Pretending to be killed was a lot harder than they thought.
Except for a few majors that do not need to go to the battlefield, a few mediocrities will be mixed in. Although they are from aristocratic backgrounds, those who can enter the combat department of Clementine Academy are genuine elites. At worst, these young people can be assistants to generals after graduation, and will not make the low-level mistake of losing teammates at the beginning of training. The two commanders have a clear division of labor. The combined army formed by the two groups is walking on the flat snow, skillfully avoiding the dangerous narrow road or the mountain wall with dense monster nests.
To play missing in this situation, it is estimated that they can only pretend to faint, and then roll down the gentle slope into the bottom of the valley.
The sun has not yet set, the sky is clear again, and the reflection of the snow is very dazzling. Nemo chatted with Oliver in a low voice without a word, and swayed at the end of the line with a very unorthodox attitude.
"Maybe until the sun goes down." He poked melanously at the skeleton helmet disguised as decoration on Oliver's bag. "There's no arguably powerful aura nearby, and we can't pretend to be defeated by the snowy lop rabbits."
"Yeah." Oliver replied in a low voice, "Have you seen the snowfield lop-eared rabbit? That is at least an ingredient."
At present, the team is still advancing steadily, and the glacier where the glacier mammoth is located is still some distance away. Perhaps considering the consumption of ice and snow, this time the students entered the maze after lunch. It's not time for the logistics to start worrying - they haven't received a probe mission to find ingredients or set up camp, and they're terribly idle.
Oliver had even taken precautions and started thinking about possible recipes for the entire regiment's dinner.
"I'll make an analogy." Nemo quickly cut off Oliver's thoughts, "In terms of strength."
Except for a few fighters who were preventing accidents from happening, the support staff basically followed at the end of the team. They were hanging at the end of the team, so they didn't look particularly dazzling.
Nemo jumped a little, and behind the snowy hills could see the pale blue tops of large floes, and they were getting closer and closer to the glacier—
Maybe they can only sneak away late at night. The glacial mammoth was no bigger than a snake-maned lion, but he was as cautious as a fox caught between beasts. If you guessed correctly, compared to the last combat capability test, the focus of this inspection is probably teamwork, personnel control and offensive strategies.
The two groups are specially arranged to cooperate together, I am afraid there are considerations in this regard in addition to security issues.
There are many naturally formed ice arches and strangely shaped giant ice blocks near the glacier. They can find an excuse to leave after dark, and then hide in those labyrinth-like ice blocks - when the team members find that they are missing, The two of them had already headed deep into the labyrinth.
The snow under the boots made a dull creaking sound, getting thicker and thicker, almost burying half of their calves. Nemo has already detected quite a few spatial folding points where the maze resets, and even started to idly calculate the possible way forward. It was far from nightfall, and he was ready to chat with Oliver for a day.
Everything was very peaceful, and there was not a single animal in sight.
This time it was Ollie who stopped first. Nemo's body instinctively stopped, still doing calculations in his mind, and almost fell on the thick snow.
"what's wrong?"
"Something's wrong." Oliver grabbed a handful of snow and squeezed it. "The breath is too weak."
"Right?" Nemo raised his eyebrows, "This place is really calm, and the two commanders are really good." The academy equips each commander with a basic topographic map, but it is necessary to determine the specific route. , the knowledge to use is gone - from the habitat habits of demons and beasts, to the snow conditions in a specific climate, they have to calculate everything.
"Although there are some small bugs, the breath is not at all..." Halfway through, Nemo got stuck.
Those breaths were indeed too weak to be worth mentioning, swishing to and fro under the snow. It felt like ordinary snow ants, and although there were a lot of them, he didn't really take it to heart.
But now those breaths are gathering.
"The breath is very weak, but there is only such a thing, which is not normal." Oliver frowned, "And I feel hostile."
Nemo took a deep breath and felt it hard, but he could only feel the snow particles and hunting cold wind hitting his face. So he can only provide information on his own side: "To be honest, I can only think of snow ants with this strength and number of creatures... They don't attack humans. But... "
"but?"
"Snow ants will not have such exaggerated gathering behavior." Those tiny breaths gathered in the permafrost under the snow began to become less tiny. "But if it weren't for the snow ants, there would be nothing but—damn!"
Nemo suddenly raised his voice, but unfortunately the words were blown away by the oncoming cold wind, so few people looked back at him.
"It's a corpse stinger," he complained with a pale face, pulling on Oliver's thick coat and striding forward. "Isn't this thing extinct long ago?"
"But I didn't feel any demonic breath..."
"They're good at hiding." Nemo gritted his teeth, hissing and gasping. Before those little things were scattered all over the place, he didn't have any obvious feeling, but now he can't make a mistake again. "Didn't we talk about the abyss magic thing? As a source, I will never mistake this fluctuation. They are feeding me... paying me taxes." Nemo used a more straightforward analogy. "This one can't be hidden. They are definitely corpse stingers, not snow ants that belong to the surface."
Oliver's expression went blank for a few seconds.
"How's your strength?" When he spoke again, he tried his best to remain calm.
"It's hard to say." Nemo shook his head, and the snow flakes were shaken off the ends of his hair. "If there are no remains of powerful creatures nearby, they pose no threat."
"But this place looks pretty old—"
"Oli, don't..."
"How do you say it, if it's a corpse—"
"Oli!"
Right in front of the team, a white dragon emerged from the snow.
It's not technically a dragon, but a fake made of "snowflakes" wrapped around the wreckage, which at first glance might even seem comical. But even so, when the dragon that looked like a pile of snow opened its mouth, the joke-like thought completely disappeared from everyone's mind.
The mouth that was still dropping snow slag opened wide, spewing out ice flames with a hint of dragon breath.
"… Ollie." In the chaos, Nemo buried his face in his palm. "Remember to hold back next time."
"The keel was there." Oliver looked at Xue Long, his face almost as white as snow. "I… I definitely didn't summon it."
"I know, just ask for a good omen."
The corpse stinger is an extremely ancient demonic insect, shaped like a snowflake, that inhabits permafrost. If you only look at its own strength, it is not much stronger than the average Beetle. But they have an extremely deadly skill - taking advantage of corpses.
They will attach to the bones of other creatures, and restore the creature's original appearance, physical strength and a very small part of magic ability through the information of the bones. They use this new body to kill their prey, wait for the flesh to cool completely, and then devour it slowly. If they are attached to chicken bones, the fighting power will never exceed that of a chicken. Scholars were once troubled by whether this thing was considered a low-level demon or a high-level demon, and finally considering the probability of coincidence, people reluctantly defined it as a low-level demon.
But now they got a keel.
The corpse-controlling stinger is not without its weaknesses - the corpse-controlling stinger can build up strength, but it cannot build up the IQ to match it. Their brains are not as clear as a mussel, and they usually act on instinct. As long as you deal with it carefully, it is not too difficult to deal with.
The problem is that this ancient demonic insect is theoretically extinct, no one can figure out what this thing is at once, and that ice flame is really terrifying. The commander was a little flustered for a moment, and several soldiers were almost caught by the ice flames.
"Find a way to remind them, and then we retreat while the chaos." Ollie made a quick decision, "I'll-"
However, before he came out, someone took the first step.
The noble warrior Leonard reacted extremely quickly. Before the others could react from Xue Long's impact, he once again rushed out first. His broad sword slashed the rotten keel firmly, and the stinging worm piled up the snow dragon with a big mouth and a silent roar at him. Then he directly slammed Leonard with his head—
The little aristocrat raised his sword neatly to defend, and just kept his balance. He stopped beautifully on the edge of the snow slope, lowered his body, and hit Xuelong's feet hard again. After all, this corpse was too old, and the fragile leg bones made a harsh cracking sound. Xue Long's body was crooked, and he no longer sparing the bones and using a little less magic power, once again spewed a mouthful of ice flames at Leonard. And the soldier rolled on the spot, decisively dodging the past.
"It seems that we don't need to go out now." Seeing the soldiers reacted, they surrounded them one after another. Oliver stopped his steps. "The hostility of that thing is waning. When it drains the strength from its bones, it will spread out and run away without incident."
"Yeah." Nemo stared at the fighting warriors and agreed with his lover.
It's a pity that he just finished humming for two minutes, and the accident happened.
The corpse control stinger used up the power of the corpse, and gave up extremely simply. The huge keel was exposed and smashed down from the sky, hitting a soldier who had no psychological preparation. He immediately collapsed to the ground and rolled down the snowy slope with the bones.
And below the snow slope is a large unnatural vortex, the vortex wanders and changes shape. The air there seemed to have turned into gelatinous, and was rudely stirred, and the scenery behind it was distorted.
Spatial folding points caused by maze resets.
Leonard leaned out without hesitation and grabbed his sliding companion. He climbed down the snowy slope, sweating profusely, for fear that the power of the spell would cause the snow shell to collapse unnecessarily. And just as he pushed his companion up the snow slope, the overwhelmed stone under his feet suddenly loosened and fell off.
Leonard slid down with the collapsing snow shell, and before he had time to scream, his figure was instantly swallowed by the twisted vortex.
"Stay away from there!" the commander ordered immediately. "He is an excellent fighter with a clear will, and nothing will happen! If something happens, even if he goes alone..."
Hayden did not hesitate.
No one paid attention to this short male nurse, the thin young man resolutely crossed the snow slope and threw himself into the whirlpool. Then there was Elmer standing beside him—the big young man was stunned for a moment, scratched his head, and his face was still confused, but his steps were very firm.
"... retreat for me!" The commander's voice was a little broken, "Okay, it's very dangerous over there! You heard the school's warning, don't be a fool and be a hero at this time!"
"Soldiers, nursing, logistics," Marilyn Lawler said softly. She stared at the retreating team of therapists, expressionless. "They need a therapist."
"'You must not give up the survivors at will,'" she sighed after a while. "'I must walk in the world with kindness, and treat anyone who is injured or sick'... Since the loss is irreversible, I hope to improve the survival rate of my companions."
The pretty girl let out a sneer, then slipped gracefully into the vortex.
The vortex continued to change, and it seemed to disappear—
"Uh, although this situation is quite embarrassing." Oliver packed his backpack, grabbed Nemo's wrist, and the two rushed towards the vortex together. "But it doesn't look as bad as the two of us, right?"
The deserter of the logistics department was uncharacteristically, showing a very bright smile. "Everyone, bye!"
The vortex completely disappeared.
When Quentin Leonard stood up from the hot and humid jungle, half of his heart was tragic and heroic, and the other half was completely ignorant. The noble warrior took off the badge with the heat preservation spell painted on it from the armor, and clenched his broad sword...
He was then smashed into the ground by Hayden, who came later, and nearly vomited blood.
"you this… "
Then came Elmer, and Hayden, who was smashed below, let out a grunt. If Leonard himself hadn't been wearing armor, he would probably have broken his ribs this time.
"I'm sorry." Elmer scratched his head, quickly moved his bulky body, and carried Hayden aside by the way. Leonard rolled his eyes, just about to stand up—
Marilyn fell gracefully, and landed on Leonard's back in a beautiful half-kneeling position. She glanced at the warrior under her feet, frowned, and ran her heel twice before casting the healing spell.
"..." Although the pain disappeared instantly, Leonard was speechless. He took a deep breath, double-stretched—
"I'm sorry." Oliver said dryly, jumping off Leonard's back. This time Nemo moved more neatly than him, and his demon king even calculated the landing location in advance. Although Oliver himself noticed something was wrong below, his movements were obviously not skilled enough.
"Anything else?" Leonard hissed angrily, "And I won't get up first."
"The vortex has disappeared." Nemo patted the snowflakes on his body and looked at the surrounding jungle curiously, "No one will come again."
"So it's... only you," Leonard murmured.
He could probably guess why Hayden and Elmer came down first, and was grateful from the bottom of his heart. It was a pleasant surprise that Marilyn would follow.
The environment appears to have no shortage of food and water. The noble warriors are confident in their own strength, coupled with Elmer's complete logistical equipment, if they act carefully, there is a high probability that they will survive until the rescue. But Leonard couldn't figure out the purpose of Oliver Byrne and the little white-faced White following him-they had no friendship at all, and the grievances were not deep enough to let the two come down and sacrifice their lives to kill him.
The six people faced each other in silence, and the atmosphere was a little awkward for a while.
"Everyone, I have memorized the relevant information." Marilyn said first, "There have been more than 500 cases of distress among students in the labyrinth of Isamel before us, and the fastest rescue record was two weeks. In general, , the mortality rate is about 0% to 40% - but some of the unlucky ones are thrown into the desert or swamp, and we've been lucky." She lifted her chin and looked around for a week. "I can deal with most wounds and toxins if I can get enough food."
"Well, I think we'll be fine." Elmer glanced at Oliver carefully, and added in a gruff voice. "First we have to, ahem, find out what's going on around here and find a safe place to camp."
"If you're not in a hurry, it's better to recover your physical strength first." Hayden's shrinking look disappeared again, looking extremely calm.
"I also agree to rest for a while." The little noble narrowed his eyes and turned his face to the remaining two.
"Let's talk about it first, for example... I'm curious about the purpose of the two of you." He raised his voice slightly, "After all, the two don't look like nosy people at all."