Chapter 409: Coming Out of the Cave
Chapter 409: Coming Out of the Cave
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As the griffin suddenly made a high pitched scream in the air, the shadow changed at the same time. If someone had been watching the flying pattern of griffins, it was not hard to notice the griffin was flying around an oval track.
Griffins had wide vision. Their ability to observer was right below the druids’ enormous eagle, but far less intelligent. The druid’s enormous eagle was transformed from druids with transformation magic. They only changed their appearance, but their intelligence was not affected. If they were smart druids, they would still be smart eagles. If they were stupid as druids, they would be stupid as eagles. However, even the dumbest druid would be much more intelligent than griffins.
With strict training, griffins mastered two common patterns. If they found people, but only a few of them, they would fly around in an oval pattern. If they discovered many people, they would fly in a figure eight pattern. Griffins would not know how to estimate the number of people. They relied on the griffin rider to see and make an estimate.
The general in Shansa Empire underneath the griffin saw the signals from the griffin, but he did not think it was a big deal, since the griffin thought there were not many in that group. Whether they were friends or enemies, they would not be able to pose any threat to them.
Before long, two black spots appeared in the sky. When they flew closer, the soldiers and mercenaries who just had eaten could not help cheering for them. It was a girl and a guy. The guy looked handsome, with clear sharp eyes. The girl had long hair. She looked like she just walked out of a painting. She looked so feminine and so adorable. What a couple! The horses they rode were beautiful as well. They were pure white. The knights from Shansa Empire were amazed by the horses’ build and muscles. They were rare breeds, which made them think of the special horses in Knights of Light mercenary. They were called "Snow Beasts".
"How are you?" The general in the front stepped forward. He greeted Anfey and Suzanna with welcome laughs. He wanted to make friends with the two of them. It was not hard to believe they had amazing skills, since they dared to pass the area full of death spirits with just two people. "You guys are…"
"My name is Anfey. This is Suzanna." Anfey said with a smile.
"Anfey? The earl in Maho Empire?" The general was shocked.
"Yes, that’s me," Anfey said, smiling. "I have been dealing with necromancers and death spirits for many days. I’m very happy to finally see humans. Judging from your equipment, you are probably not mercenaries."
"We are soldiers of Shansa Empire." The general glanced at his own flag. He knew he could not lie about it.
"When did Shansa Empire send its military over?" Anfey asked in surprise.
"Master Anfey, I know we have had some conflicts before, but death spirits are our common enemies since the War against the Dead broke out." The general smiled. "You should not have asked us when we came down. You should have said we came too late."
Anfey was shocked for a second, then smiled and said, "You are right. If all the military people could be as upright as you, I think we definitely would win in this War against the Dead."
"Thank you for your compliment," the general said. "Master Anfey, Master Suzanna, where are you going?"
"We do not have a destination. We fled all the way here. We will go anywhere there are fewer death spirits," Anfey said.
"It looks like you guys had a tough time," the general said.
"Not just a tough time, it was miserable," Anfey said with a bitter smile.
That general looked up at the sky to check the time. "It is time to set up camp. I know you are very experienced and knowledgeable. If you do not mind our simple camping conditions, you can stay with us for a day. Please tell us your adventures. Soldiers will open their eyes after they hear your stories."
"Do you have wine?" Anfey licked his lips.
"Master, don’t worry. We have plenty of wine." The general laughed. "I have enough for you to take a bath in the wine."
"Wonderful!" Anfey looked very pleased.
The general waved his hand to signal the knights in front to make a path. Anfey and Suzanna directed their horses forward. At that moment, something weird happened. After Anfey passed through those knights, they gathered together again. It did not looked like they were welcoming guests. Instead, they surrounded Anfey. Some knights even looked hostile towards him.
"What are you doing?" Anfey was not blind. He became alert immediately.
"Fight!" the general yelled. At the same time, he pulled the reigns so his horse would move to the back, not because he was scared, but because he was too close to Anfey and Suzanna. A strategy in the war was to seize the ringleader before catching all the followers. To avoid it that, the general moved back.
Knights had been waiting for this order for a while. Over twenty knight spears were tossed at Anfey and Suzanna together. The combat powers were everywhere, while spears came at Suzanna and Anfey from all angles.
The horse Suzanna rode screamed in pain and then fell on the ground. The next second, Suzanna’s feet touched the ground. She shoot up so fast that she looked like a shoot of light. She jumped over the heads of knights. Anfey’s moves seemed to be against common sense. Without seeing him getting ready or jumping on anything, Anfey was able to fly up. Eight knight spears pierced through the horse in a second. The knights all liked this handsome horse, but they could care less about it right now.
Anfey dodged away. He stepped on a knight’s head. A bone cracking sound was heard. That knight’s body jerked immediately. Anfey borrowed the momentum to jump into the air and dodge the attacks from knights.
When Suzanna landed, she could not help falling on her knees. This girl had gotten so much better with practice. Anfey could not help giving her compliments in his head. He landed next to Suzanna. He held her up and yelled immediately, "You go first. I will take care of this situation." He winked at Suzanna.
Suzanna, rolled her eyes at him. Without saying a word, she started to run back in the direction she had come.
Seeing the sudden change, a griffin rider suddenly lower its altitude and yelled, "What happened? Why did you attack mercenaries?" Obviously, they were in charge of safety and scouting. They were in a different unit and did not take orders from each other. Otherwise he not would ask this way.
"He is Anfey," the general yelled in acute pain. The best approach would have been to invite Anfey to his camp and try to kill him when Anfey was relaxed after the meal and drinks. He would have had a much better chance to kill him when Anfey was not alert. He was able to keep a straight face. Unfortunately, his followers could not and showed their hostility on their faces too early. Lies helped him bond with Anfey, but he could not explain where the hostility was from. Anfey had led his legion and wiped out Griffin Aerial Unit. He knew it was not that easy to deceive Anfey. He had fought Anfey earlier, but it gave Anfey a chance to escape.
"Anfey?" The griffin circled in the air. The griffin rider yelled, "Is he really Anfey?"
"It is him," the general said.
The griffin rider took a deep breath as the griffin paused for a second before flying after the fleeing Anfey. Another griffin knight lowered his altitude and followed that griffin rider after they saw what had happened.
The general turned around to look at the stunned mercenaries. He hesitated before he yelled, "Cavalry units one, two and three, stay. The rest of you follow me. Get Anfey for me!" The generals in charge of logistics could only earn rewards by working very hard. They rarely had the chance to accomplish heroic deeds in battle. Seeing Anfey and Suzanna flee, he was not willing to simply give up this chance to the griffin riders. In addition, he could tell Suzanna was hurt. He had to take advantage of it to kill Anfey. He felt blessed to have this opportunity to seize Anfey and accomplish a heroic deed in the war.
The soldiers from Shansa Empire rushed toward Anfey as he fled. Some flew, some rode horses, while others ran. They had many different types of soldiers. Anfey dared not be in the fight too long after he had killed a few knights with his element spear. He left the battle as fast as possible. He was so fast that he looked like he flew everywhere with lightning speed. However, he was weighed down. Suzanna’s was fast at times, but slow at other times. The combat power was strong sometimes but very weak other times. Obviously, she did not have good control over her combat powers.
As soldiers got closer to them, Anfey had to run back to swing his sword to protect Suzanna. He was able to escape each time before he was caught by the soldiers.
Neither griffin riders nor regular soldiers from Shansa Empire knew Suzanna had advanced to be a master swordswoman. If they had known, they would not have chased her. They would not have had the courage to fight her.
The griffin riders in the sky seemed to be the toughest enemies. To soldiers in Shansa Empire, it was easy for them to be knights, but the army was very selective in choosing griffin rider. Most griffin riders were the best of the best. Without knowing why, they were constantly shooting magic spells at Anfey, and did not seem to notice Suzanna was different. It might have been that they were too proud to do so, or tried to keep the Knight’s principles.
The general from Shansa Empire acted really weird. Whenever Anfey was attacked by crossbow, he would look worried. He looked like he was worried Anfey would get killed by the crossbow. Whenever Anfey dodged those attacks or knock away a crossbow, he had a smile on his face. Luckily, those griffin riders had all their attention on Anfey and did not notice the change to his face; otherwise they would think he was a traitor.
Anfey fled while soldiers from Shansa Empire chased him. Without knowing how long he had run, he noticed it was getting dark. Griffin riders appeared to have forgotten one thing: griffins lost their vision when they tried to attack only a dozen yards above the ground. The general from Shansa Empire also forgot that knights could chase Suzanna and Anfey on horses, but cavalry in armor could not keep pace with them. In fact, the general’s management skills and intelligence seemed to be very limited; otherwise he would be a general on the front lines instead of in charge of supplies and logistics.