From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 229

The mermaid (Siren) is considered to be a special individual among the sirens, and is a distant relative of the harpies.

The latter may be somewhat believable, but the former is doubted by scholars and warlocks—because although the female siren has a natural and beautiful upper body like a human woman, they still show their appearance like a deep-sea monster when preying. On the other hand, mermaids, although they also have predator behavior, but they are always beautiful.

And the most important thing is - female sirens are closer to beasts and monsters, less rational and intelligent; while mermaids, they actually have language.

Scholars versed in linguistics are convinced that the mermaid's language is a variant of Old Speech, with a distinctive melody that speaks more like a song.And since there is language, a more thought-provoking guess can be extended from this-the mermaid is civilized, perhaps in the deep sea.

But ordinary people don't care about this. They are more interested in the love legend about mermaids. It is said that they sometimes jump out of the water and sit on the reef to accept the courtship of male humans.

Geralt once witnessed such a love story. This story happened in the short story collection of the original book: a duke in a certain place once fell in love with a mermaid hopelessly, and he entrusted Geralt, who is proficient in ancient languages, to help convey it. With his own mind—here I lament the profound knowledge of the wolf hunters—the duke hoped that the mermaid would give up the life in the ocean and marry him, but he was rejected.

Later, the sullen Duke commissioned Geralt to investigate several murders, only to find that the beast came from a mysterious underwater intelligent race.Soon this group of races called "sea dwellers" clashed with the people on the ground, and the war was imminent.

Fortunately, the mermaid loved by the Duke appeared in time. She used magic to turn her tail into legs, married the Duke, and prevented the conflict between the land and the sea.

A pretty good story to read.

……

But by now, mermaids have rarely accepted clumsy courtship from sailors or courtship from dignitaries—probably because too many lonely sailors kidnapped them.

"For as long as I can remember, my father has warned me: If you hear a beautiful woman singing at sea, turn around immediately, even if you are heading into a storm."

"The mermaid's appearance is just a disguise. They are extremely ferocious. You should pull out your ax as soon as you meet them." The old village chief said solemnly, "The ultimate goal of that mermaid must be the lives of the whole village, Bill. Bewitched by that monster with an obscene appearance!"

Lan exchanged glances with the witchers behind him, especially Geralt.

The experienced wolf hunter shook his head.He didn't rule out the conjecture that the mermaid was kind in nature, but he still needed to see it with his own eyes to be sure.

Any absolute stereotyping of monsters or other mystical races can lead to tragedy.

Lan En followed the old village chief's words and continued to ask: "You saw that Bill meeting the mermaid at night, what happened afterwards? You killed the mermaid, and then let the young people in the village tie Bill to the village of Vulhala, intending to take the mermaid away. He feeds the bear?"

Guslav's butler's eyes followed Lan's words very cooperatively and became sharp, causing the old village chief to kneel down again with a plop.

"My lords, we don't have that kind of ability..."

"The moment we saw the mermaid, the mermaid also spotted us and immediately dived into the sea and disappeared."

The old village chief lamented: "And after Bill found us, he actually told us: that mermaid is kind, and it is because of her that the life of our village can be improved. He said that he is trying to get the mermaid ashore If it really doesn’t work, try to get yourself the ability to breathe underwater—no matter which method they use, they will stay and continue to help the village in the end, making us the richest village in Great Skellige.”

The witchers looked at each other again, and Geralt nodded slightly this time.It means that just like mermaids can get legs, human beings can also get the ability to live underwater through some magic like tree spirit transformation, and live in a double habitat with their mermaid partner.

And the old village head was still sighing: "This kid just read too many stories from outside. Will we Skellige people believe such ridiculous and absurd rumors? Children don't believe it!"

Lane sighed, not knowing whether it was for the village, the young Bill, or the unknown mermaid.

"Why did Bill go to the village of Fulhalla, and he was accompanied by young people from your village?"

"That was his glory test—I actually listened to his nonsense!" The old village head was full of remorse, "In order to prevent the village from being destroyed by the mermaids, we plan to organize manpower and ask the lord for help to hunt and kill the mermaids." .But Bill stopped us, saying he would go to Fulhalla to find out the truth and get the glory in exchange for us not going to hunt the killer fish."

"Although the Svalblo sect was destroyed, the shepherds who tried to find the lost lamb and the travelers who tried to escape the wind and snow all swore: the fresh blood reflected the sun on the altar of Svalblo, and the underground caves still The bear's roar resounded—and Bill swore he'd bring back the bear's head."

The old village head beat his chest regretfully: "The Skelliges cannot prevent the islanders from gaining glory, so we agreed, and sent four of the strongest boys in the village to supervise him and prevent him from escaping. But it turned out that only Bill was alone People escaped back!"

"That mermaid must have used some evil magic, and Bill was in with it!"

Lane and his party knew the truth of the matter, but it was not the case. They knew that it was the giant bear transformed by the Velcas that killed the team that wanted to win glory, and that Bill himself escaped death by a narrow margin.

It's just that I don't know what the confidence is for Bill to go up the mountain with such confidence. Could it be that he really hopes to give him strength through love?Or was he thinking that if he died in Fuerhala Village, he would be able to change his life and make the villagers give up hunting mermaids?
Lan shook his head and asked, "So where is Bill now?"

There was hatred in the eyes of the old village head: "That despicable person with no honor dared to go back to the village. We were going to execute him and make him pay for deceiving us. Instead, he ran into a complex in the mountains near us. In the cave, there are a large number of sea monsters inhabiting there - and since then, sea monsters have also begun to appear in the sea near our village."

The old village chief was indignant: "This is a strong proof. I don't think Bill was tempted by the mermaid at all, but they conspired together to destroy our village!"

Lan sighed deeply again, for the sake of the village and for Bill.

But now at least it can prove that Bill is still alive for the time being. I hope the love between him and the mermaid can keep him safe and sound in the place where the siren haunts.

"Show me the location of the cave full of sea monsters, I need to find it."

……

Skellige has many terrains similar to the caves in front of us.

The entrance of the cave is wide and deep. The rock walls on both sides rely on the cliffs. From time to time, there will be a hole as high as a person. Some dark and disturbing sunlight will shoot in through the cracks in the rock wall and these holes, making the cave Light up for a psychedelic look.

With a "slap", the feet wearing steel greaves stepped into the water, and the sea water covered the ankles, bringing an uncomfortable soaking feeling.

"That's it, my lord... and the masters." The old village chief said to the demon hunters and the Guslav steward.

Lan looked at the inside of the cave, accompanied by the humming of rocks and the flickering of shimmering lights, and low hissing sounds could be heard from the depths of the cave from time to time.

These hisses made the old village chief who was already trembling even more.

"Go back first, you have worked hard to lead the way." Lan En said lightly.

The old village chief hurriedly bowed and ran away, not wanting to stay in this place for another second.

Lane then turned his attention to Guslav, who was Kratz's former adjutant and shook his head firmly: "The Earl sent me as your guide, so I have no reason to let you explore dangerous places alone."

Lan En patted him on the shoulder encouragingly: "Then get your weapons ready."

Walking into the cave, the wet and salty smell rushed towards everyone.

The sound of everyone trampling on the sea water soon began to echo in the cave, but the faint hissing sound stopped immediately.

Apparently, the monsters in the cave had sensed the presence of Lane and his party.But they didn't attack everyone immediately, as if they wanted to use some other means.

Lane noticed that Colgrim seemed extraordinarily excited, mixed with a hint of curiosity.

"I'm from the south." Colgrim explained, "Even if I went north to look for the school's equipment blueprints, I mostly encountered harpies, but I've never seen a siren. I heard that this kind of monster is particularly Knowing how to seduce people, I have long wanted to see it."

The eyes of the other four pairs of witchers fell on Colgrim, but then they nodded in agreement and understanding.

Lan En encouraged: "You will take the lead at that time."

Colgrim readily agreed, with an abnormal flush on his face; but his movements were not slow, and he quickly and steadily applied a layer of snake-like [hybrid beast sword oil] to his silver sword.

……

As the crowd moved forward, a courtyard-like open space soon appeared in front of them, and a...beautiful figure appeared.

She has fair skin that is completely different from the archipelagic women, sprinkled with crystal drops of water, which is more delicate under the glimmer of light in the cave; she has slightly curly long golden hair with a slight wet feeling on it The top of the neck is charming again.

The most important thing is - her dress is very "ocean", extremely "natural", and she doesn't even use shells as a cover in the legend, just exposing her beautifully curved skin to the rain falling from the sky In the sunshine and everyone's focused eyes.

Drops of water dripped from her hair, slowly passed over her skin, and finally penetrated into the scales below her waist.

This is the Kraken.

"Yan—"

A voice began to echo in everyone's ears.

It's not singing, because it's not a mermaid in front of me.What came to everyone's ears was the echo like a whale moaning softly, empty and leisurely, enough to make the listeners let down their vigilance.

Colgrim opened his arms to stop his companions behind him, expressing that he was duty-bound to take the lead at this time.

After painting himself a layer of [Quen's Seal], he held the snake-headed silver sword upside down, hid the blade behind himself, and slowly approached the sea monster in front of him.

The poisonous snake-like demon hunter put away his sharp teeth, and instead began to spit out letters frequently, observing every detail of the sea monster rigorously and greedily.

"Ah... the upper body is like this, it is no different from human beings... No, this is the biggest difference, because everything that grows is too standard, like a sculpture."

"As for the lower body... it seems that there are no organs that can help hunting. It's not a fish tail, because it's a sea monster... It looks more like a snake tail with fins..."

The amber eyes of the snake became brighter and brighter, and the expression of the snake witcher became more and more focused.

The sea monster, who was being examined by Colgrim, tilted his head in an extremely girlish manner, as if he was extremely curious about the actions and words of the person in front of him.

She changed suddenly from a half-recumbent position on her back to a sitting position, and slowly began to lean forward towards Colgrim.

There was no expression on that fair face, but those eyes, which were as pure as lake water, reflected the purity without any pollution from the world; , the skin, and the dewdrops on it all began to fluctuate slightly like the surface of water being blown by the wind.

Lan heard the sound of swallowing suddenly coming from beside him, and when he looked back, the three demon hunters, wolf, bear, and griffin were all expressionless.

It was the Guslav butler who made the sound.

The islanders knew how powerful the Kraken was, and Kratz's former adjutant was the one who held the weapon the tightest after entering the cave.

But at this moment, even though he had done enough psychological construction, the butler Guslav was still shocked by the sea monster's actions.

……

"Ah... Su Liu, even the movements are so anthropomorphic. Have they observed and learned human gestures? Or are they reacting instinctively?"

"But look at her... no, it's the movement of 'it', why do you feel so familiar? It's a bit like..."

Colgrim's extremely academically exploring soliloquy was not over yet, and the sea monster with a beautiful upper body suddenly turned into a black shadow in front of him.

"...It's a bit like the prelude to the predation of snakes." The witcher's words came long after.

It turned into a black shadow because it was difficult for ordinary people to catch the sea monster's ejection speed with the naked eye. Its body leaning forward that made the whole body fluctuate just now was actually the energy stored before predation.

And in the amber snake pupils of the demon hunter, every inch of the sea monster's changes are clearly reflected:
The corner of its mouth split open suddenly, revealing a fish lip full of sharp and fine teeth; the skin on its face and body seemed to be surging in waves, and thin blue-purple scales stood up; He moved, and suddenly ejected a bone spur from his palm.

Behind it spread a huge shadow, revealing a pair of ferocious fins like bats.

"Squeal!!"

The empty chant turned into a piercing roar, and the scene suddenly changed from "hazy dream" to "heavy mouth hunting".

If it is really a lonely sailor who has been wandering at sea for a long time, after such a temptation, he must have let go of his guard; and even a person with a calm mind, after the transformation from dream to curiosity, must be shocked Rebellion is also forgotten.

Fortunately, the person standing in front of this sea monster was Colgrim who was devoted to "academic research".

If it was Ke En or Lann, at this moment, they would choose to use [Alder Sign] or [Igni Sign] to paste directly on that scary face.

But Colgrim's seal is not so strong, he is worried that the opponent may break through his seal and attack him.

So he turned around lightly, like a more agile poisonous snake teasing a young fish.

Then he swung the silver sword upside down like a large dagger with his backhand.

The arc flickered and the blood spattered. Colgrim didn't use much strength, but only cut open the back of the sea monster that was already covered in scales.

But the sea monster screamed miserably, because the slashed flesh began to emit thick white smoke as if it had been splashed with strong acid, and then black and purple lines began to spread towards the surrounding of the wound.

The poisonous snake-like demon hunter slowly took two steps back, and swung the silver sword coated with school-specific sword oil. He was confident that after about ten breaths, the sea monster would die by itself.

Looking at the sea monster flopping on the ground like a sea fish, Colgrim sighed: "I suddenly don't have much interest in studying them..."

The next second, the sea monster, who knew that his life was dying, suddenly grabbed the ground firmly, and the sharp claws that changed into falcon-like changed back to the green appearance of a girl in an instant; when it raised its head, the fine lines on its face The scales also turned back into delicate skin.

Those lake-like eyes really began to overflow with water, and even the originally calm expression became pitiful.

"Yan—"

Colgrim's eyes lit up once again hearing the mournful cry.

"Are you still begging for mercy? Reminiscent of the behaviors of camouflage and temptation before, it turns out that the sea monster's IQ is not generally high..."

……

Lane narrowed his eyes.

He raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the cracks and cavities at the top of the cave. The place where the sunlight came in was suddenly covered by fleeting shadows.

Turning around, Lan looked at Colgrim who was in high spirits and said, "I don't think it's begging for mercy."

……

"Ska!!"

In the next second, seven or eight figures like swimming snakes squeezed in from the hole in the rock wall, and then they spread their wings suddenly, and let out ear-piercing roars along the rock wall, as if responding to their dying companions below. It seems to be intimidating the murderous demon hunters.

At the same time, the demon hunters raised their crossbows and began to aim at the siren in the sky.

"Colgrim, do you still want to continue your research?"

The Snake Demon Hunter looked at the mournful sea monsters on the ground, and at the strange looking sea monsters in the sky, and shook his head regretfully.

"That's good." Lan En chuckled and raised his left hand towards the sky.

To deal with these flying enemies, disturbing the flow of air to make them lose their balance and fall to the ground is far more efficient than hitting them with arrows.

"Save the arrows, it's quite troublesome to wind the bow." Lan En turned around and advised, "Wrap up your clothes, it will be colder later."

After finishing speaking, before Geralt and the others could react, a huge amount of magic power had already condensed in Lann's hands.

[Alder's Sign · Bone Biting · Magic Power Explosion】!
……

It was obviously not winter yet, and it was clearly inside the cave, but at this moment a blizzard suddenly swept through.

In just a split second, the swift black shadows in mid-air "spread" apart due to the wind pressure, and were tightly pressed against the rock wall, unable to move.

And then, due to the special terrain, the storm formed by the impact of thought force began to rotate around the rock wall, forming a small tornado.The Kraken, which was still attached to the rock wall just now, rolled uncontrollably again at this moment driven by its huge wings, bumping against rocks and rolling down from time to time along the way.

The four demon hunters narrowed their eyes slightly, and took two steps closer to Lann.

Guslav clutched his collar and cuffs tightly, his teeth were chattering, but his face was flushed:
"This is the Lion of Cintra..."

Ged seems to have remembered something, and suddenly approached Cohen, asking, "Lan has many magical seals: his Arden will not attack his own people, his Axii can hypnotize magical creatures, and now his Alder is still alive. It has a freezing effect! I wanted to ask him to discuss these sigils before, but he said that these are the specialties of the Griffin School, so he shied away. Can you teach me? I will exchange the Kuen secrets of the Bear Pie with you!"

The storm in the courtyard was very strong, and Gerd's voice was quickly carried away by the airflow, and it couldn't reach Cohen's ears at all.

"What are you talking about? I can only see your lips moving!" the senior of the Griffin School shouted, looking confused.

Ged was stunned for a moment, and put his hands together like trumpets: "I say! Can you teach me these magical seals? I'll exchange the Kuen secrets from the Bear Pie!"

Cohen shivered suddenly in the blizzard: "What are you talking about? I can't hear you!"

……

Lann didn't continue to spray the storm. It's really that the cylindrical natural terrain is too suitable for the [Ard's Sign] to be cast, and it turned his own sign into a continuous attack.

"Puff", "Puff"

When the storm finally weakened a little, the sea monsters in the sky finally fell to the ground. They were even carried by the remaining wind current to slide on the ground, and their skin was cut open by sharp stones from time to time.

Their bodies were covered with a thin layer of ice crystals, and the blood that flowed out quickly solidified, and their wings were completely frozen, so they would definitely not be able to fly in a short time.

The demon hunters put away their crossbows, pulled out their silver swords in neat movements, and stepped forward slowly.

The ferocious sea-monsters seemed to have frozen their skin and scales, and they couldn't even transform into maiden stances to beg for mercy or bewilder them. Only the sea-monster that was scratched by Kolgrim at the beginning was left mournfully. .

"Yan—"

Its voice suddenly became high-pitched, as if it was returning to light; the snake poison in its body also broke out completely at this moment, giving it excessive pain and about to take its life away.

However, just when Lan and the others raised their swords and were about to stab into the bodies of the sea monsters, a young man's voice suddenly sounded in the cave.

"Stop, please stop, kind adults, have mercy!"

The demon hunters stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.

(End of this chapter)