An Unexpected Disruption to the Plan

What are you looking at?

Sala, supporting herself on the protruding rock, climbed up the hillside that had been scouted in advance.

This is a rare spot on the southern slopes of the Mahakam Mountains that can accommodate military marches.

"It looks like something just flew by in the sky..." Arthur squinted, staring at the sky.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the warlock-modified eyes of a witcher, and could only see the twinkling stars being obscured for a moment in the bluish-black sky.

It is said that Sir Ailin's lion-like eyes can see through everything within a kilometer.

"Ravens or vultures?" Sala glanced up casually. "What battlefield doesn't have these greedy little creatures waiting to scavenge for carrion..."

"Maybe..." Arthur withdrew his gaze from the low-hanging night sky, glancing at the bright, long snake behind him that seemed to meander to the ends of the earth. "Are the casualties severe?"

"Serious, but not serious..."

"Speak like a human!" Arthur rolled his eyes.

Sala shrugged. "This isn't the divine avenue in front of the Temple of Melitele. This is a godforsaken place on the southern slope of Mahakam; only hunters would come here to chop wood."

"Pitfalls, hidden caves, dark cliffs..."

"If ten people walk along this mountain path, at least three of them will twist their ankles."

"But don't worry, there are many priests from the temple. With a single Divine Art, it will be healed in the blink of an eye. If only healing could be this fast normally."

"Last time I got a small cut from a knife and was ordered to rest for a week..."

"Is that a small cut? The water ghost almost bit your neck off..." Arthur, leaning against the oak tree on his right, pulled up a slightly shorter soldier. "Besides, don't tell me you don't know the price of Divine Art?"

Sala fell silent.

Of course he knew that overdrawing his life force was wrong. That day, the old priest in his forties or fifties spent an entire afternoon explaining things to him, making his head buzz.

So now there's a question...

Sala turned her head and squinted, looking at the golden light that occasionally flickered within the bright serpent.

What made the temple priests, who were usually so stingy with Divine Power, so generous?

Both he and Arthur knew the answer.

So they all shut their mouths, walking silently side by side, watching the desolate mountain path with its menacing shadows stretching out under the firelight, remaining silent for a long time.

until...

"Whoosh~"

A commotion arose behind Sala and Arthur.

Before they could even turn around and see where the commotion was coming from.

The rugged ground in front of him, with its tangled weeds and tree roots, was suddenly illuminated as if it were daytime.

"It's those Sorceress of Aretuza," Sala said, looking at the blinding orbs of light moving with the army in the sky. "When I was behind them, I heard the priests saying they wanted to find them and cast some kind of Light Spell, but those arrogant women just kept nagging and wouldn't cast the spell, saying they needed to conserve their magic Divine Power ..."

"I didn't expect them to agree now."

"They had no choice but to agree." Arthur looked down at the road. "The Sorceress relinquished command during the meeting. This campaign against the Evil God will be led by the temple's will. When fighting the ghouls, we can even command Tissaia de Veris of the Talent and Skill Association."

"Huh?" Sala looked up abruptly. "Really? Those arrogant Sorceress will hand over command to us?"

"You didn't know anything about it?" Arthur looked up in surprise. "Weren't you there when the Old Duke mobilized the army?"

"I was arranging reconnaissance soldiers at the time," Sala explained, then quickly pressed, "Why would those women do that?"

"This is unlike them. The reputation of Aretuza women as difficult to deal with is known to everyone from Covir and Poviss in the north to the City of Golden Towers of Nilfgaard in the south..."

"Shut up!"

Arthur covered his mouth with his hand, looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there was no Sorceress nearby.

He scolded in a low voice, "Knowing they're difficult, how dare you say that?"

"Those women were at the very back of the procession, riding Mutant Horse that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, moving slowly. How could they possibly hear anything..." Sala chuckled. "Tell me what's going on..."

Arthur thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's because of Sir Ailin. Lady Tissaia initially wanted complete command, and High Priest Ianna and the Old Duke were actually prepared to agree."

Suddenly, the Goddess Meritellie bestowed her divine favor upon the High Priest, granting him Divine Power and Divine Art...

Goddess Meritellie... divine favor... Divine Power and Divine Art?

Sala listened, stunned, as if she were hearing a myth. She subconsciously grabbed the rock wall beside the mountain path and stopped.

He glanced at Arthur's serious expression, and after confirming that he wasn't joking, he couldn't help but interrupt:

"But the goddess bestowed divine favor upon the High Priest. What does that have to do with Sir Ailin?"

"Let me finish," Arthur said, shaking his gloves. "The goddess bestows her favor upon the High Priest, but the Goddess Meritellie was invited by Sir Ailin."

Sala wondered if she had misheard, "Sir... Sir Ailin, a Witcher Master of the School of the Wolf, invited the Goddess Meritellie to bestow divine favor upon the goddess's High Priest?"

"Sir Ailin emerged from the goddess's sanctuary, and I, Lord Mason, and the Sorceress of Aretuza were all present," Arthur nodded seriously, "And the High Priest himself has admitted it."

Sala's mouth dropped open, her eyes wide with surprise:

"This is... this is... this is really..."

He spent a long time trying to find a suitable modifier.

The faithless witcher begged the goddess to grant her divine favor to her human representative...

Although he was a native-born, genuine Temeria human, this common language was still quite unfamiliar to him.

However, Sala thought again that during the May Festival, the Goddess Meritellie also gave divine pronouncements to the Witcher rather than to her agents, so it seemed... perhaps... maybe... it was understandable?

He glanced furtively to the left and right, then leaned close to Arthur's ear:

"... Arthur... do you think it's possible that Ailin is actually the goddess's illegitimate son? I've seen many chivalric novels from Orsonford that say this..."

"You've gone crazy from reading knight novels!!!" Arthur's eyes widened, and he jumped back abruptly, waving away Sala's hand that was trying to help him up, as if driving away some kind of terrible evil spirit.

"Not only the Sorceress of Aretuza, but now you even dare to blaspheme the Goddess Meritellie?"

"He just performed a miracle on earth!!!"

Sala then remembered that Meritellie was no longer the goddess who had long since withdrawn from human affairs.

"A goddess... she shouldn't be that petty, right..."

He cautiously looked up and, seeing that the sky was clear with a bright moon and few stars, and no thunderstorms, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject:

"Speaking of Sir Ailin, why haven't we seen him in the group on this trip?"

"Master Vesemir also delivered some Necrophage Oil and those few Honeycomb Bomb, and then left..."

He gazed at the long line of torches ahead. Nine witchers carrying dual swords had arrived in Arland, but he seemed to only see one, and it left quickly.

"What's wrong?"

Sala turned around and noticed that Arthur's face was hidden in the shadow of the Light Spell, and he seemed a little down. She tentatively asked, "Sir Ailin, what happened?"

Arthur remained silent for a moment.

He watched as one fearful yet courageous face after another passed before him, some young, some weathered, and sighed. He quietly pulled Sala aside.

"Witchers are not suited to fight alongside the army; they have their own missions."

"What mission?" Sala was taken aback.

"Necrophage Oil..."

"But that's not..."

Arthur shook his head, and Sala understood what he meant.

Just because you don't need it now doesn't mean you won't need it in the future. As for why you might need it in the future...

"I see..."

It turns out that even Sir Ailin had no hope for this trip, even though they already had the blessing of the goddess.

Sala gazed at the dark mountain valley in the distance, where the Light Spell could not reach.

It was quiet and deep there, as if the darkness of the whole world was spreading from it.

The Evil God is said to be there.

"Sala, this is our war. Sir Ailin has done enough for us." Arthur patted him on the shoulder. "Don't tell anyone else about this. You know what I mean..."

The Old Duke had many ways of boosting morale, and Sir Ailin fighting alongside them was one of them.

Once the other soldiers find out, their high morale will inevitably plummet.

"Ah!!!"

"Ghoul!"

A series of horrified gasps came from the front of the group.

Arthur and Sala were startled and exchanged a surprised glance.

"How could Ghoul be here?!" Sala exclaimed in surprise and disbelief.

They had only just left their camp on the southern slope of Mahakam, and it would take them at least another ten minutes to climb to reach the danger zone, which was also their chosen battlefield.

Once there, the Sorceress will cast a spell to lure the ghouls over, as planned.

Also, why haven't those reconnaissance soldiers he sent out made any move?

But now is not the time to think about that...

If it's just the soldiers' nervous imagination, that's fine, but what if it's real...?

Sala looked at the panicked soldiers huddled together in the narrow mountain path, and his heart felt as if it had instantly plunged into a bottomless abyss.

"Stay calm! Stay calm!"

When they saw a soldier slip and fall into the ravine with a scream, Arthur and Sala's forehead veins bulged and they shouted loudly.

"Arthur, go to the back and inform the High Priest and the Sorceress. I'll go to the front..."

Before Sala could object, Arthur shoved him back and, shouting, pushed her way through the dense throng of soldiers blocking her view on the narrow mountain path, rushing towards the front lines.

Just in case, the soldiers leading the way were all from his Monster Hunter Army, so it was naturally him who went.

"Watch out!" Arthur shouted from behind.

Sala waved her hand without turning around.

"Huff~ Huff~"

His heavy breathing seemed to ignite his lungs; every breath of the cold mountain wind that entered his trachea burned fiercely.

The armor weighed as much as a thousand pounds.

Sala had to admit that the Evil God had indeed found the most suitable place to descend.

This damn mountain road in Mahakam is not a place fit for humans.

Perhaps it was precisely because Ailin saw this that he chose to give up.

But Ailin is only a fourteen-year-old boy. What is he expecting? And what is he disappointed about?

How shameful!

Sala's mind wandered, her nostrils filled with an indescribable stench of sweat and the mountain breeze.

Where are the Ghoul?

He spat on the ground, pushed aside two Monster Hunter Army soldiers, and shouted while gripping the hilt of his longsword at his waist.

Then.

The hand gripping the sword hilt trembled slightly.

"Gurgle~"

He swallowed hard.

No one else needs to answer.

My gaze swept past the first few Monster Hunter Army soldiers, who stood motionless, their legs trembling.

Countless pairs of blood-red eyes, hidden in the deep, menacing darkness and shadows of the forest, reflected the leaping firelight.

The mountain breeze carried the unique stench of carnivorous creatures.

"Phew~"

Sala's azure pupils contracted slightly, and she slowly let out a long breath.

No wonder the soldier in front wasn't responding; he had asked the wrong question.

Where should the Ghoul be...?

But where... are there no Ghoul?

"What should we do, Lord Sala?" The soldier beside him raised his left elbow and gently tapped his waist.

I'd like to know the answer to that question too... Sala wanted to say that, but unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Have you seen Bors, Rodrigo, Ur, Mars, and Nash?"

He asked in a very low voice, as if afraid to break the fraught peace of the place.

"No..." The soldier beside him had barely uttered a word when he instinctively gripped the long axe with its silver blade.

"Knock knock~"

Heavy footsteps echoed from the darkness ahead.

Several of Sarah's fellow Monster Hunter Army immediately surrounded Sala and protected her.

"Clang~"

Sala drew her silver sword, which reflected a dark red hue.

"Knock knock knock~"

The footsteps stopped abruptly.

He could only see a few pairs of unusually cold, blood-red eyes, hovering at the edge of darkness.

"What do these monsters want?" Sala gripped her sword tighter.

The next second.

The wind howled.

He instinctively ducked to avoid it, only to find that the heavy object thrown from the darkness was not aimed at them, but at the gravel ground in front of them.

Sala took a closer look and her eyes widened in fury.

"Bors! Rodrigo! Ur..."

The five comrades he had sent out to scout were now thrown in front of them like rag dolls, covered in blood.

Rodrigo's limbs were all gnawed off.

Half of Ur's face had vanished.

Bors's stomach was empty, revealing a pale spine and a damaged trachea.

And then there's Mars and Nash...

None of the comrades he sent out to scout were intact; their faces were frozen in extreme fear and pain, their deaths extremely gruesome.

"It's actually threatening us!"

Realizing this, Sala's anger surged, and she gritted her teeth.

"Lady Sala!"

"Lady Sala!"

"These damned beasts, let's fight them!"

The surrounding Monster Hunter Army soldiers were not intimidated at all. On the contrary, even those soldiers who were instinctively trembling because of the number of carnivorous creatures and the faint magical influence were all dispelled by the raging anger.

Sala stared blankly at the corpse of her comrade, her heart burning with suppressed rage.

The campaign got off to a bad start.

They hadn't even reached the designated battlefield. Fighting here now would only result in pointless and heavy casualties.

He must not act impulsively.

Now, any decision he makes could affect the outcome of the battle against the Evil God.

so...

what to do?

"Roar!"

Spurred on by the Monster Hunter Army, bursts of furious roars echoed from the darkness not far away.

The stench in the air grew stronger.