Chapter 26: Encounter

Beside the bonfire, the leader of the Skinks raised the sacrificial dagger and thrust it into the flames at Lynch's urging.

The blood color in the flame faded quickly. It seemed that the unknown existence did not want to try to see if this bizarre sacrifice would succeed.

Lynch kept watching until dawn, and except for the occasional barking of dogs in the flames, nothing unusual occurred.

The army marched again, Lynch swam in the swamps of varying depths, the skinks gathered the meat they had not eaten in the morning, and took the time to make up for the unsuccessful Sotek ritual last night.

As the Skinks watched in adoration, the water rose up, muddying the clear swamp as a giant python some thirty metres long rose from its dormancy.

The herd of spinybacks almost ran away in shock, and the ancient Triceratops ignored them.

The Skink Leader announced in public that this was a messenger from Sotek.

But the giant snake just swam slowly into the distance. Lynch privately thought that the giant snake didn't want to block the Triceratops' way.

This did not affect the superstition of the Skinks, who believed that Sotek had rejected the sacrifice, and continued to follow Lynch in disappointment.

The scouting Skinks discovered an elven camp along the marching route, but were unsure whether to launch an attack, so they came directly to consult Lynch.

Lynch demonstrated his intention through actions.

Since the ancient Triceratops made too much noise when moving, Lynch simply took Thoreau and secretly surrounded the target location.

The elves used vines to hang a simple rattan bed on several fallen tree trunks.

Lynch carefully identified their identities and waited for the lizard people to complete the ambush.

After noticing that there were elves who looked like scholars among them and that the seriously injured elves were well treated, Lynch took the initiative to walk out of the reeds.

Druzie would abandon the disabled rubbish, and Lynch determined that they were a group of Asur.

The presence of scholars gave Lynch the possibility to communicate with them directly, unless that person was an uneducated fool.

Fifteen elves stood up in panic, picking up scimitars and short swords.

They were so thin that they looked like refugees.

The cold-blooded man's mysterious and low voice eased the tense atmosphere a little.

"You have overstepped your bounds, elf cub."

The scholars among them suppressed their fear and responded in the awkward ancient language.

"We did not wish to offend the Old Ones, Lizard. I was supposed to arrive at Twilight Fortress to investigate, but as you can see, we encountered an accident."

If there were fifteen healthy and well-equipped elves, they would not be so afraid of the cold-blooded creature in front of them, but now is the time when the elves are at their weakest.

"You encountered dead people at sea?"

Lynch believes they were shipwrecked on the Vampire Coast and fled here.

"Yes, Aisha, those undead were attacked, and the roars of the beasts could be heard even in the fortress. We took advantage of their weak defenses and escaped."

Lynch listened to the elves' pounding heartbeats, smelled the thick fear in the air, and finally chose to believe this group of elves.

It seems that not only Nakai is attacking the Vampire Pirates, but a legion of Lizardmen has also taken the opportunity to attack the heart of the Vampire Coast.

Lynch slowly approached the elves, and the scholar shouted in fear:

"Forgive us! I swear to Hoss that I will never set foot in the jungle again!"

Lynch just wanted to get closer to observe the items on the elves. After discovering that these Asur were abnormally sensitive, Lynch had to directly express his intention:

"I need you to heal a wounded human."

The scholar looked at Lynch in confusion. Although he wondered why he would go to so much trouble to save a lower creature, he didn't dare to ask more questions given the strange character of the cold-blooded species.

After whispering with his companions for a while, the scholar followed Lynch away with a female elf who was missing an eyeball.

Lynch let out a short, low growl, and the lizardmen received the signal and left their shelters and returned to their teams.

The sturdy lizardmen made the elves terrified. If there was anyone who could understand this lost empire, it was only the equally ancient high elves.

Clearly, these lizardmen were regular and experienced warriors, not the common skinny upright lizards.

Lynch returned to the team with two Asur. The two dwarves from Haimen Pass picked up their battle axes and shouted insults the moment the elves appeared in their sight.

Grimm's performance was strangely out of character, and he seemed to have spoken simply out of consideration for his companions.

The two elves looked embarrassed, and the angry scholar responded with fierce words.

Even though he didn't understand, Lynch could feel the sharpness in their words.

I almost forgot, they are sworn enemies.

Ulthuan once waged a full-scale war with the Mountain Kingdom, and the Sea Gate was once slaughtered by a dragon controlled by an insane elf.

The elf clenched his dagger, and the dwarf swung his battle axe in defiance.

When the situation was about to escalate into a bloody conflict, Lynch stood between them, summoned the Skink Interpreter, and conveyed his dissatisfaction.

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Under the spirit lizard's solemn scolding, the two races temporarily refrained from fighting.

The one-eyed female elf climbed onto the back of the Triceratops with difficulty, knelt beside Louis, and kept praising "Elsa".

The elf gently stroked Louis' wound with his hand, and the pustules miraculously faded away and the symptoms of infection quickly alleviated.

After making sure Louis was fine, Lynch pointed out the direction for the elf and gave him a piece of gold.

Gold is not valuable in Lizardman society and is often used as a carrier of information.

What is valuable is always the information recorded above.

Skinks use gold for decoration, as it does not rust as easily as other metals in the rainforest.

But in the outside world, the preciousness of gold needs no further explanation.

After bidding farewell to the intruding hot-bloods, the team slowly moved forward again.

Before sunset, Lynch was relieved to find that Louis had survived the disaster.

Signs of death appeared again in the swamp, and wandering undead spirits could be spotted when the white moon was high in the sky.

Louis, holding the Swift Sword, wanted to climb down the Triceratops to prepare for battle, but was stopped by Lynch.

Humans are not thick-skinned lizardmen. Unless they are blessed by some god, they'd better pay attention to their own health.

A blazing white arc of light appeared in the distance, cutting through the night sky.

Lynch's excellent eyesight allowed him to see the pterosaurs flying in the sky, and his terrifying roar made the spirit lizards even more excited.

That was the roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex! The soldiers maintained their marching speed and slowly moved towards the battlefield in the distance.

Lynch hoped to get behind the enemy, but he could only determine the direction by looking at the battlefield in the sky.

The closer you get, the more you can feel the tension of war.

The earth was shaking, clear beams of light streaked across the sky from time to time, and the artillery roared in response.

When Lynch's desire to fight reached its peak, he saw a large number of thin and tall zombies appearing at the end of his sight.

Their commander is a relatively normal-looking corpse wearing pirate clothes.

This seemed to be an army of undead that wanted to go around the flank of the Lizardman Legion.

(End of this chapter)