"The poor get poorer, have you ever heard of this saying?" The wind and snow hit Henry's face, and the next second after he finished saying this, he twisted around and slashed with a sharp horizontal slash at a wide angle. The skull of a ghoul.
The dark body fluid was frozen by the ice and snow almost as soon as it overflowed. The short monster with its teeth and claws snarled fell to the ground and stopped moving.
"Well, it's - Idiom Vocabulary - I guess." Constantine turned his back to him. He removed half of a ghoul's body with a vertical slash from his left shoulder, and then added a sharp kick to lift it. The ground kicked it in the chin, and the strong and powerful kick caused the monster, which weighed no more than 25 kilograms, to fly backwards and fall down into the snow.
But even though its chin was kicked off and half of its body was missing, body fluids were constantly bubbling from the wound, but it was still able to move freely. The small ghoul, which fell to its calf in the snow, quickly turned over, then turned around and attacked the swordsmen on the other side.
"Tsk." Constantine clicked his tongue, and then took a few steps back in Henry's direction.
With a height of just over one meter, these small ghouls are more difficult to deal with than those of average size. The calf-deep snow and considerable wind made it difficult for the human warriors, who were already slow to move and stiff in the ice and snow, to judge the position of their opponents. Even if they saw them, they would often make mistakes and fail to hit.
"Hiss--" They scurried around and opened their mouths. Originally, this should probably be a roar, but due to the influence of the ghoul transformation, the vocal cords have shrunk, so there is only a faint sound of airflow, but even this is in the wind. It is also difficult to use to determine directions in the snow.
"Shrink the circle, insert the shield!" Mikhail, who was in charge of commanding the left wing, shouted loudly. He held a sword in his left hand and a scarred shield was fixed with a leather strip on his injured right hand.
"Kakakaka!" Under the command of the knight's adjutant, the shields overlapped one after another. These small monsters mostly target their legs and feet when attacking, which may not sound as fatal as attacking the head, throat or heart, but even minor cuts can cause blood loss, and it is extremely difficult to heal wounds in such a cold environment. If you survive, you may lose a leg - not to mention that their attacks also come with various toxins from the undead.
God knows how these ghosts can move freely in such an environment where their blood seems to be frozen.
It stands to reason that without body temperature, they should be extinct in the ice and snow like reptiles, and they will be directly frozen into hard ice cubes by the severe cold.
But they can still move, and their movement speed is even more flexible than before.
"Be careful!" The cold, exhaustion, lack of supplies and lack of rest made everything worse. Although they were all excellent knights and Mikhail gave the instructions at just the right time, some were still half a beat too slow.
The exhausted knight managed to block the blow, but another short monster took advantage of him to bend down and swing his sword, stepping on the tilted shield in his other hand and heading straight for his face.
The bronze dagger was still gleaming in the ice and snow, heading straight for his throat.
Fortunately, they are not fighting alone.
"Pah - ah -"
"Seize -" The triangular tip at the bottom of the inverted triangle-shaped team covering each other is the troops where Minna and Mira are. The timely support of Avenella's long archers increased the fault tolerance rate of the knights, and they reacted quickly like an eagle. The archers who were full of energy were quite reliable, and the ghoul that was hit by several arrows fell directly to the ground.
Even if there is wind and snow blocking them, they can still easily hit a hostile target of this size with a flat shot within twenty meters.
"The enemy is ahead! It's the undead." Mikhail roared loudly in Laman language, swaying in the distance. This time, what appeared was a relatively slow-moving human corpse.
"Longbowman!" Then Minna raised her long sword and shouted in the Avenella dialect: "Throw at a forty-five-degree angle, prepare three times."
"Let go!" The arrow rain composed of thirty arrow feathers was not dense, but the attacks of the well-trained longbowmen were continuous.
The newly appeared enemy fell down with arrows all over its body. The last small ghoul on this side was killed by a last hit, but before Mikhail and others could take a breath, another one appeared on the left. A group of swaying human undead emerged.
"Shit!" Fatigue eroded his body, and even the knight's adjutant, who had a steady personality, couldn't help but cursed in Thoradin's native language.
"Leave it to us here." Mira and Minna looked at each other and then rushed forward together with Moro and several other mercenaries who were holding the line. She shouted to Mikhail, while the knight's adjutant raised his He raised his sword to indicate that he knew and then headed towards the other side to kill.
The Luoan girl wearing a warm cloak was trudging through the deep snow with swords in both hands. She and the mercenaries were targeting the knocked down walking corpses.
"Damn it, you can still live here." They have been baptized by nearly a hundred arrows, but except for a few who were shot through the head, these zombies are still struggling in the snow and trying to get up again. .
"I can still move, but I don't call this living." Morrow stepped on the chest of the walking corpse, letting the other party move his hands wildly, holding the sword blade in his hand and thrusting it into the eye socket.
"Ashes to ashes to ashes." Moreau concluded with a short prayer and hand gestures. The dead were not the mixed residents who had a close relationship with them, but villagers wearing ordinary Laman civilian clothes. They must have been victims in a village they did not know about along the way.
"How big is the scope of this incident?" "Retreat!" The middle-aged mercenary was interrupted by the Luoan girl before he finished speaking. They gasped and gasped in the snow. During the arduous trek, they were once again within the range that the long archers led by Minna could cover.
With a flash of cold light, Kramer struck again.
With a "Clang——" sound, the sage split open a ghoul, and then took a step back to control the distance.
"It was interrupted for a while, but the topic continued, so this word refers to-" "Boom--" A small ghoul jumped up and rushed towards the sage's waist, and Henry pinched it conveniently. He grabbed it by the neck and threw it into the air. Constantine, who turned around, sped up his sword and swung it diagonally, cutting it in half in mid-air. At the same time, he did not forget to respond: "Are you sure - this is - the reason for mentioning this - Is it a good time?”
"Huh-huh-if you haven't noticed." He took a few breaths before continuing: "We're a little busy right now!"
"Of course." The sage shrugged: "If we don't mention it now, we won't have time later."
He said this, and Constantine's expression became serious because of this statement.
"In short, this term refers to those at the bottom of society. They have done their best to survive, and their attempts to improve their living environment and create a future will create more new pressures and make life more difficult. ."
"What's the tip for you?" Henry reached out and grabbed a ghoul's head without looking, then pushed it into the snow, then flipped his wrist and hit it with Kramer's weighted ball. Broken its skull.
"Hiss—" The slender and skinny limbs stretched stiffly for a while, and then fell into the snow.
"No, not at all." Constantine's reply was obviously ironic.
"So, under what circumstances would you choose--" Henry turned to the left, and Constantine turned to the right. Two by two, the two men, who were huge and also chose big swords as their weapons, split open two human undead like reflections in a mirror.
And Henry continued: "Occupy the lair of a group of goblins and drive them out."
"Even though you know that this is likely to turn them into undead or ghouls."
"Well, maybe I'll try to improve it next time. Try to convince them to lay down their weapons and distribute their severely insufficient supplies to us strange humans. But before that-" Constantine gasped and looked back. Henry glanced at him: "Can you teach me Goblin language?"
"You see, this is what I'm talking about." The sage shrugged again, and then easily swung his sword to split another ghoul-turned Goblin in two: "The poor get poorer. You try to improve the situation of your group, and you have no choice but to plunder them to survive."
"But this decision has brought about a new enemy. It is small and flexible. It was originally very fragile, but now it is." He raised his hand and struck a sword with a speed like lightning and thunder. Even the snowflakes flying in the air were cut down in an instant. Break: "Becoming so hard to kill."
The ghoul with a severed head fell to the ground, and dark liquid continued to gush out from the broken neck, and they quickly froze in the ice and snow.
"Not for you." Constantine gasped and whispered. His fingers had begun to freeze, and the sword that had been lost from Henry's hand began to feel heavy and difficult to swing.
The approaching blizzard expanded again and again during the escape, followed by a sudden drop in temperature. In such a temperature that even the blood felt like it was about to freeze, many people in the team suffered from frostbite.
After encountering enemies one after another and a serious lack of food, both meat and firewood were frozen so hard that even an ax was difficult to split. How could he find someone to protect himself in the violent snowstorm, and A bonfire was lit and the hot smoke filled the cave that had warmed the interior. Regardless of whether it already had an owner, Constantine had to take it.
"The weak can only advance by stepping on the corpse of the weaker!" he shouted, and then used enough strength. This time the impact was still on the left shoulder, but he split the ghoul into two pieces.
"Interesting philosophy of life." Henry glanced at Constantine, and then looked at Little Mira, whose creed was completely opposite to Constantine's - the latter was cleaning up the mess with the mercenaries to touch up the undead. .
"Ahhhh——"
Without stopping for a moment, screams came from the left wing again. Judging from the downward attack movements of the blurred backs of the knights, it was obvious that after leaving the archer's cover, they were eaten by the goblins mixed in among the human zombies. The ghouls made a sneak attack.
"Return to defense and move closer to me." Henry raised his sword to indicate his direction, but the howling wind made it difficult for his voice to be conveyed. Fortunately, Minna and Mira, who have excellent judgment skills, also quickly moved forward to support them. Mikhail and a group of knights led by him.
Dozens of warriors joined together and quickly eliminated this new batch of threats. They retreated towards the entrance of the cave. The warm firelight of the cave behind them made people want to turn around and go back, but there were also injured and weak people inside. Companions, if these guys are allowed to rush in, all the hard work along the way will be in vain.
"Hiss-uh!" Several knights who were injured in the battle tied up their thighs with tattered strips of cloth. What they were doing was not dressing the wounds, but tightening the ropes to squeeze the leg arteries to control them. Blood circulation - this is not a good idea, because it is likely to cause necrosis of limbs due to ischemia and greatly affect movement, but for now, in order to continue fighting, they can only do this.
The ghoul-turned Goblins have become extremely difficult to kill. These short demi-humans originally have the advantage of being flexible, but because their physical strength is only equivalent to that of humans, well-trained servants Pawns and soldiers can kill them easily.
But after turning into undead, even these little things became formidable opponents.
If the knights have a full set of armor and sufficient physical strength, even the ghoul-turned goblins will not be afraid.
No matter how tough they are, all they have are short and backward weapons, teeth and nails. None of this can do anything about a set of steel full-body armor, and the knights can rush forward and slaughter them one-sidedly despite the attack.
But in the continuous battles and the cold wind that increased physical exhaustion, Constantine and the others had abandoned all their armor in order to survive. Even the remaining weapons and equipment on hand were in tatters. If it weren't for the very eye-catching smoke column rising from the bonfire that had been lit all day for warmth in the cave, and Henry and the others had just arrived here, I'm afraid this would have happened. In a short while, he had become a cold dead body in the cold wind.
Or worse.
"The injured people retreat, we have enough people now. Go back to the cave to rest, and Horno will force out the poison for you." Constantine naturally noticed these details, although in the eyes of our little Mira, he might He is a cold-blooded and ruthless commander, but this kind of abandoning soldiers to save vehicles is just a necessary cruelty for the leadership. No commander with brains will let his subordinates fight forcefully while preserving their strength, resulting in attrition.
"Huh-huh-" Heavy breathing sounds came and went, and waves of white mist formed along the defense line in the wind and snow.
"Am I right?" Henry was not the only one with sharp eyes, Mira said as she stared blankly into the distance.
"They retreated." "They retreated!"
"The wind and snow are also getting lighter. We survived! We survived!" It was not just the mercenaries who were excited, but also many imperial knights. They vented their emotions by shouting loudly. Although everyone knew that this was not a real victory, it could not even be called a victory, but they still cheered and celebrated wantonly, just because if they did not Many people crumble under pressure.
"Survived, survived, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha--" Moreau grabbed his hair and cried and laughed like a madman. He and the other mercenaries were all wearing tattered warm clothes, and they looked like a madman. If the treasure's armor is not mentioned, even the original armor has to be given up due to physical reasons.
"You guys are really timely." The middle-aged mercenary gasped and said to Henry and Mira, while Mingna came over and began to communicate with Constantine and Mikhail about arranging the various items they transported. Supplies supplies.
The wind and snow stopped, and the sky gradually became brighter.
Leaving some sentries on alert, the rest entered the former Goblin lair that was filled with smoke and had many traces of rough development. Many people sat down on the ground carelessly, feeling somewhat relaxed after receiving the new supplies.
The sounds of conversation were matched with the flames. People took the time to rest and appreciate this hard-won respite.
Horno stayed by the fire to treat the injured knight. The poison of the undead is also a kind of magic in nature, so a magician strong enough can use his own magic to repel it, but this process consumes a lot of magic and is harmful to the body. The affected person experiences "pain like fire burning the skin."
There was a fine drop of sweat on Miss Elf's forehead, and the big man Barrow, who looked dull, sat next to her. Although he was strong, his dull and taciturn weak sense of presence prevented Constantine from taking action even if the situation was critical. He was included in the combat force.
"Huh -" When Henry came over, Horno had just driven out the poison for the last knight. The pale knight biting the wood relaxed and lay on the ground, while Horno lifted up With his sweaty face, he greeted the sage.
"You're a little late, but it's better than never -" she said, and Henry said "hmm", but what he did in the next second was beyond everyone's expectations.
"Teacher?!" "Sir?!"
With textures like mountains and waves, Kramer's sword blade revealed a strange beauty in the firelight, while Henry held the sword with one hand, pointing directly at Horno's forehead.
"Jink, Paraang (what does this mean)?" She asked in Elvish language word by word with a very serious expression.
"Valakulier."
"Stranger." Constantine suddenly whispered, and Mira turned back to look at him. She was a little confused because of this series of changes, but then she realized that the knight commander was obviously referring to Horno. A name for Henry.
"No, it's more than that." The man, who was as tall as Henry and had a very similar temperament, whispered softly.
"Valar specifically refers to humans in the Elvish language, but Kuriel means more than just coming from elsewhere."
"Avon Kuliel (does not belong here), Vesta Kuliel (does not belong to this world)." Henry shrugged and replied in Elvish.
"Being outside people, beyond the existence of reason, wandering alone in the world, a confused stranger, not knowing where to go, not knowing where to return."
"Stranger."
"You elves are indeed very poetic when it comes to choosing names. A word can have complex and profound meanings. This is indeed something that only long-lived races can do."
He still didn't put down his sword. Barrow suddenly stood up, everyone looked at him, and Horno's expression began to loosen. A drop of sweat slid across her face, from her pointed chin to the ground. The moment he fell, Henry spoke, word for word.
"Vantali."
The words that came out of the sage's lips were as bland as ever.
"——!" But Horno's whole face turned pale in an instant, and she subconsciously stepped back, while Barrow took a step forward and instinctively protected her. His muscles swelled, but what caught everyone's attention was the flow of his bulging blood vessels.
black liquid.
"What the hell--" Several knights grabbed their swords.
"Look." In the tense atmosphere, people's attention was once again attracted by the sage who spoke, because he no longer spoke in Elvish, but began to speak in Laman language that everyone could understand.
"In Elvish language, when used to describe solemn things, the syllable 'Brahman' is often added, which means the same as the human word 'holy'."
"Compared to the one-sided positive meaning in human languages, 'Brahma' is a neutral word in Elvish language. In addition to the positive solemnity and nobility, it also means something when used in a negative context." Henry He raised a finger.
"Extremely serious."
"So the word Vantali means-"
"Those who violate extreme taboos." Horno said coldly, interrupting Henry.
"I admit defeat." Before she changed her Latin language, she seemed to be very fluent: "I should have expected it. No matter how careful I am, I can't deceive you."
"But are you sure it's a good idea to break up with me?" Her eyes began to emit blue light, which was a symbol of the magic being mobilized in her body. Everyone became nervous, Minna and Yavenella Putting aside the long archers, everyone else has seen Horno's magical power.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just."
"Just want to talk."
"When-" Henry lowered Claymer's head, and the tip of the sword was inserted into the soft sandstone ground.
