Sodelor shouted. At the same time, he activated the shield on his chest armor. His Battle Aura instantly condensed and firmly blocked the fierce flames in front of him.
The soldiers beside him were startled. If they hadn't retreated in time, some of them would have been burned to ashes on the spot.
"It's getting stronger. We might not be able to trap it!"
Nora's voice came from the side. In fact, even without her saying it, Sodelor could also feel the terrifying energy that was constantly gushing out. This lizard had obviously undergone an unexpected mutation. Looking at the mountain wall that it had forcibly shattered, it probably wouldn't take long for this fellow to break free!
In a flash, Sodelor immediately gave the order to retreat.
For this battle, the 13 of them had prepared for as long as five days, but when it was time to give up, Sodelor didn't hesitate at all. Everyone quickly retreated according to the pre-arranged evacuation route.
"Boom!"
As the ground shook violently, everyone saw the purple light that suddenly shone out …
"Run! Don't look back! "
Fortunately, for the convenience of retreat, all the troops' horses were located 300 meters away. Seeing Sodelor's signal, the three soldiers who stayed behind quickly let go of the reins and let the retreating soldiers quickly mount their horses and retreat into the distance.
Their movements couldn't be said to be slow, and the entire team didn't drop the ball. In less than five minutes, they had run three kilometers.
In complex terrain, it was easy for a horse's leg to break and get injured. In order to let the horses run as far as possible, Sodelor had been controlling the speed of the warhorses all the way. But even at such a distance, they could still hear the thunderous rumbles as they advanced. The noise was so loud that it was as if someone was constantly bombarding the valley with magic.
This scene made Sodelor's expression turn grave. He felt that this Cosvo's transformation was beyond his imagination. Roddy didn't say that it had the ability to "transform", and after transforming, it was so tyrannical …
With such doubts in mind, the team finally stopped after traveling for ten kilometers. It was getting late. Natha was in charge of close reconnaissance, while Nora went to a further area alone to keep watch. The rest of the soldiers separated into orderly areas and prepared to set up camp. But before Sodelor could set up his tent, the sound of an arrow in the distance made him turn his head abruptly.
Five consecutive beeps signaled the highest level of alarm. After that, Nora's figure rushed into the camp as though he had teleported and shouted, "That fellow is chasing us!"
Sodelor's expression immediately changed. He hadn't expected the behemoth to chase after him so far. He wanted to order everyone to prepare for battle, but when he thought of the strange aura coming from his opponent, he resisted the idea. Instead, he ordered everyone to abandon their excess equipment and immediately retreat!
This decision was rather demoralizing. However, Sodelor wasn't a coward. He and Roddy had faced dragons and tidal waves of snow monsters before, so they knew that such monsters couldn't be defeated with numbers alone. What's more, fighting in the wilderness was not like defending a city. If they really fought, they would be piling up human lives. They only had 13 people on their side. As long as more than four of them died or were injured, the battle would be declared a failure. However, would a monster that could chase them for more than 10 kilometers let go of the fleeing soldiers?
At this moment, everyone could hear a sudden roar coming from afar. The gradually darkening forest actually burst into flames in the distance. The soldiers knew that they were in trouble. They quickly mounted their horses and continued to flee into the distance.
"What's going on with this fellow?!"
Sodelor asked Nora loudly from atop his horse. After all, she was the only one in the team who had seen the beast up close.
"Its body has become very big. It's twice as big, and its whole body is emitting purple flames!"
Nora then said something that gave Sodelor a headache. "It might have 'demonized'!
This team was no stranger to 'demonization'. When they had faced dungeon monsters before, they had also encountered a few creatures with mutated bodies. However, for the well-equipped team, these creatures with thin 'demonic bloodlines' did not cause them any trouble. In terms of size and strength, they simply couldn't compare to this berserk Cosworth Earth Dragon.
"Cross the river! Cover our tracks! "
This was currently the best way to 'counter tracking' because the river or stream would wash away the traces and scent left by the team. Fortunately, there was a stream more than 10 meters wide not far in front of the team. It was currently winter, and the water level was much lower than in summer.
When it was dark, the team finally waded through the bone-chilling river to the other side. Sodelor didn't dare to stop and continued to lead the team in a different direction. Natha and Nora led the team to a high ground in the dark. Only then did the soldiers have time to rest and reorganize themselves.
But the cautious Sodelor didn't let the team light a fire. Instead, he carefully set up a position that could be attacked at any time. The human team wasn't at the top of the food chain in this forest, and no one could say what they would encounter.
Fortunately, the river seemed to have finally blocked the Cosworth Earth Dragon's pursuit, allowing the team and their horses to sleep soundly that night.
But this luck didn't last long. Early in the morning, five arrows sounded again, and Sodelor's face turned completely gloomy. He finally realized that he had provoked a truly troublesome fellow.
The soldiers all looked over. In the long battle, Sodelor had already established absolute authority. At this moment, any order from him could decide the life and death of the team members.
Blindly running away was not Sodelor's style, but he was also not a fool who would charge blindly in a moment of hot-headedness. Facing a powerful monster that wouldn't rest until it was dead, Sodelor tried to find a suitable terrain to deal with it. But after going through the nearby terrain in his mind, he immediately gave up on the idea and finally chose to continue running.
"Go upstream!"
The team continued to move forward for a distance and then crossed the river again. They made use of the time before the enemy caught up to them to create a large trap. The next day, the pursuing Cosworth Earth Dragon was blasted into the sky by more than a dozen charged lances in the trap. But even after being seriously injured, the monster didn't die, nor did it choose to retreat. Instead, it continued to follow behind the team.
Sodelor, who had ascertained the truth, also made the team's future choice clear. "Return to Elsen City!"
*****
November 23rd.
Camilla, who was in Elsen City, didn't know what happened to Sodelor and the others. At this time, she was holding a letter from the southern port, reading the words written by Roddy over and over again, complaining in a voice no one could hear.
"That's my daughter … How can you agree just because you say so? You didn't even ask me … "
"You usually spoil Naifei so much, but now you really think of yourself as a father?"
She pouted slightly, but because of some strange associations, her cheeks turned red. When she looked up from the window, she found her reflection in the glass with the corner of her mouth curled up.
"What's there to be happy about being so late … So annoying."
Camilla put the letter away. Although she said so, her mood couldn't be better. Even her footsteps towards the stairs were much lighter.
The "Elsen Magic Exchange" was originally scheduled to open on the 10th, but because there was no news of Roddy's return, Camilla postponed the opening date at the beginning of the month, citing "too many people came to participate". It was not until the 19th, when they received the news of "a returning fleet was discovered" from the port, that the "Magic Exchange" was officially opened.
But because there was no opening speech from the city's governor, Roddy, the mages who came from afar naturally had a lot of opinions. Three of the mages who were proud of their status directly left the scene at the opening. Their meaning was clear: Since the Prime Minister of Eiferta did not take this "Magic Exchange" seriously, then don't blame me for not giving face.
And these three mages who "set the pace" also caused a total of more than 20 people to leave the scene. Camilla had already expected such a scene, so she continued to talk about the main schedule of the future exchange without changing her expression on the podium, as if she did not notice the departure of more than 20 people.
This kind of behavior of "pretending not to see" naturally encouraged some people's arrogance. That night, slanderous and mocking rumors spread from all the major hotels, as if the "Magic Exchange" in their mouths had become "Elsen's conspiracy", "a farce that wants to use the fame of other mages to gild", and "a failed performance of pretending to know something" …
Most of the mages came here because the "Magic" magazine had a certain degree of credibility in the Kingdom of Karen. Everyone thought that there was real talent here, that was why they traveled such a long distance to come here. But now that they heard these comments, many people did indeed want to back out — did they really fall into a trap?
The official explanation given by Camilla was that "the Prime Minister is busy with business and will return to Elsen City to speak at the following exchange conference."
At this time, Elsen City could be said to be bustling — a simple count showed that the official "mages" who came from all over the country had reached 173, and the "magic apprentices" 427. This did not include the other wizards, druids, or various kinds of magic workers who came because of the fame. If all of them were included, more than 300 people with advanced strength was a conservative number.
Among them, the heavyweights were naturally the six mages who specially came from the eastern part of the kingdom. Four of them were members of the six great mages in the eastern part of the kingdom. As for the other two mages, they had never been heard of before. Obviously, they were much more low-key. But regardless of their identity, Camilla treated them equally — because the first event of the "Magic Exchange" was not "exchange", but "demonstration."
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