Compared with the metropolises of the Luvis Alliance, the nights in Taklamah City are much quieter. There are neither noisy night markets nor all kinds of vendors, and even the closing time of the bars is very early. However, such a deserted street is exactly the environment that raiders love most.
Before night fell, Katori and Ren, who were good at counter-detection, had already learned the exact location of those monitors—it was on the second floor of the building opposite the hotel. And what Josephine has to do now is to sneak in there by surprise and bring back a hapless prey. Huin had already cast a spell on him, and the ranger's translucent silhouette almost completely merged with the surrounding environment, even the dwarf's eyesight couldn't make out his figure in such darkness. And it is even more impossible for those Fahdods who are monitoring from the second floor to notice that someone has come to their belly and back.
This is much better than fighting on the street, as long as you invade the room unexpectedly, you can subdue the opponent in one fell swoop. Thinking so, the ranger nimbly climbed up to the balcony on the second floor with the help of the hook rope.
Josephine pressed her hand on the wooden floor of the balcony, and with that slight but definite vibration, the ranger quickly confirmed the situation in the room—only one person was there, and this was the best situation. He immediately took a deep breath, pulled out the magic scroll in his arms, and softly murmured the incantation the mage told him. When the last sentence was about to be finished, the sharp long sword in the ranger's hand cut off the balcony. latch. In the next moment, Josephine threw the scroll in forcefully.
The silence technique took effect immediately, and all the surrounding sounds disappeared in an instant. Josephine's violent movements made the disguise of the invisibility spell fade away quickly, but the ranger didn't care about these, he was confident that he could defeat the guy in front of him.
The opponent's reaction was also very fast. He called his companions loudly, but these were futile actions within the range of the spell. The enemy who realized this quickly drew out the weapon at his waist, and then the two long swords clashed fiercely under the flickering lights, dazzling sparks bloomed from time to time.
The longer the delay, the more variables there will be. Josephine knew this very well, so she took the most powerful offensive from the beginning, suppressing the opponent from all directions. However, the enemy in front of him was not ordinary in terms of swordsmanship, and for a while, the battle fell into a stalemate.
The defense is much easier than the attack, and the Fahdod who took a fancy to this point blindly maintained a defensive posture, waiting for the moment when the silence technique was lifted, and summoned more companions. But after several rounds of confrontation, he soon found that his plan had little hope—Josephine's attack was completely beyond his ability to resist. Soon, the opponent's erratic sword light cut several wounds on his body, and the blood immediately stained the ground red. The dizziness caused by excessive blood loss gradually slowed down the speed of the Fahdod's sword, and finally revealed a fatal flaw.
Josephine moved a step sideways, and the long sword in her right hand deftly steered away the trajectory of the opponent's weapon, while the owner of the long sword quickly rushed forward, and the heavy sword hilt held upside down hit the enemy's nose hard, A few seconds later, Peng's blood sprayed out from the completely collapsed nose, and the severe pain made the other party's whole body twitch. In the next moment, the ranger's sword was already stably resting on his neck.
"Son of the forest~! What... what do you want to do~!?" Fahdod asked in horror, and then he suddenly found that he could hear his own voice.
"It seems that there is no need to introduce myself." Josephine sneered, and hit the enemy's neck with a heavy hand knife. The opponent immediately rolled his eyes and passed out.
The ranger ended the battle beautifully within a few minutes without any accidents, but he still maintained a cautious style. The Son of the Forest carefully lifted the unconscious prisoner to the window at the other end of the room, and then used the desk lamp at hand to signal to his companions who were waiting in the inn.
The throbbing of magic power was transmitted quickly—under the effect of Xiu Yin's long-distance levitation technique, the heavy body that Josephine supported quickly escaped the control of gravity, and flew out of the window lightly. And the ranger himself hid himself in the darkness of the street again, and returned to the hotel quietly following the same route.
"What happened to that man?" Josephine opened the door. During his return, the Fahdods transferred in by air had been firmly tied to the chair by Katoli and others. Only now did Ranger have the time to take a closer look at this unlucky guy. He is a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a bearded face and a very ordinary appearance, he can easily blend into the crowd, but the ranger knows very well that not letting himself attract the attention of others is the essential quality of a spy one.
But Katoli was able to spot these experienced watchers keenly at the first time... She must be tensing her nerves all the time, right? The ranger's eyes turned to the silent girl beside her.
"If it's about his nose, there's nothing serious about it. But the current situation is a bit tricky. This person's magic resistance has been temporarily strengthened, and mind spells have no effect at all." Xiu Yin's answer interrupted his thoughts , "And it must be the strengthening of the magic circle. It is impossible to extract his memory with human power. But we don't have time to wait for this strengthening mental power to disappear..."
"That means our only option is to ask him directly, right?" Josephine frowned.
"Well, although there is little hope that the other party will answer, this is the only way. Ren is already making corresponding preparations." Catoli was still observing the situation outside through the gap in the curtain between her words.
After a while, Ren, who had been in close contact with the captive for a long time, finally raised his head: "His hair and teeth do not contain poison, and he does not carry any hidden suicide tools. If he is awakened, there will be no harm." question."
"Then let's start immediately." The mage nodded, "Although it's not very polite to do this, there is nothing you can do." He picked up a glass of cold water and poured it on the captive's face. After groaning a few times, the man finally opened his eyes.
"Who will start first?" Xiu Yin asked.
"Of course it's you!" Katoli, Ren and Josephine answered in unison.
"Okay, okay, I admit that torture is the task of a mage..." He muttered, bending over and approaching the captive who had just woken up, "Are you awake?"
"What do you think?" the Fahdod asked coldly.
"Only I am qualified to ask questions, but you are not." The mage's blue eyes showed a strange coldness in an instant, "Now, tell me everything you know. Who ordered you to act? Why? Want to spy on us?"
"What a corny conversation," the other said with a grin. "Do you think I'll say it?"
"Then, do you want to taste the electric shock?" Xiu Yin's right hand was wrapped in countless blue filaments in an instant, and the rushing electric current swirled in his palm, and he made a hissing sound, "I was struck by the chain lightning." Hitting is not just a few shakes, this poisonous snake will run around in your body, making your liver into a balloon, your intestines knotted, and the water in your body will evaporate in an instant... Even so, You don't want to answer my question either?"
The other party just smiled, and then turned his gaze to the ranger beside him: "You are the well-known 'son of the forest' Josephine, I have only heard of your legend before, but this time I have the honor to have a one-on-one with you The battle... Although you lost, for a soldier, if you die like this, you will not regret it. But there is one thing, I can unequivocally assert that you will not win."
The Fahdod finished speaking calmly, and immediately chanted a very short incantation. Before the four of them could react, his head drooped powerlessly.
"Not good~!" Xiu Yin rushed forward with a stride, and then clenched his fists angrily, "He's dead~! He's actually dead~!"
"Impossible~! I've checked everything...how could it be?" Ren replied in disbelief.
"It's a curse, some kind of curse activated by spells." After carefully inspecting the corpse, the mage's expression became gloomy. "It seems that there are powerful necromancers among our opponents, which is really bad news..."
"Not only do you have to compete with the tireless undead, but you also have to face unknown enemies with necromancers? This road to the star capital is really difficult." Katoli carefully released the dead captive. Tied up, and laid the corpse flat on the bed, "However, since we have already gone down, there is no way to turn back. Even if it is just to obtain a stable living environment, we must destroy that power~!"
The girl looked at her companions seriously: "Have a good rest tonight, remember to be vigilant, we will march towards Stantyr tomorrow morning. If those snoopers plan to attack, use your sword to talk to them~!"
The three nodded affirmatively.
"Katori, wait a minute." After Xiuyin and Renn left, the ranger stopped the girl.
"What's the matter, Josephine?"
"When you said those words just now, you looked like a leader." Josephine patted her shoulder with a smile.
"I just... don't want everyone to be discouraged..." Katoli, who was always used to receiving praise, felt a little embarrassed.
"Thinking from the heart can encourage your companions more? Although you are the adopted daughter of Captain Dilicia, the way you speak is very similar to her." The ranger's expression was a little silent, "But don't give It's too much pressure on yourself, remember you are not fighting alone."
"Sure enough, it was seen." Katoli smiled bitterly, and then subconsciously grasped the pendant on her chest, "However, when the fate of the world is in your hands, no one can Feel relaxed?"
"And we are by your side." You Xia looked directly into her eyes.
"Can it really reach that legendary place?" The girl avoided the other party's gaze, "Seventeen years ago, the Dark Eagle completed that incredible mission, so I want to do the same thing... I want to erase His sense of existence... However, it wasn't until I met the devil in Belial Village that I realized that it was just wishful thinking... This road is much harder than I imagined, just relying on the words of the four of us... "
"Maybe we will meet that Mr. Kaos in the future, or meet some other partners who are willing to help us. I have no objection to them joining the team. Even if we don't meet them, we still have the option of running away. Even St. Knights, you don’t have to refuse every battle.” Josephine deliberately replied in a relaxed tone, “Besides, although demons are very powerful, they are rare in this world after all. If our opponent It's an ordinary human being, so there's no need to take it to heart. Although I can't do anything about the abyss lord, I still have the confidence to kill a few necromancers. Don't you even worry about this? I'm also a well-known 'son of the forest' Oh~!"
"It's true~! Maybe I was scared by that ugly abyss lord." Looking at the ranger who was pretending to be angry, Katoli's expression finally became clear.
"So, go and have a good rest tonight, and don't need to observe the situation around the hotel."
"Huh? You..." The girl made a surprised sound, then subconsciously covered her mouth.
"When I came back, I had already set up some magic barriers around. If there is any abnormality, I will know immediately. Captain, you can rest assured." Josephine blinked her eyes, and her tone suddenly became mysterious, "Don't I'm exhausted, otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain to someone in the Holy Capital."
"Who is it?" Katoli's curiosity suddenly surged.
"I'll tell you when the mission is over."
"It's a deal, you can't go back on it." The girl stretched out her little finger.
"Well, it's an agreement like this." You Xia also stretched out his little finger, and gave him a tug.
"Thank you, Josephine." When leaving the room, Katoli showed a sweet smile, and the other party smiled back.
Since I can't be her reliance, the only thing I can do is to protect her beloved.
The monitors quickly discovered the disappearance of their companions, but even if they guessed the possible circumstances of the incident, they did not dare to act rashly. It wasn't until Katoli and his party left the hotel in the morning that Fahdod's spies were able to investigate.
"Abel is dead, my lord." A subordinate entered the room.
"Really..." Austin's eyebrows trembled unnoticed, and then he let his eyes fall on the distant horizon, "He was tortured to death?"
"It was suicide, my lord, although his nose was shattered, but according to the doctor's guess, it was probably a battle injury."
"Is that so? That's enough. You can continue to collect information. I need to know the exact route of the other party's actions." The man sighed, and when his subordinates left, a shadowy silhouette protruded from the corner of the room, and Slowly moved behind Austin.
"What do you think we should do next, Thomas?" Austin didn't look back.
"Do you still remember what the mysterious mage said?" The colorful aurora appeared in the west of the star capital, and reflected the scene of the whole world. This means that the power that can make Luvis fear has appeared, and the goddess must Will destroy it at all costs, if Fahdod can seize this opportunity, maybe he will get rid of the bad luck brought by God.'" The pale necromancer recited the few hints in his memory, "As long as I Even if we don't get that power, it's still going to have a debilitating influence on the Alliance, judging by our own speculation."
"You mean we should act now instead of waiting for further information?"
"I have checked a lot of information these days, and based on the current speculation, that kind of power probably won't be under our control. So what we need to do is to prevent the alliance people from destroying that kind of power." Thomas calmly analyzed , "It was originally a strategy to wait and see what happened, but now that the surveillance behavior has been discovered, if we don't respond as soon as possible, everything will become uncontrollable."
"It makes sense, so let's do it now. If their destination is the legendary star capital, Stantyr will be the only way to go. I will set up a heavy army to ambush there and personally command them. No one can escape." Austin said confidently, "But this will probably arouse the fear of the king? After all, Fahdod has never dared to take action against the envoys from the alliance."
"Please leave it to me to handle that aspect. You will definitely be able to completely control all the military power in the Stantyr region without any interference before the end of the operation." The necromancer bowed and then disappeared again. In the depths of the darkness, "I will contact you with magic at any time, please wait for my message."
"A new battle is about to start again." Austin gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "The battle with the paladin will definitely be very interesting, and it is really exciting."
"Boy, this is today's food, hurry up and cook~!" Muradin casually threw two dead pheasants in front of the young man, and when he spoke, the dwarf's beard kept trembling.
"My name is Roland~! Don't forget that I am your employer, be careful when you speak~!" The young paladin glared at the other party and grabbed the dangling prey. Problem Solved—How on earth do you start a fire in this wet forest that has just rained
Roland glanced up guiltily. The orc prophet who was more than two meters tall was quietly sitting cross-legged in meditation, his expression of peace and majesty was absolutely no less than that of any high-level priest who was praying. But on the other side of the camp, the slanting sunset reflected the eerie smiling face of the dwarf.
Damn it, I must start the fire~! Otherwise, if he was ridiculed by that wine barrel... Roland, who was awarded the title of "Pride of Alazea" as the first place in the alliance paladin assessment, would become the laughing stock of the journey~! As the young man thought about it, his hands that were rubbing against the tinder suddenly added some strength.
But after half an hour, Roland still failed to light the fire—no matter how hard the paladin blew, every weak flame would be helplessly extinguished when it encountered the moisture of the leaves, and he had nothing to do with it. Method. But during this period of time, the afterimage of the setting sun has quickly sank to the horizon.
"I said, you don't know how to make a fire in the rain, do you?" the dwarf said slowly.
"Just kidding, how is that possible~! It's just that today's situation is not very good." Roland had to squeeze out a smile.
"But you actually used wet leaves as a fire starter, you know, that thing is absolutely impossible to burn." Muradin's narrowed eyes revealed a glint of fierceness, "Or, it is called "Arazer" A paladin who is proud of Asia, actually doesn’t even know how to find dry branches in rainy days? You know, even the best hunters know this clearly~!”
"Muradin, you bastard..." Roland stood up angrily.
"Rookie, if you don't understand, you'd better speak up early, otherwise it won't be fun for everyone to go hungry~!"
"You are so insidious~! You clearly know that I don't understand, but you still want to make things difficult~!" The paladin threw the pheasant on the ground violently. They probably never dreamed of the fate of being flogged after death. , "When I get to Taklama City, I must fire you~!"
"Fire, god~! Rookie, do you think you can scare people with a weapon of this size? Don't forget who you can rely on to be able to eat these days~!" The dwarf didn't care about the other party's threats at all, The tone became more and more disdainful.
"I said, you two had better..." The orc prophet finally couldn't stand it anymore, but his words were immediately interrupted.
"Oh, shut up, it's none of your business here~!" The two yelled in unison, and the next moment, Li Ya, reflecting the dim light of the setting sun, flashed past Roland's eyes.
With excellent reflexes, the Paladin's body rolled to the ground before he could think, and the arrow feathers flew past his cheek. Roland immediately understood that he had been ambushed, but fortunately, the opponent's bow The technique is obviously not very good.
"I just wanted to tell you that this place seems to be surrounded." Azetalos said in a regretful tone, while the dwarf on the side showed a serious expression and clenched his huge battle axe.
Next, they encountered the first major crisis of the journey - more than 150 robbers surrounded the combination of "the fugitive nobleman and his strange bodyguards". Many of the bandits were masters of swordsmanship, but the three of them had to deal with them hungry until dawn. When the morning sun rose lazily, even the most vigorous dwarves were bloodied and exhausted, while the robbers appeared from the dark corners like tireless ants.
The young paladin once thought that his bright future would be ruined in that goddamn forest, but in the end, not only did the three of them successfully achieve a complete victory of 150 people, but they also acted like old comrades who had fought together for ten years. Had a good drink in the tavern in Taklama.
Everything seems to have happened yesterday. Even though seventeen years have passed, when the death knight set foot on this land again, the memory is still vivid.
Is it because of longing for the past like this, or because of yearning to become a resting soul? Roland asked himself. Maybe there are both... He thought so, and then slowly took off the big sword he was carrying, found a clean ground and sat down. For the first time in five days, the death knight stopped his progress.
It was a sunny day today. The bright sunlight sprinkled spots through the emerald green leaves, outlining a spring scene on the earth. Except for the breeze blowing by Roland's ears, everything seemed quiet and serene. But the death knight is very clear that he is definitely not alone in this forest.
"Richard, is that you? Come out." Roland said into the depths of the jungle. With the sound of leaves rubbing and dead branches breaking, a figure in a mage's robe appeared in front of him.
"How do you know I'm here?" The Lich looked quite frustrated, "Even when I was crossing the alliance territory, no one found me..."
"The breath of the undead is too inconsistent with this vibrant land, can't you even feel it?" Roland explained maliciously, "What are you doing here?"
"Tell the Fahdods some information about the alliance envoys, investigate the military facilities here, prepare for the undead army to open up the gods in the future, and tell you some bad news."
"What?"
"Although you completed the three-week journey in five days, those lucky guys got the magic map. They have already arrived in Taklama four days ago with the transfer phalanx, and now they are heading to Stantyl on the way."
"It's a headache." The death knight shook his head, "But you didn't come to see me for this kind of thing, did you?"
"Indeed, compared to the disadvantage of time, you have other aspects that are more worthy of worry." Richard said bluntly, "When I was collecting information, I heard about your deeds in Belial Village—of course not Refers to that time seventeen years ago."
"... I have to admit that after Ice Crown has been the assistant of the Liches for seven years, it is still difficult to control this thing." Roland stared at the Frost Lament in his hand, "I am no longer the same as before. At that time, even Roland Strife had no fear at all when facing the mighty King of the White Dragon, Kraferig, but now, an abyss lord was enough to resist his slash. "
"So you're scared?" The Lich chose a relatively flat ground and sat down.
"I'm afraid... Ishutori must become a god. She needs my strength. If it's the same as before at this time..." The death knight's face darkened, "Then I will definitely not Forgive yourself."
"But no matter what the result is, Ishutoli will never regret choosing you as the candidate for the mission." Richard stared at the pair of water-colored pupils, "Your fate is not just the result of the law of cause and effect, Roland."
"Do you know why Ishutori did this? Why did she choose me to be Olin, and..." Roland stood up abruptly.
"If you want to know all the truth, you should ask her herself."
"In the past fourteen years, she has never said anything related to this, from the first meeting with the Ice Crown until she gave me the task of finding the World Tree, not once," the death knight frowned, "and every time Every time I ask her, I will be dragged into something very embarrassing... "
"You never thought about where the problem is? Seven years ago, you burned everything in the flames of revenge, and then you became the gardener of the Ice Crown who has nothing to do," Richard said with a smile, regardless of the other party dissatisfied, "If I were Ishutoli, I wouldn't confide in such a guy, would I?"
"It's really hard to refute, Richard, your ability to preach has improved a lot." Roland smiled wryly.
"By the way, how does it feel to fight with them?" Lich suddenly changed the subject.
"They? You mean Katoli and his party?" The death knight's eyes were stained with hesitation, "It's like going back to the past. At that time, it felt like fighting with my companions... But, I didn't expect that The other party will be the descendant of the enemy... "
"The descendant of the enemy?" Richard interrupted the other party. "It's interesting that the word hate still has a binding force on you now? You really feel hatred when you learn the identity of the other party, just like the battle of Dharamla Or is it because I don't know what kind of expression to use to deal with it, so I voluntarily resorted to the past of hatred?"
The atmosphere between the two froze in an instant. Roland silently turned his eyes away, and subconsciously stroked the great sword in his hand. After a long time, he finally spoke: "After all, their purpose is to destroy the World Tree, which is absolutely not allowed."
"Of course, in this respect, they are unquestionable enemies." The Lich patted the opponent's shoulder, "But you can't pin your battle on such a reason. A person who has already fulfilled his wish, only relies on If the death knight who was promised to exist is forced to fight, it is very likely that he will disappear completely... You know this very well, don't you?"
"Yes." Roland replied shortly, and he suddenly found that he had no room to refute.
"So, it's better to think about things about yourself, I think so, maybe one day Ishutoli will let you know everything," Richard said and stretched out his right hand, "As for finding the world The task of the tree, although the goddess did not ask, but I plan to help in my own way, how about it?"
"It's an honor." The death knight nodded, and then took the opponent's hand.
"That's all for now. I'll give you a ride next time. You don't have to go to Taklama City." Richard stood up, and the light of the transfer phalanx gradually shone under his feet, "And Bailey Like Er, Stantyr is also the junction of the world and the nether world, and it is not easy to use magic to cross there, but it is always good to gain a little advantage in this long-distance race."
"Then start casting spells." Roland got up and came to the Lich's side. "Maybe there, I will meet them again. At that time..."
I will try to let myself re-judge the value and way of self-existence.