41. Bloodstained pursuit

When the dark-faced Count of Vantaa changed his pants and arrived at the forward camp in the underground area with his red, swollen forehead and dejected head of the guard, he found that a master of the Alchemy Guild had already taken his apprentices and guards to survey the site. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Since the Alchemy Guild sent a large number of dead mansions that are not usually seen at all this time, this master Count Vantaa does not know either. But the six concentric circles on the badge on the master's chest made him immediately aware that this master's status was not ordinary. This is at least a sixteenth-level alchemist, and he is the backbone of the alchemy guild. The master also noticed the arrival of the Count of Vantaa, who apparently recognized the uniform of the commander of the Vantaa City Guard. The alchemist took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, Your Excellency, Commander. I'm an auxiliary sent by the Alchemy Guild. My name is Yuri Gade. ”

Seeing that the alchemist was very polite, Count Tower bowed slightly. "Yes, this master, I am the Commander of the City Guard, Count Vantaa. ”

"Then Lord Earl, I have very bad news for you. "Master Yuri Gade gets straight to the point. "The twenty people you have arranged here are probably all wiped out. ”

The Count of Vantaa, who had already prepared his heart, was not moved, but felt that the alchemist's words were strange. "Why do they estimate that the whole army is wiped out, and is there any chance that anyone will survive?"

"Yes. My Lord Count. We only found seventeen bodies. Three others are missing. ”

"And what did you find?" the Count of Vantaa, who had good eyesight, had already noticed that the warlock had been keeping an eye on something on the ground before he had just arrived.

"Well, not a discovery, but at least something that confuses me. This may have a lot to do with the death and disappearance of your soldiers. You come over here and take a look. ”

Following in the footsteps of the alchemist, the Count of Vantaa came to the gate of the advancing camp. Without the help of an alchemist, the Count could see at a glance the terrible trail marks on the ground at the entrance to the camp. Three long streaks of blood were like wounds on the earth, cracking from the camp gate into the dark distance. The Count of Vantaa walked along the trail of blood, which grew from wide to narrow, from thick to light. After another kilometer, only faint traces remained.

"So it seems that three soldiers were dragged away by the attackers. "The Count of Vantaa returned to the camp, "all the soldiers had a large hole in their necks torn open. What kind of creature did this!"

"Some kind of upright walking humanoid, there's only one. Master Yuri Gade said to the Count. "Footprints were found in the camp. The footprints are exactly the same as those of barefoot humans. Judging by its size and shape, it is a female or a small male. Master Gade pointed to the marks on the ground: "It has a tail, and it's very long. It killed twenty people and dragged only three away. This is estimated to be the maximum amount it can carry. It's not very powerful in this sense, but it's certainly amazingly agile. ”

The Count of Vantaa looked at the traces and confirmed the alchemist's claims. "We should go after this creature at once. Master Gad. ”

"I don't see it that way. Yuri Gade objected. "We should wait for the legendary powerhouse to come before we pursue it. It is likely that there is more than one unidentified creature. We need an overwhelming advantage. ”

"So when will Sal Montaro arrive? I think he needs to lead the team. ”

"My mentor has arrived. "Yuri Gade looks at the Count of Vantaa. A portal was opening beside him.

"I'll lead the team. "Sal Montaro the Mighty stepped out of the portal. He was no longer dressed in his usual robes and hoods, but in an alchemical combat suit with many strange parts of unknown purpose. The old alchemist's tone was firm: "If we don't sweep the Green Cross this time, we will not withdraw our troops." ”

Soon after, Valentina, who received the news, also arrived at the headquarters of the Count of Vantaa with a hundred marines. Knowing about the tragedy that happened in the advance camp, this legendary powerhouse also decided to immediately lead the team to search the underground river area, and use his greatest strength to find out the group of rats in the Green Cross and eliminate them.

The intricate topography of the underground area severely limited the movement of large forces. Many of the small passages allow only one person to pass sideways at their narrowest point. The labyrinthine of passages and caverns quickly scattered hundreds of searchers, with the only way to get through was the communication tools carried by the alchemists in each squad. Each team has at least one official alchemist. Not only are they responsible for liaison between the teams, but they also carry magic mapping tools with them to record the terrain and road conditions along the way.

Master Yuri Gade is also in the team. He was joined by one of his apprentices and two bodyguards. Twenty other City Guard soldiers and a six-member squad of the Warrior Guild followed Master Gad. The main tracking method is a trained hunter lizard.

Master Gad is assigned a different task than any other team. He's now mostly looking for the creature that destroyed the advancing camp, rather than expanding his horizons and drawing new maps. As a result, the team led by Master Gad went deeper underground faster than any other team. They didn't care if the road was difficult or not, they just kept an eye on the creature's trail. Master Sal Montaro, who specializes in spatial teleportation, is nearby. In case of an emergency, he can arrive quickly.

Because the tracking took place shortly after the camp was attacked, Master Gad could easily observe the creature's trail. The creature dragged along the three corpses, and its speed seemed to be greatly affected. It wasn't long before Master Gad's team found the remains of the first soldier. The killer left the body behind, apparently sensing that someone was coming after him. After dropping a corpse, the speed of the creature in front of it increased significantly. Some traces were also consciously destroyed, but the hunter lizard's superior sense of smell made these tricks useless. The lizard could easily smell the corpse. The whole team just needs to follow behind.

Master Gad took advantage of the situation and cast an acceleration spell on all of them to increase the team's mobility. The sorcerer-assisted team flickered, and the various light sources flickered endlessly, illuminating the underground caverns that should have been pitch black as day.

The creature in front of it quickly threw another corpse behind. Master Gade found that none of the corpses had been destroyed or gnawed. This shows that these corpses must have a purpose when they are taken away, and the creatures with the corpses in front also have considerable intelligence and judgment. Unwilling to take any chances, Master Gade immediately cast the spell of collective night vision on the entire team. He was ready to turn off all light sources before continuing the pursuit. Otherwise, the whole team turned on such a bright light source in the pitch black underground is equivalent to a living target in the eyes of all creatures exposed to the darkness.

There is a period of acclimatization after the team turns off the light source. During this time, the team's speed slowed down a bit. The creature in front of it only dragged a corpse and its speed increased dramatically, and the distance between the two sides increased again.

After a while, when everyone got used to night vision, the speed of the whole team increased again, because they no longer had to be careful about dark places where the light could not reach, and the morale of the whole team also increased.

After two hours of pursuit, a third body was found. This is the captain of the entire attacked team, and the strongest guy in the team. The pursued, who had left all their burdens behind, threw the team led by Master Gad away without a trace at an unbelievable speed. At first, Master Gade tried to rely on the scent left by the other party to track it, but he soon discovered that the other party's walking path was not limited to the ground at all—the roof of the cave, the walls. Each plane is the smooth path of the other. It is really difficult for a strong man to track the traces of such an opponent. After all, not even a hunter lizard can reach the roof of the cave to track down an opponent.

"The pursuit failed. Master Gade activated the communication tool and reported the situation to his mentor, Master Sal Montaro.

"Are there any casualties?" Master Sal Montaro's primary concern was the safety of his disciples.

"Nope. The opponent is amazingly fast. We couldn't catch up with our opponents from start to finish. However, we forced the other side to leave the bodies of all three soldiers. ”

"Then come back. Remember to bring back the bodies of the three poor children. There is a lot of progress in other directions. There was a fierce battle in one direction. I hope you can get back as soon as possible and take a short break and devote yourself to that direction. ”

"Yes, Mentor. But we chased it too far. I'm afraid it will take a few hours to get back. ”

"That's ......," Master Sal Montaro hesitated. "Then you don't have to come back. Continue in the direction where the target is gone. I think there's always something to discover. ”

"Yes. We'll fix it up a bit and move on. "Master Gade did what his mentor had to say.

"Stay safe, my student. Master Sal Montaro turned off the communicator and said in his mind.

The Count of Vantaa commanded his soldiers to transport the alchemy speedboats into the underground river one by one with a pulley set. On the edge of the underground river, the Marines were already poised to go. These Marines are the true elite of Coronia, all veterans who have experienced at least one Void voyage. These veterans who had sailed in the void were not afraid of anyone at all for navigating such a small underground river. They had a relaxed atmosphere and talked and laughed freely, which made the city guards who were busy working on the side feel ashamed.

The big leader of these marines, that is, the beautiful and "noble" Countess Hortique, Valentina, is the representative of them. Not only did the countess scoff at the gloomy underground river, saying that it was far worse than the void, but she also brought several maids to carry her a couch for resting and a long table with many delicacies and wines. Now she's handing out the food and wine to the Marines who are ready to go, and the veterans are cheering.

When all the alchemy speedboats had been lowered into the underground river, Valentina stood up and sat cross-legged in the first speedboat. She was accompanied only by her two maids and the alchemist and his apprentice, who were in charge of operating the speedboat.

When all the Marines boarded the other twenty-five speedboats, Valentina waved her hand and rowed out twenty of them.

The countess said to her men, "Twenty of you ships are going downstream. I'll take the others upstream. ”

None of his subordinates objected to Valentina's arrangement. Because everyone knows that the side with fewer people is stronger.

"Lads and girls, what is the slogan of the Marines?" Valentina shouted as the fleet parted.

"Marines, always forward. A neat shout rang out at the same time on all the speedboats.