Ash Valley Town. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

As the caravan approached the Howard caravan station, the battle finally became fierce, as it was no longer the Northern Legionnaires who were just pretending to stop them, but the dwarven warriors with great axes and hammers. These stocky savages, who had added chain mail and leather armor to their usual sheepskin coats, were obviously prepared, and they rushed from the passage of the mountain wall not far away, shouting and howling, and a fierce man swooped into the last ranks, and the great axes and sledgehammers slashed and smashed their limbs into a scatter, and their flesh and blood rained down.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, run! A few behind, stop those dwarves first!" The leader of the caravan of the Kimpard Chamber of Commerce watched the caravan guards who were left behind being cut to the ground one by one, sweating profusely. In the face of these barbarians, heavily armed and heavily armed, the average guard had little room to fight back. Shields and swords in the ordinary sense are quite weak in both parrying resistance and assassinating counterattacks, and the wooden shield covered with only iron is not much stronger than the dough under the axe blessed with the elements, and a single blow from the sledgehammer can smash the shield along with the arms below. And after ordinary steel swords struggled to penetrate chain mail and hard leather armor, it was difficult to do much damage to the dwarves' sturdy muscular structures.

Of course, these caravan guards who have been wandering outside for many years are not good men and women, at least much braver than the soldiers of the Northern Legion, if they are forced into a desperate situation and have no way to retreat, they will not hesitate to fight to the death with these barbarians, but not far in front of them is the gate of the station that responds to them, and this psychological catharsis directly leads to their fighting spirit plummeting. It's just scattered mercenaries, without strict military discipline, and they are doomed to not be able to organize effective aftermath troops.

Whoosh, more than a dozen arrows flew from the walls of the station, and it was the guards of Howard's caravan who were supporting them with crossbows. Under the command and magic support of Master Dundell, this station has been transformed into a small improvised fortress, on which several knightly guards with excellent crossbow arrows are shooting at the dwarves, these people are also quite skilled in archery, several heavy military crossbow arrows through the gap between the dwarves' armor and helmets and straight between the door and neck, and immediately several dwarves who rushed to the front screamed and were shot to the ground.

At this time, several tall and strong knights took the opportunity to rush in the opposite direction with heavy weapons and heavy shields, and finally blocked the attack of the dwarves, and successfully accepted the last few members of the caravan into the improvised fortress.

"Bastards, bastards, those guys from the Northern Legion really want to kill us! How dare they collude with these dwarven bandits......"

"I've heard them disguise themselves as bandits and robbers to loot villages...... Now that they dare to do something to us, aren't they afraid that the Central Council and the West Coast Mage Council will come together to punish them?

"Needless to say, they want to wipe us all out, and then blame those dwarves and barbarians! What can the Central Council do, not only to instruct the Northern Legion to do a good job of security, maybe they have to make up their salaries or something, can they still go to war with the entire dwarven clan now?"

"Yes, yes, it must be so. According to the plan of these guys, they originally wanted to sneak up on us at night. Thanks to Lord Dundell, he saw through their schemes!"

Several of the caravan leaders were in shock, and by this time, no one would doubt what Mage Dundell had told them before. In particular, every caravan leader here was a smart man, and he knew that since the Northern Legion and the Dwarves were going to do it, they were determined not to let any of them go.

In the face of the formed professional army, their only hope at present seems to be that they have a high-level mage from Oroyosta on their side.

"Lord Dundell, what do you think we should do now? Stuck here? I guess you've already used a spell to inform your family. ”

"Lord Dundell, these savage dwarves are vulnerable to arcane art, can you wipe them out completely?"

Under the enthusiastic and urgent questioning of several caravan leaders, Dundell took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, still with that calm smile on his face: "Please don't worry, my three students have sneaked out of here and rushed south to ask for help." Whether it is the Mage Council or the Temple on the West Coast, they will definitely not let them go after learning about such a bad deed of the Northern Legion. ”

It's hard to say whether the news is good or bad, with two caravan leaders looking slightly lighter and two stiffening slightly. It was still more than a day's journey from here to the nearest towns and villages in the south, not to mention the need to gather enough men and troops, which meant that they would have to hold out here for at least two more days.

"As for these barbarians and the soldiers of the despicable Northern Legion, I will do everything in my power to keep them out, and rest assured, it will be no problem to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Wait here for a while, and I'll go check my inventory of magic scrolls. ”

Trying to calm his voice and reassure the others, Master Dundell walked briskly into his luxurious carriage. As soon as he walked in, he slumped on the fur cushion again, took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his forehead, and after taking a few breaths, he looked at Mu Qinyi who was sitting in the car and said, "Ms. Mu, hasn't Master Wende come back yet? ”

Mu Qinyi, dressed in purple, sat in the center of the carriage, his eyes closed, his long black hair naturally spread out on his pale shoulders and chest, and the whole person looked like a blooming purple lotus, very graceful. In front of her was a small basin full of clear water, and her hands were in it, and her ten fingers were slowly plucking, as if there were invisible strings in it. Hearing Mage Dundell's inquiry, she still closed her eyes and said slowly, "Mage Wende has left the mountainside, and he has killed a total of thirty-eight dwarven warriors inside. Based on what I've found before, there are probably close to two hundred of the remaining dwarven warriors. ”

"So is Master Winder out now?"

"It's not in the mountain wall, it's not in my perception, it should be out. It's just that it hasn't come back yet. Mu Qinyi opened his eyes, and his hands also pulled out of the basin, but he didn't bring any water stains on his hands. She looked at Master Dundell and smiled. "Please rest assured, Master Wende will help when needed. ”

After a moment of silence, Master Dundell also breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "Of course I believe him. The fact that he was able to stay at this bad time shows that he has noble courage and a sense of responsibility. I'm just a little worried about how far we're going to go. ”

"It's a pity that I haven't recovered from my injuries yet, and a head-on fight won't help much other than a little trick like this reconnaissance. She closed her eyes again and felt it. "It would have been nice to have another full day of recovery. ”

"Rest assured. Master Dundell propped up his back and said with a solemn expression. "In my honor as the Howard family, those barbarians must step over my corpse if they want to hurt you. ”

"Thank you. Mu Qinyi smiled faintly. "You've made me feel better about Master Oro. ”

"That's my pleasure. Mu Qinyi's smile seemed to add enough strength and spirit to Master Dundell, and he stood up quite forcefully and performed aristocratic etiquette. "I'll go out and command the guards now. With a teaching assistant from the Academy of Magic standing behind them, their courage will increase by hundreds and thousands. ”

At this time, the outside was not caught in the kind of fierce battle that many people expected. This group of dwarven warriors who rushed out first was no more than a few dozen people, and after gathering together to attack the defenses of the caravan guards outside, but in vain, they left a few dwarven corpses and retreated. The garrison was originally characterized by the tallness and sturdiness of military architecture, and with the advice of a few experienced knights of the guard, it was briefly remodeled and became a small fortress that was difficult to storm in for a while. The guards hiding in the high walls used military crossbows to kill the dwarves at such a close distance, but the small axes and hammers thrown by the dwarves were difficult to hit their targets.

It's just that the guards who are now guarding the outer wall of the station are not pleased, because the dwarves have not really retreated, but have just opened up a distance of two or three hundred meters and are waiting there. New dwarves were popping up from the rest of the town, slowly scattering around the area.

"This bunch of cunning savages. Mage Dundell, who had just climbed the high wall, glanced at the dwarves' positions, and his face turned a little bad. These dwarven warriors have decades of experience fighting Arcanists, and are beyond the effective range of most Arcanes. Even if he could use some support techniques that increased his range, it wasn't worth it compared to the huge mental exertion it brings.

"Don't be nervous, they shouldn't be attacking for a short time. And they don't know that time is on our side. ”

Suddenly, a voice sounded not far away, and Master Dundell turned his head sharply, just in time to see the strange shape of the bald head emerging on the high wall not far away, and it was the figure he had been waiting for for a long time.

"Master Winder, you're finally back. Dundell breathed a sigh of relief. Before he knew it, the mage of the mysterious Rothschild family had become a pillar of his heart.

###

At this time, in the command room at the top, the leaders of the temporary tripartite alliance of interests finally gathered, but there was a fierce quarrel about the next action. In other words, the irascible dwarven leader was extremely unhappy with the attitudes and inactions of the other two allies.

"Before the official operation, almost half of my warriors have been lost, and a respected earth priest has returned to the arms of the earth elemental god. It's all because of you! Your connivance and weakness let that mage go!

The goldstone leader roared. What he said is also true, the two head-to-head encounters with the Westerner mage, especially the sneak attack in the mountainside just now, made the already small number of dwarven warriors further reduce the number of troops, and the key is that it has a big blow to morale.

"Also, you actually leaked the news, so that those merchants were prepared in advance, and now they are all shrunk together. My warriors will have a hard time attacking them by force, and they will suffer a lot of casualties, so you must do your best! What about the damned golems? I will never lose my warriors again in vain!Mr. High Priest, you promised me to deal with that Eastern mage, but now what about his head?And the bastards of the Legion, since you have this damn arcane old bastard at the head, why don't you let him attack it?"

Compared with the previous madness and violence that was bound to kill people to vent his anger under anger, the current leader of Jinshi seemed to have become a shrew, and he could only let out a sharp howl and curse in vain, without the slightest intention of doing anything, and he didn't even dare to smash the furniture next to him.

Of course, this is not his sudden change of sex, if the tall Western high priest and the more burly old knight like a bear were not here, he would definitely grab and crush people or things within reach while roaring and vent, but with these two people who are obviously not his ability to deal with here, his reason can also clearly restrain his impulses.

And these two people also made the leader of Jinshi feel a deep sense of crisis, especially the silent old knight, who was quite familiar. As early as decades ago, during the Age of Empire, he had seen with his own eyes how the Arcane warriors, who were still a majestic young man at that time, slaughtered dwarven warriors like goblins with arcane and broadswords, and there were several encounters in the following decades, and he had a deep hatred for this old man of mankind who had survived to this day.

So at this time, the Jinshi leader, who had already realized his weakness, would never agree to lead his soldiers to rush over and attack the fortification. Strictly speaking, such a temporary fortress is not a problem, whether it is him or the Earth Priest can easily destroy this kind of structure, but the two high-level mages in the opposing team can also give them great damage, whether it is the consumption of ordinary warriors or the danger of their own injury, and if he wants to reduce his own strength, he is afraid that not only will he not have the strength to continue the future plan, but will even be swallowed by others.

Especially thinking about the fact that what could have been easily done by sneak attack at night has turned into such a laborious hard attack as it is now, he is a little skeptical that these 'allies' are doing something behind it.

In response to the dwarven leader's roar, the fat garrison commander stood up and retorted: "But according to our previous agreement, you should have been asked to deal with those caravans. This news is not necessarily leaked by us, and I think it is likely to be the result of your previous reckless impulsiveness to deal with the holy warrior who guarded the hand. If we follow our plan and force them away by stratagem, there will be no problem at all......"

"your scheme! If you hadn't let those two go, we'd have killed those two guys completely!" The goldstone leader glared at the garrison commander with bloodshot eyes, and if it weren't for the burly old arcane warrior here, he would have rushed up and wrung the fat off the fat man's body one by one. "As a result, your connivance allowed that Westerner mage to come back with a new spell, and he killed more than forty of my elite warriors! They were enough to kill four hundred of you! Now it's your turn to solve your own problems! What about the golems you used as bodyguards? What about so many of you? Are you all ready to cheer us on as spectators?"

"Of course not. As agreed, we'll do a good job of supporting things, such as preventing someone from escaping, and our battle mage will help you deal with that mage. The commander snorted, straightened his back, and retorted with confidence. Of course he won't command the golem to attack the fortification, the drive crystal is worth a lot of money, needless to say, the two golems used to support the scene belong to the property of the legion, once they are damaged, he can't afford to lose all the profits of this time, not to mention the rabble under his command, everyone spent gold coins to buy this opportunity and wait to get rich, why should you listen to your words to die. If it was a few days ago, he would still be a little frightened when facing this rampaging dwarven leader, but now it is different, although the old Sir Adari sitting behind him is like a golem and has been silent, but the sense of security it brings him can be compared to a hundred golems.

"Anyway, if you want me to fight those guys and two goddamn arcanists, you're going to dream about it!" the Goldstone Leader could only roar hysterically.

"Actually, the advantage is on our side, why should we be in a hurry? This is our territory, and there is no point in their trapping. Needless to say, the problem of food and food is destined to make it impossible for them to hold on for a long time, and even if it is a huge psychological pressure, it will make those guards collapse themselves. ”

The Western High Priest, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly spoke, his voice was calm and coherent, and he immediately eased the atmosphere in the room and attracted everyone's attention.

"They can probably guess that we will use the dwarven warriors' ability to have dark vision to attack at night, so they will definitely not be at ease tonight. We only need to make tentative feints two or three times in the evening, and we don't really need to rush forward with all our might, but we have to make enough noise that the people inside can't rest. Under such a high level of tension, they will soon get tired, and at most by noon tomorrow, their combat strength will be only half of it at most. ”

"And relative to combat effectiveness, the mentality in such a desperate situation is an opportunity. They also understand that this is our territory and there is almost no possibility of escape. So we can make conditions to them, for example, that we are only coming for some of them, and that the other part of them can be guaranteed as long as they hand over their belongings and promise not to spread what is happening here. In such a desperate environment, even if there is only a glimmer of hope, ordinary people will not let go, as long as their mentality changes, we have a chance. We can even find a way to make them suspicious of each other, and we can make them collapse on their own without attacking with real knives and guns......"

Everyone was captivated by the words of the cult high priest. The garrison commander stared at the cult high priest with his eyes and mouth open, as if he saw a flying pig eating human eggs, completely unable to understand how a barbarian god could have such a strategic opinion. Even Sir Adari, who had been sitting in the back and didn't seem to care about anything, couldn't help but straighten his spine, his eyes showed a slight gleam, and the little mage beside him was also stunned.

"Really? yes, yes, tall humans are cowards, like rats in a dung pit, and if you hand you a branch, he'll climb up desperately. Mr. High Priest, you are so right. The Golden Stone Leader could not fully understand the essence of the High Priest's words, but looking at the surprise and abruptness on the faces of the others around him, he also fully understood the subtlety of this strategy. "But that Westerner mage is always a big threat......"

"Don't worry, since I promised you, I will definitely do it. It was my fault that he escaped in the belly of the mountain before, and I apologize to you, my friend. The high priest's calm voice and calm attitude made people feel full of sincerity. "But I promise that as long as he dares to show up here to hinder our plans, I will not let him go. ”

"As for you, dear old sir, I am very grateful for the help you have provided us with so far. The High Priest turned his head to look at Sir Adari, who sat there like a dangerous statue. "But now that you're here, I hope you'll be able to do it at the right time. As long as you promise your promise, I will guarantee my promise as well. ”

"Of course, I promise. Sir Adari nodded slowly. Stephanie next to her seemed to think of something, and smiled along. (To be continued.) )