Arcane splendor begins with the throne

Chapter 180 Hunting
The sky was gray and covered with clouds.

Although the smell in the air was extremely faint, it was still detected by Brian.

It was a stench of rotting reeds and people, which also included moss, mud, and wet water.

He looked up to the sky, and a flock of crows moving beneath the sky caught his attention.

The group of crows quacked and croaked, slowly swooped down in a circle, and then flew away in all directions, flapping their wings quickly.

Brian on horseback stared in the direction of the crows, silent for a long time, then nodded thoughtfully, and drove the horse towards that direction.

Because he could clearly feel that the group of crows, which mainly consisted of carrion, would never stay here meaninglessly.

Besides, this place is already within the scope of Greenwood Town, and he expected any strange things to happen.

After a while, the smell became stronger as it got closer.

He also heard the low howling of wolves, the flapping of crows' wings and the sound of rushing water.

He walked through the soft ground and came to an expected creek, and immediately saw a shocking scene:
The green stream was full of floating objects, and the corpses were stuffed in the shallows, moving slightly as they were hit by the flowing water, and some were even washed ashore directly.

Five or six wargs gathered around, tearing off the rich flesh, and the crows were also hovering in the low sky. They screamed at the wargs while flapping their wings, and black feathers fluttered in the air.

At this moment, a warg leaped forward, and a crow that flew the lowest instantly bit its body. Immediately afterwards, the frantic flapping of its wings was stopped by the soft sound of bones shattering between its teeth.

The crows were shocked by the behavior of the wolf, and flew away, leaving only a hoarse cry.

Brian drove his horse across the shallows, and the splash of water made a noise, drawing the worg's full attention to the intruder.

They squatted on the ground, staring at him coldly, their slightly opened wolf mouths rose and fell with their abdomens, spouting white air, covered with blood, dripping continuously on the surface of the water.

Brian's horse scratched its front hooves uneasily and snorted irritablely. The six wolves were startled, as if they had received an order, they turned around and ran towards the jungle.

They ran unhurriedly, and looked back at the uninvited guest from time to time.

Brian ignored him and got off his horse.

The first thing that came into view was the corpse of an orc. He was wearing a shabby sheepskin vest and a cloak made of animal skins. His face and throat were gone, and his right thigh was missing, but the fatal place was his chest. Thumb thick blood hole.

Brian thought that the orc was injured by a sharp arrow, but he didn't fire the arrow stuck in his body, and he didn't see the tear marks left by the sharp arrow in the smooth wound.

Could it be the one-ring spell "Arcane Missile"?Brian thought uncertainly.

As a wizard, of course he knew what kind of spell could suit this wound, but his keen intuition about magic was telling himself that there was no trace of force field energy raging on the wound at all.

He looked at the other corpses, and was surprised to find that all the members of the plundering mercenary group were killed by a single arrow.

He didn't lean over to take a closer look, because neither the hungry wolf nor the crow returned empty-handed, not to mention, he had already vaguely guessed who the real perpetrator was.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a faint groan from the reeds not far away. Amid the sound of the stream, it was like an auditory hallucination.

Brian didn't think it was an illusion, so he acted on it.

He ran towards the direction of the sound, pushed aside the rotten and wet reeds, and found the corpse of a half-orc as expected.

Since half-orcs are the descendants of humans and orcs, their appearance is easy to identify. The half-orcs in front of them are no different from ordinary people of the same race: a sloping forehead, a protruding jaw, exposed teeth, rough body hair and a dark complexion.

He saw that the junction of the opponent's left shoulder and arm was pierced by an arrow. Like the other corpses, there was still no arrow inserted.

There is also a deep wound on each of the two thighs that has been soaked white by the shallow stream water, and the bone can be seen in the depth.

There is no doubt that these two horrible wounds are the real reason why he is lying here.

When he spotted the half-orc mercenary, the other party also spotted him, and tried to raise his hand a little excitedly.

Because the wound on the shoulder was very swollen, the arm involved the wound with a slight movement, and a large pus and blood gushed out immediately, and the stench smelled like a corpse.

After Brian smelled it, he clearly felt a stir in his stomach.

"Who left you with your injury." He covered his mouth and nose lightly, frowning and asked.

"It was the 'mad hunter' who did it." Hearing his voice, the half-orc had a rare look in his dark eyes, and said excitedly: "Please, save me quickly, I have money."

Brian was secretly amazed at the tenacious vitality of the other party, that he was able to speak so completely when he was on the verge of death.

He realized that the opponent was definitely a powerful mercenary.

"I have 10 gold coins in my pocket, 5 gold coins on my left boot, and 4 gold coins on my right boot. As long as you are willing to save me, or tell the plundering mercenary group in Greenwood Town that I am here, all the money will be given to you." It's yours." Seeing that Brian was silent, the half-orc mercenary raised his head with difficulty, took a breath, and begged in a hasty tone.

"I won't save you. You are a member of the plundering mercenary group. I can at most give you a little mercy." Brian stared at him for a moment and said slowly.

"... I see, can you give me some more wine?" The half-orc's recovered eyes dimmed for a moment, then brightened again.

"Yes." Brian nodded slightly, and stated his conditions, "But you must answer a few questions for me."

"About the plundering mercenary group." After thinking for a while, he added in an emphatic tone.

"I will never betray our leader." The half-orc stared at him coldly and responded angrily.

As a result, his wound was involved again, and disgusting pus and blood gushed out, almost covering the left half of his body.

"Okay, then you can go to hell with your loyalty, and I won't bother you anymore." Brian said something to him in a mocking tone, and turned to leave.

"Wait, I said, I... said." The half-orc's gradually weakened voice stopped him, and swallowed again, "I said, you must give me wine, and... mercy."

"I promise you." Brian took off the wine bag, unscrewed the cork, and dripped a drop into his mouth, "Tell me what major actions your raiding mercenary group has taken recently."

The half-orc licked his lips, and said weakly: "Fuck 'crazy hunter' Carlot! This damn elf bastard disturbs our peace, our... Deputy Head... Lord Blazing... Planning... how to lure him into the trap, and completely solve... this trouble."

"Very good, a pleasant cooperation."

Brian nodded in satisfaction, and poured a sip of the wine from the wine bag into his open mouth, "I still need you to tell me why you occupied Greenwood Town."

"Massacre, massacre." The half-orc mercenary who tasted the wine let out a long breath, and seemed to have gained some strength, and his speech became smoother:
"They want to openly massacre all captured non-human races in Greenwood Town, because only in this way can the elves hiding in the Dusk Forest be drawn out. At that time, as long as the elves dare to show up to save people, Sir Durrell will be ready The Rose Army will take them all."

Brian raised his eyebrows, and had to admit that the Rose Army's strategy was really vicious.

If the elves of the Dusk Forest don't save these non-human races, it will definitely chill the hearts of all compatriots living in human society after being spread out.

In this case, it will be difficult for them to obtain human and material assistance from the outside world in the war they waged with humans.

If they choose to send troops to rescue, they will put themselves in crisis.

In fact, he wondered how the elves should choose.

Afterwards, his expression returned to calm, and he asked in a slightly cold tone: "So, except for the humans who were killed by you and escaped from Green Forest Town, all the non-human races inside were arrested, is that true?".

"That's right, Sir Durimo said, the reward for our plundering mercenary group is that we can rob at will in Greenwood Town, and we can count as our own, because they are all the accomplices of the elves, as long as we take most of the non- The human race can be arrested and detained together in one place.”

The half-orc mercenary finished speaking in one breath, and quickly stared at the wine bag tightly clenched in Brian's hand with longing eyes, then opened his mouth wide and tried his best to lift his face so that he could pour the wine into his mouth.

Bryan poured the wine into the orc's mouth, and the other man swallowed it as fast as he poured it, and what he couldn't swallow ran down his cheek and soaked into the dried blood clots until the thick beard was full of black and red droplets.

After all the wine in the wine bag was poured out, the half-orc mercenary swallowed the last drop of wine from the bottle, and nodded with satisfaction, "It's so cool, Your Excellency, you promised me, and there is the last mercy..."

Brian threw the empty wine bag into the stream without breaking his word. He drew out his sharp sword and plunged it into the chest of the half-orc mercenary.

The razor-sharp blade pierced his leather tunic, chain mail, and the lowest lining, piercing his heart with precision and smashing it to pieces.

Seeing the increase in experience gained, Brian pulled out the weapon, wiped it on the dead man, and put it back into the scabbard.

He returned cautiously to the side of the horse, not taking his eyes off the edge of the stream for a moment, for the wargs and the crows never went far.

He got on his horse, and the horse continued to move forward obediently, carefully avoiding the potholes on the ground, crossing the stream slowly, and continuing to walk towards Greenwood Town.

Work in a while.

Behind him came the screeching of crows and the growl of wargs again.

When the sun disappeared from the western horizon, he stood on a large rock, silently staring at the ruins of the village not far away.

He saw that the fields for several miles were scorched, and the houses were only charred and blackened. The charred or slaughtered corpses were scattered everywhere, covered with carrion crows and ravens, like swimming black blanket.

Then these strange black birds were disturbed by a group of stone-throwing kobolds, flapping their wings and flying, quacking angrily.

Brian noticed that thick smoke was rising from the manor in the distance. From here, the fence surrounding the manor was quite strong.

With a change in his expression, he quickened his pace and ran towards the manor.

Unfortunately, he didn't find any living creatures, only the charred corpses of gnomes, dwarves, elves, and humans stuck on the sharpened stakes of the wall.

They raised their hands to cover their faces, as if they wanted to wave away the burning flames.

With a thought, Brian saw the sword in the sheath appear in his hand. He scouted the area under his feet carefully, not letting go of any details.

The afterglow of dusk gradually disappeared, and his shadow on the wilderness became longer and longer.

As the night wore on, he moved silently across the wilderness like a shadow.

As he passed through a small valley and a grove, he finally spotted a campfire.

Brian was close enough that he could see a vague figure moving.

By their height, broad shoulders, and moving steps, he knew at once that there were two orcs, two humans, and one orc.

Such a strange combination can only appear in the raiding mercenary group.

Brian squatted behind the bushes not far away, and their patrols were indeed very strict, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything, because he was a wizard with unpredictable spells.

Thinking of this, he immediately took out a magic scroll that copied the second-level spell "Invisibility".

As the scroll was activated, his body disappeared without a trace under the night.

In the dim moonlight, a half-orc and a human were on guard.

At this moment, the shadow in the darkness twisted.

The older human mercenary obviously stopped in vigilance. His long-term combat and mercenary career made him extremely sensitive to all dangers, and he was about to draw out his weapon almost immediately.

Unfortunately it was too late.

A sharp sword with a cold light pierced through the back of his heart and almost came out through his body.

Immediately, a dark blue ray composed of cold air and ice shavings, wrapped in icy chill, precisely hit the open mouth of another half-orc, and the bone-piercing chill instantly condensed his head into ice.

When he was about to fall to the ground, he was caught by Brian and gently placed on the ground.

He dragged the two corpses into the corner, stepped lightly, and touched the three mercenaries beside the campfire.

In the darkness, he heard two mercenaries who were not young were chatting, saying that the girl he snatched from Green Forest Town was prettier, while another orc mercenary got up and walked towards the corner.

The orc mercenary just stopped and was about to untie his pants, when he suddenly saw a clear and stern face, long black and messy hair, and those sharp black eyes, which made him shiver uncontrollably.

He was just about to reach out to take out the weapon on his waist, when he saw a white light suddenly split from left to right.

The orc mercenary subconsciously raised his arm to block it, but his speed was too slow to keep up with Brian's sharp sword.

A stream of blood spurted out.

The orc mercenary widened his eyes, covered the gap in his throat, and fell to the ground on his back.

The cold killing intent gathered bit by bit.

Brian stepped on the corpse of the orc mercenary expressionlessly, and walked towards the two people at the campfire with a long sword dripping with blood.

"I'm back, why have I been here for so long, shitting? Hurry up and see if the two patrolling bastards are slacking off again. There has been no movement for so long."

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the human mercenary mistook it for a returning orc companion, and quickly instructed.

What responded to him was a flash of cold light.

He froze when he tilted his head up to pour the wine, and the wine bag fell to the ground and spilled all over the place.

Then, he turned his head in disbelief, covered the fatal wound on his neck, and fell sideways in the fire, splashing flying sparks.

The half-orc mercenary let out an exclamation, picked up the weapon and stood up at an extremely fast speed, trying to distance himself from the unknown enemy.

However, Brian had no intention of chasing him at all. He raised his finger, and the cold air condensed on the orc's head, causing him to fall top-heavy into the fire.

Bryan put away his weapon and moved on to his next target.

The night was still long, and his hunting time had only just begun.

(End of this chapter)