Chapter 196 (1/2)
The attitude of the old man in front of him was kind. He did not have too much grandeur as a man of such a high-order position. While he spoke, the woman clad in armour turned and looked at them curiously. Hao Ren found that she was a much younger woman than he had expected. She looked around 25 years old, had fair skin, and looked very beautiful. However, there was a suttle heroic spirit in her face, which hinted that she was experienced on the battlefield, not just a beautiful woman with no actual strength.
Becky was a little nervous when she saw the bishop. She hurriedly folded her hands in front of her chest as a special gesture and then, took a deep bow. She said with a stiff tone, “Your Excellency, I am Becky, I am a second-class mercenary from Lamberg Town, the— Yes, we have important intelligence!”
“Don’t be nervous, I’ve heard it.” The bishop waved his hand to signal that Becky did not have to be overly courteous. He looked curiously at the people behind Becky. He found that these people neither saluted him nor expressed any tension. There was however, a subtle sense of alienation. He could not help but look at them again, but he said nothing about it. He just turned to Becky and went straight to the point, “All of you have just descended from the mountains? And, you know something about the rock monsters?”
Becky nodded hurriedly and replied, “Yes… We do. We saw them split from a peak on the southern side of the mountain trail!”
“Split from the peak?” The old man’s eyebrows fluttered, a surprised glow flashed through his muddy eyes. “How? Please tell me the details.”
Alhough Becky was usually careless and fearless, she was a civilian after all, who had a deep-rooted fear of the Disciples of Glory. For the first time in her life she met the bishop, such a big shot. She hurriedly told him everything they saw in the mountain, and also mentioned the battle in the east of the mountains.
“The three of you settled the rock monsters? You seem to have actual strength.” The old man looked at Hao Ren and the people beside him, who did not even have weapons or armour with surprise. He did not feel much of a warrior’s vigor from them, which surprised him and he asked, “Are you also a mercenary group?”
Lily jumped up on the spot and said, “Dogs Have Gotten All the Good Names…”
Hao Ren tried to stop the girl immediately, but he did not make it. Lily acted too quickly.
The old bishop heaved a long sigh and said, “The mercenaries now…are getting more and more outrageous. When I was young, there were names like Silver Hand, Silver Fist, and Silver Eye. Now, the names are getting weird. Young people these days really don’t take the names seriously.”
Hao Ren muttered, “All the good names are taken. Why don’t you tell us that the last mercenary group in the silver series is called Silver Knee?”
“We saw the situation outside the town earlier.” Vivian did not want to dwell on the topic and took the initiative to divert attention. “Has there been an attack here? What’s the status?”
“Two attacks, the Knights had some casualties, but after finding the giants’ weakness, they defeated them.” The old man did not conceal the situation and roughly explained what had happened that afternoon. Hao Ren then knew that after the rock monsters split from the cliff, they immediately attacked the small town at the foot of the hill. Two consecutive attacks.
The first attack took place three hours ago, about an hour or so after the loud bang came from the mountain. More than 10 rock monsters rushed out of the mountain path. Most of the casualties among the Knights occurred during the first attack. The powerful combat ability of those monsters was still not the toughest part. The toughest part was that they could regenerate whenever they touched the ground. No one knew this at first, and there was no one as powerful as Y’zaks who could take time to figure out the weaknesses of the opponent while fighting. So, the Knights went through a tough fight, but eventually, they fought off the rock monsters after a certain amount of casualties.
The second attack took place one hour ago, just before Hao Ren and the rest of them arrived in the town. Again, more than 10 rock monsters rushed out of the mountain path, but they were prepared, the attack was easily disrupted.
“It was very sudden. Those monsters almost rushed into the town,” said the bishop in a low tone. “Fortunately, this is the last stop before the Holy Land. There are many Knights stationed all year round so, nothing serious happened.”
“Based on the time, after the rock monsters split from the cliff, they should be heading straight for the town.” The young woman, who spoke to the bishop just now had remained silent for quite some time. At that moment, she spoke. Her voice was steady and magnetic. “Your Excellency, what do you think of this matter?”
The bishop bowed his head, pondered for a moment, and began to speak slowly, “Dragonspine Ridge is a sacrilege built by the arrogant ancient mage-emperors. Every stone in that mountain is a challenge to the authority of the goddes. All the unusual phenomena that has occurred should be attributed to evil motive, and the rock monsters that split from the mountains are undoubtedly full of evil. I think their goal should not be this checkpoint, but… Beinz, the Holy Lake.”