Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

Without hesitation, Kalia crawled inside. The cellar was deeper and more spacious than she had imagined. In the dim light filtering through the entrance, she could see a jumble of farm tools: rakes, sickles, hoes, saws… all covered in a thick layer of reddish-brown rust, but their basic structure remained, and the metal parts hadn't completely corroded away. More importantly, beneath a pile of tattered sacks, she found a yellowed, torn parchment—unfolded, it was a hand-drawn, simple map marking the general layout and key nodes of the tunnel network in the area!

"Great." A cold glimmer of hope ignited in Kalia's eyes. With this map, she wouldn't be completely lost in this underground labyrinth.

She returned to the surface, found a half-burnt candle in a relatively intact room, lit it, and re-entered the cellar. In the dim, flickering candlelight, she laid the map on a relatively flat stone and began to meticulously arrange it.

Since magic may be limited and frost magic cannot be used to kill enemies directly, then we should rely on human wisdom, ancient techniques, and the "legacy" left by this land itself.

She meticulously marked one potential trap or ambush location after another on the map: narrow intersections, sudden corners, slightly open "rooms," and near concealed exits leading to the ground...

After marking the tools, she began to work. First, she dealt with the rusted farm implements. Although she couldn't use large-scale ice magic, concentrating a small amount of ice elemental power at her fingertips to aid in polishing, removing rust, and even temporarily strengthening the metal blades was not difficult for her. Soon, the curved blades of the scythes, the serrated teeth of the rakes, and the sharp edges of the machetes all revealed a chilling gleam under the soft, icy light.

Next, she dismantled the rotten but not completely decayed planks of the farmhouse and used a machete and saw to whittle them into sharp, pointed spikes of varying lengths. Using hemp rope and nails she found, she bound several spikes together, creating thicker, more difficult-to-break "mace"-like spikes. Then, she dug pits of varying depths in the soft ground along several key routes in the tunnel, placed these deadly spikes upside down at the bottom, and covered them with a thin layer of soil and dried weeds she had brought from the ground, camouflaging them to blend in with the surrounding ground.

She removed the long wooden handle of a rake, leaving only the heavy iron head. Above a low bend in the tunnel, she used some still-flexible vines she found (perhaps left by a previous inhabitant) to set a clever tripwire trap. The tripwire, hidden in the shadows, was connected at one end to a fixed point, and at the other end to the heavy iron rake head, which she had suspended high above, ready to strike. Once triggered, the heavy rake head would crash down with a whooshing sound.

She then pulled numerous iron nails from the wooden board, heated them one by one over a candle flame until they were red-hot, and then quenched them in icy water to make them even harder and sharper. She densely packed these treated nails upside down onto a suitably sized wooden board with thinned edges and a simple spring mechanism installed. She then carefully placed this "nail board" in a seemingly flat but actually hollowed-out trap, covering the surface with a thin layer of soil. The moment someone stepped on it, the board flipped, the spring was triggered, and countless sharp nails shot upwards!

As she was intently and frantically setting up these primitive yet deadly mechanisms, a woman's voice, tinged with languor and mockery, suddenly rang out from the shadows of the tunnel behind her:

"Tsk tsk... Can you really manage with just these rudimentary gadgets? If you were really determined to take down that old fox Lipkaner, you could have had a proper 'discussion' with me earlier."

Kalia's body tensed instantly. She turned around sharply, her icy blue eyes flashing coldly in the candlelight as she stared intently at the source of the sound—Koyanskaya was standing not far away, smiling, one foot already raised, about to step onto the edge of the deep pit trap she had just disguised, covered in barbs!

“I suggest you,” Kalia’s voice was as cold as ice, “that you take your foot back. If you take another half step forward, your face… will become a target full of nails in the next second.”

Koyanskaya's smile froze slightly. She looked down at the overly "natural" ground beneath her feet, then casually and nimbly jumped back a small step, just avoiding the trap's range.

"Oh dear, that was dangerous~" She patted her chest, feigning fear, then quickly regained her composure, stepped over the trap, and walked up to Kalia.

Without a word, she took out a strangely shaped, flat, round object with a faint metallic sheen from her bosom, which seemed capable of holding countless oddities, and handed it to Kalia.

“A sensor mine,” Koyanskaya explained succinctly. “Set up the sensing area, and when anyone or anything enters the range… ‘Boom!’” She made an exaggerated explosion gesture.

Seeing the sudden wariness and growing confusion in Kalia's eyes, Koyanskaya shrugged, her tone unusually tinged with almost "sincere" disdain:

"Don't look at me like that. Although I am indeed a 'shady businessman,' there are some things that even I can't stand. That old bastard Lipkaner, to put it bluntly, was afraid you would come after him, which is why he went to great lengths to steal that magic-limiting device. Since he used such 'cheating' methods first, without any regard for the 'rules'..." She tilted her head, her fox-like eyes blinking, "Why do you still cling to the foolish idea of ​​a 'fair duel'?"

Kalia didn't immediately reach for the landmine, but simply looked at her coldly: "Is that so? How should I know... this isn't yet another trap of yours?"

"A trap?" Koyanskaya chuckled, as if she had heard a funny joke. "Why would I set a trap for you? Head Maid, please understand—in the entire Fairy Kingdom, I, Koyanskaya, or rather, NFF Service, have never recognized anyone as an 'ally' or an 'enemy.' We only do what is 'beneficial' to ourselves. As for the rest… let them do what they want."

She passed the landmine forward a little further, her tone carrying an almost cold pragmatism:

“Now, helping you get rid of Lipkaner faster and more effectively, so he can't use those underhanded methods to turn the tables... is a ‘favorable’ thing for me. At least, it’s much ‘favorable’ than watching you clumsily set up these primitive traps and then most likely fail and get killed.”

Kalia fell silent. Her icy blue eyes lingered for a few seconds on Koyanskaya's seemingly cynical yet inscrutable face. She loathed the woman's shrewdness and cunning, but undeniably, what the woman had said and presented had struck a nerve. Her desperate revenge plan had an inherently slim chance of success; anything that could increase her odds…

Ultimately, the flames of revenge overwhelmed her doubts. She said nothing more, but silently handed over the only valuables she had left—a few simple but pure gold pieces of jewelry, and a heavy leather bag filled with the common gold coins of the Fairy Kingdom.

Koyanskaya's eyes lit up. She quickly took it, weighed it skillfully in her hand, and then a bright, businesslike smile spread across her face: "Deal!"

The transaction was completed swiftly and efficiently. Besides the landmine, Koyanskaya, as if by magic, pulled out several high-explosive bombs, several packets of highly explosive powder tightly wrapped in oil paper, two cans of viscous gasoline marked with unidentified symbols, and an exquisitely designed crossbow with ten arrows attached—the arrowheads were not metal, but some kind of transparent crystalline substance with a faint flow of energy inside, clearly specially made explosive arrows.

Kalia was familiar with gunpowder and gasoline, having encountered them while assisting in the defense of the rebel fortress. Landmines and explosive crossbows were new, but their principles were easy to understand.

"It's very easy to use, the instructions are inside..." Koyanskaya casually pointed to the pile of dangerous items, seemingly unconcerned that Kalia might blow her up. "Well, here's the stuff, now it's your turn to perform. I paid for it—"

She turned and walked lightly towards the tunnel entrance, her voice blending into the shadows with her figure, leaving only a final, cheerful sentence that echoed softly in the damp tunnel: "—NFF Company's performance is 'booming' again~"

With upgraded equipment, Kalia's revenge plan became more meticulous and deadly. She poured viscous gasoline into a large, abandoned wooden barrel, originally used for storing grain, and suspended it with ropes under the most conspicuous, dilapidated eaves of the farmhouse. A rudimentary but effective valve was installed at the bottom of the barrel, connected to a pull rope extending into the shadows inside the house. On the dirt road leading to this place, the usual route for the wagon, she carefully buried the sensor mine beneath the shallow soil, camouflaging it. A razor, sickle, logging axe, and pickaxe, all gleaming coldly, were placed in several easily accessible yet undetectable corners within the tunnel. The specially made crossbow hung on the earthen wall near the entrance, within easy reach. She used a sharpened bamboo to make a makeshift spear, chiseling observation holes in the concealed parts of the earthen wall. At a key corner of the tunnel, high-explosive bombs were cleverly secured, their long fuses, like the forked tongue of a viper, winding their way to her predetermined safe position.

With everything in place, Kalia climbed out onto the surface via a weathered wooden ladder at the other end of the tunnel. The exit was perfectly concealed by an ancient, leafy locust tree. She looked up at the dense canopy, a cold satisfaction flashing in her icy blue eyes.

Everything is ready, all that's left is... to catch the prey.

-

The next morning, a glimmer of light pierced the thin mist over the plain. Kalia, who had not slept all night, sat like a statue in the shadows inside the tunnel entrance, minimizing his presence, with only his icy blue eyes fixed on the outside world through a small hole in the wall.

coming.

The dull, chaotic sound of approaching hooves broke the silence of dawn. A sizable column appeared on the horizon, kicking up dust. Most of the soldiers were equipped with standard firearms from pan-human history, their expressions wary. In the center of the column, an overly luxurious carriage, incongruous with its desolate surroundings, stood out starkly. Inside, Lipkaner's gaunt figure was almost buried in the mountains of gold, silver, jewels, and artworks stolen from the royal treasury. His withered fingers caressed the cold gems and warm gold, his cloudy eyes gleaming with greed and ecstasy, oblivious to the danger lurking around him.

The sound of hooves grew closer and clearer. Kalia's heart pounded like a war drum, but all her muscles were taut like a bowstring, and her breathing was so steady it was almost imperceptible.

The cavalry at the forefront stepped into the pre-designated death zone.

"BOOM—!!!"

A deafening explosion ripped through the morning air! An orange-red fireball, carrying mud, rubble, and mangled limbs of men and horses, shot skyward! The violent shockwave tilted nearby carriages, startled horses neighed, and the entire caravan instantly descended into chaos!

"What's going on?! An enemy attack?!" Lipkaner's terrified scream came from inside the carriage, his jewels falling to the ground in his panic.

"My lord! It's...it's the fairy knight Gareth!" A sharp-eyed soldier from the Earth Clan spotted the blood-stained golden figure flashing past the farmhouse door through the dissipating smoke and firelight.

"There she is! Grab her!" Several soldiers immediately raised their guns, looking around warily as they rushed toward the farmhouse.

Kalia's figure flashed at the doorway, then quickly retreated into the house, slamming the rickety wooden door shut with a "bang."

The soldiers at the front rushed in without hesitation, smashing open the door, followed by a surge of more soldiers.

The moment the last soldier stepped into the house, Kalia, who was hidden in the shadows behind the door, suddenly pulled the rope in his hand!

"Splash—crash!!"

The valve at the bottom of the huge wooden barrel hanging under the eaves snapped open! Thick, pungent gasoline poured down like a black waterfall, drenching the soldiers who rushed into the house and the ground at the doorway!

"What the hell?!" "It's oil!"

The soldiers were filled with shock and anger, but relying on their numbers and superior weaponry, they did not retreat immediately. Instead, they were even more eager to search for Kalia's whereabouts. They did not notice that the golden figure had quietly slipped into the ground through an extremely well-hidden hole in the corner of the house.

The tunnel entrance wasn't completely hidden. Kalia had deliberately left traces.

A soldier spotted the dark entrance leading underground and immediately shouted, "She's escaped to the basement! After her! She can't use magic now, she's no different from a normal person! Kill her!"

The soldiers rushed toward the tunnel entrance.

At the same time, Kalia, who had quietly peeked out from the tunnel exit on the other side of the farmhouse, had an icy gaze and steadily raised his crossbow, aiming at the wooden barrel under the eaves that was still dripping gasoline, and the area below that was soaked in gasoline.

Pull the trigger.

The specially made explosive arrow transformed into a streak of light.

"boom--!!!"

A firestorm, more intense and concentrated than a landmine explosion, erupted instantly! The ignited gasoline, like a roaring fire dragon, engulfed the entire barrel in a flash, igniting the gasoline spilled on the ground as well! The towering flames transformed the farmhouse entrance into a fiery inferno! The soldiers, covered in gasoline, didn't even have time to fully scream before becoming frantically dancing, wailing "human torches"! The blazing flames mercilessly licked their skin, hair, and clothing, the horrifying smell of burning flesh filling the air. They rolled futilely on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames, but with burning gasoline flowing all around, there was nowhere to escape.

The piercing screams, so shrill they seemed inhuman, became the most terrifying background noise in this killing field.

"Sir! It's too dangerous here! That madwoman has some other ambush planned! Please come with us to the tunnel below to take shelter!" Several soldiers who had stayed near the carriage and were lucky enough to escape the flames rushed to Lipkaner's carriage and shouted anxiously.

Lipkaner had just crawled out of the pile of jewels, still shaken, looking at the burning farmhouse and his screaming subordinates in the distance, his fat face jiggling: "Eh? Me...can I go down too?"

"Sir!" The soldier's tone was almost pleading, yet filled with an undeniable urgency. "It's really not safe for you to stay here! That woman is elusive; what if she manages to find her way back... Quick, come with us! The tunnels are much more concealed!"

"Oh...oh! You've thought of everything! Very good!" Lipkaner seemed to realize something, and hurriedly, with the help of the soldiers, awkwardly climbed down from the carriage. He looked back longingly at the carriage full of jewels, but in the end, the desire to survive prevailed. Surrounded by the soldiers, he hurriedly walked towards the entrance of the tunnel, which resembled the mouth of a giant beast and was now constantly emitting black smoke and heat.

Unbeknownst to him, deeper within the shadows of the entrance, a pair of icy blue eyes, like those of a hunter waiting for its prey to step into the final trap, coldly observed everything. The stage for revenge had been set. A deadly drama was about to unfold, scene after scene, brutally unfolding within the dark labyrinth below.

The soldiers filed into the tunnel, the light behind them instantly swallowed by thick darkness. The air was thick with the stench of earth, a faint whiff of blood, and an unsettling silence. A few old-fashioned candles, long since extinguished and maintained only by the faint glow of remaining magic, clung sparsely to the walls, providing barely any illumination. Fortunately, most of their weapons were equipped with powerful flashlights; beams of white light crisscrossed the dark, narrow passage, the interplay of light and shadow adding to the eeriness. Their knowledge of firearms, as Kalia had suspected, stemmed from the "gift" of pan-human history brought by Belial.

And this was exactly what she had planned. The underground labyrinth had become a hunting ground.

The tunnels branched out in numerous paths, like a spider web. The search team had to split up. At a command, the soldiers divided into three groups, groping their way into different parts of the darkness.

In the left-hand passage, a lone soldier moved with unusual caution, his gun barrel slowly shifting with the beam of his flashlight, illuminating the moss-covered, water-stain-covered, slippery walls. His boots rustled softly on the loose earth. He intently scanned ahead and overhead, neglecting his own feet—

The sole of the boot gently pressed against a taut hemp thread that was almost the same color as the soil.

A barely audible click of a mechanism!

"Waaaaah—!"

The sound of wind cutting through the air came from above! A thick log, its front end studded with sharp iron nails, crashed down from the shadows like the guillotine blade!

"Pfft—!!!"

The dense spikes pierced the soldier's shoulders, back, and head without any resistance! The excruciating pain caused him to let out a shrill scream. His body was pinned to the spot, his gun fell from his hand, and his flashlight rolled to the ground, its beam swaying wildly.

The screams echoed through the sealed tunnel, and in that instant, a golden figure flashed out like a ghost from a side recess. Kalia's eyes were icy cold; he gripped a sharpened boning knife he'd found in the farmhouse. Without hesitation, he plunged it into the soldier's gaping, agonizing mouth, piercing right through!

"Ugh... gurgle..." The scream abruptly stopped, turning into a dying sob, and then fell completely silent. Only the sticky sound of blood gushing out from the scabbard could be heard.

"Hey! What's wrong?! Answer me!" came the anxious shout from afar, followed by a hushed command, "Everyone, be on alert! There are traps in this hellhole! Keep your eyes peeled!"

"Yes!"

At another fork in the road, a soldier had just swept his flashlight around a corner, confirmed no one was there, and was pressing his earpiece to report: "Captain, nothing found over here..."

Before he finished speaking, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a shadow swaying overhead out of the corner of his eye.

Subconsciously looked up—

A heavy pickaxe, with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, slammed down on his skull!

"Crack—Pfft!"

Like a ripe fruit being smashed open by a heavy object! The soldier's head instantly deformed and exploded! A mixture of red and white sprayed radially across the earthen walls on both sides, even landing on the horrified faces of his comrades behind him. The headless corpse swayed and then collapsed limply to the ground.

Kalia leaped down from above, as light as a cat. Without even glancing at the corpse on the ground, she quickly crouched down, deftly took a few tubes of gunpowder from the ammunition pouch at his waist, then turned and disappeared into another, narrower passage, as if she had never been there.

Deep within the third passage, Kalia silently arrived at a pre-arranged location. Here, she had carved a tiny hole in the earthen wall, just for observation. She pressed her eye close, holding her breath.

On the other side of the wall, heavy footsteps approached from afar, and three beams of flashlight swayed. Three soldiers were on a search mission.

They seemed to notice the unnatural "hole" in the wall. One of them, out of curiosity or vigilance, bent down slightly and peered closer, trying to see what was happening on the other side.

It's now!

Kalia gripped the slender bamboo pole, which she had carefully sharpened to be as hard as an iron rod, with both hands. She aimed it at the hole, gathered all her strength in her arms, and thrust it forward like a spear!

"Pfft—!"

The sharp bamboo tip pierced through the hole with deadly precision, penetrating the soldier's eye socket and sinking deep into his skull! He didn't even have time to let out a complete scream before his body stiffened and he fell straight backward.

"What?!" "Enemy attack!!"

The other two soldiers were horrified and filled with rage! They didn't have time to check if their comrade was alive or dead; almost instinctively, they raised their guns and started firing wildly at the holes made by the bamboo poles and the surrounding walls!

"Da da da da—!!"

Bullets rained down on the earthen wall, sending dirt flying and dust billowing everywhere.

Meanwhile, Kalia, behind the wall, lowered his body the instant he thrust out the bamboo pole, and simultaneously pulled on another rope that had been prepared beforehand at his feet!

"Boom! Boom!"

Two massive boulders, each weighing hundreds of kilograms and suspended by ropes from the top of the passage, fell with a crash! They landed squarely on the heads of the two soldiers who were firing wildly!