"Damn Svalbloc!" Kratz slammed the table hard, causing the ink bottle on the table to fly up and spill black ink everywhere.
The Clet family has absolute prestige in the territory they control. When Kratz gave the order to check the missing people, a steady stream of soldiers ran towards the villages in the territory and contacted the usual tax officials and promulgators to count the number of people in each village.
Due to time constraints and the limitations of the household registration system of that era, only a small number of villages participated in the statistics at this time. More remote villages or the population hidden in the villages were not included.
Even so, nearly a hundred people have been counted.
You have to know that the Svalblod sect did not capture a hundred old, weak, women and children, but young men who were strong and capable of supporting a family. Considering the rich martial arts environment in Skellige, these young men were all capable of taking up weapons and putting on armor and going into battle.
In other words, Kratz lost hundreds of reserve soldiers.
The entire Skellige had only about 7,000 navy personnel. Even though Kratz was one of the top families in the archipelago, this loss still made him feel heartbroken.
The matter did not end there. The tax officer brought even worse news.
The Great Skellig Island is ruled by two families. The southern part is controlled by the Clet family of Kratz, and the northern part is ruled by the Drummond family of Lugo the Mad. The governance of Kratz is definitely more rigorous than that of Lugo the Mad.
The tax collectors at the border of the two families' rule were all familiar with each other. They brought a piece of news to Kratz: there were many missing young people in the territory of the madman Lugo.
Even in the past, this was not news that would make Kratz smile - the regret caused by the loss of the young man far outweighed the pleasure of the powerful enemy being hurt.
And in the current situation, this is a problem that makes the situation even more serious.
"The Svalblod Cult has gained more young men, or more 'warriors'," Lane pondered.
"But there aren't so many giant bears on this island for them to train berserkers to control. And normal people are definitely not people they can control freely with their minds - if they could do that, they would have ruled Skellige long ago."
Lann took a deep breath: "Then there is only one possibility, a possibility that is worse than creating a berserker-"
Kratz took over Lann's words: "Living sacrifice!"
A word that sends chills down one's spine just by hearing it.
The Svalblod cult despised the weak and loved to sacrifice living people to their gods; they would kill those who could not fight or were not good at fighting like livestock to please Svalblod. This bad habit became more and more serious and eventually evolved into a massacre of the village, which led to the Skellige people to exterminate the Svalblod cult.
They didn't expect that they would have to face this bad habit again now.
"Since it's a 'sacrifice', then we can definitely gain power from it." Lann took a deep breath. "In the past, they used the so-called 'weaklings', but now they are young men who are of the right age to become soldiers. They will definitely be able to please their evil gods better and gain more powerful power from it."
"Uncle Easter is right. We may not be able to worry about the fight for the throne now." Kratz stood up and put on his bearskin cloak. "This may be a disaster that will sweep across the entire Skellige."
"Fortunately, we discovered the enemy's plot in advance. I will go to gather the soldiers now. If there is any news..."
Kratz was suddenly interrupted before he could finish his words.
…
“Boom boom boom—”
There was a loud banging sound outside the study, the force was so strong that it made people worry whether it would cause any damage to the door.
Then there was a commotion:
"Wait a moment, you can't go in, please calm down, this is Master Kratz--"
It seemed that the guards at the door were stopping someone, but the visitor was obviously in an emergency and could not wait for the guards to pass the order according to the procedure.
With a loud bang, the door was kicked open and Geralt rushed in, followed by the butler who was trying his best to stop him.
"Something happened." Without waiting for the butler to apologize to Kratz, or for Lann and the others to ask about their purpose, Geralt rushed to speak. His first sentence made the expressions of everyone present become serious.
According to the previous arrangement, Lane and Kratz accompanied Kratz back to count the number of people and assemble the soldiers. The main force was still stationed at the foot of the mountain in case of accidents, while Geralt and Gerd, the two most experienced witchers, accompanied Bill up the mountain to find the hiding place of the Vilk people.
I didn't expect Geralt to come back early.
"What happened? Did we find the Vilkans? Or did we alert the enemy to our presence and now they're running?"
Geralt denied both of Lann's guesses: "It's worse than that."
"Other candidates for the throne noticed our actions and blamed us as competitors for hiding information from them. They laughed loudly at our gathering at the foot of the mountain waiting for reinforcements, believing that the dangers we mentioned to them were all fabricated lies."
"Because of us, they have determined that the Vilkers are on the mountain, and now they have assembled a large number of troops to go up the mountain in order to seize the throne." Geralt took a deep breath, "There is no time for us to prepare, we need to launch a general attack directly."
"Damn it!" Kratz slammed the desk hard, and the documents, papers, and pens on it all fell to the ground with a crackling sound.
"Gather the troops and set off now to support those idiots whose brains were chopped off by axes!" Kratz shouted outside the house, then turned around and looked at Geralt.
"Geralt, remind me, which families are those idiots you are talking about?"
"Our old friend Crazy Lugo, and another one called Hogg, the guy with a weird skin color."
Kratz cursed: "The bandit from Faroe Island, Hogg Blackhand of the Dimen family, he is just as stupid as Lugo who only knows how to rob!"
…
Hogg Blackhand is the head of House Diemen and the lord of Faroe Island.
As a young man, he was caught in an autumn snowstorm and his longboat accidentally hit a reef, causing him to suffer frostbite. This left his hands and arms with a particularly dark complexion, earning him the nickname "Blackhand."
Even in Skellige, where raiding is almost a rite of passage, Hogg Blackhand is a very cruel existence. When he raids, he is almost slaughtering. His notoriety has spread to the coasts of Novigrad and Nilfgaard. He even spares no effort when attacking the hostile families in Skellige.
Therefore, the Diemen family has a particularly bad reputation in Skellige.
The Faroe Island he ruled was located at the southernmost tip of Skellige. It was also the most primitive and uninhabited island, and the people there could only survive by looting - this might also be an objective reason for the formation of Hogg Blackhand's character.
That is why Hogg Blackhand is almost eagerly searching for any opportunity to make Faroe Island prosperous.
Becoming the king was the biggest opportunity in his eyes. He and Madman Lugo were the only two people who wanted to compete with Easter for the throne. The patriarchs of other families either chose to support him like Dona or abstain.
At this moment, Hogg Blackhand was standing with Madman Lugo, facing Easter with an ugly face.
…
Easter originally planned to return to Little Skellige to find King Bran and dispatch more family soldiers to support him, but when he heard that the madman Lugo and Hogg Blackhand forced their way into the mountain, he rushed back immediately.
I didn't realize I was late.
When he was preparing to go up the mountain with his men, he received news that Madman Lugo and his men had already gone up the mountain; when he led his men to the halfway point of the mountain, they happened to meet Madman Lugo and his men on their way back.
According to Madman Lugo and his men, they have found the gathering place of the Vilkas.
Because soldiers from the Clete and Tursek families had already searched the mountains, they had helped the madman Lugo and his men eliminate a large number of wrong answers, which in turn reduced their search range. Then they discovered the route that Geralt, Gerd and Bill were taking. After they had a general direction, they sent out hundreds of soldiers to search for the hiding place in the mountains regardless of the noise. Finally, they soon found the hiding place of the Vilka people.
At this moment, Bill was following behind Gerd. They stood in the queue of the Tuersek family, their faces full of self-blame.
Madman Lugo spoke eloquently: "Those followers of the evil god are just some guys who are not worthy of the stage. The real warriors who dared to fight were killed by our ancestors. The remaining soft bugs are no different from the people we usually rob!"
"Did you meet them? Kill them all?" Easter said expressionlessly.
"No, it's even better." Madman Lugo said, "They heard our movements and ran away. We even rescued a lot of kidnapped boys and saved them from becoming living sacrifices to the evil god!"
Madman Lugo opened his arms and showed East the dozen or so young men who had joined his team. They were all listless, with gray skin, dark circles under their eyes, and in a trance - but they were all still alive.
"They are all citizens of my Great Skellige Island." Madman Lugo laughed triumphantly.
"Rescuing the people of Skellige is indeed an achievement." Easter nodded towards the rescued young men, but they were all in a trance and did not notice Easter's actions or respond.
"But Lugo, Hogg, do you remember our mission? We were to wipe out the Svalblod sect, complete the mission our ancestors missed, and eliminate a scourge for Skellige - and your rash actions have destroyed everything."
"Well, Ester! Looking at the situation now, do you still think that the Svalblod Cult is a scourge? They are just a bunch of clowns who ran away when they heard the news! I think that perhaps the berserkers that Lannister killed in your family's castle were all their strength."
Lugo sneered: "From this perspective, you did destroy the Svablo sect, but it's a pity that achievement doesn't count."
Hogg Blackhand, who had been watching coldly from the side, also spoke up: "Easter, I respect you, but the current situation is that you have no chance of winning. Although none of us have accomplished the task of destroying the Svalblod Cult, Lugo and I have at least destroyed their new gathering place and rescued the hostages who were taken as living sacrifices. Even if we do nothing else, we are already ahead of you."
Because of years of plundering at sea, one of Hogg Blackhand's eyes has turned pure white and blind. If he were talking to someone else, he might really be oppressed.
But Easter's expression did not change at all. He had more aura than Lugo and Hogg combined. "You don't understand. According to the intelligence we have obtained, there are more berserkers in the Svalblod sect. This is no longer a matter of fighting for the throne. Since you are already here, I invite you to stay and continue to search the mountains for the gathering place of the Vilkas. They must have other hiding places."
"We will, Easter," Hog Blackhand said coldly, "but not now, and not with you."
Madman Lugo laughed: "If the Welka people still have berserkers, given their character, will they not go out? Berserkers, where can they find berserkers?"
As he spoke, he pointed fiercely at the dozen young men he had rescued from the Vilkers' hideout: "Could it be them? Could they be Berserkers?"
The young men were all in a trance and did not react at all to the words of the madman Lugo.
East took a deep breath and felt that communicating with the madman Lugo was extremely difficult.
…
Behind East, Gerd looked at the depressed Bill, thought for a moment, and placed his broad palm on his shoulder: "Don't blame yourself, and don't worry. The qualities you have shown so far are worthy of the title of a warrior, and what is happening now is not your fault."
"You and your lover will definitely have a good result. Lann is a very good person. If I didn't already have a lord following me, I probably wouldn't be able to help myself..."
Bill pressed his head hard, as if enduring extreme pain. He interrupted Ged's comfort and said intermittently: "My head hurts... Mr. Ged, something is wrong."
Beads of sweat dripped from Bill's forehead, but his words became more and more fluent: "My memory has become clearer... The place these two lords found is wrong. It doesn't seem to be the place where I was caught before. That is not the real gathering place of the Welka people... Moreover, something happened, something, I forgot something..."
"No, no, it shouldn't be like this..."
Bill's expression became terrified, as if he had committed some unforgivable crime; his gray face became like a corpse, and even his eyes had lost their luster.
Gerd frowned and subconsciously raised his right hand to the hilt of the sword.
While preparing for battle, Gerd shook Bill tentatively, as if wanting to show some concern to his companion who was not in good condition.
But then his movements suddenly stopped.
The bear-faction witcher's ears moved, and his keen witcher senses allowed him to detect some unusual movements around him.
The lords of the three major families were arguing and negotiating in front of them, and the soldiers behind them were focusing their attention on the opposite side.
But beneath the fierce quarrel, Ged heard a low, muffled voice that sounded like a chant. This voice was in a language that Ged could not understand, and it had a sense of vicissitudes, determination, and a hint of fanaticism.
Like praying.
This sound, like prayer, came from all around them.
The sound was naturally made by humans, which meant one thing - they were surrounded by well-positioned enemies.
Gede's amber pupils suddenly doubled in size, as if someone was holding his heart. His senses told him that the danger came not only from the so-called "four directions", but also from around him.
…
"roar--!!"
Mad Lugo and Hogg Blackhand suddenly heard the deafening roar of the giant bears.
The sound came from behind them.
And Easter, with a look of fear in their eyes, rushed towards them.
…
Half a quarter of an hour ago.
On the mountainside, soldiers from the Tuersek, Drummond and Dimen families were still arguing.
In the jungles of the mountains, a large group of hunters were crouching.
Their eyes were hidden in the darkness, emitting no light; their steps relied on the bushes in the forest, but made no sound.
The direction they were heading was towards the soldiers from the three families halfway up the mountain.
Unlike these fully-armed soldiers, these hunters were equipped with very simple equipment, and now they didn't even wear basic leather armor; they were naked from the waist up, revealing their muscular chests and arms, which were covered with dense scars that were enough to dismember a normal person.
They wore simple battle skirts on their lower bodies and thick cloaks on their backs, most of which were made of whole furs of wolves, wild boars, bears and the like.
Seeing these cloaks, it seems that I can understand where the scars on their bodies come from.
They are the Vilkas, followers of Svablo.
They were only armed with short axes and round shields, and their number was less than one-tenth of the family coalition forces in front of them, but they were full of confidence and surrounded the Skellige army.
They are not afraid of death - in fact, they come to seek death.
A sturdy figure with a bald head and a big beard walked out from behind them. Unlike the Welka warriors who crouched and sneaked, he stood straight and walked in the jungle as if he was taking a leisurely stroll.
The surrounding trees seemed to have consciousness and they proactively made way for him, even helping him to conceal his whereabouts without making any sound.
All this points to one fact—he is a druid.
After seeing the druid come out, all the Vilkas bowed to him and called softly: High Priest Atis.
Attis was still quite a distance away from Skellige, but his eyes, like an eagle, pierced through the heavy trees and took in everything on the mountainside.
"Even though they have so many powerful warriors, they choose to be content with the status quo and shrink to this small archipelago, leaving the vast continent to those weak people..."
Atis looked at the team ahead coldly: "They are still playing the king game as if it were a game of house... Ha, there are women in their team! They are wearing armor and holding shields. What do they think of the glory of warriors?"
Behind Hogg Blackhand, there stood a female guard holding a shield. She was heroic, with a strong body, and her hands were covered with calluses. She deserved the praise of "Iron Lady".
But in the eyes of the fallen druids, all this was heresy.
"Indeed, they need the guidance of my god Svalblod. They need to be illuminated by the glory of my god."
The crouching warriors hummed in a very timely voice: "My god Svalblod."
Atis looked at the believers around him who were ready to fight at any time and nodded with satisfaction.
"The plan on Little Skellig went very smoothly. The dead warriors were also part of the blood sacrifice. The dedication of the believers will please my god even more."
"Now, let's offer these pagans to our God. We have been lying dormant for decades just for this day."
"Go, warriors, fight, kill, sacrifice, and please - my god Svalblod!"
The eyes of the crouching soldiers gradually burned, as if a war drum began to rumble in their chests.
"For my god—Svalblod!"
The fallen druid slowly retreated, leaves and bushes covering his footprints to conceal his whereabouts - he had other tasks.
Following the path he left, the roars of wild animals began to be heard from the depths of the jungle. It was not just the roars of wolves and bears, but also the roars of some large monsters, and even more dull roars.
Never try to test how powerful a druid master who is proficient in the ways of nature can be in the forest, especially when this druid has given up his faith and has been operating in this forest for decades.
In response to these roars, all the Vilka warriors bowed to the ground, no longer worrying about hiding their tracks, and began to chant prayers loudly.
"My god Svalblo, I am your son, I am your flock, I am your blade;
Please accept my blood, please accept my flesh, please accept my sacrifice;
May my pain be transformed into God’s blessing, may my suffering be transformed into God’s joy.
Please give me a sword, please give me strength, please give me energy;
In the name of God, destroy God's enemies; in the name of God, attack the enemy's land.
May you be with us—our God, Svalblod!"
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