Mercenaries and Adventurers

Along with Kil's roar, his whole body hit the ground like a heavy stone thrown by a giant.

The shield stretched forward, and as the point of impact, it directly collided violently with the dwarf who was stunned by the sudden fright.

boom! Kicking and banging——

First there was a heavy and loud sound of impact, and then there was sharp friction between the metal on the armor of the two men and sparks flying. With the cushion of his left arm retracted, Kil knocked over the dwarf who was about to sneak attack him.

The dwarf let out a surprised groan of confusion and pain, and fell to the ground with his feet in the air. Before the opponent could pick up the weapon that had been thrown away when he was knocked away, Kil directly used his tall body to suppress him. On the dwarf's black armor, his knees pressed against the dwarf's chest, suppressing the dwarf's rise. As the opponent struggled and Kiel repeatedly suppressed him, the two armors collided, emitting sparks of metal collisions.

"Go to hell!"

Kil's shield in his left hand slapped the dwarf's helmet downwards, making a clanging sound, but the next moment the dwarf grabbed the knocked-off weapon and swung it towards Kil.

Boom! The shield firmly withstood the blow, and then the long sword in his right hand aimed at the dwarf's defensive gap and emitted a blinding white light in the direction of the dwarf's helmet.

Swish——

Deep in the forest shrouded in white mist, a bright light flashed from the mist.

"Oh——%%￥%!!!"

The suddenly blinded dwarf let out exclamations and incomprehensible curses, but Kil did not give him a chance. Since he was ready to sneak attack him, it was only natural that he would kill him.

The long sword followed the spot where the opponent's helmet uttered the curse and pierced downwards, but sparks flew out and were blocked by the thick steel armor on the front of the dwarf's helmet.

The dwarf was forced to interrupt his curse, and then he was left only in panic, because the tip of the human's sword had pierced his nose, and the nose turned into pieces during the stirring.

Kil's right hand pressed down hard, and his left hand loosened the grip on the back of the shield and put it on the hilt of the sword to provide assistance. With a creaking sound, the dwarf pressed by Kil's body finally screamed: "%%## \u0026!%%##\u0026!\u0026————”

But Kil couldn't understand what this guy was talking about. He grinned and roared: "Shut up! Just die -"

Just when Kil was about to charge up more energy and penetrate the thick metal protection on the front of the dwarf's helmet with his long sword, the warning hiss from the blood-licking grass not far behind him brought him back to his senses.

"Lu... Lu... Lu!"

Another attacker is coming from behind!

Kiel subconsciously felt that the hair on the back of his head was exploding. He no longer cared about taking the life of the sneak attacker beneath him, and quickly dodge and rolled sideways. Although the movement was awkward, it was very effective.

While rolling, Kil saw a long-handled hammer more than one meter long falling on the place where he was originally, smashing an empty space. Well, that's not the case. This hammer didn't hit Kil, but instead hit the sneak attacker dwarf who was suppressed by Kil.

Boom, there was another muffled sound of impact. This low knocking sound made Kil, who was dodging aside, unable to bear the corners of his mouth, let alone the dwarf who was hit.

The dwarf's screams stopped for a moment as if he had expired, but perhaps it was the thick armor he was wearing that contributed to the heavy blow. After being interrupted, the dwarf groaned again the next moment. He groaned and cursed in a low voice that was incomprehensible.

It looked like he was injured from the blow, but not seriously.

Then Keir looked at the new comer.

Sure enough, he is also a dwarf wearing thick metal armor, and has a long gray beard protruding from the lower edge of the helmet. There is no way, the characteristics of these guys are too obvious, after all, even if the dwarf specially made a shape on the helmet to increase his stature. With their tall metal horns and impact cones, they couldn't even reach Kil's chest even if they stood up.

Coupled with the wide and strong body, it is like a low, movable metal ball.

The dwarf later saw that he had hit the wrong person with one blow, but he was not upset or apologized. He didn't care about Kil who got up. He grabbed the warhammer as tall as him with one hand and the armor breastplate of his dwarf companion with the other. , stepping on short legs like a tank with full power, thumping and pulling his companions towards the white mist ahead.

Naturally, Kil would not let the enemy retreat peacefully. Although he didn't know if there were any ambushing dwarves around, he didn't want to let them go so easily.

As soon as his feet kicked off the ground, he strode forward. The dwarf didn't move very fast. Although his powerful short legs moved very fast, he was chased away by Kil in the next moment.

The long sword swung, slashing through the air and slashing the opponent's shoulder.

But amid the harsh sound of metal cutting, there was a considerable reaction force from the long sword in Kil's hand, which made Kil almost lose his grip on his sword. There was also a suspicious twisting sound coming from the wooden hilt of the sword, but Kil had no time to check it.

The dwarf dragging his companion also felt uncomfortable. Although Kil's sword failed to split the opponent's shoulder armor, the attack was still effective. The dwarf let out an uncontrollable groan of pain, but it seemed that the other party had an extremely strong character and will, and the groan was quickly suppressed.

Kil gritted his teeth and swung his sword again. This time he struck the dwarf on the helmet with a horizontal slash.

This is not an attack that can be easily endured with willpower. Being hit on the head, the shock and dizziness cannot be ignored so easily.

But perhaps the intention of Kil's attack was too obvious, or the dwarf who was dragging his companion was experienced in combat. The opponent expected Kil's attack on the head, so he blocked it in advance with the metal hammer in his hand. Helmet side.

It was just in time for Keir's sword to hit a whole piece of metal hammer head.

Even though Kil's long sword itself is not light in weight, it is still slightly lighter compared to the opponent's excessively heavy hammer. Therefore, when he swung the sword, it only exploded with a cluster of sparks and cut a rather large streak on the metal war hammer. After deep marks, there is no more effect.

"Damn it!"

Kil cursed, knowing that his usually powerful long sword was ineffective against these iron-clad dwarves, so he changed his attack method, raised his foot and kicked out, hitting the dwarf in front of him in the back.

Kil felt as if he had been kicked on an iron plate, and the soles of his feet were numb and painful.

Naturally, the dwarf also felt uncomfortable. The man who retreated with his back to Kil groaned, and blood flowed down from the corner of his mouth to his beard, dyeing the gray beard red, and his whole body was kicked. The unlucky young junior staggered so hard that he almost lost the weapon in his hand and fell to the ground whining in pain and unable to see.

But the dwarf knew that he was only a few meters away from the nearest tunnel entrance, so he endured the pain, gritted his teeth, stood up straight, and ran forward.

-

After Kiel finished kicking, he stamped his feet on the ground to relieve the numbness in the sole of his right foot.

He wanted to do it again and knock the opponent down completely, but the next moment, he saw the dwarf rush to a big tree, lowered his body and put aside the war hammer, and lifted up a square stone slab hidden under the fallen leaves of the tree with one hand. Open it aside.

When Kil caught up, the dwarf first threw his injured and blinded companion down the tunnel entrance, then turned around and held a metal warhammer with a wooden handle, standing still in a fighting manner.

"@#￥ @."

The dwarf who was in a fighting posture shouted something loudly, but Kil didn't know what the other party said or whether it was meant for him.

But he didn't care. He turned sideways, stretched his shield forward to block the attack, and changed the long sword in his right hand from the usual way. He raised it abnormally high above his head, ready to slam it down at any time.

"Very good, fighting, right? I quite like fighting, come on! You dwarfs who like sneak attacks! Goblins have a greater sense of honor in fighting than you do."

Keir shouted, then stepped forward in staggered steps, ready to fight.

But to Kiel's expectation, the dwarf who was in a fighting posture did not fight when he saw Kiel rushing forward. Instead, he took a step back and jumped into the tunnel behind the dwarf.

It turned out that in this short period of time, the dwarf who was thrown into the tunnel in advance could not see, but his ears were not deaf. After hearing his companion's order to crawl forward, he climbed into the tunnel regardless of the cost. This opened up the entrance to the tunnel where only one dwarf could pass through at a time.

Seeing that the enemy in front of him retreated into the tunnel, Kil hurriedly caught up and was about to reach out to grab the dwarf enemy below, but after falling into the tunnel entrance, the dwarf fiddled with the war hammer in his hand in advance, so that the war hammer was at the entrance of the tunnel. He waved slightly back and forth in the middle, and although it looked funny, he slapped Keir's outstretched hand away, completely covering himself and retreating into the tunnel.

For Kil, the tunnel was narrow and cramped, but for the dwarves, it was just enough for them to stand in it. This made Kil completely give up his intention to follow. The enemies are not gangsters with incompetent skills, nor are they bandits with mixed professional backgrounds. These dwarves not only have excellent weapons and equipment, but also have amazing physical fitness. Kil's astonishingly thick armor can be easily put on to fight, and He can also use a heavy metal war hammer to fight, not to mention that the enemy just now has a lot of combat experience and an even more tenacious will.

"Phew, you won't be so lucky next time."

Outside the entrance of the tunnel, after stomping his feet hard, Keir spoke harshly towards the bottom. Inside the tunnel entrance, the dwarf was also staring at Kil outside. His eyes seemed to be looking at the front of the metal belt on Kil's armor. After pondering for a moment, the dwarf spoke.

"Outsiders."

The other party was silent for a moment, seeming to be thinking about what to say next. Kil was shocked. He thought that the dwarves couldn't speak the common language of humans, but it turned out that you could speak, so what were you talking about just now?

Oh, you think you can capture me, so you don’t bother to communicate with me in human common language, right?

"Outsiders, now that you have stepped into this forest, don't even think about leaving. You can't get out of here."

The dwarf said this, his voice was a little old, low, and accompanied by some suppressed pain.

Kil breathed out, pointed his sword at the dwarf who made the harsh words, and said seriously: "I don't care what you think or what you did before. If you attack me, it doesn't matter what kind of counterattack I make in the future. Is that okay? Can’t get out? Is it just up to you?”

"Then give it a try and see if you can do it. Not only do I want to enter this forest, I also want to get out. And I'm curious, how did you treat the humans who entered here before? Humph."

Kil roughly guessed why none of the people who entered here came back in the end. Either the dwarves hiding deep in the forest were not allowed to leave, or their legs and feet were broken and they were unable to travel far or escape from here. .

"A group of dwarves living illegally on the land of the Kingdom of St. Hors. Ha, I think the noble lords nearby will like this news. I happen to know one or two of them. And our human gods and the churches of the gods will also Love this news."

"Ah, to defend humanity's territorial rights."

Kil sneered, threatening the dwarf below.

The two dwarves in the tunnel gritted their teeth when they heard these words. The dwarf holding the warhammer had not said anything yet, but his eyes became darker. The blinded dwarf deeper in the tunnel could no longer endure it. He couldn't help but shouted loudly.

"What a bullshit kingdom! This is the pioneering territory of our dwarves! Our ancestors have been developing and developing here for countless years! How could it belong to you so easily!"

Hearing this, Kil just sneered, but the dwarf holding the warhammer saw that the humans above did not dare to come in, so he immediately supported the young junior sitting on the ground and prepared to temporarily retreat deep into the tunnel network under the forest.

Before evacuating the exposed tunnel entrance, he turned to the young human who was still outside and asked: "Young human, what is your name?"

Kil looked at the thick armor of the dwarves gradually retreating in the tunnel, and said generously: "My name is Kil, Joe Kil. I am from Kendall County, northwest province of the Kingdom of St. Holes. To tell you the truth, as long as you have the empire, With the existence of the Border Knights and the Divine Border Stone on the border, it is impossible for the dwarves to take this land away. This is already the land of humans, and it officially became the land of us humans nearly a hundred years ago."

The dwarf below snorted coldly: "A hundred years? It's just a hundred years. Young human Kil, we'll see."

After saying this, the dwarves walked into the depths of the tunnel. Listening to the heavy footsteps that they no longer deliberately concealed, Kil breathed a sigh of relief. He reached out and stroked the hunting blade of the long sword, and found that there was nothing in the usual battles. The long sword blade made of damaged magic material had been blunted in several places due to collisions and cuts during the battle.

"Damn, a dwarf in a turtle shell."

After he finished cursing, he realized that he was also wearing armor. Although the protection was far inferior to the exaggerated thickness of the dwarf's armor, his armor was fully covered. He was more flexible in battle and his defense was balanced and well-proportioned. Lose the dwarves' thing.

With one curse, he also cursed himself.

"Bah, bah, bah, my body doesn't count."

Cursing, Kil destroyed the stone cover at the entrance of the tunnel twice before leaving. Following the large number of traces, mainly the conspicuous traces of the movement and dragging of the dwarves, Kil returned to his horse.

-

He also picked up the weapon of the previous dwarf at the place where he had just fought.

This is a boxy one-handed war hammer. The hammer head and hammer handle are both made of metal. It has good hardness and weight. It may be too heavy for ordinary people, but for a strong dwarf, And for Kiel, who has been trained as a knight, the weight is more suitable.

Kil even felt that the trophy in his hand was a little light and a little small, but it was a one-handed war hammer, as long as he could swing it and hit people easily, so he couldn't ask for too much.

Seeing the owner coming back, Blood Licker hummed excitedly and waggled his ears. He wanted to come up and touch Kiel's head in a friendly way, but as soon as he got closer, he saw the square in Kiel's hand. Hammering with one hand, Blood Licker took two steps back in fright.

His mouth and nose snorted uneasily, and he groaned and looked at Keir with his big eyes.

"Coward, look, this is a trophy! Although I failed to kill the insidious dwarf to avenge you, I have captured the weapon that hurt you! Come on, step on it as hard as you can to vent your anger!"

Kil smiled, and threw the square one-handed hammer that he kept throwing around to the hoof of the blood-licking grass, and then gestured to let his smart horse understand what he was doing.

After the blood-licking grass understood, he excitedly raised his front hooves and stepped hard on the hammer on the ground. The horseshoe and the hammer repeatedly collided with each other, and crisp metal sounds continued to sound.

Seeing that his war horse had regained its vitality, Kil nodded with satisfaction, and then while the blood-licking grass excitedly stepped on the war hammer that damaged it, he pressed the weapon rack placed on the ground back on the blood-licking grass' back.

Blood Licker looked back at Kil, not feeling the slightest bit uneasy about being exposed in his disguise of injury, and just kept playing with the bad war hammer at his feet.

"Hey, I saw just now that you were pretending to be injured. How can a war horse have such a good appetite to eat after being hit by a hammer on the head? But forget it, you did a good job just now. You knew I would send a warning to your master in advance. News."

Kil patted the tall body of the war horse and kept saying nice words that the war horse liked to hear.

Then he put the material packages on the ground on the horse's back. Kiel carried the metal double-edged spear, led the horse and left here quickly.

He continued to move along the forest road under his feet, but unlike before, Kil already understood who built this strange hard road with anti-skid textures under his feet.

It's the dwarves, it should be the dwarves.

When he entered the forest before, he thought for a while that the strange situation in the forest was another encounter with the remains of the elves. That's right, the elves gave up here long ago, and there should not be many ancient elven ruins left. Just come down.

The dwarves are different. The dwarves are not only technologically advanced, but also have a long history. They have lived and developed the land under their feet for a long time, at least much longer than the humans who have lived here for about a hundred years.

Kil thought, just like the dwarf said just now, it's just a hundred years, just a hundred years.

The battle between humans and dwarves for the land beneath their feet is far from clear-cut.