“Only two things may be infinite, the world—and human folly.”—Unknown Raman scholar
…
"Load the arrow! Load the arrow!" The hunting work that should have been done step by step was thrown into chaos because of Euphemio's sudden movements. Since the interception net was set up quite close to the mudflat, the heavy solid iron arrows used by the ballistae had been stored in the camp to prevent them from rusting and losing their sharpness, so now a group of mercenaries had to hold ten A thick arrow weighing one or two kilograms came and he hurried over to make preparations.
"Throw stones! Light the fire oil and protect him!" The experienced Juan did not panic in this situation. He decisively ordered his men to light the small earthen bottles containing grease and wrapped in linen and then throw them out - this It is not a hunting tool, but a survival item invented by mercenaries over many years to scare giant beasts when escaping. But as we mentioned before, the Aya Snake Dragon is quite territorial. The dragon creature, whose territory was violated and was disturbed during the process of laying eggs, this snake dragon overcame its instinctive fear of fire and headed towards Ofemi with several small pools of flames. Ao took a bite.
"Kacha!" After all, it is an omnivore rather than a real carnivore. The structure of its head determines that Aya's snake dragon cannot see the front with both eyes at the same time. The result is that it does not have three-dimensional vision like predators. Therefore, due to the misjudgment of the position, the snake dragon did not bite Euphemio who was sitting on the ground - but it was enough to scare him literally to the point of pissing him off.
The place chosen for the camp was downwind, and the wind naturally blew from the lakeside on the west side. With an embarrassing sound and a foul smell, the crotch of Ofemio's khaki adventurer's cotton and linen trousers was dyed. It turned into a brown color - but the situation was urgent and people had no time to despise or ridicule him. Their lives were at stake. Although they were equally nervous in their hearts, Juan made a decision quickly.
"Martinez! Milan! Go help those little guys!" The more experienced old hunting expert made a decision decisively when the team leader Jeronimo was still hesitant. He sent the orange mercenaries on the front line to After that, he left to help the newcomers who couldn't even operate the ballista due to nervousness - the interception net, a device that required step-by-step cooperation, was no longer effective. The only thing that could stop the rampaging Aya Snake Dragon was powerful weapons.
Geronimo who was in charge and another hunting mercenary carrying huge weapons were still hesitant. Although the weapons in their hands were heavy enough to stop a crazy buffalo, an Aya snake dragon had five or six weapons. Weight and volume of a buffalo.
"Prepare for rescue!" The dozen or so people in front were busy in full swing, but the remaining free mercenaries behind were a little embarrassed and didn't know what to do. Naturally, they had the idea of going to help, but unlike dealing with humans, they encountered They had no idea how to deal with such a crazy behemoth. Even if they went up, it would only be a disservice.
"Captain!" Juan shouted towards Jeronimo, and then pointed to Euphemio in front of him who finally got up but his feet were so weak that he couldn't even run away and could only hold on to the trunk of the tree - the snake dragon was approaching further. He, this time he could not avoid it. Geronimo gritted his teeth and hesitated for a while. Euphemio's incompetence made him start to weigh whether to save this young man at this moment - and it was at this moment that The snake dragon once again shook its clumsy but huge body with astonishing momentum and sprinted forward——
Fortunately, Juan's command was given very timely. It was at this moment that the old orange mercenaries who took over the operation of the ballista on the left quickly completed the winding action, took a rough aim, and headed towards An arrow was fired here.
"Bang, bang! - bang!" The moment the crossbow released its torque, the bowstring slapped the frame heavily. The two-kilogram heavy iron arrow made a whistling sound and directly hit the man who was only twenty meters away. Huge target outside.
"Ah hiss - hiss" The angle of the crossbow could not be adjusted. Due to the huge torque released, the arrow was fired at a high position. It could not hit vital points such as the abdomen, but hit the shoulder blade close to the spine. Aya The snake dragon not only has tough skin but also very strong bones. The long iron arrow was stuck in the muscles of its left shoulder, and the hot red blood immediately flowed along the white-backed blue flower skin to the wrinkled left foot. Hero Nemo and another orange mercenary seized the opportunity when the snake dragon stopped in pain and rushed to rescue Ofemio, but two more burly men appeared and the snake dragon was forced to hold on. After overcoming the pain, the vertical pupils of his golden eyes shrank, and then his left hind limb obviously bent the knee——
"No, jump down!" Juan is indeed the most experienced hunting expert in the team. He judged the change in the situation from just one action. Geronimo and another orange mercenary rushed over quickly. He came over and swooped down, leading Ofemio and the three of them to face down in the mud flat in a dog-eating posture. "Clang-唵-pop!" Because of the huge inertia of the movement, the two of them used their giant weapons. They all flew out and fell into the soil in front of them. They lost the only weapon they relied on to fight, but this decision was still correct——
Because in the next moment, Aya Snake Dragon, who bent his left leg and turned sideways, straightened his body and swung the long tail behind him like a thick whip. "Boom - bang bang!!" The small tree that Ofemio was leaning on was whipped into two halves. If the three of them hadn't fallen down, the flesh and bones would have been completely separated by this moment. The man was broken in two.
"Boom! - Aya hissed -" The unique cry was accompanied by a "hissing" trill like a rattlesnake's tail trembling from the slender neck. The crossbow on the side near the lake was too far away and the one on the right The angle of view was blocked by trees again. At this time, several young mercenaries were trying hard to adjust. The only thing that could be used was a ballista. This kind of cover was completely insufficient. Juan turned his head. He needed all the power he could get right now.
"Torch, get the torch!" He roared loudly towards Henry and the other free mercenaries behind him. The small earthen bottle that burned briefly and was quickly extinguished by the wet soil failed to have much effect, and he fell into madness. The Aya Snake Dragon flicked its tail and began to turn its long neck to find the target. In this situation, Jeronimo and the other orange mercenary had no choice but to abandon their weapons, and they left As soon as he helped Euphemio, whose feet were weak and whose face was pale and wet with urine, he decisively ran towards the snake dragon.
"Hiss——!" The wound on the left shoulder was still bleeding, and the slender neck was unable to make a large turn. At this moment, the snake dragon's field of vision was restricted. The three of them seized this blind spot to seek survival from the crisis and quickly escaped from it. The front rushed out, and at the same time, the ballista behind him also used the roller group to wind up again and fired another thick arrow.
"Boom - Aya hiss -!" The arrow that hit the left side of the ribs pierced deeply and caused great damage. The Aya Snake Dragon visibly succumbed. The skin of this behemoth was at this moment Already covered with bits and pieces of dark red blood, it began to look exhausted and shook its wolf-sized head, but it was at this time that the free mercenaries ran over with torches.
"Back off immediately!" "Get off all!" Two sentences were shouted out from Henry and Juan's mouths at the same time. The hunting ground is the battlefield, and the battlefield is always changing. A torch could be used at the last moment. It was a tool to intimidate and build momentum, but at this moment it inspired the madness of the trapped beast in Aya Snake Dragon's heart.
"Yahiss!" The yellow-green pupils were filled with bloodshot eyes due to a series of mixed emotions of pain, fear and anger. The sage and several other free mercenaries decisively dropped the torches in their hands and threw themselves on the spot. Instead, it quickly scattered towards the left and right sides, and the next moment the multi-ton Aya snake dragon rushed straight towards the group of them with slow steps.
"Pu-cha-" Because of her hurried movements, the white-haired Luoan girl's tied hair was stained with a lot of mud and scattered in all directions, but she didn't care at all at the moment. She just stood up and turned her head towards the stampede. The snake dragon with many deep footprints ran towards the camp of the group.
"Hiss!" It roared, but Mira felt only sadness from that cry.
"Neigh!" The horses and mules, whose reins were tied to the tree trunks, panicked due to the giant beast's sprint and wanted to escape, but were held in place. Unable to contain their inertia, the snake dragon trampled the tent to pieces. After picking up a wooden table and a lot of supplies, they stopped. More than 20 mercenaries were unable to do anything with this big guy weighing several tons, and finally carried Ofemio to Hero near Juan. Just as Nemo took a breath, he saw the snake dragon turning its head to look here again.
The bloodshot left pupil looking here is filled with confusion, pain, and fear. It is the actions in front of him that prevent him from completing the raising of his offspring and give him pain. I don’t know where. The outright hatred of the tiny creature that jumped out.
——This is an intelligent creature. Like humans, it also knows hatred, pain, love and being loved. Although the number of times he hunted snake dragons was not uncommon, when Geronimo understood the complex and human emotions in those eyes, he still couldn't control himself and was stunned for a moment - but it was only for a moment. , the next second his experienced experience as a hunting mercenary forced him to reflect, because the snake dragon that turned around once again rushed towards this side with its final madness.
"Run! Run away! Run into the water, onto the hillside, and run away!" The forelimbs that fell heavily staggered due to the pain in their left shoulders, and warm blood swayed on the soil in the forest as they ran. On the top, Geronimo turned around and roared loudly, and Henry decisively picked up Mira, who was a little overwhelmed because she couldn't understand Lamani and was shocked by this scene.
Euphemio's legs were still weak and he couldn't stand up straight. Juan glared at him angrily and then grabbed the young man's collar and pulled him to the other side - but the snake dragon seemed to be right. As he was running, he immediately changed direction and ran towards the old hunting expert and the young mercenary. This is not incomprehensible. He was incontinent due to excessive fright. The smell on Ofemio's body was the strongest, and as the first human to come out to provoke, the snake dragon with good intelligence naturally had the highest hatred for it.
"Stay here." Although Juan has rich experience and is also an orange card, he is old and frail after all. Seeing that he and Ofemio were about to be caught up, Henry, who was nearby, decisively put Mira down and quickly He rushed over and picked up the weak young mercenary, then grabbed the old hunting expert to help him speed up.
"Remove! Remove!" The sage's physical strength is worthy of his appearance, but the speed at which the so-called giant, a snake dragon that is far larger than a human being, can run at full speed is astonishing. The camouflaged Poinciana tree crown now became an obstacle to aiming. In order to quickly support their teammates in operating the ballista, the two orange-brand mercenaries directed the two green-card newcomers to quickly remove the branches in front.
The situation was urgent, but one thing they ignored was that, as a weapon that had hurt them one after another, the Snake Dragon hated the existence of the ballista as much as Euphemio did.
The direction in which Henry and the three of them ran happened to be near the ballista. It was very difficult to aim at a high-speed moving target. After evacuating the tree canopy in front of them, the arrows fired by the mercenaries immediately failed to hit the snake dragon. Instead, it fell into the ground behind it, and the sound associated with pain that it quickly became familiar with naturally attracted the attention of the snake dragon. But just when it tried to forcefully turn again while running, the people present Everyone heard the snake dragon let out the most painful cry in a while.
"Ouch -" The iron arrow on its injured left shoulder seemed to have gotten stuck in the joint of the shoulder blade during the running process, causing the snake dragon's left foot to immediately go soft and stagger out of control. The four mercenaries who were loading the crossbows were alarmed and wanted to run away in all directions, but it was already too late. The left foot gave way and the whole body fell forward. Due to the huge inertia of the sprint, the snake dragon's several-ton body fell directly. Rolled this way.
"Ahhhhhhh-" The screams of humans and the sound of wood cracking were covered by the huge roaring and rolling sound, and the solid iron arrows inserted into the snake dragon were also distorted and deformed by the huge force. , it rolled out several circles in a row and used its body to shovel out several meters of road covered with blood, minced meat and tattered human clothes, turning into a pool of broken wood and ballistae mixed with it, which was soaked in blood and lost its original color.
"Bang - boom -"
When the dust settled, the dying snake dragon lay scarred on the shoveled dirt pile. Something sad happened. A pool of blood with some debris quickly flowed out from under its body. Old Juan, who probably guessed what all this was about, stamped his foot angrily, while Henry roughly threw the pale Eufemio to the ground, and then walked towards the dying snake dragon .
"Aya——"
The snake dragon can't even open its eyes completely. The eyes of the snake dragon still have wisdom that is not inferior to that of humans. It seems to be aware of certain situations, although it is not known whether the snake dragon's tear glands will be like those of humans. It was caused by emotion, but everyone present actually saw this snake dragon shed a huge teardrop.
"Let me finish it for you." Henry whispered to it. The language he used was not Laman but Xinguan. Among other races such as elves and dwarves, there is one called a druid. A special profession, what they are good at is communication with animals.
The New Ancient Language was originally created and used by the druids. This magical language is said to be able to convey one's thoughts to other races and animals that do not have the ability to speak. It is precisely because of this that it interacts with a large number of people. The wizards who use them are collectively declared by the White Church as heretics who must be tried.
But no matter what, the dying snake dragon closed his eyes peacefully as if he understood Henry's words.
The Sage drew out the Kramer, decisively and accurately ending the creature's suffering due to human folly.
There was silence, and people slowly walked out from where they were hiding. Even if they were not mourning for the snake dragon, four mercenaries died in this disaster. The remaining work of cleaning up the battlefield still existed, and many materials that had been destroyed in the camp also needed to be counted. Old Juan came over and stretched out his hand to Henry. The sage understood what he was going to do. Ordinary weapons could not cut through the skin of the snake dragon so cleanly, so he handed Claymore to the other party.
The somewhat heavy and oversized sword seemed a bit out of place in the hands of a hunting expert who was only of medium stature. He took out a piece of leather from the leather bag at his waist and covered it on Kramer's blade, holding only the front end. Thirty centimeters away, use it as a dagger.
"Ah - ah -" someone behind him suddenly exclaimed. The pale Eufemio seemed to have just reacted at this moment. He hurriedly got up and ran towards the camp on his hands and feet. , the others looked at his panicked look, but they just stood there and ignored him. Mira watched quietly as the old hunting expert used Henry's big sword to skillfully cut open the belly of the snake dragon with "crash-".
He rolled up his sleeves and groped directly there regardless of the bloody ground.
Mira looked at the old hunting expert quietly. He just sat on the ground and didn't care about the intestines and blood that had slipped out and stained his leather pants and boots. He just rummaged around intently.
"Go pick up two wooden buckets." Henry turned his head and said to the white-haired Luoan girl. Mira was stunned for a while. She didn't know what her teacher wanted to do, but she nodded and ran away. past.
Mira, who quickly picked up two wooden barrels from the rubble at a trot, had just walked over when she saw the expression on Old Juan's face change. First, his pupils widened, and then he seemed to have aged in an instant. Much like that, let out a long sigh.
The blood-stained hand was pulled out from the snake dragon's abdomen, holding another piece of broken eggshell.
"The fall caused the dragon eggs in the body to rupture, which in turn caused massive bleeding in the birth canal. The vitality of the snake dragon is very tenacious, but giving birth is an extremely risky matter for females of any race." Henry said calmly He explained to Mira in a tone of voice, his eyes were calm and his expression was as peaceful as ever.
The girl tightened her fists, but the hunting expert in front, Old Juan, seemed to have discovered something precious and suddenly sped up his movements.
He rummaged around inside the huge snake dragon body for a long time, and finally he got directly into it. If it weren't for his feet that were still kicking, people outside would almost doubt this white-bearded old man. The mercenary was suffocated inside like this.
It took Old Juan a full two minutes to pull it out with dirt all over his body. He held two complete dragon eggs on the left and right in his hands. Henry immediately turned around and lifted up the two wooden eggs. The bucket ran to the lakeside and was filled with moist soil. The moment Old Juan put the two dragon eggs in, he burst into tears uncontrollably.
"We are doing something evil!" There are only two snake dragons left in a nest that can lay more than twenty dragon eggs. Without the numerical advantage, if they are left in the wild, they will only become a meal for predators, such as In order to atone for his sins, Old Juan decided to put the two dragon eggs in wooden barrels and bring them back to the town, the only ones that had survived the disaster caused by humans.
There was silence in the messy woods. No one had anything to say at this time. Everyone just watched everything in silence until another noisy sound came from the camp and attracted their attention. attention.
"Huh - I feel much refreshed now." Ofemio, who had changed into a pair of pants and seemed to have taken a shower, walked in front of everyone and tried to cover up the embarrassing fact with a weak smile, but including his companions Everyone there just glared at him.
"You guy! In this situation, you still have the heart to take a shower and change a pair of pants?!" Another person who once teased Mira with him, but failed because he was not fluent in West Coast English The young mercenary shouted loudly at Euphemio, and he was very angry at the carelessness of the person who had made such a mess.
"Hey! Federo, what you said is wrong. I can't wear pants that smell like shit!"
"And look, didn't we succeed in hunting?" "Ta Ta Ta Ta -" "Pa -"
The loud slap echoed throughout the forest.
The petite white-haired girl glared angrily, showing no intention of giving in.
"People like you - the worst!" (To be continued.)
