Chapter 313: Enri's Talent, Kelart's Provocation
Seeing Tang Zheng summon two Fourth-Tier Angels at this time, Captain Nigun frowned.
"The situation is currently unclear. Consuming so much magic power is not a wise move."
Captain Nigun thought to himself, "But this is fine too. This will allow the Paladins to hold on for longer."
One by one, stumbling zombie animals leaped and pounced at the Paladins, displaying their hatred for the living.
With every swing of their longswords, the members of the Holy Knight Order could easily kill an undead. Through mutual coordination, their entire defensive line was extremely stable.
But this time!
The massive number of undead showed no signs of stopping. Instead, their numbers continued to swell, surrounding the entire elite unit.
One minute!
Three minutes!
Ten minutes!
The severed limbs of the undead piled up, their numbers now impossible to count. Protected by magic and armor, none of the members of the Holy Knight Order were injured, but they were already beginning to gasp for breath.
"Hiss—Waaah—"
The zombie animals became even more frenzied, their rotting vocal cords emitting terrifying howls.
"Captain!"
"We can't go on like this."
Deputy Commander Gustav hurried to Remedios's side and spoke.
"I know. Wait a little longer!" Remedios replied, her face cold.
Deputy Commander Gustav understood immediately and turned to look toward Lord Kelart, Captain Nigun, and Tang Zheng.
It seemed they were discussing something over there!
"According to the results of the detection magic, there are relatively dense magical energy fluctuations about one kilometer to the northwest."
"The enemy controlling this horde of undead and continuously attacking us should be there," Captain Nigun informed the other two of the findings from his subordinates' reconnaissance.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Kelart turned to Tang Zheng beside him. "Leader Tang, what are your thoughts?"
"I'll follow your lead," Tang Zheng said softly, shaking his head.
Kelart thought for a moment and said seriously, "The enemy revealing their position could also be a trap."
"Following the safest option, we will continue to act according to the original plan."
As soon as he said this, Captain Nigun gave Kelart a subtle glance. He wanted to speak but ultimately did not object.
None of them were the type to dither, so they immediately took action. The 200 members of the Cleric Corps and the 80 from the Sunlight Scripture simultaneously began casting summoning magic.
In an instant!
It was as if the sun had risen above their heads.
280 Guardian Angels appeared once more, scattering to kill the surrounding undead.
The holy light and the flying figures of the Guardian Angels appeared in everyone's vision, dispelling the fear and oppression brought by the undead.
"All Paladins, fall back!"
The two deputy commanders quickly issued the command.
The Guardian Angels took over all the positions held by the Paladins, allowing the members of the Holy Knight Order to breathe a sigh of relief.
The entire elite unit began to move again!
One kilometer away.
Under the faint moonlight.
Atop a gently rolling hill, two cold figures stood under the moonlight, calmly watching the conspicuous unit in the darkness.
The light emitted by the 280 Guardian Angels was exceptionally conspicuous in the dark of night in the Hills Region, where the moonlight was the only source of illumination.
"Tsk, tsk."
"Truly frightening. So many Guardian Angels. If they were to be surrounded, they would surely die a miserable death," the Gray-robed Mage sneered.
"They're moving again," the Black Armored Knight, cradling a corrupting sword, said faintly.
"As expected of the elites of the Holy Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy. These low-grade undead alone cannot stop them."
"Doesn't that make it more interesting!"
The Gray-robed Mage's withered eyes glinted sharply. "Tonight will be a long night. Their stamina and magic power will just be continuously drained."
"Do you know how weak insects hunt much stronger prey?"
"Unfortunately, although the number of undead is vast, there hasn't been enough time for more powerful undead to be born naturally."
Time passed, bit by bit.
The elite unit finally broke free from the attacks of the numerous zombie animals. No one cheered; there was only an even more silent atmosphere.
Everyone knew this was just the beginning. The enemy was more cunning than they had imagined. Even though they knew this was a tactic to continuously drain their stamina and magic power, they had no effective way to counter it.
As the summoning time ended!
After the 280 Guardian Angels dissipated into motes of light, the Cleric Corps and the Sunlight Scripture began to take turns summoning fifty Guardian Angels at regular intervals.
Undercurrent Moon.
March 29th, 5:51 AM.
In the eastern sky, a sliver of fish-belly white had appeared.
The night gradually faded. The members of the elite unit were like swimmers surfacing from oxygen-deprived water, taking deep breaths of the same rotten-smelling air they had despised when they first arrived in the Hills Region.
An entire night!
They had lost count of how many undead attacks they had endured. Even the Paladins with the most outstanding physiques felt an unprecedented exhaustion under the constant nervous tension and continuous fighting.
The undead were affected by daylight and most would not attack proactively.
Unless they were being controlled by a magic caster, and the number of undead a magic caster could control was necessarily limited. For the group, this was a moment of respite.
Enri, with her sleeves rolled up, moved between the Paladins and Clerics, helping to distribute food and water.
Many held a favorable impression of this ordinary yet tenacious girl. They could more or less see that Enri simply wanted to do something to help.
"Blargh—"
Suddenly, the sound of someone vomiting was heard.
A female cleric, her face ghastly pale, looked around in embarrassment, tears welling in her eyes. Unable to hold it back, she quickly covered her mouth as another wave of nausea hit her.
"I have a clean handkerchief here."
Enri turned and walked over quickly, pulling a square, patterned handkerchief from her pocket, showing no disgust at the vomit in front of the cleric.
"Thank you."
The female cleric forced herself to swallow. Her cheeks flushed red as she accepted the handkerchief with her head lowered, both embarrassed and flustered.
Perhaps that one act of vomiting started a chain reaction.
"Blargh!"
"Blargh!"
"Blargh!"
One after another, the sounds of vomiting came from within the Cleric Corps.
The night of rushing, combined with the intermingling stench of the undead and the smell of rot in the air, had long since become unbearable for the members of the Cleric Corps.
An awkward atmosphere spread!
The strange gazes from the Paladins made these clerics—who usually held a high position, only needing to pray to their God and study magic—wish they could dig a hole and crawl into it.
It wasn't just people from their own country here; there were also people from the Slane Theocracy.
This was so embarrassing!
"Heh."
Seeing this, Captain Nigun's eyes filled with contempt. "A bunch of shiny weapons that have never been truly forged in fire and blood."
As expected.
These people of the Holy Kingdom, coddled under the protection of the fortress wall, simply did not understand how weak humans were on this continent.
Kelart's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he felt a trace of shame. His gaze swept over the strictly disciplined and well-trained Sunlight Scripture unit nearby, and the gap between the two groups became even more apparent.
Looking at the many vomiting clerics.
"Um, uh, I only have one handkerchief."
Enri fumbled in her pockets and said awkwardly.
"It's alright, they can take care of themselves," the female cleric who had just been lowering her head in shame couldn't help but say with a smile.
If she had been the only one to vomit, it would have been naturally embarrassing, but now that there was more than one, the initial awkwardness was gone.
"Hahaha!"
Hearty laughter erupted from the Paladins' side.
"They're not children. They don't need you to take care of them, Enri."
"We are Paladins and Clerics! Protecting our country and its people is our duty and obligation!"
"That's right!"
"Enri, although you're an adventurer, in the face of the evil undead, you are also one of the people we must protect."
Waves of agreeable laughter followed, and someone even spoke out loudly and seriously.
This laughter and these words not only instantly dispelled the subtle barrier between everyone but also eased the tense atmosphere considerably.
Furthermore, because of the recent embarrassing vomiting incident, the expressions on the grim faces of Remedios and Kelart relaxed once more.
Faced with the crowd's kind smiles,
Enri felt a little embarrassed and didn't know how to respond.
She discovered that these Paladins and Lord Clerics, who had previously seemed so cold and aloof, weren't as difficult to get along with as she had imagined.
"Tch~"
Clementine, standing with the Scripture Unit, glanced in their direction with a disdainful look on her face.
Her lively gaze briefly sized up Remedios, Tang Zheng, and Gagaran.
Clementine felt a headache coming on. "So boring! I really want to test the strength of that Paladin captain."
"And my original objective~"
"I can't find any opportunity to strike. Maybe I should just switch targets."
Not far away.
Tang Zheng took out a piece of cured meat from the bag on the Ghoul Dog's back, cut off a slice, and tossed it along with a few large pieces of hard bread into Xiao Hei's mouth.
"Awu."
The Ghoul Dog happily chewed the food in its mouth.
Tang Zheng reached out and ruffled Xiao Hei's long, thick black fur. He looked at Enri, who seemed to have hit it off with the members of the Holy Knight Order and Cleric Corps, and chuckled softly.
"Master."
The Green Leaf Witch came over and spoke softly.
"Did you notice something?" Tang Zheng asked.
"Huh?"
The Green Leaf Witch was a little puzzled.
"I'm talking about Enri."
The Green Leaf Witch turned to look at Enri's location, seemingly not understanding.
"She easily gains the goodwill of others, don't you think? You could say she has a talent for making people feel close to her," Tang Zheng chuckled.
The Green Leaf Witch stared at Enri and suddenly realized this as well. During the time they were selling the "Regeneration Potion," she had noticed that Enri seemed to find it easy to deal with people.
Of course, perhaps it was because she herself always had a cold expression, or perhaps it was due to the "Regeneration Potion."
Tang Zheng didn't say anything more. He looked around and noticed "Black" Pabel talking with a female Paladin, and they didn't seem to be getting along.
"That female Paladin... is that Neia's Mother? I didn't expect her to be involved in this incident as well."
Tang Zheng's gaze fell on the female Paladin with the golden ponytail and what seemed to be a stern personality, and his eyes flickered slightly.
Soon, he noticed Gagaran sitting in a corner, looking somewhat isolated.
Tang Zheng put the leftover cured meat back into the bag on the Ghoul Dog's back, then took out a large, arm-length piece of cured meat and walked over.
Hearing the approaching footsteps.
Gagaran looked up, his deathly pale gaze shifting over. A large, fragrant piece of cured meat flew into his view, and he subconsciously raised a hand to catch it.
"If you don't mind, have a taste. It's a bit too salty for humans, but it's good for making soup in the wild. Adding some other ingredients would make it quite nice."
Tang Zheng's light laughter was heard as he spread his hands. "Unfortunately, this environment is obviously not suitable for that."
Gagaran looked at the cured meat in his hand, which glistened with a fine, golden, transparent fat. It was clearly not a cheap ingredient. He then glanced at the hard bread that had been casually provided by the Holy Kingdom's side.
"You really know how to live."
Gagaran didn't hold back and took a large bite of the cured meat. It was too salty for humans, but in his mouth, it was a delicious delicacy.
Since leaving the Empire and entering the Hills Region, he had rarely tasted good human food.
"Being an adventurer is tough."
Tang Zheng walked up to Gagaran and shook his head with a slight smile.
"The captain of the first adventurer team I met once told me that cured meat is a very convenient food. Also, drinking a bowl of meat soup in the wild is a very pleasant experience."
Gagaran devoured the entire piece of cured meat in a few bites, licking his exposed, sharp teeth. "It's certainly not as comfortable as it was in the Empire."
"Regret it?"
"Hah! Are you kidding me? I'm Gagaran, the 'Warrior King' Gagaran!"
Gagaran looked up abruptly, his eyes showing a fierce glint as he responded seriously.
"You don't look as high-spirited as you did when we first met," Tang Zheng said half-jokingly.
"I'm just worried about the situation with the demi-humans." Gagaran's face showed his concern.
He suddenly had a feeling that letting the humans enter the Hills Region might have been the wrong choice. But without their help, it would be impossible to eliminate the horde of undead and the powerful magic caster behind them.
"You two, what are you discussing?"
A gentle voice was heard.
Tang Zheng and Gagaran looked up in the direction of the voice and saw Kelart and Captain Nigun walking over.
"Just some idle chat," Tang Zheng replied with a smile.
Gagaran glanced at them once before looking away. No matter how the two of them disguised it, he could sense their heartfelt hatred for demi-humans.
This was especially obvious when compared to Tang.
"You've all seen the current situation. Things are far more serious than our previous plan accounted for."
Kelart didn't dwell on this issue. He tried his best to appear calm as he looked at Gagaran.
"Your Excellency Gagaran, can you tell us how far we are from the demi-human gathering place?"
"At our previous pace, it will only take a day," Gagaran replied faintly.
After last night's march, the originally three-day journey had been shortened to one day.
"Only a day's journey left?"
Kelart first nodded, then his narrow eyes squinted almost imperceptibly.
"I don't mean to doubt your conclusion, but Your Excellency Gagaran has been away for so many days. How can you be certain that the numerous demi-human tribes will still be at the original location."
Faced with the suspicious and distrustful question, a flash of anger crossed Gagaran's eyes. He suppressed his inner rage and said, "Of course, it's thanks to the food from our transaction with you humans."
"You've seen the climate in the Hills now. With the lack of water and food, plus the threat of the undead."
"The southern mountains have enough food and water. And with the advantage of the valley's special terrain, it's more than enough to protect all the demi-human tribes."
Hearing this.
"I see."
Not only did Kelart not look annoyed because of the food issue, but a brilliant smile flashed across his lips.
"In that case, most of the tribes from the demi-human territory should all be gathered at this location."
"That's right," Gagaran replied, displeased.
Tang Zheng overheard their conversation, and his eyes shifted as he particularly noticed Kelart's subtle provocation.
Is this the Holy Kingdom's objective!
(end of chapter)