Walking in the black mist for an extended period of time was definitely not something an ordinary person would be able to accept.
Endless darkness surrounded you. You could faintly hear bestial roars and killing intent. It was impossible to even tell which direction you were going. And if you slacked off for even a moment, the killing intent would transform into the malicious intent of a predator.
However, none of this could compare to the pressure of the endless unknown.
Where am I? I don't know.
Just how many enemies are there? I don't know.
Have I become someone else's prey? I don't know.
All I know and can see is the same night of black mist, as well as the threat and fear right in front of me.
In some areas, the black mist even took away the line between day and night. No matter where you went, you would see the same scenery. It was even impossible to tell if you were actually moving forward or not.
And this wasn't all a problem caused by your own imagination.
Humans were used to using scenery and landmarks to determine where they were. And all of this relied on sight and memory. When sight was stripped away, the sense of direction that humans were so proud of would become a joke.
Due to the powerful interference of the black mist, most Aishi devices made by the outside world based on geomagnetism and astrology would be ineffective.
Angel's Guidance and Hell's Compass were two of the most common and cheapest types of directional devices.
Angel's Guidance was a one-time recording divine device. Typically, it would guide you to a certain town, Holy Temple, or Holy Domain. The directions it guided you to were generally safe.
However, due to the black mist's interference, the guidance would sometimes be limited in distance. It would also often fail due to powerful interference.
Perhaps Angel's Guidance wasn't reliable most of the time, but when it was effective, it would at least guide you to a chance of survival. That was why Angel's Guidance was called Angel's Guidance.
Hell's Compass was purely a powerful energy source and tool for searching for living creatures. As for where it would lead you to … an inhabited oasis or a hungry evil dragon. Anything was possible.
Since most Hell's Compass would lead you to Hell, it wasn't wrong to call it Hell's Compass.
Most mist travelers would carry several Angel's Guidance devices and at least one Hell's Compass.
But unless absolutely necessary, the latter was more often than not a warning device, reminding you to stay away from all active mist residents.
Unless you were always walking on the "main road", if you didn't have Angel's Guidance devices when walking into the wilderness, it would be impossible to tell which direction was which. It was quite common for you to walk in circles until you died.
Of course, there were more reliable guidance devices, but the cost was not something that ordinary travelers could afford.
In order to eliminate the interference of the demonic mist and the limitations of space, it would naturally require an even larger volume and finer equipment. Usually, it would be necessary to use special demonic armor to transport it.
Obviously, it was not something that Woody, who was now wandering in the wilderness, could afford.
Grand Knight Woody Hort was a rather famous newcomer descender three years ago. Now, he was a wild bandit with a bounty of 4,300 God Tribute on his head.
Or, to put it bluntly, he was a stray dog that had been chased out of his home.
"… Damn it. It's just a vegetable's manor. Why is it protected by the New Gods and a new descender?"
Even though it was already the second day, Woody was still very irritated.
Regret for attacking the Dwarven Village? What a joke. Vegetables are only used for harvesting. If you don't eat them, it's the same as giving them to others to eat.
What he was worried about was the descender who had killed a New God. Judging from the notes he had taken, this descender was obviously a valuable logistician.
Woody had never seen this divine emblem before. But judging from the divine power contained in this divine weapon, this descender was neither a useless stowaway nor a weak descender who had forcefully ascended to Godhood. This descender was a standard New God's Church that had completed the entire logistician process.
Unlike his unorthodox companions, Woody had been a church member for a period of time, so he naturally knew a bit about the situation.
A New God's Church that had completed the entire logistician process was quite aggressive and had a good foundation. But since they had only been in the Church for a short period of time, what they lacked the most was the number of descenders. There were even fewer people left for logisticians.
If the loss of that logistician angered the New God, then his pursuers would probably already be on the way.
Although Woody had already taken care to clean up his tracks, there were so many strange special abilities and Gods in this world. Nobody could guarantee that they wouldn't be found.
"… It seems that for safety's sake, I'll have to change my identity again next month. No, I'll change my identity when I reach the next town. I'll also find a chance to deal with these useless fellows. "
Sitting in the cockpit of the light swordsman magic armor "Reaper II", the once honorable descender, Woody Hort, was seriously considering the necessity of abandoning his current companions.
On his hairy right hand, the divine emblem of two crossed swords had already lost its luster. That was the last trace of his former master, Wargod 450, in this world.
"Haha, Boss Cartel, look at that little bastard Shaquille. He actually didn't hand over the treasures he found to you."
A bonfire was burning brightly outside. Under the banner of showing their loyalty to their boss, the local werewolf beastman Ken was currently snatching a leather wine bag from the thief Loxar. The young thief was so anxious that he was about to cry, while his two companions were laughing heartily.
Dwarves weren't supposed to drink alcohol. How could their village possibly have alcohol? This was just another excuse for the beastmen to bully the newcomers.
This wasn't a group of children who loved to share the spoils of war. Not only would none of them stand up for the newcomers, they would even happily treat this as their daily entertainment. After all, life in the wilderness was rather boring.
The beastmen had already tossed the wine bag to their companions. After each of them drank a mouthful, they would laugh heartily and toss it to the next person, causing Loxar to continuously chase after them.
The bonfire was burning brightly, and "vegetables" were boiling in the hot soup. His four companions were all resting and drinking soup by the bonfire.
Looking out of the window, the familiar scene made Woody frown.
"Forget about Ken. Sun, Kuer, you're both resting. Who's on night watch?"
Although Woody was reprimanding the two of them, he glared at Kuer with dissatisfaction. Since the rookie thief was completely unreliable, the task of keeping watch after setting up camp should be left to Kuer, a rank 2 archer.
Kuer immediately broke out in cold sweat when he recalled how his boss usually treated his subordinates who weren't good enough.
"Ha, boss, don't blame Kuer. He's just drinking some hot soup to warm himself up. Besides, we've been to this area several times already, and it's always been very safe. There's no need to keep watch … well, it's fine to keep watch later. "
It would be impossible for such a ragtag group of bandits to have a priest who was good at healing. Although Kuer was only a rank 1 alchemist, he would at least be able to heal some injuries. Sun's words still carried some weight.
"Hmph, it's good that you know."
Woody snorted coldly and didn't say anything else. However, the meaning behind his words was quite clear.
His boss had given the order that he wouldn't even be able to drink hot soup in the cold wind. Kuer was somewhat displeased and muttered something.
"Arrogant, just continue being arrogant. Do you really think you're someone important? Do you really think that I haven't checked your bottom line? You're just a coward deserter who's scared witless on the battlefield, a coward who doesn't even dare to use his magic armor, yet you're still so arrogant. When I reach rank 3, I'll …"
Kuer muttered the rest of his words. Even Sun couldn't hear him clearly.
However, the middle-aged alchemist stroked his mustache and laughed proudly. If even Kuer, who was originally loyal to his boss, was acting like this, then it would only be a matter of time before he became the new boss of the bandits.
"The wind from the hidden sentries on the trees is really cold. Drink some hot wine to warm yourself up. There's no hurry to go later. Our boss has been through so much of the wilderness. He doesn't have any power here …"
* Bang! *
There was a loud explosion right next to his ear. The leather wineskin shattered, and the wine spilled all over the ground.
Meanwhile, Sun opened his mouth wide and screamed.
Only now did the sound of gunfire start echoing in the air. In front of him, Kuer's head had been shattered just like the wineskin. However, one was bleeding wine, while the other was bleeding blood.
The silver bullet that had pierced through the wineskin was just the aftershock of killing Kuer.
"Wahaha! Bastard! "
Unlike the logistics, the beastman berserker Kuer, who was on the frontlines, immediately roared angrily and charged towards the black mist in the direction of the gunfire.
However, Woody, who was resting in his magic armor, was even faster than Kuer.
In less than ten seconds, the Reaper magic armor with a chain chainsaw in his right hand and a shield in his left hand completed the entire process of starting up and setting off. An ordinary user would need at least a minute to do so.
The grayish-green magic armor chased after the source of the gunshots. Its helmet and the horns on its shoulders kept knocking into trees and branches. Just as it saw the vague figure of the attacker standing at a high spot, a familiar voice sounded.
"Boss, stop! This is a cliff! "
Was it Ken's voice that rushed out first?
Woody hurriedly controlled the magic armor to brake forcefully.
* Sizzle! *
Amidst a series of ear-piercing screeching sounds, the magic armor's four limbs grabbed the ground, and its sawtooth pierced into the ground fiercely. It crashed into several large trees along the way, but it still came to a stop.
When it came to a stable stop, Woody looked around and gasped.
The bottomless cliff was just a meter away. In the next moment, Woody also found where the person who had saved his life was.
Ken was hanging on a withered tree that stretched out diagonally from the cliff. He was waving at Woody with all his might, but he was worried that his waving would be too big and cause Woody to fall.
Only at this moment did Woody notice that the tall attacker was actually on the other side of the cliff.
"… A sniper from at least three hundred meters away? How is this possible? They sent out a Legend-ranked archer who was at least at Rank 5 just for us? "
Woody calculated the distance between Ken's location and the camp, and he couldn't help but be astonished.
Through the black mist, Woody saw that the attacker was tall and strong. However, the goggles on his head glowed with an ominous blood-red light that stole his vision. The blood-red light even pierced through the mist.
For some unknown reason, Woody felt a chill run down his spine. It was as if this attacker had seen through everything with just a single glance.
The red-eyed assassin stuck out his thumb and lightly swiped it across his neck with a delighted smile on his face.
Just as Woody was about to say something, the attacker suddenly disappeared. Everything vanished without a trace, as if it had all been a dream.
"Don't be in such a hurry. Hunting is an art. Rushing for success will only make everything worse. The first ambush is the easiest to achieve. That's why, first of all, eliminate the archer who poses the greatest threat to you with your first shot."
Meanwhile, Su Nanna's excited words sounded like a devil's enticement to Rorschach.
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