Beneath the gray, hopeless skies, chilly winds blew in a certain direction, yet the mist encompassing the monochrome world of Limbo strangely persisted.

Hiding in the mist and behind dead trees were wretches.

A small army of them, seemingly biding their time.

As it turned out, the cemetery staff had rather strict schedules, and it was exactly this that the Damnedlings of Egress planned to exploit.

They would have to go in just a few more minutes.

So, Ascalon, now a hunching abomination, had gathered his two deputies — Daru and Lesha — along with the other four party leaders.

They unfortunately have no reliable way to send messages to each other in Limbo, and this is why every war party must stay within an acceptable range away from each other.

Of course, this limited the range of their operations, forcing them to adopt guerrilla tactics.

They would always swiftly raid the cemetery, reducing the number of the enemies — at least this was what Nando told them that they were achieving every time they managed to kill a Soulcatcher or two — while increasing their own by rescuing five to seven new members with each operation.

They would then leave before the situation escalates to more than what their wretched little band could handle.

It wasn't too difficult to realize that they couldn't rush their escape from the god-forsaken realm.

Otherwise, they would only be prolonging their stay.

Not all raid operations were flawless, after all, and Ascalon had had quite a number of losses that more or less set them back an operation or two instead of progressing their cause.

And this was only after he assumed leadership.

From what the SS-ranker learned, the progress was slower, and the defeats were more disastrous back when their leader was an A-ranker beastkin.

Needless to say, the guy had already perished, dying alongside a few others in a previous operation.

It was truly a miracle how the old man managed to save him and Lesha by himself, though the Veshari was saved first, and then he, a week and a half later.

"Hark, Borz, do not forget that you must not go overboard. I know it's difficult to suppress your bloodthirst, but you know yourselves best. You can only stop earlier, not later. Safety first, gains second, understood?" Ascalon sternly warned, fully knowing the weakness of the beastkin.

They were extremely fierce in combat.

However, there was always a chance that they would be lost in their excessive bloodthirst and fight to the death.

"Understood-sah! Leave it to me-sah!"

"Don't worry-gar!"

It was difficult to fully trust the two canid half-beasts, but Ascalon could only do so.

Nodding, he scanned his eyes over Thrad and Aesyn.

The former was bold and rowdy, but he was a ferocious warrior and a decent leader.

The latter, on the other hand, was a bit timid, but she was smart and sensible — the least of the SS-ranker's worries.

"Good, back to your positions."

And so they did.

Hark, Borz, Thrad, and Aesyn returned to their war parties some distance away from the cohort of three top-rankers.

Since they were the strongest, the role of being the bait naturally fell on their shoulders.

They would hold the attention of the Soulcatchers for as long as their combat prowess allowed before retreating to Thrad's party, who was the nearest.

Together, they would delay the enemies before retreating again.

Hark and Borz should have already retrieved Nando's head and dug three or four target graves by then.

Aesyn and Thrad only had to dig one target grave each, since they were the ones who would reinforce the three top-rankers.

If the operation went extremely well, they would return to Egress with five to six new members and Nando's valuable head.

Time ticked down.

Difficult as it was, Ascalon could only count manually, starting from when a certain Ashen Cleaner passed.

Sometime later, he raised his bony arms, pointing them forward as he hissed: "Move!"

The army of wretches immediately exploded into action.

Powdered ash formed gray clouds as they were kicked aside with every forceful step from every wretch, thickening the mist.

Ascalon was flanked slightly to the right by Daru and to the left by Lesha as the three of them began gaining, leaping like rogues and latching onto the black metal fences.

They quickly climbed and made it to the other side quite easily.

Then, without delay, the three continued sprinting forward, capturing the attention of the Ashen Cleaner, who had just passed.

The wraith hissed and screeched, charging at them.

The vanguard cohort's task was to secure the attention of as many abominations as they could so the war parties would make it to their destinations as soon as possible.

This was also why the three didn't wait for the others.

They would be fighting wraiths left and right, which would inevitably allow the others to catch up.

Lesha and Ascalon lunged at the Ashen Cleaner, aiming to kill it as quickly as they could.

Unfortunately, as they said, their abilities became limited after becoming Damnedlings.

Not only could they not summon their Soulbound Swords outside of the Reprieve, but they also couldn't use their sword skills.

They weren't one of the "Lost" either, so they weren't as tough as the mindless bastards operating purely on sheer spite, malice, and survival instincts.

Basically, the Damnedlings of Egress could be considered a nerfed version of their Lost counterparts, with their only redeeming quality being their sentience and ability to fight like one.

Such a distinction couldn't be underestimated, though.

Sentience and swordsmanship were more than enough to allow them to fight toe to toe, perhaps even overwhelm, their enemies.

The fact that Ascalon and Lesha were easily ripping the Ashen Cleaner apart through smooth teamwork was solid proof of this.

However, if they wanted to finish their opponents off faster…

They needed a sword — a real one summoned from the soul, not their shabby, scavenged, dull stone swords from the Ashen Plain.

A pale-golden blur tore through the monochrome mist, rushing towards the struggling wraith from behind.

The Ashen Cleaner sensed Daru's murderous approach…but it was too late.

The moment it turned, a gleaming, golden edge passed through its pallid neck, and the abomination's world spun.

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