Chapter 546 Burial Ground
In mid-June, the midday sun streamed into the forest in the Earl's Domain of Spinor, making the air feel like it was boiling, so hot that it was hard to breathe.
A small cavalry squad of ten men was struggling through the forest, their hooves barely making a sound as they trod on the thick layer of fallen leaves.
The leading cavalryman was named Clark, the captain of the Citizen Cavalry of Jackdaw City, and a native Spinor.
At this moment, he was cautiously looking around, the rifle he gripped tightly in his hand gleaming menacingly in the dappled shadows of the trees.
That was the latest weapon issued to the Duchy of Campbell—the Roxay Model 1054 bolt-action rifle.
For citizen cavalry accustomed to spears and crossbows, this fire-breathing stick was both expensive and precious, but it was said that with a single pull of the trigger, it could pierce a werewolf's skull from two hundred meters away.
He really likes this thing.
Ever since I got it, I've carried it on my back every day.
"...You can't even see a rabbit in this godforsaken place."
The young cavalryman behind him muttered a complaint, wiping the sweat from his brow that had gotten into his eyes. The old soldier riding beside him also grinned and grumbled.
"It's not that I don't trust the people of Campbellburg, but would those damned rats really build their nest in such a godforsaken place?"
Three days ago, Spinorburg received a distress call from the Royal Railway Company. The exploration team active in the Iron Peak area had been attacked, and the attackers were retreating towards the forest north of Jackdaws.
Those who dare to rob royalty are certainly no ordinary bandits. And judging from the clues left at the scene, this is indeed the case; the attackers were clearly rat-men from the Wanren Mountains.
The conflict between human nations and ratmen is nothing new; their grudges can even be traced back to ancient times before the First Age.
However, since humans and ratmen live in different areas, the ratmen tend to prioritize competing with dwarves for territory, so the two sides have been able to coexist peacefully.
Hearing the whispers behind him, Clark didn't turn around, but simply raised a finger to signal silence. His comrades also stopped talking and became alert again.
Suddenly, an unnatural rustling sound came from the waist-high thorn bushes on the left.
That was definitely not the sound of the wind!
Almost instinctively, Clark raised his rifle, flicked the safety with his index finger, and the dark muzzle instantly locked onto the swaying bush.
He shouted sternly.
"Who's there! Show yourself!"
At the same time, the nine cavalrymen behind him raised their rifles, ready for battle.
The bushes shook violently a few times, and then a ragged figure crawled out on all fours.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Sir! I'm not a bad guy! I'm a human being! I'm alive!" Seeing the rows of dark gun barrels, the man's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, raising his bony hands and trembling as he surrendered.
Clark squinted, using the sunlight filtering through the tree canopy to make out the other person's appearance.
It was a young adult male.
His eyes were sunken, his cheekbones were high, and he wore only a piece of burlap wrapped around his waist. His exposed skin was covered with shocking bruises and wounds... but he was indeed human, not a rat-man.
Clark breathed a slight sigh of relief and lowered the muzzle of his gun a little, but he did not completely let his guard down and shouted coldly.
"Tell me your name? Also, your accent doesn't sound like a local."
“I…I’m called Hailager.” The young man’s teeth chattered, and he stammered for a long time before finally managing to utter a complete sentence, “I’m definitely not from here…”
Clark narrowed his eyes; years of life on the frontier had taught him how to distinguish lies and the scent of evil.
He couldn't sense the stench of chaos or the chill of the dead emanating from this young man; all he smelled was the stench of urine, a stench that seemed to terrify someone.
"Where are you from? Twilight Province?"
"Roland City..."
The forest fell silent for a brief moment, with only the chirping of cicadas remaining.
Clark was stunned for a while, until his deputy coughed, which brought him back to his senses.
Roland City?
The capital of the Kingdom of Ryan?
For Clark, a country bumpkin who had never left the vicinity of Jackdaws in his entire life, the so-called "royal capital" was as distant as a bard's tale.
To be honest, if this guy said he came from Jiliu Pass, he might believe him to some extent.
"Take him back."
Clark put away his rifle and gave the order in a deep voice.
Regardless of whether this guy is crazy or not, since he appeared in this sensitive place at this sensitive time, he must be interrogated thoroughly.
A young sentry dismounted, helped Hailagar onto his own horse, and then mounted behind him.
The group did not venture any further, but immediately turned their horses around and followed the tracks they had taken, quickly returning to the outpost located north of Raven City.
This is a simple outpost built with rough logs. There is only a lonely watchtower on the fence wall, next to which sits an old smoothbore cannon.
Since everyone started serving here, they haven't heard the cannons fire, which shows how remote this place is... Even during the Winter Coup, the Spinor family forgot about them who were stationed here.
Clark poured a glass of water for the young man named Hellager.
The young man, as if he hadn't drunk clean water in ages, gulped down the cup until he choked and coughed violently, only then finding a trace of his soul in the warm liquid.
Then the sentries brought him some dry rations and a clean set of clothes.
After some reassurance and being bribed with a few pieces of bread, the Ryan man named Hailagar finally revealed his identity, trembling.
He was a survivor of the great fire in winter.
Although none of the sentries present had heard of any great fire in the winter, they only knew that their count and the Duke of Campbellburg had fought a battle last winter.
"...That damned fire burned down our house and all our savings. We eked out a living in the ruins until that kind old man appeared."
When the disaster was mentioned, deep fear and despair were revealed in Hailager's cloudy eyes.
According to his fragmented recollections, amidst the chaos and famine following the fire, a well-dressed butler found him and his family, along with hundreds of other homeless refugees in the vicinity.
The steward claimed to represent a benevolent nobleman and said that if they were willing to sign a contract of servitude, he could take them to a new settlement in the south to clear the land.
"Do you remember the steward's name? And the lord he served, the nobleman's title, and the location of his territory?" Clark opened his notebook, dipped his quill in ink, and asked in a tone that didn't sound like an interrogation.
The young man shook his head.
"have no idea……"
Clark paused, his quill pen stilled, and his expression turned strange.
"have no idea?"
You dared to go without knowing?
He suspected that the guy was either joking or hadn't finished writing the script yet.
Hailager, however, was very serious and did not seem to be joking; he spoke in a trembling voice.
“Sir… if you were in my position, you would definitely have done the same thing as me, not caring about anything else at the time.”
"The steward told us that their estate was to the south, where there was fertile land, newly built houses, and enough bread to get us through the winter. He said that if we went there, we would surely survive, and his master would not watch us suffer in the cold."
He paused, then added quietly.
"To be honest, I thought he was a nobleman from Campbell."
"Haha, then I guess he must be a devout gentleman." The young sentry sitting next to him joked, but he didn't expect that this joke to ease the atmosphere would instead agitate the tense guy.
“Piety?! By Saint Sith, I have never seen more blasphemous people! There are no settlements there at all!”
Hailager's eyes widened, his hand gripping the cup tightened, and he spat out a long distance.
He continued speaking rapidly.
“We got into their carriage and headed south. At first we could still see the Benliu River, but then we couldn’t see it anymore. Some people felt something was wrong, but since we were already here, they thought those nobles couldn’t possibly lie to us… and then the carriage ended up in the mountains.”
"There are no settlements at all!"
When Hailager spoke of this, it was as if he was recalling something unpleasant.
His body trembled violently, and the cup in his hand crashed onto the table, spilling water all over the floor. He covered his head with his hands, oblivious to the danger.
"They...kicked us out of the car! Nobody expected that what awaited us wasn't houses and farmland, but a swarm of upright-walking rats!"
The outpost was deathly silent.
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, forgetting to even breathe after hearing this guy's story.
Clark frowned, scribbling and drawing on the paper with his quill, unable to tell which of the man's words were true and which were false.
A hot-blooded young man named Campbell couldn't help but chime in.
"You're lying! How could anyone sell themselves? It's not that I don't believe you... the key question is, where would you put the money? In a bank?"
"Sir, I have family."
Hailager said with a bitter face.
"Besides, we won't survive that winter if we don't sell ourselves. Our emperor is merciful, but he can't conjure up food... Ten thousand copper coins—that's enough for my wife and daughter to last until next year. If I can settle down on that nobleman's estate, maybe I can bring them over..."
“This doesn’t seem fake.” An old soldier lowered his arms and nodded reluctantly. “Most serfs sell themselves not for money, but to survive. The only thing I don’t quite believe is 10,000 copper coins. There are serfs in the Spinor County, at least last year, but I’ve never heard of any serf selling for that price.”
This isn't anything particularly sought-after; if we wait a bit, we might find something for free.
He wasn't prejudiced against the nobles of Lane, but rather against all nobles. Especially after witnessing what had happened in Twilight Province, his dislike for those nobles who had abandoned their sacred duties only intensified.
How novel! Someone who has never done anything good suddenly starts doing charity work. It sounds like a lion giving up meat.
“I still can’t believe it.” Another young man shook his head, looking at the Ryan man with suspicion. “Even if you were really sold to the ratmen by that heartless nobleman, you should be north of the Ten Thousand Ren Mountains. This is south of the Ten Thousand Ren Mountains, so far away… Don’t tell me you flew here on a griffin.”
"At first I was indeed in the cave in the north, but later... it seems that dwarves came there."
Hailager explained, a flicker of fear crossing his eyes.
"I don't know the specifics, I only know that they fought fiercely, with both sides winning and losing. Later, the ratmen couldn't hold on much longer, so they moved us here..."
To be honest, he suspected that if it weren't for the war between the dwarves and the ratmen, he would have been killed by the ratmen six months ago.
Those guys seemed to need him for something, so they kept him alive and fed him rat meat.
Regardless of whether it's rat meat or not.
Looking at the terrified young man, Clark's expression remained full of suspicion.
"Although the Duchy of Campbell has abolished serfdom, we have seen slaves before. Forgive my bluntness, but your statement is an exaggeration."
He didn't doubt the ratmen's evil, but he couldn't understand their logic.
What are the benefits of selling serfs to the rat people?
This seems to be a losing proposition for both the ratmen and the Ryan nobles.
After all, the ratmen have their own slaves, and most ratman clans are divided into clan rats and slave rats, the latter being both labor and food.
In comparison, humans are really not suited to working in the caves of the Ten Thousand Mountains. Even the hellish dwarves prefer ratman prisoners of war to buying goods from human slave traders.
This deal was unprofitable for the ratmen, and for the nobles of Lane as well.
Even if they have forgotten the holy light flowing in their blood and abandoned all morality and bottom lines, there must be enough benefits for them to risk going to hell to do this, right?
This defies common sense.
Clark preferred to believe that the guy had done something illegal, like smuggling or researching black magic, and had been double-crossed, so he made up a ridiculous excuse to cover up his crimes and avoid being sent to court.
Hailager looked at those suspicious eyes and gave a weak smile.
He was too exhausted to argue; his body was so drained that all he wanted to do was fall asleep. He felt too tired to say anything more.
"Just pretend I made it up..."
“Listen, I don’t care how you ended up with the ratmen, or what shady things you did in the Kingdom of Ryan, that’s your business.”
Clark stood up, walked over to the Ryan man, and looked at him.
“I only care about one thing—the ratmen attacked our exploration team and killed our men. Since you escaped from there, tell me, where is their lair?”
Hailager raised his head, his eyes somewhat unfocused.
"It's just to your north... that cave is very close to here. I remember encountering you not long after I escaped..."
Suddenly, as if he had remembered something extremely terrifying, he fell off the chair.
To everyone's astonishment, he grabbed Clark's leg, knelt heavily on the ground, and pleaded desperately.
"My lord! There are other people in that cave! Please save them! Some are still alive! At least a hundred! For Saint Sith's sake! For the sake of us, who are all servants of the Holy Light!"
The desperate crying didn't seem staged, and the atmosphere in the outpost plummeted to freezing point.
If it were just the ramblings of a madman, they might laugh it off. But if there really were still many human survivors in that cave…
Clark's expression gradually turned serious, and his adjutant walked to his side and said in a low voice.
"Whether he's telling the truth or not, this is beyond the scope of our outpost's capabilities..."
"We'll soon know if it's true or not. Keep an eye on this guy... don't let him die, and don't let him get away."
Clark made a quick decision and gave orders to his subordinates.
"Immediately release carrier pigeons to report this lead to Spinorburg and get the Royal Railways to come over... preferably with more people."
Regardless of whether the information is true or false, since there are witnesses, it must be verified.
After giving his orders, Clark looked back at Hellager kneeling on the ground, his eyes sharp as a dagger.
"You say there are many people there... then tell me, what are they keeping you here for?"
Hailager raised his head blankly, his pupils sometimes dilating and sometimes constricting, as if searching for fragments of memories in his mind.
“I don’t know… those rats don’t always communicate in a language we can understand, nor do they let us see what they’re doing.”
“I only heard one guy who was taken away and then thrown back say that the rats were holding some kind of ritual that required a lot of sacrifices… Most of the people who were taken away never came back, and most of the sacrifices were eaten. He escaped by chance because he didn’t meet the requirements of the ritual, but he might not be so lucky next time.”
His Adam's apple bobbed, and looking at the crowd holding their breath, he spoke in a trembling voice.
"I escaped halfway through the process of being taken away."
...
The outpost outside the city of Crows was completely silent, save for the increasingly loud chirping of cicadas outside the window.
Meanwhile, in the forest on the southern slope of the Wanren Mountains, four agile figures were moving along the trail of messy hoofprints.
Leading the way were two skeletons draped in black robes, one tall and one short, with eerie green soul flames flickering in their eye sockets.
Following closely behind were two burly lizardmen. Although they had the appearance of cold-blooded animals, the way they carried their weapons was very much like human figures.
The four "people" are not locals, but players from another world, and they are definitely top-tier (T0) level players.
While ordinary players are still struggling around the Bronze level, the guy leading the group had already broken through to the Gold level last year, and was just one step away from becoming the first-level boss of the dungeon, "Lizardman Ghoul Warrior" Ocdo.
Platinum is only one level above gold, so calling it a first-tier product is not a big problem.
Aside from Brother Yi Ye Zhi Qiu, the rat-man assassin "Hu Wan" walking beside him is also quite good, having reached the gold level at the beginning of this year as well.
As for the two silver-level lizardmen behind him, they were the Minotaur Warrior and the Pig-Headed Knight, among the more useful tools under the Demon King's command.
The four were ordered by the Demon King to secretly infiltrate the northern border of Count Spinor's territory to investigate the movements of the "Rotten Flesh Clan".
After a year, the follow-up to the Twilight Provinces Ratman side quest has finally arrived. All four players are very excited and have been traveling day and night to get there.
"...These are the tracks of patrolling cavalry. They probably encountered survivors and then led them away...If my guess is correct, this should be the plot."
"Are we going to the border post?"
“No need. This isn’t the Province of Twilight, the title of Holy Spirit doesn’t matter… Besides, it’s hard to say who will act faster.”
Yi Yezhiqiu squatted down, his fingertips gently tracing the marks on the ground.
There, besides a series of hoofprints leading south, there was a series of barefoot human footprints extending north, and... claw marks covering these footprints.
"The rats are nearby."
The soul fire within his skull flickered slightly. He withdrew his finger bone and stood up.
At the same time, Hu Wan had already nimbly leaped to the treetop, the soul fire in her skull shrank to a point, and her vision swept across the pine forest like a sickle.
Shadow Vision!
That's a skill of the undead assassin, allowing the caster to ignore physical obstacles and search for the presence of the living!
He quickly jumped down from the treetop.
"Found it."
The pig-headed knight grinned and slung his battle axe over his shoulder.
"Get to work!"
Following the clues Hu Wan had found, the four players quickly advanced. Not long after, a commotion of arguing erupted from the bushes ahead.
Several clan rats wearing tattered leather armor were shoving each other, seemingly shifting blame for losing their prey.
"It's all your fault! You made the human creature escape!"
"It's your fault, it's your fault!"
The chattering was mixed with the rat-man's slang.
"Let's do it."
Yi Ye Zhi Qiu's voice was completely calm, and as soon as he finished speaking, he raised his bony finger adorned with a gold and diamond ring.
At the same time, several pale white bone spears materialized out of thin air and shot out with a shrill whistling sound that tore through the air.
"Puff puff puff!"
Before the three clan rats could even scream, bone spears pierced their chests, pinning them firmly to the tree trunk.
Only one small scout remained, terrified by the bone spear that grazed its scalp. With a yelp, it scrambled and fled into the depths of the dense forest.
"Stupefy! You monster, don't run away!"
The pig-headed knight let out an excited yelp and prepared to charge forward, but was stopped by Brother Yi Ye Zhi Qiu's raised skeletal hand.
"Stay calm."
Yi Ye Zhi Qiu retrieved the ring that shimmered with demonic light, and at the same time, the bone spear that had been deliberately shot off course turned into dust and scattered.
"I let it escape on purpose; it couldn't get away."
Just as he released the bone spear, he also released the wind bird, which flew into the sky. Its sharp, falcon-like eyes were already firmly locked onto the rat.
It can't escape!
Minotaur Warrior: "666! As expected of Brother Ye, unfathomable!"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "...Come on."
No one said anything more. Following the directions given by Brother Yi Ye Zhi Qiu, they kept a close watch on the little mouse that was running around in all directions.
About twenty minutes later, they tracked it to a secluded stream. The terrified ratman plunged headfirst into the vines between two boulders and disappeared.
"It was hidden quite well."
Yi Ye Zhi Qiu nodded to Hu Wan beside him.
The latter, perfectly in sync, understood immediately, their figures blurring instantly as they disappeared into the cave entrance, seemingly blending into the shadows.
Not long after, several muffled groans and the crisp sound of a mechanism being dismantled came from inside the cave.
Immediately afterwards, the rusty iron gate was slowly opened from the inside, and Hu Wan made a "safe" gesture in the shadows.
"Watch my eyes and act accordingly—"
"roar!!!"
"Kill them!!"
The two lizardmen, who could no longer contain themselves, roared and charged forward.
The cave's interior is a hidden world, clearly a long-established underground stronghold.
The minotaur warrior, brandishing his spear, charged in first. A flash of cold light appeared first, followed by a spear thrust out like a bull!
The pig-headed knight followed closely behind, his battle axe thirsting for blood, and charged into the swarm of rats, swinging it in a half-circle.
Dozens of ratmen who were resting were stunned by the sudden attack.
Two Silver Peak heavy warriors were like tigers among sheep, sweeping with their spears and slashing with their battle axes, instantly unleashing a storm of blood!
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
The little mice were no match for them and could only scramble to their feet, dodging left and right using the stalactite pillars as cover, and waiting for an opportunity to fight back.
However--
Struggling is futile.
Facing a Silver-level expert on the front lines, a mere fifty or sixty ratmen had absolutely no chance of winning, let alone the fact that these two Silver-level brutes launched a sneak attack.
Caught off guard, the ratmen soldiers suffered heavy casualties. An elite monster who appeared to have awakened extraordinary power charged forward with a long sword, only to be cleaved in two by an axe.
"Hahaha! My head!" The pig-headed knight roared excitedly, fighting with increasing ferocity in the stalactite cave.
Fear was evident on the faces of the ratmen, but their nightmare was far from over; a cold glint was silently reaching for their necks.
"laugh--"
Blood splattered!
Before the rats could even see what was happening, one head after another jumped into the air like fleas.
Hu Wan, treading the edge of the battlefield, skillfully wielded her dagger, ruthlessly reaping the throats of one fresh person after another.
This guy blended into the ratmen and kept reaping kills. In the blink of an eye, the other ratmen couldn't even recognize this "traitor".
It wasn't until they met his gaze that they were terrified by the eerie green soul fire, screaming and fleeing in all directions.
"Undead! Damn it! It's an undead!"
In the chaos, several rat-man priests dressed in dirty robes emerged from behind.
They roared angrily, brandishing their bone staffs, and several eerie, transparent flames roared as they hurtled towards the two lizardman players.
The flame had no heat, but it exuded a chilling cold that penetrated to the very bone, as if reaching the depths of one's soul.
"Holy crap? What kind of magic is this?"
The minotaur warrior was grazed on the shoulder by a ball of soul fire, but instead of feeling the burning pain, he felt a numbness on half of his body, and his movements instantly slowed down.
"Does the hell even have magic to reduce SAN?! There's no SAN bar!" The pig-headed knight was startled and quickly raised his battle axe to parry.
As the rat-man priests prepared to chant a second round of spells after their attack had been effective, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.
"Snap—"
Countless sharp bone spears suddenly burst forth from the rocks beneath their feet, like white flagpoles rising from the ground, instantly stringing the fragile spellcasters together like candied hawthorns.
Blood flowed down the bone spears, and the priests' screams came to an abrupt halt.
Witnessing the priest's tragic death, the remaining clan rat warriors around him completely collapsed.
They dropped their weapons and screamed as they fled into the darkness of the cave, leaving behind only a mess of corpses.
"Damn it! These rats are so weak!" The pig-headed knight cursed and spat on the ground.
He had just started to enjoy himself when the battle was over.
"It's obvious that these little guys are just the first wave."
Yi Ye Zhi Qiu snapped his fingers, scattering the bone spear he had erected, and at the same time lit the torch that had fallen to the ground, handing it to his teammates beside him.
"Let's go, let's see what's hidden inside?"
This branch line has been buried for quite a long time.
Back in the Twilight Province, they discovered traces of rat-men activity in the vicinity of the Ten Thousand Ren Mountains. In the later decisive battle, those rat-men even revealed their identities and joined the fray.
Now that the Skaven have reappeared in the southern Earl of Spinor, they have reason to believe that clues to the next expansion are hidden in this cave.
With anticipation, the group carried their torches and walked forward. However, the further they went, the heavier their hearts became.
The firelight dispelled the darkness in the cave, making the white bones on the ground even more shocking; broken ribs and skulls were carelessly discarded in the corners of the cave.
The little mouse ate the scraps left by the big mouse, not leaving a single bite for the cockroach, and even squeaking and fighting with it.
The group finally reached a relatively open space.
The scene that greeted them was so disturbing that even players accustomed to seeing mountains of corpses and seas of blood in games couldn't help but feel a sense of physical discomfort.
Even the most unconventional pig-headed knight, after a moment of silence, couldn't help but swallow hard and mutter a curse.
"By Saint Sith..."
It was a blood-soaked altar.
It was hard to tell whether its main body was stone, bone, or a piece of flesh that hadn't been completely gnawed. A filthy crystal sat in the center of the altar, and strange runes were carved into the stone floor tiles, emanating a chilling aura.
Yi Ye Zhi Qiu stepped forward, snapped his fingers with his right hand adorned with a diamond ring, and the braziers around the altar burst into flames.
The flickering flames gave the copper basin a greasy sheen, and the minotaur warrior suddenly felt his stomach churning.
"...I don't want to know what those candles are made of."
Yi Yezhiqiu glanced at him.
Nobody asked you.
Brother Huwan was the most composed.
Perhaps because he had done too much sorting work, he skillfully went to a corner and rummaged through it, eventually dragging out a corpse dressed in a uniform.
"Found him, it's the missing railway surveyor... unfortunately, he's already dead."
The moment he dragged the corpse out, the pile of bones on the wall collapsed, and countless things rushed out, almost killing the two lizardmen on the spot.
"Grass--"
"What the hell?!"
"May Saint Sith bless them, and lend me your soul." With her "Undead Vision" activated, Yi Ye Zhi Qiu walked among the corpses.
The soul fire in his eye sockets flickered slightly as he softly chanted the incantation to summon the ghouls, preparing to call a few people up to ask about the situation.
However, a strange scene unfolded. A wave of eerie green magic swept across the entire area, yet the corpses lying on the ground remained completely still.
"What's wrong?" Hu Wan noticed something was amiss.
"Something's a bit odd..."
Yi Ye Zhi Qiu stopped casting the spell, pinched his chin with his finger bones, and said with deep doubt in his tone, "These corpses... are empty."
They have no souls...
A silent atmosphere permeated the altar.
No one spoke, only the occasional sounds from the brazier broke the silence when a drop of water fell from a stalactite pillar.
"Empty?"
The minotaur warrior wrinkled the scales on his forehead and scratched his scalp with his fingertips.
"That's strange... Could it be that these ratmen performed a ritual to help them pass on to the afterlife?"
In the human world, priests do this kind of work; he had never heard of ratmen doing such a thing.
They'll just shave the bones even cleaner.
"I don't know."
Yi Yezhiqiu shook his head.
"According to the mechanics of 'Cataclysm Online,' the souls of the dead do not immediately dissipate. Chosen ones are usually taken away by their respective gods, and nobles are generally the same. As for ordinary people, if they are not given a priest's ritual to guide them to the afterlife, they will either gradually transform into undead creatures or naturally dissipate over time... But these people are clearly not nobles."
There are probably more nobles than the entire continent of Aust combined, and there are at least a thousand corpses lying here... and that is probably an underestimate.
He is a player who is good at studying game mechanics, which is why he was able to decipher the clues that trigger the main quest from the details of the plot.
However, the situation before him still made him feel a little tricky. Neither the altar nor the sacrificial candles in the brazier seemed to be something the rat people had made themselves.
The dwarf's kerosene lamp is more like a decoration in the rat-man's lair.
"Holy crap, could it be the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls?!"
"...This doesn't feel right, the art style doesn't match."
Just as everyone was discussing this strange phenomenon, a deafening roar suddenly came from the deepest part of the cave.
"roar--!!"
The voice was filled with a violent rage, and rubble fell from the cave ceiling, making the entire ground tremble with its furious fury.
Immediately afterwards, an immense, suffocating pressure surged forth like a tidal wave, accompanied by the clan rats' overwhelming fighting spirit.
I don't know who gave them the courage, but those little mice came back to fight again!
"Prepare for battle!"
The soul fire in Yi Ye Zhi Qiu's eyes suddenly flared. This time, she carefully took out her staff and held it in her right hand, which was adorned with a gold diamond ring.
"This oppressive feeling..." Hu Wan's soul fire in her skull contracted slightly, and she held the dagger in her hand in front of her, her voice trembling with excitement, "It's at least a gold-level weapon!"
"A Gold-level BOSS?!"
The minotaur warrior and the orc knight showed no fear. Instead, they exchanged excited glances, gripped their weapons tightly, and their eyes were filled with greedy anticipation.
We've got a job!
"Let's get this straight! I'll keep the warrior's equipment for myself!"
"Damn, even if you get some ratman gear, you'll have to be able to use it."
"It's okay! My equipment is good enough, next time I'll just switch to Ratman!"
"...Awesome."
The four quickly formed a battle formation, equipping themselves with all available buffs, ready to face the surging horde of rats and the map boss.
However, no one noticed that in a shadowy recess above the altar, a pair of cold eyes were silently watching.
That gaze pierced through the darkness, lingering for a moment on the two skeletons and the two lizardmen, its eyes holding a chilling depth...
(End of this chapter)
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