Chapter 346: No Grass Grows
The flesh and blood on the monster suddenly came alive, and a layer of skin instantly covered the surface where the granulation tissue and blood threads were free. The spreading skin swallowed up the human blood on its body, leaving only a pale silver moon.
Its strong muscles also rearranged themselves like water, eventually piecing together a more human appearance.
The flesh and blood on its body seemed like toys, and it even mockingly tore a hole in its heart to avoid a bullet that almost hit its heart.
Now Abeson couldn't be sure whether its heart was in its chest.
In the next blink of an eye, the monster disappeared.
In his place was an ordinary-looking, shirtless man, except that he was a head taller than the Imperial and exceptionally strong.
The bullet no longer had a chance to hit the nimble and tiny humanoid monster. Abeson could not see clearly the monster's next attack on the White Wolf Knight. He could only see that the knight's hammer had been deformed and had deep scratches on it.
That was the fine iron of the dwarves, and only the giants could barely deform it.
Obviously, the respectable knight could not survive the frequent and violent collisions; he was still a human being after all.
He didn't have the chance to bring the hammer down on the monster, and instead the monster easily tore open his armor.
The White Wolf Knight's signature hair had been shaved off by his claws, meaning the monster could have twisted his head off just as it had sliced off his hair and beard.
Even the most ignorant soldier should understand the gap between the two sides at this time.
This Inner Circle Knight was challenging an impossible enemy. If it was a giant or a dragon, the soldiers could at least fire a few rounds of gunfire at the monster to interfere with its vision and hearing. However, the bullets would be so slow in front of this unknown existence that they could be easily captured, and artillery would become a joke in front of its extreme speed and agility.
It is definitely not an enemy that this ragtag army can fight against.
As the warrior shouted Yurik's name, scanned the crowd with his unwavering gaze, and resolutely launched the final charge towards the monster.
All the militiamen understood his unspoken orders.
Escape! Abeson was scattered among the crowd in a panic. He had no time to look for his comrades, so he could only flee to the east with the strangers nearby.
There are troops from Wiesen and Ivy in Schwarzport. It only takes less than half a day to escape to the east, but it takes a whole day and night to run west before seeing any human habitation.
Everyone knows where to escape to at this time.
Sherlock traveled day and night to leave West County. After getting off the carriage in a small town on the border of Rick County, he hurriedly bought a poor horse and ran towards the depths of Rick County without stopping.
Next time he would only stop in the city of Koppebad in the territory of Talabek, and then head directly to Utbad.
Most of the Empire's troops are gathered in Styria, and Styria's capital is now the safest place.
Merchants often traveled along the avenues in the Reikland forest, and the dense flow of people dispelled the fear that the forest inflicted on humans.
A small group of beastmen would not dare to attack a caravan of more than ten people. With the cover of the passing caravans, Sherlock could also avoid the eyes and ears of Ms. Lina.
But after passing the city of Altdorf, these kind-hearted people will no longer have any contact with him, and the forest that Rick leads to the east is still a dangerous place that is difficult to avoid.
He once thought about hiding in Altdorf, but he knew better than anyone that Altdorf was a powder keg that had not been ignited.
Without Emperor Magnus and the Reik's Guards, only a fool would go to Altdorf to rest.
The number of ratmen underground there is probably hundreds of times the number of humans. If the dense flow of people in Altdorf can make its population reach one million, the rat population will only be dozens of times that. Of course, no one can be sure of the number of rats in a ratman clan, and there may be more slave rats that have not been recorded.
Sherlock didn't want to be the unlucky "traveler" who disappeared in the middle of the night.
Only the naive men and women in the organization would think that humans dominate this world. Perhaps they are right, if the Norsemen and Kurds are also considered humans.
Waves of exclamations came from the end of the road, spreading like a plague along the passing caravans.
In less than half an hour, everyone within ten miles knew about the tragedy ahead.
The village located on the trade route disappeared, and experienced guards saw that it was not caused by large-scale Beastman activity.
Villages far away from towns often have several layers of hardwood walls, which are maintained all year round. Add to that the caravans and local militia resting in the villages, and even a large beastman tribe of thousands of people would not be able to break through them easily.
Those backward deformed monsters didn't have decent firearms, and even a small-scale Minotaur tribe would be defeated by artillery.
Yet, such a heavily defended village fortress actually lost its entire population silently.
There were no signs of any fighting, only a deserted ghost village standing in the wilderness.
Caravans informed each other, and merchants from Altdorf openly shared intelligence with merchants from Wiesenland and Westland.
Based on each other's movements, they deduced the exact time when the village fell - within three days.
Every human on this road received accurate notification. Sherlock squeezed through the blocked trade road with difficulty and approached the village's outer wall, which was five or six meters high.
Watchtowers stood majestically around the village, and there was no sign of any fighting between the inner and outer walls.
The gate of the village had been violently broken open by the merchant's guards, and the rows of wooden houses behind the two high walls were shrouded in deathly silence.
Sherlock was allowed to patrol the village with the guards. None of them could destroy the clues at the scene. Merchants with sufficient supplies were already heading towards Altdorf. They only needed to wait for the mages sent by the Imperial Academy of Magic to arrive.
There are no decent mages in the nearest town, Uberrick.
Sherlock looked carefully at the walls and the streets. The abnormally smooth ground gave him a preliminary inference, but he was not sure.
It was as if something had forcibly peeled off a layer of the earth, leaving a lingering stench on the ground.
The houses on both sides of the road showed no signs of having been opened, but the flower pots and drying racks were empty.
Sherlock pursed his lips due to an uneasy premonition, and when he arrived at the fields in the village, he almost bit his lip.
There was nothing left in the soil, even a layer of soil was missing that was visibly visible to the naked eye.
Who can't see that this is the work of the rat people? Only they would not even spare the mud. The village was eaten up by them, and it was whiter than the emperor's face!
They always act in groups and only do things they are sure of, leaving nothing behind.
Ha, some people really couldn't tell that these idiotic natives of the empire were still in deep thought.
Have they never heard of the story about the rat man? Or do they really regard the rat man as a legend?
So where did the rats that could easily devour a village go? (End of this chapter)
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