Having completely incapacitated Alexandrea, Karl pinched her neck as if dealing with some piece of trash,
lifted her entire body, and then swung his arm.
WHOOSH! THUD! Alexandrea traced a parabola like a worn-out rag doll,
then fell at the feet of Dradi and Ephal with a muffled sound.
Her arms and legs were bent at strange angles, and her body constantly twitched convulsively from the intense pain.
Her dislocated jaw prevented her from screaming, leaving only a suppressed, beast-like "ho-ho" cry mixed with painful sobs from deep within her throat.
Looking at Alexandrea's pitiful state, although Dradi and Ephal felt great relief,
remembering the clear sounds of breaking bones, they couldn't help but feel a phantom pain themselves, the corners of their mouths twitching slightly.
They were about to bend down and drag Alexandrea to a safer corner, to prevent her from being killed in the subsequent battle.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Suddenly, four consecutive heavy muffled sounds echoed through the passage like drums.
Followed by a series of screeching sounds of bursting stones and twisting, shattering metal.
They turned their heads in astonishment and saw four huge shadows crashing into the wall near them with sharp sounds of breaking air.
BOOM! The entire hall shook violently from the impact, and a lot of dust and gravel fell from above.
Dradi and Ephal exchanged glances. The remains of the four gargoyles had crashed into the wall.
Some had only their upper bodies left, some had their lower wings, and some were half-bodies, leaving only broken stones on the ground.
These ancient guardians, who had just caused them great fear, were now completely turned into lifeless debris.
In the field, Karl stood calmly.
His hand held a fist-sized, heart-like core that emitted strong magical fluctuations—the energy source of a golem. At his feet, the other two golems were completely incapacitated.
One was missing its head, the clay at the break uneven.
The upper body of the other was almost completely shattered, clay scattered on the floor, and its dim core had rolled to the side.
From Karl subduing Alexandrea to destroying the remaining three golems and four gargoyles, the entire process took only two or three seconds.
They looked at each other and saw the undisguisable shock in their eyes, as if they had witnessed a miracle.
This terrifying, pure physical force, pushed to the extreme, was unprecedented in all their knowledge and experience.
It seemed that only legendary giants or dragons could compare.
As for rock trolls, chorts, and the like, they weren't even qualified to be compared.
The battle was over; the hall was in disarray, but silence had returned.
Dradi and Ephal began to clean up the scene and examine the gargoyle debris.
They found that after these ancient constructs were completely destroyed, the magical elements attached to their bodies would vanish forever.
And the stones themselves had no runes worth studying; their value was almost zero.
The three golems that Alexandrea had destroyed earlier, and the three that Karl had dealt with,
the runes engraved on their clay bodies also had great research value.
In particular, the six puppet cores that still contained good magic were valuable trophies.
They carefully collected the six cores and approached Karl.
Dradi returned the three puppet cores that Karl had killed alone, then looked at the remaining three active cores.
"Karl, you contributed the most in this mission. Without you, let alone capturing Alexandrea, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to protect ourselves..."
"These three cores... you can choose another two, and I'll share the remaining ones with Ephal." His tone was very sincere.
Ephal immediately nodded in agreement: "Dradi is right, you deserve it."
However, Karl unexpectedly shook his head and declined their distribution plan.
Dradi and Ephal exchanged glances, unable to hide their surprise.
They also thought that Karl was dissatisfied with the distribution and wanted to monopolize all the loot.
Although understandable, given Karl's strength and contribution, it always made people feel a bit uncomfortable...
Before they could ask, Karl looked at them and calmly and straightforwardly said: "You can keep these three cores for yourselves. I've gained enough this time. How could I not care about the feelings of my companions?"
He pointed to the three cores in his hand, then looked at Alexandrea, paralyzed on the ground.
Karl paused and added: "Moreover, when you entered the cave and faced the gargoyles, you both intended to protect me. I saw that."
Listening to Karl's frank and straightforward words, yet with a human touch,
Dradi and Ephal were stunned, then sincere and relieved smiles appeared on their faces.
They hadn't expected this powerful and formidable young man to have such an open mind, knowing how to share and repay.
At that moment, they truly accepted this new companion from the bottom of their hearts.
"Haha, alright, then we'll take them with a mischievous grin!" Dradi laughed heartily and stopped hesitating.
Ephal also smiled and nodded, his fondness for Karl greatly increased.
Then Karl walked over to Alexandrea, who lay on the ground like mud.
Alexandrea felt his approach, her body trembling with instinctive fear, her eyes full of resentment, terror, and deep humiliation.
She thought Karl would further humiliate or torture her.
However, Karl simply crouched down, ignoring her murderous gaze, and carefully felt around.
Immediately after, he removed the necklace—a magical item whose gem had dimmed but was still valuable.
The emerald bracelet on her wrist, which seemed to accelerate magic recovery, was also taken off and unceremoniously stuffed into his pocket.
At first, Alexandrea trembled with anger, expressing rage and protest in indistinct sobs.
But in the end, faced with Karl's ruthlessness and the harshness of reality,
she could only surrender with a dim gaze, leaving only an unconscious laugh of pain from the periodic aches.
And Karl's act of plundering magical items was naturally noticed by Dradi and Ephal.
But both very tacitly turned their heads, pretending to study the elven reliefs on the walls, as if they had seen nothing.
Alexandrea had been subdued by Karl alone, and as long as he didn't kill her, he was free to dispose of the loot.
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