Capítulo 1853: Chapter 1255: Southshore Town (Savory Zongzi Taste Bad, Sweet Ones Are Better)
“Oh, why am I so unlucky?”
Walking on the deserted road, Duanmu Huai sighed heavily. The reason for his sighing was simple, it was the girl beside him.
However, unlike Duanmu Huai who was walking on foot, Naruse Mio and Banriya, Homura Akemi and Mugeng were each riding a horse — after all, they were girls, it wouldn’t be realistic for them to walk all the way to Stormwind.
And the problem lay in their mounts.
After purifying the northern lands, the Night Guard brought back some spoils for Duanmu Huai. Most things were useless to him, but two items caught his attention: the [Headless Knight’s Reins] and the [Death Warhorse’s Reins].
According to Ann’s appraisal, these were considered magical items. Once magic power was infused, they could summon magic mounts.
So Duanmu Huai initially tried it out, hmm, how to say it… his legs were taller than the horse’s head. Although if Duanmu Huai bent his knees and adopted a squatting posture, he could still sit on it, and as a magic mount, it wouldn’t be squashed by his weight. But how to say… it looked awkward.
This even reminded Duanmu Huai of the time he encountered the general Ratain at the borderland, riding a pony weaker than himself, acting wild. So Duanmu Huai decisively gave up. He didn’t want to act as foolish as Ratain. Ratain was crazy, so it didn’t matter, but Duanmu Huai wasn’t crazy yet — curling up on a pony on the battlefield would make him look like an idiot!
Speaking of which, why can’t the magic mounts change according to the rider’s size?
Ultimately, Duanmu Huai gave the two reins to Naruse Mio and Mugeng, as they also had magic power to activate and use them.
Thus, while Duanmu Huai took the “footpath,” the four girls leisurely admired the scenery from their mounts.
Although given Duanmu Huai’s physical attributes, he wouldn’t be tired even if he ran a circle around the Earth, but was the fatigue physical? No, it was mental!
“Look at you all, with your mounts, while I’m the only one walking, sigh…”
Duanmu Huai grumbled again, shook his head, and continued forward. Just then, Ogis reached out and patted Duanmu Huai’s helmet.
“Don’t be sad, master, I’ll ride you.”
“……….”
Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, Duanmu Huai felt his legs growing heavier.
“Clang clang clang clang clang!!!”
Suddenly, the sound of urgent bell ringing came from afar, catching the weary group off guard.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know… hmm, according to the map, ahead is Southshore Town.”
Duanmu Huai took out the map, glanced at it, and compared their position. Their original plan was to go through Silverpine Forest and reach Hillsbrad Foothills’ Southshore Town, to taste the food of this world and experience local culture and customs.
So something going wrong now?
“I’ll go check it out, you guys follow!”
After saying this, Duanmu Huai flew into the sky, heading towards the alarm’s source with Ogis, leaving the four girls bewildered and hesitant, not taking immediate action.
The reason was simple.
“I, I can’t ride a horse! Banriya?”
“I can’t either, Lord Mio.”
Naruse Mio and Banriya were bewildered; they could sit on the horse, but racing was beyond their capability. The two, being high-level demons, usually flew rather than rode horses.
On the other side, Homura Akemi and Mugeng were equally lost. If it were a mechanical vehicle, Homura Akemi could use her magic power to make it move, but a warhorse? That was beyond her capability.
Mugeng, on the other hand, was used to flying all the time, how would she know how to ride a horse?
So what now?
This was no concern to Duanmu Huai. He flew around in the air, quickly locating Southshore Town.
At first glance…
“Wow, this is impressive.”
Seeing Southshore Town below, Duanmu Huai couldn’t help but marvel.
Down below, hundreds and thousands of skeleton soldiers surrounded Southshore Town completely, while the town faced the sea, and the skeletons sealed off the remaining three sides. Soldiers from Southshore Town were taking advantage of makeshift roadblocks to combat the skeleton soldiers.
Duanmu Huai didn’t immediately intervene but observed the battle situation closely below.
One had to admit, Southshore Town, despite being small, seemed to have decent strength, and the layout was interesting. Considering it was a human town near the land of the undying spirits, for it to survive till now, it must have some tricks up its sleeve.
However, the number was still lacking.
Skeleton Guards increased in number, while their quality wasn’t high, quantity was overwhelming Southshore Town. Their current defensive efforts could only prolong the inevitable a bit.
Let’s take action then.
Duanmu Huai quickly locked onto a target, a necromancer acting mysterious in the graveyard, drawing his attention for a simple reason.
In such a dark place, it’s hard not to see, isn’t it? A light flashing now and then, even a blind person could spot it!
Without hesitation, Duanmu Huai accelerated and charged towards the Necromancer!
Meanwhile, within Southshore Town, the battle continued to rage fiercely.
“Hold the line, we must hold the line!!”
Sheriff Redpath swung his Longsword, slicing through the Skeleton Soldiers blocking his path, shouting aloud.
At that moment, a series of ice storms rained down from the sky, freezing a vast swath of Skeleton Guards at the front. This allowed Redpath to breathe a sigh of relief, as he quickly retreated and looked towards Mayor Henni Mareb, who was gripping his Magic Wand.
“Mayor, this can’t go on, we can’t hold out much longer!”
“But we have no way out, we must endure.”
Mayor Henni Mareb, although not old, had a resolute and strong-willed demeanor.
“These Undead are not the Forsaken but summoned Undead Soldiers; if we can defeat the summoner controlling them, we can break free.”
“We’ve tried several times but never succeeded.”
Redpath shook his head, understanding the situation. Yet, the Necromancer on the other side was well-hidden; leading his team of Guards, Redpath had rushed multiple times without success, losing several good men in the process, leaving him anxious.
“This time, I will go personally.”
“Mayor?”
Hearing Mayor Mareb’s decision, Redpath looked at him with some astonishment.
“Are you serious? If that Necromancer sees you, they will try everything to stop you!”
“Exactly, so I’m merely the bait. Once the Necromancer concentrates his forces to deal with me, the defenses in other directions will weaken, allowing you to break through and cut him down with your sword!”
“This………”
Faced with Mayor Mareb’s decision, Redpath was silent for a moment before gritting his teeth.
“Alright, I will complete the task!”
“That’s good; no matter what, the residents of Southshore Town are counting on us.”
Saying this, Mayor Mareb gripped his Magic Wand tightly, took a deep breath, as he was indeed a Mage and not versed in frontline combat. But the situation was beyond choice, so he glanced around once more and shouted loudly.
“Guards of Southshore Town, listen to me………”
“Whoosh———————”
However, before Mayor Mareb could finish his words, an eye-catching streak like a meteor pierced the dark night sky, heavily crashing at the rear of the Skeleton army.
In the next moment, the Skeleton Guards who were still frantically assaulting Southshore Town suddenly scattered to the ground like broken puppets, silent. Evidently, these were the consequences of the Necromancer summoning them being slain.
However, what exactly happened?
Redpath and Mayor Mareb exchanged glances, both bewildered and puzzled, when suddenly heavy footsteps sounded.
“Thump…… Thump…… Thump………”
The footsteps were slow and steady yet carried an unsettling tension, instinctively causing the Southshore Town guards, who fought with determination against the Skeletons earlier, to take a few steps back. Then, under the blazing flames, everyone saw a massive black figure slowly emerging from the night, with crimson eyes radiating a chilling glow……
“State your name! Outsider!!”
Though there were various issues, Duanmu Huai felt that bringing along Ogis was indeed a wise decision.
At the very least, the presence of a frail-looking girl could alleviate the anxiety and vigilance others felt upon seeing him. Truthfully, without Ogis, the Southshore Town guards might have already attacked Duanmu Huai.
“Thank you for your help.”
With a chance to speak, the tense atmosphere between both sides eased. Despite Duanmu Huai’s ferocious demeanor and armor that didn’t suggest good intentions, he indeed helped lift a major threat from Southshore Town. Naturally, Mayor Mareb inquired about Duanmu Huai’s origins, and Duanmu claimed to be an Adventurer—as he learned from records in Undercity, many Adventurers exist in this world, perfect for use as a cover.
When Naruse Mio and others also arrived, Mayor Mareb and Sheriff Redpath completely let go of their guard, treating Duanmu Huai and his companions as bona fide Adventurers.
Upon learning Duanmu Huai and his companions came from Silverpine Forest, Mayor Mareb hastily inquired if they knew anything about disturbances in Tirisfal Glades. Duanmu Huai did not disclose much but hinted that the Undying spirits there should have been completely eradicated—making him curious why Southshore Town still had so many Undead.
Listening to Mayor Mareb’s explanation…… well, what should be said?
It would indeed be better off cremated.
At least ashes wouldn’t rise to bite people.
Duanmu Huai also inquired about the situation nearby. Although they had a map, maps didn’t cover current events, and he wanted to find out the condition of human nations at present.
As expected, according to Mayor Mareb, the situation here isn’t very good.
And all of this…… is related to the Orcs.