Arcane Journey

Chapter 143 Countermeasures against the City of Shadows
Puranda, the deputy head of the Dragon Skeleton Mercenary Corps, understood as soon as he saw the messenger's face.

There was an expression on his face that was a mixture of anxiety and desire for war.

The ranger who has officially turned from a mercenary to the deputy commander of the garrison is naturally qualified to know what happened.

So he ran in front of the messenger and ran along the streets of Mokou Town towards the recruitment center of the Adventurer's Union.

Many eyes were fixed on him, wondering why he was hurrying on something important, and soon they knew his purpose, and he knew it, so they all knew it.

The army of Shade is coming.

He passed by the temporary residence placed by the lord for the Church of the God of Knowledge, and saw that the temple knights and priests were ready.

Everything was put into place as best as possible in the time allowed.

Not far away, the captain of the Knights Templar and his priests were crouching and kneeling on the floor, stacking dozens of small potion bottles, preparing bandages, blankets, and herbal ointments for wounds.

Other knights and warriors polished their armor, tried to draw their longbows, and checked their full quiveres.

Ranger Puranda subconsciously raised his head and glanced in the direction of the desert.

As a mercenary with many battles, he knew that these and even more bandages and healing potions would be needed before the battle was over.

In fact, when he was a mercenary, he prepared all these logistical supplies himself before every battle, but every time the battle ended, there would be not enough.

It's all right now, after joining the defense team, he no longer has to worry about this troublesome problem, he can just release his desire for fighting to his heart's content.

Because Graal, who is the general manager of Mokou Town, will prepare any battle necessities for them.

Five days ago, when he finished a battle against a medium-sized wolf man tribe outside the town, he discovered that money can really be willful.

Soon he came to the most lively place in Mokou Town right now: the Adventurer's Union.

This place is like a noisy vegetable market, where chattering adventurers gather, waiting for the staff to post the completed entrusted tasks, then go to the lobby to receive the tasks you want, and disappear in the Ennook Desert or Mountains in Mokou Town.

Entering the gate of the Adventurer's Guild, he immediately saw his temporary assistants, Graal's son Lando and the Purple Dragon Knight Alek of the Purple Dragon Legion. On a high platform, it seemed to be saying something to the adventurers who were watching.

At this time, Lando's sonorous and powerful speech has come to an end:

"... Against the city of ghosts, we must either fight side by side or perish separately. Who wants to fight with Mokou Town?!"

As Puranda expected, no one responded with the same tone, instead, there were bursts of derisive boos from the crowd.

If it were him, he would do the same.

After all, whether they are mercenaries or adventurers, most of them are a group of people who put their personal interests first, so how could they be moved by such unnutritious words.

"I know what you think, choose neutral? Indifference?"

The young purple dragon knight Alek looked at the crowd and raised his voice: "That's right, I am not only a purple dragon knight of the Kingdom of Cormyr, but also a paladin of the god of truth. My duty is to protect the people and protect the people." Not only are they safe from ogres, gnolls, and hobgoblins, but I also have to protect civilians from evil of any kind."

"Because a paladin has to guard and save. To protect civilians from being hung from trees, to be stabbed with swords and slowly bleed to death, to protect beautiful girls from being tied to stakes, to have their legs spread apart, to protect children They are not slaughtered and thrown into the well, even in the burning barn, the cats that are about to be burned are worth protecting, that's why I want to be a paladin, and that's why I got this sword, just for Protect the people of the Kingdom of Cormyr, because they don't have swords, don't know magic, and no one has taught them how to fight, facing the invasion of evil creatures and ghosts."

Although the paladin's impassioned speech touched Puranda's heart a little, but he knew that these words had no effect on these people.

What's more, they will be treated like clowns.

He pushed aside the crowd, walked up to Alek, and signaled him to shut up immediately with a smile.

Then, he patted the frustrated paladin, and in front of the lively adventurers, he took out a new reward task and said to everyone neatly:
"The lord has an order that the army of the Ghost City is about to invade Mokou Town. Here he assures all the participants who are willing to protect Mokou Town: Anyone who participates in this battle will be paid double. If you are innocent, you can become a citizen of Mokou Town, get the ownership of houses and land, and if you are willing to join the garrison, you can also get a job as a guard.

Well, this is the end of my words. Those of you who want to finish the last vote and quit, come and sign up. Please line up in front of the staff and register. "

Whether they are adventurers or mercenaries, in fact, their lives are not as free and easy as the poets sang.

Because it's a dangerous job, and it's an easy job to retire from.

As long as there is an accident in battle, you may be left with injuries that are difficult to recover, and then your strength will drop significantly.

If you can't afford expensive magical healing, it becomes an endless loop, and you're almost ready to retire.

After all, not everyone has the desire to take risks, and the risks are also borne with their lives.

If most people can have a stable source of income, enough to marry a wife and have children, who would want to risk their lives to earn rewards.

Puranda unconsciously recalled why he was forced to become a mercenary.

He is a commoner born in the commercial kingdom of Sembia.

In order to buy a beautiful bracelet for a girl he likes, at the age of 14, he worked as a porter on the pier and saved a full year's wages to get it together.

Unfortunately, when he saved enough money, the girl just died of illness.

He originally planned to buy the accessories that had not been given away, so he had the right to keep them as a thought for himself.

Who would have thought that when he stepped into this store, he found that it was the same jewelry, and everyone else paid 2 gold coins, but he had to charge 3 gold coins.

He asked the boss why?
The boss says it's because you're a lowly commoner, a dirty dock porter, and that's all.

Thinking back on my bitterness, not only was it all in vain, but I was also so humiliated.

He gritted his teeth, pulled out a dagger without hesitation, stabbed the boss to death, and started his career of wandering and fleeing.

Puranda came back to his senses, and saw his simple sentence, like a fireball falling into the crowd, it exploded suddenly, and some people had already started to yell, "Stop after the last vote" kind of discourse.

He smiled slightly, explained a few words to Lando and Alek, two young and vigorous young men beside him, and left quickly.

After all, the battle with the army of Shadow City is about to begin. Salo, the commander of the garrison, has already held a meeting in the conference room of the Rock Bunker, and he is naturally ready to go.

No matter what tasks are assigned to him, he is willing to fight for the future of Mokou Town.

In the chamber of the Rock Bunker, Brian walked in together with the ancient dragon Silver Wing dressed as a poet.

The hall was very quiet, and everyone's expressions were serious and dignified.

The old sword saint Baleris, the leader of the garrison Salo, Graal and his cousin Zander, the purple dragon knight Obert and the battle mage Marek, as well as Tysonde and Mother Earth from the Church of the God of Knowledge Karenna from the Church of God, all are here.

Seeing this, Brian suddenly realized that his subordinates seemed to be the kind of people who were not very talkative, and there was no one who could liven up the atmosphere with a funny role, so that the whole meeting seemed a bit dull.

He sat on his own seat, and immediately asked Silver Wing to report to everyone the information he had detected in detail.

During Silver Wing's report, Brian frowned slightly thinking about the opponent he was about to face.

According to Silver Wing's information, he learned that Hajhorner's actions were very big.

In addition to the shadow mages and black knights from the City of Shades, a group of desert nomads, the Bedai barbarians, numbering around 500, were also recruited.

At the same time, a lizardman troop of nearly a thousand people from the swamp in the far sea was already on its way to Mokou Town under the leadership of a young black dragon.

And under his special reminder, Silver Wing finally found an army of hobgoblins ready to go in the Mokou Mountains, as well as many evil humanoid creatures who were driven away because of the establishment of five villages.

In Brian's view, if this army is led by Hajhorner, the Hand of the Supreme King, it will be capable of attacking Araby City, let alone his Mokou Town.

Just as he thought, when Silver Wing finished reporting the information in detail, everyone's expressions became ugly, and even the only female Karenna who always liked to smile frowned and thought.

"My lord, facing this situation, I have a good suggestion." At this moment, the weak battle mage Marek stood up first and expressed his opinion.

"Please speak." Brian looked at the Battle Mage and nodded slightly.

In fact, he already had a general strategy in mind on how to deal with the army of the City of Shadows.

"I think it's not the best choice for us to stick to Mokou Town like this."

Marek said bluntly, although his tone of voice seemed weak, but his eyes were extremely sharp, "I think we should take the initiative!"

"I don't think it's appropriate."

Salo, the leader of the garrison, raised an objection, "The city wall is a barrier to protect the town. If we choose to fight outside the town with the army of ghosts, which are mainly casters, it is hard to imagine how heavy losses will be caused. Besides, our Hard power is more than one notch behind the enemy, so how can it be possible to defeat them in a head-on confrontation."

"Of course I know this." Marek continued:
"But don't forget, who is our opponent? It is Hajhorner, the Hand of the High King. The opponent is not only a legendary spellcaster, but also has a shadow dragon that has reached the age of the ancient dragon, and the other side of the far sea swamp. A mature black dragon from the Dragon Sect.

Any opponent here is not something we can resist. Relying on the city wall for defense will undoubtedly become a fixed target for giant dragons and spellcasters. Their magic can hit our town at a super long distance, but we have no reaction control means. "

After listening to Marek's analysis, Salo, the leader of the garrison, frowned and fell into deep thought.

After the others understood it, they all nodded slightly, but they all felt very tricky when they thought of fighting in the town with an enemy who had an advantage in any aspect.

Obviously, they are not sure of defeating their opponents at all.

"I think Marek's analysis is fine." Brian agreed with the Battle Mage's proposal, and said to everyone, "So, I decided to fight the army of the City of Shadows outside the town."

Before everyone could speak, he went on to say, "Actually, Ellend just said that the enemy's army is not all concentrated together, and this is the key to our victory."

"That's right!" Battle Mage nodded, "The enemy's army is scattered, but ours are all concentrated. This is the only advantage we can take advantage of right now."

"I've already thought about how to deal with the enemy." Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, Brian pointed to a valley on the map and ordered, "I've asked Mr. Elend to scout for us, and this valley is home to the Bedai barbarians. The place where the nomadic cavalry must pass, Salo, you lead your troops and recruited adventurer mercenaries to ambush here. Your task is to use the advantage of numbers to trap this group of mobile nomadic cavalry here. Annihilate them all."

"Zander, you lead your men to garrison Deep Stone Village, where the hobgoblin army must pass." Brian pointed to the Mokou Mountains on the map and gave another order.

"But." Zander hesitated for a moment, and then said, "My lord, the hobgoblin army has more than 500 conservatives, just my little man."

He didn't continue to speak, but everyone understood the meaning of his words.

"I understand your difficulties." Brian nodded slightly. "Don't worry, I have arranged for you a reinforcement army in the Mokou Mountains in advance that is larger in number than the hobgoblins, to help you eliminate them."

Zander heard the words, exchanged glances with Graal, shut his mouth a little uneasy, and stopped speaking.

"Miss Karina."

Brian looked at the priestess of the Earth Mother Church.

"Your watchman troops are responsible for assisting the militia squads in the five villages to clean up humanoid creatures that may take advantage of the fire and protect the safety of the people. If there are too many enemies, I suggest you lure them to the five villages in the Emerald Garden. a grove where a druid lives, and set it on fire again"

"No problem, leave this matter to me." Karina smiled and nodded.

"The rest, the purple dragon knight, the battle mage, and Mr. Tysonde's temple knight and priest, all joined me at the junction of the plain and the desert outside the town to meet the spellcaster and black knight from the city of ghosts."

Brian said to them with a slightly serious expression, "If there's no problem, let's all go back and prepare for the upcoming battle."

"My lord." Purple Dragon Knight Oberth hesitated, and couldn't help asking: "Have we missed an enemy, what should we do with the mature black dragon from the swamp in the far sea?"

"The nickname of this black dragon is 'greedy ghost'. It is both greedy and cowardly."

After Brian finished his evaluation, he said confidently, "I have already prepared the most suitable opponent for him, so that he can return without success this time."

(End of this chapter)