Our family is in decline

Lance placed the most critical guards and heroes on No. 3, which shows how much he values ​​this place.

What's even more troublesome is that this is a lone army. They have no support and no logistics.

So after stopping at No. 2 Stronghold for a while, he rushed over immediately, but he did not choose to be on the ground, but came through the underground passage.

Because the cultists above were all captured by him after a night of pursuit. When they heard Barton and the others fighting last night, they knew that the pigs in the underground cave were attracted by the blood.

They all have to be cleaned up anyway. Isn’t this faster than finding cultists one by one?

So I killed them all the way from below.

I have to say that the map left by the saint was of great help to him, otherwise he would have gone around in circles for who knows how long it would have taken him to get here.

The situation here is more serious than he imagined. He underestimated the strength of the Ascension Sect and the determination of the ancestor.

It's time to mobilize fishmen and pigmen, not to mention these cultists.

Fortunately, he rushed over, and finally stopped the decline by spending money on spirituality.

With him around, it didn't seem that strange to fight off twice as many cultists.

Before, he just looked at the status, but now through the conversation with Geralt, Lance also really understood what happened here.

According to Geralt, even he, a master demon hunter who has lived for who knows how many years, laments the criticality of this situation.

However, I also followed this topic and talked about my decision at that time, which was somewhat embarrassing.

"Your opinion is actually fine. It is the best option to preserve strength when the situation gets out of control. The benefits of staying here are not high.

And when I came up from below, I found traces of the battle between the pigs and the cultists, which shows that the relationship between them is not good, and there is indeed a possibility of fighting each other if they meet. "

Lance did not blame Geralt for his choice at that time. He could even say that if he were faced with his situation, he would choose to retreat. Only when a person is alive can he have a chance, and when he is dead, there is nothing.

"But we actually couldn't escape at that time. Everyone's condition was really bad. If we retreated, we would just change places and be chased and killed by the cultists."

Geralt actually understood the situation at that time. Who doesn't want to live?

But if you want to retreat, someone must stay to buy time, so Barristan clearly understands what is going on when he takes the initiative to stop the cultists.

Immediately after Boudicca and Disma expressed their opinions, even Tardif, who was described as a bounty hunter but was actually a mercenary who was paid to do things, chose to stay as a queen. This shocked Geralt.

"Don't think too much about what didn't happen. You stay and fight with everyone until the last moment. That's enough."

Lance will not dwell on what has happened or what has not happened. What Geralt thinks is not important, what matters is what he does.

Geralt couldn't help but couldn't calm down for a long time after hearing this. He didn't know what to say, but today's experience was enough for him to remember for a lifetime.

"Go and take a rest. We won. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"Um."

I don't know whether it was the intimidation brought by Lance that kept the pigs and cultists from showing their faces, or whether they didn't have the strength to continue attacking after repeated battles.

Anyway, it really seems to be returning to the peace of the past, allowing everyone to have a peaceful rest.

Lance stirred the soup in the pot, but his mind was already focused on the follow-up action.

Pigs, fishmen, etc. are not counted. From the beginning of the operation, at least six to seven hundred cultists have been killed. Among them are big fish like missionaries, deacons, and witches.

Not to mention one leg, both legs were cut off by Lance with a "snap". It can be said that the Ascension Sect's power in the wilderness was severely damaged, if not completely wiped out.

At least they won't be able to launch attacks in the short term.

The situation in the wilderness is already under control. Now they are waiting for Barton to bring people over to take over the place and then build a new line of defense.

Then when the road is built, it doesn't need to be too good, it just needs to be able to march and transport supplies. By then, the Ascension Sect will completely lose the wilderness and be locked in the ruins.

That's what he thought, but there were two questions that made Lance uneasy.

That is the den under the wilderness. Although it is only an overlap, those pigmen are so disgusting.

There are also the deep divers represented by the fishmen, and their attacks also give Lance a headache.

You can still fight underground, but what do you do in water?

Not to mention that there were some discordant voices in the fucking town right now, and he didn't believe that people from the church could be so good.

It can be said that this operation captured the wilderness and also caused a lot of trouble.

Because Lance's hunting last night basically wiped out the cultists, the large troops who re-entered the cleaning field in the early morning basically encountered no fighting.

Basically, the front line advances as fast as you go, and soon some teams will stop at the second target to rest.

At the same time, Patton began preparations after receiving the order from the lord. After the rendezvous, he organized his troops and led half of the artillery to target No. 3.

The only pity is that the old road has not been built yet, so we can only walk through the wilderness with difficulty.

Fortunately, there is no threat from the cultists, so it will be a little troublesome at best.

And there are enough manpower, so even if you encounter any problems, you are not afraid to fight.

It wasn't until noon that the team gathered at Stronghold No. 3.

Sacrifice can remove flesh and blood, but those external objects will not disappear.

The various scraps and scraps of metal scattered on the ground illustrate how intense the battle took place here. Some bloodstains and minced meat were spread on a layer, and you could feel a sticky feeling even if you stepped on it.

Amidst the strong stench, everyone was wearing damaged and corroded armor, with blood and minced meat sticking to it, which made the lords somewhat inconspicuous.

But they all acted as if nothing was wrong and they were eating and drinking. Their calm demeanor did not take the hell-like scene around them into consideration at all.

Everyone present has experienced the war and understands what these represent. They are even more shocked that people actually hold on to this. They can't help but sigh that it is really strong to be selected into the Guards.

Patton's men rebuilt their positions and organized a new line of defense, and Lance was finally liberated.

But he didn't stop there.

"I want to explore the situation in front more deeply. Scholar, please come with me."

After half a day's rest, everyone's condition has actually recovered a lot. Lance originally said this because he wanted to rely on Alhazred's knowledge and perception of corruption to explore the map in advance to see what the ruins of the old city are now. Condition.

"Boss, I want to go too!" Boudica couldn't sit still. She was just exhausted. After eating and drinking for half a day, she was still full of energy.

After saying this, others also started to petition. Lance took a look at their situation and understood that it would be better to take action as soon as possible.

"Barton stays here to build a temporary camp. Disma, Barristan, and Tardif, the three of you, wait until the camp is completed and then each lead a group of personal guards to understand the surrounding situation as much as possible.

Complete everything and return here to gather before dark. We will be stationed here for a long time and we cannot afford uncertainties.

Alhazred, Junia, Geralt and you guys are going north with me to have a look. "

Lance briefly made arrangements, and then led a few people towards the north.

It may be that the surrounding cultists were gathered to counterattack and then were killed in one fell swoop, so they didn't encounter any enemies along the way.

Also because of the proximity to the ruins, even the giant spiders, a specialty of the wilderness, were not seen much. Instead, there were some ruins of buildings that had been brutally invaded by nature.

Trees are growing out from everywhere, and even buildings made of bricks and stones can hardly block their yearning for sunshine.

Thick tree roots arched through the solid road, cutting off communication with the outside world.

Weeds and vines also tried their best to absorb the nutrients from the gaps and grow, spreading everywhere and completely erasing the traces of human beings.

The tenacious vitality of nature is well reflected here, and even human masterpieces cannot resist it.

But this is not the old city yet, it is just the outer fringe area. They may have once been some suburban towns or farms that guarded the city, but over the years they have become part of the wilderness again.

"There are no traces of cultists, and it seems they don't care about these places."

Lance did not capture the aura of the cultists after activating [Blood Hunting], and Alhazred also had no objection.

"Keep walking."

The team continued to move forward, along the old road that had long been broken and destroyed, with only scattered bricks and stones remaining.

Towns and farms have supporting fields, which should have been covered with abundant wheat ears, with golden waves blowing in the autumn wind.

Children are playing and playing around, and adults are rejoicing in the harvest. With such vitality, everything is blooming before their eyes.

Now, the large flat fields on both sides of the road have been completely covered by weeds and trees. Even because they are close to that evil place, the land seems to be polluted and gives off an ominous atmosphere.

The branches and leaves of the trees shrank, and the trunks were twisted and deformed, making them look like ghosts. Instead, the weird vines grew vigorously and spread among them.

Lance couldn't help but feel a little distressed when he saw this. How many people could these abandoned fields feed?

How the hell did Hamlet become like this!

A ray of cold light flashed across, and the ax gun with a slightly broken blade split the vines blocking the road, revealing Boudica's figure and her complaining words.

"I wonder if there is anything so strange in the mountains."

But everyone understood what she said when they saw the weird pink mucus flowing out of the vine's cut and the purple-black vine that looked like it had eyes and tentacles.

"The breath of evil, the power of corruption." Alhazred picked up a vine and looked at it.

Junia also handed the torch over, and the vine twitched like a living thing, which was really weird. But it was difficult to stop the burning of the holy flame from burning up and turning into ashes.

"Nature herself is a victim of this ever-expanding corruption, distorted and distorted by ugly intentions."

Lance was not surprised by this. He calmly said a word and moved on.

The mere corrupted vines could not stop Lance and the others from moving forward. Soon they reached the edge of the wilderness and vaguely saw the huge building complex.

There was no steel and concrete these days, so buildings with two or three floors were usually very tall. Only buildings with special significance, such as church bell towers, were particularly tall.

Similarly, large cities are constantly expanding from small cities. City walls may have been built before, but as they developed, they were demolished and larger ones built.

Or just build it directly from the outside like Totnes, and use two walls to divide several areas.

As a city with military elements, Hamlet is very strange to have no city walls, so it is possible to present the scene in front of you.

Everyone looked around and saw that the ruins of the old city could not even be seen to the end, giving a vague glimpse of how powerful Hamlet was at that time, which was probably not weaker than Totnes today.

However, you can see a large number of collapsed buildings from a distance. Compared with the bustling city of Totnes, which never sleeps, the ruins of the ruins are more intense.

"Our family is in decline..."

Lance sighed. He used to always learn about Hamlet's past from other people's mouths, but now he has a deeper understanding after seeing this scene.

With such a large foundation, even if a pig is put in, it won't be completely destroyed in more than ten years.

Lance's eyes couldn't help but shift, and he seemed to have a feeling to look at an old house on the sea cliff in the northeast of the end of the city.

Ancestor, what the fuck...

But he quickly retracted his gaze and continued to rush forward without any nonsense.

Others seemed to have sensed Lance's low mood all the way, probably because they were emotionally moved by the memory of their family's fight against the cult, and were saddened by the fact that he was the last one left.

Even Boudica didn't say much and just walked behind Lance.

The good news is that the closer you get to the plants, the higher the degree of withering. At the end, there are only dead trees with all the leaves gone, twisted and deformed, and even the corrupted vines are not growing in them.

Without the cover of wild plants, the ruins appear more clearly in front of you, and at the same time, there is no damage from that kind of plants.

If artillery or carriages came here, there would be no restrictions. It would be all flat land without a single weed.

But the bad news is that this situation also shows that the corruptive force here in the ruins is even stronger, so much so that people naturally stay away because there will be no life here.

After the team crossed the transition zone, they officially entered the ruins. Lance's judgment was based on the ground beneath his feet.

A lot of money must have been spent when building the city, and even the edges were paved with floor tiles.

It felt majestic from a distance just now, but the dilapidated and decaying atmosphere became even stronger when I got closer.

The silence after losing popularity seemed to amplify all sounds, and the sound of footsteps hitting the floor tiles could be clearly heard.

The silence of the huge ruins will bring a strong fear to people, a kind of emptiness with nowhere to rest, and a very obvious feeling of lack of security.

But before they could get too deep, the ruins seemed to come to life, welcoming long-lost visitors.

"The breath of death!"

"what sound?"

"Oh! My Holy Light..."