Life is truly full of ups and downs.
Sara has never understood this principle as deeply as he does now.
When he was worried about the effectiveness of the Specter Oil. The Royal Knights had just encountered a wave of Wraiths and, like a bolt of lightning, had lured a large group of Wraiths to chase after them. When he worried about the safety of the two witchers.
Vesemir and Master Allen, with their horsemanship and swordsmanship far surpassing those of the ordinary soldiers, ignited a green flame that rivaled that of a hundred Royal Knights. The wave of Wraiths was completely halted. But just as he was feeling jubilant, thinking that everything would be fine until the ritual was completed, the situation took a turn for the worse.
First, the Specter Oil for the Royal Knights ran out early, and then their horses lacked the strength, being tightly pursued by the Wraiths.
Caught in a dilemma.
In an instant, the initial advantage was completely exhausted. The wave of Wraiths surged forward.
Looking at the figures that were being tightly pursued by those damned Wraiths but resolutely leaving, Sara couldn't help but clench his fists, the veins on his forehead bulging as he fixed his gaze on the comrades no more than a hundred meters away. He seemed to see Arthur shaking his head vigorously at him.
At that moment.
A soldier from the monster hunting army clad in black armor approached.
"Sir Sara, the two hundred portions of Specter Oil have all been collected. Now…" The soldier glanced at the Royal Knights who were turning their horses around. "Should we still deliver them to the Royal Knights?"
Sara looked at the wave of Wraiths that was closing in, now only about three hundred meters away. Then he glanced at the exhausted war horses galloping away with the Royal Knights.
After a long silence.
"No need." Sara shook his head. "Distribute the Specter Oil again, then get the brothers ready; it will soon be our turn."
The soldier looked back at the approaching Wraiths, feeling the increasingly heavy chill in the evening breeze, and then gazed at the brightly lit Ellander.
He said nothing.
He merely bowed deeply before moving among the various squads to relay orders.
In a moment.
The entire appearance of the monster hunting army underwent a sudden change. The chilling murderous intent seemed to freeze even the night wind.
Mary, who was assisting Vera, noticed the shift in atmosphere around her, looked up, and couldn't help but ask anxiously: "Master, how much longer?"
"Soon…" Vera replied without looking up, her tone indifferent.
However, seeing her usually calm and graceful mentor wiping the sweat from her forehead every few seconds as the temperature dropped, Mary realized that Vera was already exerting herself to the limit. So even though she didn't get an exact timeframe, she didn't want to disturb her any further.
The ritual had been set up to its core, and there were fewer and fewer things Mary could assist with. Most of the time, she could only stand idly by, staring at the ritual setup that Vera had arranged, lost in thought. Pretending that she was useful, that she was important, that she was buying time for everyone…
Though she knew this was just self-deception.
"If only I hadn't chosen alchemy when I was selected by Lady Vera after leaving Aretuza." Mary bit her lower lip anxiously.
"Whether studying elemental changes or delving into the mysteries of rituals, at this moment, it would be hundreds of times more useful than alchemy."
She watched Vera's movements.
The increasingly complete ritual array on the ground seemed to mock her, belittle her, and scold her with each arc…
This made Mary, anxious, unable to help but look towards the war horses that the monster hunting army had placed aside.a
But the next second.
She forcibly suppressed her urge to ride and catch up with Allen. Each wraith had almost the highest tolerance for spells. Only the most difficult fire-element spells could achieve decent effects.
Unfortunately.
In the past half month, she had only learned three types of fire-element spells, and none could be cast while riding on the bumpy back of a horse without being disturbed. Thus, Mary knew that even if she caught up with Allen, it would be useless; instead, she would hold him back and distract his attention.
"I really am useless…"
Mary couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted in the monster hunting army, interrupting Mary and causing her to instinctively look towards the direction of the Wraiths. Though the Royal Knights had already turned back and retreated a distance, it was clear that…
Because of this commotion, many of the Wraiths that had been drawn away were now re-captured by the increasingly approaching monster hunting army and the life energy of Ellander. Moreover, the number of Wraiths breaking away from chasing the Royal Knights was continuously increasing.
The wave of Wraiths rushing towards Ellander was gradually accelerating. But just then, a dark figure suddenly dashed in front of the Royal Knights' formation.
"It's Master Vesemir!"
Mary squinted, carefully identifying for a moment before recognizing him.
He waved his bluish-silver sword.
In the blink of an eye, the left flank of the wave of Wraiths ignited with three or four green flames. Many of the Wraiths that had disengaged were again attracted, following behind the Royal Knights. The speed of the wave of Wraiths slowed down once more.
The situation had changed again.
A long sigh of relief emanated from the front line of the monster hunting army. Though it felt somewhat unfair to their comrades, these infantrymen were not like the Royal Knights who could run away at will. Once the Wraiths pressed up, they could only block them with their lives. And with the sheer number of Wraiths…
Death was almost certain.
Therefore.
Seeing their comrades drawing the Wraiths away again and slowing down the wave of Wraiths, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They were not afraid of death and were willing to give their lives for the Duke and Ellander.
But who wouldn't want to live well if they could avoid death?
Mary gazed at Vesemir for a long time before suddenly remembering something.
"Where's Allen?"
Vesemir had gone to support the Royal Knights, but what about Allen…
Thinking of this, Mary stood up involuntarily, anxiously scanning the dark surroundings.
And then the next second.
"Thud thud thud~"
The sound of galloping hooves rang out.
Carrying two swords, Allen suddenly burst through the darkness, appearing at the forefront of the wave of Wraiths.
"Boom~"
With a loud bang.
The green tide seemed to crash against the hardest rock.
The waves surged.
As if the tide had suddenly turned.
Dozens or even hundreds of Wraiths were instantly sent flying into the sky, crashing down into the midst of the wave of Wraiths, directly creating a large black gap. Like a massive rock suddenly standing in the middle of a green tide.
"Isn't the power of this Aard sign much stronger than at the beginning…"
Mary was taken aback.
"Thud thud thud~"
The sound of hooves grew closer.
Allen, riding a black warhorse, circled wide in front of the monster hunting army, getting as close as less than twenty meters.
Many soldiers clad in black armor even saw, in the firelight, a face younger than their children's, and a pair of cold, merciless blue eyes. But this was only for an instant.
In the next moment.
He charged once again into the green tide composed of Wraiths.
Charging in single-handedly!
Recklessly but fearlessly, like a small boat battling the sea. Seeing this heart-stirring scene, the monster hunting army fell silent for a few seconds before erupting into strong agitation.
"By the gods… this witcher… this witcher…"
--------------------
"The King of Mayfest in Ellander…"
"The Blue Death, this is the Blue Death…"
--------------------
Countless chaotic and fragmented voices gradually converged into a passionate roar: "Victory! Victory!"
The morale of the monster-hunting soldiers surged, but when Mary saw this scene, she felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss. She gripped her chest with her right hand, biting her lip so hard that blood flowed, yet she didn't even notice.
"What happened, Mary?" Vera asked.
It was only at this moment that Mary came to her senses, her mouth filled with the taste of iron.
She licked her lips and looked at Vera, who was focused on arranging the ritual. After hesitating for several seconds, she carefully described the scene she had just witnessed.
After hearing Mary's description, Vera's figure momentarily froze before she continued with the ritual.
"It's almost done… almost done… just a bit longer… it will be ready soon…"
Muffled murmurs drifted into Mary's ears.
She looked up again at the witcher who was casting the Aard sign, sending a group of wraiths flying, and couldn't help but bite her lip again.
"It has to be fine… it will definitely be fine… it will definitely be okay…"
"It will definitely be…"
------------------------
"Clop, clop, clop~"
Amid the sound of hooves, green sparks erupted and burned out behind the black warhorses. As the horses surged forward, two small clusters of wraiths converged in the middle of the Wraith tide.
Green lanterns gathered, illuminating the faces of the Witchers.
Their disheveled hair was blown wild by the fierce wind, veins bulged around their temples and eye sockets, and their faces appeared as pale as corpses.
This was a manifestation of the potent toxicity of alghoul decoction.
What would kill an ordinary person with just one drop was, for Witchers, a good medicine to temporarily enhance their strength.
"All potions that can temporarily boost physical condition, strength, agility, etc., are harmful to the human body…"
"Unless absolutely necessary, try to… try not to take too much…"
For some reason, amidst the howling wind, the Witcher suddenly recalled the memory of being caught taking the Blizzard potion by the little priestess.
He remembered that just before that, Lysa had been happily skipping in the garden in front of the shrine, humming a tune related to Sleeping Beauty.
"I wonder if the Temple of Melitele has suffered from the Wild Hunt's spell attack…"
The Witcher sighed softly.
With a thought, he checked: "Main Quest: [Specters' Revenge Festival] Eliminate the wraiths (576/1614)"
Then he looked down.
"Hunting Task: Wraith I (Kill wraiths 96/100)"
"Only four more to go?" The Witcher muttered, glancing back.
After losing one-third of their numbers, the Wraith tide appeared much sparser. Moreover, most of them were distracted by the knight regiment led by Vesemir and the allure he provided.
Overall, the tide resembled a large and small pair of horns.
Vesemir stood at the tip of the large horn, while Allen was at the small one.
About four hundred more were still drifting toward the monster-hunting army, but because of the two parties' distraction, they were not moving as swiftly as before.
As long as the witchers remained, and as long as Allen and Vesemir could stabilize these two "horns," things should generally be okay.
The key was…
Could they hold it steady?
The Witcher couldn't help but sigh.
"Ah~"
Amid the screams, three more wraiths turned into green fireworks.
"Hunting Task: Wraith I (Kill wraiths 99/100)"
If possible, he really didn't want to complete this task right now.
Unfortunately…
It was not an option!
As he approached the monster-hunting army, he had glanced at the ritual Vera was setting up from a distance.
Although it was not feasible for him to help, with LV5 in Ritual Learning and knowledge of magical rituals, he could roughly estimate the completion time of the ritual. It was faster than he imagined, but it would still take at least half an hour.
Vesemir and the Ellander knights had managed to hold a large number of wraiths, but they were also seeing many lights returning to the tide from behind them.
And how was it for him?
As long as he stopped hunting, it wouldn't take long before the wraiths in the small horn would return to the tide. Then the speed of the Wraith tide would accelerate. This was a future Allen could foresee.
So, this hunting task…
He… had to do it.
"There are three bottles of alghoul Decoction left…"
"As long as I eliminate the monsters summoned by the convergence of spheres as quickly as possible, there will still be a chance!"
The witcher encouraged himself. Then he squeezed his thighs against the warhorse to accelerate.
He had to move away from Ellander as much as possible without letting the wraiths leave on a large scale, avoiding the massive shockwave generated by the convergence of spheres from affecting Vera's ritual setup.
"Clop, clop, clop~"
The warhorse galloped forward.
Allen quickly arrived at a small mound piled with bonfires. This place was on the route of the carnival, allowing him to see the Wraith tide clearly, roughly five to six hundred meters away. Some wraiths from the "small horn" he had attracted had already begun to drift away, so he couldn't go any farther.
"Hiss~"
He pulled the reins, causing the warhorse to stop abruptly with a loud whinny.
Dismounting.
The Witcher first drank a bottle of white honey to eliminate the effects and toxicity of both the Cat's Eye and the alghoul decoction. Then he drank another bottle of alghoul decoction and placed the Blizzard potion in the most convenient spot in his reagent bag.
Although the effect of the previous alghoul decoction still had a long time before it would end. But it couldn't be helped.
The toxicity of the alghoul decoction combined with the Blizzard potion was already at the limit Allen could endure. To eliminate the toxicity of the Cat's Eye, he had no choice but to do this.
Next.
The Witcher gathered up the dry branches prepared for the carnival parade and threw them all into the bonfire. Then he formed the Igni seal.
The dim bonfire suddenly blazed brightly.
"Phew~"
After thinking for two seconds without finding any other problems, the Witcher finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A prepared Witcher is invincible.
If it weren't for the uncertain position of the convergence of spheres, he might have even wanted to set up two Aard traps where the monsters would appear.
At this moment.
A Wraith phased out from twenty meters away from the Witcher. The Witcher didn't mind. Glancing at the green light appearing on his right rear, he crouched down to dodge the incoming long sword.
Following that, he stomped his right foot on the ground, spun around, and struck!
A blue light flashed.
"Swish," and the Wraith instantly transformed into a burst of green fireworks.
[Ding! Hunting task completed: Wraith I (Kill wraiths 100/100)]
[Rewards: Small Experience Orb *4000, Monster Codex—Wraith]
[Ding! Hunting Task: Wraith II (Kill wraiths 0/300) has been activated. Do you accept?]
After casually accepting the task, the Witcher took a deep breath and adjusted his condition to its best. Then he tightened his grip on Elsa, glanced at Vesemir, and then at the two small black dots behind the monster-hunting army.
The next second.
[Ding! Monster Codex "Wraith" has been unlocked, the conjunction of the Spheres "Wraith" will appear in 54 seconds, please prepare!]
....
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
277. The First Battle of the Divine Sword Balmur.
278. White Light and Frost.
279. Please Make Way.
280. Settlement of the One-Eyed Wraith Extermination Rewards.
281. Ellander's Funeral.