rune hunter

Chapter 188
Our brothers are still fighting!This reason alone is enough to make the soldiers of Istaron excited.The shame of running away has been overwhelming them, and the only thing that can stop their impulsiveness is El's reason as a commander.And when his reason also lost control, the last shackles were also shattered.

After the supplement of the River Valley Guards and the subsequent consumption of the war, the cavalry in El's hands reached about 150, which was also the only mobile force in his hands, and he had to guard against the attack of the Southern Army.However, El, who was in a state of excitement, didn't care about other issues at this time. He directly took all the troops, discarded all the luggage, and set off impatiently with only weapons and dry food.

The distance from Lille Town to Istaren is actually not far. If you don’t consider the loss of horses and march overnight, you can go back and forth in two and a half days.Elma took the lead and turned back along the original road, and kept gathering the scout troops in the rear along the way, but the news he got was not optimistic.

Because the marching speed of the exile team was too slow, in order to prevent the enemy from chasing from behind, El once left several batches of rear troops along the way, responsible for scouting the enemy and issuing alarms in time.Al and Tiana were temporarily relieved that the rearguard had not sounded the alarm for the past few days.However, the real situation was worse than he expected.

The rear troops are not irresponsible, but their knowledge is limited and they cannot understand the nature of the enemy.When the squad leader in charge of the rear patted his chest to make sure he didn't see a skeleton, El kicked him out without saying a word.

Ordinary soldiers only know to regard the tangible undead as enemies, but ignore the invisible plague.When El gathered the rear troops, he was horrified to find that they had all been more or less infected by the plague.It's just that because the infection time is relatively short, it is still in the incubation period and there are no obvious symptoms.

The plague spread by the Lord of Death is not as simple as an ordinary infectious disease. In El's eyes of truth, the plague entangled in the soldier's body is like a black smoke that hovers in the air and gathers without dispersing.Although Master Stephen had said before that the plague was about to break out, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, El wouldn't have believed that the threat of the plague was so close.

"You should speed up immediately. After you go back, find the priest accompanying the army for treatment, and don't have any contact with other people!" El said sternly, the squad leader got up from the ground, gave a military salute with a bitter face, and said nothing Say turn around and run.Because Istaron fell too quickly, the plague that spread to the city was completely burned before it broke out. Therefore, the soldiers' awareness of prevention is not strong, but this does not mean that they are ignorant of the problem. seriousness.

El led the knights under him all the way forward, and his face became more gloomy as he walked back.As Master Stephen said, the power of death is eroding this land, mercilessly harvesting all life.

Tens of thousands of refugees fled from Istaron, but behind the ranks of exiles, there was no one left alive.El led the troops to run wildly along the original road, and saw more and more human corpses along the road.

When the war broke out in Istaren, apart from the refugees who had made up their minds to leave their homes, there were also some residents who were reluctant to leave the city.They did not go far by chance, but hid in the nearby countryside, fields and forests, waiting silently for the end of the war.

Although the fire in the city was extinguished, the civil war among the undead continued.The refugees who could not wait for the results gradually lost confidence and began to plan to escape, but it was too late.Where the army of death passed by, an invisible plague spread to the surrounding area at an unimaginable speed, frantically plundering all life around it.

Those refugees were the closest to the city, and they were also the most severely infected. They developed obvious symptoms almost overnight, and then died.

El's troops had only traveled half a day before they could no longer move forward.The corpses of refugees were everywhere, and even the roads were blocked and impassable.The more serious problem is that the plague observed by El through the Eye of Reality has reached a dangerous critical point.

The most terrifying thing about the plague is that it will spread explosively as the number of dead increases. The more dead people, the stronger the contagion. In the end, these refugees just happened to become breeding grounds for diseases.The invisible black mist in the air has become solid, and some people have started coughing involuntarily.Even a strong soldier can hardly support himself in such an environment.

If you continue to go back, I am afraid that the entire cavalry unit will be buried here.

El turned his head and looked at his soldiers.The soldiers remained silent, occasionally coughing or coughing, which seemed extremely ear-piercing.When we got here, everyone already knew what would happen, but the eyes of the soldiers were still calm and determined.

This is a mourning soldier, and there is nothing greater than death.For an army that is ashamed to live, death is the goal they pursue.The mere attack of disease is far from enough to interfere with their will.

El turned his head and looked forward, and the water surface of the tree-lined lake could already be seen in the distance.That was the place where the exile team gathered and set off a few days ago. When they set off that day, many refugees knelt down by the lake and took them with them in containers filled with clear lake water. That sad scene is still fresh in my memory. .

However, with his eyesight, he could clearly see that in just a few days, the crystal-clear lake water had become turbid.The bleached corpses of dead fish are everywhere on the lake, and even a few hundred meters away, you can faintly smell the rotten stench.The poplar grove by Linyin Lake also lost its former lush colors, withered and yellow leaves fell one after another, and the trunks twisted softly into strange shapes as if they had been drained of water.

Not just humans, all life on this land is slowly rotting away.

The crystal ball in his arms became scorching hot, even though it was wrapped in a layer of fur, he could still feel the astonishing temperature.El could still grit his teeth and endure, but little Langa had already protested, wagging his tail.She hummed for a long time, seeing that El didn't respond, she simply did it herself and threw the crystal ball out.

Al was startled, and quickly grabbed the crystal with his eyes and hands, but the fur wrapped in it had already fallen off, and the girl's scream immediately exploded in his ears.

"El, you bastard! If you dare to take another step forward, I will show you to death!"

"Idiot, aren't you already dead?" El muttered in a low voice with his mouth curled up, while moving the crystal ball far away to prevent Tika's screams from piercing his eardrums.

"You can't solve any problems when you come back! Istaron has become a realm of death, and no living person can enter. We can't leave this city either!"

El held the crystal ball tightly and remained silent for a while.Although I don't know what happened to Tika, she is the woman he loves after all.The reason deep in his heart told him that he should believe her words, but he couldn't accept it emotionally.

"Hey... what will happen in the future?" El asked softly, returning the crystal ball to his eyes.

"Istaren is just a dead city, and our resistance cannot last long... When the army of the Lord of Death is assembled, we, the smelly and hard stone blocking the way, will be kicked away "Master Stephen's voice broke in suddenly, and then Tika said: "So, go back, El, you have seen the outbreak of the plague, and there is still time to go back now."

El was silent for a while, then raised his head, his face returned to calm, and he said to the soldiers following him: "Brothers, I'm very sorry, it was my waywardness that brought you back, this is my duty as a commander. dereliction of duty."

"What are you talking about, my lord." A soldier touched his head and laughed: "It is enough to know that our brothers are still fighting. We used to say that soldiers are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of death." Death is worthless. Now they can continue to take up arms to fight and continue to protect Istaron, they must be very happy."

"Actually, I'm not that noble. I only came back for my woman." El said truthfully with a wry smile.

"We know, my lord." The soldier said with a smile, "Brothers came back with you for this! Whether she lives or dies, we can't leave our woman in this ghostly place."

"Thank you." El patted the soldier's shoulder vigorously, shook his head and said, "But you can't go any further, because the plague outbreak is ahead, so you can't get through it. I can only walk the rest of the way."

"General, I'll go with you!" Pallanti said loudly.

"You can't either, Pallanti, now you will take over the command and lead the team to retreat." El said in a deep voice.

"I said, if you take another step forward, I will die for you." Tika's voice in the crystal ball also became cold: "I really do what I said, if you insist on going your own way, I will immediately give up the resurrection plan." Chance!"

"Resurrection?!" El was about to wrap up the crystal ball, so as not to hear Tika's noise, when he heard this word suddenly, his hand trembled and almost threw the crystal ball out.

"Stupid Tika! Tell me clearly!" El grabbed the crystal ball tightly, gritted his teeth and asked.

There seemed to be a quarrel between Tika and Stephen from the opposite side of the crystal ball. It took a long time for Tika to regain the right to speak while El was waiting like a year.

"The old man's thinking is too conservative..." Tika muttered in a low voice, then cleared his throat, and made his tone serious: "Because of some long story, my current situation is a bit special, So there should be a theoretical way to…”

"Don't be shy, say!" Al said through gritted teeth.

"If you can destroy the Lord of Death and let me inherit his godhead... then we may have a chance to meet again!" Tika hesitated and whispered.

(End of this chapter)