Cornflower Witch

Chapter 255 The Beginning and End of the Matter

While Hilti was fighting the two knights, Lucas was struggling to hold off the 'Blood Law' warrior named Aru.

The opponent's massive axe, wielded with overwhelming power, was the bane of skeletal creatures. No matter what kind of skeletal corpses Lucas summoned or commanded, they would be easily cleaved and shattered by the opponent. Under the pressure of the opponent's constant approach, he did not have much energy left to unleash complex and powerful magical abilities.

Once again, the skeletal creature in front of Lucas was cleaved into pieces, and he made up his mind to take out the fragments of the 'dragon bone' he had just acquired.

He scattered the dragon bone fragments, then raised the pale skull in his hand, as if exerting all his strength, and the skull exhaled a dense mist like snow-white stardust.

Then Lucas chanted an intensifying incantation, his eyes shining even brighter, and the symbol of 'Death' appeared.

In a matter of moments, the stardust mist not far away seemed to come alive, devouring the dragon bone fragments below and the white bone remains scattered all over the ground.

Soon, a brand new skeletal monster appeared. It was humanoid, but its two hands had sharp bone claws, its head had sharp teeth and faintly visible double horns, and its joints were covered with sharp bone spikes.

【Bone Cemetery School - Dragon Tooth Soldier】

This is a ritualistic secret technique that requires dragon bone materials to perform, and the dragon tooth soldiers created are not limited by their own rank, but only by the completion of the ritual.

If Lucas had been properly prepared, he could probably have used the dragon bone materials he had to create a dragon tooth soldier that was close to the 'fourth tier', but unfortunately the dragon tooth soldiers that were hastily made were only at the third tier level.

As soon as the dragon tooth soldier appeared, it was struck by a giant axe from the attacking warrior.

The heavy axe, accompanied by a whistling sound, shattered a gash in the head of the dragon tooth soldier, sending it flying. Although it seemed to still be at a disadvantage, Lucas's expression relaxed.

He wasn't dead, only slightly injured, and he was caught off guard and hastily engaged in combat. Even under such circumstances, he managed to hold on, so he could finally rest assured.

Sure enough, the Dragon Tooth Soldier got up and charged at the giant warrior in front of him again. Even though it was not strong enough to fight against the giant warrior, the giant warrior could not do anything to this indestructible and tough Dragon Tooth Soldier.

After a fierce struggle, several bloody wounds were inflicted on Aru's body.

At this moment, Lucas finally had the time to take a comprehensive view of the situation and devise plans and spells for the future.

The warrior Aru was struggling in front of him, and Somelin, who was in command at the rear, changed his expression slightly. He sent two knights from his side to help him. He did not expect that the warrior 'Aru', who was always powerful and had no rivals, would suffer a loss against this skinny 'Bone Fighter'.

If only the other side could end soon, Somelin turned his gaze to the other side, wanting to see if the beautiful young woman had been taken down.

But in that short time, a thick patch of flowers, grass, and shrubs spread across the entire area, not only obscuring his view but also trapping the soldiers who were blocking him, causing them to shout and struggle.

A moment later, Somelin watched as the two knights he had sent out to provide support were pierced by several emerald spiral spear blades and fell into the deep autumn grass. At that moment, he wanted to scream in terror and run away quickly, but unfortunately, his back was already pressed against an equally sharp emerald spear blade.

"No, no, I have many secrets to tell you, please don't kill me." Somelin raised his hands and begged for mercy.

Upon hearing his words, Hilti thought for a moment. She did indeed have many questions to ask, so she decided not to kill the new lord of Scorched Stone City for the time being.

"Let's talk this over properly, but you'll have to get your men to stop first."

"No problem, please ask away, I'll have my men stop right away."

Soon, Somelin shouted at the top of his lungs, ordering the soldiers who were besieging and blocking him to stop, and also telling the warrior 'Aru' to stop as soon as possible.

Aru, focused on the battle, then realized that his lord had been kidnapped behind him, but unfortunately, he was too far away to rescue him.

Afterwards, Lucas and Aru slowly stopped fighting and stepped back. Then Lucas walked over to Sylvia and Somelin and used his skeletal monsters to surround Somelin, so that even if Somelin broke free from the spear in Sylvia's hand, he would not be able to leave.

The situation finally calmed down at this point, and Hiltiya put away her 'Autumn Garden' and sat on a rock to the side, asking Somelin, who had his back to her.

"Tell me how you got the position of Lord of Jiaoshi City." She wanted to know the whole story.

“That’s easy to say. Most of my men know about my past.” Somelin was slightly relieved to see that the girl didn’t seem to be an enemy specifically targeting him.

“I used to be a merchant in Antioch’s army, responsible for buying up the soldiers’ spoils of war and selling them all sorts of things they needed, whether it was herbs, weapons, armor, enhancement resources, or forbidden items.”

"Because I have been in the army for a long time, I am very familiar with the officers and situation of the Anti-Japanese Army. They will also entrust me with some private matters."

"Over time, I simply took up a nominal officer position in the military to avoid scrutiny, and then I gradually rose through the ranks."

“Anti has been fighting wars all these years, and business has been booming. I’ve saved up a sum of money, and after conquering Regas, I negotiated with General Bet and bought this scorched stone city as my fief.”

“Then you should know that many of your strategies are unreasonable. Now Jiaoshi City is obviously much more depressed. What is the reason for this?” Xilutiya asked about her previous doubts.

Hearing this, Lucas shook his head slightly, thinking that this junior was worrying too much. He thought to himself that this was probably just the curiosity of young people.

“I didn’t want to do this at first, but the locals were very uncooperative. They didn’t treat me like a nobleman at all. They talked badly about me behind my back and tried to evade taxes.” Somelin said angrily.

“I’ve already won them over, so why don’t they listen to me? I’m not here to be their maid, I’m here to be their master. Since they won’t cooperate with me, why should I care about these idiots?”

"So, you started trying to collect taxes and make money?" Hilti shook her head slightly. "What else could I do?" Somelin replied angrily.

"I have so many soldiers and knights under my command. If I don't have money, how can I support them? If I can't support them, the residents here will eat me up in a heartbeat."

"A slow and steady approach is impossible. If I were foolish enough to disband the army, I would have been assassinated long ago."

"It's not that I'm cruel and wicked, it's just that's how the world is, and I was only forced into it." He thought this girl was the kind of young person who was new to the world but upheld the values ​​of justice.

"How much did you spend to buy the position of Lord of Jiaoshi City?" Xilutiya knew that it was impossible to reason with this kind of person.

"It cost about 1 gold coins, which is all the savings I've accumulated in the first half of my life," Somailin replied dejectedly.

Ten thousand gold coins—this number may not seem like a large sum to Hiltiya now, but for other third-tier transcendents, it is indeed an unimaginable fortune.

"How much do you have left?" Lucas couldn't help but ask.

"I still have some, but if I give them all to you, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive." Somelin's mind raced.

"I know that I have no great grudge against either of you, and I will not report today's events to the higher-ups in An. As for the dead, I will say that it was an accident in the mine."

"I can give each of you a large sum of money, just please let me live."

"Don't worry, I will disband most of the soldiers and give the residents of Jiaoshi City a peaceful life. If you don't believe me, you can come to me anytime." His attitude and tone were sincere, which made the two of them somewhat skeptical.

Hiltia decided to ignore his suggestion for the time being and continue the interrogation.

"How much mineral did you find in the mine, and what did it produce?" She always felt that the lord in front of her cared too much about this mine and had paid a great price for its output. Such behavior must be supported by some huge profit.

"This... this place produces some iron ore, and occasionally there are special Hellfire Gems, which are very rare."

"Hellfire Gem? No wonder there was a strange burnt smell in the mine." Lucas nodded.

"What kind of gemstone is that?" This was the first time Hilti had ever heard of it.

“It’s a rather special ‘dead ember’ gem, which can be used to learn many abilities and in rituals involving necromancy,” Lucas explained.

"If I had ten of these Tier 3 gems, I could probably summon a three-headed hellfire hound."

It seems that this Lord of Somelin must have gained a lot from this, otherwise he wouldn't care so much about this mine. Hiltiya roughly figured out the ins and outs of the matter.

"Do you know the whereabouts of the former lord, Viscount Schefeng?" Hilti asked finally.

"I don't know. When I came here, Antioch's army was already in control. The previous lord probably fled to another country." It seems he came here relatively late. Hiltiya recalled that after occupying the area for a few months, Viscount Scheffen and Maester Hyde left, and Somelin came here about a year ago.

After the two finished asking their questions, Somelin felt that his opportunity had come.

"Don't worry, you two. I will give you the gems I find later. If I find any new gems in the future, I will leave half for you as well." He was clever, trying to paint a picture of some long-term benefit to persuade the two to spare his life.

It must be said that this person is indeed very good at observing and predicting people's hearts. If it were someone else, with even a little bit of greed, they would probably have agreed.

Unfortunately, the girl behind him didn't care much about the gains, nor was she greedy for the wealth he left behind.

“If only your character were a little better,” Hiltiya said calmly. These words made Somelin feel uneasy, and a strange sense of panic rose within him.

"Actually, I really wanted to let you go, because if you die, your successor might not be any better."

“But those innocent people who died will not agree.” Poisonous vines coiled around Somelin’s feet, and he began to struggle violently, preparing to escape.

"Aru, quick, save me!"

He called out to the giant warrior in the distance, but the poison had already spread from his ankle upwards, and soon the lord collapsed to the ground, his face turning purplish-blue, and lay motionless.

In the end, Hiltiah felt a little pity and did not give him a painful death.

Lucas wanted to stop him, but after a slight pause, he lowered his raised hand.

He had originally planned to squeeze more profit out of the lord before making his move, but he hadn't expected the girl to be so decisive.

After this incident, Lucas's perception of this seemingly quiet girl changed considerably. He had an inexplicable feeling that this girl was not the innocent and naive girl he had imagined, but rather possessed a mysterious quality that he couldn't quite understand.

"What should we do with the remaining soldiers, Tia?" Without realizing it, he began to actively seek the girl's opinion.

(End of this chapter)