Chapter 256: Desperate Place
Po River Camp.
Zorn Klein led his troops back to the camp.
There was a bonfire burning in the center of the camp. The orange-red flames dispelled the coldness of the night and brought warmth to more ordinary soldiers who did not have the strong physique of the magicians.
Summer had clearly just ended, but the early autumn nights were as cold as winter.
The geographical location of the Po River is not special, but the coldness at night is particularly obvious. The temperature difference between day and night has been very large in the past few days, and many soldiers in the army are in poor condition because of this.
Such strange climate was not conducive to fighting, but the tacit truce between the two sides was broken after a surprise attack.
With the special weapon of the wooden cannon, the New Victory Brigade was originally better than the Bohe Army. However, due to the desperate and fearless fighting style of the Bohe people, the two sides fought back and forth with a 64-70 victory and defeat.
New Victory Six, Po River Four.
Zorn has always believed that the final victory of this battle will inevitably belong to Xin Sheng, it is just a matter of time.
But he didn't expect that the battle situation would take a turn for the better.
People from the Vatican appeared on the opposite side.
Even though those believers of light were not wearing robes of the Church, and even though they covered their faces with black robes, as soon as they made a move, the strong light magic would expose them completely.
Apart from the Holy See, there is no other force that can mobilize so many powerful light mages.
The battle triggered by this raid underwent tremendous changes because of these light mages.
The Po River Army successfully staged a desperate comeback and forced the newly victorious army into a difficult situation.
In the desperate situation of running out of food and grass, their army was forced to split into two in order to break through the ambush.
Commander Astor Klein led a small group of elites from the small road, while deputy commander Zorn Klein led a large force composed of ordinary people to attract the main firepower and slowly break through bit by bit.
After several desperate battles with heavy losses, Zorn returned to the camp with the remaining half of his army.
As soon as he returned to the camp, the first thing Zorn did was to ask the stationed soldiers whether Commander Astor had returned to the camp.
The soldier's negative answer made Zorn's heart sink.
The path taken by the small unit was not much longer than theirs, and their large unit had fought several battles before and after. In any case, the small unit should have reached the camp before them.
But the fact is that Astor hasn't come back yet.
Something must have gone wrong.
Zorn looked anxiously in the direction they came from.
The night is getting deeper.
The cold air came intensifying, and the dew on the grass leaves even turned into ice.
Zorn stood outside the tent without moving. He felt something falling on his eyelashes, and when he reached out to touch it, he felt something cold.
The thin snowflakes melted into water under the temperature of his fingertips, slightly wetting his fingertips.
"It's snowing. It's so cold."
A soldier sitting around the campfire whispered.
"What strange weather! Why is it snowing at this time..."
"Maybe this is God's punishment. How many people have died in just half a year! The Abyss Breach just ended, and the chaos among the empires followed. Didn't the previous large-scale epidemic also kill many people..."
"You are right. If I were a god, I would not want to bless a race that is always keen on infighting."
"Yeah, what's the point of fighting? Do we have to fight to the death? These noble lords can just open their mouths, but only people like us have cheap lives."
"If I had known this would happen, I would rather have died at the hands of those Abyss Demons in the Gap! It's better to die at the hands of the demons than to die at the hands of the same kind."
"Sometimes I really envy those other races, such as the dragon race and the elf race. How come they can get along so harmoniously and in a friendly manner? No wonder they are the species favored by the gods."
"Forget about the orcs... They are probably the same as us. I heard a long time ago that several orc princes in their royal family were fighting among themselves and killing each other! It turns out that no one is a good person once they come into contact with humans."
"God of Light, has the temperature dropped several degrees in just a short while? It's too cold, let's get closer... I wonder if it's snowing in Xinshengli? My sister always says that you can't see snow in the capital, but there's nothing to see when it snows. She grew up in the capital and didn't know that many people freeze to death every year."
"Still here with the God of Light! Your great God of Light has abandoned you long ago! Is there any god in charge of war that I can believe in..."
“…”
Zorn withdrew his gaze from the direction of the campfire and asked his experienced adjutant beside him sharply.
"Will it snow tomorrow?"
The adjutant looked at the sky carefully, sensing it again and again with the elemental power in his body.
"Yes, Vice Marshal," he whispered, "I'm afraid the snow will continue all night."
"All next night?" Zorn repeated.
"There is no food and water, and I lack sufficient warm clothes. I might be injured, and there might be hungry beasts at night..." Zorn murmured.
"Deputy Commander..." The adjutant looked at Zorn worriedly, "I know you must be very worried about him, Commander, but we don't have any other options now. The only thing we can do is pray to the God of Light for protection and wait until the daybreak when the snow melts a little before sending a team to look for him."
"Wait until dawn?" Zorn tried to force a smile, but he really couldn't.
"I'm afraid we won't even be able to find their bones by daybreak!"
A starving beast in the cold night doesn't care whether it's bones or meat. It just swallows it all!
Aster must not die here.
Zorn thought through gritted teeth.
It wasn't for any other reason, but when Lu Yi woke up and knew that Aster was dead, he would definitely not be able to accept it.
Even if it's for Lu Yi, he has to drag Aster back even if he dies.
It couldn't be a better deal to exchange Zorn, who lives alone in the world, for Klein, who is needed by everyone.
"If neither the commander nor I return after sunrise, you can use the talisman to mobilize the army. You can wait for reinforcements or surrender directly. It's up to you."
Zorn said as he walked quickly in the direction they came back from.
"Deputy Commander! Calm down! Hey!! Don't go! Let's wait until dawn--"
Zorn turned a deaf ear to the shouting behind him.
His pace became faster and faster, and he was running madly at the end.
When leaving the edge of the camp, several figures stopped there, as if waiting for him.
Zorn stared blankly at the mercenary team not far away.
"Why are you here...?"
"Boss, when did you start to act like a tough guy?" The bald man rushed forward and hugged his shoulders without saying a word.
This time, Zorn didn't shake his shoulder away, but just looked at them, speechless.
"You didn't even invite us to join you on the battlefield! Are we still good brothers who live and die together?" The fox said with a curled lip, "You didn't even invite us to such a fun event."
"This is not a joke," Zorn said softly.
"How is this not playing?" the fox retorted.
"Just like every operation we've ever had, it's bloody and cool."
"That's right!" The bald man responded loudly, "If you can live, live. If you can't, just die! These few years since I met the boss, I've had enough!"
"...I didn't know you guys had been determined to die for a long time." Zorn snorted and laughed.
He wanted to refuse, but when he thought of the fox's special talent, which might be of great use in rescuing Astor, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Just consider it as I owe you my life in this life," said Zorn.
"I will pay it back in my next life no matter what—"
The fox immediately teased, "Are you serious? Are you still willing to work like a slave?"
Zorn said "hmm".
-
Po River, Crisse Gorge.
Astor leaned back on a mat made of thick leaves and closed his eyes to rest.
After parting ways with Zorn, their small team encountered an ambush set up in advance by the Po River Army, and was trapped in this canyon with a special terrain.
The sudden snow stopped the enemy's exploratory attack, but after dawn, they had no chance of survival.
Surrounded by the valley, they had nowhere to escape from the attacks from both sides. They had no other options except to sit there and wait for death - unless they grew wings overnight and flew out of the valley.
Astor intentionally regulated his breathing. Because there was no anesthetic, the wounds on his body continued to hurt even after they were bandaged.
The healing mage of their team had already died under the enemy's priority attack. The chain reaction caused by this incident was that once the entire team was injured, there was no way they could get timely treatment.
As for healing potions and medicines?
It had already been completely consumed in the long battle!
Even the cloth used to bandage Astor's wounds was cut from his clothes.
As the heir of the Klein family, Astor should have countless food and medicines on him. The special space ring that Lu Yi gave him can be driven even without magic power.
But there was a problem with the ring.
The light magicians on the opposite side did not know what special magic tools they possessed. After they appeared, all the space rings and space magic tools in the New Victory Army suddenly became ineffective. The things inside could not be taken out, and the things outside could not be put in. They only had the simplest and useless decorative functions.
They could only grit their teeth and swallow this loss.
After closing his eyes, his other senses were amplified, and Aster could faintly hear the sound of teeth colliding with each other.
There was more than one voice, some were his and some were others.
The temperature is too low.
He thought calmly.
Because they were afraid that the fire would attract wild beasts, their team of only five people did not make a fire.
But if they continue like this, they will probably freeze to death before they are discovered and eaten by wild beasts.
Perhaps when the sun rises, Zorn will find that his elder brother has turned into an ice sculpture.
Astor thought with some bitterness.
This way of dying probably wouldn't be a pretty way to look good. I hope Zorn doesn't tell Lu Yi the truth.
Or maybe he should write a suicide note in advance?
The author has something to say:
Sorry it's late.
[Poor][Poor][Poor]
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