From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 234 Bear Ring

After contracting Bill as a follower, Lane already knew Bill's talent.

[Natural Affinity], looking at the effect description, it seems to be some kind of magic talent.It's hard to say whether its strength has reached the level of the magic source, but at least it brought Bill an extraordinary mental resistance.

The Berserker transformation of the Svalblo sect, mind-affecting herbs and hallucinogenic mushrooms are a very important part.

According to the records of the Skellige, the Berserker Trial of Svalblo followers is as follows:
【His disciples drink the psychedelic potion beforehand, and then go deep underground to the cave in the center of Great Skellige.Once there, the bears in that cave will eat them alive.Then, these cultists occupy and control the body of the beast like parasites.When they wake up, they will become monsters that are neither human nor bear. 】

Some details are also ignored, for example, the Vilkas will also fight with the giant bear-although the final result is that people will be swallowed by the giant bear.But this fighting process also has an impact on the subsequent transformation of the Berserker. After all, this thing has the same success rate as the Demon Hunter Trial, and it may be even lower.

And the mental resistance brought about by Bill's talent is obviously of great help to this transformation of pulling with the giant bear's consciousness and occupying the giant bear's body.It is also because of this that he successfully became a berserker, woke up early, and fled back to his village before the Wilkas "reclaimed" him.

At the same time, this kind of mental resistance is probably also the confidence that Bill can resist the singing of the mermaid, so that he will not be confused like other sailors, and even jump into the sea and be drowned. Food for adult fish or sirens, not lovers.

Of course, it doesn't rule out that the mermaid named "Sylvana" is a kind-hearted face control, attracted by Bill's other talent.

Unfortunately, no matter what the truth is, the mermaid named Shyvana is now dead.

……

"As soon as I got back to the village, the villagers rushed out, and they could only run to the cave that Shyvana had mentioned to me. Because Shyvana told me: If I have nowhere to go, I will go there to find her. "

"And Shyvana was right there waiting for me, singing and smiling to welcome me back."

"But there are still Krakens living there, and they don't like me, they never liked me, never liked me since Shyvana was with me, so they screamed and jumped at me."

"They should just want to teach me a lesson...they would have done the same thing before, make me hurt a little, bleed a little because they don't like me...and Shyvana would scold them and help me with her soft magic healing..."

"But this time it's different... This time I'm out of my mind. When I saw the blood on my body and tasted the fish in my mouth, I became a bear and I was no longer controlled..."

"First I tore apart the siren who attacked me, then Shyvana who tried to stop me... and then the siren until they were afraid of me and stopped attacking me."

Bill wailed in pain: "And after I regained my human form, I forgot all about it... Those herbs and mushrooms have been affecting me until just now..."

"I thought Shyvana was angry, so she avoided me... I thought the decrease in the number of Krakens was due to the hunting and killing of the villagers to protect Shivana and me..."

"So it's all because of me..."

……

The demon hunters who had finished the battle surrounded them.

They were hearty in the battle just now, but at this moment their hearts are full of mixed feelings because of what the young man said.

They have seen so many tragedies like this: Bloodlines kill each other, lovers kill each other; whether it is intentional or unintentional.

But no matter how many times they have seen it, it doesn't stop their uncold hearts beating because of it, and they pay their own sympathy for it.

Even if they are expressionless at the moment.

Lan En sighed. If he was normal, he would not mind giving his new attendant some time to adjust his mentality.But at this moment, the Skellige who had just ended the war around him was in high spirits and bursting with anger, and he was really in no mood to wait for Bill to vent his emotions.

Fortunately, after the collapse, Bill didn't let things develop in the most troublesome direction.

He wailed, holding his head, looking at the corpses of the Vilkas, the remorse in his eyes quickly turned into an unforgettable hatred.

"It was them, they turned me into a bear... Shyvana wouldn't have died if it wasn't for them!"

Bill turned around and bowed to Lann: "My lord, all my memories have recovered...it's even clearer than usual. Please let me take you to the Svalblo sect gathering, and let me help you Wipe this filth off Skellige!"

Lann raised his eyebrows, this change of thinking is quite good.

It's just that he looked at the vigorous flame in Bill's eyes, and always felt that this young man might develop into the extreme situation of "killing the enemy and then committing suicide" in the future.

But even if this kind of thing is really in the mind of the young man at the moment, Lan En will not let him take action in the future. This is not a problem for Lan En now.

"Then, according to the memory in your mind, take us to the Svalblo sect and the Vilka." Lan said seriously, with a tone of responsibility, "There is a relationship between us and them now. Unresolved hatred."
-
After being contracted to become a follower, Bill's brain became clearer many times. He didn't even need the sensory help of Geralt and other demon hunters. After looking between the rocks a few times, he found his escape path.

Soon, a cave that looked like a giant's deep mouth appeared before everyone's eyes.

The entrance of this cave is quite steep, and there is only a narrow rock road that is enough for one person to pass between it and the normal mountain road, and there are no vegetation around it.

The most important thing is that experienced mountain people can definitely judge from the traces at the entrance of this cave-there is a bear inside.

This makes ordinary people not want to approach this cave even more.

But for Lan and others, it means: they found the right place.

East frowned and looked at the narrow rock passage. A thousand-man troop trying to pass through this level of terrain would be courting death. The Vilkas only needed a dozen people to guard the entrance of the cave.

"According to the traces around, this is the base camp of the Svalblo Sect." Easter mused, "This kind of terrain is an advantage for them with a small number of people, but for us who are encircled by a large army But it is fatal. Maybe we need to disperse people and try to find other entrances."

Having said that, everyone knows that such hope is slim.For the Svalblo sect to choose this place as a hiding place for decades, they must have considered the possibility of discovery in advance.There may be escape paths, but it will definitely not be a spacious terrain that the army can pass through.

Lan En looked at it for a while, and suggested: "Why don't you let me go in and investigate first? You all know my ability. If there is an ambush by the Vilka people, I can run out at any time."

"And at the same time, the troops can try to find the surrounding trails, both ways."

Thinking of the two skills Lann had already demonstrated [Teleportation] and [Blink], East reluctantly nodded.

Today's Lann can no longer be regarded as a conventional combat unit. East even held back his idea of ​​wanting Lann to bring a few guards with him, because he already knows now—let the guards It might be a drag to act with Lan En.

But he still exhorted habitually: "Be careful."

Lan smiled and nodded, turned around and estimated the distance between himself and the cave, and then his body emitted emerald light and disappeared in place.

Then there was a flash of golden light at the entrance of the cave, and then it disappeared into darkness.

Asking the demon hunters to keep an eye on the movement at the entrance of the cave, East shook his head and turned his head, preparing to arrange manpower to find another exit.

However, before the scouting troops set off, the emerald light lit up around him again.

Lann emerged from it with a strange expression on his face.

East hurriedly asked: "What's the matter? Are you in danger?"

Kratz also followed up: "What is the terrain like inside? How many enemies are there? Have they found you?"

Facing the two people's questioning, Lan En sighed: "There is no danger..."

"Not even enemies."

"But I do need a little support, there are a couple of injured people in there, and some things that might need to be brought out."

……

Although Lann has explained that there are no enemies inside, Easter and Kratz brought their own guards for safety purposes, and Juta Ann Dimen was unwilling to join forces with the soldiers who followed the Dimen family. go together.

Naturally, the witchers and Bill couldn't be absent.

Entering from the entrance of the cave, you will be greeted with a smelly and foul smell, which is different from the giant bear transformed by the Berserker Vilka, this kind of stench is the smell of a real bear.

The entire cave was dark and damp, the rock walls were covered with moss and some unknown thorny vines, and the ground was full of broken bones.

In the center of the cave stands a terrifying statue of a deity, drenched in blood.

Surrounding the statue were three naked, comatose youths. They had horrific wounds on their bodies, which had already been bandaged.

Lan pointed to the three youths: "This is why I want to support."

East hurriedly directed several soldiers with medical experience to come forward, and at the same time he himself stepped forward to check the situation of these young people, and then showed an incredulous expression.

"They are... Apprentice Druids. I have seen them in the Druid Ring." East couldn't believe what he saw.

What he said surprised everyone present.

Kratz looked at the blood dripping on the statue, and the three druid apprentices who were obviously used to provide blood: "The Svalblo Sect uses druids to perform blood sacrifices? They are so bold!"

The status of Druids in the Skellige Islands is not low, and the status of the Warlock Brotherhood in the hearts of the mainland kings during its heyday is not as high as that of Druids in the hearts of the Skellige chiefs.Because druids are knowledgeable and at the same time truly not greedy for politics, no matter how crazy and stupid the patriarch is, he will show full respect when treating druids.

Unexpectedly, the Svalblo sect actually captured the druid as a blood sacrifice.

After Kratz scolded the Svalblo sect, he hurried forward to check on these druid apprentices together.

Fortunately, they found that they were still breathing.

"We need to send them back to the Druid Ring for treatment as soon as possible," Kratz said firmly.

While the soldiers were simply treating the injuries of these druid apprentices, Lan was explaining the results of his investigation to everyone.

……

"This cave seems to be divided into two floors. We are now on the second floor. Apparently, after finding a natural cave, the Vilkas used manpower and even magic to artificially repair these places." Lann introduced to the group that he had just According to the results of the investigation, "Vilka people should all live on the first floor, and this floor is where they train berserkers."

"Or..." Lan pointed to several places in this huge cave, "they are the places where they 'produced' berserkers."

On the edge of the huge cave, several smaller caves were excavated for living.But there are no people in these habitable caves, but bears.

Or rather, Bear.

A few round-headed little black balls squeezed inside, separated from the outside world by the solid and spiky vines, looking curiously at the demon hunters outside.

"The cub of the giant Skellige bear? No..." Kratz exclaimed, "The Vilkas are breeding giant bears to produce berserkers in batches? No wonder they can pull out so many berserkers in one go , I almost thought they captured all the giant bears in the archipelago, but I didn't expect it to be like this..."

"But this is the giant Skellige bear. It cannot be bred. Each of them is the overlord of their respective territories. How could it be like this..."

Facing Kratz's question, East pointed to the center of the cave and diverted everyone's attention to it.

"If it is there, everything is possible." East said.

In front of him was a half-human, half-bear statue. The person who made it was really skilled, and the muscle texture and hair layers on it were almost clearly visible.There are also several blood grooves reserved for blood to flow on it. Obviously, this statue is also suitable for occasions that require blood sacrifices.

East stomped on the ground under his feet and explained: "There is a statue of a god. It seems that this is indeed the hiding place of the Svalblo sect."

"I have read the books in the family. The place under our feet should be the place called the 'Bear Ring' by the Wilkas. They will use special methods to gather all the giant bears around when they hold the Berserker Trial. Come here and let the warriors fight the giant bear."

"This is a unique ability mastered by the Svalblo sect. Now it seems that they have gone a step further on this basis. After summoning the giant bears, they did not fight with them, but trapped them here for captivity, and... ..."

East walked slowly towards the cubs who were watching him and others curiously. The cubs of these ferocious beasts were not afraid of people at all, and seemed to be used to their existence.

But what East cared about was not these cubs, but the thick, thorny vines that kept them inside.

"These should be spawned by the natural magic of druids. You must know that druids can tame pterodactyls. They have unique breeding techniques, coupled with the unique skills inherited from the Svalblo sect. Bears are no surprise."

Hearing his uncle's explanation, Kratz showed a sudden realization.Although he is also the head of the clan, when faced with these mysteries and other knowledge, his knowledge is still far inferior to that of East.

"Yes, Druid!" Bill, who had been behind the crowd, suddenly exclaimed, attracting everyone's attention.

"When I was kidnapped, a druid appeared! I will not admit my mistake!"

Everyone looked at Lan En.

Lan shook his head: "I just explored everything here, and there is no one here."

Gerd immediately seemed to let out a sigh of relief: "That is to say, we still let them run away this time, didn't we manage to wipe out the Svalblo sect?"

As soon as the words came out, East and the others hadn't reacted yet, and the Dimen family and Bill, who were planning to take revenge, had already gritted their teeth.They took a breath to avenge the Svalblo sect.

Lane shook his head again: "The situation is not that dire... I observed the size of the upper-level Vilka's living area, and it can accommodate up to a hundred people, that is to say, the Vilka we defeated in the previous battle Men may be all their warriors—unless there are other secret gathering places of Velcas within this mountain."

East nodded in affirmation and said: "Then let's search this place again to see if there are any missing clues, and at the same time send out people to see if there are any gathering places of Vilka people. We must find out who escaped. Corrupted Druids."

As he spoke, East looked back at the three druid apprentices whose injuries had been treated briefly: "I even suspect that these apprentices were captured by that fallen druid."

……

All along, East was calling the shots.This is no problem. After all, East has the highest seniority, the most prestige, and the richest experience, and he can mobilize the most resources in Skellige.

And Lane and Kratz will check for omissions and make up for vacancies from time to time, and East is also willing to accept the correct suggestions of the two juniors.

But this time, after East gave the order to search the residence of the Vilkas and continue to search for the druids, Kratz showed a hesitant expression.

East obviously noticed, and he attached great importance to the suggestions his nephew might have: "Kratz, do you have any ideas?"

Kratz took off his helmet and said hesitantly, "Uncle, we came to encircle and suppress the Svalblo sect just to help you become king, right?"

East nodded of course, not knowing why Kratz would ask such a question.

"If it's true, as Lann said, all the Velcas were killed in your previous battle, leaving only one fallen druid, then the Svalblo Sect has actually been destroyed, right? "

"If that's the case, I don't think that Druid is important anymore."

"You have now defeated the other candidates and can be crowned."

(End of this chapter)