I'm not a Witcher anymore.

Zig took the alchemical equipment out of the wooden box that the dwarf soldier had placed to the side.

Sakia and Zoltan stood by and watched.

Zieg didn't act immediately, but coughed strangely.

Dandelion seemed to understand something, and suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the top of the sentry post.

"Zoltan, is that flag hanging crooked?"

"What?"

Zoltan turned his head almost instinctively.

"Which bastard dares to fly the flag of Mahakam crookedly—"

He paused halfway through his sentence before realizing what he had said and looked at Dandelion with suspicion.

Dandelion casually straightened his cuffs.

"Or maybe I'm seeing things. An artist's eye can sometimes be deceived by both mountains and flags."

Saqia seemed to understand something as well. Without asking any further questions, she simply turned around and used her body to block the equipment next to Zieg's hand.

The captain of the guard also realized what was happening, and immediately turned to shout at the other dwarves:

"What are you all looking at? Get back to your positions! Keep your eyes on the path up the mountain, or you won't realize the Nilfgaardians are right under your noses!"

The dwarf guards immediately scattered.

Once the surrounding area was cleared, Zig lowered his head again to work on the alchemical materials.

More than an hour later.

Six small, transparent bottles were neatly arranged on a coarse cloth, next to nine sealed North Wind bombs.

The copper hoops at both ends of the glass tube gleamed coldly, and the liquid inside swayed slightly, as if a section of cold air was locked inside.

Sieg picked up two bottles of ogre oil and handed them to Sakia, then gave two more to Zoltan.

"Two bottles per person. Apply them to your weapons before going in. Only in this way can you inflict real and effective damage on the evil spirits."

Then he distributed the North Wind bombs.

"Three per person. Before using them, twist the copper band on top, then throw them out. The cold air that bursts out will freeze anything near the landing point."

He then took out the "Order of the Cat" that he had prepared earlier from his waist pouch and handed it to the two of them.

"There won't be much light in the mine tunnels, drink this before you go in."

Saki glanced at the small bottle, but did not take it.

"No need, I can see even in the dark."

Zoltan waved his hand as well.

"I don't need to either. Dwarves are a race with natural dark vision."

Dandelion, standing quite a distance away, couldn't help but ask:

"I'm just asking out of caution, but this thing shouldn't explode right under our feet, right?"

"As long as no one accidentally makes a mistake."

Dandelion immediately put his hands behind his back.

Saqia drew her greatsword and smeared ogre oil on the blade.

Zoltan also unscrewed the small bottle and applied the medicated oil to the battle axe.

Zieg took off the quiver from his back, pulled out the arrows one by one, and applied a layer of grease to the arrowheads.

The ogre oil is very sticky and will not drip from the arrow in a short time.

Only after he had dealt with the last arrow did he put it back into the quiver.

Once everyone was ready, the captain of the guard stood beside the mine gate, first having two dwarf soldiers move the ore under the gate, and then untying the three iron chains wrapped around the outside.

"Ready?"

Sieg drew Langrisser and simultaneously poured down a bottle of "Order Cat".

"Open the floodgates."

The captain of the guard nodded to the dwarf soldiers beside him. Several men gripped the winch handle beside the rock wall and pulled together.

The sound of gears meshing echoed at the cave entrance as the heavy mine gate was lifted upwards along the stone troughs on either side. The crossbeams and iron bars scraped against the rock walls, producing a low, grating friction sound.

Cold air from the mine tunnel surged out from below the gate.

Water droplets hung on the walls, the ground was covered with gravel and black mud, and the air was filled with a mixture of rust, rot, and the fishy smell that only the dens of some wild beasts could smell.

Zieg was the first to go in.

Sakia and Zoltan followed closely behind him.

After the three men crossed the gate, the guard captain ordered the winch to be reversed.

The heavy mine gate descended again behind them, and several dwarf soldiers stood guard by the winch. The chains were not locked again, so that they could be used to rescue those inside at any time.

The effects of "Order of the Cat" spread throughout his body, and the darkness was no longer a complete chaos in Sieg's eyes.

The outline ahead gradually became clearer, and the wooden beams, rubble, cracks in the walls, and messy marks on the ground all came into his view.

There were some bloodstains on the ground not far from the entrance.

The bloodstains had turned dark red, but were not completely dry yet.

A drag mark stretched from the entrance of the mine tunnel deeper into the mine, with scraps of cloth, a few strands of torn beard, and several bloody scratches from fingers.

Those weren't left by monster claws, but by the dwarves when they were dragged away.

The fingernail broke off in a crack in the rubble, its edges still stained with blood.

Zoltan's breathing became heavy.

Zig squatted down beside the marks.

"He was still alive when he was dragged in."

Zoltan's fingers tightened around the axe handle.

Sakia looked into the depths of the mine tunnel, her eyes turning cold.

The three continued forward.

The tunnel narrowed as you went deeper into the mine, the wooden beams overhead were somewhat blackened, and you could occasionally hear soft creaks under your feet.

They hadn't gone far when a sharp, shrill cry suddenly came from the darkness ahead.

Just as Zoltan raised his battle axe, three hunched figures rushed out from the depths of the mine tunnel.

The demon's back arched, its limbs pressed against the ground, and as it ran, its claws scraped against the stone surface, making a series of ear-piercing sounds.

Their bodies were covered with grayish-white dead skin, their mouths were wide open, with rotting flesh and black blood hanging between their teeth, accompanied by a suffocating, pungent stench.

The first ghoul had barely pounced into the air when Langrisser's sword was already at it.

The silver thread swept across its neck without any resistance, not even giving the sound of bones breaking a long time.

While its companion's headless corpse was still propelled forward by inertia, the second demon used all four limbs to change direction and nimbly circled around to Sakia's side.

Sakia didn't give it that chance. She took a step forward, lowered her center of gravity, and swept her greatsword out with terrifying wind pressure.

A muffled thud.

The weight of the steel brutally pierced the demon's body, severing it in half. The upper half of its body was sent flying by the power of the greatsword, crashing into the rock wall of the mine tunnel.

Zoltan faced the third one.

The evil spirit darted along the ground, its claws aimed straight for his legs.

Zoltan snorted coldly, swung his battle axe, and cleaved it into the demon's skull.

The monster twitched a few times and then lay motionless on the ground.

The mine tunnels fell silent again.

All that remained was the sound of water droplets dripping from the rock face.

The three continued walking deeper into the area.

The further in you go, the stronger the stench becomes.

The drag marks on the ground were intermittent, some parts covered by stones, and some parts reappeared, as if the car had struggled along the way, being dragged by something.

When he reached a corner, Zieg suddenly stopped.

A very soft tapping sound rang out.

a bit.

Another one.

The intervals are long, but very regular.

It looked as if someone was holding an iron tool and laboriously hammering at the rock wall.

Zoltan's expression changed.

"Someone is still alive."

Sieg didn't speak, but gripped Langrisser tightly and walked in the direction the sound came from.

An abandoned mine chamber that had suffered a severe collapse came into view.

This area was wider than the outside passageway, and the ground was littered with rubble and broken wooden beams.

Several old ore baskets lay overturned in the corner, still containing dark brown slag.

The knocking sound came from behind the pile of rocks.