Late at night.
World Scar.
The night sky here looked different than elsewhere.
It was darker, even the stars seemed obscured by clouds and other objects. The twilight faded, and the night here was darker than elsewhere.
And quieter.
A bonfire flickered in the darkness.
There were several bonfires of varying sizes around, and the people accompanying the caravan sat around them in groups of three or four.
Twelve carts used for transporting goods formed a ring, encircling the group.
Not only could they withstand the night breeze, they could also serve as a wall in case of danger.
After all, the carts and the supplies inside were protected with various protective spells.
Arka sat on his sleeping bag, staring at the bonfire before him.
Some people were roasting meat over the campfire, while others sat cross-legged, seemingly meditating.
Putuo and his mercenary team were acquainted with Alka during their daytime conversations, so they gathered around a campfire.
The people around them often gathered around the campfire in this way.
Putuo looked at Alka and said, "Don't you want to rest for a while? You won't get to rest after today."
Alka rubbed the campfire with a stick, looked up, and asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Because the distance we're traveling today is relatively safe. After all, it's close to the port city, isn't it?
Most of the new recruits will be training outside the city regularly, clearing out the surrounding monsters.
But the further we go, the less safe it will be. We won't be able to rest at night like we do now. We'll have to travel day and night, and we'll have to take turns resting in the car," Putuo explained patiently.
After all, we already knew during the day that Alka was visiting World Scar for the first time.
"Isn't traveling at night even more dangerous?" If only for safety.
"Of course traveling at night is dangerous, but if you stay in one place for too long, you'll become a very conspicuous target and easily attacked."
Putuo said, picking up his small wooden stick and shaking it, pointing at the people and cargo vehicles around him.
"Don't be fooled by our numbers, but you know. The aura of the Abyss can infect animals, plants, and so on.
And those monsters from other unforeseen places, many of them are brainless and don't care if you're in danger. They'll just rush over and kill everything. So the longer you stay in one place, the easier it is to become a target."
Putuo said, and another soldier sitting by the campfire nodded. "He's right. The safe passage is too long. Every so often there are small watchtowers or camps. These camps are under attack almost daily, with casualties occurring regularly." The soldier spoke with a nostalgic expression, clearly having served in such a position before.
It's said that the soldiers in these camps are a mix of transport escorts, new recruits, and wounded soldiers from the front lines.
Alka nodded, understanding.
"By the way, where is your destination this time? The transport team will only stop at the logistics camp on the front lines," the guard asked, looking at Alka.
Their cargo will stop about a few dozen kilometers outside the city walls, where all the supplies will be stored.
Every place connected by the safe passage is a logistics camp.
The wounded, new recruits, soldiers needing rest, and various supplies will be stored here.
The logistics camp will then distribute and transport them to various locations along the city walls. "We've got the Kavas defense node," Putuo said.
Atop the city wall, defense nodes are interconnected. These nodes vary in size.
A defense node is a rally point that controls a long section of the wall on either side. More specifically, it's like a fortress. Inside, there are soldiers, supplies, and a command post for a certain area.
"I need to go here, the Demon Hunter Fortress."
The fortress node on the city wall is equivalent to an even larger defense node. It's where the largest number of soldiers gather, like a small castle.
It's also the most important location to defend, as it's the easiest to breach.
Attacking from there also makes it easiest to penetrate the rear.
"The Demon Hunter Fortress." Upon hearing this, Putuo looked at Alka with a strange look.
"You're not going to look for someone here, are you?"
Alka nodded. From Putuo's eyes and the gazes of the people around him, he knew there was something distinctly different about this place.
"What's wrong with it?"
The soldier who spoke had a strange expression on his face. He didn't know what to say for a moment, but after a moment's thought, he said, "It's considered a base camp by the demon hunters, you know. Those gloomy, quiet fellows."
Besides that, it's also a very important node, a fortress. We call this kind of place a meat grinder.
Daily, demons attack, and every so often, there's a large-scale demon siege. It's like a meat grinder.
For most ordinary people, it's nothing short of hell."
"Those demon hunters are the remnants of this continent's past, or perhaps those whose homes were destroyed by demons and who harbor a grudge against them," said a mercenary sitting by the campfire. Putuo patted him and said to Alka, "My brother wanted to go there before, too, but unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough."
Alka turned to look at a campfire not far away. There were only two people standing by it: the two witchers who had accompanied them.
They had barely spoken a word the entire way, following silently, clearly not very sociable.
"Though these witchers are gloomy and quiet, they're people you can trust with your back. And they're also very powerful, ruthlessly killing demons," Putuo said with a smile.
He gestured with his hands twice and made a sound like a blade.
Then he stared at the stick in Alka's hand and pointed behind him.
"You can actually go with them when the time comes. They should be heading here, too."
Alka nodded, accepting his suggestion. After chatting for a while, everyone began to crawl into their sleeping bags to rest.
...…
"Roar!"
A fierce roar.
Putuo, covered in blood, resembled a mad beast. Hair as tough as thorns sprouted from his body.
Wolf-like claws sprouted from his hands, and he savagely slaughtered the monsters like a bloody butcher.
As his hands swung, large amounts of blood and flesh flew out.
The mercenaries following behind him hadn't changed much in appearance, but their teeth had grown fangs, and they exuded a blood-red aura.
Gripping their swords or massive axes, these mercenaries furiously slaughtered the monsters.
Gathered together, these mercenaries acted like a meat grinder, working in perfect harmony to frantically harvest the surrounding monsters.
Elsewhere, a thick, long, fiery snake spun relentlessly, weaving through the monsters. Each time it spun, it struck and ignited a large group of monsters.
Alka stood there, red flame plaques floating around him.
These monsters seemed to have mutated from wolves, but each one had mutated in a unique way, making it somewhat nauseating and unpleasant.
They darted through the flames, igniting their own flames as they lunged at Alka.
Looking at the monster charging towards him, Alka waved his hand lightly, and flames sprang forth from thin air, igniting it into a fireball.
With a backhand kick, the monster that had attacked from behind was sent tumbling into the pile of monsters behind. The monster Alka had kicked then exploded, its flames spreading like ignited oil to the surrounding monsters.
Though mutated, its fur was unusually lush, easily igniting.
The only pity was that these monsters seemed insensible to pain and fear. Otherwise, Alka's flames would have had an even more dramatic effect.
Alka's area became the brightest spot on the battlefield, almost completely illuminating the darkness.
It was a late-night attack. While traveling, Alka's convoy seemed to be targeted by a group of monsters.
These monsters attacked them without hesitation.
No one was surprised by this sudden attack; they handled it easily.
Twenty soldiers formed a barrier around the convoy, working in perfect harmony to easily repel the monsters.
Clearly, this wasn't the first time they had faced such a challenge.
And the two silent demon hunters, even more ferocious than the mercenaries, slew the monsters with even greater ferocity.
As Alka blocked and cleared the monsters before him, he observed them from the corner of his eye. A grayish-purple aura emanated from the two witchers, giving off a rather unpleasant vibe.
It wasn't a sickening aura, but rather a rather creepy one.
They also somehow managed to pull out two-handed giant swords taller than a man. Alka thought they were at least two meters long.
Each swing of the swords slew vast swathes of monsters.
The gloomy-looking witchers fought with unbridled ferocity, their attacks sweeping and slashing like the breaking of the earth.
The grayish-purple aura enveloped the swords, and with each swing, any monster they casually cut fell to the ground as if grievously wounded.
Sensing something, Alka casually swung his hand, sending a fireball flying, sending several monsters flying.
The mercenary Alka had saved nodded in gratitude, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
After a brief exchange, they once again engaged in battle.
Fortunately, while this group of monsters numbered in the hundreds, their quality varied greatly.
Most were nearing the perfection of the second stage, with quite a few at the third stage.
However, none of those accompanying the caravan were below the third stage. Alka saw that the weakest mercenary was mid-third stage.
For example, Putuo was at the fourth stage and had undoubtedly mastered a treasure.
The monster he transformed into was likely the artifact's function, and it had also infected his teammates.
The leader of the transport caravan was also mid-fourth stage and similarly possessed a treasure.
Simply put, no one who dared to leave the city was below the third stage, and their combat skills were exceptionally sophisticated.
Outside, each of them would be considered a formidable force.
Through coordinated efforts, only a few mercenaries sustained minor injuries, and they effectively dispatched the monsters.
With the last monster dead, the mercenaries and soldiers expertly pulled out their various daggers and knives and began slicing at the wolves.
Only Alka remained where he was.
"Aren't you going to harvest some, brother? These furs are still valuable, don't underestimate them. I feel bad after all this time without any reward."
Putuo, who was skinning the monsters, said to Alka, who stood there. Then he looked at the monsters before him and silently closed his mouth.
Every single one of the monsters around Alka was burned to various kinds of charcoal. The fur was already good, let alone the fur.
Embarrassed, Putuo thought for a moment and said, "Even though the most precious fur is gone, the teeth are still a rare material.
Some mutated organs are still very useful, but I just can't always tell which ones are which."
Alka looked at the various charcoal pieces scattered around him and waved his hand. "Forget it."
He thought it was too much trouble, and since he was considered wealthy, it wasn't worth it.
Putuo didn't force it. The wolf monsters were only valuable for their fur. After all, they were infected by the Abyss, and their meat was inedible.
Teeth and fur were their only resources. The mutated organs were useful, but that depended on vision and luck. Teeth, on the other hand, were certainly less valuable than fur, and were also difficult to remove. It wasn't worth it to injure yourself if you weren't careful.
He worked on his own for a long time, paying no attention to the monsters' mouths.
At this moment, a soldier approached Alka: "Friend, could you please burn the bodies of these evil wolves later?"
Alka had clearly demonstrated his ability with fire during the battle just now.
Alka nodded, indicating that it was no problem.
It was just a simple task.
Seeing Alka agree, the soldier smiled and said, "Thank you for your help."
From the previous battle, it was clear that Alka was probably the strongest among them. He single-handedly killed nearly half of the wolf carcasses, and he even had the heart to help those around him.
He seemed very relaxed and at ease.
Without Alka's help, at least one or two of them would have paid a price.
Thus, everyone in the caravan became increasingly friendly with Alka.
A doctor traveling with the caravan began bandaging everyone's wounds. Some of the mercenary teams also had their own doctors take action.
Everyone was more or less capable of treating minor injuries, and the medicine was provided free of charge by the caravan.
"Don't underestimate these minor wounds. They were caused by these mutant wolves infected by the Abyss. They might have been infected with some strange virus, so they need proper treatment," said Putuo, who had almost finished harvesting the fur.
Then everyone moved the corpses together, forming a small hill.
After they finished, Alka's red card floated beside him and gently flicked it at the pile.
A fire bomb flew directly over, impacting the pile. A raging fire instantly engulfed the corpses.
Thick smoke billowed out, and the aroma of roasted meat could be smelled.
Watching the flames burn, the convoy resumed its movement.
Unbeknownst to them, daybreak had already broken.
"This smell is making me hungry," Putuo said, rubbing his shoulders.
Then, a thought struck him. He looked at Alka and said, "Brother, do you mind if we grill while we walk?"
"?" Alka looked at him with some confusion.
Putuo smiled and took out a piece of meat. He used the prepared steel tongs and sprinkled it with seasoning.
"You hold the fire, and I'll grill it."
Hearing this, Alka gave him a speechless look.
But he was indeed a little hungry. He raised his hand, and a handful of flames blazed out.
"Oh, yes, yes, believe me, brother. I may not be good at anything else, but I have no problem grilling."
How could Alka, with his excellent skills, be better than Juanlu?
Ka pondered silently, but continued to control the heat.
After the barbecue was done, he shared it with the people around him, including Alka.
Alka took a few bites and could only say it was pretty good, not terrible. But compared to Juanlu's, it was certainly far inferior.
Seeing Alka's indifferent expression, Putuo said, "It seems my barbecue isn't to your liking."
"It's okay, but compared to my companions, it's definitely not as good." Alka smiled at him.
"You're not alone, you have companions."
"Yes, they're waiting for me at Boulder Harbor. If we meet again later, I can take you to try his cooking.
He's quite a renowned chef."
"A renowned chef?" Putuo nodded, aroused. "Of course. Next time we meet, please invite me to try your food."
They continued walking and chatting, following the convoy.
...
After more than a week of nonstop marching day and night, the convoy was finally nearing the logistics camp.
In the distance, Alka spotted a fortress on the horizon.
A large number of soldiers were patrolling the area, and Alka saw all sorts of potholes and craters.
The fortress covered an area even larger than Alka had imagined.
It could already be called a fortress.
At this point, they had to part ways.
"Good brother, I hope to see you again," Putuo said to Alka with his mercenary team.
Alka folded his arms in return: "May the Virgin Mary bless you with peace."
Putuo and the mercenary team behind him returned the greeting and then parted ways.
There were also some guards who needed to rest before returning, and they knew Alka.
After exchanging greetings, Alka learned a little about the situation and left. However, he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he found the two witchers.
He had already had a brief exchange with them before, and they didn't mind. It was mainly because Alka had helped him once in a previous battle.
In just one week, they had actually encountered three battles.
So the three of them set out together and began to advance.
They passed through the troop transport tunnel and arrived directly at the city wall.
Alka watched the wall wind its way forward, with no end in sight.
The wall he was standing on was only about three or four meters high, but the terrain was high, and with the hillside below, it was probably twenty or thirty meters high.
However, soldiers could be seen defending the wall at regular intervals.
Silently, he followed the two witchers through the wall, heading towards the right.
After walking for a while, Alka had a good understanding of the different heights of the walls, depending on the surrounding terrain.
It also saves materials.
Some areas are simply cut off, relying on the protruding peaks for defense. These areas often house small supply stations or rest areas, nestled against the protruding peaks.
Sometimes, there's even an arrow tower or two.
Through the city walls, one can see the demon-occupied area in the distance.
Arka could see from afar that the area was covered in traces of various battles. He could even see imps and lesser demons devouring the bodies of dead demons.
Even the ground was a scorching hot zone flowing with magma.