Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 589 The Cage—Kaer Morhen! A Living Hell!
When Valery was still an apprentice, leaving his homeland for the first time to come to Kordevin and to Ban Ade, he learned the same name from different people—Kaer Morhen.

The Witcher's Temple, a city surrounded by wolves, a haven for freaks, an ancient sea fortress...

Many names, positive, negative, neutral, depend on who first speaks the name Kaer Morhen—commoner, merchant, wizard, or nobleman.

Of course, most of those negative nicknames would come from the mouths of fellow wizards, especially those locals born near Ban Ade.

Hailing from the small riverside kingdom of Hidaris, he couldn't understand why the wizards of Ban Ade were so contemptuous, hateful, and fearful of their neighbors.

In his heart, the Witcher has only one identity—the miraculous creation of the legendary mage Cosimo Malaspina and Arzur, the ultimate crystallization of the science of genetic mutation.

He both admired and longed for them, yet avoided them because of the rumors.

But he never imagined that one day he would be so close to the filthy place the wizards spoke of.

The towering, dark castle towers seemed almost within reach in the deep night, yet also appeared poised to awaken at any moment and pounce upon those hiding in the shadows.

"Valelio, what are you daydreaming about?!"

Shaquille's low rebuke caused Valery, who was deep in thought, to hastily turn his gaze away from the majestic fortress in the distance.

“Master Shaquille,” Valerius whispered, “I heard that the Grandmaster of the Wolf School has rarely gone out on missions for a long time, and he should be in the castle now.”

"Do those war behemoths of the Risberg Civil Cooperative really have a way to deal with that legendary Witcher Zoe—who's older than my grandfather—?"

Shaquille observed the majestic castle not far away, and without turning his head, said:
"It is said that those freaks in Risberg were so excited when they heard that their darling was going to be released to Kaer Morhen that they specially modified those monsters for the legend of the Witcher..."

"And as you said, Zoe is very, very old. Unlike us darlings of the elements and magic, whose strength comes with age, these brutes will decline with time."

"So who knows if he's reduced the frequency of accepting commissions because he's tired of it, or because he's simply run out of energy."

"certainly……"

Shaquille shrugged: "Even if those war beasts can't kill Zoe, it doesn't matter..."

"What Sunny wants is to inflict heavy losses on the Wolf School."

“Those war behemoths could not kill Zoe, but they could certainly deal with those so-called master witchers, not to mention the poor apprentices who are still in training.”

"Tonight, this holy land of the Witchers is destined to be awash in blood."

The thought of witchers being crushed, devoured, and tortured by sudden behemoths while they were still asleep sent a chill down Valerius's spine. He drifted off into thought and bumped into Shaquille's back.

But before he could apologize or explain...

Shaquille's expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly pulled him into the roadside bushes before covering his mouth.

Amidst the rustling noises, voices suddenly rang out from the towering castle walls, followed by leaping flames and a witcher peering out from the battlements, surveying the slope where they stood.

Valery instinctively held his breath and crouched even lower, the silence so profound he could hear the pounding of his heart pumping blood.

"gone!"

When Shaquille's voice rang out, he realized that the figure on the city wall had disappeared at some point.

Cold sweat instantly seeped from my limbs, soaking my underwear.

“All the Witcher schools only have Witchers returning around the winter solstice, but that doesn’t mean the fortress is empty.” Shaquille sneered, pulling up the young sorcerer who was pale with fright.

Valery swallowed hard, his expression filled with suspicion and uncertainty: "Did they know we were coming?"

“How could that be…” Shaquille scoffed. “Kaer Morhen is the witcher’s castle, not the prophet’s…”

Valeli was still shaken: "But why would an empty fortress deep in the mountains have people patrolling at night?"

“Who knows?” Shaquille said casually. “Maybe the apprentices couldn’t stand the torture and ran away, lost their things, or maybe they’re just a bunch of lunatics whose brains have been damaged by the medicine and are sleepwalking…”

"None of these things matter. The only important thing is to keep up with me and remain cautious."

"I will bring you back safe and sound, you understand?"

Valerius opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing. He nodded vigorously and followed Shaquille, carefully moving to a new position among the bushes.

What he failed to see was...

As Shaquille turned his head, his nonchalant yet confident expression immediately crumbled into doubt and unease.

According to the information provided by Senni, Kaer Morhen was indeed, as Valeryu had said, a completely undefended fortress.

His caution was simply due to his usual habit.

When all the Witchers of the Wolf School returned in winter, they drank all night and left the city gates wide open. Why are they so heavily guarded now that it's only just the beginning of autumn?

An ominous premonition sank Shaquille's heart; he felt that today's mission might not be so simple.

really.

When they arrived at the gates of Kaer Morhen, two young witchers leaned against the inner wall of the gate, guarding it, illuminated by the torches burning brightly on the drawbridge.

In addition, there were the flickering lights that occasionally flashed across the city walls.

Shaquille almost thought he was seeing not the supposedly empty Wolf School fortress, but the new city of Ben Ade, which had just been threatened by the Wild Hunt.

"Master Shaquille, shall we release him here?" Valery asked cautiously, whispering in Shaquille's ear.

Shaquille shook his head, pointing to the thick, sturdy city walls:

"The so-called war behemoth of the Risberg Civil Cooperative Organization is difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Only by preparing a suitable arena for them can we maximize their effectiveness."

"Only after being imprisoned will they fight like trapped beasts against the witchers of the Wolf School."

"Behind that wall lies the perfect arena for war behemoths. The stronger the wall, the more enraged those war behemoths will become, tearing apart every living creature they can find in their fury."

"But if we release it here..."

Shaquille O'Neal paused, then gently shook his head:

"Once the gatekeepers notice something is wrong, they will raise the drawbridge and close the city gate. The war behemoth will not be able to break in, and not only will the mission fail, but it will also alert the enemy prematurely."

“Those half-finished products of the Risberg Civil Cooperative Organization might even take their frustrations out on us, smashing us all into mincemeat…”

Valerius shuddered involuntarily at the thought of that scene: "What should we do then, Master Shaquille?"

“We can only try to sneak in and open the teleportation channel inside the castle. As for now…” Shaquille stared intently at the heavily guarded fortress not far away.

“Wait!” Shaquille gritted his teeth and said, “It’s already late at night. The Wolf School could have easily raised the drawbridge and closed the city gates, but instead they left two guards standing watch at the gate.”

"Someone must still be missing... Aren't you the best at illusions?"

"When the time comes, we'll follow behind the people coming and blend in."

Valerius's face paled. He was indeed chosen by Senni because of his skill in illusion.

But Senny didn't say the mission was this difficult. It was just a formality. How did it escalate to the point of going deep into enemy territory?
“But once we sneak in, with such…” He pointed with his index finger to the gatekeepers at the city gate and the firelight patrolling the city wall, and whispered in protest, “With such tight security, will we be able to get out?”

"Won't they just become targets for those half-finished Risberg Civil Partnership organizations in the end..."

Upon hearing this, Shaquille stared silently into Valerius's eyes, a stare that sent chills down Valerius's spine, before coldly saying:
"Are you willing to take some risks here, or go back to face Senni with nothing to show for it?" Valery remained silent.

Shaquille and he were both wizards who had been praised by Ben Ade's former headmaster, Henry Gedimidis.

This mission is a test of their loyalty; if they fail, their future will truly be ruined.

Moreover, Sunny's methods became increasingly ruthless; he appeared gentle on the surface, but in reality, he was both vengeful and vicious.

Six months ago, several male wizards who had merely disobeyed him a few times had their research funding reduced under various pretexts.

Those who had been questioning Dean Henry Gedimidis disappeared without a trace after the Risberg Civil Cooperative took over in Ban Ade.

Some say the Risberg Civil Partnership provided them with a comfortable job outside of Ban Ade, but many more believe they simply disappeared—not from Ban Ade, but from the world itself…

"Have you thought it through?" Shaquille observed Kaer Morhen's defenses without turning his head.

Because he knew what choice Valerius would make.

That's how young people are; danger is never their top priority when it comes to selection criteria.

"How long will it take?" Valery swallowed hard and asked with difficulty.

“Of course we’ll keep waiting,” Shaquille’s voice was hoarse, his pupils reflecting the flickering firelight. “Wait until…”

"Until our chance comes..."
-
Infiltrating the military camp was much easier than Erin had imagined.

From a distance, the vast camp was brightly lit, with no outposts or arrow towers missing, and even a number of soldiers patrolling the camp in twos and threes in a regular manner.

However, once inside the camp, the true nature of Ban Ade's military camp was revealed.

The soldiers at the sentry post were chatting idly, and the arrow tower was deserted.

The soldiers patrolling with torches were ragged and emaciated.

They were less elite soldiers and more a group of refugees.

wrong!

They might really be conscripts, refugees they've brought in.

They wandered mechanically through the camp, occasionally getting whipped by the overseer. Compared to a military camp, this place seemed more like a mine for greedy nobles.

The camp center was heavily guarded, and the soldiers on guard looked to be absolutely elite.

But what they were guarding was not the granary and military equipment, but a huge tent from which decadent music and the smell of meat and wine could be heard from time to time.

It really sucks!

With little effort, Erin, aided by "Nightshade" (Night: wearing a mask and activating a small amount of magic allows one to become invisible at night or in dim light; Color: wearing a headscarf and activating a small amount of magic can eliminate the sounds of breathing, footsteps, and even heartbeats.), traversed the entire military camp.

While he was in stealth, he even had time to recall the past.

I recall my experience in the abandoned mines of Viscount Hudson.

He had also infiltrated the camp with the same caution, and then encountered a rash elf.

However, he would never have imagined that just six months later, he would have to storm the military camp again for that elf.

They left the military camp and ventured into the deep mountains.

The lush, dense forest quickly drowned out the noise behind them.

At first, he thought of activating the tracking function to prevent nature from concealing human traces or hiding hidden dangers.

But gradually he realized it was unnecessary.

When I first left the military camp, the woodland was still relatively clean, although there were many human footprints.

However, a few hundred meters deeper into the forest, the gruesome human corpses lay scattered by the roadside, where carrion-eating crows fearlessly pecked at the remaining flesh and blood on the pale bones.

Further in, even more corpses were found.

The pack of wild dogs, their bellies bulging, devoured the carcasses piled up by the roadside.

Upon hearing the witcher's footsteps, the greedy, gluttonous beasts paused their biting for a moment, glancing at him with their eyes, which reflected a ghastly green light in the darkness.

He then continued to devour his meal without a care in the world, before dying at the hands of the Witcher.

Then came scattered ghouls, hordes of ghouls, and swarms of ghouls controlled by several giant ghouls, and of course, even more corpses.

Among the remains, very few had the long ears characteristic of mountain dwellers; instead, there were large groups of humans.

The cheapness of human life is laid bare at this moment.

Looking at the corpses along the way, he almost doubted whether Francesca was faking him.

It is not the mountain people who are on the verge of collapse, but humanity.

"Ding!"

[Slay the Lv53 "Giant Ghoul" Monster Horde!]

……

[Loot obtained: Giant Ghoul Heart Essence...]

[Ding! Hunting Quest: Ghoul II (Kill 250/250 Ghouls), Pending Completion!]

[Ding! Hunting Quest: Carrion Demon II (Kill 100/100 Carrion Demons), Pending Completion!]

[Ding! Hunting Quest: Giant Ghoul II (Kill 20/20 Ghouls), Pending Completion!]

"Qiang!"

Erin sheathed his sword, but his eyes showed no sign of completing the hunting mission; instead, he was filled with the joy of "exotic fusion."

He was just confused...

Why did we walk at least three kilometers without seeing a single living person?
Doesn't Ban Ade's army care about logistics?

In addition...

With so many people dead, and no one even bothering to handle the aftermath, does Ban Ade's army really rely solely on necromancy and not care about the possibility of mutiny?
Erin didn't understand war, but the current situation left him extremely confused.

until……

He took an ordinary step forward, stepping over a broom bush.

"what--"

A series of piercing screams suddenly rang out.

The Witcher's deep blue cat eyes narrowed to slits in an instant, reflecting a living hell.

(End of this chapter)