Redd's hand tightened slightly on the hilt of the sword, and the body's center of gravity switched from stillness to a charging posture in an instant. Then he pulled out his right hand from his waist, and Longsword unsheathed it so fast that only a blur of metal reflection remained.
The moment the sword flew out of his hand, there was almost no arc, just a straight line extending from the palm of his hand to the depth of the the Rift.
The tip of the sword pierced the eyes with precision, penetrated the head, passed through the back of the head, and nailed the entire animal to the rock wall inside the Rift.
The animal didn't even have time to howl, its body twitched its muscles reflexively a few times and then completely stopped.
The soldiers were startled by the sword light. Some raised their weapons instinctively, while others took half a step back. The sound of chaotic breathing briefly echoed in the passage.
Redd shouted "Don't panic", and the commotion was suppressed within a few breaths.
He walked up to the Rift, reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword, and pulled Longsword out of the rock wall.
The sword was stained with a layer of dark blood and a few strands of gray-white hair. He quickly shook the sword in the air twice to shake off the blood, and then looked inside the Rift.
The animal had collapsed on the ground at the bottom of the Rift. Its size was close to the height of an adult, its fur was gray and black, its limbs were slender, its head was shaped between a wolf and some kind of more primitive canine, and the teeth in its lower jaw were thick and dense.
There are obvious traces of old injuries on its neck and back. Those injuries formed irregular patches under the hair, as if they were left in long-term fighting or hunting.
Redd noticed that there was some dried mud on the soles of its feet. The color of the mud was different from the gravel dust on the floor of the tunnel, and closer to the dark red sediment deep in the mine tunnel.
Vickers and a few people carefully explored the surrounding area.
They found several shallow cracks and depressions behind the rock walls on both sides of the passage. Two of the cracks contained fresh wolf fur and paw prints. The size of those paw prints was exactly the same as the paw of the wolf that Red had just nailed to the rock wall.
Vickers used his palm to compare the depth of the claw marks, then wiped the wolf hair on the edge of the Rift with his fingers, pinched the small handful of gray hair in his hand, and brought it back to Redd.
Redd glanced at the wolf hair in Vickers' hand. The hair was thick and short, with some dark hair follicles remaining at the roots. It looked like it had fallen off from living creatures.
He twisted the wolf hair between his fingertips and confirmed that the hair was shed from living animals and had not been processed or processed in any way.
"These wolves should be responsible for perimeter security patrols," Redd said, "It seems we are going in the right direction.
The frequency with which they leave traces near this passage indicates that teams often pass by this road. The orcs should be not far ahead."
He put his sword back into its sheath and glanced at the soldiers behind him.
After those people had been frightened just now, the fatigue on their faces was partially covered by a short-term tension. Their breathing was not completely steady, but the weapons in their hands had been tightened again, and their posture was no longer as loose as when they were resting. "We can't rest anymore, get up and hurry up."
When Vickers heard this, his lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but after seeing the unquestionable look in Redd's eyes, he swallowed it hard and turned around to tell his soldiers to stand up.
As he walked, he mentally calculated the next trip - he had walked for a long time from the time he entered the passage, and most of the roads were steep slopes and gravel roads, which was much more physically demanding than marching on flat ground.
If we continue on our way, it won't be long before some people can no longer walk. When they encounter orcs, those soldiers who are too tired to lift their legs will not be able to form effective combat effectiveness.
But he couldn't disobey Redd's order, and he didn't dare to disobey it.
He could only pull up the soldiers who were slumped on the ground one by one, ask them to organize their equipment and weapons, and continue to move forward in the footsteps of the three songs Demon Dragon.
When King Ghidorah passed by them, the rocks on both sides of the passage continued to shatter under its claws. The gravel peeled off the walls of the passage. Some rolled to the feet of the soldiers, and some bounced several times in the passage before stopping.
Vickers looked at the back of the huge three Demon Dragon moving slowly in the passage and realized that their position in this operation was actually very clear - they were the logistics force responsible for transporting supplies and conducting auxiliary reconnaissance. The real main force in the battle was Redd and King Ghidorah.
This knowledge made him feel a little relieved, because it meant that if they encountered orcs, they didn't need to be at the front.
But at the same time, he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He could not understand why Demon Dragon, which was tens of meters or even hundreds of meters long, was tamed by Valyrians.
Is it really like the legend says that those House Targaryen have some kind of blood connected with dragons flowing in their bodies? Otherwise, there is no way to explain all this.
The team continued walking forward for about half an hour, and the ground in the passage began to change.
The amount of gravel gradually decreased and was replaced by a layer of darker gray soil that became compact after being repeatedly stepped on.
There are some irregular dents on the surface of that layer of dust, like the marks left on the damp ground by a large number of people passing through for a long time.
Some man-made carving marks also began to appear on the rock walls on both sides of the passage - some simple lines and symbols, most of which were blurred to the point of being unrecognizable, but a few could barely make out their outlines, like some kind of mark or road sign.
The further you go, the wider the passage becomes, and the rock formations at the top gradually become higher, forming a space similar to an underground hall.
When Redd walked into that space, the first thing he saw was a piece of bone fragments scattered on the ground.
Those fragments are distributed on both sides and corners of the passage. Some are complete joints, some are broken into several sections of bones, and some have been crushed into powder and mixed with the dust on the ground.
Redd squatted down and picked up a long bone near the edge of the passage. It was an adult tibia. The bone was gray-white, with fine cracks on the surface. It was very light and broke into several pieces with a gentle crush.
There is a dark stain on the outer layer of the bone, which looks like a deposit formed by long-term exposure to a certain liquid environment.
Judging from the degree of decay, this bone has been lying underground for at least a long time, and it definitely did not die recently.
The passage continued to extend forward, and the bone fragments on the ground became more and more dense, from being scattered at first to being covered in patches, almost covering the entire bottom of the passage.