"Praise the Light, Lord Count, and may the Light be with you!" It was a somewhat bald middle-aged man, who recognized the visitor as soon as he ran down, and hurriedly jumped off his horse, panting and saluting.

"Praise forever!" Diego nodded. He had a vague impression of the butler, having seen him in Rainier's retinue.

"Welcome, noble Earl," said the butler, who humbly took the reins of the Kodomon for Diego, "though the Baron is not there, there will never be a shortage of bread and salt to entertain you, and I am sure the Baron must have thought so." ”

"Okay, take us there, we've been exhausted all the way." Diego laughed, and they took a step towards the big house on the hillside.

But at that moment a horse galloped from the direction from which they had come, and the sound of the horse's hooves was as rapid as a storm. On horseback, a bloodied knight held a swallowtail embroidered with a crow, the family crest of Baron Rainier.

"Gather all the soldiers, support is needed at the front!" Before he could run into the village, his hoarse shouts could be heard.

"What happened?" The butler met him and held the messenger who had tumbled out of his saddle.

"That monster is too powerful, we can't stop it from approaching in the direction of Nighttown!" The Courier gasped and said, "We need more men!" ”

The butler's gaze circled around the crowd, and then he saw the young man who had been giving him a message earlier.

"Pitas, you go and ring the alarm and gather all the people who are on duty in the Great Tomb."

"It's not been very peaceful over there lately, and dead people often crawl out of it." The village elder at the head said with a worried face.

"But the lord needs support, and we have no choice but to do so," the butler squinted at Diego, and then looked at the village elder with a sad face, "Old Harding, you gather all the men in the village and go to the treasury to collect weapons, and until the lord returns, we will have to guard the village by ourselves." ”

"Alright, well, may I ask, is Rainier fighting something?" Diego interjected on the side, what he couldn't stand the most was this kind of bitter drama, although he knew that this butler might be deliberately selling miserably, but he still couldn't stand by and watch. Not to mention, Rainier is an old friend.

"It's a monster, the people from Nighttown call it an abomination, a large patchwork stitching monster......" The butler immediately turned his head and said very neatly. It could be seen that these words had been waiting in his stomach for a long time.

"Well, I know what that is," Diego interrupted, then turned to the messenger who was munching on cow drink, "How far is the place where you are fighting?" ”

"It's less than two days away, but now it's probably farther away, and the Abomination has been advancing along the main road in the direction of Nighttown, and neither we nor the Night's Watch can stop it!" The cavalryman wiped a handful of water stains from the corner of his mouth and replied in shock.

The Night's Watch are the self-proclaimed militia of Nighttown, the men of Duke Elo Eberlock, who have been in charge of the security of the territory, but with the invasion of werewolves, undead spirits, and ogres, the Night's Watch is becoming more and more overwhelmed.

"Well, it's not that far," Diego nodded, turning to look at the Stormwhip soldiers, "Guys, we've got a job!" ”

He was greeted with a roar of passion, and Christopher Farrard's face flushed with excitement, he was too eager for a chance to prove himself, knowing that the veterans of the Storm Whip had not been very obedient to him, and in their opinion, strength was not the only criterion for being a commander, only those who had fought side by side and shed blood for each other could be recognized by them.

But Diego poured him a scoop of cold water.

"Christopher, you lead the infantry company to stay behind and help them guard the village until Rainier's men return!" Diego patted the commander on the shoulder and ordered loudly. He stepped onto the Kodo beast and rushed out of the village first, roaring away, "Cavalry company, follow me!" ”

……

By the time they left Raven Ridge, the sun had begun to set in the west, and the already dark forest had become even darker, and by the light of the wind lamps on both sides of the road, they rode along the road that ran from west to east through the twilight forest. Towering trees flanked the road, and as the night deepened, they looked taller and darker, looking like a giant demon waiting to be devoured.

The terrible cries of night owls and the howls of jungle predators were heard in the forest, but the heavy footsteps of the Kodo beasts mingled with the rumbling hooves of horses, louder than anything in the night. The predators in the darkness were also frightened by the rumbling torrent, and they retreated timidly, not daring to come out and flick the tiger's whiskers.

Fearing that they would arrive too late, they moved almost at full speed, stopping occasionally to rest, and even though the horses from the East Valley lumberyards were good and durable, the rest of the road was not a matter of moments. The road from Raven Ridge to Night Town, even if the whole horse gallops, it takes three days, but in fact, neither the physical strength of people nor horses can do this. The only thing they can do is to minimize the amount of time they have to rest.

They drove for five or six hours until late at night, when they stopped at a clearing beside the roadside. In order to travel lightly, they did not carry any baggage at all, so they could not set up camp.

"Man, I'm afraid you'll have to send a little more men to watch the night, I can't communicate with the plants here, they are wailing in pain almost all the time!" After some futile efforts, Masrae spread his hands and said helplessly. The trees here have been corrupted and polluted by the magical energy leaking from Karazan in the east, making it impossible for even the druids, who have the closest connection to nature, to communicate with.

Diego nodded, and he arranged for four shifts of men to take turns on the night, each with a full two teams. He himself set some traps around the camp.

They cut down some dry branches—it was easy, there were so many dead trees in the twilight forest, and they could even pick the one that was more resistant to burning, and the one that was easier to chop into wood—and set up piles of bonfires on the flat ground, roasted the dry food they had brought with them, and fed their bellies, and then fell asleep on the ground around the campfire. Luckily, the night was spent uneventful, and not even the traps he had laid were triggered, not a single one. It seems that those predators who hide in the darkness also know who can and cannot be messed with.

The next morning, when the sky was slightly pale, they got up from the ground, ate something indiscriminately, fetched water to feed their mounts, and although only four or five hours of short sleep could not completely eliminate the fatigue of their bodies, they still set out on the journey again.