Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Reslaufer leaped over the two-meter-wide trench in front of him, stepped onto the roof of the charred carriage in front of him, and stabbed the greatsword in his hand into the wreckage with force. He looked down coldly at the front, waiting for a possible response.

This is one of the many "jargons" used by mercenaries, meaning, "I'm here to protect you, scoundrels, get out of my way immediately." It's a less polite way of saying hello.

If the other party agrees, three short and one long whistles will be sounded; if the other party still feels that he has a great advantage, he will jump out directly, and the two sides will either fight to a certain extent or even draw blood.

However, after waiting for several minutes, there was no whistle, nor did he see any idiot jumping out. The scene fell into an awkward situation for a moment.

"Mr. Reslaufer..." Philip called out nervously from below, "What are you doing now?"

"Let's get off the main road first and form a battle formation," Leslaufer waved his hand towards the back. "I don't need to teach you this, do I?"

The so-called formation of a caravan like this wasn't a single line of guards, but rather a "turtle formation" where the various carriages and heavy cargo were arranged in a circle, with the crew using this as cover to defend. In fact, the caravan employed this tactic every night during rest, but this time it was a bit more serious.

"Old Lei, do you want me to sing for them?" Daisy carefully walked around the trench and came from the side. "Maybe they'll retreat when they see a spellcaster?"

"If that's the case, they should have retreated." The mercenary frowned, looking at the clouds in the sky that were gradually turning red and yellow. "What I'm more worried about is not my 'companions'."

"Edward, you remain on guard for one hour. Daisy and I will take a look ahead. If nothing happens, we'll return to the main road and leave as soon as possible," Leslough instructed the children below. "If anything happens, Daisy will use her piano or song to convey a message to you. Don't act rashly before then."

"Leslaufer, do I need to go?" Bella rushed up from behind, "I told Annie and the others not to show up to prevent an ambush targeting her."

"You've done a lot. Just stay with Vondar and her. Daisy and I are more than capable of handling most situations," Leslough thought for a moment and added, "Let Black Claw out. He only comes out to get some fresh air before bed these days, and he's getting moldy."

Bella responded and soon, a three-meter-long reptile came running from the back of the caravan, jumped over the trench and debris obstacles with a light leap, and landed in front of Reslaufer.

It swayed its body to express its longing and affection for Reslaufer, but after only a few seconds, Black Claw stopped. The terrifying lizard crouched down, tilted its head, and looked toward the distant road. With a few deep grunts from its throat, the Deinonychus's hair stood on end, and its hind legs, with their deadly claws, took their first step forward.

Danger. In the air, a breath of death, difficult for humans to discern, drifted lightly from afar on the wind and penetrated Black Claw's nostrils.

Chapter 198 The End of the Broken Road

"Gah——"

Black Claw immediately let out a strange cry and tried to rush forward, but stopped after taking two steps and looked at Leslough and Daisy expectantly.

Even if you are not a druid, anyone can easily understand what it means.

"Lead the way," Leslaufer and Daisy hurriedly followed, and the two of them, one dragon in front and two behind, chased straight down the road.

There was still no blood or corpses on the road, but this situation did not last long. Soon, a figure appeared in sight.

This was a living man, wearing leather armor and a hood, but the one he was dragging on the ground was not.

"Who, who is that!" The man had never expected to meet a stranger here and was immediately frightened. What terrified him even more was the monster he had never seen before. "What is this——"

The Deinonychus didn't give him any chance at all and pounced on him the moment he opened his mouth. The man had just time to drop the corpse in his hand when he was hit in the chest by one of its sharp claws. The sharp fangs on its conical head protruded and strangled his throat tightly, making him become the same as the thing he had just dragged in just one encounter.

"Nice job," said Rathlough, praising the efficiency. "The only downside is we can't get anything out of him."

"But his corpse can still speak—don't look at me, there are such conspicuous symbols painted on it! Old Lei, I'm sure you can pass some kind of test!" Daisy pointed at the corpse on the ground. "I haven't learned how to make the dead speak yet. That's a third-level spell. Using music to drive it is much more complicated..."

Leslough let Daisy nag at him as he bent down to examine the two bodies. The still-steaming figure was just an ordinary Western Inassian, nothing special about him, except that he was dressed like a thief. On his lapel, Leslough found a symbol composed of circles and spirals, with five twisted lines extending outward in five directions, resembling a child's graffiti of a sun.

The other corpse's clothes were painted with what looked like the crest of a family.

"No, that's too vague," said Raslaufer, standing up. "What can a few stick figures tell you? I haven't seen any of them, not even two."

"Actually, it's not necessarily a ready-made symbol," Daisy said suddenly, sizing up the two corpses lying in a pool of blood. "Old Lei, don't you think the one who died first looks cleaner?"

"Cleaner? How is that possible..." Reslaufer subconsciously wanted to refute, but after carefully comparing, he found that what Daisy said did not seem unreasonable. "If we ignore the fresh bloodstains on his body - but that's impossible."

This was also not a person who had died of old age, as his distorted face confirmed. If that was the case, he should have been washed in blood twice - the earlier time was his own.

"But no. Someone washed him again in between, or at least sorted out his 'mortal remains,'" Daisy lifted her boots and lifted the hooded corpse. "But it definitely wasn't him, otherwise he wouldn't have dragged someone along like that."

"The question is, where is he taking them?" Leslough said, puzzled. "This group of people should be the same ones who burned the carriage, but the robbers either want money or people. I've never seen anyone who wants neither and yet is just messing around with corpses."

"Unless it's necromancy—" Daisy blurted out, her guess surprising herself, "On the avenue?!"

"Maybe you guessed it right!" Leslough clapped the black claw beside him, "Go, sneak under the road, we have to see what's going on!"

If you were to rank the enemies mercenaries didn't want to encounter, resurrected monsters would definitely top the list—they were both difficult and deadly. The most important problem was that no matter how much battle he fought and ultimately won, Reslaufer couldn't help but remind himself that those were already dead! He had nothing to gain from such a battle!

But at least... the one who summoned these undead was still alive, in most cases. Leslaufer comforted himself with this and quickly rolled down the road with Daisy.

The scent of blood and death wasn't just in Black Claw's grasp. Down below, the two men also saw broken arms and limbs and shattered weapons. Even without surfacing to inspect the road, they could already imagine the brutal scene above. After Black Claw paused for a moment, both Reslaufer and Daisy slowed their pace as much as possible.

The intuition and senses of wild animals are still trustworthy. The person who did all this is probably not far ahead of them.

"How long has Lan been gone?"

Suddenly, a question came from above. Leslough quickly held down the somewhat reckless Daisy and stopped to listen.

"It's been about ten minutes, so he should be back by now," another voice said. It must be a woman's, her age unpredictable. There was a mouthful of phlegm in her throat, which she couldn't cough out or swallow. "I only asked him to do this one thing, this one thing only! He didn't even draw his bowstring during the raid last night!"

"Are you lost?" the first voice scoffed. "On this road where there aren't even any forks?"

"Humans are unreliable, forget it," another man with an equally rough voice said, "Did you hear me? I'm telling you—just be the fuck quick!"

"I'll go take a look. Hand me the body," the woman sighed. "I don't know what's so difficult about this. It's just placing bodies at regular intervals along the road until the other end—I don't even expect the distances to be exactly the same!"

"But theoretically, they should be equidistant. That's what's written in the ritual book," the guy at the beginning tried to correct his companion's oversight, but gave up first. "But forget it, who cares? Even the guy in the car thinks it's fine."

"That's why I said that humans are unreliable. Forget it," the rough male voice spat. "He works for our clan, not for us to obey him. Anyway, if we fail, we can only cause trouble for him."

"Akara, go and lay out the remaining bodies. If you see Lan, bring him back. After all, he's the apprentice of the guy in the carriage, even though even his teacher looks down on him."

"You should know that I can hear every word you say clearly." Suddenly, the air around them seemed to grow colder, and a dry and indifferent voice echoed in the empty wilderness. "We are all working towards the same goal, so you should stop complaining and do more practical work."

"and……"

When this word appeared in the air, Leslaufer clearly noticed that the Deinonychus beside him suddenly trembled.

"...Don't confuse me with humans. In terms of 'dragon content', I am much higher than you dragonborn."

Chapter 199 "Dragon Finger" Fidel

dragon……

Daisy thought she had guessed what was on it, but the other party's words just now made her dare not say a word. She could only stare at Leslaufer, trying to act according to the mercenary's instructions.

——This is too difficult!

Seeing Daisy's expression, Reslover roughly understood what was going on, saving him the futile effort of signing to the air. As the sound of heavy objects rubbing against the road above his head gradually faded away, Reslover took a few more cautious steps forward.

Judging from the location of the voices of the first few people, the last person should be further ahead. There, both sides of the trench were also filled with earth and rocks. It seemed that these people had "intercepted" a section of the road and were trying to do something with it.

If he didn't want to avoid the limelight for a while and then spend days or even weeks battling monsters of unknown origin in the wilderness, it would be best to eliminate them now. And if he wanted to do that, the safest way was undoubtedly to kill the guy who was suspected of being the spellcaster first.

Even if there are spellcasters among the rest, their level would be lower. The mage apprentice was killed by Black Claw. As long as his teacher is dealt with, the rest will be lambs to be slaughtered.

However, no matter how cautious Reslaufer was, he still underestimated the man's control over the situation. Just when he took the fifth step, the dry voice sounded again.

"I advise you not to do anything tricky! The reason I don't ask more of you outside is because I need to perform extremely delicate operations here to redeem this! Stay away from my carriage!"

"No one's approaching your carriage, you conceited fellow!" one of the Dragonborn who had come earlier shouted immediately, "Don't try to blame everything on us!"

After a cold snort, there was no further movement, but Reslaufer didn't dare take another step forward. He estimated and calculated the distance between him and the man. At this point, even if he rushed out and startled everyone, the man might still unleash a spell or two before he could swing his sword. This was something Reslaufer couldn't accept.

He had fought many battles with spellcasters in recent months. Once these guys found an opportunity, they would become more slippery than eels, making it difficult to catch them.

This seemed to be a difficult task, because Reslaufer had no means of long-range attack other than throwing the greatsword in his hand. Although Daisy could use spells to support, the noise of the poet playing the piano was not small, which would turn the surprise attack into a frontal assault. Now they were still a little short of manpower.

But if we retreat and take a long-term view, we may still be discovered.

Just when Reslaufer was in a dilemma, suddenly, a scream was heard from the way they came - it was the female dragonborn!

"Something's happened!" "It seems Lan is also in trouble!" This scream was like opening a valve, and the road suddenly became chaotic. The sound of footsteps, the friction and collision of weapons, and shouting and scolding merged into one, drowning out all other sounds.

Then, another loud bang shook the entire road three times. Even here, Reslaufer and Daisy could feel the scorching air waves. Angry shouts rang out from above Reslaufer, who had urgently adjusted his position. The spellcaster who claimed to have more "dragon content" than the Dragonborn was startled.

"Who is it?!" A ball of arcane light illuminated the heads of Reslaufer and Daisy, but no one would notice them at this moment. "You messed up my elixir! You will pay the price for this!"

"You are the one who should pay the price!"

Just by listening to the voice, the bard could guess that it should be a heroic woman with a bad temper - because between and after those few short words, she heard a lot of powerful phrases with a strong motherly connotation.

"Dragon Finger Fidel, the crimes of you and the Dardanjullien clan have been discovered by the Alliance! Surrender immediately and return to face trial and punishment, otherwise, you will face the wrath of the Spellscale Four!"

"You're just four little guys who haven't even grown all their scales yet. After reading a few ranger stories, you think you're serious!" If Leslaufer guessed correctly, the dry voice must be that of Dragon Finger. "Because you also have true dragon blood, I spared you once. I didn't expect you to dare come back! Do you know what will happen to you?"

"Is it just like the fate of these people here..." After the "friendly army" that suddenly appeared, another voice rang out, "If that's the case, then that's fine."

The cold air replaced the scorching heat in the next second, spreading towards the broken road. Immediately afterwards, another bolt of lightning struck the road. Arcane energies of different attributes suddenly raged in the area, making it chaotic, disorderly and dangerous.

Just from the rapid chanting of Dragon Finger Fidel, it can be inferred that the situation is indeed not optimistic facing the siege of three spellcasters.

"Abylez! You and the Alliance are a bunch of fools!" It was the voice of a Dragonborn, presumably referring to one of his current opponents. "The ancient prophecy is about to come true, and the Dragonborn are about to claim the land under the sun! It's not surprising that those old-timers in the Alliance are hesitant, but you, your true brethren with dragon blood, how can you not see the situation clearly?!"

"On the contrary, we see it very clearly!" It was a voice that had not been heard before, and its rapid speech was refreshing to listen to. "Your cruel and inhumane actions will only destroy the entire future like a storm, leaving only hopeless ruins! That is why we must stop you!"

"Look at what you've done, these corpses! You've slaughtered the caravans, the people responsible for repairing the road, and the adventurers who came to investigate! And all this is just a small part of your horrific conspiracy! Tell me, how many times will you repeat this before you stop? How many lives will be lost before—ugh!"

The entire area flashed with dazzling white light in an instant, and accompanied by a cry of surprise, Fidel regained the right to speak.

"The ancient prophecy will eventually come true, and dragons will once again reign supreme over the earth, sky, and sea." Dragon Finger withdrew his hand and glanced coldly at the blue dragonborn, whose fate hung in the balance. "Every sacrifice will be worth it, even if it means sacrificing a hundred thousand or a million lives—what are a mere few dozen people worth?"

Chapter 200 Jackpot

"Be careful what you say and do, you're getting very close to the Dragon Queen!"

Vlassis Shimmering Gravel struggled to get up from the ground. A large area of her chest was charred. Even though she possessed the power of the blue dragon's bloodline and could control lightning, this young blue dragon could not withstand the powerful spell of Dragon Finger Fidel.

Having almost lost her fighting ability, she had to quickly retreat from the central battle area. The enemies who followed Fidel or cooperated with him saw the opportunity when Shanli's friends were unable to take care of her and wanted to defeat her first. However, she had already used up almost all of her powerful spells and could only wave the swift sword in her hand to support herself, trying not to cause more burden to her friends.

However, the odds weren't solely stacked against her. Abilez Cindercrown, Isaacino Frostbone, and Tokochinlin Poisonwing were also beginning to fall. Despite their numerical superiority, a single spell from Fidel often required them to cast several spells to neutralize its effects. Thus, their defeat was almost inevitable from the outset.

"Roar--" Facing more and more enemies, Shanli opened her mouth and exhaled a powerful breath of lightning towards the front. Her friends followed suit, and flames, ice and toxins were sprayed out alternately in a certain order, setting off another storm on the road.

"When will I ever be able to fight so fiercely..." Amidst such a fierce battle, Daisy was pinned down by Leslough, not allowing her to move even a little. "Old Lei, let's go out and help! Just by hearing the noise, we know those guys can't hold on any longer!"

"It's rare to have a wizard step up," Leslaufer shook his head. "What do you think of this Dragon Finger Fidel? Compared to the Eton we encountered before?"

"This... I haven't seen any magic he has, so it's hard to tell. Can you let me take a look?"

"Just call it intuition." Leslough showed no intention of letting go.

"It sounds... stronger," Daisy thought for a moment. "Don't blame me if my intuition is wrong: I thought the 'Spellscale Four,' named after the 'Mithril Five,' made that initial noise by casting a fireball. Unless they're even more clueless than Black Claw, each of them at least has a third-level spell. And Field was actually able to fight them under those circumstances...hiss."

"Old Lei," Daisy gasped and looked at Leslough in horror, "Are you planning to let them die here and then go out and pick up their heads? Isn't it a bit unkind of us to do this? After all—"

"When Patrick was here, did I ever let him rush forward and die alone?" "No."

"I won't do that this time either. It's pointless," the mercenary shrugged. "But I'm not a medic. I'm only responsible for killing people, not keeping them alive. If they don't survive, there's nothing I can do."

"So what are we doing now..." "Wait."

Leslaufer narrowed his eyes and looked back at the path they had come from. "With such a big commotion, I can hold you down, but I can't hold them down."

Daisy thought about who they were and said, "Old Lei! You got Annie and the others involved too?!"

"I can't get in by rubbing my head against the pit," Leslaufer suddenly stood up, "I see Bella, I'm ready to take action!"

Daisy looked up and, as expected, in the already darkened sky, a giant eagle was rapidly approaching with its wings spread. "What do you need me for?"

"Right here." Leslaufer's height made it easy for him to see what was happening above the road. "Don't move, don't cast spells, just wait. Grab your harp."

If she wasn't casting a spell, what was she doing with the violin? Daisy was baffled. Could she possibly give Fidel a violin? Here?

"Black Claw, get behind it," Leslaufer quickly gestured to the Deinonychus. "Set up an ambush, understand."

How much the beast understood is debatable, but what is certain is that after reading Raslaufer's gestures, it nimbly galloped toward the end of the broken road, finally giving it a powerful leap.

And it was here that Leslaufer turned around and set out on the road again.

A nearby dragonborn was caught off guard and collided with Reslaufer. Before he could utter the "Question of Lann", Doppler's two-handed sword had already smashed into his head. The scales were no match for the master's life, and the dragonborn immediately fell to the ground headless.

"Someone is coming from the side, stop him!" Dragon Finger Fidel was the first to notice the arrival of Reslaufer, and quickly ordered his men to abandon the final siege of the four spellcasters and instead support his flank.

He had to concentrate on dealing with the spells of the so-called "Four Friends of Spellscales", and had no free tongue or hands to cast additional defenses to stop this guy who suddenly appeared.

"That's not all!" The soaring eagle suddenly transformed into a red-haired woman. She waved her hands, and a strange blue-green light immediately enveloped Fidel, making him the most conspicuous target on the battlefield at nightfall. "Edward, it's up to you!"

"Incinerate everything, flameless arrow!" A blindingly sharp acid arrow pierced the darkness. Fidel hadn't expected two spellcasters to appear here today. A careless move pierced his left arm. He screamed in intense burning pain and ran towards the abandoned carriage that temporarily served as his laboratory.

"Don't run! Stop him!" Under the illumination of the druid's demonic fire, everyone saw a tall, red-scaled dragonborn and shouted urgently, "His ritual site must be there!"

However, what Abilez Jinmian did not expect was that just before Longzhi was about to plunge into his "fortress", a three-meter-long bipedal giant suddenly jumped out from behind the carriage, raised its hind legs, and kicked Fidel's head!

"Oh my!" In such a chaotic situation, the enemy actually had an ambush. Not only was Fidel almost frightened to the ground, but even the others were frightened and broke out in cold sweats!

Where on earth did all this come from?! Fidel couldn't remember the last time he'd been so desperately rolling on the ground trying to survive. But at that moment, he didn't have time to dwell on it. When he caught a glimpse of an empty space at the edge of the road, he disappeared without a second thought and reappeared on the other side.