"Tom tom—"
Rapid footsteps sounded from far to near, and a burly figure emerged from the lush woods first, followed by the second, the third...
When they were almost exhausted, the group finally escaped the terrifying magnetic field.
After taking a few breaths, they continued to rush forward into the grass on the shore and collapsed on the wooden boat, as if unloading heavy shackles.
At this time, the sky had already broken, and the warm yellow morning light fell on the surface of Vizima Lake, dispelling the fog and giving everyone great encouragement.
"The weakness is gone."
Roy calmed down a bit, put down the woman on his shoulders, and wiped off a hot sweat.
And Yada's temples were covered with sweat, her face was pale, and she was no longer in high spirits.
"I... what's wrong with me?"
She recalled her previous abnormality, and her face was full of fear.
"Very well, it looks like you are awake." The young witcher breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't want the target he was protecting to be mentally ill. "His Royal Highness Yada, please listen to your opinion next time, and don't go your own way."
The number of soldiers present was reduced from more than 40 to about 20 at the beginning, and the number of soldiers was reduced by half, and they did not even see the face of the master. It has to be said that it was a huge failure.
"Witcher, this time it's just an accident!" Yada said rather embarrassedly, "Because the investigation and preparation are not sufficient, when you come next time, the evil thing in the altar will definitely be returned tenfold with interest! In short! , my people can't die in vain!" After speaking, she faced the soldiers and began to give orders skillfully,
"Let's take another half-minute break and start, don't let the new group of depraved murlocs catch up!"
Suddenly, a handsome young knight walked out of the crowd, "Your Highness Yada, the evil thing in the altar is too weird, and it turned dozens of brothers into that kind of disgusting thing alive."
"It can't be allowed to continue to develop, otherwise the whole city of Vizima will be implicated!" There was a flash of determination in the knight's eyes, and he said solemnly, "The woods on the island are obviously its old nest, it's better to burn it with a fire. Brilliant!"
"Attachment!" There was a response from the crowd, "Burn the forest and destroy the altar!"
"But there are still brothers in there," some soldiers retorted. "In case we can recover, won't we hurt innocent people now?"
"There are no normal creatures in the woods, they are all evil monsters. They should all be purified with fire! It should have been done in the first place!"
There was a disagreement among the knights, and Yada touched her sharp chin, obviously a little moved.
"Witcher, based on your knowledge, is it possible for those 'fallen' knights to become human again?"
"Fall is an irreversible change." The young witcher shook his head,
And Leto stretched out his hand to feel the wind direction and temperature, and observed the scale of the woods.
"It's going to take a lot of time for this kind of weather to ignite the woods on the island, unless..."
"Unless someone stays," the black-haired knight who had given his opinion at the beginning volunteered to stand up, his body still shaking, unable to recover from the state of disengagement. "Your Highness, let me burn this sinful island... As long as Master Leto lend me an alchemy bomb."
"What's your name?"
"Jaquis, Jaquith of Aldeburgh..."
The black-haired knight had a resolute face and raised his right hand high, so that everyone's eyes were focused on him. Only then did Roy realize that the upper part of the green-faced black-haired knight's ears was slightly sharp.
"Half-elf, no, this is a quarter-elf." Roy fell into deep thought. The name sounded familiar, but the observed information was normal. He was just an ordinary knight.
And some of the soldiers suddenly realized,
"It's the recruit who just joined Bai Qiangwei."
"The guy who has been preaching the theory of the end of the hoarfrost."
"Courage is commendable, Knight Jaques, but you know that you will die if you stay, and this may not be possible," Yada shook her head and stepped on the canoe. "Don't make unnecessary sacrifices, let's leave together."
"His Royal Highness Yada, the villain has neither parents to support nor a wife and children to take care of. I only want to avenge the dead colleagues and relieve Vizima from worries... Please do it!"
Jaques suddenly knelt down on one knee, his young and handsome face full of determination and fearlessness,
The woman's face was moved, she pursed her red lips, and finally gave him a deep look,
"Jaquis of Aldeburgh, since you have made up your mind, I grant your request!"
"Now, except for him, everyone boarded the ship and returned immediately!"
The Temeria princess finally patted the knight on the shoulder.
"Come back safely! I'll promote you, I promise!"
Jaques stood up, took the torch and the alchemy bomb from the witcher, and rushed towards the terrifying forest.
Roy stared at his back, his face puzzled, is there really such a selfless person in the world
But there was no time to think again, and the wooden boats quickly sailed away from Black Tern Island.
A quarter of an hour later, when they reached the middle of the lake, they discovered a strange fact—the bodies of more than 200 fallen half-murlocs that had been floating on the water had disappeared without a trace, and not even a trace of blood could be seen.
"It wouldn't be so clean being washed away by the lake."
"It's a shame that I still want to cut off the ears of the fallen murlocs and return them to Vizima."
The knights couldn't hide the disappointment on their faces. This operation failed. Even if Princess Yada promised them that they had no faults, how much credit did they have? After sacrificing so many brothers, he had to face the accountability of Chief Rudolph when he went back.
And Yada looked at the island behind her with a complicated expression. Every knight was a precious possession of Vizima, and she sacrificed too much because of her "willfulness".
She was unwilling and angry, but in the end she only sighed, "I have to settle down for a while in the future, that old guy will never pamper me endlessly."
But no one can predict the future.
Soon, when they set foot on land again, black smoke suddenly rose over Black Tern Island.
The originally dejected group of people suddenly fried the pot, and their mood rose directly from the bottom of the valley to the sky.
"That stinky boy actually succeeded!"
Yada's face was surprised, her lips trembled slightly,
"Very well, Jaques didn't let me down!"
She turned around and glanced at the exhausted and much thinner team, and said to a bearded middle-aged knight,
"Deputy Captain Powell, it is temporarily safe, count the number of soldiers, how many soldiers are left, and how many have been sacrificed?"
"As ordered, Your Highness."
The bearded knight heard the sound and stood at her hand, "Next, the knights and soldiers who read their names will come out!"
"Greez."
"arrive!"
"Ferguson."
"arrive!"
…
"Cambernar."
"arrive!"
"Vigi."
"… "
"Your Highness," said the middle-aged knight with a heavy expression after a while, "you still have 22 soldiers left to fight. You have sacrificed... 11 Knights of the White Rose, 14 soldiers of the Vizima Infantry Regiment , a total of twenty-five people."
Yada took a deep breath and tapped her head, intending to say something to encourage the living to comfort the dead.
The bald witcher beside her suddenly interrupted her,
"Captain Powell, are you one of the few?" The stout arm pointed to the last corner of the crowd, "Is there another one there, I noticed that he never opened his mouth from beginning to end."
For a moment, the eyes of everyone present turned away.
At the very end of the line, a thin knight was isolated.
"Captain, I have never met this colleague."
A knight stared at him suspiciously, and said in an uncertain tone,
"I know all the knights in the city, but I have no impression of this knight at all."
"Are you a recruit who just joined the Vizima Infantry this year?"
Several voices on the team began to echo this statement.
"Soldier, keep your head up!" The bearded man walked up to him with bright eyes, "Report your name, age, and army number."
The thin man raised his head shyly.
He looks very young, less than twenty years old, with extremely ordinary facial features, small nose and small eyes. He belongs to the kind of appearance that is placed in a crowd, and if he is not careful, he will be completely ignored.
His lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.
And the middle-aged knight could not help frowning when he saw his face clearly, and his tone became angry. "I have an impression of most recruits, but I haven't seen you!"
"Come on, who the hell are you?!"
Everyone was shocked. After the battle was over, they found out that a person of unknown origin had sneaked into the team. It was a shame.
Some people have doubts,
"Before, we clearly set a boat to Black Tern Island during the sleep time of the fallen murlocs, but we were surrounded. Did you inform them in advance?!"
"Qiang—" A group of knights pulled out the long swords around their waists towards him, looking badly.
Roy is very puzzled. In the observation, this guy is all normal, and there is no sign of degeneration... And as a person, how can he communicate with the half-fish
It seems unreasonable that he is a traitor.
In front of everyone's eyes, the man spread his hands silently and shook his head calmly, indicating that he was not malicious.
Then he turned his eyes to the young witcher who was observing, and hooked his fingers at him—
"quack wow..."
In an instant, the soldiers, witchers, and Princess Yada were all stunned!
Why do human beings make such a strange voice, like a - a half-murloc
Taking advantage of the time when everyone was in a daze, the initiator ran and rushed to the swamp in the lake area.
"Bastard, catch him!"
"He's a traitor, a traitor!"
A group of people chased after him frantically, but the weirdo was not running very fast, and with a few breaths, the chasing person was pulled down a long way.
And the distance is rapidly expanding, and no one can keep up with him except for the two witchers.
"Is this guy a human? He can run faster than a horse."
"Stop chasing, be careful of cheating! Go back and protect Princess Yada, you, and you, chase after me!"
…
The monster's footsteps were too fast, and the witcher chased him into the vast, swampy hinterland of Lake Vizima.
No sign.
A thick fog suddenly swelled around, and the visibility became extremely low for a short while, and Roy who was in the fog suddenly lost contact with Leto.
He cautiously put on a Kunen seal, a crossbow, a sword, and dark gold pupils wandering around.
A figure suddenly flashed in the thick fog not far away—the knight who fled before!
Roy followed!
Intense chase, five minutes later.
The fake knight led him all the way to the east bank of Lake Vizima, dashing all the way into the lake, stopped abruptly, and bowed reverently towards the clear lake.
In front of Roy, there was a change of light and shadow, and in an instant, the thin man in chain mail disappeared mysteriously, and a short half-fish man in a red-brown torn cloak appeared again.
He stooped slightly, with two long and white beards growing on the side of the catfish's mouth, and the bulging eyeballs were all white on the eyelids, giving him a kind-hearted look.
And in those deep eyes, there is no trace of the ill-will of a fallen half-murloc, but a ray of wisdom.
Geek
Age: 89
Gender: Male
identity:
Half-murloc hermit (He is a legend among half-murlocs, who has lived in seclusion in Lake Vizima for decades, witnessing the glory and fall of the half-murloc people in the Lake Vizima area.)
Believer of the Goddess of the Lake (it devoutly worships the Goddess of Lake Vizima, who has some spellcasting abilities thanks to the Goddess of the Lake)
Life: 80
Mana: 120
Attributes:
Strength: 6
Agility: 8
Constitution: 8
Perception: 6
Will: 9
Charisma: 8
Spirit 12
Skill:
Drum Wave Technique LV5: Primary water element magic, consumes a small amount of magic power, and controls the water flow in the lake.
Water Archery LV6: After a simple gesture and spell, summon a water element arrow to attack the enemy.
Spiritual Link (Passive Solidification): This is a unique innate ability that can communicate with most intelligent creatures through the mind.
…
Fallen murlocs, half murlocs, the altar on Black Tern Island, the goddess of the lake...
Countless thoughts were intertwined in the witcher's mind, and he suddenly realized-
"You haven't fallen... a normal murloc?"
The murloc's sticky webbed fingers clasped his chest and bowed to him.
"Galu...wow in the room...chaco" (Don't be nervous, Geek is not mean.)
Roy was 100% sure that he had never learned the language of a murloc. Every word it spat out of his mouth was very unfamiliar, but he could understand the meaning unexpectedly.
This is probably the effect of mental linking.
"Your Excellency Geek, you must give me an explanation—" the young witcher retracted his weapon, "why did he sneak into the knights and lead me here?"
Geek stroked his two white beards,
(As early as half a month ago, I received the revelation from the goddess that there will be a team to crusade the fallen. I joined your team to help.)
(Otherwise on Black Tern Island, everyone except you and the bald witcher will be transformed... )
Roy nodded and asked again,
"Goddess? Is it the god you believe in?"
(Goddess of the Lake)
The young witcher made up his mind, "What do you mean, in addition to the evil things enshrined at the altar, there is another master in Lake Vizima, the goddess of the lake?"
The murloc nodded,
(My countrymen originally believed in the noble lady Vivian.)
"But I clearly remember that the Goddess of the Lake lives in Selavi Lake in Toussaint?"
The murloc hermit suddenly narrowed his eyes and waved his right webbed towards the air, his slender beard trembling and looking a little excited.
(The goddess was born of water, she has many sisters, and the radiance of the goddess glitters where the lake is rippling.)
"So Vizima Lake was originally the goddess' territory," Roy's eyes shot a ray of light, "and was it occupied by the creatures in the altar?"
The half-murloc suddenly waved his webbed fins with great excitement,
(The evil creature couldn't help but robbed the goddess's territory, and also bewitched my compatriots, and destroyed my tribe. Now there are only less than ten normal half-murlocs left!)
"So that's the case, the feud of the dead... Then you came to me this time, is there a way to deal with it?"
"Ulu!"
"But why is it me, a nobody from the Viper School? Lesso's skills are far superior to mine, and the power of His Royal Highness Yada is beyond my reach."
The half-murloc looked at him solemnly.
(You did not appear in the revelation of the goddess, you are an outlier who broke into the crusade. At first, I was just out of curiosity and secretly followed up on Black Tern Island to see what steps you can take."
(But then I was instructed by the goddess that there was a special person in the party—)
The half-murloc folded his hands on his chest, looking at the young witcher with approval in his eyes,
(You, the Viper School witcher, Roy, have met a series of demanding conditions in the past year.)
The murloc hermit's carrot-like stubby webbed fingers pointed to the clear lake water,
(Go, the goddess is waiting for you in the lake, He will tell you all the rest... This is both a gift and a test, it is all up to you... )
After saying that, the half-murloc geek waved his webbed goodbye and plunged into Lake Vizima, disappearing without a trace.
There was a hint of hesitation on Roy's face.
"Could it be—"
He had guesses about what happened next, and there was really no reason to reject such an opportunity, so he walked steadily towards the lake.