Chapter 225: The Mercenary Group

Down the slope, the area around the road was bustling with activity; dozens of figures were busy setting traps.

In such an environment,

the blue-haired man lay leisurely on the slope, and no one dared to disturb him, or even ask him to help with the work.

This was the privilege of the strong!

The blue-haired man chewed on a toothpick, staring blankly at the night sky. Even though half a year had passed,

that world-renowned battle still surfaced in his mind from time to time, and he had replayed it in his head hundreds of times, or perhaps even more.

That was the first defeat since his birth.

Come to think of it!

That guy actually fought to a draw with a woman?

The blue-haired man paused his chewing, recalling the news that had come from the Royal Capital some time ago, and a look of annoyance appeared on his face.

"To slaughter two noble houses single-handedly, including her own, and then escape the Empire with such composure—she is indeed a terrifyingly ruthless woman."

"She seems like a formidable figure. I really want to have a match with her."

The blue-haired man thought silently to himself, moving one hand from behind his head to rest on the long sword at his waist.

Come to think of it, the number of strong female warriors is indeed small, as women are far inferior to men in raw physical ability.

In recent years, there has been a female adventurer team called "Blue Rose" with an extremely high reputation; they should also be a group of quite strong women.

Thud—thud—

Heavy footsteps approached, stopping right beside the blue-haired man.

"You're certainly very leisurely, Brain."

A rough, hearty voice rang out.

Brain lazily lifted his eyelids to look at the burly man standing beside him, who had short blonde hair, a thick beard, and arms as thick as an ordinary person's thighs.

At first glance, his hearty appearance made it easy for people to feel favorable toward him, but in reality, he was not a good person—"vicious" would be a better description.

This blonde giant was the leader of the "Spreading Death Sword" mercenary group, a man named Fikampa; Brain suspected the name was fake.

As for his real name,

Brain had no interest in knowing: "Are you sure they will take this road?"

"Of course, my friend. In fact, it's not hard to deduce."

"Even with a monster like an Evil Spirit Dog to pull the carriage, that alchemist gentleman makes a point to stop at every village and city to sell his potions."

Leader Fikampa bared his teeth, a brilliant smile on his face as he licked his lips:

"This has given us plenty of time to prepare."

Brain sneered: "Heh."

"You're quite confident. Well, it's no wonder—even the long-established Mithril-rank adventurer team 'Rainbow' from E-Rantel was completely wiped out. You certainly have the right to be confident."

A bright gleam appeared in Brain's eyes; it was the excitement of a hunter seeing prey worth hunting.

Seeing Brain's interested look, Leader Fikampa's smile grew even wider, and he felt more certain.

Truth be told,

that the world-renowned genius swordsman Brain would actually join their mercenary group was something even Leader Fikampa found hard to believe.

"Constantly stopping to sell potions—it seems that genius alchemist is quite short on money." Brain moved his hand from the hilt of his sword back behind his head, shifting into a more comfortable position.

Slap! Slap!

Leader Fikampa forcefully patted his taut, muscular neck, his eyes filled with excitement and bloodlust: "Who knows? Skilled alchemists are always people who earn money fast and spend it just as fast."

"I only know that he has sold so many alchemy potions—he must have hundreds of gold coins... maybe even thousands."

"Hahaha, it's so exciting! With this job, you'll finally be able to afford that sword you've had your eye on."

Brain remained expressionless, nodding almost imperceptibly.

He needed to become stronger. Aside from training his physique, technique, and martial arts, weapons were also a way to increase his strength.

The price of magic weapons is exorbitant, but what Brain pursues is not merely an enchanted weapon.

He seeks weapons that have circulated from the desert cities in the far south, which possess performance surpassing ordinary magic weapons even without enchantments.

The price of such a weapon is, of course, terrifyingly high.

It costs around 5,000 gold coins—a sum an ordinary person could never earn in a lifetime; it is wealth that cannot be obtained through normal means.

Therefore,

Brain joined this mercenary group of about 70 people. Compared to the messy, restrictive rules of the Adventurer's Guild, mercenary groups didn't have so many regulations.

He could both kill to hone his martial arts and acquire large amounts of money!

"5-copper-coin alchemy potions with a healing effect better than recovery potions costing several silver coins... and the characteristic that they cannot be stored for long..."

Brain fell into a brief silence before suddenly murmuring to himself:

"Heh, alchemy potions sold specifically to commoners? That genius alchemist seems like a good person."

Leader Fikampa was stunned for a moment, then burst into loud laughter: "A good person? Hahahaha, we are a bunch of bad guys!"

"That's true."

Brain followed with a low chuckle.

The night color began to fade.

Dazzling golden light began to emerge in the eastern sky.

A carriage pulled by an Evil Spirit Dog monster came along the distant road, appearing in the field of vision of the "Spreading Death Sword" group.

"They're here!"

Leader Fikampa lay flat on the slope, his eyes narrowing as he whispered.

On one side,

Brain still lay on the slope with his eyes closed, looking as if he were asleep, but in reality, he hadn't slept at all the entire night; he had been conserving his energy.

He had confidence, but he would not underestimate his opponent.

That genius alchemist, the green-haired magic caster girl, and that Evil Spirit Dog monster were none of them simple characters.

"Everyone, get ready. Move the moment they fall into the trap." Leader Fikampa quickly issued orders to his subordinates.

More than 70 members of the mercenary group drew their weapons, their eyes filled with viciousness. Daytime is not suitable for an attack—that's what normal people think, but Leader Fikampa wanted to do the exact opposite.

For experienced adventurers, they are more likely to let their guard down during the day than at night.

Under the expectant gazes of all the mercenary members, the carriage finally approached the location where they had set their trap.

They had dug a deep pit there, and it was filled with sharp iron spears; falling in would mean injury, if not death.

Under the eyes of everyone watching,

suddenly!

The carriage, which had been moving along the road, suddenly stopped, and the Evil Spirit Dog monster in front began to guard against its surroundings.

This action caught the mercenary group off guard.

"Were we discovered?"

"How is that possible!"

【Note: Text repeated due to source error】

"Did the trap reveal some flaw?"

"Impossible. Even experienced thieves wouldn't be able to detect the trap we set without careful observation."

"Could it be a trap-detection magic?"

The mercenary group members whispered in surprise, as there was indeed a powerful magic caster in the other party's team.

"This is really annoying." Seeing the carriage not fall into the trap, Leader Fikampa's hearty face revealed a ferocious look.

"Execute the second plan!"

As the order was passed down,

the discussion ceased, and dozens of whistling sounds erupted simultaneously.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Volleys of crossbow bolts were fired from the hills on both sides, shrouding the carriage in a dense rain of projectiles.

At this moment!

On the carriage,

"It's been so long since we encountered any attackers, I thought they wouldn't dare to make a move. There are quite a lot of them this time."

Tang Zheng placed a hand on his forehead, looking at the large number of crossbow bolts flying from the small hills on both sides of the road, a hint of interest appearing in his eyes.

Ever since they had dealt with that Mithril-rank adventurer team, not only had the "Ijenia" assassins disappeared, but even ordinary attackers had vanished.

Encountering an attack again now,

it meant these attackers were at least stronger than that small Mithril-rank adventurer team.

"Plant Growth!"

The Green-Leaf Witch's hands glowed with emerald light.

Green vegetation grew instantly from the carriage, wrapping the entire vehicle; the crossbow bolts flying from all directions were all deflected by these tough plants.

As for the Evil Spirit Dog, it relied on its agile figure and the swinging bone chains to easily fend off the crossbow attacks.

"Kill!"

"Take them down!"

"...!!"

From the small hills on both sides, a large number of mercenaries wielding weapons charged out simultaneously.

"Fireball!"

"Lightning Strike!"

Blazing flames and a surging bolt of electricity were launched from both sides of the hill.

The straight Lightning Strike, which possessed piercing effects, was the fastest; it flew toward the Evil Spirit Dog. At the speed of lightning,

even if the Evil Spirit Dog noticed it, it couldn't dodge.

"Magic Armor!"

The Green-Leaf Witch's calm voice rang out, and a semi-transparent magic armor appeared on the Evil Spirit Dog.

Bang!

The Lightning Strike slammed down, exploding on the surface of the magic armor and forming a shockwave that knocked the Evil Spirit Dog back a distance.

"Roar!"

The Evil Spirit Dog roared, its four limbs pressing firmly into the ground to stabilize itself; blue electric arcs scattered over its body, and its black fur stood on end.

The "Fireball" attack landed on the carriage, which was protected by the grown plants.

With a loud "Boom!"

Fire-attribute attacks clearly had a restraining effect on plants, easily blasting a large hole and causing surging flames to sweep in.

"Damn it!"

The Green-Leaf Witch was both shocked and furious.

This level of magic attack posed no threat to her; what truly infuriated her was that it had affected her master.

"Ah." Seeing the surging flames entering her field of vision, even though she had gained quite a bit of experience recently, Anri couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise and close her eyes in fear.

Boom!!

There was no expected pain. When Anri opened her eyes again, she found that Tang Zheng had blocked the flames in front of her.

Whoosh—

The heatwave from the flames made his white priest robe flutter.

"A very targeted attack method." Tang Zheng's gentle voice rang out.

Anri's panicked and fearful emotions relaxed at the sound of this voice, her light brown pupils reflecting his white back: "Master..."

"Rest easy." Tang Zheng chuckled.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 226 =====