Mercenaries and Adventurers

"Your Majesty, the God of Hunting! These monsters are quite difficult to deal with."

Behind the bushes at the edge of the woods, monsters were chasing them, and the two church hunters who were tracking Kiel were hiding and peeping. They were lying on the ground at the moment, carefully watching the battle happening more than a hundred meters away through the branches of the bushes.

It was the young hunter who sighed, and the old hunter who was lying down and observing together, although he didn't say it, actually breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and was happy that he had not made a mistake in judging the enemy's strength.

To be honest, these parasitic monsters that look just like normal people are really confusing. If he carelessly allowed this kind of enemy to get too close and get entangled, even he and the young companion beside him might capsize and fall into this small place.

"What happened here doesn't look very superficial."

Hearing what the old hunter said, the young hunter suggested: "Should we inform the companions behind us? Call some of the men who hunt the remnants of the faith to come and have a look? Or should we clear this place?"

"This is not something we should consider. Only the church priests have the power to decide how the matter should be handled. You and I can just report back what we see."

"That'll be fine?"

Faced with repeated questioning by the young hunter, the old hunter also felt that it was not appropriate to report the discovery so superficially. If other hunters who followed him encountered more of this parasitic monster in the local area, and there were no If they were to exercise due vigilance, then the two of them would be guilty.

After pondering for a while, the old hunter said: "Well, do you still remember the path we walked here two days ago? Let's go back and walk it again. I have a hunch that we should find something."

"That's it. Let's go, old man. I think that knight noticed us." The young hunter got up slightly, and then used the cover of the bushes to crawl backwards into the woods.

The old hunter snorted and carefully climbed over, muttering: "I've discovered it a long time ago, okay..."

-

The parasitic monster picked up by the spear was chopped into two pieces by Keir in the air. Among the two bodies that fell to the ground, the upper body still had plant roots sprouting from the break in the chest. But the next moment, Geer stabbed the parasitic monster's upper body with a spear twice in a row where a human face might be hidden. Along with the purple juice brought out by the tip of the gun, the plant roots of the parasitic monster suddenly stopped moving.

Looking left and right, there was no longer any place to fight. Kil immediately shouted: "Everyone, be careful! Don't touch the monster's body with your body! Light a torch, burn the body, and use the flame to burn each weapon." hot!"

The armed people who were just about to cheer for the victory were a little overwhelmed by Kiel's order. However, after Kiel repeated the order again, they felt a sense of fear, remembering the horror of the monster's corpse still moving in front of them. Many people's faces turned pale.

They didn't think much about it when they were fighting just now. Since the monsters still looked like humans when they rushed over and were far less skilled than them, everyone's fighting will was still very high.

And when the parasitic monster revealed its prototype and showed its true colors, everyone mostly fought against the monster. Roars, orders, and various shouts were mixed together, and everyone didn't think much about it. They just kept swinging their swords.

At this time, many people looked at the lavender juice on their swords and wished they could throw away their treasured weapons.

Seeing that many people were still in a daze, the captain of the armed team who was commanding the archers stepped forward to push the dazed people and slap the bewildered guy on the head to get everyone to move.

Kil was not afraid of these parasitic monsters. In his opinion, these monsters were just like that. Although their vitality was somewhat tenacious, their combat effectiveness was really limited.

He was just about to return to the middle of the refugee queue and maintain the previous alert posture, but the captain of another armed team participating in the battle came over with a companion dragging an armed citizen who was securely tied with a rope.

The squad leader's face was very ugly, but the young man who was tied up with a rope and dragged over had a better-looking face than him except for the abnormal swelling of his head, face and neck.

"What's wrong? Is this a deserter who ran away because he was afraid of the enemy?" Kil guessed.

"If he is a deserter, don't tie him up. Just let him hand over the weapons and equipment in his hand and follow the big team to move things. Anyway, I think there are quite a lot of people who want to join the armed squad. It's not bad. one person."

Keir waved his hand and asked the team leader to go down and handle it on his own without having to look for him specifically. To be honest, Kiir didn't care much about these reluctantly organized armed people. After all, they couldn't be taken away. In name, these people obeyed his orders. In fact, they were just a force for the hundreds of refugees to save themselves and protect themselves.

Unless he can find a place to settle with these refugees and officially become the knight lord of these people, this temporary group will always go their separate ways.

The captain holding the shield looked down at the unconscious companion who was tied up worriedly, looked up at the impatient Knight Kiel on the horse and said hesitantly: "Sir, actually, uh, this companion of mine, he……"

Kil turned his head and looked in the direction of the woods where the parasitic monster came from, urging the team leader to explain clearly: "What's going on? Tell me clearly what happened? What happened to this man?"

Sighing, the team leader finally said: "Sir, Kalta, he was drilled into the mouth by those monsters."

"Oh, huh?"

Kil was originally using the magic that the big bird god gave him to enhance his eyesight, observing the two peepers who disappeared at some point. But when he heard this, he immediately turned his head, widened his eyes and asked again : "What? Say it again, what's wrong with this person?"

At this time, the armed civilian who was fighting with the squad leader kicked the young man who was tied up and unconscious, and replied on behalf of the squad leader: "Knight Kiel, Carl was hit by the monster's brown tentacle during the battle just now. We grabbed the head, and the two of us attacked the monster's body with all our strength. Unexpectedly, something squeezed out of the monster's body and entered Karl's mouth along the tentacles."

He scratched his head: "Karl resisted desperately and even pinched his neck tightly with his hands, but the monster still got into his stomach along the mouth and neck. What's even more frightening is that the big group of brown tentacles, big They were all big and small, following Carl's nose, ears, etc., and got into the unlucky guy's head. You see, his head was swollen as if he had been stung by a swarm of bees, and it was twice as big as before. "

The squad leader added: "That's it, sir, do you think so?"

After hearing this, Kil immediately raised his helmet and visor and said with a serious face: "Now, stay away from this guy immediately! He is very dangerous! You immediately send someone to call Priest Batar! Forget it, you go there yourself. !”

"Yes, sir! I'm going now!"

The team leader was frightened by Kiel's reaction. He immediately pulled his companions and ran towards the middle of the slowly moving refugee team, not caring about the parasitized companions on the ground.

Kil jumped off his horse, drew his sword and stood beside the unconscious young man, raised his hand, and then put it down again. After repeating it several times, I finally gave up.

Although the people around him didn't know what was going on here, they still understood that the knight wanted to kill the young man with his sword when they saw Kirti's sword pointing at the young man tied up on the ground.

Not far away, the armed people who were busy setting fire to monster corpses and roasting and cleaning weapons frequently looked over. The passing people also looked at this scene silently with expressions of curiosity, intolerance, doubt, and fear.

Without knowing the cause and effect, no one stopped him, no one dared to stop him, but everyone was watching him.

Kil sighed, feeling that there was no need to resolve the matter this way.

It was easy to cut off the parasitic young man with a few swords on the spot, and then deal with the parasitic monster that got into his body. But obviously in other people's eyes it's a different picture.

Just like when Kil first saw the bound and unconscious young man dragged over by the team leader on the ground, he felt that this man must have been cowardly during the battle and ran away, so he was tied up and brought here to ask for his opinion. .

It stands to reason that people around him, without understanding what was going on, would immediately think that Kiel was swinging his sword to punish the young armed people who had retreated from the previous battle.

Even if I explain the truth to everyone afterwards, no one will believe it. People will always believe in the judgment they make based on experience for the first time, and then believe it deeply. When explaining to others at this time, there is a strong sense of concealment after being seen through.

Putting down his sword, Kil held his sword like this, guarding the parasitized armed people on the ground, waiting for Priest Batar to come over and see if the priest could do anything.

-

"He can't be saved and unfortunately the inside of this young man's body is packed with that stuff."

Priest Batal squatted on the ground, filled his palms with the power of the God of Agriculture, and carefully touched the young man's face.

When his palm full of divine power came into contact with the young man's cheek, it seemed that he was stimulated by the supernatural power. A thin plant root immediately stretched out from the young man's nostril to explore outward.

Seeing this scene, not only Priest Batal said the above words, but Kil, who was waiting with a sword next to him, as well as the young man's team leader and his other companion, all sighed.

"I should have found a way to trap that monster before! Damn it! It's all my fault."

The team leader felt quite self-blame. After all, they were companions who usually ate and trained together. Everyone had been thinking about their future life before. This Karl was still considering whether to put down his weapons and go farming like everyone else.

Kil pursed his lips and asked the most important question at this time: "So, how to solve this matter?"

The priest raised his head and glanced at Kil: "You can handle this matter yourself. By the way, after reading this, I think I have to check the warriors who participated in the battle just now. Kil, you also fought against those monsters. , how do you feel about yourself now?"

The priest knew that he could not inspect the soldiers like ordinary armed people, so out of respect for the Kiel warriors and recognition of their strength, he only asked verbally.

Kil nodded: "It's no problem. My armor blocked it for me. It's just the purple juice that spewed out when they were injured. I wonder if there's a problem?"

The priest was not sure for a moment, but fortunately, there was purple juice from the dried parasites on the long sword. The priest reached out and touched it, slightly touched the stain on it with his fingertips, and then muttered a few words in a low voice. Composed of magical prayers.

When the priest's fingertips came into contact with the divine power of the hunting sword, a green light flashed. After arousing a fierce reaction from the divine power of the Sun God Church on the sword, Priest Batal got the answer.

"The answer given to me by divine magic is that it is non-toxic and can even stimulate the vitality of living things. Well, it seems that this thing keeps the parasitized humans alive." After the priest finished speaking, he saw Kil's eyes light up. After a moment, he immediately warned: "I know what you are thinking. It is too dangerous. That thing is not something that ordinary people, or even the army of ordinary local lords, can handle."

Kil flattened his lips, shrugged, raised the long sword in his hand, wiped it with a cleaning cloth, and then put it back into the scabbard.

Then Kil brought the cleaning cloth used to wipe the sword blade to his nose and smelled it. Indeed, the purple stain left on the cloth gave off a nice fragrance: "What a pity."

He then said to the team leader standing aside: "Who are you sending to carry this, um, Karl, right? Find a wooden stick and pass it through the rope to carry him. I will deal with him when we take a rest later. Remember, You have heard what the priest just said, and you also understand how dangerous the parasitic monster in his body is. Be careful when transporting him. Do not touch his body at all."

"If something happens, such as a large plant root suddenly coming out of his mouth, immediately throw it aside and don't get close, and then call me. By the way, does this Karl have any relatives or friends in the team? People from the same village Woolen cloth?"

The squad leader replied: "Karl also has a biological sister and brother-in-law, who are both in the team. Do you want to inform them?"

"Of course, but you have to wait until he has a rest before notifying his relatives. To avoid any trouble on the road."

-

After a while, the refugee team was still moving forward on the trade road. This mountain range is not large in area, and we will soon reach a small open valley plain ahead.

After the previous battle, the team was no longer attacked by monsters or bandits on the road. This was also part of Kiel's judgment. He noticed familiar prying eyes in the woods during the previous monster attack, and concluded that the monster attack was a sideshow arranged for him by hunters from the Church of the God of Hunting.

The meaning is also self-evident, let Kil remember that someone is watching him. Or simply use the local monsters to test his strength, or the strength of his team.

Kil naturally hated this, but he was also a little afraid of those elite hunters who were always ready to take out powerful arrows, so he did not dare to rush over and cause trouble for them.

At this time, this kind of situation where both parties are aware of each other's existence and do not easily come into contact is quite suitable for him. He now just needs to wait for the troublesome bird god to solve his troubles, and then he can try to get rid of this unexpected ancient god.

Kil believes that this ancient god is also willing to find a better partner.

However, it is certainly not suitable to be in a remote area at this time. Kil feels that after he finishes handling the matter of the Batar priest and arrives at the capital of the southern province, that big city full of people will definitely be more in line with the wishes of this ancient god. .

A big city with a mixture of fish and dragons is naturally not a wild area suitable for hunters.

It is even possible that the hunters of the churches will not even get close to the big cities. After all, they are the territories of the various righteous gods and their churches.

When the team stopped and gathered in a circle according to previous experience, and took a short rest, Keir climbed onto the roof of his carriage.

He carefully stepped on the pillars of the roof of the car to prevent his heavy weight from trampling through the roof. As soon as he stood up, he waved to the people who were looking around curiously and shouted: "Everyone! Everyone!"

Keir's voice was loud, and the place where hundreds of people gathered was not very loud, so when he shouted, almost everyone heard it and looked over.

"Everyone is paying attention. Look over here and gather together. Very good, very good. I have something to announce. It is about fighting the monster that attacked us just now."

Upon hearing what Knight Kiel said, almost everyone became alert and came closer.

"I actually don't know much about the monsters that just attacked our team. After all, I have never been here before. Of course, the same goes for the southern provinces. But the soldiers who fought against the monsters just now also saw it and realized that, That monster has an extremely weird appearance and abilities."

"When an arm is cut off, twisted and terrifying plant roots will emerge from the broken flesh of the arm and fight in place of the original arm."

As he spoke, Kil used his left hand to make a virtual chop on the shoulder of his right arm, and then imitated the monster's plant roots with his right arm, swinging back and forth.

The people below exclaimed and talked a lot.

Many armed people who had fought against monsters immediately expressed in the crowd that this was indeed the case. Some people who were not far from the battle site also told people around them about what they saw. Some young people who jumped away were even showing their teeth and claws. It imitates the appearance of the monster, even the way the monster walks with a limp due to a knee injury.

The people around him laughed or turned pale.

Kil on the carriage continued: "Not only that, I split the heads of monsters who lived in them during the battle. Unexpectedly, there were not many human brains in the skulls, but they were full of big and small balls. Root tentacles. They will even emerge from the breach in the skull, acting as another hand on top of the head to launch an attack."

At this point, not many of the people below were happy anymore. Many people felt sick and frightened just thinking about a new hand popping up on their head, especially since this was not what everyone’s mother used to scare them when they were children. It is a folk bedtime story, but it actually happened in front of them, that is, not long ago.

Those monsters were hiding in the nearby woods, peeping at them, greedily craving human flesh and blood.

"But fortunately, there are not many monsters, and our armed people are quite brave. But..."

Kiel paused for a moment before saying with a sad face: "But these monsters are monsters after all, and some of our armed squads still suffered casualties in the battle. The corpse of the dead soldier has been burned in the flames together with the monster's corpse. It burns and turns to ashes. But what I’m talking about here is another thing, and that is the wounded man who was killed or wounded in the battle.”

Everyone looked over, wondering what Knight Kiel meant when he said this.

But the faint cry of a woman in front of the carriage gave everyone a bad premonition.

"Unfortunately, during a heroic battle, a young warrior named Carl Bust was accidentally covered in the head and face by the large tentacles stretched out by the monster when it was in desperate situation. As a result, the monster abandoned the human being who had been hollowed out before. The body transferred its parasitic core into Karl's body. From then until now, the young man has been unconscious. After careful inspection by Priest Batal, it was found that the hateful parasitic monster was gradually devouring this heroic man from the inside. young people."

Kil raised his head and shouted to everyone: "I believe that soon, maybe a day or two, or even when it gets dark today, this brave young man who opens his eyes again will no longer be the same person his relatives and friends are familiar with." Carl."

"Under the same skin, there will be an evil monster."

Having said this, the people below were already panicking. They not only looked at everyone around them with worry, but also secretly looked at the armed people who had boasted about fighting monsters. They were afraid that one or two of these people might be parasitized by monsters. people.

These people don't think much about it. If it were really so easy for monsters to become parasitic, how could human society still exist today?

People have long since finished praying for death.

Fortunately, with a wave of Kiel's hand and a cry of "Stand up.", everyone's attention was drawn again.

In a small open space in front of Kiel's carriage, a Kiel temporarily ran to the edge of the woods to cut a tree trunk before the team rested. Someone dug a hole here and erected the five-meter-high tree trunk.

Then the loggers followed Mr. Barfoot's instructions and piled some of the firewood under the trunks.

And three meters high in the middle of the tree trunk, an abnormal young man with an abnormally bloated head, face, and neck was being hung in the air by a rope.

The woman's cries gradually became louder. It seemed that at this moment, this scene was like an execution platform for punishing criminals in a large village or town, completely destroying all the woman's thoughts.

Someone in the crowd was talking a lot, and then everyone realized that the person who had been crying was the sister of Karl who was parasitized by the monster. And his brother-in-law was holding his wife tightly beside him to prevent her from making trouble.

At this time, Priest Batal was reluctantly invited onto the top of the carriage by Kil. At Kil's signal, the priest sighed, and first used a magical spell to strengthen his voice as usual, and then coughed lightly. After a while, he said: "It's a pity that we have to burn a brave warrior to death in this way. Like other warriors who fought for us, he kept the monsters and bandits away and brought us all a share. A safe place to breathe.”

"He may still be alive at this time, but I have to say, it would be better to die. It makes me uncomfortable to have a brave soul tortured by monsters in front of me. I hope the hot flames can purify his body and return him His soul goes to the underworld of the dead. And the monster that dwells in his body deserves to be destroyed by fire."

"Hey, may the great God of Agriculture bless this brave soul."

After speaking, the priest looked at Kil, who nodded, waved his hand, and ordered the people below to light a fire: "Let's light a fire. There is not much time to rest. It is good for everyone to sit and rest for a while."

The torch was delivered to the young man's feet, and soon the firewood piled underneath and the fire-kindling weeds everywhere were ignited.

The fire was small at first and thick smoke continued. The unconscious young man who was choked and tied to the tree trunk woke up.

He shouted for help.

And his sister's cries were so loud that several people even needed to hold her back to prevent her from rushing up to put her down.

Kil's hand on the carriage was faintly resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist. The priest next to him sighed and pressed Kil's wrist: "Don't worry, this is just the struggle of the parasitic species before it dies."

Kil held the hilt of the sword tightly and watched the terrified shouts of the young man not far ahead. The young man could even clearly call out the name of the squad leader who was fighting with him in front of him.

Seeing that his comrade was being held down by other armed people by the shoulders and arms, the young man called for help to his sister and brother-in-law.

His sister was cursing Kiel and Priest Batal like crazy, claiming that her brother was fine, and the current call for help was proof. The young man's brother-in-law, an ordinary farmer, stared unblinkingly at Kiel behind the thick smoke, holding tightly in his hand an iron dagger that Kiel had given him a few days ago.

The farmer knew that he was no match for either of the two people on the carriage, but he secretly swore in his heart that if all this was just a misunderstanding or a lie, then even if he risked his life, he would leave an insignificant mark on the armor of Knight Kiel. The scratches left a gap in the priest's robe that was repeatedly soaked with the blood of the wounded and turned red.

In this deathly silence, there were still insignificant cries and cries for help.

Things gradually changed.