Mercenaries and Adventurers

Although the bandit leader looked heroic, he knocked down the church priest on horseback, then shouted back the surrounding people and strode out from the crowd of armed people. In fact, he seemed to be invincible at this moment. In fact, he was moving sideways, his head turned slightly to the right, and he kept looking at the knight running towards this direction with the corner of his right eye.

When he saw that damn knight running over, he subconsciously started running with his feet.

There was a carriage blocking the road next to him. He took a quick glance and found that although the horses pulling the carriage were average, they were strong and round and looked like they could ride him away from here.

Although the horse pulling the cart did not have saddles or other riding equipment, the bandit leader didn't care much at this time. He slashed twice with the big ax in his right hand behind the horse's butt, and cut off the thick leather straps pulling the cart. Break.

But before he could turn over and get on the horse, a seriously injured young man stood up in the carriage pulled by the horse.

"Get off your horse now and get away. I'll pretend I didn't see you."

The bandit leader suddenly turned his head and looked at the young man who made such wild remarks.

The man's left arm was seriously injured, and he managed to stop the bleeding with torn clothes. However, the cut flesh was red and white, revealing scars that were deep enough to show the bones. As for this young man's shoulders and chest, only rags were used to plug the wounds that had been cut by someone. The only intact right hand was empty. The clothes he was wearing were made of better materials. They all looked the same as before. It was destroyed when the clothes were cut to stop the bleeding.

This young man has long hair that hangs loosely behind his back, but his eyes are like roiling flames, and it is easy for people to see the intense emotions contained in them. But the young man's face showed no expression at all.

"Haha, what kind of dog dares to say such a thing? You drank too much, right?"

The bandit leader didn't pay any attention to the man's arrogance. He grabbed the hair of the horse pulling the cart with his left hand and tried to escape with his legs.

Not far away, the knight had already rushed to the place where the priest landed, and seemed to be checking the priest's situation. If he didn't leave, it would only take more than ten seconds for the knight to rush over even without riding a horse, which was very dangerous.

But the next moment, before the excited horses could start running, the young man behind the bandit leader turned around and pulled out his long sword from the body of a lying bandit. He stepped aside and got out of the way of the little boy who was holding down the old businessman's back to stop the bleeding. His legs quickly trampled the supplies in the carriage box, and he jumped up from the air like a bird of prey to pounce on the bandit leader's neck and back.

The long sword in his right hand was attached to the right side of his chest when it was flying in the air. It was charged like a deadly bird's claw and could be stabbed out instantly after reaching a suitable distance at any time.

A sense of fatal threat came from behind, and the bandit leader let out a strange scream. The ax he held in his right hand instantly turned in one direction, and then he turned the ax behind him from an angle that would most likely hurt him. Use the broad blade of the ax to resist this deadly attack.

"court death--"

He was shouting like this, but in his heart he hoped even more that the horse under his crotch could run forward. As long as the horse started running and the distance was a little further, the young man behind him would have no choice but to return in vain.

But at this moment, the little boy in the carriage box who was pressing the wound on the old businessman's back to stop the bleeding whistled fiercely.

"Shhh-"

The whistle was blown very urgently, and it was cut off after only half the sound, but the effect was particularly surprising. The horse that was originally pulling the cart and was being kicked in the belly by the bandit leader turned over and rode on its back, already made running movements. But after hearing the boy's whistle, he stopped where he was.

This turn of events took the bandit leader by surprise, but the next moment, the young man Will, who was leaping in the air, thrust his long sword towards the bandit leader.

Even if he saw the opponent using an ax to defend his surprise sword, the teachers at the academy had taught him not to take back the sword that had been thrust out.

Therefore, he did not retract the sword in his hand, used all the strength of his right arm, and then used the speed of jumping and falling to thrust straight towards the vital part of the opponent's back.

Clang————

Sparks flew away, and the tough long sword bent like a bow, but the other party who collided felt uncomfortable.

The big ax hit the bandit leader's back with great force, causing the curses in the bandit leader's mouth to turn into a muffled groan, and his whole body couldn't help but fall forward.

Since the horse under his crotch was a cart-pulling horse, it had no saddle or stirrups. The bandit leader could not sit still on the smooth horseback. After receiving a heavy blow, he was knocked off his horse by the force.

With a bang, the bandit leader's fat body crushed a small box in front of the carriage. It was unknown what was contained in the box. It was quite strong. The bandit leader crushed it, and he was also hit very uncomfortable.

"Uh, damn, damn, damn! If you want to die, then go ahead!"

Cursing in his mouth, the bandit leader propped himself up with his left hand and climbed up.

As for the young man Will, relying on the counter-shock force of the attack, he was suspended in the air for a moment, and then fell straight to the ground. As soon as he squatted on the ground, he leaned down and thrust his sword through the horse's body, like a shadow, straight towards the bandit leader who had just climbed up.

However, the bandit leader swung his ax, forcing Will to dodge. The weight of the two weapons is not at the same level at all. Just now, the opponent's ax was able to defend and attack him, but now when the opponent's ax started to be swung, his long sword could no longer resist.

The weapon will be knocked out of your hand.

From the equipment and behavior of the other party, Will knew that this person was probably the leader of a bandit. He had dealt with many bandits in the past few years and knew how to deal with these people.

Will dodged to the right, pushed his legs diagonally to the ground, and swung the sword in his hand like a rainbow, aiming at the opponent's empty left arm.

The bandit leader subconsciously wanted to raise his left arm to resist, but the next moment he realized that his usual shield had been thrown away just now.

But this young man moved very fast, and the sword in his hand was also incredibly fast. The ax couldn't keep up with the opponent's attack, so he had to use the studded arm guard on his left forearm to resist the sword.

Ping—tsk.

The long sword passed by, knocking off an iron rivet on the studded arm, and then scratched a piece of flesh underneath.

The tip of the sword was stained with blood again.

It was only a minor injury, but the bandit leader didn't even make a sound. After taking a step back, he kicked away the supply box that he had just flattened, and kicked all the items inside hard towards the young man.

Will looked at the various debris that was coming, stepped back and waved his sword in front of him, knocking away the scattered items that were kicked over.

But at this time, the bandit leader was not entangled with the young man at all. He still remembered the knight who would chase him at any time. That one was really fatal! As for the young man wielding the sword in front of him, although he has good swordsmanship and quick reactions, he is seriously injured. Does he have the physical strength to fight with him?

He could kill thirty of his bandits with his bare hands in one go. The young man in front of him was seriously injured and bleeding, and he allowed his bandits to kill him without fighting back. How many could this man kill before his physical strength was exhausted?

So he stepped back quickly and asked, "What's your name? I will ask you to get this back."

Will turned his sword upside down and inserted it into the soil beside him. Then he pressed the wounds on his shoulder and chest with his right hand: "I am Will. I can't say my last name."

"Will? Hmm, I seem to have heard your name."

Will raised his eyes and stared at the bandit leader who was quickly retreating away, and responded coldly: "There are many people with this name, and it may not be the one you think."

After saying that, he glanced at the middle of the refugee team, and saw a swift black shadow heading straight for the bandit leader.

He just watched, neither warning nor pursuing.

He saw that the opponent finally reacted to the incoming crossbow, and subconsciously turned around and put his left arm in front of his body, but the guy probably forgot that he didn't have a shield in his hand, and his body's crisis response was much faster than his brain's.

In this way, the opponent comically used the air in his arm to resist the incoming crossbow arrow. Then the crossbow arrow passed through the opponent's air shield, piercing the opponent's entire left arm and injuring part of his side ribs.

"Humph."

He smiled, but then continued to press the wound with his hand. The pain was unbearable. When the enemy left, he no longer had to endure the pain. He sat cross-legged on the ground and tied the cloth to stop the bleeding again.

-

"Damn it! It's the crossbowman on the carriage!"

The bandit leader had no time to pull out the crossbow bolt that pierced his arm, so he had to take advantage of the opponent's opportunity to cock and reload and quickly retreat. Then he felt that the opponent might re-aim, and then dodged and retreated left and right.

However, the crossbowman on the top of the carriage in the distance did not continue shooting. It was probably because the distance was too far and there was no possibility of hitting. It may also be that he gave up after getting wary.

Just when the bandit leader breathed a sigh of relief, a stone suddenly hit him from a bush beside him.

This was so sudden that the bandit leader was hit in the head by the stone without any reaction.

However, he was wearing a soldier's helmet with iron armor on his head. Although the attack was sudden, it had little effect.

"Who? Who is messing with you? # ￥? Come out!"

The bandit leader roared in panic, turned his head to look at the top of the carriage in the distance, and glanced at the surrounding bushes where people could hide.

Soon, he noticed a noise behind a leafy raspberry plant not far away. The bandit leader quickly picked up the stone that had just been hit on his head. Resisting the pain in his left arm, he lifted the stone. The block was lost.

There was a snap, and the bush shook, and then a scream of "Meow!" came from behind, and a slender, furry limb stood upright. The tip of the limb was bent towards him, as if it was 'looking' over to observe.

Knowing that he had angered the other party, the bandit leader gasped and did not approach the strange thing carelessly. Instead, he kept moving his feet and actively stayed away from the other party.

His gang had been constantly wanted and pursued by the local knight lords in the past few years, so they could only operate deep in the nearby mountains and forests. At that time, he realized how many mysterious and strange things that were very dangerous to humans were hidden in the primitive mountain forests.

Sure enough, after a furry slender limb stood up from behind the bush, two more furry limbs stood up diagonally amidst the roars of wild beasts. Looking at it now, it looked very weird.

"Monster? Or Warcraft? Damn it. They were probably attracted by the smell of blood. Go away, go away! Go and harm those refugees on the trade road. There are many humans over there, and they are all your food! Go away, go eat them!"

The bandit leader did not dare to turn his back to the strange thing behind the bush, so he kept moving his feet quickly and walked backwards.

There was another wild beast's cry, and then two new plush limbs stretched out from behind the bush.

At this time, in the bandit leader's sight, the ghost behind the bush was definitely some kind of new monster that he had not seen before. He had no intention of fighting an unknown monster at this time, even if the monster came to his territory.

Just like this, step by step, the bandit leader broke into the woods. Relying on the marks left on the tree trunks, he quickly ran towards the temporary camp here. The other bandits who retreated may have returned to the temporary camp with the loot.

This time they made a fortune. Although they suffered a loss on the knight at noon, they got back the advantage not long after this afternoon.

Although the refugee team was indeed very poor, the bandit leader felt that the newly obtained glowing food must be valuable, and it was worth killing and injuring some bandits. After all, as long as the team stays together and has a lair, it can continuously recruit bandits or hooligans who come to join them, and even some hungry refugees or deserters can continuously become new bandits.

As long as he has money in his pocket, or in other words, he can lead people to make money.

-

Behind the previous bush, Courage Maomo breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly saw the fat human escaping into the woods through the gaps in the raspberry branches and leaves in front of him, and then waved to his companions behind him with their tails raised high. Waving his hands: "Meow meow meow."

Only then did everyone put down the five tails that were raised high up, and kneaded the tails that were tense and stiff. I don't know if the tails were unhappy, but some of them kept slapping their owners with their furry tails.

It seems to be complaining about the bold behavior of the Maomaos to push them out to pretend to be monsters and Warcraft when facing danger.

There were actually eight Maomao gathered behind the small bush. They all murmured a few words, thinking that giving the fat human a stone would be enough for the powerful human. Without clearly stating the reward, everyone had done enough. too much.

Besides, they defeated two bandits before!

Although the main reason why Maomao took action was that the two bandits looked easy to bully and had metal weapons.

After meowing a few times, the cats lowered their bodies, put their tails on the ground, and secretly returned to the messy refugee queue.

-

Kiel looked at the corpses and injured everywhere with a cold face. Since the refugees at the back of the team ran fast enough after discovering the bandits, those who escaped did not suffer much loss, and the bandits did not pay attention to the other people carrying them. Instead of abandoned supplies, they strangely took away barrels and boxes of God-given food that the people had saved spontaneously.

But these are not important. What really makes Keir unhappy is that all the brave people who resisted the bandits have now turned into pale and cold corpses. Even the dozen brave religious young men brought by Priest Batal urgently, regardless of gender, were hacked into mutilated corpses with indistinguishable features by the bandits.

"Hoo, hoo."

Kil was breathing heavily, holding the hilt of the sword at his waist tightly with his left hand. The hunting sword seemed to feel the owner's thoughts, and it kept vibrating at this moment, wanting to jump out of the scabbard and come out to kill the enemy.

Snap, a palm rested on Kil's shoulder armor, and the spikes on the shoulder armor inspired a surge of divine protection in the opponent's palm.

"Kiel Warriors, don't fall for the trap again. I've asked the wounded and captured bandits. Several nearby villages have been invaded by several gangs of bandits. Their total number is staggering. It's impossible for us to eliminate them."

Priest Batal's body was covered in dirt and grime, all of which were caused by rubbing on the ground when he was thrown off his horse.

The priest didn't pay attention to the divine protection in his hand. He looked at Kil and said, "I know what you are thinking. It will take you a few days to completely wipe out those bandits, right?"

Keir raised his eyebrows: "Can't you? Even if those bandits pester me after death, I will accept it. I shouldn't have been soft-hearted before, %￥."

"I'm about to treat the injured. I'll give you a few words first." The priest whispered: "The church's blessing ability has its limits. The blessing ability of 'Blessed Food' can only last me a day at most. Producing food for less than a thousand people. Although it was attacked by bandits at the moment, less than thirty people actually died, and we still have a team of nearly seven hundred people."

"What do you mean?" Kil asked.

"I asked just now and found that in the villages occupied by the bandits, there are actually more victims than the bandits. These people are controlled by the bandits and open up fields to plant crops. Do you understand, even if you capture a bandit? ’s lair, the size of our team will reach the limit of the team size. But there are three villages nearby that are controlled by bandits, do you understand?"

Kil understood, he lowered his head and crushed the weeds under his feet with his combat boots: "We can't feed so many people, right? Why don't we all save a little on our mouths? For example, only eat two-thirds of the original?"

"They are not you. If their stomachs are not full, they will not be able to walk fast or far. Although they can still move forward, the speed of the team will become slower under the current circumstances. You may understand that the speed of the team's movement is not determined by the speed of the team. The fastest part of the team is actually the slowest. If everyone doesn’t have enough to eat, they can only spend more time looking for edible food on the road, which will delay time. In fact, it is harmful to everyone in the team. Bringing more danger.”

Keir rolled his eyes: "Can we settle the villages we conquered directly? Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."

As soon as he spoke, he realized that several nearby villages were occupied by bandits, so it was naturally not suitable for refugees to settle here. Several nearby villages are close to the trade route they are walking on at the moment. Although there is no one on the trade road at this time, Keir knows that the unchecked bandits in the southern province at this moment are the only ones besides the armed caravans. The most important user on the road at the moment.

The trade routes that facilitated the movement of caravans naturally also facilitated the large-scale movement of bandits.

The people who have settled here are expected to be safe for the initial period of time. After all, the bandits in several nearby villages have been eliminated, leaving a vacuum zone for bandit power. But as time goes by, bandit gangs that have grown bigger in other places will naturally come closer and occupy the territory, or attack the free villages that have not yet fallen.

The villages on the commercial road are naturally not very safe.

"Then we defeated the bandits and rescued the people controlled by the bandits. Can we not take them with us? Let those people find their own way out?"

Keir asked tentatively, but as soon as the words came out, he felt happy, knowing that he had asked a stupid question.

Sure enough, Priest Batal didn't say anything. He clenched his fist and punched Kil's chest: "You order everyone, I have to go and treat the injured." After saying that, the priest walked to the gathering place where the injured were wailing not far away. .

Although the priest's previous fight had no effect on the cunning bandits, which disappointed the people in the team, his efforts were seen by everyone, and no one complained about the priest.

At that time, other religious people who did not dare to fight were ashamed to help the priests treat the wounded. These people did not dare to take a look at the bodies of the brave men lying aside. It seems that the corpses of those companions who were alive not long ago are so dazzling.

"They all blame me. Hey, I fell into the tricks of those bandits."

Kil completely crushed the weeds under his feet. Although no one criticized him at the moment, he knew that many people around him probably thought so.

"Damn it."

He cursed under his breath.

"Damn it."