The formation of roughly twenty to thirty B-rank enforcers marched across Klein's Bridge, advancing step by step with their guards raised and their vigilance fully engaged, until Mikkel and Noah finally came into their line of sight.
Even for an A+ player like Mikkel Meinhof, twenty B-rank NPCs were still far too many to handle comfortably, purely due to the overwhelming numerical advantage. On top of that, Mikkel had already drained his AE reserves during his Full-Release ability, and now that skill's duration had completely expired as well.
His axe had lost its brilliant golden sheen, reverting back to a dull, muted silver. The blackened enhancement that once crawled over his armour had receded and dissipated entirely, leaving behind bronze plating with his chestpiece still visibly shattered from Eryn's daggers.
Mikkel slapped Noah's unconscious face without hesitation or care.
"Wake up, you fucking dumbass. Wake the fuck up."
Noah's eyes slowly fluttered open, his cheek already reddening from the repeated, unrelenting slaps. He tried to block weakly, then gradually squirmed and shifted himself until he could force his body into a sitting position.
There were almost no remnants left of Noah's cape. His back, meanwhile, was a grotesque mess of torn flesh, exposed bone, and coagulated blood. Despite that, he still had 35 HP remaining, meaning he was not dead, surviving the absurd level of blood loss.
[Lvl 2 Heal purchased for 200 Sapphires!]
[Lvl 1 Heal purchased for 100 Sapphires!]
Two vials materialised in Noah's hands as he painfully straightened his posture. One was small, roughly the size of his thumb, ornately decorated in gold and containing a glowing green liquid. The second was slightly taller, holding a greater quantity of the same luminous fluid, similarly embellished with intricate designs.
Noah popped the stoppers off both vials and immediately downed them without hesitation.
[HP +20!]
[HP +10!]
The liquid possessed an unnaturally strong cohesive force, so intense that not even a single drop remained when Noah later shattered the empty vials onto the ground.
The massive wound across his back began to mend almost instantly, with skin and flesh stretching and knitting together like interwoven spider silk before thickening and sealing over the bloodied damage.
Noah's vision also began to clear, the blur fading as he noticed the marching formation ahead of them, led by a particularly proud enforcer who had removed his helmet, revealing a strikingly groomed, immaculate moustache.
That enforcer raised his voice sharply as the formation came to a synchronized halt:
"SHOW YOUR BADGE!"
"They'll kill Southerners," Mikkel whispered, quickly analysing the situation. "And they'll imprison Northerners. But if we pass as detectives, we can claim we were in a battle with the werewolf we were assigned to subdue."
Noah's gaze then dropped to Mikkel's left chest. No unique badge, Mikkel was wearing the standard Northerner badge with an upward-pointing arrow, which was stolen from Eric the Enforcer.
"Tch," Noah spat quietly, clearly disapproving of his superior's incompetence. Just a badge, and you still managed to mess that up.
"He's a Northerner! I'm Southern! But—" Noah called out loudly toward the formation leader, "I'm one of the elite Southern detectives hired to investigate the werewolf case! The chaotic clash was an unfortunate confrontation between me, my Northern partner, and the werewolf itself!"
The helmetless leader did not waver. His expression remained stern and unreadable as his eyes narrowed in scrutiny, first at Mikkel's Northerner badge, then at Noah's valid identification. The pieces, in his judgment, seemed to align.
"Where is the werewolf now?" the leader asked. His voice was not loud, yet it carried unnaturally far, cutting through the distance of nearly fifty metres between them.
"It escaped! It was too powerful for just the two of us!" Noah quickly justified.
But Mikkel cut in immediately:
"Because the werewolf had an accomplice!"
Noah stopped mid-sentence and shot Mikkel a confused, irritated glance.
Mikkel continued without missing a beat. "We have discovered the identity of the werewolf, as well as its human helper!"
"Who are they?" the leader demanded firmly, though a faint trace of anticipation flickered in his eyes.
Mikkel smirked.
"Hired detective Xiao Bai is the werewolf," he declared, "and hired detective That Aot Girl is his accomplice."
He pronounced "AOT" as "Aot" like "Out."
"You are accusing someone of your own status!" the leader replied, still unconvinced. "Unless concrete evidence is provided, the two of you, and the two individuals named, will be summoned to the North Court!"
Fuck me, Noah cursed internally.
Mikkel had initially believed he was being clever by pinning the blame on their enemies. Now, however, he realised a fatal flaw: there was absolutely no evidence to support the accusations. A court trial was inevitable.
And he would lose! Because he had made everything up!
"No! No!" Noah suddenly stepped forward again, reclaiming attention from the formation. "We are not certain yet! Please give us time to gather concrete proof! As for the destruction caused today, we deeply apologise, but we are also confident it will contribute significantly to the eventual capture of the werewolf!"
The leader paused.
He pondered for several seconds, nearing a full minute, before speaking again.
"Your accusations will be noted," he said at last. "However, Southerner!"
His stern gaze locked onto Noah instead of Mikkel. "The destruction you have caused comes at a tremendous cost. While most casualties are from the South, which was of little significance, Klein's Bridge itself has suffered severe damage.
"This price must amount to something. If you are not the detective who solves the werewolf case by the next vermillion, your Southern flesh shall be cleansed.
"We await your performance, Southerner. And you, Northerner—" his gaze shifted to Mikkel, softening slightly, almost approving, "stop assisting Southerners. Protect yourself above all else."
Then his eyes returned to Noah, once again cold with disdain as he spoke:
"And I strongly advise you against associating with Southern lowlifes."
The leader raised his gloved hand, rotating it 180 degrees. The entire formation mirrored the motion in perfect synchronisation, turning as one.
Just as uniformly as they had arrived, they marched away in disciplined, synchronised steps, heading northward.
"See?" Mikkel said after they had left, tapping his Northerner badge. "Southerners are like Jews in this game. You needed a Northerner badge.
"This is exactly why I brought you here, to train you, to nurture you. I thought I saw potential in you.
"You're disappointing me, Noah."
Noah, ironically, had been the one who salvaged the situation from an unwinnable legal case that could have lead to their demise. If Mikkel had worn his unique badge instead, the leader would likely have targeted him instead of Noah, threatening his head for if he wasn't the one to solve the werewolf case by two vermillions, since most of the destruction was caused by Mikkel after all.
That would have been ideal, because for an A+ player like Mikkel, such a task was nothing. He himself had claimed he could kill the werewolf blindfolded.
But now, Noah was the one burdened with solving the case before all other detectives. And if he failed, it would cost him his life.
All of it was Mikkel's fault.
Yet Mikkel still shifted the blame onto him.
"Argh… what should we do now…" Mikkel paced impatiently, one hand scratching his bronze helmet while the other rested on his hip.
Meanwhile, Noah silently cursed his superior. If rank allowed, he would have thrown the bald narcissist straight off the bridge.
"Argh, whatever," Mikkel finally decided. "First task is to investigate the crime scene, right? Then that's where we go.
"We'll camp the locations that players must visit. And we just wait until Xiao Bai is forced to show up. Yes… that's the way."
Mikkel chuckled smugly at his own supposed brilliance.
"Where's the crime scene?" he asked.
"Diemer's Street," Noah replied flatly.
"Then let's move," Mikkel said without hesitation. "If we're lucky, Xiao Bai will already be there waiting."
He strode northward ahead of Noah.
Noah hesitated for a few seconds before following.
Mikkel's logic wasn't entirely wrong. There were indeed mandatory checkpoints players had to pass through to complete the game, Diemer's Street being one of them.
But…
Why not just camp Klein's Bridge instead?
Noah rolled his eyes internally while keeping his expression stoic. After all, every player had to cross the only passage between South and North eventually.
Still, he said nothing. Mikkel would only dismiss it with that obnoxious laugh of his anyway.
"That Shadow Daggerist… she's really hot, isn't she? Way hotter than that yellow monkey, I'd say…" Mikkel suddenly muttered, stroking his chin as if deep in thought.
In his mind, he drifted into increasingly absurd fantasies involving Eryn…
"Hehehehehe…"
Noah stared at his superior laughing to himself for no reason, completely unprompted and unsettling.
He could only sigh.
Then, Mikkel fished up a handful of tiny, scintillating orbs, each one of a different colour, and each one giving off an aura that's inexplicably yet unmistakably human.
Then, he raised them high, and smashed them down, shattering every one.