The further they went, the more traces of Charus grew. After about three ticks, the travelers even spotted the footprints of the insect's arthropods on the ground.

Undoubtedly, it is already close. Maybe the snow elf's lair is not far ahead.

"I can already smell those guys. They were about four or five hundred feet away from us. Chamak said in a deep voice. Because there is no wind in the cold rock passage, it is difficult for the scent of the travelers to reach the location of the snow elves for a while, but the snow elves who have stayed in the passage for a long time do not have such an advantage.

This should be a raid. And now it's the final time to prepare.

Bymon took out a dark green vial from his backpack, rubbed it with his hand to warm it, and carefully soaked the arrows in the quiver one by one. He carefully combed the tail feathers of each arrow and recalibrated the strings of the short bow.

Yuga didn't do anything to prepare. He is a wizard, and all the means have been dealt with a long time ago, and in this empty environment. Five hundred feet is already a dangerous distance, and it is difficult for a wizard who has not been trained to cast spells in secrets to use magical energy without concealing another caster.

Chamak, the Redguard, sat down cross-legged and applied a small set of fine brushes to each of his two curved swords. One bottle is blue-black, extracted from the bodily fluids of insects, which can cause great harm to any kind of arthropod. The other bottle is blood-red, which has a special effect on the elves, because the people present are not only humans, and the craftsmanship of making zuò is still omitted.

Alice, on the other hand, is the most laid-back one, because all she needs is a sword in her hand. She even had the leisure to listen to the whispered prayers of the Dark Elf girl beside her.

"O spirits of the fathers, protect your daughters. Let their swords crumble before my shield, let their arrows break in my armor, and let the weapons in my hands tear their carapaces and sinews with ease. ”

[Why did she pray to her ancestors before every battle?, I remember, the dark elves she had met before didn't seem to be in this habit of doing so?]

She had no intention of satisfying her curiosity. No one person here can be trusted, and no one trusts another completely, or even partially. They had been outright strangers before the journey began, and now they weren't familiar enough to get into the privacy of Cheng Dù.

With the exception of Quinn, each of them carried two vials of insect antidote. And the fat merchant was not idle, and he quickly blindfolded the two colts and tied them firmly to the stone pillars on the side of the passage. The horse's hooves have already been wrapped in rags and straw, and there is no need to worry about making any noise.

His gaze swept over one of the travelers. Then the merchant got under the carriage and blew out the torches.

Well, the stealth begins.

Alice took a light breath and silently joined the ranks of the stalkers. She, Bymun, and Chamak played the front three, while Yuga and Jamila, who were less stealthy, followed them about fifty feet behind.

It's quiet. Occasionally, the sound of water droplets falling from the stone milk can be heard. Even with the faint light provided by the glowing veins within the mountain. Alice would not be able to discern the terrain no more than ten feet away.

[It's really lonely, this feeling...... Even the sound of blood rushing through the veins can be heard clearly. 】

A smile tugged at the corner of Alice's mouth.

She didn't hate the feeling.

They walked silently, and each of them could not even confirm the position of their companion except for the string that was tied to their wrists. Occasionally, when a clumsy guy kicks a piece of gravel, it can give the travelers a little psychological comfort.

A fishy smell began to fill the air. It's a bit like the smell of rotten meat fermented with sake. It's disgusting.

[Sure enough, you can't count on the cleanliness of cave-dwelling creatures...... So, is it coming?]

At this moment, the string in his hand was suddenly gently pulled three times.

【Whew~】

She responded quickly, and also sent a signal to those behind her.

Then the girl snapped her eyes shut.

"Goo Wow——!!!!!" was at most twenty feet in front of the girl, and suddenly there was a scream!

It's the Sentinel of the Snow Elves!

The surroundings lit up suddenly. A fist-sized cloud of white light flew up and clung to the top wall of the passage. This is the magic light technique released by Yuga, which was originally a big shock to the traveler who sneaks in the dark, but since it has been prepared in advance, it is the other side that is unlucky.

"Die!" Chamak jerked his twin swords and slashed a caught snow elf into three pieces.

[Actually...... It's already so close?]

Alice snapped open her eyes. Less than twenty feet in front of her, several pale creatures with slumped bodies were squeaking and screaming at her!

[Disgusting stuff. 】

The sword light flickered, and the creatures that disgusted the girl froze in mid-air like worms sealed in amber - several blood mist erupted from their bodies, and then they fell limply.

Then, more snow elves pounced.

The creatures were extremely ugly, with wrinkled skin like drowning corpses, two small strips of holes left in their noses, and their teeth were sharp and burnt yellow.

[Carnivores. 】

Jamila, holding a huge shield, slammed out from behind her back, and with a heavy shield blow, the snow elves in front of her were smashed into rolling gourds.

"Alice. ”

Suddenly, Chamak's voice came from beside her, and Alice tilted her head slightly, and saw the corpses of the snow elves lying on the ground—and she nodded slightly.

The next moment, the two of them slashed out from Jamila's flanks, one left and one right, quickly harvesting the lives of these pale cavemen. Of course, the cooperation of the dark elf girl is indispensable, her shield and footwork are closely matched, and every snow elf who tries to attack can only watch their weapons crash into the large round shield that suddenly appears, and the violent shock force from the shield also makes it impossible for them to dodge the fatal blow that follows.

There are a lot of them. But they get in the way of each other.

Their warriors were dragged by three people at the entrance to the lair, while their archers ...... An arrow or ice pick will always stick to their head when needed.

In just ten breaths, the number of snow elves who died on the ground exceeded twenty.

[Feeling...... Isn't it that hard?]

Alice's eyes widened suddenly.

"No, where is Charus!

And at this moment, a muffled snort came from behind him.

"Bymun?"

"It's the hiding!" Chamak shouted, and he hurled a curved sword into the shadows, but there was only the crunch of metal hitting the stone wall. However, it was not for nothing, as a bony arrow that was supposed to have pierced the Nord archer's throat deviated slightly, almost grazing Bymon's ear.

He had been hit by an arrow in the shoulder, the arrow was poisonous, and the blue-black lump had spread to his collarbone. He quickly drank the antidote to stop the spread of the poison. Rao is like this, he has also lost most of his combat effectiveness.

And it wasn't just Baimon who was in trouble, Yuga, who was also in the rear, was also attacked by a lightning chain. If he hadn't seen the opportunity and quickly opened the wizard's shield, Yuga would have been hovering between six and seven by now.

"Damn, we've been rounded. Chamak said hatefully. He made a quick gesture, and the front trio quickly broke away from the line and joined in the rear. Now is a critical juncture, everyone is an important combat force, if Baimon and Yuga are lost, the three people who have no long-range and lighting ability can undoubtedly only become targets!

However, things are never always smooth sailing. At that moment, a snow elf who was exceptionally stronger than their kind blocked their way, the caveman was covered in a hardened black-brown carapace, and the two bone swords clenched were covered with sharp fangs and terrifying. It jumped in front of the three of them and slashed down!

"I'm going to stop it. Alice whispered. She suddenly took a half-step forward, keeping the snow elves out.

"It's a berserker among the snow elves, and its armor is tough. Chamak spoke quickly, and then pushed Jamila to rush in the direction of Baimon without hesitation - Yuga's wizarding shield was to protect both of them at once. And he couldn't last long alone.

[Really, is it alone again?]

The berserker in front of the girl suddenly let out a high-pitched scream. Charus, who was hiding in the shadows, spewed a large puddle of venom at the girl. And under the cover of this venom, two bone swords stabbed out!

The eyes of the people in the distance widened.

Alice's lips opened and closed slightly......

“…… Wind Sword. ”

The blade of steel was suddenly wrapped around a raging whirlwind. The dark green venom was blown away before it could get close, and the twin swords hidden behind the venom were also violently flicked away.

Charus's hardened carapace, its defensive power is equivalent to that of refined full-covered steel plate armor. Even the weakest point is half a finger thick. If you just use a normal steel sword, there is no way to break it.

So, how about the City Breaker?

Shrouded in the wind caused by demonic energy, even a steel sword of ordinary material can have the effect of a heavy hammer. Although there is no way to dance as accurately as before, at such a close distance, all you need to do is slash it.

And the berserker did seem to have been hit head-on by the city-breaking hammer. The armor on his chest was full of cracks, and black blood gushed out of his mouth and nose and flew backwards. Alice also took the opportunity to rush forward, first smashing the Charus into cakes with a single sword. Then, taking advantage of the unstable foothold of the berserker, another sword was slashed out.

However, it did not hit.

A cold arrow from the hider gets in the way of Alice. And this space is enough for the berserker to regain his fighting stance. It roared lowly, its twin swords vigilantly in front of it.

[It's a pity...... Can't those guys over there do something?]

Alice frowned slightly, she felt something unusual in the grip of her palm.

This sword is going to hold up.