Chapter 86: Hostility
Yam had removed the heavy loads and opted for a light and swift approach.
He only carried a day’s worth of flatbread and a large leather water pouch.
And that Demonic Sword.
Akar had followed Yam’s instruction and immediately returned the same way to deliver the information.
...
Nail raised his head to glance at the gradually darkening sky, then sighed deeply. “Young Lady, will the Lord of White Mountain Territory really pass through here? We’ve been waiting here all day and haven’t seen a thing.”
Molly shook her head.
“I’m not certain, but according to the markings on the map made by Baron Harris, it should be here,” Molly said, her voice tinged with uncertainty. “This is the transition point between Lesser Eaglehead Mountain and Greater Eaglehead Mountain. If the Lord of White Mountain Territory really manages to scale the perilous peak of Lesser Eaglehead Mountain, then he must pass through here to return to White Mountain Territory.”
Nail looked at his young lady. Seeing her listless expression, he hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. “Young Lady, have you not been resting well these past two days?”
Molly was taken aback.
She knew that Nail, being a veteran soldier who had followed her in battle for a long time, was well aware of her disposition and habits.
No matter how intense the battle, she never had trouble resting.
Yet now, he had asked if she hadn’t been resting well. Molly realized something was indeed wrong with her current condition.
“No.” After a moment of thought, Molly finally spoke. “I just… suddenly feel uneasy. Since yesterday, I’ve been affected by an extremely agitating emotion that’s clouding my judgment... and a strong sense of unease. I don’t know where this feeling is coming from, but my emotions are clearly off.”
Upon hearing Molly’s words, Nail noticed that her pupils were slightly reddened.
This gave him a sudden jolt.
“Young Lady, are you... having a ‘Bloodthirst Seizure’?”
Molly did not look at Nail again, but she softly responded, “I’m very clear, it’s not a seizure.”
Nail fell silent.
After awakening the bloodline of the Bloodthirsty Beast, one did gain a significant boost in combat ability.
However, the side effects were equally troublesome. Only the direct descendants of the Karco Family knew that Molly’s aftereffects from the Bloodthirsty Beast awakening didn’t make her lose complete control like others.
Instead, she entered a controllable state of madness. If properly utilized, it could even be a form of power enhancement.
For other lords, serfs were expendable cannon fodder.
But for the Karco Family of Western Wind Territory, even a First-Tier Bloodline User could be treated as expendable fodder, at least in Molly’s eyes.
Therefore, the true meaning behind Nail’s earlier question was whether they should sacrifice all the soldiers they currently brought with them to help Molly fully regain her clarity.
And it was precisely because Molly understood what Nail meant that she rejected it and made it clear her consciousness was intact.
She was only agitated, not truly out of control.
Yet even Molly herself didn’t know how to explain it. If someone had told her before that she could feel irritable and enraged without losing control, she would have thought they were mocking her, and she would have killed them.
“Have everyone spread out and carefully scout the surrounding area. The enemy might have already crossed the Lesser Eaglehead Mountain Range and could be hiding nearby, waiting for us to slip up.” Molly shook her head, suppressing the irritation in her heart before speaking. “I’ll check ahead. You keep an eye around here.”
“Understood.” Nail nodded quickly. “I’ll arrange a few soldiers—”
“No need!” Molly suddenly roared.
But almost instantly, she realized the state of her emotions and quickly shook her head. “Sorry. I’ll be alone for a while.”
Nail didn’t speak. He merely watched Molly’s figure fade into the distance.
He wasn’t particularly worried that Molly would be in danger.
In terms of personal strength, Molly being hailed as the strongest Third-Tier Bloodline User in the Southern Region was no exaggeration.
She had proven the worth of her title through numerous duels and on multiple battlefields. Especially once the aftereffects of the Bloodthirsty Beast were triggered, under normal circumstances, it would take at least three bloodline users of the same tier to push her back, or two with strength nearly equal to hers to pose any real threat.
Nail had heard of the strength of the Lord of White Mountain Territory.
If kept at a safe distance, the opponent might be troublesome. But once the distance closed, the threat level dropped significantly.
Especially since the Frost Mist, though it could freeze the blood of those who stepped into it—
One of the defining traits of the Bloodthirsty Beast was that its blood remained in a constant state of boiling, enough to completely ignore the effects of the Frost Mist.
Therefore, Nail did not believe that Molly would fall into crisis if she suddenly encountered the Lord of White Mountain Territory. On the contrary, he even considered it a good thing.
He simply felt that Molly’s current state was extremely abnormal.
However, as her adjutant, he had no authority to truly command Molly. All he could do was try to fill in the gaps and take care of things she hadn’t considered.
But tonight’s situation was clearly off, as Molly hadn’t issued any detailed operational commands and had left alone, something that had never happened before.
And this was the reason Nail began to feel uneasy.
After swiftly issuing deployment orders, Nail grabbed his heavy warhammer and began inspecting the area.
In combat involving high-tier bloodline users, units composed solely of ordinary soldiers were unable to exert much strength.
However, if the enemy was only a Third-Tier Bloodline User, then these ordinary soldiers could still provide considerable value in battle.
Still, the most critical threat in such a battlefield was a bloodline user sneaking up behind the soldiers for a surprise attack. Even a First-Tier Bloodline User could cause immense damage.
In this regard, Western Wind Territory held significant authority.
Because a passage to the Abyss lay to the east of the Fertile Plains, Western Wind Territory had long been responsible for fending off Abyss invasions.
Thus, in the art of warfare, Western Wind Territory had considerable expertise and naturally understood better than other lords how to coordinate ordinary soldiers with bloodline users in tactical formations.
Carrying his warhammer, Nail patrolled all the defensive positions laid out.
After confirming that nothing was amiss, he turned around to check again.
About half an hour later, he inspected the area a third time.
Then, at fifteen-minute intervals, he conducted a fourth check.
In total, he conducted six patrols, with the last four occurring at irregular intervals and in randomized orders, leaving no discernible pattern.
By then, night had fully fallen.
Nail remained still for a while, returning to a hiding spot to eat the dinner he had brought, flatbread and water, with a few extra pieces of dried meat compared to the others.
Only after full darkness blanketed the sky did Nail rise again.
By then, more than two and a half hours had passed since his sixth patrol.
He stepped out from his hiding place and began circling the ambush points once more.
But this time, by the fourth position, a grim smile had already formed on his face. “Sure enough, a rat slipped in.”
A faint scent of blood, almost tangible in the air, drifted into Ding’s nostrils.
Following the scent, he quickly reached the ambush point and saw four corpses lying on the ground.
Two of them had nearly identical wounds, most of their necks had been severed. Of the remaining two, one had a fine slit across the throat, with signs of a broken weapon nearby. The last had a stab wound through the heart.
With just one glance, Nail understood.
The enemy possessed high swordsmanship and had seized the perfect moment to strike.
The first sword had pierced the throats of two soldiers. Because the weapon was extremely sharp, the slash created a near-decapitation effect.
Closer inspection revealed that the attacker had a good understanding of human anatomy, the strike had avoided the cervical vertebrae and sliced through neck muscles and tendons.
Then came the second sword.
Delivered immediately after the first, it slashed the third soldier while blood was still flying from the first strike.
That soldier, perhaps not entirely off-guard, was at least able to raise his weapon in an attempt to block.
But the enemy’s Rare Iron Weapon was far sharper than anticipated, slicing through both the weapon and the man with a single stroke. The weapon was cut cleanly in two, and the throat and vocal cords were severed instantly, silencing him before he could make a sound.
Then came the fourth soldier.
After killing the third, the enemy turned and thrust a sword into the fourth soldier’s heart.
Normally, this soldier, unlike the others, should have been able to scream.
Nail approached the fourth corpse, crouched down, and examined it.
A faint scorching smell entered his nostrils.
“Flame.”
Nail immediately reacted. He tore open the soldier’s clothing and saw slight signs of skin charring.
It was now clear, the sword that pierced this soldier’s heart had also carried a scorching flame.
Moreover, the flame’s intensity was overwhelming. It became a torrential inferno inside his body, instantly vaporizing all his blood, which explained why he hadn’t made a sound.
Then—
As if recalling something, Nail swiftly turned and inspected the other three corpses.
Sure enough, he found that their blood had also mostly been vaporized, with only the faintest traces remaining.
And that explained why the scent of blood had been so faint!
Nail’s expression grew serious.
In the next moment, he suddenly grabbed his warhammer from nearby. Then, with a movement defying all common logic, his entire body flipped mid-air, as if gravity itself had reversed.
Then, he swung the warhammer.
A storm erupted.