Chapter 64: Before Dawn
The fog that shrouded the icy plains still loomed, and the sunlight in the sky could not completely cover the painful place. Those eerie mist absorbs the sunlight, making the wilderness gray even during the day, giving the impression of dawn. At night, it's even colder, and the mist thickens at night, and the vision of all creatures drops dramatically.
Because of the fog, the Rogers' eyes could only see a few dozen meters away, and they all gathered near the teleportation array. Here, the Rogers set up rows of campfire houses to provide a stable settlement for those who had just changed careers.
Rog, that's what the pros call them, in fact they're called wanderers. They are the descendants of the steppe archers, because of unknown reasons, they can't change careers to become regular professionals, start the transmission of ancestral skills, and can only rely on their natural excellent archery skills to shoot the arrows in their hands at the enemy, arrows raining down, no example.
Rog's leader is called Kashya, and she is the only high-ranking female archer among them. Because of the loss of the evolution of becoming professionals, the wanderers contacted a secret guild organization in the Westmar Kingdom ~ the Blind Sisterhood, which is composed of twelve nuns who have refined spiritual spells. The Wanderer's sisters have all joined this organization, and they have invited Sister Akara from the Sisterhood to accompany them, and have set up a camp of their own belonging to the Wanderer in the bloody wasteland hundreds of kilometers away~ Camp Rogge.
The land beneath his feet was once the domain of a prosperous principality, full of abundant farmland and vast farms, ox carts laden with fine wine and grain, and herds crossed the flat roads towards the monastery. And all this was shattered on a night as calm as usual.
Thousands of demons emerged from the underground, attacking the town with impunity, burning the territory to the ground with fire and brimstone. The bloodthirsty demons did not spare anyone in the land, including women and children, and even the dead did not find any peace in their graves, and they were all eventually resurrected as terrifying undead monsters, becoming the demons' minions.
After Andariel, the Torment King, took over the cathedral, the number of wanderers began to decline dramatically, and the disadvantage of not being able to become a professional made it extremely difficult for them to fight against demons. And the appearance of the King of Torment made the final balance of victory in this war gradually tilt in favor of the demons.
A large number of wanderer sisters were caught by demons and skinned and burned, only because they stepped forward to establish a wanderer camp on this land, sheltering those wandering professionals and civilians, and making a small contribution to the resistance to the demonic forces.
Many wanderers died, their bodies tied to stakes, torture instruments, and fires, and these horrific things were scattered all over the wilderness.
Every wanderer was once a beautiful woman, some young, some pretty, some charming, some lovely, in the prime of life when they should have enjoyed life, but gave their lives to the hope of fighting demons, these dead young souls cried out in the wilderness.
At night, the cold plains would be filled with the sound of the wind, and the weepings of the wanderers would say that they were the cries of the sisters.
In recent years, there have been fewer and fewer professionals, and relying on the archery skills of wanderers to resist the attack of demons has become more and more stretched, and it is becoming more and more difficult, and the dark forest is not conducive to the combat of wanderers, and they have long retreated back to the cold plains. Now they have gathered next to the teleportation array, and as soon as the situation is wrong, they are ready to abandon this place, return to the camp, and re-develop in the bloody wasteland.
"Bring me some hot milk~" A wanderer had just finished his night patrol with the team, and immediately rushed to the restaurant when he returned to the settlement in the Icy Plains. The cold air of the Icy Plains kept her body temperature low, and the armor made of fur couldn't keep the biting cold at bay. As the demons expand and the number of professionals decreases, the range of their patrols becomes smaller and smaller.
The wanderer lady had just picked up a bowl of hot milk, and before she could pour it into her mouth, she heard a panic outside, and the frightened cries of sisters everywhere.
The young lady put the bowl on the table, turned her head to look, and saw through the window that there was a swaying of torches everywhere, as if something had suddenly appeared, causing everyone to panic.
"Damn! I guess the demons are attacking our settlement!" As soon as the young lady took off the curved bow on her body, she was about to rush out, her body was stunned, and she turned around, "Sarah, you'd better be prepared, if we can't resist it, we will buy time for you to enter the teleportation array." With that, the figure disappeared by the door.
Sarah is a little girl in her early tens, half a shoulder taller than the stage, seeing the scene in front of her, but there is a determination in her eyes, she clenched her fist hard, stood on tiptoe and picked up a table knife from the dinner plate on the stage, she was ready to fight to the death with her sisters.
The young lady rushed out of the dining room, and saw the sisters holding torches in their hands and lighting the bonfires that had long been extinguished, and the sky was dark. This silent darkness brought extreme psychological depression to everyone present. It wasn't your ordinary night darkness, but something was moving through the fog.
At first, there was no sound, but gradually there was a small sound in everyone's ears, and everyone clearly saw that the fog above their heads slowly seemed to pass by something huge, and when it passed through the dense fog that shrouded people's heads, it brought electric sparks from time to time, and these electric sparks swam in the thick fog, like small tree snakes.
The whole sky was like this, this thing was so huge, covering the sky above the settlement, and there was a slight vibration in the air, and the electric sparks passed through with a low sound, like rolling thunder over everyone's heads.
The flames crackled the wood in the bonfire, and everyone faced the sky, their faces solemn, "What the hell is going on! Could it be that the demons are preparing to intensify their attack?" The thought of the tormentor who lived in the catacombs of the monastery cathedral made everyone's hearts grow heavier, because of the presence of Andariel, many excellent professional squads disappeared at the underground entrance and never returned.
The archery skills of the wanderers do not support them to fight against a large number of demons, without the skills of professionals, relying on the attack power of their meager magic arrows alone, even the skin of some high-level demons cannot be pierced, if it is really the demons who attack, then only death awaits them.
The thunder above his head continued to roar into the distance. A woman with a mature face changed color, and the mysterious thunder, the direction it was heading, was obviously where the wanderer camp was located.
Could it be that the demons are preparing to attack our base camp?!
"Take out all the gems and open the teleportation array, this strange sound is headed for our base camp. So I decided: let's all go back to camp, go back to report to the Kalada and Sister Akara! Girls, the most difficult time has come, we have to go back to fight side by side with the base camp. Although we are not awakened professionals and have given up this place for the time being, the will of the wanderers lives on!"
"The will of the wanderer lives on!" hundreds of voices rang out in the settlement at the same time, they were already the only wanderers left in the cold plains.
The once huge camp of Rogue is now deserted in the middle of the night. A wooden wall of countless giant trees encircles the camp, the top of which is sharpened into sharp teeth to prevent demons from entering the camp through the wooden walls.
Although the people who survive in the bloody wasteland are some small demons, and most of them are some low-level demons, but the power from hell makes them mostly some fire and ice free monsters, and the Rog girls have an extremely difficult time to deal with. Today's lack of professionals has made the camp lose its former glory.
In the past, there were tens of thousands of roges, thousands of occupations, but now there are less than 10,000 rogers, and hundreds of professionals, as well as tens of thousands of homeless people who seek safety. Stone is the main raw material for the houses here, and the night is already dark, and only a few large fires are still burning in the huge camp.
Civilians had long since turned off the lights in their homes to rest, and groups of Rogue warriors, carrying torches and lined up in pairs, patrolled the roads. The bars and inns where professionals like to congregate are still lit up, and many barbarians and druids who love to drink are still drinking wine. The large number of deaths of professionals has made these low-level or newly evolved professional fledglings dare to wander in the bloody wasteland, trying their best to clean up this land of thousands of square kilometers, at least this is still a pure land for now.
In one corner of the camp, a clearing made of stones, lit up with a pale blue pattern, which immediately attracted the attention of the wanderers who were guarding nearby.
"Someone using a teleportation array?"
"Is it a new profession?"
"It's getting brighter and brighter, so many patterns, it's a massive teleportation!"
"Everyone, bow and arrow, stay vigilant!"
Ever since the Demon took advantage of humanity's fear of death to threaten several timid professionals to open teleportation arrays and attack Camp Rogge. The wanderers strengthened the protection of the teleportation array to prevent the demons from sneaking up again.
One by one, the figures appeared out of thin air from the stones, and everyone was surprised, and they recognized that it was their companions who were waiting on the cold plain.
"What's wrong?The settlement of the Cold Plains has been attacked?Are there any sisters injured?" Seeing that it was their companions coming out of the light gate, the wanderers breathed a sigh of relief. But seeing everyone's solemn faces, they immediately stepped forward to ask.
"No casualties, I'm going to see Lord Cassa and Sister Akara, it's an emergency, something is coming to us, I suspect it's a demon. ”
In a large tent embroidered with purple flowers, a woman in a dark purple mage cloak is sorting out the bookcase, her eyes are closed, she can't see, but she can clearly know the location of each book, this is one of the twelve members of the Blind Sisterhood ~ Sister Akara. Majoring in spiritual magic made her give up her attachment to vision, and resist temptation to comprehend the truth, which is a phrase she often hangs on her lips.
"Akadaan, we have an urgent report!" the tent curtain was lifted, and a group of women followed behind a red-haired female archer, the intricate chain mail and dark red cloak indicating that the red-haired female archer was different, she was the leader of the wanderers, Kasha.
If the blind nun Akara is the spiritual leader of the wanderers, then Kashya is the battle commander of the wanderers, who is the one who plans one action after another to rid the demons of this wilderness, and it is she who leads this group of strong women to establish their own base in the wilderness.
"What's wrong?hmm~ Some of you have the breath of the cold plain, could it be that something happened there?Child, sit down, give me your hand, and tell me what happened to the child~"
The wanderer placed his hand in Akara's hand and began to tell the story of what he saw
Darkness, lightning, thunder, movement, massiveness... All unfavorable words came out of the mouths of the wanderers, casting a shadow over the hearts of everyone present.
"Akara, how's that? What the hell is that? Is it really a demon preparing to attack the base camp?" Kashya's temperament was a little impatient, and he couldn't wait for the wanderer's words to fall. The nuns of the Blind Sisterhood are all practicing spiritual magic, and Sister Akara seems to be able to predict things, and the development of the camp cannot be achieved without the help of Akara.
The arrival of Andariel, the king of torment, is a gap in strength that cannot be bridged, and even if Akara is proficient in prophecy, it will not be able to save this defeat. But this base camp is the last hope of the wanderers, and it is the hard work of tens of thousands of Rog for more than twenty years, and Kashya can't help but worry.
"I saw what this kid saw. Unfortunately, I can't tell what it was, but it was indeed coming for our camp, I'm sure. Akara let go of the wanderer's hand, a hint of solemnity in his words.
"Then what are you waiting for, girls, let's take up our weapons, put on our armor, and give these hell maggots who dare to come and attack a head-on blow!" Kasha couldn't bear it anymore and got up from the carpet.
"Wait a minute~" Akara spoke to stop the group of hot-headed girls, "Wake up my mage disciple, I'm going to hold a divination, and then make a judgment!" Akara's words could not be refuted by the wanderer, and he was extremely firm.
A dozen female mages sat down in a circle, each with a symbol of different shapes drawn in front of them with snow-white ashes, and in the middle was an even larger symbol, like a star surrounded by ashes. Akara spread his hands, and bits of brilliance fell from his fingers, and these brilliances floated above the outer symbols, and the snow-white ashes immediately burst into flames.
"Keep your mana output and don't let the flame in front of you go out until the flame in the middle is ignited. Akara spoke.
The color of the flames in front of each female mage was different, and the faint glow of her hands kept these flames burning. After a long time, about ten minutes, the snow-white ashes burned out, turning into thin threads and crawling towards the huge symbol in the middle, and a dozen of them gathered together and ignited the symbol at the same time.
The giant symbol did not burn, but strangely dissolved into a sphere of gas, floating in front of everyone. The gas did not dissipate, but flowed slowly, gradually dividing into black and white, separated at two ends, and the two were distinct and did not merge with each other.
There were some bright spots in the sphere of gas, some deep and some shallow, colliding with each other, driving the entire air mass to surge.
Akara frowned slightly, his face facing the air mass, and although his eyes were closed, he seemed to be carefully examining the air mass.
Suddenly, with a bang, the top of the big tent embroidered with purple flowers suddenly cracked, and a ray of light fell from the sky, straight on the air mass. All the points of light in the air mass were silent at this moment, and the light was covered by the inexplicable light in the air.
Akara suddenly looked up at the sky, and at this moment, the air mass disappeared at once, and with a pout, as if something was leaking, it dissipated without a trace, and all the symbols on the ground had disappeared, turning into bits of light floating in the air.
"How so? Not angels or demons, but foreign forces. Although Akara couldn't see with his eyes, he accurately grabbed a point of light with his hand, held it in his palm, and tasted it carefully, "This is this? This is hope! It is the taste of hope~ Who is it!"
"Akara, how's it going? What do you see?, is it pain or torture, and do we have any hope of living?!" Kasha asked, unable to hold back.
Akara smiled, "You're right, it's hope~ I see the light of hope~ it's so strong." It doesn't come from heaven or hell~"
"What the hell are you talking about? Why don't I understand? Are we going to prepare for a fight?" Kasha didn't understand what Akara was talking about.
"Inform all the girls and professionals who are out there to return to the camp. Akara said lightly.
Kashya's face was heavy, "This is to prepare for a war with the demons?!"
Akara shook his head, "I don't know, whether it's survival or destruction, the prophecy only gives me the hint I hope for, and tells me not to miss it. Call the children back, and let's meet this unknown prophecy together. ”
Kashya nodded, and immediately gave the order.
Suddenly the entire Rogue camp boiled, every stone house was knocked open, every room was called open, and both civilians, Rogue and professionals got a message: get ready for battle.
Countless weapons and arrows were taken out of the warehouse and distributed to everyone, and the few cries quickly disappeared, and everyone's hearts were heavy, not expecting that the decisive battle with the demon would be on this camp where they lived. Twenty years of hard work is about to turn into a scorched earth, where there is still a quiet place, everyone's face is solemn.
Mages and druids inspect the wooden walls one by one, Assassins and necromancers are busy gathering materials to create traps, and paladins and barbarians are praying to their ancestors for their ultimate victory.
As for the Amazon female warriors~ have not appeared in this land for decades, there are civilian legends that the wanderers are their descendants, but they have lost the way of professional revelation, so they can only turn into steppe archers, and their superb archery skills can vaguely see the demeanor of the Amazon female warriors of the past.
It was already beginning to dawn, and everyone in Rog's camp was ready and waiting for the final arrival.