Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
“There’s such a thing?”
Rhode thought for a moment, then he lifted his head to look at Lapis, who kept pulling her hood and wrapped her whole body inside her cloak. Whenever he looked at Lapis, he really wanted to complain as to why she was afraid of him: did she think that he might eat her?
But now was not the time to complain.
“I got it. You can go back now. Remember, don’t forget to finish your task.”
“Yes, leader.”
After hearing Rhode’s words, Lapis sighed deeply. She ran away from Rhode’s tent like a criminal. Looking at her panicked figure, Rhode helplessly sighed but said nothing. He had nothing to say.
Lize’s condition was just as he had expected. There were some things that one couldn’t easily get over. Although Lize had tried her best, in the end, she still couldn’t walk out from the shadow of her heart. It was not strange, since even though Lize thought she had tried her best, she was still subconsciously was avoiding everything. Now, when she could no longer avoid it, she could no longer suppress the problem in her heart. Although Marlene said that she could help her, Rhode didn’t think Marlene could because Marlene had never experienced it before. So of course she wouldn’t understand how Lize felt. Rhode thought that one of the worst things in the world was when someone who had never experienced the same thing said “I understand your feeling” to another person with a sympathetic tone. It was basically b*llsh*t since they never experienced it. How could they still say that they understood?
But the help that Rhode could give her was also very limited. He knew that this kind of thing couldn’t be solved by relying on others. If Lize herself couldn’t pass this ridge, then no one would be able to help her. Rhode also understand that it was extremely difficult to make Lize pass the ridge by herself.
However to him, there was still a very good opportunity before him.
After knowing that the Burning Blade mercenary group had encountered a danger, Rhode quickly decided to help them. Although it was dangerous, but it was a good opportunity to train his subordinates. Moreover, after the floating ship incident, Rhode had been suspicious that the Wind Snakes were being controlled. It was too unusual for the Burning Blade to be attacked at this kind of time. Probably, they encountered the person who controlled the Wind Snake and got encircled in it. Or else, an ordinary Wind Snake group wouldn’t reach thousands or millions. If that was the case, then to Rhode, it was the best opportunity for revenge. He wouldn’t let go of someone that had injured him that easily.
When Rhode had just transmigrated to this world and was heavily injured, he could still break through the opponent encirclement and had escaped. Now, Rhode was no longer as “weak” as before. He would level up soon, and he was confident that he has enough strength to finish those guys. In addition, he still had a trump card…
After resting for a day, Lapis finally finished the task Rhode gave to her. With two dark circles under her eyes, she handed a bag full of potions to Rhode. Originally, the pitiful Lapis had planned to sleep after that, but she didn’t expect that immediately after Rhode took the potions, he told them to depart. Facing this tragedy, Lapis couldn’t help but follow the others and bitterly continue the journey.
On the other hand, Lize seemed to have forgotten about what happened last night. At this moment, she was walking beside Lapis while restoring her energy and comforting her. It seemed that she was no different than usual.
“I never thought that Uncle would be in trouble…”
Following Rhode from behind, Anne was still as carefree as usual. She was munching on an apple that she plucked out from nowhere and said, “You knew him?”
Hearing Anne’s words, Marlene curiously asked while holding the magic wand in her hand.
“I’m not sure how to say it. I met him a few times before with the old leader. He was a very taciturn fellow; he had a flat expression and didn’t even speak for the entire day. I remember when I first met him, he only said ‘Ehn’ to answer his subordinates. Honestly, at that time, I thought that he was a mute.”
Anne laughed.
“It just that Uncle is very amazing. I think he’s almost the same as the leader? He’s also very very strong, especially his sword. Yes, it’s really too much. Moreover, he’s the type that won’t show any mercy to women just like leader… Yes, I think leader will be very compatible with him?”
“Haa…” Hearing Anne’s answer, Marlene glanced at Rhode with a complicated look in her eyes but said nothing.
After that, Rhode rejected the request that mercenary had asked of him. The mercenary wanted him to ask for the Mercenary Association for help. But in Rhode’s opinion, it would just be a waste of time. When they got out of the Twilight Forest and went to look for reinforcements from the Mercenary Association, perhaps the Burning Blade mercenary group would already become history. Since Wind Snakes were a low level monster and a lot easier to deal with than undead creatures, Rhode quickly decided to let that mercenary to lead them to the Burning Blade mercenary group’s location and try to save them.
Although the mercenary doubted and hesitated for a while, he also knew that if he went back to look for the Mercenary Association’s help, it would definitely be too late. It was better to let them try it. Since Rhode had also saved “Victorious Wine” in Silent Highland, he was supposed to be strong.
After hurrying up for the whole day, Rhode and others finally arrived at the location.
“It’s, it’s here.”
Pointing to the forest not far before him, the mercenary wiped his sweat and helplessly said.
“Leader and others are trapped inside, if we don’t hurry then…”
In fact, even without him mentioning it, everyone else also noticed the strange scene in the forest.
Numerous Wine Snakes formed a neat formation and shrouded the sky above the forest like a cloud. They were circling around from time to time, then flew up again. From the surroundings, it could be seen that a lot of Wind Snakes were spreading around and watching.
As expected, they were being controlled by someone.
Looking at this scene, Rhode could fully affirm that it wasn’t a natural disaster but a man-made one. This was done by a contracted mage who could manipulate a group of monsters by controlling the leader’s soul. It was almost the same as a Summoning Swordsman, since they also relied on numbers to win. What differentiated them from the Summoning Swordsman was that they couldn’t use their ability freely. Controlling tens of thousands of Wind Snakes like this could only be done in the wild, and they also had to ensure that the contracted monster didn’t die. Else, not only the monster would no longer obey the contracted mage, but might also hurt the mage back.
“It’s a contracted mage.”
Marlene quickly noticed. She frowned slightly and look a little bit troubled.
“Can we find him? Since he can control such a huge number of monsters, maybe he has reached the third middle circle, and the monster he controlled was probably at the commander level.”
“It’s useless even if we found him. It won’t do us any good.”
Rhode shook his head and rejected Marlene’s idea. Although there was an iron law—before shooting people, first shoot the horse and before capturing the thief, capture the King—it still depends on the situation. Since there were so many Wind Snakes, if they couldn’t attack first, then they would be cornered by the Wind Snakes, and Rhode didn’t want that to happen.
“Our main goal is to assemble with the Burning Blade first. With Hiller’s help, it will be easier to deal with those guys. We must also get ready; when it gets dark, we’ll start to move.”
It had to be said that Hiller was really a very wise person. Being surrounded by such a large number of snakes, he could actually still think calmly and brought his subordinates to the thick bushes to resist the enemy’s attack. It was a difficult decision because once people saw the number of Wind Snakes, they would usually be too afraid to do anything.
It seemed like the number 1 mercenary group in the Paphield area really lived up to its name.
As soon as he gave the command, Rhode glanced at Lize. At this time, she was expressionless and only quietly sitting next to him. There was a complicated look in her eyes while looking at the Wind Snakes not far from her. Rhode didn’t specifically go to comfort her; he understood that if Lize could rely on herself to get over it, then it would be better,
The night fell.
Under Rhode’s command, the mercenaries that were prepared long ago set out immediately. They were lurking in the forest and slowly moving forward with the help of the bushes and leaves to block the Wind Snakes from seeing them. At the beginning, things went pretty smoothly. The Wind Snakes that were floating in the air never thought of going into the forest to inspect. In their opinion, those narrow spaces were very dangerous and made it difficult to move. That was why they always move in the plains. Forests full of leaves and bushes definitely weren’t the best choice for them.
However, very soon. everyone encountered danger.
As they went deeper, the number of Wind Snakes also increased. They didn’t come to attack Rhode; on the contrary, they were here to attack the enemies that they should have destroyed.
“Things cannot go on like this Mr. Rhode.”
Marlene held the wand and frowned. Hearing the fluttering wings and roaring sound not far from the forest, Marlene uneasily said, “Although according to the book, Wind Snakes have very poor sight in the dark, they are still very sensitive to sound. In such a big forest, we…”
“Don’t worry, I have already made the preparation.”
Rhode took four bottles of potion out from his pocket. After that he handed it to Shauna, Anne, and Randolf.
“Open it.”
After hearing Rhode’s command, the three of them quickly opened the bottles. Soon, an unpleasant and pungent stench filled their surroundings.
