Blood tax

Commander Hausser was knocked away by the Dirty Tooth Crocodile during the battle.Judging from his strength and the situation at the time, Housel will not be far away, and he should be able to return to the team soon even if he is injured.

The people present immediately divided into several teams and started searching.

Within 5 minutes, someone loudly reported that Hauser had been found.

After Griffith arrived, he saw Governor Ekirum and his men standing far away on the edge of a bush, while Hausser was leaning under a big tree twenty steps away from them. He lowered his head and let out intermittent moans.

"help me,
"help me……"

There was a hint of blood in the humid air.Griffith and Erza rushed to the scene and stopped instinctively.Most of the other Extraordinaries in the team were experienced or shrewd and cunning guys. Instead of going to the rescue, they kept distance.

"Now that we have found him, what are you still looking at here?" Sister Xin Sati, a cleric in Commodus' team, complained when she saw this and immediately went to treat him.

"Slow down," the warlord raised his hand to stop him, "This is a trap."

After that, he grabbed a lively tree frog and threw it over.The moment this fat ball of flesh flew through the grass and landed on Hauser's shoulder, the injured commander and the tree frog made a soft popping sound at the same time. Like a punctured ball, it began to fester at a speed visible to the naked eye. ,shriveled.The skin and flesh turned into pus between red and orange, and the bones were broken off.A snake-like vine grew out of a mass of flesh and blood.

The stems and leaves of the vines grew rapidly, winding and climbing around like animals. They wrapped around the trunk and bloomed strange stamens, then withered and then turned into a ball of snow-like ashes that disappeared without a trace.

All the people present gasped.

"We are being followed, Your Excellency, Son of Prophecy, this is scarlet corruption," the warlord turned to Aaron, who looked grim, and said, "The god of Zul'Haka is watching us."

Aaron was silent for a while, took out his notebook, crossed out Hauser's name, made some notes, and then continued:

"keep going,
"Go from the shore."

Two members of the joint team died and 2 survived.

……

The forest is filled with mist, and there are obvious traces of artificial development as far as the eye can see.The inhabitants of Zul'Haka left their settlements and established a number of villages and farmland in this extremely dangerous forest.

There are only abandoned houses here, and there is no movement of any living thing among the ruins.

The Extraordinaries with agility specialties formed an advance team under the leadership of Erza. They went out and searched the surroundings before signaling that the group could pass.

Uros found some clues:
"Trolls have lived here for thousands of years. When there is a shortage of supplies in the limited territory, some tribesmen will open up new lands in the forest. Without the protection of a powerful army and extraordinary people, their fate must be very tragic.

"The good news is that there are still some traces of the road to Zuharka."

Two members had already been lost before they even entered Zulhakar's team, and the rest were cautious.

Erza came to Griffith's side, her eyes directing his attention to the depths of the ruins.Griffith followed her gaze and saw a strange dark red chrysanthemum among the dead trees and gravel. The slender stamens were like nerve contacts peeled from flesh and blood, swaying slightly like animals in the breeze. .

Just these stamens make people feel uncomfortable all over, as if if they are accidentally touched, these weird plants will stick to the skin and burrow into the flesh and bone marrow like bugs.

"The extraordinary characteristics of the Eternal Staircase have spread here, and the plants have taken on the form of subspecies that are close to their characteristics," Erza whispered in Griffith's ear, "In addition, there is more than one team following us."

Griffith's heart was pounding.If it weren't for the contract, he would have fled with Erza long ago.After thinking for a while, he rubbed the bone ring and said, "Minos, resurrect some undead creatures here and prepare an army to wait for my orders."

"There are no units nearby that can be resurrected." Minos was unable to execute it. "Some powerful being took away the biomass here."

The team approached a huge pool.On the other side shrouded in mist, you can barely see an arched stone door.

According to Aaron, this secret road is actually the sewer of the inner city of Zuhakar. After being abandoned for many years, it can avoid the unfriendly army of the leader of the outer city, Yekrik.

Although the trolls provided Commodus with auxiliary troops and formed an alliance with him, a group of upper-level trolls led by Yeklik still adhered to the bottom line-human troops could not approach the entrance of Zulhakar, otherwise they would be regarded as Betrayal of the covenant between both parties.

"Through here," Aaron said, "Griffith serves as a pioneer, and others are more vigilant. There may still be some strong guards here."

Okay, who made me the core of the defense... Griffith found a spear to explore the way, and stepped into the waist-high puddle.The water exuded a rancid smell, and a biting chill penetrated along his back and into his brain, making him shiver subconsciously.

The underwater mud has accumulated for who knows what tens of thousands of years, mixed with layers of unrotted weeds and branches. In some places it is waist deep, and in other places it only reaches the knees because of someone who stepped on something.

Griffith walked in the front, Erza followed closely behind, and the team of 18 people formed a long line and walked towards the entrance on the other side.The surroundings were very quiet, and Griffith suddenly had a wonderful inspiration in his mind. He listened carefully and heard the clear and clear sound of paddling approaching from a distance. It was neither urgent nor slow, twisting and winding.

Griffith turned and gave Erza a look.Miss Huntress pinched his arm and gestured to the side.

I saw some stone pillars covered with green moss and slender red stamens standing in the marsh.The top of the nearest stone pillar can barely be recognized as the shape of a crocodile, and the second stone pillar is carved with a group of twisted tentacles wrapped around a man to die...

The third stone pillar at the back was so damaged that it was difficult to identify.Griffith looked at it for a long time, and still felt that it looked like a troll, or that a troll and some indescribable thing were randomly mixed together.

"What the hell is this place..." Maggie, the assassin in the middle of the team, muttered, "From what I've seen, no matter how bad the life of the trolls on the ground is, it's much better than this hell place. Of course, it’s not a good place~”

Warlord Ekirum disagreed with this view: "Being able to bathe in the glory of the sacred Zul'Haka is the highest blessing. Only the humble lower trolls will settle on the ground."

"You still say this is a blessing?" Maggie's eyes widened.

The warlord pointed in front: "The only ruler of the trolls, the warrior among warriors, must go through Zul'Haka's ceremony. Only the most loyal and brave warriors are qualified to follow him.

"Before I became a warrior, Marcus, the leader, was qualified to enter Zulhakar through selection. He was stronger than a lion and more cunning than a crocodile! His majestic appearance entering the inner city was engraved on me like a knife mark In my heart, even though almost 20 years have passed, I still remember it."

Griffith listened to their conversation and was a little curious.

Overseer Ekirum is very powerful and can even hold off against Erza who is using all her strength. His strength is far superior to other high-ranking troll lords... Why would such a warrior who advocates force follow Aaron?
"Your Excellency, Overseer, why did you form an alliance with Aaron?" Commodus, who was behind the team, also had this question.

Echirum replied: "The insect Jekrik has bewitched my people. They offered countless sacrifices to the gods, but corruption and decay spread among the people. I have not obtained Lord Marcus for many years. news, the despicable Yeklik must be concealing God's will.

"We must report to Lord Marcus in Zulhakar City to eliminate the shameless evildoers.

"The Lord Son of Prophecy will help, and I am happy to fight for him!"

Seeing that he was about to cross this swamp, the warlord was very excited:
“Even I am not allowed to enter this holy place.

"Only those selected tribesmen, the noblest among all trolls, are lucky enough to come to the throne of this many gods."

The troll warlord said this, but the ancient city in front of him didn't mean what he said at all.

At the end of the marsh, the huge collapsed wall revealed a labyrinth of stone passages, shrouded in the shadow of corridors and arch bridges. The winding roads passed between altars and halls, surrounding the tallest pyramid in the center.

The majestic building is grand and simple, but without any life.Except for the vines, grass, and moss climbing on it, there is no life of any animals in Zul'haka's interior, let alone the upper-level trolls.

"Are you sure this is a holy place and a sacred place?" Maggie whispered, "In my opinion, this is more like...ah!"

The female assassin jumped, causing half the team behind her to stop in surprise.

Maggie then lowered her head and stared at the green water:
"There's something, there's something down there!"

"It's normal to have snakes and crocodiles," Uros said impatiently, not wanting to stay in the water for a moment longer, "Don't stop, hurry up and get ashore."

There was a "swishing" sound from the shrubs and water plants. At first it was just one or two sounds, but soon it turned into a commotion one after another.As far as the eye can see, something is emerging from the swamp under the mist, coming from all directions.

Crocodile?wrong!Python?Why are there so many!

Everyone started running.Even the dullest Beyonder's senses are frantically warning him at this moment.

Griffith was the first to rush ashore, and the moment he turned back to grab Erza, he saw something crazy!

Groups of swollen, twisted dark red tentacles burst out of the water, waving wildly among the crowd, water spray and shrubs.

The slippery skin bursts open like a flower.Inside the cracked tentacles, layers of fangs rolled up, and the bottomless black mouthparts were filled with a suffocating stench and crazy echoes.

Devourer of Shadows!Why is this thing?Wait a minute, could it be... Griffith witnessed the crazy and twisted monster and was almost knocked down by violent dizziness.

The team that was still stuck in the swamp was in a mess. Sherner and another slower-moving Beyonder were rolled up by the tentacles on the spot, and the terrifying mouthparts bit their heads and swallowed them bit by bit. (End of chapter)