left.

How could he not hate Luca for this?

At that moment, Luca seemed to sense something. His gaze turned toward Rudolph, and their eyes met—Rudolph's filled with rage, Luca's with cold indifference.

Seeing Rudolph's twisted expression, a glint of icy intent flickered in Luca's eyes.

What a fool, Luca thought. Even now, this man dared to harbor murderous intent toward him.

"Kill him," Luca said calmly, his voice laced with unmistakable killing intent.

A brief silence fell, then suddenly, a faint flash of white light cut through the air.

In an instant, Jormungandr, who had been coiled around Luca's wrist, disappeared.

At the same time, Rudolph felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. In front of his eyes appeared a pair of violet snake eyes.

"Wha…what is this…" Rudolph's eyes widened in shock. He immediately recognized the owner of those eyes, and a surge of excitement filled his heart.

So, the Church's plan hadn't failed after all. The Nightmare Sovereign had truly emerged from the Abyssal Demon Realm!

Did this mean there was still hope for him?

"Hahaha! You're all finished! Victory belongs to us!" Rudolph began laughing maniacally, as if he could already see himself standing triumphant over Ryan, crowned as the Count of Emerald State.

"Has this guy lost his mind?" Cassman, who had been guarding Rudolph, furrowed his brow. He wondered if the man had gone insane—after all, the Nightmare Cult had already fled. What victory could he possibly be imagining?

But then, Cassman noticed something wasn't right.

He saw that black blood was starting to trickle from Rudolph's eyes, and yet Rudolph seemed completely unaware, continuing to laugh hysterically.

In just a few moments, blood began pouring from Rudolph's eyes, nose, and mouth—thick, black blood with a foul stench.

Like the scent of a long-dead, rotting corpse. His breathing grew faint and labored.

Before long, under Cassman's horrified gaze, Rudolph collapsed and died.

Even in death, a twisted smile remained on his face.

Cassman and the surrounding guards sucked in their breath, chills running down their spines as they quickly backed away.

What kind of dark sorcery was this?

They had been so close, yet they hadn't noticed anything unusual!

Meanwhile, Luca calmly turned away, the serpent-shaped bracelet on his wrist flashing briefly with a faint white glow.

He had to admit, Jormungandr's abilities were incredibly useful—perfect for swift, discreet kills. Truly, a must-have tool for any adventurer or assassin!

Rudolph's death didn't cause much of a stir.

While many were curious about the Nightmare Cult's plan, the cult's sudden retreat had already made it clear their plan had failed. Rudolph was no longer of any value, alive or dead.

By the time the monster horde had been fully driven off, night had fallen.

The once-beautiful Whispering Wind Plains and Beast Forest were now a grisly sight, littered with bodies and soaked in blood. The overwhelming stench of death made the air nearly unbearable.

Many soldiers, too exhausted to care about the filth around them, collapsed where they stood, falling into a deep sleep.

Thanks to Franklin and Luca's efforts, the residents of Riverfall City who had been trapped in a nightmare finally woke up.

Lucia organized the support teams, having the injured and exhausted soldiers transported back to Riverfall City.

Meanwhile, the others began clearing the battlefield. Ryan and the other powerful figures gathered to discuss the next steps.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Luca approached Ryan and expressed his desire to obtain materials from the slain Hydra.

After the Hydra was defeated, six items had been dropped, but only one of them was a crafting material.

And that material was none other than an Earth-level, Superclass resource!