"Is it thundering?" Mira stopped and looked into the distance, but she didn't need anyone else to reply. This question was answered quickly.
In the silent night, a huge sound came from far away. At first glance, it did sound like thunder, but where could the thunder be as continuous as a heavy rain? "Bang, bang, bang, bang -" The huge and rapid sound continued to sound irregularly, and the echo lingered in the empty Parnilla for a long time.
"Speed up the pace, it seems that the sneaking scout has been discovered." Henry urged. There were more than two hundred people in their group, which was the third force besides Constantine's command to attack the commercial guild and the treasury. This team is basically made up of familiar faces. In addition to the members of the small explorer team, there are also Minna and the Avenella archers led by her and the elite mercenaries under Captain Stephen.
The destination is the manor where Margaret was "robbed". Although the fact that the noble lady is the eldest daughter of the city lord's family has not yet been acknowledged by me, it has become a common knowledge. . And she wanted to return to that manor precisely because there was a secret passage inside that could lead directly to the city lord's palace. Reuniting with the remaining Parnilla garrison as soon as possible would not only give her some peace of mind, but also allow her to exchange known information on both sides and formulate aftermath and rescue plans.
The team of more than 200 people was divided into two unequal parts. Minna led the long archers at the front, away from the main formation. The hunting mercenaries in heavy armor surrounded Margaret, Filippo and Ferruccio, using their bodies as shields. Henry, Mira, and Stephen were a little further forward, quickly interpreting the messages conveyed by the archers to give instructions to the team.
Including the five big and powerful hunting mercenaries, even though they were fully armed and numerous, everyone only felt very nervous.
Perhaps infected by such emotions, Margaret, who was surrounded by more than a hundred guards, could not feel the slightest sense of security.
The enemy is in darkness and we are in the clear. The number of them advancing through the night and the sound of their armors clashing are definitely not related to being low-key. As for Parnilla, these multi-story and gorgeous buildings that originally made Margaret proud, now every window has become an ambush point where the enemy may attack with hand cannons.
It's the same thing over at the East Gate Entrance Square, the small hand cannons can't shoot that far so ambush is a joke. But when they enter the residential area, there are many masonry houses and complex terrain. What they need to be wary of is not only enemies from all directions, but also attackers located on the second floor of the house or on the roof.
Thinking of this, no one could relax.
Like their weapons, the armor worn by hunting mercenaries differs greatly from that of knights and war mercenaries. Because their career needs are different, their focus has gone to two extremes.
Except for Abu Serra and some other remote areas, most areas on the Rigal continent attach great importance to melee combat, and the existence of plate armor that was born and evolved from this has become very important. Details like "gaps" and "overlaps".
The attacking party, whether it is a knight on horseback using a lance or a spear, or a person fighting at close range with a blunt instrument or an armor-piercing awl, will try to find weaknesses in the opponent's armor, pry them open, poke them in and damage human tissue. In response to this, the defensive side has naturally evolved armor with an increasingly tight structure that is not easy to be pried open. For this reason, it must be made very close to the body and have an aesthetic style that facilitates movement.
In contrast, hunting mercenaries mostly deal with large beasts and monsters full of brute force. They can't use those exquisite skills and don't know how to attack weak points. At most, they can bite with big bites or more often scratch and rush. Facing such an enemy, thick lining cushioning is more useful than slim and thin types - this is why most hunting mercenaries look thick and round. Their linings are better than those of knights and knights. War mercenaries are more than three times thicker, and the armor's coverage area is much smaller. Not to mention many gaps, it is often very rough and not slim, and the size is huge in order to fit in more cushioning material.
It's not fancy, but it's usable, and it's a reliable piece of armor - but it has its limits.
Forget about hand cannons, if someone suddenly rolls out a cannon like that in an alley—
"Stop-" Henry raised his arms. Stephen and Mira hesitated because Minna and the other archers in front did not react. The blond woman even stopped and started to look here with a puzzled look on her face, clearly wondering why they didn't follow up.
"Teacher?" The Luoan girl opened her mouth, but the sage frowned and sniffed his nose: "Brimstone."
"Brimstone? Snake repellent? What's the matter? What business has been going on recently - ah!" Stephen took over his words, and Henry had already pulled out the dagger from his waist. He held the knife behind his back, and then raised his hand with the other hand. He gestured with his hand for everyone to stop where they were.
Using his sense of smell as a guide, Henry walked forward for a short distance, then stopped near the entrance of an underground wine cellar, and walked back to the original place slowly and silently.
"Is it the front?" Stephen turned around and made a popular gesture among them, and a group of safari men holding light crossbows quickly began to cock their bows. Then the mercenary leader took off the ax from behind.
"What's going on?" Margaret came closer. She felt the tense atmosphere and lowered her voice.
"They said it smelled of sulfur, did you smell it?" Mira asked in a low voice, and the eldest lady also sniffed her delicate little nose: "Like rotten eggs?"
"Well, I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but the teacher seemed to have discovered something." The white-haired girl said this. It is normal for an abandoned and war-torn city to have a smell. The sink emanates from the drainage outlet on rainy days. The stench, as well as the smell of some dirt and dead bodies, come and go. Not covering your nose is considered a strong psychological endurance. Only our Mr. Sage can detect a unique smell in it.
"Is sulfur something like snake repellent?" Margaret also asked the same question. "Yes." Stephen in front nodded: "At the same time."
This sturdy man said with a rare delicate expression and a gentle tone:
"It's also the raw material for gunpowder."
"——!" The two girls and others next to them stared wide-eyed. As Henry gradually approached the entrance of the wine cellar with his crossbowmen and spearmen, Stephen explained to them in a low voice: "Saltpeter, charcoal And sulfur, these three are important raw materials that make up gunpowder. We mercenaries also use them when driving away monsters. We carry them separately and then mix them when they are needed."
"I see, then if they use such a large amount, there will naturally be a logistics department responsible for manufacturing gunpowder in the city -" The first person to react was Filippo. The young man was a knight after all, and he had a keen sense for these things. intuition.
"Maybe he is also responsible for maintaining those weapons, so if we can get rid of it-" Stephen's words stopped here, Henry had already led people to gather around the front. But the sage took no further action. He turned back and looked here, while the mercenary leader looked at Margaret.
Minna noticed the strange movement here, and she ran back quietly with her people, while Mira quickly told the lady the situation in a low voice.
Margaret seemed hesitant.
If they could destroy the rebel mercenary's logistics supply point, if those cannons and hand cannons misfired, the opponent would definitely suffer heavy losses. But there are only about two hundred people here, and most of them are hunting mercenaries who are better at dealing with monsters and giant beasts.
It is true that those who can stand in front of a multi-ton mad beast without weakening their feet are the bravest ones, but they are hunters after all, not killers. No matter how brave they are, it is still difficult to deal with it if they lack experience.
Margaret was thinking quickly. This little noble lady had one of the best bloodlines in the Padrosi Empire and a smart mind. Although naive and inexperienced, she was anything but stupid.
"Since this place is so important, there will be no shortage of troops. We have a small number of people now, but we have the advantage of making a surprise attack. They are hiding underground. Since there are no security personnel outside, they should think that they are still well hidden."
"This place is very close to the palace. If we can bypass it without attacking, we can use a secret passage to help the people of the city lord's palace. If the movement disturbs us, we will be passive at that time." Mira looked at this person who was much shorter than her. A girl of the same age said this while biting the nail of her right thumb. The way her blue eyes shone always reminded the white-haired girl of her teacher.
"Inform sir to attack. I will retreat to the nearby residences for the time being." She said, but as soon as she finished speaking, everyone heard a burst of noise coming from the alley ahead.
The noise, like people yelling at each other, was clearly audible because the night was so quiet and everyone held their breath for fear that the people there would notice their arrival.
"——Then what's going on with those cannons? Are you fucking trying to trick us?" A voice with a southern accent roared loudly, and the sound reached everyone through the ventilation window of the underground wine cellar attached to the wall. in the ears.
"You stupid guys, do you have ore in your heads? How could we possibly harm our teammates!" Then came a louder voice and a very heavy clang.
Immediately afterwards, the speaking voice stopped, and everyone held their breath before faintly hearing some "ding-dong-dang-dang" sounds.
"There's internal strife." Henry put away the dagger and silently pulled out the sword from behind. At the same time, he gestured with his free hand to direct the safari and longbowmen to surround the end of the slope at the exit of the wine cellar.
The wine cellar, which occupies a large area, belongs to a nearby tavern. It is built underground to avoid the hot sunshine of Parnilla and keep the wine cool. The two-meter-wide arched gate leads up to a stone slope leading to the alley. Several wheelbarrows used to transport wine were left on both sides of the gate, covered with dust.
"Tap, tap, tap, tap -" "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Cursing sounds and chaotic and dense footsteps gradually approached from the inside of the wine cellar toward the outside, mercenary safari and spearmen They all became nervous.
"Archers and crossbowmen are ready." Henry said in a steady voice.
"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, stepping, stepping, footsteps," the footsteps became louder and louder, and then, with a "bang," the door of the wine cellar was opened.
The group of rebel mercenaries, who looked embarrassed and many of them were injured, hurriedly ran out, but the slope in front of the wine cellar led to the part above the ground, and the dim light of the moon was blocked by something.
“Fuck——” “Let go!” “咻咻咻咻咻——”
"——" Over a hundred arrows and crossbows were lost. Except for a few that were bounced off by breastplates and helmets, they basically pierced the throats, faces, and limbs of these thirty people.
The more than thirty mercenaries, covered in blood, fell to the ground. The spearmen swallowed their saliva, and the safari men lowered their crossbows as they felt their mouths were dry. Only the longbowmen quickly Re-nock the arrow and be ready to draw the string.
"What are you still doing? Go up and check if there are any survivors. We will burn this place down after we clean it up!" The person who seemed to be the leader of the mercenary safari said this. His face was also a little pale. Killing was still relatively new to him. In order to relieve his rapid heartbeat, he shouted loudly and urged his men to move forward.
"Wait a minute!" The sage frowned, but the mercenary leader had already led a few hunting mercenaries who temporarily acted as spearmen and walked down: "What's wrong-" He turned around and looked up at Henry He asked, and it was at this time that a figure as fast as lightning came out of there.
"Bang Dang——!" "Ahem——" A slender, thick, pure metal spear with a gray-black surface penetrated the left chin of the mercenary leader from bottom to top, and cut open the leather chin that fixed the helmet. The band is then stabbed out of the back of the head.
The metal helmet flew into the sky due to the impact of the remaining force, and before it fell, the four accompanying spearmen were also cut open or stabbed through the throat in a daze.
"Bang Dang——" "Dang——" It was just a face-to-face encounter, and five people died so quickly due to lack of experience.
"Release arrows, release arrows!" the safari men shouted in panic, and the longbowmen shot the arrows quickly. However, even the powerful Avenela war bow hit the target in the dark. The best result from an uninvited guest is just a spark.
"Not even a dent!?" The young people's eyes widened.
"That's quenched and hardened plate armor, made by dwarves, retreat quickly!" Henry shouted loudly, and the long-range hands quickly withdrew.
"Pa—" The man in the dark shook the spear in his hand, and the blood on it splashed all over the floor.
"Don't hold on, go back." Henry instructed. These inexperienced hunters cannot deal with opponents with such equipment. If they are forced to go up, it is possible to kill the opponent, but there will definitely be heavy casualties.
"Tap" the man moved forward, "tap" the mercenaries stepped back.
He walked slowly and slowly, as if he didn't care about them at all.
It wasn't until they walked out of the wine cellar and into the alley, exposed to the faint moonlight, that everyone could get a glimpse of the whole scene.
Dwarves wear plate armor that is thicker than mercenaries and imperial knights. The surface retains the black oxide layer from burning and does not always like to be polished like humans. Only the observation port of the helmet was exposed among the layers of armor that covered his body. His ginger hair grew out from the hem of the helmet. In addition to the spear in his hand, he also carried a sword and a gun on his waist. A machete.
There were only some shallow marks of blows on the sturdy full-body armor, and there was a lot of blood on the helmet and body armor. Judging from the location, it obviously came from the rebel mercenaries.
"Stand back and keep distance." Henry turned around and instructed the archers: "You too." Then he gave the same instruction to the spearmen.
"Human beings are really hateful. They only know how to bully the few." The dwarf said with a loud voice, gritting his teeth. He was obviously the person responsible for providing technical support. However, after the cannon exploded during the day, the mercenaries There was internal strife with him.
Obviously, the cooperation between these people from the southern countries and the dwarves did not reach the level of tacit understanding. After making the matter a big deal, he killed these mercenaries by himself and fled, and was finally killed by the long-range operators commanded by Henry. Put it away.
The sage stood there with a big sword in one hand. The hunting mercenaries and longbowmen wanted to come up to help, but there was nothing they could do against such an iron bastard.
The silence lasted for a long time, and no one else came up from the wine cellar. I think this dwarf and the dozens of rebel mercenaries were all the logistics personnel here. This was a blessing in misfortune.
"Highlander, you human being." The dwarf warrior spoke, his voice coming out through the visor, his breathing was steady and his voice was loud, and his physical strength was obviously still very strong.
"..." Henry didn't say anything, he just lowered the tip of his sword and didn't even raise his hand.
"It's a good sword, it's a pity that it matches you." He leveled the spear. Although there was a height difference of nearly one meter between Henry and Henry, the Sage had the upper hand physically, but everyone was still very nervous.
Dwarf warriors are a well-known entity, especially heavily armored dwarf warriors. They are short in stature but stronger than humans of the same weight. Their small stature means their armor covers a smaller area, thus saving weight, but they are also stronger, which means they can use thicker armor. Coupled with the excellent blacksmith skills, the top dwarf masters made the dwarf warrior armor, even the winch armor-piercing heavy crossbow can only leave a small hole.
Against heavily armed knights, weapons are often not as effective as melee combat skills. No matter how outstanding a knight is, as long as he falls to the ground and sits on top of him, it is basically difficult to get up again. Pulling out a dagger and stabbing at the observation port is standard. rules of combat.
However, a dwarf with a short stature and a very low center of gravity is difficult to fall. In addition, Henry is only wearing a breastplate and is not fully armed. Even if another expert with the 1.5-meter-5-meter Klemmer could get a longer distance, it would only be a draw with a dwarf holding a spear.
The difference between having and not having armor becomes quite significant at this point.
A dwarf who is fully armored can come forward at the risk of being attacked, but if a sage wearing only a breastplate wants to get closer, the sharp and flexible spear tip like a rattlesnake can hit the unprotected parts of his body at any time. harm.
The confrontation lasted half a minute.
Maybe he couldn't help but want to break out and escape, maybe he was relying on his own protective advantage.
The dwarf warriors attacked Henry.
