From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 384 Collection Office
Walking on a mountain road is never an easy task, let alone climbing up along the steep mountain wall from the bottom of the stream valley.

Even with Ivy's music as accompaniment, the team's progress was still not fast. However, Kalak, who was leading the way in front, was in high spirits and kept chatting with his teammates behind him along the way.

Through the personal experiences of the Hell Champions, the team members have learned that Ice Demons hate Hellfire, Blood Armor Demons hate projectiles, and the demons from the abyss in the bloody battle are all completely unique individuals with almost no basis for classification.

In fact, this is nothing strange. Chaos created these demons and made them the ultimate enemies of all creatures of order. Even if they are hell devils who belong to the same evil camp, the demons from the abyss will kill them all.

Kalak's skills, physical fitness, and adaptability are also top-notch in Zariel's army, which is why she, a tiefling from the Prime Material Plane, was able to survive in the brutal bloody battle of Avernus for more than ten years.

Kalak, who was complaining about the hellish environment, suddenly stopped, holding his weapon with one hand, and pretended to listen. The stone bridge over the valley was almost within reach, but the roof of the collection office was blocked by the closer mountain wall.

"There's the sound of weapons clashing! It looks like the devil's lackeys have met their match! Maybe it's the Flaming Fist of Baldur's Gate! Although I don't like their style of bullying small merchants, they are still protecting the city..."

"Chk (Githyanki: Tsk), do the city guards in your world always stink so much?" Laizel fanned his flat nose with his hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We have to speed up and don't let those Flame Fists do all the work!" After saying that, Kalak stuck the handle of the giant axe in his hand on the ground, exerted force with his hands and feet at the same time, and jumped over the last section of height.

"Remember to remind me next time we fight, Ivy, don't let Kalak rush too far." Xie Nian shook his head helplessly, "We should at least maintain our formation."

Ivy plucked the strings again, and the power of magic wrapped around the ankles of all the team members. This was a first-level transformation spell, a jump spell, which could triple the jumping distance. Although it only lasted for one minute, it was more than enough to cross the last section of height.

"You have been strengthened, hurry up!"

As the team members jumped onto the cliff where the collection office stood one by one, they finally saw clearly the two parties fighting above.

On one side are the brightly armored humans and halflings, and on the other are the bloodthirsty and evil gnolls.

The size of the gnolls is similar to that of humans, but they look more terrifying, like large canines that walk on two legs. These gnolls also wear various patchwork armors, which should be looted from the corpses they killed.

The yellow and black fur of the gnolls looked messy and dirty, and there were many annoying flies hovering around them. All the team members who climbed the mountain wall smelled the stench that Laizer had mentioned before.

Some of the gnolls were armed with iron weapons of completely different models and styles, while others were armed with bone and wooden weapons. The uneven equipment and undisciplined fighting style made the gnolls far inferior to Zariel's lackeys in combat effectiveness. Even though the gnolls were more numerous, the balance of victory and defeat in the war still tilted towards humans.

However, the appearance of the adventure team obviously made the battle move in a more chaotic direction.

"Please help us!" The human paladin who was commanding the battle from a high place immediately spotted the adventurer who jumped out from the bottom of the cliff. "We are paladins from Tyr! We are hunting down a devil from hell, but these gnolls who suddenly appeared attacked us..."

"Damn Tyr's paladins!" Kalak, who was the first to jump up, cursed, "You are a bunch of Zariel's lackeys! I can smell the sulfur on you from a long distance away! We are here to send you back to hell!"

"Enough - enough! Disguise is meaningless!" The human standing on the high ground drew out the two-handed giant sword behind him, "If necessary, Kalak, I will take you back to hell piece by piece! And you... you will soon know what it means to fight against Zariel!"

The small battlefield area was crowded with three parties, with the high walls of the collection office behind them. Zariel's lackeys were occupying the high ground. If they used long-range weapons to attack, the advantages of the terrain and topography would be fully utilized. In fact, this was how they dealt with the jackals before.

The small square in front of the collection office is where the adventure team's base is. Of course, there are also some humans belonging to Zariel guarding here, because their front line of confrontation with the gnolls is mainly concentrated on the stone bridge leading to the collection office.

The stone bridge was not wide enough to accommodate two carriages in parallel, which meant that the battle line was very narrow, with only two or three soldiers able to engage in combat. Moreover, Zariel's lackeys pushed a carriage onto the stone bridge, further shortening the battle line.

With the replacement reserve troops, the victory of the human side is almost certain. If the long-range forces standing on high ground have sufficient ammunition, it will be almost impossible for these jackals to break through the defense line.

However, the adventurers who jumped up from the bottom of the cliff completely divided the battlefield into two parts, and there was a serious disconnect between the soldiers fighting in the front and the archers responsible for support in the rear.

Under the command of the leading paladin, the human soldiers in the small square immediately turned around and began to attack the adventurers, but this put a sharp increase in the pressure on the warriors responsible for holding the line on the stone bridge.

"Let's deal with their long-range forces first! Asdaelon! Let's jump on them!" Xie Nian drew out his rapier and called out to the pale elf who was also a wanderer. "The command on the ground is left to you, Ivy!"

Ivy played a few notes of affirmation, then began directing his teammates to take action.

"Shadowheart, use your spells to control the enemies that are far away from us; Laizer, support Kalak and don't let her rush too far; Will, weaken the enemies that are closer first; Gail, I will use the fire wall to separate the battlefield, and you will be responsible for filling the gaps." Ivy dodged the long swords of the enemies around him in an orderly manner, and chopped off his arm with the beast bite sword. "Let's concentrate our strength to kill Zariel's lackeys first, and then come back to deal with those werewolves!"

The light of magic shone from Ivy's fingertips, and a fiercely burning wall of fire crossed the battlefield from the bridgehead, separating the gnolls and several human soldiers in the small square. For these bloodthirsty monsters, the enemy of their enemy does not mean a friend, so they should leave them to the human soldiers guarding the stone bridge.

In fact, with Ivy's spellcasting ability, it is not a problem to use a spell to solve all the enemies in front of him, but such behavior is meaningless except that it exposes him to the higher-level existences on the continent of Faerun. This is not a turn-based game on the computer. Ivy's every move must be carefully considered. The mind flayer mastermind controlled by the Chosen of the Three Gods of Death with the Crown of Karsus has already set off such a huge wave in the Sword Coast region. The goddess of magic Mystra, the lady of the night Shar, the moon maiden Selune and the recorder of fate Yergal have all projected their divine power into this small piece of land.

Even hidden in the darkness are the Demon Archduke Zariel, the mysterious demon Raphael who can eliminate the influence of the Netherese mind flayer tadpoles, and the legendary lich from the astral plane, Vlaakith, the regent queen of the Githyanki.

Ivey regretted that when he played the game, he did not pay attention to every detail like a researcher, and he did not push the game to the last chapter with the PPT-like screen. So in his eyes, the plans of these high-level beings were like flowers in the fog and the moon in the water, and he could only see some unreal shadows.

Although Ivy did not expect to know every detail of the actions of these high-ranking beings, he should at least figure out what role they played in the Supreme God's plan.

Only by understanding the logic and purpose of these high-ranking beings can Ivy try to get more. Of course, he is now very clear that the crown on the head of the Mind Flayer Mastermind and the Nether Stone in the hands of the Chosen of the Three Gods of Death are the most valuable targets, but how to deal with the gods around these high-value targets and get more is what Ivy needs to consider more.

He couldn't just take away these treasures like a thief and never come back to Faerun again, so maintaining the conflict with the gods at a level where they could fight but not break apart was his first choice.

The margin of strength allowed Ivy to deal with the enemy's blades while thinking about the role Zariel played in this drama.

As a devil archduke who used a conspiracy that lasted more than fifty years to drag an entire city into hell, Ivy didn't believe that Zariel had not extended his tentacles into Baldur's Gate, which was not far from Eltoril.

Since she could send soldiers with sharp swords and strong armor to hunt down Kalak, her personal military dog, there must be many humans who believe in her in the main material plane.

Will, the magician who was under her command, was a notable example, but it was obviously not an isolated case. It was just that too little information was exposed about Zariel, so Ivy could not make a comprehensive guess. Perhaps Kalak, who had been with Zariel for ten years, could provide more information about the archdemon.

"Haha! Mother Kalak is here! You bunch of losers! Let's see who has the larger number of people now?"

The bloody battles in hell were obviously not civilized at all, so after fighting there for ten years, Kalak developed a habit of constantly trash-talking during battles.

The blazing flames of hell rose up from the surface of her skin, and the heat waves that hit her made many human soldiers who were close to her hesitate.

The champion warrior of Grand Duchess Avernus swept the giant axe, knocking the three soldiers in front of him away, then rushed down and gave a thumbs up, and then Kalak launched a charge towards the next target.

"Ha!" Laizer took the time to put out the flames on his body, "Who can get close to a warrior from hell?"

The battle on the ground seems to be unremarkable. Everyone in this team invaded by the mind flayer tadpoles is a talented person. The Githyanki, who have been receiving combat training since birth, are the most inconspicuous one.

Laizer's flaming greatsword always gives him the advantage in a clash of weapons, allowing him to chop off some of the enemy's organs, or at least leave a wound with a burnt smell.

Kalak was like a tank running at full speed, rushing across the battlefield and causing bloodshed.

The priest who worships the Dark Lady calls upon the power of shadows to confuse the enemy, and uses his shield to protect the cloth-clad mage beside him.

Mystra's old lover used only one spell throughout the whole process, a first-ring magic missile, to finish off the human soldiers who had fallen to the ground and were trying to find potions in the small bags they carried.

The Border Blade no longer showed off his style, but silently inserted the duel sword into the enemy's vital points. Although the weapons were of similar categories, Will and Xie Nian's swordsmanship styles were very different.

In layman's terms, Border Blade's swordplay is more flashy, like a dance with murderous intent. And Xie Nian's rapier, used in conjunction with the dagger, is like a venomous snake with its body raised, attacking the enemy from unexpected angles, and she is better at using the cover of shadows. After a successful strike, she disappears immediately, leaving only the enemy wailing with wounds covered.

Asdeln, holding two daggers, was closer to the enemy, almost sticking to him. It was difficult for the human soldiers to aim at him with their long-range weapons without accidentally hurting their teammates. The restrained enemy was just an appetizer for Asdeln.

Ivy even noticed that when the evil mind was killing, the vampire derivatives that could walk in the sun began to secretly collect the blood of the victims.

"This is your doom! Anders!" Evil Thought kicked the Tyr Paladin standing on the roof down, and his soldiers were wiped out a few seconds ago.

"No! Spare me... I was forced! I didn't work for Zariel voluntarily!" The heavy armor on Anders' body caused him to suffer more serious injuries when he fell. The giant sword in his hand that looked righteous had been thrown aside by him, and he was crawling forward using his hands and feet.

Kalak's axe left a trail of blood on the ground. She spat, raised her axe high and chopped it down, completely chopping off the devil's lackey's head. "Go to hell and tell Zariel that! Shit!"

Zariel's lackey was dead, but Kalak had no intention of extinguishing the flames. The flames burning on her body became more and more violent. She even ignored the wall of fire that Ivy had released earlier and rushed into the werewolf formation alone.

"It seems the battle is not over yet!" Xie Nian whistled and showed a bloodthirsty smile.

(End of this chapter)