Chapter 40: The End of the Predicament 1

Not far away, the ship was already burning fiercely, with flames soaring into the sky.

At this moment, Niuniu was flying toward them while carrying Big Nose along the way.

Big Nose’s body was naturally much larger than Niuniu’s, so the scene looked rather ridiculous. To everyone else, however, it was actually understandable.

A Grass Spirit was only a first-level magical beast, but its strength was comparable to that of an adult human. Therefore, carrying a first-level Mole Beast was nothing unusual.

The truly unusual thing was the relationship between Niuniu and Big Nose.

Generally speaking, magical beasts of different ranks rarely got along so harmoniously. The possibility of them living together peacefully was extremely low.

“Not good! Look over there!”

Niuniu had just landed on Kent’s shoulder.

In fact, among everyone present, Kent was probably the only one who bathed every day. Even on the ship, the mercenaries carried a strong smell of sweat that could be noticed from a distance. The women around Kweilin were slightly better, but still not as clean as Kent.

Then everyone saw what was happening on the opposite riverbank.

A dense formation of cavalry had appeared.

The Kweilin River was extremely wide, no narrower than the Yangtze River on Earth. And this was only during low tide. Once the tide rose, the surface of the river would become even wider.

Whenever Kent imagined waves towering over a hundred meters high, he could not help but feel excited.

When the tide rises, I must go to the seaside and see it for myself.

But right now, what appeared before them was a massive group of cavalry on the opposite bank.

“Big brother, run! There must be powerful people over there. Remember to bring two priests with you. If something unexpected happens along the way, at least you’ll have someone who can heal you.”

Kent immediately realized that the situation was bad.

For a ninth-level powerhouse, this river was no obstacle at all.

So he quickly turned to Kweilin and warned him.

Kweilin’s face immediately turned pale.

He hurriedly called over another one of his guards and whispered a few instructions to him.

Then he gave him a meaningful glance.

In an instant, the arrangements were completed.

Two sixth-level swordsmen moved to stand beside Alice and Delis, protecting them.

A seventh-level swordsman positioned himself beside Kent.

It was obvious that they were already prepared for any emergency.

“Kill them! Kill them!”

Before Kent’s group could even make a move, nearly a hundred more people suddenly rushed over from a distance.

Judging from their appearance, these people seemed to be the ones transporting stones for the catapults.

Behind them was another catapult.

When the masked attackers saw that most of their companions had already been killed, their eyes became filled with bloodlust and rage.

They charged forward immediately.

These people were also carrying military crossbows.

Once this group joined the battle, the mercenaries remaining on the ship could no longer hold their position.

“Run! If we don’t run now, we’re dead!”

Someone among the people on the riverbank suddenly shouted.

Immediately, nearly a hundred people on Kent’s side scattered and fled.

Most of them were low-level mercenaries.

Kweilin’s two guards quickly selected two priests with powerful magical energy, knocked them unconscious, and carried them away.

To swordsmen, priests were the most important means of survival at critical moments.

Kent’s group of more than ten people ran the farthest.

Behind them came the sounds of fierce fighting, mixed with occasional screams of agony.

A swordsman carried Kent while sprinting forward at full speed.

Kent glanced back and saw Holian casting a magical barrier. Inside the barrier were more than a dozen priests and knights, as well as some mercenaries.

Unfortunately, the levels of those people were simply too low.

The speed of mid-level swordsmen was extraordinary.

Before long, Kent’s group had completely left the battlefield behind.

However, because this was an open plain, they could still see the flashes of magic from the distant battlefield.

Eventually, Kent and the others rushed into a forest.

Only then did they stop to rest and recover for a moment.

Kweilin walked to the side with his ninth-level guard.

Kweilin’s expression looked terrible, but the guard kept shaking his head repeatedly. In the end, no one knew what Kweilin said to him, but he took out a pouch and handed it over.

The guard then gave a formal knight’s salute before quickly heading back toward the battlefield.

“Ah... Kote is my father’s captain of the guards. He has saved my father’s life twice before. My father treats him like a brother, and he is also an elder to me. I can’t just abandon him here. Otherwise, the entire empire would be thrown into chaos.”

Kweilin slowly walked back over and replied bitterly.

There was still a trace of fear hidden deep in his eyes.

Kent looked at Kweilin and then said:

“We should keep moving. We are too close to the battlefield here. Since they were able to arrange such a large-scale operation in this place, either they have connections with the local forces, or they have people stationed outside keeping watch. So...”

“Search carefully! Don’t miss any details. They have entered this forest. Two people per group. Move!”

Before Kent could finish speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of approaching horse hooves from a distance, followed by the voices of several people.

Kent almost wanted to slap himself twice.

Whatever you fear, that’s exactly what happens.

“Young master, there are ten light cavalrymen outside. One of them is a seventh-level swordsman, while the others are sixth- or seventh-level warriors. All of them are equipped with military crossbows. They have dismounted and are searching through the forest in groups of two.”

The seventh-level warrior who had carried Kent earlier quickly returned and reported.

“You all leave first. I’ll catch up with you later. Hurry.”

Seeing Kweilin’s pale face, Kent immediately ordered the swordsman beside him.

Kweilin trembled and asked:

“Then what about you?”

Delis also looked at Kent with tears filling her eyes.

“Damn it, don’t you know what I’m capable of?” Kent replied helplessly. “I still have the thing I tested last night. I’ll see if I can lure them all together. Hurry, get out of here!”

Kent had no other choice.

There were only eleven people on their side.

Delis, Alice, Kweilin, and the two priests could all be considered burdens in a battle like this. The people who could truly fight were only five individuals.

More importantly, the enemy had military crossbows.

These weapons were completely different from ordinary bows. Archers required years of training, but operating a military crossbow only required accurate eyesight and enough strength to draw it.

The range of a military crossbow was no less than 150 meters.

If their entire group stayed together, ten military crossbows firing simultaneously would likely leave only the seventh-level swordsman alive.

Everyone else would probably be wiped out.

Kweilin was about to say something more, but the seventh-level swordsman immediately struck him unconscious.

Then the swordsman gave Kent a knight’s salute.

Afterward, he lifted Kweilin onto his back and quickly left.

The remaining swordsmen each glanced at Kent before moving deeper into the forest.

Only Delis remained behind, tears streaming down her face.

But Kent knocked her unconscious as well.

Kent looked around at the forest.

Although it was called a forest, it was actually comparable to the tropical rainforests of Earth.

There were enormous trees, dense vines, and thick layers of leaves covering the ground.

The only difference was that the humidity here was not as high.

Kent looked left and right.

Then he took off his clothes and arranged them into the shape of a person as a decoy.

Beside it, he buried the landmine he had just created the previous night.

Whether it would actually work or not, Kent had no idea.

After finishing everything, Kent quietly followed in the direction Kweilin had gone.

Because from deep within the forest, he could already hear the voices of the searching soldiers approaching.

Kent moved forward rapidly through the forest.

From time to time, he would let Big Nose identify the direction of the people ahead.

Big Nose’s sense of smell was incredibly sensitive. Otherwise, it would not have been able to detect mineral deposits buried deep underground.

This was one of the natural abilities of the Gold-Eating Rats.

However, Big Nose was still in its juvenile stage, so it did not yet need to consume metal ores to strengthen itself.

Klar was the captain of a scout squad belonging to a bandit group.

He was a seventh-level swordsman.

However, Klar possessed a water-element affinity, which meant his combat ability was relatively weaker compared with other swordsmen of the same level. Because of this, he could only command a scout unit rather than serve as a frontline combatant.

The so-called “bandit groups” were actually organizations formed by criminal warriors and mages.

They committed every kind of crime imaginable—burning, killing, looting, and robbing.

They recognized only money, never loyalty or identity.

For this operation, a total of five bandit groups had been deployed.

From what Klar had seen, almost everyone involved was at least a mid-level professional.

But the reward for this mission was extremely generous.

A single bandit group would receive as much as five hundred thousand gold coins.

And half of the payment had already been handed over in advance.

This time, only the elites of the bandit groups had been sent out.

The several group leaders were currently fighting against the enemy’s high-level professionals at the front.

As for people like Klar, their task was to deal with the weaker targets trying to escape.

However, Klar had never imagined that their side’s five group leaders would actually be held back completely by only two opponents.

Even worse, someone had managed to break through their encirclement and escape.