Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 517: Chapter 324: Tadiff’s Spirit is Being Tested..._2

Meanwhile, in front of it, some Pigmen stood, seemingly taking on the role of guards.

But the Pigman drummer was taller than the Pigman butcher, making its exposed head an ideal target for Dismas.

Dismas had experienced the drumming, filled with a strange force, before, so he understood its threat well and didn’t hesitate to shoot.

The shot, no doubt, hit the Pigman drummer, but it caused an unexpected incident that caught everyone off guard.

The lead bullet happened to strike the Pigman drummer’s sharply pointed tusk, breaking it off. However, the bullet lost its momentum and could only fragment, causing secondary damage.

However, this was clearly not enough to kill the Pigman drummer. Instead, it only enraged it, making it beat the drum even harder.

The pressure on Dismas and his companions doubled, as they did not know if the drumming would call for reinforcements again as it had done before.

At the same time, the power of the drumming continued to exert pressure on them.

This mistake by Dismas had caused him to miss the best opportunity, and he felt even greater pressure compared to the others.

But he did not lose his composure to blind rage; he calmly and quickly loaded the next round of ammunition.

Fitting the cartridge simplified the loading process, but it still took time. The Pigmen were upon him in an instant, yet Dismas had not finished reloading.

But he was not alone.

Tadiff didn’t trust his teammates and never had any expectations, so he was even less likely to be disappointed and thus did not react much to the previous misfire.

But when faced with the approaching Pigmen, he still stepped up. He was getting paid for a job, after all, and this was professional ethics.

Tadiff had fought Pigman butchers before and knew they were very troublesome enemies, not to mention facing two of them.

If he were outside in an open area, he was confident he could play with them until they were dead, but in this narrow corridor, he was forced to confront them head-on.

Not all Pigman butchers liked to swing their Chain Hammers first for striking; some preferred to use them as heavy hammers. The chain wrapped around their forearm also acted as a protective measure, capable of blocking cuts from swords and axes.

Tadiff was wearing Scale Armor, not plate armor. It offered good protection against sword slashes and arrows but virtually no defense against blunt trauma. It could only block the spikes on the Chain Hammer, but he would still have to endure its force.

Not to mention the Serrated Butcher Knife held in the Pigman butcher’s other hand. It also had armor-breaking abilities, and Tadiff wasn’t sure if he could withstand a strike from it.

There was no doubt that he was also under great pressure. However, he couldn’t refrain from fighting. He wouldn’t put his hope in others—a lesson he learned after being betrayed.

Under Lance’s leadership, Boudica would not stand by and watch a teammate in trouble. Without hesitation, she charged forward, her body still not fully recovered from the negative effects.

They were originally very close to each other. Boudica started moving at almost the same time as Tadiff, right after Dismas faced his setback, and her steps were clearly more resolute.

In just a few strides, she overtook the two men and directly faced the two ferocious Pigman butchers.

But Boudica’s courage was not reckless. Her charge was fueled by the anger she had accumulated, and that emotion was key to unleashing her power.

”WAAAGH!!!”

A savage war cry vented her anger. The war paint on her face shimmered with a spiritual glow, and a ghostly, roaring lioness coalesced and overlapped with her form.

The sound even drowned out the drummer’s urgent beat, and her power swept over, enveloping the two Pigman butchers at the forefront.

The two brutes, who had just been swaggering, seemed to be shocked stiff.

Boudica also dispelled the last bit of negative influence from her body with the help of her tribe’s secret technique and swung her War Halberd with all her might.

Tadiff saw a rare opportunity. He didn’t care about any strange, mysterious powers. All he knew was that the enemy had shown a flaw.

He stepped forward swiftly, swinging his Battle Axe at the Pigmen.

But seizing this rare opening was difficult because the Pigmen were far from defenseless.

The Pigman drummer in the back dodged Boudica’s war cry. Its pig-like brain immediately sensed something amiss, and the rhythm of the drumming changed once again.

An invisible force was spreading, but its target was not Boudica and her group, but the two controlled Pigman Butchers.

Suddenly, there was an unexpected change. Upon hearing the drumbeats, these two brutes broke free from control and plunged into a berserk state. Their bristles stood on end like steel needles as they furiously attacked the enemies before them.

This abrupt action disrupted the duo’s original attack rhythm. Boudica, holding a War Halberd, retained some measure of safe distance, but Tadiff had approached, and thus he was the first to be affected.

Tadiff couldn’t understand the Pigman drummer’s movements. All he saw was the two previously quiescent Pigmen spring into action as he neared, turning him into their primary target.

Seeing those weapons aimed at him, Tadiff almost instinctively realized. This is a trap!

Damn it! Another betrayal!

They want to swallow up my bounty!

And just then, a gunshot rang out from behind. Tadiff’s immediate thought was: They’re shooting at me! They’re even afraid the Pigmen won’t kill me, so they’re striking first...

And with the Pigmen’s Serrated Butcher Knife and Chain Hammer coming at him, no matter his skills, he wouldn’t be able to block them all.

Now caught in a ”pincer attack,” Tadiff, despite his confidence, could not help but feel despair, and the accumulating pressure exploded.

Tadiff’s spirit was being tested...

Paranoia!

”You’d better kill me...” Tadiff murmured with endless resentment.

The shell whistled past, but its target was neither Tadiff nor the Pigman drummer. Instead, it was one of the Pigman Butchers who had gone mad and was hacking at Tadiff.

It narrowly missed Tadiff and penetrated the Pigman’s body, the intense pain slightly interrupting its frenzied movements.

Dismas had intended this shot for the Pigman drummer. In the past, he would have abandoned Tadiff and targeted the more threatening drummer.

But now he was no longer a bandit. He was on a sacred mission, following the Lord.

The Lord had stressed the importance of the team many times and had never abandoned a comrade.

So, in that moment, he chose to save a life rather than shoot the Pigman drummer.

Boudica made the same choice. She had once been exiled for turning away from her people out of fear of war. But this time, no matter what, I will not retreat a single step! she vowed.

Swinging her War Halberd, Boudica held off another frenzied Pigman and actually managed to overpower it.

If this had been before, she might not have had the strength, but now, equipped with the Legendary Bracers, her strength had greatly increased—how else could she have killed one with a single halberd strike before?

Seeing Tadiff frozen in place, Dismas didn’t bother to reload and charged forward, slashing at the injured Pigman with his Short Sword.

Having been present during the Lord’s dissection, he had picked up a thing or two about ”butchering a pig.”

He took advantage of the Pigman’s distraction, caught between frenzy and pain, and thrust his sword right into its flank.

Until now, he had been firing his pistol. His well-maintained Short Sword’s sharpness had not diminished through the continuous combat, and it finally revealed its edge.

This strike was meant to disrupt the Pigman’s force. With a serious injury to its waist, it would struggle to exert its strength.

After all, I’m not like Boudica with her heavy weapons, Dismas reasoned. I definitely can’t take its hits head-on. Haven’t I seen even the Lord being cautious?

Finally, after that strike, pain regained control over the Pigman Butcher’s body. It turned its attention to Dismas, raising its hand to smash at him with its Chain Hammer.

But surely Tadiff, a man of his size, wasn’t just standing around like a prop, right?

”I’ll handle it. You go for the drummer,” Tadiff said.

With two Pigmen intercepted, even someone as slow-witted as Tadiff understood that he had simply overthought the situation earlier. So, as soon as he came to his senses, he swung his Battle Axe and joined the fight...