Blood tax

Chapter 26 Griffith and the Bone Ring
"Woo!" A gangster with a dagger came out of the darkness and stabbed Lana in the waist.

The dagger hit the iron armor, and then slid aside along an arc.Lana grabbed the bastard's head, snapped it off and threw it aside.

"Don't come here! Don't come here!" A skinny gangster brandished a broken knife and shouted against the cold wall.

On the ground beside him lay four corpses.Equipped with crossbows and daggers, these men lurked around a corner and attacked the Shtoral squad.

However, their inferior weapons could not even scratch a scratch in the armor.Before the gangsters could react, the Shutoral team killed most of them.

"Surrender, or die." Griffith pulled out a hemp rope and swayed towards the only remaining scoundrel.

The gangster, who had no way to escape, clenched his teeth, and his bright eyes stared at Griffith in front of him under the firelight.Then, the gangster raised the dagger, let out a shout, and rushed towards Griffith.

"Hey!"

The apprentice knight clad in strong armor slid aside easily, grabbed the bastard's slender arm and twisted it lightly.The little man screamed and fell heavily to the ground.

"Where did you find these brats?" Murat glanced at the gangster on the ground, "It looks like he's only twelve or thirteen years old."

"You can join the slaughter package if you are over ten years old. Twelve or thirteen years old is not too young," Rana said while wiping the sword on the corpse. "It's just thinner."

Griffith twisted the little man's hands behind his back, quickly tied it in a dead knot, and carried it to Ophelia from the muddy water: "Is there anything you want to ask?"

"No~ What is there to ask about an ambush of this magnitude," Ophelia tilted her head, "Except for the first few teams to be stronger, the latter ones are just pure children!"

"Nobility's lackey! I'm going to kill you, kill you!" the little man screamed.Before he could shout a few words, Griffith carried him back to him and put his hands on his neck.

The sharp shouts of the little man who was still yelling suddenly disappeared.A strong hand was pressing on his neck, and the cold steel brought the chill of death straight to the bone marrow.

The dead body on the ground, with a head that has been twisted to the back, is staring at this side with empty eyes.

The trembling passed down the hands.Griffith looked indifferently as the teeth of the little man in front of him were pounding up and down rapidly, and then the thin body also trembled, as if it had been suffering from malaria.

"We're taking this, it might be useful." Griffith put the little man down.

"Aye~!" The trainee knights agreed without any surprise.

……

The Shotoral team has gone deep into the sewers.Based on the estimated distance from the previous map, the Cook gang has nowhere to hide.

"To deal with mages, you must attack immediately." Ophelia glanced around vigilantly, she seemed to have good vision in the dark, "The opponent is a fallen mage, such people may have special attack spells without systematic training , but defense is often not a strong point."

"My dagger will kill him right away," Rana said. "The space here is small, and the encounters won't be too far apart. I won't give him a chance to cast a spell."

"Kill all the lackeys of the nobles!" Suddenly, a roar came from the darkness, followed by the sound of chaotic footsteps stepping on the water and rushing towards him.

"Oh, it's coming!" Ophelia bent her bow and set an arrow, and shot it like lightning.As soon as a person turned the intersection in the dark, he was shot through the eye and fell to the ground with his head up.

"Come on! Kill!" A burly man in chain mail with a huge ax in his hand rushed out surrounded by a group of minions, big and small.

"Attack, be careful of the mage hiding in the crowd!" Griffith raised a short gun and nailed a gangster to the ground, "Cook in armor is here!"

The other apprentice knights promptly threw daggers, spears, or bows.The gangsters, armed with various weapons, collapsed on the spot like a wheat field blown by a gust of wind.

"Kill!" The strongest and only armored Boss Cook came over with two daggers stuck in his body and a big ax in his hand.

Griffith held his guns above his head and stabbed Cook's left shoulder from above the shield.

The armor-piercing spear shreds the defense of the chainmail with a single blow, piercing Cook's sturdy shoulder and piercing it out from behind.

"Oh~" Cook, who was screaming and fighting, stopped shouting. He grabbed the spear head that stabbed into his shoulder, and raised his axe to slash at Murat's shield.

Griffith had quick eyes and quick hands, and he spun the short gun in his hand.The severe pain exploded on his shoulder with splattered flesh and blood. Cook trembled all over, and the blow to the shield became weak.

Murat parried the blow and slammed forward.Cook was knocked to the ground immediately, and even the ax fell into the sewage.

Griffith took advantage of the situation to draw a short gun and stabbed it at Cook's open mouth.

"Woo! Woohoo!" The little captive who was tied behind shouted desperately.But his hands were bound and his mouth was stuffed with rags, and he could only make muffled noises.

Cook, who is more than two meters tall, has been shot through his throat.

"Have you seen him use his ability?" Rana asked, piercing a gangster who rushed over.

"No." Everyone shook their heads together.

The 12 Cook gang members who launched the counterattack were wiped out without causing any damage to the Shtoral team.

"Be vigilant, it's not over yet," Griffith pulled the rope, pulling the tightly bound little man to the front, "Go ahead and see if there are any survivors inside."

The little man with his mouth gagged was pushed forward.Griffith patted his shoulder with the cold gun blade, "This is your chance to live, lead the way."

Until now, the figure of the fallen mage has not appeared.Such a danger in the shadows made the Thutorals even more vigilant.

Finally, on a dry platform in the sewer, the Shutorals found two figures curled up together.With the faint light, Griffith and the others could barely see the gorgeous costumes and trembling bodies of the two of them.

"We are apprentice knights of the Guards, and come to your rescue," Ophelia shouted, hiding behind Griffith. "Baron, Baroness, is that you? Look up and let us see yours. Face."

The couple hugging each other continued to tremble, and the baron himself raised his head and glanced at the five armored rescuers: "Yes, I am."

"Ha, great," Ophelia sighed. "Are you hurt? Can you act?"

"I...our feet are frostbitten," the baron trembled even more, not knowing whether it was because of fear or excitement, "that fallen mage did it."

"Go on and go to the Baron," Griffith patted the little man on the shoulder.

There were no traps around the baroness couple, but the ankles of the two of them were shackled by silver-white shackles and they couldn't move.

"It's ice, the shackles of ice," Rana said, looking up, "give me the torches."

Two torches were handed over, and Rana and Medenmaia carefully thawed at the Baron's ankles.Others stood guard by their side.

"What about the fallen mage?" Griffith asked.

"He locked us and left, and went further inside," Baron Caen hugged his wife, his expression slightly relaxed, "Earlier, the gangsters tried to dig a way out, I don't know if they succeeded .”

"It shouldn't be successful," Griffith pointed to the direction where Cook and others fell, "We killed their boss."

"Shh! Don't talk!" Ophelia suddenly raised her index finger and made a mute gesture.

The scene immediately fell silent.There was a rustling sound from the dark sewer, as if something was moving towards this side.

Several groups of bright torches appeared in the passage, and the firelight illuminated a piece of bright yellow armor.Two teams of city defense troops ran towards this side quickly.

"Hey! Guys, you're late!" cried Ophelia triumphantly, "but the big mouse's still in the hole."

"Sgt. Rex of the City Defense Force came to report, Commander Cody asked us to accept your command," the leading City Defense Force saluted the Cytolars.

"Very well, we are short of manpower." Griffith and Ophelia glanced at each other, "Arrange for a few people to take the baroness and the captives to retreat first, and the rest will go in with us to arrest the fallen mage .”

At this moment, a fierce and violent breath spread from the darkness.

"Beasts? Not exactly, mixed with human breath," Ophelia sniffed in surprise. "It could also be some kind of black magic product. It's in that darkness."

Two fiery red lights appeared in the darkness, like torches, with a stench.

"What is this? A fireball?" Lana looked at it for a while, but it didn't look like it.

The two groups of red lights flickered from time to time, faintly approaching the crowd slowly.The blood-red core is actually like a pupil.

"Mouse!" Ophelia suddenly shouted, bent her bow and shot an arrow at the red light.

Before everyone could understand what was going on, the red light suddenly flashed towards the wall on one side, and then rushed towards the soldiers.

A giant black rat even bigger than a mountain bear opened its bloody mouth and bit off the head of a city defense soldier in one bite.

Without being reminded, everyone present smashed the giant mouse with all the weapons they could find.

Rana threw the throwing knives like lightning.However, after hitting the shiny black fur, the sharp blade deflected directly, causing no damage at all.

The giant rat under attack rushed into the crowd like lightning, smashing a group of city defense troops to pieces.

Murat swung his large shield and slammed at the giant rat that was sprinting past him.

"DUANG!"

Unspeakable fluctuations spread, and the soldiers nearby all staggered.The giant mouse was also knocked to the ground, and the fiery red eyes were dull.

Suppressing the dizziness, Griffith stepped forward with a gun and poked hard at the red eye.

"Squeak!" The giant rat screamed like a normal mouse, and its long tail, which was comparable to the tail of a crocodile, swept over.

Griffith just felt like he flew out like a cloud, and he couldn't move when he hit the cold wall.

With a roar, Midianmeier waved the shovel in his hand and thrust it hard into the other eye.The blood-red eyeballs burst open on the spot.

The giant rat, who had lost his eyes, started furiously waving its huge tail and attacking around, opening its bloody mouth and roaring.

Midianmaia and Lana rushed forward, grabbed the giant rat and wanted to press it to the ground.But the monster was far stronger than both of them, and it threw them away in the blink of an eye.Murat had sharp eyes and quick hands, and the moment the two were thrown away, she held the shield and smashed towards the giant rat's face.

There was another dizzying wave, and the strong giant rat froze for a while again.

Ophelia gathered herself together, took out a feathered arrow engraved with flame-like magic patterns from her quiver, bent the bow and shot it into the giant rat's mouth.After shooting the arrow, Ophelia rolled on the ground with her head in her hands.

"spread!"

Before the others could react, the giant rat's mouth exploded with a "bang".The sharp fangs mixed with flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the city defense army, who couldn't dodge, fell down on the spot.

"Kill it!" Murat was the closest to the monster, but miraculously stood up first.He glanced at the sticky flesh and broken teeth all over his body, drew out his saber and stabbed the giant rat who was still twitching.

"Huh~ The fur of this thing is a good thing," Murat turned around the long sword inserted into the giant mouse's head, "Hey! Griffith, are you still alive? Move it when you are alive."

"I, I finally returned to the capital of the world alive..." Ophelia stood up in embarrassment from the sewage and flesh and blood, and wiped a mask that was covered in something she didn't know, "I didn't do it for the sake of Fight this shit!"

Before the other Shutorals could laugh, the abdomen of the dead giant rat suddenly began to wriggle violently, as if a naughty child was hiding under the quilt and digging around.

"Murat! Get out of the way!"

The abdomen of the giant rat burst open, and countless large and small mice splashed out from it.Each of them stared at scarlet eyes and swooped towards those present.

Shouts and roars rang out all at once, and all the Xiutorals who could still stand frantically waved their weapons, and slammed towards the mice that were pouring out of the black mass.

"Bang!" The first mouse that was killed exploded, and a cloud of white cold air came out.The surrounding sewage was immediately frozen into hard ice.The densely packed little mice exploded into white ice mist.

"Oh, that's terrible!" Ophelia watched as a cloud of ice mist burst, which happened to stick to the gap in her visor, blocking her vision.Immediately afterwards, she lost consciousness before realizing what was happening.

……

One by one the wounded were carried out of the sewers on stretchers.

Whether it was Shutoral or the city defense army, their clothes and armor were covered with thick flesh and sludge, and these filthy things were frozen solidly and stuck to them.

"Five Xiutorals were injured, one of the 25 city defense troops was killed, and 13 were injured." On-site commander Cody reported to Chief Heinz with a black face, "I'm sorry, although the Baroness and his wife were rescued, but It also caused your Excellency's Xiutoral elite to fight such a bad battle."

"They suffered a loss but they are all alive," Heinz Wilhelm's cavalry chief spread his hands, "Don't say these are useless, hurry up and send your city defense army down, be sure to catch this damn mage."

Not far from them, Ophelia, covered in a mess, limped towards the pool on the far corner.A city guard who was in charge of vigilance tried to come up to help her, but was rejected.

"How's Miss Apprentice Knight's injury?" a medical officer asked the apparently female Cytolar.

Ophelia wiggled her arm with difficulty, then pointed to her frozen visor.The medical officer frowned at the frozen dirt, shook his head and walked away.

"Huh~!" Ophelia came to the pool at the corner, picked up a bucket of water and poured it over her body, then turned around and leaned against the corner to rest.

A team of city defense troops ran past her and ran towards the entrance of the sewer where the battle had just ended.

Ophelia, who looked physically and mentally exhausted, looked at the soldiers passing by, stood up with difficulty and walked towards the secluded alley alone.

"Where are you going?" A somewhat familiar silent voice sounded from behind.

Ophelia turned her head and saw Griffith, who was also in a mess, standing not far behind her.

Ophelia spread her hands helplessly, pointing to the visor frozen in ice.

Griffith walked over without taking it seriously, came to Ophelia's side and walked forward with her: "What do you think?
"The fallen mage hiding in the sewers has such a powerful familiar, and is also very skilled in ice magic. He has such strength, why didn't he cooperate with the Cook Gang people in the first place?"

Ophelia seemed unable to answer the question, she just walked in silence.Seeing that she was silent, Griffith continued:

"Even if he has such strength, he won't be let go after causing us so many casualties. The next ones to deal with him are regular knights and big knights.

"With the loss of the familiar, his fate is only a dead end.

"Since that's the case, why don't you take hostages and break out with Cook's gang while you still have the strength?"

Ophelia stopped where she was, and looked up at Griffith who had already taken off his helmet.

Nearby residents and city defense troops have gathered to the entrance near the sewer.The two stared at each other in the silent alley.

Ophelia lowered her head, gently stroking Griffith's sunken and damaged breastplate with her right hand, just like a girl stroking her boyfriend's strong chest.

"That's not good~" Ophelia said in an unfamiliar voice. "The old cat has already caught the mouse but won't eat it. Aren't you afraid that the mouse will bite back?"

White frost spread on Griffith's breastplate at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, Griffith grabbed Ophelia's wrist like lightning and turned it over with a "click".

"Ah!" The female mage wearing Ophelia's iron armor let out a low scream and collapsed to the ground.

Griffith stretched out his hand and tore off the loose iron helmet, looking at the fallen female mage full of pain.

"I'll give you a minute to convince me not to break your neck," Griffith said, grabbing the sorceress' hands above her head and pressing them to the ground, kneeling against her chest.

The appearance of the female mage under her body was beyond Griffith's expectation.Her face is quite round, with short brown hair, her facial features are not beautiful but they are quite correct, her shining eyes are full of vitality, and she doesn't have the sinister aura of learning ice and black magic at all.

"Kill me, nobility's lackey," the female mage looked at Griffith without fear, "you kill me, and thousands of brave people will stand up and overthrow this chaotic world! "

"I'm not interested in your life. Your spiritual power is very weak, you are not a professionally trained mage, how did you manage to master frost magic and enchanted giant mouse at the same time?" Griffith seemed to have not heard her speak. asked the same.

"..." The female mage was stunned for a moment, "I have a ring, and I can use low-level ice spells several times every once in a while. The control of the familiar is given by others, and the connection with it is imprinted on my soul. On. The ring...I hang it on my chest with a string."

While holding down the female mage's hand, Griffith took off her armor and groped inside her clothes.

The female mage turned her head and avoided Griffith's eyes: "This is the only thing I have of value. If you take this, you will let me go?"

"I'm not interested in your life." Griffith found a pale bone ring from the female mage, and looked at it curiously, "Come on, cut off your spiritual connection with this ring, give up ownership, Also tell me the name of the person who gave you the familiar."

There seems to be an invisible barrier on the bone ring, so that Griffith's consciousness cannot reach it.

"Ok."

As soon as the voice fell, endless babble suddenly poured out of the bone ring, wrapping Griffith's brain.The babble seemed to be calling for something, but no matter how much I listened, I couldn't hear it clearly.

A huge amount of messy information was rolling around in the apprentice knight's head, and he didn't even understand what was going on before he fell to the ground with a thud, convulsing all over his body.

"Bah! Lag!" The female mage struggled to break free from under Griffith and kicked him hard.

The female mage silently looked at Griffith, who was twitching on the ground, and suddenly snatched back the ring in his hand and held it in her palm, saying viciously: "Idiot, after breaking the connection with me, the will of the Lord of the Rings can crush you!" I will not give it to you, lackey! This is our hope to overthrow the old world, it is our power, my power!

"mine……

"baby!"

(End of this chapter)