Arland's Funeral

[Slay the Level 73 "One-Eyed Nekker" Monster Horde!]

[Rewards: Victory over the enemy, base rating D, kill above level +3 to C, decapitation strike deterrence +3 to B, Main Quest +3 to A, victory against overwhelming odds +3 to S]

Final rating: S (Bonus *3)

[Loot obtained: 3 One-Eyed Nekker's Purification Spirit, 45 Experience Orbs, 18 Nekker's Chest, 630 Nekker's Purified Spirit, 18 Nekker's Chest]

Main Quest Completed: The Revenge Carnival of Ghosts (Eliminate 1614/1614 Demons)

[Reward Obtained: Divine Communication and Dream Entry]

As a flood of information poured in, my mind kept buzzing with thoughts.

However, the Witcher was already used to this. He glanced at the kill rating and rewards and was overjoyed.

Putting everything else aside, this single S-level triple reward directly enabled Ailin to achieve the Nekker's Purified Spirit.

Calculate Nekker's Purified Spirit increase perception by one point after use.

This time, Ailin essentially gained 315 points of perception directly.

Even if there is a limit to the amount an individual can take, it is enough to raise the strength of those around them by a small level.

Moreover, the Perception attribute is very important for both Witchers and Warlocks.

"And then there's the One-Eyed Nekker's Purification Spirit. My strength is already not much lower Vesemir's. Perhaps this time I can surpass him!"

The Witcher was somewhat eager to try.

However, there are too many people and too many eyes here, so it's better to wait until everything settles down and we return to the Temple of Melitele before making any progress.

Thinking of the temple, the Witcher recalled opening five golden chests in a row in the Sanctuary.

"I have to open the treasure chest at the Temple of Meritellie this time. Also, I've completed the task assigned by the Goddess Meritellie. The ' Gaze of the Great Old One ' that's attached to me should be removed by now..." Ailin thought to himself.

Although the main cause of this disaster was those damned Wild Hunt.

But the Goddess Meritellie wouldn't make him destroy those Aion El before she would remove the "Gaze of the Great Old One" from him...

It shouldn't be that bad, right?

Shaking his head to shake off the negative speculations in his mind, the Witcher was about to focus his attention on the reward of the Main Quest — Divine Communication and Dream Entry.

When you look at this seemingly high-end skill, you wonder what its actual use is.

"Da da da~"

The sound of horses' hooves came from behind, and with a thought, Ailin put away his Witcher's Handbook.

"114..." Vesemir did not slow down as he approached and immediately reported a number.

Upon hearing this, the Witcher reluctantly sheathed his sword. "110, you win, Vesemir."

Balmor's failure to go on a killing spree as he had imagined still had a significant impact on his mindset during the hunt.

So after rushing around and adjusting his mindset, he still killed four fewer demons Vesemir.

Sensing Balmor hidden in its sheath, Ailin sighed inwardly. Since hunting the One-Eyed Nekker, Balmo had remained silent.

How arrogant...

Is this a sign of looking down on demons and spirits?

"Hahaha~" Vesemir laughed and patted his shoulder hard, affirming, "You're pretty good too."

Feeling the pressure on his shoulder, Ailin gently shook his head.

Vesemir's smug look was just like that of a child who had won a water gun shooting contest in kindergarten.

At this moment.

After a brief commotion, the Guard Knight and the Monster Hunter Army, who had been watching the situation on the battlefield closely, gradually began to cheer in unison.

"May King!"

"May King!"

At the same time, Ailin's keen hearing also picked up some interesting noises amidst the cheers.

"Why is everyone cheering for the May King? I've been counting, Master Vesemir killed more goblins than Master Ailin. Could I have miscounted?" a Guard Knight asked in confusion.

"You really counted?" another Guard Knight asked in surprise.

"Don't you know?" the knight asked, his tone even more shocked.

Upon hearing this, another guard knight remained silent for a moment before saying, "That's not important! Master Vesemir is indeed very powerful, but even if he wins, it will only be a victory for Vesemir of Kaer Morhen!"

"Master Ailin is the May King in Arland! Whom are you helping, your own or an outsider?"

The knight paused for a second, then suddenly realized. "Of course they're one of us!"

"That's right!" the other knight said matter-of-factly. "Then what are you waiting for? Shout it out!!!"

"Ah?"

"Oh... May King! Victory!"

"May King! Victory!"

A simple logic problem:

It is known that Ailin has 47 points of perception and Vesemir has 70 points of perception.

Q: Can Vesemir hear the sounds that Ailin can hear?

Ailin turned his head to look at Vesemir, whose smile was gradually freezing.

Clearly, the answer to this logic puzzle requires absolutely no thought...

Avoiding Vesemir's resentful gaze, Ailin casually suggested:

"Go back now?"

After glancing helplessly at the jubilant crowd, a smile returned to Vesemir's face.

"Of course, let's go."

Then the two witchers spurred their horses and galloped off toward Arland.

"May King! Victory!"

"May King! Victory!"

As they drew closer, the cheers from the crowd grew louder and more excited.

The climax came after the Witcher dismounted.

With Arthur and Sala's tacit approval, or even indulgence, a group of burly men in gray and black armor swarmed at Ailin as he dismounted.

Cheers erupted as they scooped up the Witcher and tossed him into the air.

I threw it away many times.

actually.

The reason they only cheered for Ailin was not simply because of his joking identity as the May King.

Two weeks ago, he rescued Duke Mason, their lord, and his Guard Knight -in-arms, from a large group of Ghoul and Giant Ghoul...

The Specter Oil, refined day and night, shone brightly today, almost directly saving Arland...

And that One-Eyed Nekker...

He was terrifying to look at, like a god, yet he was annihilated single-handedly by Master Ailin...

With so many factors combined...

Ailin has done so much for Arland, for their homeland.

Perhaps only the title of "hero," which sounds ancient and even a bit old-fashioned in today's contemptuous era, is worthy of everything he has done for Arland today.

Vesemir sat on his horse, arms crossed, watching this scene with a smile on his lips.

"On behalf of Arland and Duke Mason, I extend my deepest gratitude to you," Arthur said solemnly to Vesemir, quietly approaching with the reins in hand.

Perhaps they didn't want the soldiers' differential treatment to discourage the hero who had also risked his life to save their homeland.

"I will report the whole story to His Majesty the Duke..." Arthur continued.

"No need," Vesemir waved his hand to interrupt, but did not turn around. "A small reward is no longer important to someone my age."

"When you report, try to keep me out of the picture. Ailin is the one who needs this reputation the most."

Upon hearing this, Arthur looked up at Vesemir in surprise.

In those dark golden Cat Eyes, besides a proud and gratified smile, was a figure being pushed to the highest point by the crowd in the soft firelight.

See here.

The middle-aged knight seemed to be thinking, and after a moment of silence, he nodded. "I understand."

Not far away.

Mary stood in the empty darkness, her large, bright eyes following the witcher's movements up and down.

"What are you thinking about?" A cool female voice came from behind.

Mary knew whose voice it was.

For some reason, she didn't want to look away at that moment, or even try to please him as usual.

After hearing the question, she simply stood quietly, watching and thinking.

After an unknown amount of time, he softly uttered a sentence whose meaning was ambiguous:

"He is so close to me, yet so far away..."

Upon hearing this, the Sorceress remained silent for a long time before finally sighing.

She placed her hands on Mary's shoulders. "It's okay, take your time."

All good things must come to an end.

The cheers of victory, amidst the occasional cries and sobs drifting from the city of Arland, lasted only a few minutes.

After Ailin falls from the sky, everyone must face the next battle.

In fact.

The moment they turned back and saw the young lives of those who had revelled in May Festival dying prematurely in the wilderness.

Silence replaced cheers.

Grief replaced joy.

"Leave five teams to transport these... children back to the city, so that the corpses are not defiled by ghouls."

Sala sighed and gave orders to her soldiers.

Dozens of black-armored soldiers immediately left their ranks and began clearing away the young corpses on the road.

"Be quiet, there might be people waiting for them inside the city..." Arthur added.

As soon as those words were spoken...

The joy of victory was completely gone from everyone's hearts.

Advance in silence.

Step over blood-soaked corpses, step over terrified young faces, step over the future of Arland, now gone.

Once you step through the city gates, it's like entering a new hell.

What catches the eye.

The flowers that once adorned the city like a fairyland have fallen to the ground, covered in blood and dust.

Cries and sobs replaced laughter and cheers.

The dilapidated buildings were ablaze, and mutilated corpses lay on the cold ground, along with ordinary people kneeling lifelessly before the ruins and bodies...

They were alive, yet they looked more like the dead than the corpses on the ground.

Vesemir and Vesemir were alright, since they had only come out of Arland after the disaster.

Ailin and Mary, who had been celebrating and reveling outside the city, were truly stunned when they saw this scene.

There's a sense of conflict between a beautiful flower scene one second and a bloody, mangled mess the next.

The contrast is striking.

As for the others...

Every member of the Guard Knight and the Monster Hunter Army had bloodshot eyes, whether from anger or sorrow, it was hard to tell.

Or perhaps both.

after all.

Ailin and Mary are just not used to it.

But many of those who died on this day were known to the Guard Knight and the Monster Hunter Army, and some might even have been their relatives.

"Damn Wild Hunt!" Ailin couldn't help but curse.

"Wild Hunt?" Arthur, who had been near the Witcher, stared at Ailin with bloodshot eyes upon hearing this.

Not only Arthur, but also many Guard Knight and Monster Hunter Army soldiers around him looked at Ailin after hearing his words.

"What does Wild Hunt mean?" Sala came over and asked.

The Witcher paused for a moment, then answered truthfully:

"At the end of the May Festival parade, I saw a knight riding a skeletal horse flying through the sky."

"The 'meteor' that struck Arland was released from the scepter in their hands..."

Everyone was stunned for two seconds.

"Isn't the Wild Hunt just a myth to scare children?" Sala asked, somewhat incredulous.

Don't they know about the Gors Velen?

The Witcher was taken aback.

But then she came to her senses.

Information spreads very slowly in this era.

It may not even be propagated according to spatial distance.

For example, the intelligence that Gors Velen was attacked by the Wild Hunt.

Duke Mason of Arland only learned about it half a month ago, more than ten days after the incident occurred.

Moreover, they only learned of it after the king issued an order from Vizima, the capital of Temeria.

However, the Gors Velen is much farther from Arland as the crow flies than it is from Vizima.

This is because Arland is a mountain city.

However, due to the wilderness and forests, the Gors Velen is almost inaccessible by land.

Therefore, only merchants traveling by ship will enter the Gors Velen, and merchants leaving the Gors Velen will naturally also leave by ship, without passing through Arland.

Almost a month has passed now.

There might be some news in the taverns of Arland, but it should have just arrived.

The Monster Hunter Army and the Guard Knight are both elite forces, unlike the city guards who have more freedom.

It is understandable that they were unaware of this.

then.

After glancing at Vesemir, the Witcher recounted what had happened at the Gors Velen.

After hearing this...

The eyes of the Monster Hunter Army and the Guard Knight were bloodshot, and they were filled with righteous indignation.

"These sons of bitches!" Sala cursed.

Arthur took a deep breath, raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and said, "Let's finish what we need to do first, and calm the people down. Once things have stabilized in Arland, Lord Mason will have his say."

The middle-aged knight's tone remained as calm as ever.

However, the Witcher could sense a strong, burning rage emanating from it.

Next.

The group continued walking into the city.

The number of living and dead people on the streets is increasing, and the scene is becoming more and more horrific.

Every second pushes the limits of everyone's understanding.

This was the first time Ailin had ever realized that there were so many ways a person could die.

They were crushed to death, burned to death, blown up to death, trampled to death, frozen to death by ice clusters...

The only thing they had in common was that all the corpses whose faces were visible had extremely painful expressions.

It was ferocious and terrifying.

"Hiss~ Hiss~"

Stepping on the thick, dark red pools of blood, I smelled the strong stench of blood and burnt flesh.

Not only did Mary repeatedly vomit, but she also gagged from time to time.

Even Ailin, who had seen many bloody scenes, felt a churning in her stomach and was extremely uncomfortable.

That is, the Witcher has a high degree of control over his body, which is why it didn't show up.

Many of the tough, fearless Monster Hunter Army and Guard Knight walked along, weeping, their lips trembling.

Today is the funeral for the entire Arland.