Led by Brownie, the group headed towards the mountain peak in front of them. The controlled goblin puppets were like undead, guarding the surroundings lifelessly. But the human ranks were equally lifeless.
Griffith found that several young demon hunters looked nervous, while their leader Karius kept his hand on the feather sword from his waist.
"With all due respect, Professor, do you know the situation of Miss Larmore and Galadia?" Griffith asked. Based on his status, he has the right to know.
"The two ladies have joined the rescue team. You are the only one missing," Kalius replied for Professor Lordes. "After we go back, the school will conduct a comprehensive examination on you. Before that, , don’t let me use your brain."
Griffith was slightly relieved to hear that the two girls were safe and sound.
"Hey, are you a trainee knight at Earl Larmore's Mansion?" Pella, the demon hunter responsible for monitoring Griffith, asked in a low voice.
"Yes." Griffith nodded.
"So, is the girl named Galadia your girlfriend? I can understand being the daughter of the emperor. Why do you care so much about the other one?"
Griffith looked at Pella: "Guess."
"..."
The demon hunters walking beside Griffith were stunned for a moment. Pera couldn't help laughing: "It must be! Does she know you like her?"
"If you answer one of my questions first, I'll tell you," Griffith looked at the demon hunters with a smile, "Why are you here?"
"It's a coincidence that I have a mission~" Pella replied carelessly, not caring about the eyes of the other companions, "Then the captain received a call from the wizard, and we came to meet up."
There is a dark golden emblem on Pella's cloak, which looks like the shape of a star. Not only her, but all the witchers present had similar emblems on their waists or cuffs.
Griffith had heard about this emblem and immediately understood their identities: "Are you trainee demon hunters from Beacon Academy?"
"There are four of us, and the captain is our instructor," Pella nodded, "We are here for training in the winter."
"Pella, be quiet," the demon hunter captain Karius scolded, "This is a high-threat area, stay vigilant."
"Yes~!" Pella pouted and calmed down honestly.
The team climbed along the gentle mountain path toward the top of the mountain. Gosila walked obediently at the front of the team, and the silence along the way was disconcerting.
As they approached the top of the mountain, the road suddenly became smoother and easier to walk on.
"Pay attention," Karius said suddenly, "This road was trodden by wild beasts. The only wild beasts in this place are mutated monsters. Be alert. Raven, from now on you move in the trees and pay attention to your surroundings. Hakan, summon the familiar."
After receiving the order, the demon hunter Raven took out a crossbow and jumped up to the treetop nimbly.
Pale flames flickered around Hakan, forming a circular magic circle. He took out small bags from the package he carried and threw them into them, chanting the summoning spell in a low voice:
"Inspect, silver, sulfur, mercury and the blood of the demon wolf; reconstruct, the pale demon wolf; establish a spiritual link."
Griffith was surprised. This was the first time he saw someone other than the professor summoning. This means that Hakan possesses a rare and powerful extraordinary characteristic.
"Raven is a Sequence 9 'Ranger' on the Ranger Path, and Hakan is already a Sequence 8 'Summoner' on the Collector Path. They are one grade above me," Pella explained for him, "Awesome!"
Beacon is a comprehensive college of higher learning dedicated to cultivating professional demon hunters and related talents. Unlike magic academies and military academies, students at Beacon learn both spellcasting and combat. Their specialization in black magic is more profound and their mission adaptability is wider. Relative to witchers trained in other ways, Beacon graduates have historically been prime candidates for the Central Bureau of Investigation and the kingdom's intelligence agencies.
After a series of orders, a giant wolf covered in pale flames appeared in the magic circle. It silently looked at the nearby creatures, as if choosing what to devour.
"Captain, can you give me a goblin?"
"Take it," Karius waved his hand, and a goblin immediately woke up from the shackles of the black shadow. Before it could let out a strange cry, the pale demon wolf pounced on it like lightning.
"Click."
The demonic wolf bit into the goblin's head, then tore its limbs into pieces and quickly devoured it. The chilling sound of tearing and chewing bones echoed through the forest.
Lordes snorted lightly and said to Gosila who was leading the way: "How far is it?"
"Right ahead, great listener, the entrance to the ruins is right in front," Gosla pointed humbly to the front not far away without even looking at the torn goblin.
There is a deep tunnel there, weathering and corrosion have erased all traces.
"Please wait a moment, Professor Lourdes," Griffith hurriedly stopped, "This Brownie is not trustworthy. There may be traps and ambushes set up in the ruins. We should retreat temporarily today and gather more forces to explore again. ."
This is an unknown ruin!
When I first met Gothra, I had no choice. Why would I go to the ruins now when there are so many of the same kind around me?
Griffith had heard of this horrific ancient relic in the distant Eastern battlefields. Without sufficient preparation and cleanup, the ruins are densely covered with traps, traps, and mutated creatures, and one must rely on a large amount of resources and sacrifices to find a way out.
Entering the mysterious ruins to explore with the current manpower, even a few lives are not enough.
"Ha! What a cautious puppy," the demon hunter captain Karius chuckled. "Lordus-sama's rank, strength and wisdom are beyond your imagination."
"Let the Goblin lead the way," the ice-like Professor Lordes was indifferent to Griffith's warning and Karius' compliment, just like two flies hovering in his ears, "Go forward. "
"Professor, I am a trainee knight of the Larmore family. I have the right to refuse to cooperate in combat under the current circumstances," Griffith gritted his teeth and said again, "My ability is shallow, please allow me to withdraw."
Lordes glanced at Griffith expressionlessly, raised the wand in his right hand, and chanted an unidentifiable spell.
Griffith had no time to react and immediately found that he could no longer make a sound. It turned out to be a curse like being banned.
To make matters worse, his body began to move mechanically, following the goblins towards the dark ruins. This is the dual effect of a gag spell and a suggestion!
"It's better if you don't say anything. That's a terrifying high-level mage!" Pella quickly followed up and poked the trainee knight who couldn't control himself with her elbow. "There's nothing you can do now! Look how good I am. Don’t say a word of nonsense.”
Under the leadership of the goblin, the team gradually went deeper into the ruins. Thick marble frames the entrance passage. From the moment he stepped in, distant and unidentifiable murmurs echoed in Griffith's ears, as if an evil spirit was summoning him.
I have been in this forest for more than 3 hours. During this period, I have been fighting mutant creatures, and a lot of corruption and pollution must have accumulated... Griffith was panicking, and he was very worried that he would suddenly start to decay and mutate.
At this moment, the pale demon wolf suddenly stopped, and its owner Hakan hurriedly shouted: "There is a creature approaching us."
"It's the mutated creatures that have taken over this ruins, the great Lord Lordes," Brownigosilla said humbly, "We are identified as intruders."
As soon as he finished speaking, several huge shadows appeared in the passage ahead.
"Corrupted Wolf Spider," Karius lifted up his cloak and pulled out the two sharp swords from his waist. "Their venom can paralyze people, and a certain amount can be fatal, but the poison sac is a good thing."
The wolf spider moved very quickly and instantly pounced on the goblin at the front, opening its fangs and biting it down. Other tarantulas swarmed from the floors, walls and roof of the passage.
Griffith watched as the goblin's bitten neck continued to swell and dent, obviously being injected with venom immediately. Soon, the goblin shriveled up like a leather bag with holes.
The team of witchers expertly formed their battle formation. Hank raised a round shield equipped with three sharp horns. Pella dragged Griffith and quickly retreated behind the round shield. Raven opened his crossbow and shot an arrow at the wolf spider biting the goblin. go.
"boom!"
The moment the crossbow arrow hit the wolf spider, the arrow suddenly brightened and exploded into a fireball inside the wolf spider's body.
The dark space was immediately filled with light, and even Griffith was so startled that he took two steps back. The swarms of wolf spiders were repulsed by the fire for a few seconds, but when the light disappeared, another group of ferocious shadows emerged from the darkness.
"Keep shooting, both flame and light will have an effect!" Karius shouted to his students.
Hakan immediately began to chant a spell, and the demon wolf he summoned erupted in pale flames, attacking the attacking tarantula like a huge fireball.
Professor Lordes, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his wand and whispered a spell towards the group of wolf spiders.
His speech was extremely fast and his voice was unrecognizable. Unlike others, people could not hear the process of spell formation. Even when Griffith looked at the shape of his mouth, he would feel intense dizziness and trance.
It is rumored that the high-speed divine words that only high-level mages can master are fundamentally different from the chants of Sonia and the others.
The fan-shaped area in front of the exploration team was surrounded by looming waves. The attacking wolf spiders seemed to have hit an invisible barrier. The gravity position was deflected by Lordes' magic and became a cage that restrained the wolf spiders. .
Immediately afterwards, the high-ranking mage waved his wand again. This time, flames rose from the ground in the area where the wolf spiders were restrained, swallowing up groups of corrupted wolf spiders and several goblins.
This is also a double curse. At least that's what it seems.
The demon hunters who were still fighting desperately were dumbfounded. The combat effectiveness of their team was not worth mentioning in front of the high-ranking mage.
"Clean up and move on," Professor Lordes stretched his arms and casually retracted his wand, "Hurry up."
The team of demon hunters immediately stepped forward and stabbed the tarantula whose body was burnt but not completely dead. Captain Karius quickly cut open the tarantula corpse with green eyes and took out a mass of red organs and tissue from inside.
"This is the venom sac of the wolf spider. After corruption, their effect becomes even more amazing," Karius sighed excitedly as he collected the venom sacs from several wolf spiders.
"How much does one cost? Captain." Hakan asked casually.
"Normally, you can buy one for 5 gold florins, but after the mutation, the price will triple." Karius skillfully put the poison sac into his pocket, "And it's priceless. ."
Griffith found that the eyes of several young demon hunter students present were intense, and they were all staring at Karius's pocket and unable to take their eyes away.
"Captain," Hakan and Raven exchanged glances and said, "We can each get one of the corrupted poison sacs here."
The two spoke in a calm tone, but Griffith vaguely noticed that Hakan's giant wolf had swam over, and Raven casually took a half step back, just in time to get the cover of the ruins, and remained ready at any time. The state of shooting with a crossbow. The demon wolf silently stared at Karius's movements, gray-white liquid continuously dripping from its mouth.
Perla and Hank watched the three people's actions indifferently. In terms of age, the two are younger, perhaps because they have less seniority and have no say.
Karius' movements stopped for a few seconds. He slowly turned his head and looked deeply at the two demon hunters: "Okay, after we leave here, I will divide it equally."
Something bad is happening! Griffith saw all this and felt panic in his heart.
Demon hunters are a relatively mysterious group. Their cooperation relies on large and small witcher guilds or official organizations. Ordinary witchers will accept tasks issued by the guild and live off bounties and trophies. Even within a well-known institution like Beacon, it is inevitable that the characteristics of this industry will be tainted.
Veteran witchers who have survived several missions often possess strange and powerful abilities or weapons. After years of fighting against black magic and evil cultists, many of them still have rich and unsystematic occult knowledge that they don't know where they came from, and have very strong individual combat power.
The five people in the team in front of me were faintly divided into three small groups. Captain Karius is in his own group. The older summoner Hakan and the shooter Raven team up to check Karius. The younger and weaker shield guard Hank and the hunter Pella have a better relationship and are also a small group.
Demon hunter teams are often like this, free and flexible, and well-equipped. But the disadvantage is that the organization level is low, and it is common for it to disintegrate when encountering dangers and interest disputes.
Griffith felt a strong sense of powerlessness. This is a mysterious ruins in the Whispering Forest. It is unknown what dangers and traps are hidden inside the ruins.
