Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir briefly explained the situation inside the bandit's cave, and asked these people to arrange for people to take care of the loot and carriage outside, and then lead people down to take away the goods he specially selected from the cave.

"The bandits inside have looted a lot of goods, but we can't take them all away. There are only so many carriages, so remember to make a choice when the transport capacity is appropriate. In addition, these surrendered and captured bandits outside Everyone, keep an eye on me, don’t let any of them escape! Do you understand?”

Several young people knocked on their chests with their fists and spoke in a scattered voice.

"I hope you really understand."

Kil complained and walked into the cave first.

After taking a few steps, he saw the captive businessmen and wealthy people huddled together at a loss. He pointed at the carriage and said, "The carriage will be repaired in a while. You all can get on and drive away. Look at how weak you are." It seems that if we walk, everyone will have nothing to do tonight, just waiting for you will be enough."

The prosperous businessmen immediately expressed their gratitude loudly, while the well-educated wealthy people showed impeccable gratitude etiquette in desperation.

Kil waved his hand and walked into the cracked cave muttering.

-

After re-entering, he headed straight into the deeper depths of the cave. The candlesticks and candles inside the cave hall were not taken away, and were reserved for the use of the young refugees who came in later.

He now had a newly captured luminous magic pendant on his belt, and the lighting brought by this was completely sufficient.

The pale cold light of magic made the cave where the low moans came from became even more terrifying and eerie. If Kil hadn't been brave enough and knew what he was about to deal with, he might not have been able to hear the echo in his dreams at night. The screams of living corpses startled him awake.

Patting his helmet, which made a crisp sound, Kil calmed down and stopped himself from thinking.

He has dealt with a lot of monsters and beasts this year, and his experience is completely different from that of himself who just arrived in another world and was frightened to the point of being unable to sleep when he heard the horror stories spread in the countryside.

He clearly knew how powerful the full-covering metal armor he wore was.

To be honest, the rotting bodies of those living corpses are disgusting enough, and the evil power that can corrode weapons and equipment makes people feel distressed about the cost of repairing equipment.

Other dangers?

Do you think that with bare hands, you can beat Kil who is wearing thick metal armor?

Laughing to death, his hand was broken and his armor was fine.

After all, they are resurrected monsters transformed from human corpses after death. In terms of strength, let alone the same as living people, in fact, due to the decay of muscles and eating each other, their strength is not as strong as before.

Although the mysterious resurrection power that drives them can still move the bodies with only skeletons left.

But strength has never been this monster's strong point.

Standing on the cliff of the high platform again, Kil slowly and carefully breathed through his nose, looking down at the many living corpses that stood up and stretched out their teeth towards him because of the presence of living people.

"Looks like the fans at the concert?"

After complaining, Kil pointed his fingers one by one, counting the number of living corpses underneath.

Some of them had only half their bodies left and were crawling around with rotten arms. Keir also counted these as separate ones. After counting, Keir sighed: "What a bunch of shit."

"Thirty-nine people, both men and women, mostly women."

Shaking his head, he knew why there were more women among the living corpses, but he couldn't think about this kind of thing deeply. If he thought about it deeply, he would fall into rage and emotion.

"Give you a destination that humans deserve. The Church of the God of the Dead always says that all things return to dust. In fact, after death, it is really good to become ashes instead of like you."

Kil took out the magic dagger Xinhuo from his waist, looked at the color of the magic gem inlaid on the gauntlet, and found that it was still bright red, then he stretched the dagger forward and pointed downwards.

He aimed at the living corpses who were also stretching their hands towards him.

"Burn the enemy!"

He read out the command to activate the magic weapon in a helpless tone.

Immediately, the magic light flashed on the magic dagger, and then a large number of magic sparks were sprayed forward along the dagger body. These magic sparks then quickly transformed into large groups of high-temperature magic flames in the air, spraying out turbulently.

The scorching white light completely illuminated the deep cave, which was not small in size. The huge flame expanded and released a loud roar and radiating light and heat.

Kil used his left hand to block the front of his visor, resisting the white light and heat coming from the pavement.

Different from the previous performance in the open space in the wild, the air in the cave does not circulate as freely as in the wild. Although there is weak ventilation deep in the cave, the huge amount of heat released still heats the entire cave a lot, which is something Kil did not expect before using the weapon.

Fortunately, although the surroundings were getting hot, it was still within the range of his tolerance.

Perhaps it was within the range of his heat tolerance after becoming a knight for the most part. The knights have a high resistance to cold and heat. The natural cold and heat will not cause any major trouble to them who have become fighting machines.

Kiel hadn't realized at this time that the temperature of the surrounding cave was already as high as 60 or 70 degrees. At this temperature, a normal person would soon die due to body function collapse due to the high temperature, but he felt fine.

Although it is hot, it is still within the tolerance range.

After talking about Keir, let’s take a look at the living corpses shrouded in high-temperature magic flames.

The tattered remnants of clothing on their bodies were roasted into chars by the high temperature in just an instant, and then the hair that had been soaked in rotting mucus for a long time turned into foul-smelling smoke the moment the flames approached, and then blew into the cave.

There was not much skin and flesh, but as soon as the flame came into contact, it quickly dehydrated and burned, and then turned into ashes in less than a second. The human skeleton, which was pale and contained mysterious power, actually did not last long.

The bones are quickly dried and dehydrated, and then the surface is heated and falls off, changing from a solid whole to a powder-like structure. There is a mysterious power that drives them to move inside, and they have no means or resistance in the face of the flames. Amidst the crackling sound, not even a shadow is left, and no one knows how to dissipate in the huge amount of magic light and heat.

When the finger moved away from the magic ruby ​​it came into contact with, the dagger no longer emitted magic sparks that could produce flames.

There were bursts of smoke all around, but the large amount of smoke and high temperature gradually moved towards the direction of the wind flow inside the cave. Kil fanned his face with his hand, took a small breath, and suddenly felt that the original stench was much reduced.

He looked down and saw that the entire place under the cliff of the high platform was left with a gray-white area that looked like radioactive diffusion. There is nothing in the gray-white area, and the rocks on the ground are even slightly red and shiny, like lava.

The ground that was originally filled with living corpses around them was left with only piles of gray and caked dust and ashes.

"Is it the ashes?"

Kil saw half a face bone among the dust cakes, and judged that all the living corpses had been burned to ashes.

"With such a powerful flame, there shouldn't be anything left of those living corpses. Hey, ashes will return to ashes, dust will return to dust. Those who want to leave cannot stay."

He muttered something and walked around on the small high platform, but didn't find any living corpses still on the ground at the bottom.

Even the half-living corpse that was a little further away was now only a white skeleton, motionless.

Even if it only affects a slightly distant place, because the direction of the dagger is the ground, the flames sprayed on the ground will extend all the way along the ground, and the range is far larger and wider than Kil's imagination.

Let's put it this way. The high-temperature magic flame ejected by the dagger's one-time unit is fixed. It will always release so much heat. This heat will either be released in the open space and burn up a large area in front of it, or it will encounter the obstruction of the ground. It will also cause these high-temperature flames to spread close to the ground and burn out a larger area.

"If we add a tube that gathers energy, wouldn't it be able to spray farther?" He shook his head, wondering if there was any material that could gather the magic flame that could melt even stones.

Just when Kil felt that he had killed all the living corpses in the cave, he planned to turn around and leave, leaving this hot and dry place.

In the scabbard on his waist, the long sword buzzed, and a little bit came out with a clang.

"What? There's more?"

Kil was a little surprised. With such powerful high-temperature flames, how could it be that there were powerful living corpses that could not be killed?

"Is it possible that there is another big boss who has gathered all the power of the living corpses to appear at this time?" He thought it was impossible, but his spiritual weapon told him that there were still living corpses left in the cave.

"Hey, then I need to see something. Just in time, don't you want to kill these living corpses with your own hands to take revenge? I'll leave the rest to you?"

Kil drew out his long sword, bypassed the hottest place under the high platform, and jumped directly down.

Boom, the combat boots hit the ground, stirring up a circle of bone dust.

"Look, it can be put into the urn. Can there be any living corpses left alive?"

He said this, but in fact his spirit did not relax.

Aiming the long sword at the place where the most living corpses were before, Kil asked: "Is it this direction?"

The long sword shook, indicating that it was not the case.

Kil was pointing his sword deeper into the cave: "Where is this direction?"

The long sword shook, indicating yes.

"Then let's go."

The combat boots swung back and forth cautiously, and the shield Kil was also carried on the equipment in his hand.

-

The deep cave is long and narrow and extends downward.

But it doesn't mean that the cave is endless. The surrounding rock walls are shrinking, and there are gaps in the roof of the cave. The smoke from the previous combustion is absorbed and sucked in. It is unknown where it is sent due to the air pressure difference in the cave.

The ground ahead was no longer as white and clean as it had been burned by the flames, but instead there were carrion and broken bones appearing on the uneven rocky ground.

Kil walked a straight line distance of more than thirty meters, then the sword in his hand tilted slightly to the left, and he turned to look at the rock wall on the left.

The friction and extrusion between large rocks and flat rock walls resulted in many large and small cracks.

There are drops of water seeping out of these cracks, making the only sound deep in the silent cave.

No, not the only one.

Kil carefully moved his boots closer, placed his long sword on top of the shield, and advanced slowly in a standard fighting posture with a shield.

In the crack of a huge rock extending from the ground, a dark crack as thick as a human waist, there was a faint moaning and roaring sound.

"it's here?"

The long sword shook, indicating that this was it.

Kil struck the metal shield with his weapon and made a provocative voice: "Dead body, come out, come out and die! No, come out and end this deformed death."

But there was only a small roar in the dark rock crevices, and nothing inside came out.

"If you don't come out, you will die if you don't come out."

Kil approached cautiously, but when he was outside the opening of the rock crevice, he was stunned. His eyebrows furrowed and he stared closely at the thing trapped in the crevice of the rock.

Those were living corpses, yes, after all, no one could survive in a cave full of living corpses. Monsters can't do it either.

But this living corpse is only as high as his waist to his chest, and his thin bones cannot be faked.

At the same time, the long brown hair stained with rotting liquid on the rotting head showed that the other person should have been a young girl when she was alive.

On the rotten face, two rows of small, chipped teeth rattled, and it looked like they wanted to tear off a piece of his flesh with their mouth. But its human pelvis was stuck in the suddenly tightened rock gap, unable to move forward or retreat.

The tiny left arm stretched out towards Kil, but even so, its palm could not reach out of the rock gap, let alone scratch Kil's body.

A pair of empty eye sockets swayed from side to side as the head swayed in the gap. It was unclear whether they were yearning for Kil's flesh and blood, or were curiously looking at this real living person who was originally only a place where living corpses were found.

Kil bit his lip and sighed heavily.

"Why."

The long sword shook, as if asking if he should take action, but Kil put the sword away and inserted it into the scabbard.

Hunting seemed to want to make a move, but Kil retracted his shield with his left hand and landed heavily on the hilt of the sword, suppressing it.

"What a sin."

He pulled out the dagger and whispered: "Hot."

The dagger shot forward a sword-shaped flame that extended for more than a meter. The flame penetrated along the cracks in the rock, igniting and burning the entire stuck living corpse.

The left arm that stretched out was burned and fell to the ground. On the moving wrist, a metal bracelet fell out of the rotten flesh.

Keir's attention was drawn to the sound of metal clashing, and he looked down to see this.

Then he twisted the small metal bracelet with the fingers of his left hand, and swiped down with his right hand, burning and shattering the still moving palm of his left hand.

The bracelet was stained with rotten things. Kil carefully twisted the small bracelet with his fingers, flicked it back and forth on the flame a few times, caught it in another place, and flicked it a few more times. Then, looking at the bracelet that was clean again, he removed it. Put it away carefully.

The sword-shaped flames swept up and down several times, and the rotten flesh on the little living corpse was reduced to ashes. Then only the skeleton of the skeleton struggled for a while, and finally turned into broken and collapsed bone fragments.

Taking his fingers away from the gem, Kil's face, which had been cold throughout, finally showed a trace of fatigue.

Putting away the dagger, Kil stood there, stunned for a while.

I don't know when, but the weighted ball on the hilt of the long sword hunting was the small moonlight iron ball he bought. I don't know when it also emitted a gentle light like moonlight.

It was not as cold as the magic light, but a silvery-white light emerged. Then, an illusory and transparent little girl appeared beside the rock gap in front of Kil's eyes.

She squatted quietly next to the crevice in the rock, with her back to Kil, as if she was looking at the little living corpse that had been in the crevice.

Kil blinked, and looked at the illusory image that appeared strangely here in confusion, and then at the small weighted ball at the end of the hilt of his long sword.

Exhaled.

Kil smelled the hot and choking smoke around him and said softly: "Is there anything you want me to bring?"

The little girl did not turn around, and her figure seemed to be disappearing quickly. After a few breaths, she disappeared. In the silent cave, only a gentle word floated back and forth, and it soon disappeared.

"I feel so bad and want revenge."

-

Kil walked back to the place where he jumped when he came back, raised his head to judge the height, then took a deep breath and jumped up with all his strength.

The jump height was still a little short, but Kil finally grabbed the edge of the platform and climbed up.

He silently walked out of the cave, which he would never come back to again, and walked towards the top of the cave.

Returning to the spacious and bright cave hall, Keir saw the young refugees who were busy carrying wooden boxes.

One by one, they happily carried the valuable and worthless merchant goods out of the cave. Kil saw that all the things he had selected had been moved. At this time, these young people were carrying more quantities, but with limited value, with glowing faces. , and other goods that are of no use.

"Don't even move!"

He shouted to stop.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the young knight blankly.

"Don't look at those horses and how many things can be carried in a few carriages? Do you plan to carry so many things back with your arms, legs and feet? Aren't you afraid of dying from exhaustion on the road?"

When Keir said this, many young people lowered their heads with expressions of shame.

Waving his hands, Keir drove them out: "This ￥%... place and this unpleasant smell, I ordered them all and burned them!"

The young man in command looked up at Kil, and after confirming that the young knight really meant this, he raised an illuminating torch and went to the surrounding wooden boxes and wooden cages to light fires himself.

Keir grabbed the metal candlesticks and candles that were lighting up the wooden table in the middle: "Bring this with you, you can sell it for some money."

Throwing the candlestick to the young refugees evacuating here, Kil looked at the burning cave, shook his head, and was the last one to walk out.

-

Arriving outside where there was a lot of people, Kil found that the carriage was almost repaired. The young man removed the floorboards from the wooden house and used them as planks to strengthen the carriage.

At this time, everyone was bundling the things seized from the bandits and loading them into the vehicle. The weak rescued people also got on the vehicle and sat among the many broken things.

Keir found the young man who was clinging to the old man and put a small metal bracelet in front of his eyes while the other man was looking at him.

And said a few words in the boy's ear.

Those are the last words of a dissipated soul.

Keir didn't know what happened after death, whether he hated the world or something else.

But obviously, the last words of the suffering girl made the boy change.

The young man held the bracelet tightly, said nothing, and did not shed tears. He just buried his head on the grain bag beside him. No one can see his expression.

"My lord, what did you say?"

the old man asked.

"nothing."

Keir replied.

In the dark moonless night, at some point, it started to drizzle.