Half Elf Ranger

Chapter 376 long time no see
The sunshine of the flowering month is unprecedentedly warm.

The warm wind blowing from Moonglade silently blew across the desolate streets of Twilight Town, and a faint smell of blood began to fill the air, with a faint chilling feeling.

On this empty street, there are orderly rows of willows spewing green on both sides, the messy branches and leaves are uneven, swaying in the wind.The weeds that have been cleaned up under the tree are not willing to be lonely, and green grass tips stick out from the hard soil.

"Tap Tap!"

At this time, the sound of trampling boots came from the ground, and the dull sound seemed to announce the arrival of the owner of the boots.

A guard soldier with an iron shield and armor inlaid with iron came out of the blacksmith's shop, and just bumped into the owner of the boots, so he immediately greeted him respectfully, "Lord Sarayan!"

Sarayan, the lord of Twilight Town, nodded slightly to the young warrior in front of him, noticing the shield he was holding tightly in his hand, and said with concern: "The new equipment is easy to handle."

Although this iron shield has been refurbished by the mountain dwarves, it can still be seen from the shallow traces left by the shield that it seems to have changed hands many times.

"As a soldier who has received formal training, there is no so-called smoothness of weapons and equipment for me, only whether it can help me kill more enemies." The warrior guard held the shield and long sword tightly, looking Said solemnly.

"Equipment is the second life of a soldier, because they can keep you away from the embrace of death." Sarayan nodded secretly, and said, "Go, don't let your partner change hands again."

Sarayan stared at the backs of the guarding soldiers until he climbed up the majestic tower.

Immediately afterwards, in his eyes, he noticed that on this deserted street, figures emerged from the alleys of the town. Their goals were very consistent, and they all walked towards the tower.

Looking at it, Sarayan, the lord of Twilight Town, couldn't help but have a slightly sore nose, and the lively scene of the town in the past days appeared in his mind.

Sarayan, who was standing there, suddenly became dazed.

He seemed to see familiar faces appearing in front of him with longing for a better life.

He saw that most of the people were bathed in the warm sunshine and walked against the gentle breeze.

He also saw shops lined up along the street, shouts to solicit business rose and fell, people were chatting and laughing happily, and each face was full of red lights, making it dizzying for the eyes.

"Twilight Town will never fall!" Lord Sarayan tightly held the saber hanging around his waist, turned and walked in the opposite direction.

Since the attack direction of the hobgoblin army is at the north gate of Twilight Town, the south gate of the town has only a few rangers on the tower to be alert to unknown enemies in the wilderness.

Of course, one has to be on guard against those who want to take the opportunity to escape because they are afraid that the town will fall.

"Open the city gate quickly! Let us go!" After a while, a group of adventurers in different costumes gathered near the south gate of the town, roaring angrily at the ranger guards on the tower.

"The hobgoblins will soon break through Twilight Town, so the only way we can survive now is to leave as soon as possible before the south gate is attacked."

A leading adventurer player stood at the highest point and said to the gathered people: "Otherwise, when the hobgoblins attack the south gate, we really have no hope."

"Yes! Open the city gate! Let us go!"

Most of the people gathered under the tower all started booing.

Most of them are adventurers wandering the wilderness under the umbrella of Twilight Town.

So when Twilight Town was in crisis, their first thought was not to take up arms to resist the invaders, but to save their lives first.

Now, as the battle intensified, most of the adventurers and a few residents of the town, with no hope of victory, began to gather together to attack the guards of the city gate, asking them to open the gate and let them go.

As for whether Twilight Town will fall, that's not something they need to worry about, their goal is just to save their lives.

"All retreat! Anyone who disobeys will be shot to death!" Several guards on the tower put their arrows on the strings and warned the troublemakers coldly.

The most taboo thing in war is to shake the morale of the army.

If they opened the city gate today and let these people go, how would the soldiers who fought bloody battles at the north gate and defended their homeland feel?

They will think that if someone evacuates, it means that the town is really hopeless, and their determination to guard will slowly be shaken.

Therefore, this precedent must not be set, unless it is a time of real life and death, and there is really no other way, then all will choose to evacuate.

"Why don't you let us go? You guys are very selfish. You are willing to be buried with Twilight Town. We don't want to. Everyone say yes!" The leader of the rioters shouted to everyone indignantly.

His words were like a fuse being ignited, and it exploded in the crowd in an instant, and the noisy noise gradually attracted many onlookers.

"That's right! Twilight Town is about to be breached by hobgoblins. If we don't leave until the south gate is surrounded again, it will be too late."

"That's right! Why let us be buried with you!"

"Kill us all if you have the ability!"

"Yes! We must go out of town today!"

……

"Twilight Town cannot be breached!"

Suddenly, a thunder-like sound exploded in the noisy crowd, instantly stopping everyone's voices and becoming completely silent.

When everyone who caused the disturbance noticed the source of the furious voice, their expressions changed, and they involuntarily started to move backwards.

"I'll say it again, Twilight Town cannot fall! If anyone dares to spread rumors, don't blame me for being ruthless!" Sarayan, the lord of Twilight Town, walked over surrounded by a group of guards.

The rioting crowd immediately and honestly made way for them to make way for them in the direction of the tower.

"Really?" The troublemaker who took the lead met Sarayang's cold gaze and said confidently:
"You calculate that Twilight Town has been besieged by hobgoblins for a few days. Even if it won't fall for a while, it will be a matter of time. If you want to die yourself, then don't drag us to be buried with you. You must open the city gate today. Let's leave, otherwise, don't blame us for breaking in."

"In that case..." Sarayang clenched the hilt of his sword and slowly walked in front of the other party. His voice became more and more cold, and finally he stared coldly at the fearless troublemaker. Said: "Then you go to die!"

"Pfft!"

As soon as the voice fell, the head of the troublemaker flew into the air, drew an arc, and fell into the frightened crowd, and his remnant body fell stiffly and heavily like a tree that had just been cut down. on the ground.

"Those who dare to shake the morale of the army! Kill without mercy!" Sarayan put his long sword into its sheath, and walked away from the crowd with heavy and resolute steps.

These gathered adventurers looked at the troublemaker whose corpse was separated on the ground and the sharp arrows ready to be fired on the tower, and immediately dispersed.

The hobgoblin wanted to besiege Twilight Town completely, so how could it leave a south gate for the town to escape.

They are born strategists, how could they make such a simple mistake.

The purpose of this door is to leave a way for everyone defending, deliberately making them realize that even if the town is captured, they still have a chance to escape.

However, the real situation is that from the moment they escaped from the south gate, Sarayan believed that the people who greeted Twilight Town were absolutely besieged and hunted down by the Lizardmen from the Bottomless Swamp.

He knew very well the hobgoblin's tactics of besieging wilderness civilizations, and he could even guess that countless bully frogmen were definitely hidden in the Emerald River west of the town without having to scout.

This seems to be a retreat, but also a dead end.

The hobgoblins seem to attack only one place on the surface, but in fact they have surrounded Twilight Town, including their ally Iron Horse Town, who is also under the calculation and defense of the hobgoblins.

In Twilight Town, they could still rely on favorable terrain to hold their ground. In the wilderness, it was a chaotic fight, and they would only be submerged in the hobgoblin's crowd tactics.

In other words, Twilight Town can only continue to fight with the hobgoblins until the other party retreats voluntarily, or they have new reinforcements and unite to drive them away completely.

With heavy steps, Sarayan walked slowly into a hall on the tower, which was a place where all wounded soldiers were treated.

The moment he stepped into the hall, he heard the painful groans of many wounded people and the comforting voices of others.

There was a strong smell of blood in the air, as well as a smell similar to disinfectant, and some bloody bandages and herbs were scattered on the ground.

In the hall, most of the druids with excellent medical skills are using smashed herbs to treat their wounds.

Although druids can also master healing magic, for the whole town, they dare not use the magic that can heal quickly.

Because this is very likely to indirectly lead to the death of a fresh life due to serious injuries that cannot be cured in time, so as long as the injuries are not life-threatening, almost all herbal medicine is the main treatment.

After all, the daily magical powers are really limited.

Similarly, the use of herbal medicine also means that the seriously injured fighters cannot recover quickly, and the town's defensive strength will be gradually weakened, which is exactly the result that the hobgoblin wants.

In the entire healing hall, apart from the busy druids, there were several priests in blood-red robes, and they uniformly wore eye-catching emblems on their chests: a blood-colored shield with a sharp silver sword stuck in the center .

This is the priest of Tempus, the God of War, also known as: War Priest.

"Lord Sarayan." At this moment, a War Priest noticed the Lord of Twilight Town coming in, and immediately greeted him. His voice was a little low: "Your Excellency Assalam has been waiting for you for a long time."

"I see." Sarayan nodded slightly, turned and walked towards the inner room of the hall.

He approached cautiously, then gently pushed the door open and entered.

Inside the room is a priest sitting cross-legged on the ground. He is wearing severely worn armor and his face is covered by a helmet with broken horns. In front of him is an exquisite small sculpture, which is the God of War Tempus 'Idols.

"Hello, Lord Sarayan." The priest in torn armor got up and put the holy emblem in his hand on his chest, bowed to Sarayan who came in and said, "Has the hobgoblin's attack started?"

"The troops are being assembled." Sarayan bowed slightly and returned the salute.

"May the God of War protect Twilight Town." The priest prayed to the sculpture, then paused, and said calmly, "Archbishop Aleena has just conveyed new instructions to me."

"Is she willing to support Twilight Town?" Sarayan's calm gaze met the priest's eyes hidden in the masked helmet.

"That's right, but... the archbishop has one condition." The pastor was silent for a while before saying.

"Needless to say, I will absolutely not agree." Sarayan looked cold and said seriously:
"The reason why I choose war is only to build a homeland of our own for our compatriots, instead of dedicating my beliefs to those high gods, that will only bring endless chaos."

"We should not be afraid of war, but should regard it as a force of nature and human beings. Because it is a special storm brought by civilization, only those who have passed the baptism of war will become great leaders. Therefore, Sa Lord Rayan, there doesn't seem to be a conflict between the two."

After the pastor finished speaking, his tone suddenly became heavier, and his eyes hidden in the helmet became sharper, looking directly at the lord in front of him, he asked, "Do you want to watch everyone in Twilight Town fall on the ground of the hobgoblin?" Underfoot?!"

"Who the hell told you that Twilight Town would fall at the feet of the hobgoblins!" Sarayan went up to him without fear, and couldn't help but swear.

"You are too persistent." The pastor's tone slowed down, and he sighed slightly.

"It's not an attachment, it's a belief." Sarayan's expression was very firm: "Just give up on that, I will never bring people from Twilight Town to the Silverpine Plains."

"If things go on like this, sooner or later they will be consumed by these hobgoblins from the Black Pearl Forest. Besides, there are also wolf men from the Great Swordscar Mountain Range." The pastor solemnly reminded.

"I'm free in my heart, so I won't worry about you." Sarayang said lightly.

"boom!"

As soon as the words fell, the door of the inner room was kicked open, and then a barbarian with a naked upper body and tangled muscles walked in.

"Assalam, don't think that I can't figure it out with your ghostly thoughts. You just want to take this opportunity to fool us all over and help you build a city in the Black Pearl Forest. I tell you, don't even think about it!"

The irascible barbarian growled at the calm priest: "We don't need your help in Twilight Town, come on! Get him out of me!"

"Yes! We will never retreat, and we will defend our homeland to the death!" In the hall, a seriously injured guard soldier immediately got up and greeted loudly.

After the guard finished speaking, he let out a painful low growl. Due to his anger, his wound opened again. The druid who was taking care of him immediately told him not to move around, otherwise the wound would worsen.

"Yes! We will never retreat, and we will defend our homeland to the death!" Immediately, other people also echoed.

"Gehao, don't be impulsive!" Sarayan hurriedly stopped the barbarian who was really planning to take the pastor out.

"I'm very sorry! Your Excellency Assalam, please tell Archbishop Alianna for me. I appreciate her kindness." Sarayan bowed slightly to the priest and saluted.

After finishing speaking, while carefully closing the door, he dragged the cursing barbarian Gehao out.

The moment he walked out of the house, Sarayan saw a man in black leaning against the stone pillar, and saw his bloody left arm at the same time, his expression tightened, and he walked over immediately: "Horat, are you okay? "

"It's nothing serious, it's just a skin injury." The half-drow elf Horat bandaged his wound and said with a nonchalant smile:

"The defense around the hobgoblin is too strict, and there are many third-tier professionals who are good at tracking. I can't rush out at all."

"Can't even you rush out?" Sarayan couldn't help but sink in his heart. He had learned from the druid Thornwalker who lived in Twilight Town last night that the copper dragon occupying Iron Horse Town had left.

This also means that the people of Iron Horse Town can support them.

He was well aware of the strength of his ally, Iron Horse Town, and he also understood that these hobgoblin-based enemies were not ordinary lizardmen, and their usual method of cooperation would definitely not work.

So he immediately dispatched Twilight Town's strongest assassins to Iron Horse Town to help them open a road that could surprise the hobgoblins silently.

Who ever thought that the hobgoblin's perimeter defenses were so tight that even Horat couldn't get out.

If this is the case, the support from Iron Horse Town may be stopped halfway by the hobgoblins who detected it in advance.

The reason why he dared to refuse the war priest's invitation so confidently was that he believed that Twilight Town would be able to survive, and the reinforcements from Iron Horse Town were one of the key factors.

"It seems that we can only rely on ourselves." Sarayan sighed slightly.

"Old man, don't be so depressed, although my mission failed, but..."

Noticing the confused gaze cast by Sarajan, Horat deliberately paused, then blew a loud whistle, and signaled the other party to look out the door.

When the lord of Twilight Town locked his eyes outside the door, a figure with a longbow on his back and two swords hanging from his waist came out.

"Lord Sarayan, long time no see." Thorne smiled and greeted the lord.

(End of this chapter)