Arcane Journey

as predicted.

Brian was really behind the uninvited guest, and saw a young soldier silently following him. He was holding an epee that was slightly out of proportion to his physique, and looked around vigilantly.

From the opponent's weapon, plain clothes, and the restrained violent power exuded, Bryan instantly judged that this was a berserker.

You must know that Lethman is a cold and desolate land. No matter where the environment is harsh, many tough residents who fight against the environment are destined to live there.

Because of this, the men here are berserkers who despise armor, and it has become known as the hometown of berserkers.

But while Thurman's berserkers are famous, it's a mountain kingdom where witches rule fierce warriors.

The women here are spellcasters who can use spells proficiently. On the surface, Thurman is led by a powerful warrior known as the "Iron King", but it is the witch who is really manipulating everything behind the scenes. They picked it out.

Witches are revered in Lethurman, and hurting a witch is undoubtedly a death sentence, and disobedience to a witch's order is also a death sentence, unless the offender is a child and another witch, or just an ignorant outsider who committed the crime for the first time.

At a glance, one can feel that this law that harms witches is obviously aimed at the male fighters from Thurman.

This is indeed the case, and the feminism in the Thurman region is absolutely comparable to the drow in the Underdark.

In Thurman, the relationship between witches and berserkers is often ridiculed by players as 'the queen and the dog', because when most witches in Thurman go out on adventures, they usually bring a berserker to act as their guard.

And for these male berserkers, if they are lucky enough to be selected by the witch, it will undoubtedly be a kind of glory for them, which is the same as obtaining high-quality mating rights.

Another reason is that only the witch's magic can suppress the violent power controlled by Thurman's berserkers, so that they will not lose their reason because they cannot be suppressed, and thus go further on the road of professionals.

As the two rushed in, as long as the people in the tavern were not fools, they could clearly feel that the purpose of the two people coming here was not as simple as eating and drinking.

Bryan noticed that the four half-orc warriors sitting in the center of the hall had already put their hands on the weapons on the table.

The leader of the half-orcs winked at the subordinate beside him, who immediately walked towards the door with his weapon in hand.

The half-orc pulled out a scimitar, the wide and curved blade was lined with serrated teeth, he pretended to be drunk, looked down at the witch viciously, his drunken tongue was stiff, "Hey, you are also here to drink huh, pretty girl?"

He shook off the outer robe, revealing his thick arms and a broad body in an inverted triangle. He patted his strong chest and said complacently, "It's so revealing, how much are you going to pay? See my figure No, it matches you very well, even if you cut it off a few times, there will be no problem, you will be absolutely satisfied, how about you, want to try it?"

...

The half-orc's taunt made the surrounding occupying forces burst into laughter.

"Then hurry up and give this chick a sword." A mercenary shouted, "Don't use a fight to torment such a beautiful woman."

In response, there was a burst of lewd laughter from the crowd, and even the air that was about to freeze just now was filled with joy.

However, with a scream, everyone's smile froze on their faces.

The berserker behind the witch took the initiative to take a step forward, and swung the long sword in his hand mercilessly, cutting through the air as fast as lightning.

The half-orc flew into the air with a smiling head, drew an arc, and landed in a bowl of potato and green onion broth, splashing out the soup mixed with blood.

His remnant body fell stiffly and heavily on the ground, blood gurgling, and in the blink of an eye, a pool of thick blood spread, shining faintly under the dim light.

"This is the first time I've heard that someone likes to make such a strange request." The berserker glanced at the corpse on the ground, deliberately shook the blood on the blade, and said disdainfully to the half-orcs in the center of the hall.

Suddenly, someone screamed, and the tavern exploded. A few local residents saw that the gate was blocked, and ran towards the backyard in a stumbling manner.

The chairs were overturned during the pushing, and the wine glasses fell to the ground one after another. The waiters in the tavern were also pale with fright, and hid behind the counter trembling.

The young berserker quickly raised his weapon and stood in front of the witch, watching the soldiers and mercenaries of the Dark Trade Network with vigilance.

Brian, who was watching from the sidelines, noticed that more than a dozen people had already quietly pulled out their weapons from waists, oiled belt buckles, boot linings, inner edges of wrists, etc. Two spellcasters in black robes.

"Can't you see it? This bitch is here to make trouble on purpose!" A half-orc slapped the table with his generous palm, shaking all the bowls and spoons to the ground, and shouted.

He kicked over the table between himself and the berserker, and took two steps back with fear on his face, shouting: "If you dare to come to Shadow Valley to make trouble, let's go together and kill them!"

"Damn it, draw a toad on the little tadpole's body to show off your mother here!"

"The little guy with no hair yet dares to come here to act wild!"

In an instant, a group of soldiers and mercenaries rushed towards the witch and the berserker amidst all kinds of greetings and abuse.

At this moment, the calm-looking witch raised her hand, and a translucent giant eagle that looked like a spirit appeared in midair, making a piercing scream.

This cry was enough to shock the soul, and suddenly most of the people in the tavern with low resistance to will ran wildly in the hall like headless chickens, and even collided with each other, crying out in pain.

The berserker raised his long sword, shouted angrily, and rushed into this group of stragglers like a tornado, setting off a bloody storm.

At the same time, the witch also manipulated the spirit she had summoned, and fought several spellcasters in a crushing posture.

At this moment, Brian naturally didn't have the leisure and elegance to watch this one-sided battle. He had already come to Orson with the half-elf monk, and ran out while taking advantage of the confusion.

...

In Shadow Valley, in addition to the occupying army stationed, a large number of mercenaries have also gathered, waiting for the opportunity to accept employment and participate in the war against Cormanthor's elf expeditionary force next spring.

While many of them have fought against the Zhentarim in the past, the Zhentarim are now completely empty, and there is no way to eliminate the potential threat among the mercenaries.

All they can do now is brutally suppress the local residents and increase the strength of the Shadow Brigade.

Anyone who does not explicitly display the holy emblem of a good deity will not get into trouble in the streets unless they openly clash with the occupying forces, or attempt to enter the Twisted Tower or Kragg Castle.

It is for this reason that the Shadow Valley has become a mess under the secret operation of the harpers, and scenes similar to the old skull tavern have occurred in many places.

A branch of the army stationed at Craig Castle rushed towards the valley at an extremely fast speed, trying to suppress the chaos.

To Brian's surprise, he saw a red-robed wizard from Searle not far away, fighting the sky mage of the Zhentarim Society.

As the magic tattoo tattooed on the shiny bald head of the red-robed wizard was activated, his head was like an anti-aircraft gun, firing fireballs the size of washbasins, blasting a sky mage riding on the back of a magic pet. Kill to death.

"How did you convince the red-robed wizard to participate in this melee." He couldn't help but curiously asked the half-elf monk beside him.

"How could I have this ability? It's not that the trading concession established by the Red Robe Wizards in Yuanshan City was captured by the Zhentarim Society, and all the magic potions and equipment inside were looted." Half-elf warrior The monk smiled and said:
"Do you think that the red-robed wizard who never likes to be disadvantaged will let it go? You know, as long as this group of bald old men don't encounter such a powerful enemy like Simbu...cough! Such a powerful enemy, revenge will not take overnight .”

"That's true." Bryan nodded slightly, without ignoring his small thoughts, looking at Lai Orson who often had a smile on his face, and said: "The magic net has been torn, and your leader is still alive." Therefore, you are seriously injured, why do you look very happy."

"Could it be possible to repair the magic net with a sad face?" Lai Orson spread his hands, showing a bitter face, and replied helplessly.

"Well, pretend I didn't say it." Brian shrugged with a smile.

While talking, the two had already taken advantage of the chaos in the valley and arrived near Kragg Castle.

A large group of sullen natives, under the supervision of a troop of soldiers, was gathered and marched in the direction of the Twisted Tower.

A gong struck three times in front of the tower door, and the tower door opened.

Twelve Priests of Bane came out neatly from the gate of the castle, four sky mages rode their mounts, roaring and flying over the crowd, followed by dozens of soldiers, guarding a middle-aged man Noble Zhentarim army.

As Lai Orson guessed, the defense here has obviously become very lax. Most of the guards and the sky mages and priests who are responsible for monitoring this place are supporting the direction of the Twisted Tower.

...

"Our time is running out." Lai Orson glanced at Kragg Castle in the distance, took out a string of pendants from his pocket, and handed them to Brian, "This is the pendant of Ashaba, which symbolizes the shadow valley The legal identity of the lord, after you rescued Azara, immediately hand it over to him, and let him come to the Old Skull Tavern to join me."

"Are you planning to overthrow Lord Moglin?" Brian took the pendant and asked.

Ashaba's Pendant

Type: jewelry

Aura: Weak prophecy aura

Description: This pendant is a symbol of Kingship in Shadowvale.

Traditionally, it represents the right to rule the Valley of Shadows and the ownership of the Twisted Tower, even if the loyalty of the subjects still needs to be obtained separately.

However, if the ruler loses the pendant, then his right to rule loses its legitimacy.

By command, the pendant can say in Ashaba's own voice: "The bearer of this symbol is the only true Lord of Shadowdale."

The wearer can detect strong alignment auras, including creatures of the alignment subtype, and the alignment aura's class ability.

…………

"That's right." The half-elf monk said, "Only by dismantling Lord Moglin's conspiracy of being possessed by shadows can we gather all the forces in the Valley of Shadows and help us drive away the Santarim army. And it is most appropriate to call on the leaders The candidate, without a doubt, is Ms. Dove's son, Azara, only he can get everyone's approval with the pendant of Ashaba, and contact the elven reinforcements from Cormanthor."

"This is the key to breaking the deadlock in Shadow Valley." The half-elf monk sighed helplessly, and said in a sincere tone: "At the moment, I can only trouble you to go there yourself."

"I see, I will rescue Azara as soon as possible." Bryan put away the pendant and prepared to set off for Kragg Castle.

"Wait a minute." Lai Orson stopped him, with a slightly hesitant expression, and then said in a solemn tone: "According to the information I have, the reinforcements that landed in the floating city of Sacross in the Kingdom of Sambia have already set off. gone."

"You mean the Shadow Princes, right?" Brian was taken aback, then turned around and said his guess.

From this news, it can be seen that the shadow princes who did not participate in the battle to conquer the Shadow Valley, also took the initiative to participate because of his influence.

Although this seems to be bad news, their progress in repairing the floating city may be reduced a lot because of this, buying a lot of time for Mokou Town to welcome the floating city.

What made him curious was how many ghost princes planned to support Shadow Valley.

"That's right." Lai Orson nodded slightly, the confident smile on his face from time to time turned into a trace of worry, "There are four ghost princes who came to support this time, they are Yada and Agrila , Ecacia, and Oripa."

"So many." Brian frowned, "Except for the eldest prince Ruivalan and Lamorak, all of them rushed to support."

If it weren't for his most important task right now to repair the magic net, he really wanted to take advantage of the emptiness inside the floating city of Sacross to cause some damage to them.

"Prince Rivalan?" Lai Orson was stunned for a moment when he heard the name of the ghost prince, and then shook his head slightly, "No, according to the information we have, there is only the sixth Lamorak in the city of Sacrosse. Didn't notice any sign of Rivaran."

"What's the specific situation." Hearing this unexpected news, Brian inexplicably felt a bad breath permeating his heart.

The eldest prince Rui Valan is the highest priest and spokesperson of the lost lady Shar in the City of Shades. He is in charge of the affairs of the Lost Temple and publicizes Shar's will to the believers.

The inexplicable disappearance of the leader of the city of ghosts is more likely to be brewing some bigger conspiracy.

"I don't know too much." Lai Orson said helplessly, "Since you destroyed the floating city of Sacross, this ghost prince has completely disappeared. Until now, our spies have not received any information about If there is any news about Rui Valan, he seems to disappear out of thin air."

"It is obviously impossible to disappear." Brian shook his head slightly, expressing his guess, "With the ability of your harpists, I believe that as long as Rui Valan is still in the floating city, you can definitely detect his existence, and That is to say, the other party is very likely not in the material world."

He still has a deep impression of the battle with the shadow prince Rui Valan. The opponent was severely injured in the silver fire that broke out in Simbu, and even the summoned shadow evil was forcibly expelled.

Could it be because the opponent was affected by something in this battle, so he went to other planes to perform other tasks, Brian could only guess so.

"I think so too." The half-elf monk agreed.

Bryan nodded slightly. He didn't waste any more time. He temporarily suppressed the doubts in his heart. After bidding farewell to Olsen, he walked towards Kragg Castle.

…………

Arcane Journey