Today's skies are humid and muggy, and in the dense forest, the feeling is even stronger, and many people loosen the straps of their hats and gasp for air.

"Hell, it's just early summer, why is it so hot?" More than one person complained so.

"It's going to rain!" Masrae said, looking up at the sky.

"I don't see any difference from yesterday...... Diego looked up as well, but all he saw was a foggy sky, the sun still hanging half-dead overhead, and he looked as far as he could reach, and he couldn't find a single cloud.

Masrae leaped off the back of the galloping Kodomon and transformed into a panther before he hit the ground, stopping at Guanhaifa, who had been following behind, and circled around him, as if wondering why he had stopped.

The panther craned its neck, sniffed the air deeply, and then quickly caught up with the group, jumping back onto the back of the Kodomon. His movements are light and agile, almost like a big cat with dexterity.

"There's a storm coming from the west coast, and I smell the moisture in the air," Masrae, who had turned back into a Night Elf, shouted, "and it could come in the second half of the night." ”

"Shit! This can't be worse news," Diego cursed, turning around and shouting at the top of his voice, "Guys, we need to hurry up or we'll have to spend the night in the storm!" ”

With a whistle, the speed of the cavalry increased sharply, like a swift wind through the forest.

Along the way, they passed through the Ogre Mountain of Vogur, Jorgen's Farm, and the rotten orchards, and on the way, apart from the necessary rest of the horses and the time for them to be fed, they barely paused for a moment, even in the evening when they were eating dry food, but disappointingly, in the middle of the night, they were finally caught by the storm. It came much earlier than Masrae had predicted.

At first, there was only a slight cool breeze, and the branches on both sides of the road swayed in the wind, and they danced like demons. This cool breeze swept inexorably through the middle of the team, piercing their already sweat-soaked clothes, like being splashed with a scoop of cold water on their heads in the middle of the summer, making people feel a burst of comfort from the bottom of their hearts.

"Wow, it's finally windy!" The cavalry let out irrepressible cheers. Although it is still hot, the people who used to be hot and scratch their hearts and lungs are now stable. At the end of the day, everyone's marching kettles had been drained many times, and if they hadn't known that there was water to replenish along the way, they would have been dehydrated just by sweating.

After a few cool breezes, the wind suddenly became stronger, the branches on both sides of the road shook more violently, the wind lamps on the side of the road were blown and swayed, and the dust, fallen leaves and small branches on the ground were swept up by the wind, and they were beaten wildly, and the faces of the people who were hit hurt.

Diego turned his head and squinted at the western sky. What appeared before him was a rare spectacle: the thick fog that hung over the twilight forest had long since been blown away by the wind, and Elune's finally shone into the land that had not seen the moonlight for many years. The eastern sky was clear in the moonlight, and everything was clearly visible with the swaying treetops, the sparse stars, and the startled birds, but the western half of the sky was as black as ink, like a dark abyss, and occasionally lightning lit up in the boundless darkness, revealing the outline of the rolling dark clouds.

"Shall we find a place to escape?" Masrae leaned over from the side and whispered.

"Hiding there?" Diego said in his heart. He glanced around, and he didn't see any other place to hide from the rain except the dense forest, not even a cave. Truth be told, the closest place to escape the rain is Nighttown, but it's at least five hours away.

The dark clouds moved very fast, and in just a few words, the sky above them was completely covered with dark clouds. With a deafening roar of thunder, a dazzling bolt of lightning fell from the sky and slashed at a towering tree in the distance. With a huge explosion, the huge canopy of the great tree was split into a ball of fire almost in the blink of an eye, and the broken branches crackled and fell to the ground, collapsing into the sky. Masrae, who had been proposing to hide in the woods, suddenly shut up.

Immediately afterwards, the sparse raindrops crackled and smashed down, disintegrating into a little splash on the ground, and the dust dispersed with the scattered mist, and the air was suddenly filled with a thick earthy smell with residual warmth.

Several huge raindrops fell on Diego's back, and he shivered twice. At this time, another gust of wind blew, more violently than before, and the branches of the trees flew sideways, and the muddy water rolled upside down, followed by heavy rain from the sky. The storm swept the rainwater that poured down like the banks of the heavenly river, and poured it down straight and straight, watering everyone through.

Diego could not see the road in front of him at all, it was gray everywhere, and the light from the wind lamps on the side of the road could only shine on the size of a table, which did not help in the pouring rain. In just a few minutes, he was soaking wet, there was no dry place on his body, and through the dragon skin helmet, his hair was already completely wet, and strands were sticking to his face. The rain trickled down his thighs and against the belly of the Kodomon to the ground, as if the beast was peeing.

The rain of gravel and branches struck him on the head, and he could not raise his head, open his eyes, or even breathe, and he did not dare to pull the reins les, lest he take the Kodomon into the ditch by the roadside.

"Slow down, slow down, slow down!" Diego yelled loudly. But he didn't know how far his voice could reach in the roaring wind and rain.

Soon, though, the speed of the Kodomon slowed down - the druid next to him heard his cry and used his ability to communicate with the animals in time to slow down the nearby Kodomons and warhorses.

Diego shouted a little late, though, for almost as soon as the Kodomon slowed down, there was a sound of heavy objects crashing at the front of the group, mixed with the screams of men and the neighing of horses.

Now, instead of slowing down, the team has come to a complete stop.

Diego gently shook the reins of the Kodomon and strode past the line to the spot where the impact had just occurred.

By this time, the wind had subsided a lot, but the rain was still pouring down. Through the thick curtain of rain, he saw four or five wounded horses lying in the ditch by the side of the road, and a group of people were standing knee-deep in the water to help the wounded.

"What's going on?" He came up to the sergeant who was commanding and shouted at the top of his voice.

The sergeant turned his head and saw that it was his lord standing beside him.

"Lord Count," he replied in a salute—the rain on his sleeve shook Diego in the face—and in the same squeeze, "little Dowts rushed out of the road as he turned the corner, and crashed into a tree, and even those who followed him were unlucky. ”

The cavalry column is always like this when galloping at high speed, and the people behind do not know the direction at all, and they are completely following the tail of the horse of the person in front. In this visibility, once the person in front runs the wrong way, it is often a series of people who are unlucky.

"No, my lord, there are people on the road, and I urgently changed direction to avoid bumping into it." A cavalryman, supported by his two companions, limped up from the bottom of the ditch and defended himself with some excitement.

"Oh? Where are the people? The sergeant said with an unkind face. This brainless fool brought half of the squad into the ditch and dared to talk in front of Lord Earl? If you can't find anyone later, you won't have any good fruit to eat!

"It's over there!" The lame cavalry stubbornly pointed to the road not far away.

"Be on guard!" Diego yelled.

There was a sound of swords unsheathed, and people were holding their swords in their hands, looking vigilantly at the darkness beside the road.

Diego drew his bayonet and placed it on the Death Gaze, the power of the holy light that erupted from it shone brightly at the tip of the blade, shining like a flaming torch in the dark night.

He walked in the direction that Little Dowts had rushed down to the middle of the road, where he saw a whitened corpse that had been soaked in rain, and its chest was flattened, apparently with its sternum shattered by a heavy weapon. He cautiously leaned over and poked into the corpse's neck, where the tentacles were cold.

"It's been a while since I've been dead!" He stood up and said to Masrae, who was walking by.

"There are dead people here!"

"There's that too!" At this moment, farther away, the soldiers who were scouting along the road also shouted one after another.

"Everyone, get ready to fight!" Diego commanded loudly.

The cavalry of the Storm Whip immediately formed a battle formation and advanced along the road. Before, in order to make it easier to travel, they didn't have armor, so now it is easy to walk, and they don't have to worry about being dressed in heavy armor and having difficulty moving.

They walked about four or five hundred yards along the main road, and saw no less than forty or fifty corpses along the way. Diego guessed that it might have been dropped by Rainier and the Night's Watch who were fighting the Abomination, and it seemed that this place should not be far from the battlefield.

"I'll go over there and have a look!" Masrae transformed into a panther and shouted at him. After saying that, he rushed out like an arrow. Diego turned to look at Guan Haifa, who nodded at him knowingly and followed.

Diego knew that the battle was urgent, and they had to rush over to support as soon as possible, but with such heavy rain and the dead on the road, it was impossible to advance on horseback.

"Leave a squad to guard the mounts, and the others will follow me and run forward!" He thought for a moment and commanded loudly.