Into the Fortress, Then an Audience
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Sometimes, a person's perception can be reversed many times in a short period of time.
Before defeating the Soul Eater, Da Er believed that the opponent must be a rare and powerful figure from the Abyss Faction.
However, after defeating the Soul Eater and unlocking its Hunting Handbook introduction, Da Er's impression of the Soul Eater was completely reversed; it turned out that it was just a mass-produced soldier.
Although I still think the Soul Eater is very powerful, its prestige has dropped considerably.
However, when he encountered an entire squad of Soul Eaters, and watched as they cleanly and efficiently slaughtered Ghrū and Ghru Elder, charging towards him with bloodshot eyes...
Da Er thought the Soul Eaters were incredibly awesome!
It feels like the final boss of the previous level suddenly appears as a horde of minions in the next level; the sense of oppression is immense.
When they came to their senses, they were running wildly along the main road. The third beacon fire had been extinguished, and the gates of the Farron Keep were wide open. There was no need for them to fight an enemy they could not defeat.
Malu and her Strategy Team must have chosen to confront the Soul Eater squad head-on, which led to their disastrous defeat. During their hasty escape, Da Er glanced back.
Unlike the Forging Golem, the soul-devouring ghosts do not relentlessly pursue adventurers.
They maintained a swift yet composed pace, appearing with a unique elegance. Is this the composure of the strong?
The direction they were heading was the same as the adventurers', clearly the gate to Farron Keep.
The Soul Eater is after the Farron Undead Legion! Da Er realized with a start.
He suddenly had the urge to tip off the Undead Legion, but the next second he realized how ridiculous the idea was.
Putting aside whether the legendary Undead Legion would actually fear an opponent of the level of a Dementor, even Da Er might not survive after passing through the gate, since there was an unknown area behind it.
You should take care of yourself first!
After passing through the gate, the view behind it seemed... nothing much different.
No, something good has happened— the Swamp has finally disappeared.
The terrain behind the gate clearly changed to mountainous terrain. With the elevation, they were no longer bothered by the Swamp, and an uphill mountain road lay before them.
Luo Jieer glanced back and, seeing that the Soul Eaters hadn't caught up, breathed a sigh of relief and joked, "Luckily they didn't catch up, otherwise I was planning to put into practice that joke I heard while drinking yesterday."
Da Er was focused on thinking, but the understanding An Ti Li, not wanting to leave an awkward silence, chose to press him, asking, "What joke?"
"If you and your companions went hunting in the mountains and encountered a monster, and you were the only one with an arrow, how would you escape?" Luo Jieer asked with a smile.
An Ti Li rolled her eyes at him. "It depends on whether the monster is male or female. If it's male, shoot its eggs; if it's female, shoot its butt."
Luo Jieer's hips twitched involuntarily, and he said with a pained expression, "No, no, the correct answer is to shoot an arrow at your companion. You just need to run faster than your companion."
"So, if we couldn't escape just now, you were planning to betray us, you old codger?" An Ti Li raised an eyebrow, not only angry but also surprised that someone would dare to reveal her dark thoughts.
Even Da Er took notice.
"Bullshit! What I meant was that I'll cover the rear while you guys go first!"
Luo Jieer felt insulted and clenched his fist as he spoke.
"It's all because your jokes weren't appropriate for this occasion," An Ti Li thought to herself, labeling Luo Jieer as "not good at telling jokes."
The joke may not have been quite appropriate, but at least it did ease the tension a bit.
As the group walked up the mountain path, they suddenly discovered a group of dark figures lying prone ahead of them.
"It's a monster," An Ti Li glanced at the sky, where the bird battle pets she had sent out to scout were warning her.
Luo Jieer gave Da Er a wink, and the two quietly crept up behind the monster, swiftly bringing their blades down.
Blood splattered, and the monster died swiftly by the roadside. However, they discovered that a monster not far away had witnessed the whole thing. The creature was hiding under a tree, its body color almost blending into the environment, and it had not been discovered at all.
Oh no, if that monster starts making noise, it might attract even more enemies.
Luo Jieer was about to throw a Night Magic Pebbles at it when a surprising scene unfolded before him.
The monster glanced at them briefly before lowering its head indifferently, as if the adventurers before it were less interesting than sleeping.
"What's going on?" Luo Jieer asked An Ti Li, "Is it the same variety as Gourmet Paradise?"
He was referring to Pokémon that also do not attack people unprovoked.
"The art style is so bad." An Ti Li was a little disgusted with the monster in front of her.
These monsters are covered in sparse black feathers, and their limbs are thin and twisted, resembling a hybrid of a crow and a human.
[Hunting Handbook: Monsters]
[Name: Crow People]
Originally inhabiting the Painting World of Painting World, they left their homeland due to its decay and eventually arrived at the Farron Keep. Perhaps it was because they left their homeland that they became weak from homesickness.
Incidentally, the descriptions in the Hunting Handbook were all written by Gong Qiying himself, word by word. However, he couldn't remember the background stories of some monsters very well. The narrative of the Souls series is too fragmented, and he was not a senior Souls scholar in his previous life, so his own abilities were limited.
Therefore, he will create a certain degree of fan fiction based on the needs of the Zane Dungeon, and he apologizes for any out-of-character (OOC) parts.
For some reason, these Crow People lay on the ground and did not attack Da Er and his companions.
"The Painting World. Something I've never heard of before. I'm almost used to it," An Ti Li complained.
"Maybe these kinds of places will appear in Sien in the future," Luo Jieer said while rummaging through the corpses of the Crow People. "I have high hopes for this underground city."
Da Er nodded and said, "The monsters here are much stronger than those in other dungeons."
Occasionally, they would see Crow People lying flat on the road. Since discovering that these monsters would not attack people on their own, Da Er and his companions had learned to ignore them.
Until--
"There are spots of light,"
An Ti Li noticed a group of Crow People surrounding a point of light at a fork in the road and immediately became eager to try.
"Hey, wait a minute," Luo Jieer stopped the excited female animal trainer. "What if it's a trap? This is Saine, after all."
Surrounded by a group of Crow People who don't fight, what kind of dangerous place could this be?
Wait a minute, it seems there really is one Crow People different from the others, because that one is leaning against the wall, unlike the others who are kneeling on the ground.
They both look weak, so they should be fine, right?
An Ti Li pondered for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "Little Red, go."
The battle pet flying in the sky immediately flapped its wings and flew towards the point of light surrounded by crows.
"Having a battle pet to help is so convenient," Da Er said enviously.
"Can't your wolf pack help too? With a little training, they can be trained. I can teach you how to train them," An Ti Li said selflessly. "Your wolf pack has the blood of demons, though it's very diluted. But I can feel it. The degree of dilution is just right. Any more concentrated and they won't be able to suppress their ferocity, any less and their combat power will decrease. To be honest, their potential is really good."
Da Er shook his head; he had never considered having the wolves fight alongside him.
Fighting inevitably involves injury, and subconsciously he didn't want the wolf pack to suffer even the slightest harm.
"What a pity," An Ti Li tossed him a small packet and said, "This stuff can enhance the strength of your battle pets without any side effects. You can give some to the wolf pack to try. Please seriously consider my suggestion."
"Alchemical products?" Da Er frowned.
"It's from the Zane Dungeon, okay? It's so rare that I only have a tiny bit," An Ti Li said irritably.
Upon hearing that the item was produced by Sain, Da Er felt relieved. After declining to An Ti Li for a while, she still managed to force it into his pocket.
Well, he won't let the wolf pack try it.
The name of that package is:
[Experience Candy M] x2
These energy-rich candies can enhance a pet's abilities to some extent when given to them; trainers who have tried them all say they're great.
While everyone was chatting, the battle pet Little Red had already landed in the center of the group of Crow People and grabbed the light spot.
The light changed shape the moment it was touched, looking like a twisted stick, perhaps a magic wand?
It was a bit difficult for Xiao Hong to pick up that thing, but it wasn't impossible for her to carry it. Just then, the Crow People leaning against the wall suddenly opened its eyes.
"Ah!"
Its wings suddenly spread out, and it let out a piercing scream.
Immediately, the Crow People lying on the ground also screamed!
"Oh no, come back quickly!" An Ti Li's expression changed instantly.
Several Crow People screamed together, making such a racket that one might have thought they had arrived in Yharnam. Pair after pair of wings unfurled amidst the Crow People's painful cries, and they stood up, gripping alien weapons tightly in their hands!
They swarmed forward, and Little Red was beaten to death with sticks before she could even scream.
Luo Jieer's lips twitched slightly. "Did you equip your battle pet with Teleportation Crystal?"
"Of course I brought it, but Little Red will be in a daze for a long time after she is resurrected," An Ti Li said with a grim expression, and charged forward with her whip.
With her fair skin, she relentlessly whipped the dark-skinned Crow People, a scene that seemed utterly unbelievable to Gong Qiying in his previous world.
Luo Jieer sighed and said to Da Er, "Go ahead, let Her Queen relieve her pent-up desire."
The awakened Crow People fought with ferocity, Crow People mages could also use magic, making the battle anything but easy. However, the adventurers still managed to win.
As they walked further ahead, similar scenes occurred frequently, and only then did everyone realize what was going on.
It turns out that the Crow People who didn't attack people at first were specifically used to lower their guard.
That's so vicious, Sion!
If the Zane Dungeon had a designer, that guy must have had a very unhappy childhood.
Later, the adventurers learned to use magic to kill the Crow People mages from a distance, and then no one could wake the sleeping Crow People.
Immersed in their exploration, the group suddenly realized something—how did they get so close to the Fortress gate?
Da Er and the others looked at each other, wondering if it was just their imagination, but they felt like they had missed exploring many places. Perhaps it was a hidden path, or a fork in the road. In any case, the exploration was progressing too fast, which was not normal!
Da Er, in particular, was the most confused of the group.
Where is my big Old Wolf of Farron? I haven't seen him anywhere along the way.
Old Wolf of Farron, you're not at Farron Keep at all! Where have you been?!
"Are we going to run into the Farron Undead Legion?" Luo Jieer swallowed hard; even he was getting nervous.
The Dragonslayer Armour that Sain wore when he went berserk left a deep impression on him. He wondered what kind of powerful being the boss monster of Zane Dungeon would become after the next mutation.
Hmm, is it too blasphemous of me to call the Undead Legion monsters? Judging from the story, they undoubtedly deserve the title of "heroes".
By the God of Fire, Gwyn, please forgive me, please don't burn me.
At this moment, a commotion, or rather a deafening clamor, in front of the Fortress gate attracted everyone's attention.
When everyone present saw clearly what had happened, they were all stunned.
A small war was unfolding before their eyes.
The first thing that catches the eye is the Soul Eater, there are more than a dozen of them, even if they were thrown into Bede City, they would cause great losses. But they are facing an unbreakable defensive line composed of hundreds of Ghrū.
The sounds of fighting, screams, and the clanging of metal against metal blended together like a stirring musical performance.
It's obvious to anyone with eyes that the Soul Eater's target is the Fortress that might house the Farron Undead Legion, and Ghrū is there to stop them.
Why didn't the Undead Legion personally come out to fight?
With the Fortress right before their eyes, the adventurers, their hearts pounding with excitement, made a unanimous decision—
They chose to remain hidden and bypass the melee, quietly arriving at the Fortress gate.
This method is not honorable at all. If you want to pursue legend, you should join the battlefield and wreak havoc, knocking open the gates of the Fortress with a bloody and honorable appearance.
But they were just too curious, too curious about what was inside the Fortress. If there were any gods watching over this place, please forgive their behavior.
"Three, two, one"
The three of them placed their palms on the door simultaneously and exerted force at the same time.
The gate slowly opened.
"Bang! Bang!"
The sound of steel clashing rang in everyone's ears.
I really want to end the chapter here; it would be perfect!
But there will be another update tonight. I said I'd write 10,000 words a day, and I mean it!