Chapter 189: The Accidental Battle
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The muffled sound resonated throughout the mountains like rolling thunder. It was as if a huge rock was crashing down a cliff. The rumble went on for at least half a minute and then, it stopped. Becky was left staggering. "Could it be a landslide?"
Hao Ren’s face dimmed. "F*ck, are we that unlucky?"
"Keep going, the least we have is time." Nangong Wuyue led the way before she wheeled around and said, "Becky, you take the lead. I don’t know the directions..."
They did not say a word since as they hustled through the rugged ancient trail.
The trail was built by Holletta Royalty several hundred years ago. It was now in disrepair. Only the bravest and most skillful mercenaries or adventurers in urgency would take this route. The ancient trail ran across the slope of the mountain like a snake. Certain stretches were wider and layered with slabs while the steeper and narrower stretches had stone steps. Some other areas were just part of the natural rocky slope with safety railing made of thick, iron chains. Even the toughest breed of horses found this terrain extremely challenging. Theirs had slowed down quite a bit after passing the gentle terrain earlier.
Shortly after that, they came to a renowned and dangerous section of the ancient trail. It was a narrow stretch carved out from a steep cliff—there was a rock face on one side, and cold wind and a 1000m fall on the other. The trail only allowed two persons, walking side-by-side at a time. Even though there were safety iron chains on the outer side, the metal columns that held the chains were rusty, and slanted outward. If you slipped, you could fall straight through the gaps, and down the cliff easily. So, the safety railing there was more form than function. Hao Ren walked one step at a time while Lily was held on to Hao Ren and followed closely behind—the maiden was still in her human form. If she had shapeshifted into a werewolf, her tail would have been between her legs at that point.
"It must hurt, falling down there," said Lily breathlessly as drafts of cold, mountain wind swept past.
Hao Ren rolled his eyes. Lily said that because she had a body made out of steel. "Hurt" would be an understatement if humans were to fall down there.
Vivian was the most relaxed one because, she could fly...
Before they set off on this dangerous stretch, Becky made sure the horses walked in front while they followed from behind; it was a strategy she learned from her experience as a mercenary: these horses knew their way on the dangerous trail, and it was to prevent these horses from crashing into people in front of them should they become frightened, and run amok.
"I can smell..." Vivian was walking in front of Hao Ren, they were halfway on the trail when Vivian turned around and frowned. "...blood ahead. And it’s fresh."
"Blood?" Hao Ren was taken aback. Some guy from this foreign world probably had a bloody encounter. "Keep going!"
The group finally passed through the narrow cliff path. As they went around a huge rock, the road opened up in front of them. Meanwhile the stink of blood became stronger as they went farther ahead. Even Hao Ren could smell it a little.
Just then, a noisy commotion was heard, with sounds of angry shouts, blades hitting each other, and some kind of explosion. There was probably a fight happening.
Becky drew her enchanted sword. "How many of you can fight?"
Vivian’s eyes had turned blood-red while Lily’s ears and tail had come out from their hiding place. They shapeshifted into their true selves at once without having to worry about anything. It was a different world. Becky was relieved seeing that. "Aha, a werewolf and a member of the Blood Clan! At least, self-defence isn’t going to be a problem. Let’s go nearer but, be very careful."
They were getting nearer to the sound of battle because they could hear people groaning in pain. As they came out from the last corner, Hao Ren could see what was happening right in front: a group of people were fighting some rock monsters.
Judging from their attire, these people were mercenaries. About 12 or 13 of them, wearing all kinds of armour, equipment and weapons—a typical, ragtag squad. Attacking them were some strange creatures. Hao Ren did not know what to make of them. These creatures looked like stone sculptures. They were about four or five metres tall, greyish brown in colour like rocks with heads and limbs. Additionally, their bodies were covered in moss and broken vines which made them look like something that just walked out from some grotesque fairy tale.
The battle had been going on for quite long so, these mercenaries were suffering from injuries. Some had even lost their fighting capability. They were covered in blood and could barely stand on their feet, leaning on their weapons as support. They stood at the side while they struggled to avoid the occasional assaults that came their way. The remaining mercenaries were not any better either. The rock monsters had an overwhelming combat capability; although they were slow, their heavy, rocky bodies were impenetrable by all kinds of weapon. The only damage the mercenaries could inflict was some sparks from their sword when they hit the monsters. They also managed to blow off only a few chips of stone by magic. In contrast, these monsters had inflicted terrible wounds on the mercenaries of flesh and blood.
The rock monsters fought in a brute way; they either smashed with their bodies or stamped with their feet. Their slow body movement was not a problem as they stood at four to five metres tall. No human could have caught up with their speed when they ran. All the mercenaries could do was engage in close quarter combat as these monsters got near them: perhaps, this was what they had just learned.
There were only three rock monsters but, the squad of mercenaries had already been beaten black and blue.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the trail, Hao Ren noticed a pile of broken rocks, which was likely a monster killed by the mercenaries. But, how did they do it?
Hao Ren was stunned as it was the first time he had ever seen such a bizarre battle. At the same time, Y’zaks shouted and lunged forward. "Let’s give them a hand!"
The rest could not just sit by. Vivian spread her wings and flew up in the air before transforming into two swarms of bats. She began to attack with her powerful Lightning Strike; Lily summoned her claws of ice and fire then, looked up at the sun—it was day time by the way—and howled. She was blinded by the strong sunlight and instead of going towards the enemies, she was headed directly into the cliff. In a quick move, Hao Ren lunged forward and pulled her around so that she could charge in the right direction.
Nangong Wuyue found herself a hiding place to lessen the chances of being a sitting target. She could not help it as she was just a healer. Her siren powers may have had some uses against normal creatures but, no matter how she looked at it, these rock monsters did not seem to be made of water. Not only that, they did not seem to have an intelligent mind, which would allow them to be hypnotised by her singing...
Hao Ren passed the pot, which contained his daughter to Nangong Wuyue before he joined the party with his shield switched on.
Although he did not like odd battles like this, he was a man. He could not sit by and do nothing.
Boom!
Vivian's Lightning Strike was fully charged. Double lightning drills formed by the swarms of bats shot the nearest rock monster like a TNT warhead. Smoke, dust and rocks flew everywhere. The sound of the explosion resonated throughout the mountains for quite a while.
Meanwhile Lily was happily running towards the centre of the blast, vowing to chop down the head of a monster. "Watch me!"
Exactly a second later, she ran out frantically. "Battie, you stupid daughter of a bat! Don’t you know that rock aren't conductors?"
Wind in the mountain cleared the smoke and dust in the air, revealing the rock monster that was hit by Vivian’s lethal Lightning Strike. It was a powerful blast and the monster lost a layer of its skin as well half of its head. There were also burnt marks and cracks all over its body. Despite that, it was still alive and kicking. It was now coming after Lily.
This kind of damage was not a big deal to rock monsters.
Vivian's Lightning Strike was divided into two parts: one was the high heat generated when the lightning drills hit their target; the other was the electric shock, in which its energy was comparable to natural occuring lightning. The damage caused to normal creatures was catastrophic. But somehow, the vampire maiden lacked the experience when it came to this strange, new monster: they had high electrical resistance and were not afraid of the blast.
There was no more element of surprise. It was now time to fight with flesh and blood.