Suddenly the wind blew in the night.

After the hills, follow the trail of ghouls and witches, who trek through the undulating terrain.

The further east you go, the lower the terrain becomes. Although the vast Palohia Plateau can be reached further east beyond the forests, a significant portion of the Bao Forest at the foot of the mountain lies below sea level in the Mobigas Inland Sea – making them perennially wet and muddy and swampy.

It's a paradise for small amphibians and reptiles, and if you go so deep into the forest in the summer, you might even hear the sound of frogs chirping.

But now there is only silence.

In the silence, the lonely echo of the whirring wind.

The soil is too soft for large trees to take root and grow, so only small shrubs and weeds exist in this area. They weren't enough to shelter the wind that blew the wax cloth into the hunt.

The unbearable harsh environment seems to have deteriorated further.

Lacking tasty warm food and easy terrain to walk on, they now can't even get a good rest.

The wind was blowing from the swamp, and there was a long stretch of ground in front of them, but the small spot where they were still was in the direction behind them, and there was dry ground because of the high terrain. The unimpeded wind, which was unimpeded, did not even have a steady direction, and it was surging from all directions.

The hills, which used to be difficult to climb, are now nostalgic, and the trees can't grow too much in this relatively dry land. Many trees that are too large and have a large windward area have long since been uprooted and fallen to the ground.

The adventurers initially tried to determine the direction of the wind and then tilted the canvas to the direction of the wind - it was a standard practice, but the wind then blew from the other side, and the slender trunk of the tree, which had long since died and had not yet fallen, could not withstand the wind pressure at all, and snapped in response, and flew wildly on the tail of the canvas, as if a transparent giant was holding a war stick and roaring angrily.

Finally they managed to get it under control, relying on the weight of the massive fallen trees and the rocks around them, the shelter still hunting in the wind, cold wind coming through any crevice that could be drilled into, making it impossible to sleep.

The people who went to sleep in shifts ended up walking out of the camp again wrapped in their cloaks, and even though it was late at night, they were still guarding the campfires that shook wildly from side to side, unable to sleep.

The power of human beings is insignificant in the end.

The experienced old hunters' faces were gloomy, not only because the fatigue of the past few days had made it difficult for them to smile, but also because they were in this environment, and they were able to judge their own disadvantages with their own knowledge.

The ghouls and witches were lost as they made their way to the swamp.

During the day, they found a thick trail, and thought that they should be able to catch up quickly with only a few hours on horseback, but until twilight came, they only happened to be in front of the swamp.

There was no trace of the enemy, and there were still similar traces.

Whether they waded through the water or diverted in other directions will have to wait until tomorrow to continue the investigation.

People had no choice but to camp in place. This is the worst camping site, with no shelter around. They had no way to hide their aura, and the light of the bonfire could be seen clearly by enemies three kilometers away.

Vigilance makes the seasoned mercenaries uneasy.

They also know that this is the best option of all at the moment. It would be foolish to venture across the swamp, and if you could have avoided the annoying wind and found a thick enough tree to camp, you would have found yourself even more defenseless.

It is true that you can't sleep in the wind of the swamp, but at least the low-lying ground with standing water everywhere can provide a warning in the darkness - it prevents ghouls from sneaking up on the attack from this direction, and if you evacuate from the woods in the direction of arrival, you will not even have this advantage, and you can only rely on your own defense in all aspects.

Campfires for heating and cooking are a necessity, and they are extremely exposed on the flat ground that stretches for more than ten kilometers.

But that's not just the worry, those abominable undead have powerful night vision, and they can see clearly even without fire.

What really unnerved the old scouts was the wind.

As hunting mercenaries, they spend a lot of time dealing with wild beasts.

Alert beasts or monsters have a far greater sense of smell than humans. Therefore, any qualified hunter, whether an ordinary hunter or a professional hunting mercenary, has a good grasp of the wind direction.

The light can still be obscured by the terrain, and the smell of burning wood can be carried by the wind ten kilometers away.

Don't put yourself in the upper hand, take the initiative to judge and take the initiative to conceal, concealment is the best protection, the best armor and shield.

But in the midst of this frenzied and ever-changing wind, they are exposed. It's unsettling to leak information about one's location to any possible enemy like a beacon in the dark.

The intelligence is not equal, and they don't know where the ghouls will come from and how many are left.

Sitting back and waiting is not the way to go, but taking the initiative is also quite dangerous.

Beyond the frantically flickering campfires and the orange glow of torch lighting, everything is darkness and everything is unknown.

And fear.

Breed in it.

The campfires were still flickering and the wood was inexhaustible, so they didn't have to worry that bonfires that were large enough with the help of shelter wouldn't be easily extinguished.

The people in the camp stared at it, their faces and palms dried from the bonfire.

And the people outside the camp had their backs to it. The wind was blowing and their faces were aching, and although it wasn't snowing, they were quickly losing their body temperature when exposed to the strong winds. Bare fingers grew cold and stiff, unable to hold even the plates and forks – the chefs did their best, baking the hard dough and making it a hot dipping sauce with the only remaining spices and cider at hand.

At first, people tried to sing, trying to do something about the hot food that had been so hard to go with it to boost their morale.

But in the end, it was all quiet.

The hard and dry dough was still unappetizing, and the heat quickly dissipated in the wind. If nothing else, this is the last time they'll have such a hot delicacy to eat.

"Kill the horses and roast some meat. ”

"Are you going to carry the equipment yourself? ”

A lifeless earth.

Only the cold wind was howling.

Half a month of trekking, from the ambition at the beginning, to the current taciturn.

What defeated them was not brutal and bloody battles, but difficult living conditions and boring search work.

This should not be the case, the hunting mercenaries who walk in the wild all year round are all good at scavenging for resources from nature to survive. But even when nature is lifeless, no matter how many skills they have, they can't use it.

"Even when faced with the most vicious prey, they have never been silent like this. Stephen said as he drank the last bit of liquor he had with him.

This is a very bad situation.

Just as the brief slack after a fierce battle is the most dangerous moment, the fatigue of this boredom has greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of all of them—only a few of us, including our Sage Mister, remain alert, but this is clearly not enough.

They couldn't take care of all the aspects of the camp, which was still in its more than two hundreds, and when Henry sensed that something was wrong and came to the rear, the two sleepy mercenaries who were guarding hurriedly checked it.

Found.

The number of pack horses has decreased.

"It smells of blood. "It's a familiar smell that the wind can't hide, like rusty iron dissolved in water and then evaporated by high temperatures, which is difficult to remove from the nasal passages for a long time.

Everyone is familiar with this.

In the moment of trance because of the weather, the terrain, the food, and even the air.

Ghoul.

Approached.

"Cheer up! Cheer up!"

"Count the number of people!" said Henry, who reacted quickly, with a frown.

The camp of 200 men and hundreds of horses was not small, and they were divided into several sentry groups to keep watch in the vicinity. The group guarding the horses lost their minds but only the pack horses, and if the rest of the country were attacked—

The bad foretaste was tested.

The Sentinels are missing two groups.

"Divide the troops, let's catch up and see. Henry said to Adolphus, who nodded. Everyone was divided into two relatively balanced teams according to their specialty, Adolphus led more paladins and a large number of mages to shrink their camps and defend around the bright campfires, while Henry led a smaller group of paladins and crossbowmen to hunt mercenaries along with Mira, Filippo, Orno, and Stephen.

"Bloodstains. They followed the smell of blood and unnatural trails to the west, following the route they had come.

People clenched their weapons, held their breath, one step at a time, carefully.

But the darkness is an ally of the undead, not the living. The torches in their hands struggled to provide enough light under the wind, and the supposedly bright Moon of Sitchonk's magic moon was coincidentally obscured by dark clouds.

So it wasn't until the sage noticed that something was wrong with the wind that they realized.

The fact that I was lured out.

"Come closer to me, gather in a circle!" Henry shouted as he held his torch aloft to his position, and Orno in the group raised his wand in the wing.

"Aktu Luna!" "Bang-" she cried, and a blazing white light stretched out from her wand to illuminate a vast area.

"Shhh——!h

"They're in the trees!" "Shh

"Crossbowmen!" cried Filippo. "It's too late, draw your sword, paladin!" shouted the sage, and the torch was planted in the ground, and he took Kramer in one hand and slashed it from the bottom up.

"Bang! click——! Henry deliberately deflected the angle of his blow, not slicing through the ghoul but sending it flying away to prevent the heavy, strong creature from breaking through his circle.

His reaction was quite timely, and if the team hadn't shrunk into a circle and still had a loose search formation, I'm afraid there would have been a attrition at this point.

But even so, the situation is not optimistic.

The darkness limited the combat capabilities of the paladins in front of them. Although Orno's magic instantly illuminates the vast area around him, it also causes many people's eyes to take time to adjust to the bright light.

At least thirty percent of the attacks responded to in the first round of impact failed, and the ghouls who rushed straight and straight came directly in front of them, if it weren't for the Paladins in plate armor, I was afraid that there would be casualties in this first impact.

"Click!!" The sturdy steel cuirass was dented by the powerful gouging grip, but it wasn't yet to be broken by an attack of this magnitude. With the help of allies, the knocked over knights regained their footing.

They spread out like blooming petals, pushing their opponents back with a dash while expanding the space for their teammates to move.

Several ghouls quickly died under the attack, and the crossbowmen in the rear finally reflected at this time. The winch was wound with a heavy crossbow and a trigger structure forged from steel, and in a split second, the quenched short bolt struck the ghoul's skull with precision, killing the abominable undead exposed in the white light.

"The light is going to be gone!" Orno, who was in the center of the formation, suddenly shouted, and Henry in front of him immediately reacted: "Shrink, return to defense." He shouted loudly. The trees near them were thicker than those near the swamp, and they leaned against one of the large trees, forming a circle and guarding the surroundings.

"Whew-" The blazing white light was extinguished in a fluctuation, and this level of brightness as bright as day would only last for a short time even Orno. The elf gasped and crouched, and after the light came, everyone's eyes had to adjust to the dim light of the torches.

Fine sweat oozed from her forehead, but after taking a few breaths, she continued at a fairly fast pace: "She's sensitive to magic, it's not a good decision, we'd better go back to the camp to meet." ”

"Whew-thump-" The torches formed a circle on the ground, and the free-handed men watched with their weapons in their hands. Mira and Filippo gasped for breath, and although they had not been in direct contact with the ghouls, the sight of the ghouls climbing densely on the trees under the white light was really terrifying.

Henry glanced back at the crowd behind him, Orno's warning was true, but he could see it with far better eyesight than the others.

Those ghouls didn't leave.

They didn't attack any further.

"These guys ......"

"It's like waiting for work, not just knowing how to pounce like before. Stephen, who had followed the sage and the others, clenched the two-handed battle axe in his hand and muttered.

"Hmm. Henry replied briefly.

Although there are terrible things about physically tough enemies, as long as you master the right methods, it is not difficult to deal with them.

The truly fearsome enemy is the one who has a strategy.

Humanity is divided into two parts, and the forces are scattered. They arrive at night, have poor vision, and are unable to ride horses for greater combat effectiveness. The integration and command of the forces is also very difficult.

Plus exhaustion.

"They're smart. ”

"She. ”

"Learn smart. The sage said as he shook his great sword. He felt a little sore in his wrists, and it was a burden for him to smash a ghoul that sprinted with one hand and pounced on an eighty-kilogram ghoul.

These things don't easily allow them to return to camp and join forces with Adolphus and the others, and they don't go back and forth as they did in Scotti. Instead, keep a certain distance, wait for their side to act, and then deal with it.

"It's like hunting. ”