Chapter 199
Chapter 199 Night of Terror
It was a temporary camp.
The camp was located in the middle of a pile of rocks.
The two to three meter tall rocks were messily stacked upon each other. They may not have look very ordered or well-arranged, but they were able to bring about some sense of security for the campers.
The mist was damp and heavy.
Even though it was already deep into the night, the travellers camping amidst the pile of rocks had not started a campfire to get rid of the moist air. No one was speaking either. Under the black shadows of the towering rocks, a handful of adventurers wrapped their bodies with thick animal furs and cloth, trying hard to fall asleep.
However, the scene they saw during the day Had been too shocking– so shocking that no one in the camp could sleep.
“Sylow, do you think we can return home alive?” The hunter, Poole, lightly jabbed the sides of his companion from the same village and whispered softly.
The southern region of the Greenland Forest was mountainous, while its forest stretched for countless miles. Once one entered the dense woods, it would be hard to tell if anyone was near, even if they were only a hundred meters apart. Thus, it was virtually impossible to totally stop the progress of the knight squad with only a dozen adepts spread out in this large area.
It wasn’t particularly unusual that they were able to reach here without meeting any adepts.
However, back in the evening, they had witnessed a battle far away from the top of a hill that caused the squad to become deathly silent. A group that was not much weaker than theirs had been exterminated under the assault of the Flame Demon!
Deep in their hearts, the knights were extremely upset with their superiors’ decision to send them on a suicide mission to investigate the forest. However, after a little thinking, it was a reasonable choice. With such a vast forest before them, the 2000-man witcher-knight army could only roam about aimlessly if they didn’t have a specific target.
When that happened, even the massive amount of supplies required to sustain 2000 men was sufficient to cause the army to collapse, before they could even find the enemy and wage war on them!
Thus, even though there were witcher-knights painfully dying in the depths of the woods every day, the army’s higher-ups insisted on the plan of having investigation squads search the forest.
After paying the price of two dozen spellbreaker knights’ lives, and over fifty witcher-knights, they had finally completed the search of the outer area of the forest. The adepts’ defensive line was slowly shrinking. Perhaps in another three to four days, they would be able to completely comb this vast forest of hundreds of kilometers and find the den the enemies were hiding in.
Then, it would be the wonderful time to rouse their army and exterminate the evil adepts’ den in one fell swoop!
But while the idea was wonderful, having it come to fruition required even more work and sacrifice. As for whether they would be able to live to see that wonderful moment, the two spellbreaker knights in the stone cave had no idea.
However, just as everyone was gazing into the fire in a daze, an odd knocking sound rang out from the entrance of the cave.
“Clang. Clang. Clang.… anybody here?”
“Who is it?” A hunter replied in shock. Then he realized he was in the middle of nowhere. Where would a door have come from? Where would a visitor have come from?
“A lonely traveler! If you have no qualms, I’ll be coming in!” The voice from outside sounded really weird. It was stiff and hoarse, completely unlike any human’s voice.
“Since you have made it here, then come in if you will! No need for any theatrics outside!” The spellbreaker knight Entos slowly got up, light radiating from his energy shield and his flame longsword.
All of a sudden, he turned to look at his companion, who was sitting beside him, in surprise.
Heim, who was also a spellbreaker knight, was sitting on the ground, but veins were bulging on his forehead, his head was flushed, and his teeth were grinding together so hard they were letting out a screeching sound.
“What’s happened to you?” Entos asked loudly.
“I’m… falling… under… someone’s… control,” A simple sentence, but Knight Heim had to pause between each and every word. After he said that, even his eyes started to become red.
Knight Entos immediately activated the flame longsword in his hand. The elementium flame that suddenly erupted instantly illuminated the entire cave, as well as Knight Heim.
The first thing he saw was several semi-translucent threads floating behind Knight Heim, who was sitting on a felt. All the threads had dug into his body, while the other ends silently extended to the top of the cave.
“Dammit, it’s Marionette!” Knight Entos roared in anger, and a flame blade slashed through the air, slicing through those seven or eight odd threads.
With the help of his companion, Knight Heim was finally able to break free from the control of the threads. Quickly, he jumped onto his feet and shouted, “Everyone get ready. It’s the evil adept Marionette…”
Yet just as he was shouting, the two mercenaries who were also sitting beside the fire stood up clumsily. An odd grin appeared on their faces before they leapt towards the knights, weapons in hand.