Mercenaries and Adventurers

The waterhole agreed with Knight Lanisa is not very far to the east of the rocky mountain.

However, due to the forest obstruction, it was not easy for them to see the stone mountain in the distance as long as they were slightly away from the rocky mountain. Although the mountain cannot be seen, the light from the burning wooden wall on the top of the mountain seems to be clearly visible no matter how far away it is.

After everyone entered the forest, they quietly touched the water pool that had been frozen by the cold without making any loud noises.

Because of the water pool, the terrain here is slightly more open. Before everyone officially walked out of the forest and approached the water pool, they carefully inspected the area around the water pool and found no footprints of wild beasts passing by recently.

"Those beasts." Old hunter Tost checked a vague footprint of canine beasts on the ground. After standing up, he continued: "It is estimated that the thick ice on the pool cannot be broken, so there are not many beasts here. Stay close. Same goes for the Boreal Wolf."

After hearing his words, everyone knew that it was temporarily safe here.

When they came to join up, they didn't see any greetings from the war horses or Knight Lanisa. They naturally knew that the female knight had not come to join them before them.

So everyone settled down.

The ground near the pool was simply cleared of snow, and everyone sat down on the ground.

Keir put down the body of his companion that he was carrying on his back, and followed the instructions of the old hunters and tied a piece of rope to the body. Then a young hunter climbed up the big tree on the edge of the clearing, and Kil threw the rope up, and then pulled the two bodies up.

The forest floor is far from safe. If they encounter a large number of northern wolves, they will definitely have to retreat while fighting. The bodies of their dead companions cannot be taken away in the battle. So, it was better to hide their two bodies high in the tree trunk to avoid wild beasts.

After everything was done, no one started a fire, for fear that the fire would attract a large number of northern wolves. So they sat on the ground next to each other, staying close to each other to keep warm.

Although they couldn't speak loudly, there was no problem in speaking in a low voice, so everyone quietly discussed the future matters.

Keir couldn't interrupt what they were talking about about the death ceremony for his dead companions, so he had to listen silently.

The vast majority of Kendall County residents are immigrants from the Empire. The young people are all the second generation born in the local area, but the funeral ceremony to bid farewell to the deceased is already very different from that in the empire.

After listening to it for a while, Keir realized that the rituals of bidding farewell to the dead were very different in different parts of the empire. After these immigrants from all over the empire came to the New Kingdom, they experienced a rapid mixture of cultural habits and had already developed local customs in the New Kingdom. The empire had a very different farewell ceremony for the dead.

Several old hunters said that their old buddy had arranged a funeral ceremony in the style of the Church of the God of Hunting in the empire's hometown before his death. After all, he was not too young. At his age, he would not have died from Knight Lanissa. During the hunting mission, he might die from a disease or accident caused by the severe cold in a certain winter.

The young hunters insisted on giving the dead young man a local Kendal funeral ceremony. Although the young man did not explain any relevant matters before his death, having known each other for such a long time, they naturally knew what their dead partner was thinking.

The old hunters repeatedly reminded that the young hunter who died had his own family, and the funeral ceremony was arranged and hosted by his family, so they did not need to interfere like this. But for some reason, Kiel's young companions have always insisted on their opinions, and they will negotiate with the other party's family.

Keir couldn't understand what they were arguing about. Everyone was already dead, so what was the point of fighting for it.

He couldn't figure it out, so he shut up and rested.

Of course, rest is rest, and the hand is always placed on the hilt of the sword at the waist.

He rubbed the round metal ball at the end of the sword hilt with his armor-gloved fingers, but he didn't have any unnecessary thoughts in his mind.

-

"Damn wolf! Die to me!!!"

Knight Lanissa reached out and grabbed the head of a northern wolf that jumped towards him, then turned around and threw the northern wolf as a weapon.

This northern wolf knocked over seven or eight northern wolves that were desperately attacking, and hindered them for a while, but new northern wolves kept coming from all directions through the forest.

These northern wolves were quite excited, especially accompanied by the weird mocking cry of the wolf king in the bear den.

"Woo, woo, woo."

The Wolf King himself did not expect that the originally embarrassing and desperate situation would be reversed just a moment ago.

Although its subordinates suddenly appeared and could not do anything to that human being, with the support of their subordinates, maybe it could be like in previous years, with the support of its subordinates, it could fight off this wolf whose hands were stained with their wolf blood. Female humans.

Thinking of this, it tore the delicate bear cub under the wolf's paws apart in one bite, tore it into pieces and then swallowed it in its mouth. It then put its bloody mouth close to the fatal wound on the body of the big black bear, which was only two circles smaller than itself, and sucked.

The blood that has not yet cooled down is rich in nutrients and strength. The bear's blood in the corpse is sucked out of the bear corpse in one mouthful, and then swallowed into the throat through the tongue.

After feeling the warmth and strength in its body, it picked up the human weapon that had been brought along beside it and staggered out of the bear's den, which was not deep.

As soon as it came outside, it forced its actions to appear normal, even though the fragments of human weapons embedded in its body at the front of its left rib were still hurting it.

But it cannot show its weakness and fatigue in front of the men who rush to help.

When the surrounding wolves saw their king walking out of the ground, they all gasped in excitement.

Knight Lanisa saw the surrounding northern wolves stop attacking, and immediately noticed the wolf king walking out of the bear's den: "Hmph, bluff. Where did the arrogant momentum of the previous two days go now?"

She knew that the beast opposite seemed to be able to understand human speech, so she was taunting him at this moment, just for the opposite person.

Hearing humans mocking it like this, the wolf king who came out of the bear's den almost couldn't hold back the false airs he was putting on. It immediately howled in a low voice, letting the surrounding northern wolves surround the humans on the opposite side.

It also took a seemingly calm pace and walked slowly towards the opposite side.

At this time, the two alpha wolves commanded by these wolves approached the Wolf King and quickly informed him of their situation before the next battle began.

After hearing a few words, the Wolf King stopped.

When the surrounding wolves saw that the wolf king was no longer moving, they temporarily suppressed the urge to kill and fight. They all turned to look at the wolf king and the alpha wolf next to him.

The wolf king lowered his head and asked the two wolves in a low voice, and received immediate answers from the two wolves.

Immediately, the Wolf King's eyes changed, and a high-temperature magical energy was released from the inside out on his body. The two wolves immediately howled and ran away from the Wolf King, but they did not dare to do anything. They could only crawl down with their upper bodies, their heads and noses pressed tightly against the snow on the ground, but their eyes were glancing at the Wolf King. Understand what they said that angered the Great Wolf King of the Northland Wolf.

Knight Lanisa also looked at the Wolf King, and at the same time she grasped the one-handed heavy sword tightly with both hands, and the life energy in her whole body was secretly flowing, ready to fight or evacuate with a big jump at any time.

But what happened next made her feel strange.

The Wolf King's anger or anything else was not directed at her. The Wolf King's eyes glowed red as brightly as a torch, and then he swung his body and looked around.

All the northern wolves that the Wolf King saw were lying on the ground trembling, terrified and at a loss.

Fortunately, the Wolf King didn't seem to be targeting them.

When the Wolf King circled around and looked at Lanisa Knight, Lanisa Knight herself was very nervous, but she did not feel murderous intent or hatred from the old opponent opposite. But she fully understood that those eyes that were brighter than torches or magic lamps were clearly filled with hatred that could last for who knows how long.

The Wolf King looked around, but it seemed that he couldn't get what he wanted. Immediately afterwards, it took a deep breath with its wide-open mouth, and regardless of the small amount of high-temperature blood that burst out of the wound on its front ribs, it raised its huge wolf head and howled toward the sky.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

The voice is full of emotion, and even the dullest person can hear the anger and hatred contained in the other person's voice from this beast.

It was a hatred that wanted to tear something into pieces, chew it up and swallow it.

This is quite suitable for a beast like the Northern Wolf.

After the wolf king finished howling, he remained in this position, motionless, as if waiting for something.

Knight Lanessa also remained motionless, cautiously staring at the Wolf King not far away while putting her mind to her ears. She had a vague premonition of what was about to happen.

Her heart was beating loudly, but it was not the high-speed pumping during battle, but rather ominous, as if something was pressing down on her.

She didn't know why she had this premonition, but her instinct seemed to be telling her something.

-

A moment after the wolf king howled, in the silent forest where only the heavy breathing of the northern wolves came, an equally high-pitched howl came from nowhere.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Different from the deep and powerful voice of the giant wolf king, this wolf howl that also sounded was clear and high-pitched. Knight Lanissa frowned when she heard it.

She has been dealing with Northern Wolves on and off since her father's death soon. She recognized that it was a wolf howl, but it was very different from the northern wolf howls she often heard.

She was sure it wasn't any wolf howl she'd heard before. It's not that she can hear the content of the wolf's howl, it's just that compared to all the northern wolves she's dealt with before, the sound she heard doesn't have the majestic power of the giant beast like the Wolf King. , it’s not the beastly howling of ordinary northern wolves.

It's somewhere in between, but something is wrong somewhere.

After the wolf howled at this moment, all the people and beasts who heard it were unable to determine its location, because the sound was quickly hiding in the surrounding forest and changing its location.

The Wolf King twisted his neck so that his huge wolf head followed the direction of the sound.

The wolf king began to breathe heavily. He called out a few words in a low voice and told the two wolves beside him. Then he silently lowered his head and picked up the human metal weapon lying on the ground.

The red magic power visible to the naked eye on its body vibrated and gathered towards the left rib of the body. With a groan, its teeth rubbed against the metal spear in its mouth, and a blue thing mixed with high-temperature wolf blood fell to the ground.

The blood full of magic burned the blue thing, but the blue weapon fragments were wrapped in a layer of mixed power and could not help trembling.

Several weird-shaped heads emerged from the blue things, biting the Wolf King's blood that burned them.

However, the Wolf King did not even look at the thing that tortured it. After the foreign object in the left rib was forced out, it controlled its own magic power to burn its wound in reverse.

The flesh and blood was quickly burned by the high temperature, but even so, it no longer bled.

The Wolf King walked slowly towards the place where the sound came from in the forest, then gradually accelerated and started running.

The Northland wolves behind them also got up from the ground. After giving Knight Lanissa a fierce look, they immediately followed their wolf king.

Knight Lanisa followed the Wolf King with her eyes, watching him run into the forest with a large number of northern wolves. She knew from just a hunch that these beasts were not pretending to run away, but something must have happened during the howling of the Wolf King and the unknown thing just now.

She was a little hesitant, not sure whether she should pursue him or not.

If she had been alone before, she would have dealt with the Wolf King who was also injured. It cannot be said that it is a sure shot, but at least the winning rate is around 70%. If the battle time and space are further relaxed, her winning rate will be higher.

But the unexpected appearance of the Northland wolves earlier caused her chance of winning to drop to less than 50%.

She clearly knew how ferocious and desperate those northern wolves would be in fighting for the Wolf King. This is how many previous battles in winter were lost.

But things have changed.

She didn't quite understand what happened, but she knew that the thing that made the wolf howl later must have a deep conflict with the Wolf King.

This may be the variable that changes the situation.

Of course, she could also change her pace at this moment and join her horses or subordinates.

Thinking of this, she hesitated. But after thinking about it, she made an immediate decision.

It was definitely too late to join up with the men. After all, they must still be in a stalemate with most of the wolves on the rocky mountain. During the confrontation just now, she took a few glances at the Northern wolves surrounding her and confirmed that these Northern wolves were just part of the wolf pack.

The large group of northern wolves did not come over, and they must still be fighting with her men.

If his subordinates are of no use, he can only rely on his own war horses. Riding on a war horse, even if you can't defeat the Wolf King and the Northern Wolf, and that unknown thing, you can at least escape safely.

Before leaving, she glanced at the blue weapon fragments burning like a ball of fire on the ground not far away. Knight Lanissa noticed that it was a blue ax without an ax handle. After discovering the strange monster head emerging from it and the high-temperature blood of the Wolf King fighting with it, she immediately tilted her body and shot out in the direction from which she came, without taking any more care, and flew towards the position where she placed her war horse at high speed.

The snow on the ground stirred up a wall of snow mist three to five meters above the ground as the female knight moved. Every time she stepped on the ground to gain strength, the snow falling on the branches of the surrounding trees would be trampled by this. They fell to the ground due to the shock caused.

The chameleon squirrel, which was looking at the strange movement in the forest at the entrance of the tree trunk, retracted its head in fright, and then blocked the tree hole with a eaten tree fruit shell, no longer daring to curiously explore what was going on outside.

-

Nothing that happened in the distance affected the people of Kiel who were waiting honestly for the knight to return.

They huddled together and did not even light an open fire in order not to be discovered by the Boreal Wolf. They were afraid that the Boreal Wolf patrolling nearby would find them and evacuated the top of the rocky mountain.

But it was too cold to just sit there, so they had no choice but to stand up, hold each other's arms and start walking around. After getting active, my butt that had been sitting on the ground was finally no longer cold, and my hands and feet gradually became warmer.

"Just moving around is not enough. Let's all eat something more." The old hunter unpacked his luggage and took out a few grilled wolf meat strips.

Under the helmet, Kil looked disgusted, but his stomach was telling him that it needed to eat something. Even the most despised wolf meat these days.

And it's roasted wolf meat that's gone cold.

The salty roasted wolf meat was dry and hard. After Kil thanked the old hunter against his will, he turned his back and lifted up his helmet visor, biting the thing with difficulty.

But everyone is the same, no matter old or young, they are all chewing on this thing.

Kiel watched the old hunters painstakingly and carefully tear into the hard roasted wolf meat, and suggested that they build a small fire instead of making it too big for heating, so they could build a smaller one. The fire that heats the food in your hand.

Although the old hunters know from experience that they should not raise a fire at this time to expose their hidden position at this time. But the teeth of the three old guys were begging for mercy, complaining that they couldn't handle the roasted wolf meat in their mouths.

After careful consideration, they still allowed the lighting of a small fire.

-

A few dry twigs were set on fire by a few lumps of hay.

"Hey, it's on fire!" Kil excitedly blew the flames on the small fire.

On the other side, everyone waved their palms and arms to disperse the smoke emitted when the firewood was not fully burned.

The old hunter stood a little further away and looked at the top of the fire: "It's okay, there's no smoke. Huh, hurry up and take out the food and heat it up. Everyone, move faster and eat it directly after it's heated. Hurry up after everything is done. Put out the fire.”

Everyone took out their portions of roasted wolf meat and gathered around the small fire. Kil placed his share on the top of the flame with the highest temperature. He knew that the temperature was the highest here.

Sure enough, as the fat on the roasted wolf meat sizzled, Kil ignored the burning and directly inserted the wolf meat into the snow, then quickly took it out and put it into his mouth. Wow, the temperature is just right.

The fat on the outside of the barbecue is immediately cooled by the ice and snow, while the meat inside is heated just enough to become soft.

With one bite, Kil chewed his teeth, chewing up the salt-rich meat, and swallowed it mixed with saliva into his throat.