CHAPTER 645: CHAPTER 433: I’LL NEVER BE A MERCENARY AGAIN!

"How long have those two been inside?"

Outside the Sain Dungeon, the Skyrim Strategy Group gathered around the Teleportation Gate. The night was gradually fading, and they estimated that it would soon be dawn.

"It’s been three hours and twenty-two minutes." Tami reported the time accurately, down to the minute.

"If they’re lucky, they should have died three or four times by now," Luluwo said.

"Captain, that’s a bit unlucky to say..." Berto quipped.

"No, I just mean, why is she still wasting time up there."

Indeed, Elsa’s current objective shouldn’t be to focus on the Painting World, which isn’t closely related to her, but to break away from the Light Eagle Group as soon as possible.

Having gone through so much, Elsa shouldn’t be unclear about what’s crucial and what’s not.

"I trust that she knows what she’s doing," Tami said.

"Why?"

"Uh, just believe, belief doesn’t need a reason."

Luluwo smirked. She realized that, apart from herself, Tami had the best relationship with Elsa in the Skyrim Strategy Group. The two peers seemed to have more topics to discuss.

"More than that, Captain, I think the question we should be puzzled about is something else."

Berto adjusted his glasses and said:

"Why is it that this time the Painting World allows two people to enter, and is it a type that allows multiple people to enter?"

Upon hearing this, Luluwo murmured to herself:

"Right, why did I forget this question..."

Meanwhile, in the Painting World.

Elsa and Sali were going through their second, third, fourth... they’ve lost track of how many restarts.

Here, Elsa had just saved a group of Eagle Group members and was rushing to support the other side.

However, halfway there, the people she had just rescued were suddenly attacked by monster-like giant sandworms emerging from underground, while the side she intended to support was attacked by several apostle monsters, putting her in a dilemma.

This moment of hesitation led to severe losses on both sides. She gritted her teeth and rushed toward the side with more survivors.

To pass through, she still didn’t know how many Eagle Group members she needed to save, so she had to prioritize ensuring more survivors.

Rescue became the primary task, but this is when the trouble with the monsters arose.

The grotesque and ugly monsters possessed all sorts of special abilities, from spraying mucus, lashing with long tongues, firing sharp teeth, to fantastical abilities like breathing fire, spewing water, using illusion techniques, burrowing underground, and flying, making her feel like she was battling a simplified version of the Demon Clan.

With each restart, the positions of the Eagle Group members remained consistent, while the types of monsters changed completely. There was no predicting what kind of ability would attack from which direction, making it difficult for her to eliminate all threats, always leaving one or two monsters that got away.

Even though the Eagle Group members could be rallied by Sali to join the fight, unfortunately, their strength was lacking, and a group of people could still fail fighting one or two monsters. In the end, only two adventurers and Gus could reliably defeat monsters, with a few Chiliarchs occasionally showing remarkable performance.

Elsa, usually composed and high-spirited, felt the urge to curse, but lacking the vocabulary, she held back.

There’s nothing more infuriating than having to keep doubling back to defend!

They could choose not to backtrack and escort the rescued Eagle Group members, letting them gather together. Surely they could fend off monsters with enough numbers, right?

Well, not considering that as the Eagle Group numbers increased, so did the strength and number of surrounding monsters proportionally, the time spent escorting a group for a meeting was enough for two separate groups of mercenaries elsewhere to be slaughtered.

Is it really this difficult to keep the Eagle Group alive!

Did these people commit some heavenly crime today and must die!

In this endless battle, Elsa felt like her strength was improving. She learned how to calmly face battles surrounded by enemies, and even her combat skills improved.

But she would rather clear the level and leave early...

And this Painting World had a peculiarity different from other Painting Worlds.

Even if Elsa and Sali hadn’t both died, as long as the Dark Wing Fermont was successfully born, they were considered failed, and the world would immediately reset to the beginning, like a Lightning Hero endlessly working overtime here to reverse time.

Restarting the world even without death sounds like it could conserve spiritual power, which should be a good thing, right?

No, this is a huge disaster!

Death in the Dungeon sometimes could be seen as a short break, pulling adventurers temporarily out from the intense and exciting adventure.

Without death, Elsa and Sali couldn’t rest. So far, it felt like they were in continuous battle, battle, and more battle, with no time to rest, and after each restart, the monsters wasted no time and immediately started slaughtering the Eagle Group, forcing them into immediate action.

In terms of feeling, it was like fighting without rest or sleep, non-stop, with no time even to blink.

Tired, weary, exhausted, reluctant to move...

These negative emotions were what ultimately arrived along with the endless battle.