PS: This chapter can't be read for the time being, but it can still be posted. I hope everyone can post more of this chapter. Otherwise, it would be meaningless for me to write it alone. Once the ban is lifted, I hope to see more of this chapter ~ Son of Heaven thanks everyone. I also hope for monthly votes for the new month.
January, the New World, Ruthia Continent.
At the outpost where the Empire's army had landed, the Ashes Corps was resting. In the previous battle with Luthor Haken, the Ashes Corps had suffered great losses. Forgen temporarily led the army back to Plunderer's Harbor and spent about two months resting before barely recovering. Now, what Forgen had to do was wait for the next reinforcements sent by the Empire, and then try to incorporate them.
It took several months to reach Ruthia by ship from the Empire. Therefore, although Forgen firmly believed that the Rick Territory and the Empire's court would not remain indifferent after receiving General Alaric's letter and a large amount of gold and silver, for the time being, Forgen and his Ashes Corps were unable to continue fighting. They had to rest and reorganize.
Forgen was not very satisfied with this, but there was nothing he could do. When he rested, he managed the three towns and a large number of villages in an orderly manner. In his free time, he played the piano and sang, enjoyed the art of the Empire, the Brittany, the high elves, the Arabi, or the halfling, and read the various books that Laing had tried to obtain. It was quite a pleasant time.
Forgen had carefully studied the history of the high elves and dark elves, as well as many legends about the lizardmen. He could come to a certain conclusion: the elven gods of this world were definitely related to the eldar gods of the prime material universe. The Lord of the Phoenix Asuyan, the God of War and Murder Kane, the God of Forging Val, the Goddess of Harvest and Life Isa, the God of Hunting Cross, the Goddess of the Moon, the Goddess of Dreams and Luck, Lilith, and so on. For so many gods to be able to match perfectly, this could no longer be described as a coincidence.
The history of the elves was a little similar to that of the eldar. The only thing that puzzled Forgen was that the two eldar gods of the prime material universe, the God of Laughter and Clown, Xi Legao, and the newly born God of Death, Jena, had never been heard of in any elven books or legends.
Could there be some kind of connection between them?
Fu Gen had a lot of guesses in his heart, but he didn't rush to a conclusion. He was different from Angelo, who was willing to be a pig farmer. He needed to collect more evidence to support his inference.
The ancient sage slate stolen from Luther Haken was engraved with a large number of strange symbols and hieroglyphs. Fu Gen tried to decipher it for a long time, but he couldn't come up with an answer. This ancient sage slate seemed to require special magic from the Sram Magic Toad or the Spirit Lizard Priest to activate and decipher it. Fu Gen played back and forth for a while, wondering how the Emperor had deciphered the ancient sage slate.
When the Supreme Emperor appeared in Hesoth, Mazda Moody called him a "young ancient saint". Was this an acknowledgment of the Supreme Emperor's power or a confirmation of his identity?
Kirriman was now with Inani, the Spirit Race's God's Chosen One, and Laing was with Lilith, the Elven Goddess of the Moon. Did this mean that the Supreme Emperor's strategy had changed after he woke up?
Fu Gen thought a lot, but he didn't have an answer for the time being.
The pleasant sound of the zither continued to come from the room. Fu Gen plucked the strings and kept adjusting the Malin in his hand until Habi knocked on the door. "Your Excellency Fu Gen, Your Excellency Fu Gen, the new cargo ship has arrived, and a strange guy has also come. He said he wants to see you!"
The Halfling Habi had made great contributions in the battle of the Vampire Coast. He had successfully stolen the Ancient Saint Slate and the Lizardmen's secret treasure from Luthor Haken. As a reward, Forgen appointed Habi as the captain of his scouting team and gave him an enchanted Rune Elf Short Sword (a longsword for a Halfling) as well as a set of Mithril Soft Armor. This Soft Armor, which looked like a shirt, was made with Brittania's Mithril and the ancient Saint's craftsmanship. It could withstand almost any damage.
"A strange guy?" Fu Gen put down the ancient sage slate. He would go to Itaza in person in a few days to meet Master Kroc and return the slate.
"What a strange guy. He looks like a demon hunter from the empire. He's the kind of annoying person who interrogates and captures people as soon as he enters a village. He can't wait to burn everyone to death. But when we asked him if he's a demon hunter, he insisted that he's a doctor," Hao Ren said. Habi trotted all the way in and bowed in front of Fu Gen. "He's at the dock, surrounded by Felix and Cheka."
"Surrounded?" Fu Gen thought for a moment. "Forget it, the goods have just arrived. I'll go to the dock and take a look."
"Okay, Your Excellency Fu Gen. What would you like to eat tonight? I'll prepare it for you, "Habi said in a flattering tone.
Fu Gen's wise eyes swept over the halfling, which made Habi shrink his head slightly and smile awkwardly. "Do you want to eat braised beef? Or basa fish soup? "
"Braised beef then." Fu Gen did not say anything else. He turned and left his house.
On the dock, people came and went. Sailors were loading and unloading goods as usual. Fishing boats came and went, and warships were anchored further away. A large ocean-going cargo ship from Fort Marlin was anchored at the dock. Inside the cargo ship were supplies needed by the Ashes Legion. Some of the supplies were not available here and had to be purchased from the Old World.
It was not that Fu Gen had not tried to make some machines by himself, but he soon found the problem. The laws of physics in this world were different from those in the main material universe. Almost all the knowledge he had was useless.
Kislöw's winged cavalry under Felix's command excitedly moved out several large wooden boxes from the cargo hold. The winged cavalry could not wait any longer and did not even have the patience to carry the wooden boxes back to their station. One of the winged cavalry pulled out his scimitar on the spot and directly pried open the wooden box!
It was filled with glass bottles of wine!
Vodka, Mrs. Kiesler's Water of Life!
"Hahaha! Soldiers, you are my pride. You have done a lot in the war, so you deserve the best!" Felix's poker face finally showed a smile after seeing these bottles. He strode closer, reached out and took out several bottles from the large wooden box, and distributed them to the winged cavalry present.
"Davarich, to victory, cheers!"
"To victory, cheers!" The winged cavalry was in high spirits. Each of them picked up a bottle of vodka and drank to their heart's content.
"Davarich, to a better life, cheers!"
"To a better life, cheers!" The winged cavalry drank again. Every one of them had a carefree and satisfied look on their faces. They collectively let out a bear-like howl.
Fu Gen looked at the scene and smiled. He did not say much. Vodka was the winged cavalry's Reka coffee. Since it was his army, the supply had to be met. Otherwise, Fu Gen would make the quartermaster understand even if he had to make a fuss about it.
On the dock, a man wearing a high-collared long windbreaker and breastplate unique to the demon hunters of the Empire, a tall gentleman's hat with a few colorful feathers on it, and a standard moustache. A few wooden nails hung from a belt in front of his chest. A thin sword made of fine silver and a short knife made of steel hung from his waist. On the other side hung an exquisite short musket produced by the Brunswick Military Factory.
Fu Gen noticed that Julius and the demon hunter were confronting each other. He stepped forward and asked, "What's going on? I heard that the demon hunter wants to see me? "
"Yes." Julius was frowning. He had obviously regarded himself as Fu Gen's subordinate. He pointed at the demon hunter with the two-handed broadsword blessed by the prophet of the Lake God. "Hetwig Van Haerl, claims to be a doctor from Brunswick … or a demon hunter. He said he wants to see you. He has something to tell you."
"Something to tell me?" Fu Gen waved his hand and motioned for everyone to step back. He walked in front of the demon hunter and looked at the human from above.
Forgen's gaze was extremely oppressive and scrutinizing. The demon hunter could feel that all his secrets seemed to be exposed in front of the legion commander. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he could not help but speak first. "Sir Legion Commander, I am Hertwich, Hertwich Van Hael, a doctor."
"A doctor? I don't think you look like a doctor at all. More like … "Fu Gen stared at the man in front of him." This is Lucia, not the Empire. Why are you, a demon hunter, not staying in the Empire to accept commissions, expel corruption, and exterminate cultists? What are you doing here? Wait, the Van Haerl family, I think I've seen it in a book … "
"He's a demon hunter. His whole family are demon hunters!" Julius's tone was obviously more serious. The expeditionary knights could not be said to be hostile or disgusted with the demon hunters, but at least they did not have a good impression of them.
Now that Julius mentioned it, Forgen remembered.
The Van Haerl family was one of the most famous demon hunter families in the Empire.
This family used to be a noble family in Sylvania, an abandoned province in the Empire. During the Black Death War, Sylvania was attacked by the Skaven Ratmen, who were eager to obtain dimensional stones. At this time, the head of the Van Haerl family, Frey Derick, used all means to try to fight against the Skaven Ratmen, but failed.
Just as the plague was about to destroy his territory and family, a "kind" stranger taught him necromancy. Frey Derick relied on the power of necromancy to finally defeat the Skaven Ratmen and protect his family and territory. He became the first necromancer in the Empire and wrote the most famous necromancy book, "The Book of Van Haerl."
The kind stranger was later found to be the first vampire count, and later the Elector of Sylvania, Vlad von Karstein.
Frey Derick used necromancy to make the family prosperous, but he eventually exposed himself. All the members of the Van Haerl family were shocked by the fact that their head was a necromancer, followed by a bone-deep anger. After Frey Derick was defeated and killed, all the members of the Van Haerl family swore that they were obligated to spend their lives fighting against the evil that their ancestors had brought to the Empire.
In this way, the famous demon hunter family was born.
Ironically, if not for the necromancy of their ancestors, the family would have been destroyed by the Black Death and the attack of the Skaven Ratmen.
"This is Lucia, my dear Mr. Hertwich. You should go to the Empire to find the vampires lurking in the streets and the palace. This is Lucia. You're looking for vampires in the rainforest and the beach?" Forgen recalled the history of the famous family and shrugged. "Sir, you may have come to the wrong place. Do you need me to send you back to the Empire?"
"I'm a doctor," the demon hunter said seriously. The demon hunter said seriously, "I'm a doctor and a part-time demon hunter. I can treat most difficult diseases. My medical skills are better than the bishops in the temple of the Goddess of Mercy. If I'm not wrong, Sir, your camp must be short of excellent doctors."
"You're here to join us?" Forgen's expression changed slightly. His camp did need a good doctor. "But why do you want to be a part-time demon hunter?"
"Learning medicine can't save the people of the Empire." Hertwich nodded. There was a certain joy in his eyes. "But a demon hunter can."
"You still haven't said why," Forgen retorted.
"Can you give me a few minutes?"
"Of course!"
"I used to be a doctor in Brunswick. I've shouldered too much for this family name. I just want to live a peaceful life with my fiancée, Mathilda," Hertwich said in a low voice. "But perhaps my family name is destined to be associated with the undead. One night, I received a dying patient. Strangely, there was a wooden stake in his chest. His breathing was very weak."
"I didn't understand, so I pulled out the stake and treated his wound. I paid a huge price for it. Late that night, the patient woke up. He grabbed my fiancée, Mathilda, and gave her a 'Kiss of Blood'. I tried my best to chase the monster away, but it was too late. To prevent Mathilda from becoming an undead, I killed my fiancée with my own hands, pierced her chest with a wooden stake, and chopped off her head." The demon hunter continued, "From that moment on, I understood that learning medicine would not be able to deal with vampires, nor would it be able to save the Empire. Becoming a demon hunter was my destiny, and it was time to embrace it."
"I spent more than ten years tracking the monster. I learned that he was called Alista the Red-Haired, a vampire pirate." The demon hunter continued, "What happened next was simple. I followed the Empire's army here, but when I found Alista on the Vampire Coast …"
"He's already dead. I killed him." Julius said without hesitation. "I chopped off his head, pierced his body with a wooden stake, and burned him to ashes."
"Yes, I'm grateful that you helped me take revenge. Even though I wanted to kill the monster myself, I knew that I didn't have an army. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to do it alone." Hertwich nodded. "So, I want to repay you. As the price for killing my enemy, I'm willing to join you."
"You're very welcome!" Forgen's attitude immediately changed. "We need your strength, Mr. Van Haer."
"Mr. Van Haer, I have a lot. Commander, just call me Hertwich." The demon hunter was satisfied with the result. "Thank you for taking me in."
"You're welcome." A smile finally appeared on Forgen's face. "Mr. Hertwich, you're in luck. We have a mission that needs your help soon."
"I'm honored."
… I'm learning medicine can't save the Empire's people …
Two weeks later, New World, Luscia Continent, Great Forest Road, Itaza Road.
Forgen led his Phoenix Guards, along with Gold Mage Karim, Expeditionary Knight Julius, Halfling Habi, and the newly joined demon hunter Hertwich. Under the lead of a spirit lizard priest and a few temple guards, they advanced toward the First City, Itaza.
They would return the Ancient Sage Slate in the future.
Forgen led more than 500 elite Great Swordsmen, foot knights, and musketeers of the Ashes Legion and followed behind the lizardmen. The dense and hot environment made everyone, who was not used to this climate, feel uncomfortable, but they were not here for fun.
Forgen still had to meet with Master Kroc, who seemed to have something extremely important to tell him.
What no one noticed was that on a tree crown about 500 meters away from this army, a Wood Elf Traveler was secretly observing everything. She wore a huge antler helmet and a set of Wood Elf chain armor made from Val's anvil. She held a Wood Elf composite bow filled with the power of Star Fire, and green vines wrapped around the bow. She was hidden on the tree crown just like that.
"A human army actually appeared here?" the Traveler muttered to herself. "It looks like they plan to enter Itaza!"
"In that case, they must have something on them that can pass through Itaza's protective barrier!" The Traveler gritted her teeth and decided to stake it all. "Very well, let me snatch it!"
"Emerald Pool, I'm coming!"
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