Crimson Servant

The surface buildings of Optitdam are full of traces of decadence and decay. Vigorous vegetation has invaded the ruins, blending the ruins with the lush greenery. The cranes from the distant forest echoed on the toppled brick walls, and the blades of grass There is no wind and it is as quiet as dusk.

Carl Demiras took the lead. He raised his shield and held a sharp sword in his hand, leading the team through the winding path that was not blocked from the sun by dilapidated buildings. The fingers on the handle moved slightly, and the paladin stared straight ahead, silent.

The second one is Jurgen Mercer. The dwarf carries a staff in one hand and looks around carelessly. The team is not moving very fast. The short-legged dwarf can easily keep up and at the same time grab a handful of gravel to rub and play with.

John Crenzo followed the dwarf with a map. He folded the map and looked for areas similar to his own. Although the map provided by the guild is as detailed as possible on the first three floors of the dungeon, many of the monsters have the ability to transform the terrain and build lairs. It is very troublesome to find familiar outlines in the unrecognizable terrain. However, the Sun Team is lucky. Not much has changed along the way and the map is still valid.

Lightning Spear was guarding the rear. The arrow with beautiful tail feathers was pressed against the string of the bow, with the bow down and the string up. His head was raised high, like an ostrich surveying its surroundings.

"Hey, do we really have to keep doing this? This is so boring. We haven't even seen a living thing in half an hour. My fingers are a little sore. Can I put down the arrow and get a cookie?"

Lightning complained.

The leader, Karl, glanced at him and said, "Exploration requires concentration. We must be prepared for possible sneak attacks from every direction. Monsters cannot wait until you finish your meal before stabbing you through the throat. Although there are no monsters here, it does not mean that next time Not for a second.”

"Actually, the monster is already here." John moved his face away from the map and shifted his gaze to the sword of Paladin Karl. The blue family emblem on the sword grid reminded him of a country located in the southern part of the Eversa Empire. Prominent nobles. "Experienced warriors will not unsheath their swords in the sun. The reflection of the sword can make living creatures within a hundred meters as long as their eyes are not decorations notice that we are here."

Karl frowned and inserted the long sword into the gem-encrusted scabbard at his waist.

"What! There are monsters around us!" Lightning shouted, tightening his bow string and starting to search for every possible dangerous place, even a narrow crack in the wall, but he found nothing.

Lightning turned his suspicious eyes to John again. He really didn't believe that the warlock who had been looking at the map was observing more than he was. John didn't explain, but just pointed with his eyes to the Druid who was kneading the sand into powder in his hands.

"Look at the three-foot-high wall at your four o'clock position. Yes, those khaki vines are killer vines, a type of monster." The Druid pointed the thing to several people with his stubby fingers. , a vine whose color almost blends in with the weathered wall is crawling on the bricks, and a small branch grows directly below it, with five or six dark fruits similar to blueberries hanging on it.

"Fireball." John used magic power to knead a ball of fire in his hand and threw it. Because he didn't often use this trick, the elemental bomb that was about to explode just happened to hit the wall. The impact shook the vines, and the instantaneous temperature ignited the surface of the wall.

The killer vine remained motionless, and its front end was quickly scorched black by the fire. It looked like an ordinary vine that had been destroyed at will by John. However, before Jurgen, a druid, could protest, Karl swallowed the sarcasm on his lips again.

"Fireball!" John, who was prepared for the second time, released a much more powerful attack than the first. The missile with a shining flame tail instantly engulfed the vine. With a burning hiss, the killer vine went crazy. It swings its vines like a flexible tentacle dancing in the air.

Seeing Lightning's lingering fear, John whispered quietly.

"Just like that. When you approach unsuspectingly, it will tie your body violently, tightening it tighter and tighter. Without a companion, you will not be able to escape before you are suffocated. Its vines will stretch into your body. Throat, pull out your intestines and accelerate decay, which is more conducive to root absorption."

Lightning stared blankly at the vine, his frightened mind thinking wildly along with John's voice. He hesitated, and finally said: "My intestines are very short."

"……Been taught a lesson."

The dwarf chuckled, and the expression on the warlock's face that made him speechless when he threatened the arakkoa was really funny. Jurgen cleared his throat and said to Karl: "This is not the first monster we have encountered. The cave we passed a few minutes ago, the six-foot-high natural cave. That is the residence of goblins, around the entrance of the cave There are traces of weapon polishing, and the number should be no less than six."

Karl nodded, "I remember that the warlock asked us to avoid it, saying that exploring the cave would deviate from the planned route and waste time."

"John's reason is correct. What's more important is that the cave is not big. If bugbears block it, the terrain will be quite unfavorable to us. Bugbears usually appear in the goblin team."

"We can't hide forever."

Jurgen nodded. All the sand in his hands had fallen away, leaving only a few fine particles in his palm. He blew and patted twice, "So we have found a suitable training partner."

The paladin noticed the dwarf's actions.

"What was that you just crushed?"

"Dried warg dung. They are not far from us, fifty meters away, within two hundred meters."

Lightning never complained about the soreness of his fingers. He looked warily at the surrounding grass and similar bunkers, and exclaimed, "Mr. Jurgen, you are so smart. How did you get the distance to such an accuracy?"

"You are screaming and setting off fireballs. The fact that we are not surrounded by wargs now means they are not nearby."

…

Surrounding a dead tree are three canids, four feet tall. They have wolf heads, but have strong bodies like wild boars. Their hair is dark. Not far away is a badly damaged unknown skeleton, releasing A rancid smell.

Team Sun hid behind a ruined bunker twenty meters away, peeking through the gap. Carl and Jurgen are slightly closer, Lightning and John are further away. To avoid alerting the wargs, they only communicated in low voices, and they could only hear each other's voices.

John said to Lightning as an experiencer: "Now that the enemy is in the open and we are hidden, it is a good opportunity for a sneak attack. At this distance, it is undoubtedly the most appropriate to shoot cold arrows. Lightning, relax and trust your arrows. In terms of hunting, how to hunt You should know better than me about killing wild beasts.”

"Am I going to take the lead? Do Jurgen and the others know? Will our unauthorized actions interfere with their arrangements? They will be closer and more dangerous."

"Don't worry, I believe Jurgen will understand. When I give a signal to make them mentally prepared, you can release the arrow."

Lightning nodded, drew the bow, and then looked diagonally forward in confusion, "Is that a signal?"

John was as dull as he was at this point.

A holy light bomb rose from behind the bunker, bombing among the wargs in parabolic motion. They heard the screams of the wargs and the heroic figure rushing out from behind the bunker.

"Bloodthirsty beasts! Today is your day of death! Remember, the one who kills you is Karl Dyramis, a believer of Mithras and the son of Cadian!"

Jurgen followed closely behind, his figure somewhat embarrassed, his short legs wheezing and moving quickly, and the top of the long stick held high emitted a spiritual light wrapped in the power of nature. It was hard to tell whether the dwarf wanted to help the paladin at this time or whether he wanted to catch up and give him a club.

Without prompting, John and Lightning obeyed their duty as adventurers and began to aid their companions.

…

The charging Karl has drawn out his family sword, and the sharp blade has been dyed with a sacred halo under the blessing of the emblem. He raised his shield and turned sideways when he was about to collide with the charging warg. His sharp claws sparked on the shield and passed through from the right side. Karl's sword was pulled diagonally. The sacred weapon cut through the fur and was exposed on the side of the warg. A wound.

"Entanglement!"

The roots buried under the soil climbed up the claws of the second warg, causing the charging beast to lose balance. It still hit the paladin with unparalleled power. The first thing to greet it was the prepared shield. The shield was removed, and the druid's blessing of nature had descended on its forehead.

"Ouch!" The beast was dizzy, and was hit by the paladin again, completely dying.

"Danger!" the dwarf shouted, crossing his long stick to block the first warg's vicious bite. The fishy bad breath spit out from the gap and sprayed on the dwarf's face. Jurgen was very happy that his beard was full of the smell of nature's grass and leaves. The beard was like a gas mask blocking the vomiting smell.

Karl turned around again to finish the attack. The paladin quickly discovered the weakness of the warg with his outstanding fighting talent, and killed the beast with a fatal blow inserted into the eye socket.

Within six seconds, two wargs were dead, and the third one arrived belatedly due to the restraints of Lightning and John. There was an arrow stuck in its back, it was stumbling, its face was blackened by flames, and one eye was completely dead. Encircled by Karl and Jurgen, the third wolf could not escape the fate of falling.

Just as the dwarves and the paladin breathed a sigh of relief, lightning's screams came from behind.

"No! There's another one! Here with us!"

Feeling bad, the charging front row fought back with all their strength. They climbed over the bunker, raised their weapons and rubbed the healing spells in their hands. Only to find that the beast that caused the arakkoa screams was crossing the line. The corpse was at the Warlock's feet, within reach of John's leg.

Facing the surprise of the two people, John smiled slightly.

"Fortunately, Lightning set traps around us in advance, otherwise we would have really suffered."

The great hero Lightning was talking to himself on the side.

"How come there are wargs who were killed by knotted straw ropes and died by tripping and falling?"

Jurgen opened the worg's body and found two holes at the bottom.

"It's like a wound stabbed by a sharp weapon. This kind of wound will bleed very quickly. The warg died of excessive blood loss."

John suddenly understood.

"It turns out that this warg was injured, so he wandered away from the army, but was killed by the lightning trap."

Carl glanced at the warlock.

"The wound was obviously new."

John held his chin in thought.

"That's because the lightning trap reopened the wound. We did see the beast sliding a short distance on the ground..."

"Sliding to your feet?" The paladin remained skeptical.

"Hey! Carl, this beast is coming for me. Isn't it normal for it to fall at my feet?"

"Well, great Mithras witnesses all this."