Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kil glanced at the floating wolf skin hanging behind him and found that although the wolf skin was floating towards the side of the approaching wolf howling, there didn't seem to be any special change.

Guessing that it was not the Wolf King, Kil quickly tied the rope with the wolf skin to the dry bark of a large tree.

The bark of these trees is old, hard and heavy. If there are no animals to remove it, it is estimated that it will not fall off if it hangs outside the trunk for more than ten years. However, this can be regarded as providing an extra layer of protection for this type of large tree that Kiel has never seen before.

Prepared for battle, everyone lined up in a dense but spaced battle formation to greet the approaching monster.

Before I saw the person, I heard his voice first.

The gasping sound told Kiel and the others that the thing coming was a big guy. As the distance between the two got closer and closer, the other party's deep howling shook the big trees nearby and the snow fell in small quantities.

Licking his lips, Kil finally took off his visor.

However, just when they were about to bypass the sight obstruction of the big trees and be able to look directly at the approaching monster.

But the other party stopped.

Immediately, the low howling and heavy breathing disappeared.

"That guy!" A young hunter just said half a sentence.

He was immediately frightened by the old hunter on the side: "Quiet!!"

The young man immediately stopped talking.

Kil glanced left and right, trying to find the monster that must be nearby. But the other party had no peeping or murderous intent, and he didn't know whether to keep himself still quietly or to move lightly.

He didn't find a single trace.

The situation was deadlocked.

-

But soon, the quiet scene was interrupted by the chaotic howling of wolves coming from the direction Kiel and the others were facing.

The howling wolves were chaotic and numerous, and they were approaching Kiel and the others at a leisurely pace along the route of the previously unknown monster.

Kil maintained his basic sword-and-shield fighting posture and did not move much. Instead, he heard an old hunter behind him asking the commanding Tost what to do.

"Another group has arrived, a pack of wolves from the North, and the Wolf King is probably with them. What should we do?"

The old hunter Tost sped up his breathing slightly, and his eyes slowly moved in his aging and sunken eyes. Soon, he saw the floating wolf skin tied to the bark of an old tree. He made a judgment: "Our team moves sideways as a whole! Quick!"

Although I don’t know what the purpose of this is, everyone has always trusted him, so everyone immediately kept their distance and different warning directions, and the whole group moved to the right of the original position.

"Kiel! Destroy that wolfskin!" Before the old hunter Tost made his final move, he asked Kiel in front of the team in clear and unambiguous words.

Although Kilta didn't know why and was a little reluctant, he still did it.

He walked towards the big tree beside him, hooked the damaged part of the wolf's skin with the edge of the shield with his left hand, and then pulled it down with his left arm. Immediately afterwards, the long sword in his right hand slashed horizontally from the wolfskin's empty waist.

With a horizontal slash of the sword, the entire waist part of the wolf skin was broken in half. Like a hot air balloon with a hole in it, or a crashed airship, the entire floating wolf skin could no longer float in mid-air. It completely broke, collapsed and fell to the ground.

Kil flew up and kicked the wolf's skin, and then drew a sword diagonally from bottom to top. This sword cut the entire wolf's head in half. This time, the thing completely lost its magic and fell to the ground in tatters.

Then Kil put the long sword on his shoulder, quickly accelerated his pace to catch up with his moving companions, and maintained a fighting posture.

However, the monster hiding quietly did not attack the seven of them.

It wasn't until Kiel and the others left the spot and the pack of wolves approached that a high-pitched wolf howl sounded from the heights of a nearby tree.

Kil raised his head and looked with everyone in the direction of the sound.

It turned out that the other party had just climbed into the tree and hid.

But why did he expose himself in this place and at this time?

-

A moment ago, the Wolf King's sensitive ears lost the sound of the pursuit target. At that time, he was still worried about what kind of conspiracy that guy might have planned to get rid of him and his men.

For many years, it thought it had lost the chance to take revenge.

But the other party deliberately exposed himself by speaking out before, making him realize that that guy had been hiding in the dark all along and clearly remembered the grudge between them.

The chaotic magic power and the loss of blood made it sober up. The beast's side gradually fell into a disadvantage in the game between soul and consciousness, while the side nourished by hatred has slowly emerged from the depths of soul, consciousness and body at this moment. Floating quietly.

"Oooh!"

it chanted.

"Ugh!"

But the wolf's mouth and tongue could only produce vague words.

These unexplained things, like talking in a dream, made the wolf under him feel strange.

The wolves followed behind the Wolf King, who was staggering, and followed the footsteps of the pursuer.

The faint sound coming from the opponent disappeared for a moment, but soon, a wolf howl that could be called a provocation or challenge came from the height of a big tree not far ahead.

The clear and powerful provocative meaning in the wolf howl made the northern wolves very angry, and they immediately slowed down and howled loudly.

Then, including the Wolf King, they all hurriedly took two steps and came to the place where the sound came from.

There, the monster has been waiting in the tree for a long time.

-

It also didn't expect that the physical strength it was proud of turned out to be inferior to the four-legged beast. It traveled on two legs and was far from the endurance rival of the four-legged beast.

Fortunately, it realized this quickly, so after discovering a team of human hunters in advance, it stretched its arms and climbed to the tree, crouching on the tree to calm down its breathing and physical strength.

It was getting tired of watching this mutual killing that had lasted for many years in the forest.

If appropriate, at this time and at this place, let it be the end of the long killing process.

It squatted on the tallest branch of the tree that could bear its weight, cleared its throat, and sang softly from its long mouth full of sharp teeth:

"The wolf whose eyes are burned by the fire of hatred."

"A person whose mind is dominated by the desire to kill."

"A foolish and loyal beast."

"The hunter who lights the fire."

"Fight! Fight!"

"The silent forest is your battlefield and your grave."

"Don't worry about the opponent winning. Please tear out the opponent's throat at the moment of death."

"Don't worry about defeat, because the winner will eat the loser's body."

"And in the end, the winner will also be defeated by me."

"Into my belly."

"Ho ho, ho ho ho, ha ha ha ha."

-

Knight Lanissa heard the loud howl of wolves coming from directly in the distance, and then the howls of the wolves came back.

She shook her head, sincerely thinking that the stupid howls of those beasts were of no use at all. After all, beasts are beasts. Even if they become numerous and powerful, they will still be beasts in the end.

She made no intention of speeding her horse closer.

Because, she could already hear the fighting ahead. It was not appropriate to intervene in the battle at this time. It was better to let those guys kill each other. She could wait until it was over before entering the battlefield.

End everything once and for all.

As long as the Wolf King dies.

-

The roars and wails of the northern wolves came one after another from not far away, and Kiel and the others had to face the team in the direction of the battle.

Sure enough, several strong adult northern wolves and a group of young wolves approached through the trunk of a big tree.

"Fight or not?" Everyone looked at the Northern Wolf approaching cautiously with one eye, and looked at the old hunter Tost with the other.

"Move back a little and take a look." The old hunter said.

So, after everyone shot a few arrows to drive back the northern wolf, they slowly moved back.

However, an old hunter suddenly turned around and looked at a place behind him: "No, there's one behind too!" The old hunter immediately asked everyone to approach a big tree nearest to them, and everyone got closer to each other.

As if they sensed that humans had discovered the small team behind them, the northern wolf in front that had attracted Kiel's attention also launched an attack.

Kil turned around and looked at the northern wolves behind him, and found that they were still a little far away from the hunters. So he focused his main attention on the northern wolf in front of him.

With the long sword on his shoulder, Kil rushed forward with his shield, directly sticking the metal shield in his hand into the face of the rushing Northland wolf.

Before the opponent could recover and scratch him with his claws, the long sword on his shoulder was suddenly thrown forward against the right edge of the shield. With a dull sound of stomping, the northern wolf's left front paw was chopped off.

Keir took another step back and kicked the Northland Wolf, who had only three legs left, to the ground.

Immediately there were young wolves attacking from both sides.

The two of them were originally an auxiliary fighting force that followed the adult wolf, but as the adult wolf was injured in an instant, the two of them immediately became fierce, opening their mouths and biting both of Kil's calves.

Naturally, Keir would not let these two little beasts succeed. He leaned down and used the shield in his left hand to block the calf bitten by the northern wolf. Then he turned the long sword in his right hand at an angle and stabbed down.

The snow on the ground and the rotten rot on the frozen forest floor couldn't stop the hunting thrust of Kil's sword at all, and even the deeper soil couldn't stop it.

The northern wolf on Kiel's right saw a sharp blade facing it suddenly appeared in the place where it opened its mouth to bite. It was frightened and wanted to straighten its two front legs to slow down, but its panicked movements were deformed due to nervousness. The speed still hasn't slowed down.

So its dark nose and half of it directly hit the sharp edge of the sword.

The surface of the sharp sword blade is vaguely wrapped with white light, but what is actually more dangerous is the metal sword body underneath that is both strong and flexible. The blade cut through the skin, flesh and bones of the northern wolf, and instantly cut open half of the long face of the northern wolf that crashed into it.

And the other side.

Kil's lowered left shield came into close contact with the northern wolf pup that was biting him, and then there was a loud impact.

Since Kil's posture of holding the shield was awkward and there was no body support, the shield immediately hit his left leg with force.

His left leg was numb with pain, and without saying a word, Kil used his right hand to pull out the dagger from his waist. The dagger was rotated between the gloved fingers, quickly changing from being held upside down to being held upright.

Then Kil rewarded the young wolf with a bite from a human steel dagger.

The long dagger body penetrated directly from the ear of the young wolf. The still dizzy young wolf didn't even make a sound, it just shook its body and limbs and fell to the ground.

Kil had just stabbed the young wolf on the left to death and wanted to deal with the northern wolf on the right. A flying arrow hit the left eye of the northern wolf whose face was embedded in the body of a long sword.

Most of the arrows with speed and force entered the wolf's head, immediately ending the life of the northern wolf.

Without looking at his companions behind him, Kil could guess that these were support arrows shot by a young hunter companion. "Thank you!" He responded in a low voice and drew his long sword from the ground.

When the long sword was stuck on the ground, it did not move at all when hit by the northern wolf cub, as if the entire sword was firmly cast on the ground. But Kil held the hilt of the sword with one hand and pulled it out, gently and deftly pulling the sword out of the ground.

He was about to step forward and thrust his sword to kill the northern wolf whose front legs had been cut off by him, but a new northern wolf came immediately.

This northern wolf was no longer like the previous northern wolf, which foolishly pounced halfway. It hit the ground directly with its own body.

Kil knew the other party's plan in an instant.

When the other party wants to get close to him, he will take advantage of the opportunity to get close to him and directly pull down or knock Kier down. Instead of confronting him head-on, he will create opportunities for other northern wolves that are charging towards him.

But how could Keir do as he wished.

Backing away slightly, Kil turned his head slightly and shouted behind him: "Here!"

Immediately, the fellow hunters who heard his cry immediately shot three arrows at the northern wolf who was close to Kiel.

The three people released arrows from different positions and in different orders.

As a result, this unlucky guy was hit by an arrow on his side, and then received two more arrows.

The three emergency arrows were not fully drawn because the bow string was not fully drawn, so the damage caused was not fatal to the Northern Wolf.

But Kil is not a big wooden tree standing stupidly.

After he hit the northern wolf with three arrows in a row, he immediately received a strike from below. For a beast like the Boreal Wolf, its back has the strongest spine and rib protection, and the muscles on its back are also quite strong. Therefore, it is not necessary. Kil will not chop the entire back of the northern wolf from top to bottom.

If it's the head, there's a guarantee of stun even if it can't break the head and it'll be hit hard. But if the body is cut from above, even if the Northern Wolf is injured, it still has enough fighting spirit to hurt people.

But Kiel's move from bottom to top was completely different. This blow avoided the solid protection of the back and directly injured the soft belly that is common among canines.

Although the long hair and skin on the abdomen here are soft and tough enough, it is a place that is too easy to tear when faced with Kil's recast hunting sword.

Inside the abdomen are the vital internal organs of the wolf. No matter which one is injured, the injured wolf will lose its ability to fight due to severe pain and rapid blood loss.

Same with this one.

The sword lifted up cut off multiple ribs on one side of the Northern Wolf's body, along with the internal organs wrapped inside.

Soon, there was no need for Kil to replenish his sword. The northern wolf fell to the ground on its side, with blood gurgling from the wound on one side of its abdomen. On the other side, bright red and pink blood gushed out from its nose and mouth.

It is not dead yet, but the physical strength has left it. The tough body that could have run for a long time was now the same as the herbivore it used to bite its buttocks and tear out its intestines. All that was left was lying on the grass and whining.

After Killing the Northern Wolf, Kiel immediately turned to support the other side of the team.

There are also northern wolves approaching over there.

It's time for him to show off his skills.

-

Lanissa Knight frowned, as she seemed to hear the roar of humans.

The voice was clear and a little childish. After thinking for a moment, she recognized that it was the shout of Little Kil, the youngest in the team.

But it's strange, shouldn't they be nearby?

After all, she didn't know where she was at this time. But she could still tell that it was a certain distance away from the rocky mountain.

Hunters should capture most of the Northland wolves on the rocky mountains. Even if they evacuate there, they should wait for her at the place they agreed on before.

It shouldn't be here and now, in the middle of a fight.

Although the female knight had some doubts, she still tapped the horse's belly with her boot, urging her beloved horse to trot in the snow in the forest.

The snowfall on the ground many days ago cannot hinder the powerful war horse under his crotch. It only needs to accelerate slightly by carrying its owner, and it can wade through the snow on the ground and the fluffy decay under the snow.

Knight Lanisa pulled the reins of her horse to avoid the battle area between the twisted magic power of the Wolf King and the magic power of another unknown monster, and gradually approached the place where the human voice came from.

"Watch the left!"

This is an old but powerful voice. Knight Lanissa immediately recognized the cry of the old hunter Tost.

Sure enough, her hunters came over.

In this way, Knight Lanisa patted her beloved horse's neck, and the steel on her fingers and the steel armor between the horse's neck made a clear and loud collision sound: "Speed ​​up the pace."

After receiving the owner's instructions, the war horse neighed excitedly, then stepped out with four hooves, speeding up while accurately avoiding the roots of the big trees.

-

The hunters in the battle heard the heavy thud of horse hooves on the ground.

Even the snow and the thick rot underneath could not stop the echo of the horseshoes hitting the ground. Everyone who heard the sound immediately became excited.

"It's the adults who are here!"

"Lady Lanessa! Here!"

The young hunters shouted loudly, guiding the female knight who was approaching quickly.

Riding on the horse, Knight Lanisa passed through the obstacles of layers of trees and saw her men in the battle. With just one glance, he could tell that their numbers had not decreased since the Rock Mountain camp was separated.

That's good.

She didn't care much about the pension after the death of her men. Those hunters who dared to follow her into the huge forest to fight to the death were what she really valued.

However, although she values ​​them, she has always been mentally prepared for casualties in harsh battles.

Compared with this winter's crusade, in previous years' crusade, in the first year of the crusade, all the hunters died, and she was the only one who escaped from the forest.

She was riding a horse, and after seeing the people responding to the attack of the Northern Wolf, she put away the armor-piercing rapier she had drawn.

Because she saw Kil in the middle of a fight, and Kil was carrying a long gun behind his back. Little Gil did not use a spear in the battle, probably because the battle distance was too close.

But she is suitable for using pole weapons on horses.

"Kiel, throw the spear to me!"

As soon as she said those words, she remembered the spear that Kil had lent her before, which made Knight Lanissa blush a little under her helmet and visor, because the weapon that was not inferior to her was snatched away by the Wolf King.

And her commonly used family spear was taken away by the Northland wolves many days ago.

‘Hey, am I not destined to be compatible with the spear? ’

She couldn't help but think so.