Warhammer

And Rodrian's mercenary group is busy with this matter.

During the Pina War, the veteran mercenary group that had fought alongside the tribe fortunately did not choose to return to Bilbaly, but stayed in the forest. They were mercenaries paid by Bilbaly, and Al didn't pay much attention to them. These mercenaries just slacked off along the way, following the tribe's rapid advances and fighting all over the north and south.

Under the leadership of the tribe, Rodrian also recruited some scattered mercenaries to strengthen his own army.

After that, there was nothing to do in Estalia, so they simply went to the neighboring country of Tyrell and worked there for two years. Suddenly, Aiel, who was also a semi-old employer, called them.

Rodrian ate wherever he could and accepted the employment of the Remas people. When the Aiel army advanced rapidly and reached Trantio, Rodrian made a prompt decision:

This commission cannot be done!

He had witnessed the tribe's military advance with his own eyes.

The coalition of greenskin pirates numbering one or two hundred thousand was defeated by the tribe. He had no hope that the Tyrells could stop the attack of the Double-Headed Eagle on their own, so he would rather pay a large sum of money to break the agreement.

But Rodrion, who had something in mind, did not immediately run away with his teammates. Instead, he took the initiative to take his teammates and supplies out of the city and found a village to camp.

When the news came that the two-headed eagle had defeated the Tyrell coalition in the Battle of Trantio, the teammates all sighed that it was fortunate that they ran fast, otherwise they might have to participate in this battle in which they suffered a terrible defeat.

Afterwards, the Aiel army marched south, and the cavalry that had been roaming around came to this town, and Rodrian immediately came forward and revealed his identity:

"I have fought under His Majesty El in Sacred Forest and Tolosa!"

Although he was paid for his job, he was half a tribesman (bushi) at heart.

There happened to be a few "Veterans of the Holy Forest" among the soldiers who arrived. Some of them remembered the mercenary captain Rodion, whose scar on his face was very distinctive. After the latter explained the whole story, the Veteran Mercenary Group was not troubled. Knowing this, Kael'thas simply drafted a commission for Rodion, asking Rodion's men to manage the defense and security of a city and prevent popular uprisings.

With this, he reconnected with the "Tribe". Later, when Ai'er introduced the mercenary union system and a large number of War Dogs were forced to flow abroad, Rodrian had an idea. He contacted people everywhere and submitted an application to Remas, hoping to make the medium-sized veteran mercenary group become the "Alliance Royal Mercenaries". Ai'er had an impression of these people and gave them a chance. When most of his peers wailed and fled to other countries, Rodrian took the opportunity to rise up. He recruited many members and merged several small mercenary groups. At one point, the group expanded to a size of thousands of people.

Then, Al did not keep these people for nothing. As semi-official mercenaries, these teams with certain professional skills and knowledge in specific fields would naturally serve Al's career.

The task is coming soon.

In preparation for the expedition to the Badlands, the Veteran Mercenary Group was responsible for the initial exploration of the route, confirming the basic conditions of the route. If possible, they would also need to set up outposts and supply stations in some key locations...

As the first mission assigned to them by the Alliance, Roderion hoped to complete it excellently so as to make further progress. He set out with great ambitions.

But now, Roderion only hoped that more than half of his team would be able to walk out of the badlands alive.

Chapter 117: Seven Shields Alliance

Rodrian turned around and woke up from his coma.

His last memory before he fell into a coma was the sudden appearance of a group of "reinforcements".

"God of Ersun! You're finally awake!" A familiar voice said hurriedly in his ear. Rodrian tilted his neck with difficulty. His head was wrapped in circles of bandages, and there seemed to be a splint inserted behind his head to fix it.

When he saw the familiar face, he still managed a far-fetched smile and said, "Stephanie...where are we now?"

Although he suffered considerable trauma and a blow to the head, the former Rick officer did not lose consciousness and rushed to understand the current situation as soon as possible.

The boyar daughter, who had the blood of Bretonnian knights flowing in her veins, spoke softly, holding the captain's hand and explaining to him softly: "It's all right now, those beasts have been driven away, we are safe now... This is the Seven Cities, the Seven Shields Alliance?" Stephanie said a term that Rodrian had never had an impression of, but that was normal, as he had seen too many indescribable, cognition-subverting things in this damn place called the Badlands.

"Those are the ones who helped us?"

Rodrian recalled the encounter that took place in the canyon. When he was trapped in a desperate situation and thought that he and others were about to die, an army equipped with retro equipment suddenly rushed out and pierced into the Chaos Beasts that besieged them like a sharp sword.

Rodrian's concentration was also due to the reversal of the situation caused by the arrival of the reinforcements, so he relaxed for a moment and failed to dodge in time. He was hit on the head by a bone club thrown by a big horned beast and fainted.

He tried hard to recall his impression of this sudden reinforcement, but he only remembered that their clothing and weapons seemed very mixed and messy. There were all kinds of weapons, including axes, halberds, spears, swords, shields, hammers, flails, and two-handed swords. It was completely different from what an army should look like.

The styles they wear are also very strange, ranging from colorful southern and imperial styles to simple warrior styles, and even Kislev styles with ear-hook hats and long coats.

Rodrian remembered that he seemed to see the iron-like dwarf warriors, the gorgeously dressed elf soldiers, and the beastmen standing on their side.

A multi-racial coalition?

Or did it appear in some weird place like the Badlands?

Rodrian felt a little strange, and he tried to know more, so he started communicating with Stephanie again. Soon, he did have a deeper understanding of the current situation.

First of all, it has been nearly a day and a night since he fell into a coma. According to Stephanie, she learned from those who helped them and called themselves the "Seven Shields Alliance" that they were now heading to a place called the "Seven Cities Fortress".

And they were no longer on the ground, but in the underground passage of the Dark Land! The Seven Shields Alliance warriors who helped them defeat the attacking beasts led them to find a secret passage leading to the underground corridor in the canyon, and then the survivors of the Veteran Mercenary Corps followed the Seven Shields Alliance into the underground corridor.

Firstly, they had suffered serious injuries, and now there were only about a hundred people who could fight. In addition, the previous battle had caused quite a stir. According to the people of the Seven Shields, they had been targeted by a nearby Strigoi cult. Among those cultists who worshipped the dead, there were at least a hundred ghouls and several necromancers serving their dark masters.

This meant that the mercenary group, which was dragging so many wounded and heavy supplies, had no other choice. If they left behind all the disabled people and traveled light, they would have to bring at least enough supplies for two hundred people for a month to get out of the badlands and return to the Giant Tower.

This left them with no other choice but to believe in the Seven Shields and join them in diving into the dark underground world.

Stephanie said that after Rodrian fell into a coma, it was their old teammates who led the mercenary group, but the matter was serious and involved hundreds of lives. They were unable to make a decision and could not take responsibility for the future. They simply gathered everyone together and told the members what the Seven Shields had told them. In the end, everyone voted and the vast majority of people did not dare to go back again, and would rather take risks to explore the unknown.

So they followed the men of the Seven Shields down into the crypt.

At least the people of the Seven Shields did not lie to the mercenary group on this point. It was indeed very safe to travel through the underground passage with them. They didn't even encounter any serious threats along the way. They only encountered some underground beasts occasionally, but they were easily killed or driven away.

Although it is troublesome to travel in the dark underground world, it is at least much better than the ground.

The people of Seven Shields said that they would take the mercenary group to their base, the "Seven Cities Fortress", which is safe and has conditions for them to rest.

......

"so......"

After learning so much, there was a most critical question lingering in Rodrian's mind. He frowned, with a trace of thought in his eyes, "What is this 'Seven Shields Alliance'?"

Stephanie paused for a moment, a trace of confusion appeared on her face as she spoke:

"They claim that they are carrying out a great mission and have been fighting in the badlands for hundreds of years. As for more information, we must go to the fortress and have their important figures come forward to tell us."

"They are a very diverse group of people. I even saw a lot of elves... but they were unwilling to reveal more. They only told us that we could rest for a while after arriving at our destination and then leave. They would provide us with a risky route that would take us to..." Stephanie said, taking out the map from her arms, looking for the mark on it and pointing, "Here."

"The way back is relatively safe. We..." The woman paused midway through her words.

She hesitated and asked tentatively, "What did His Majesty commission you to do...?"

"We can only go this far. This is the limit of our strength."

"I will be responsible for reporting what happened to the Alliance."

Rodrian knew what his teammates were thinking. After more than a month of torture, no one wanted to move forward.

They are mercenaries who do things for money, not desperadoes. The Alliance's rewards are generous, but one has to be alive to get them.

Moreover, even if Rodrian had driven the team forward through task delegation and personal authority, if he encountered an attack like yesterday again, even if he could escape the second time, his prestige would suffer a devastating blow, and there would be no need for him to continue to delegate tasks.

Aiur's "kindness" seemed like a hypocritical cover-up and a shameless disguise to some people, but Roderion, who had witnessed and experienced it, was confident that the King of the Alliance would not be harsh or mistreat them after his troops paid such a heavy price.

But first things first…

Is it to find out the origin of this suddenly appeared "Seven Shield Alliance" and "Seven Cities Fortress"?

Did the other party really fight in the badlands for hundreds of years as they said?

That's too much, hundreds of years, that means they were fighting here before the Great Holy War!

And he survived the siege of the greenskin Waaaagh and the beastmen, avoided the undead frenzy started by the Necromancer, and remained in a stalemate with a group of cultists, beasts, and warlike greenskins for hundreds of years in this desolate land?

What kind of group is this...

Monster?

Chapter 118: Elf, Claude

Rodrian didn't have to wait too long. After all, he was the leader of this mercenary group. Soon after he woke up, the reinforcements that made him very curious, the people from the Seven Shields Alliance, came to meet him.

His teammates led three members of the Seven Shields Alliance to the tent where Rodrian was resting.

"Porter, Biers." The two people who came were Rodrian's old teammates in Marienburg. Seeing the familiar faces and knowing that they were fine, he felt relieved.

Biers walked over to check on Rodrian's condition and said thankfully, "Goddess bless you, you finally woke up. We will never need you as much as we do now."

"I promised Tamara that I would send her father back to her intact, and I won't break my promise." Rodrian smiled bitterly, and after a brief greeting, he turned his attention to the people following behind his two comrades.

Two men and one woman.

One man was very handsome, with brilliant blond hair and a very youthful face, looking like a boy who had just reached adulthood. The other man seemed rather ordinary, even a little gloomy.

They were all dressed in full armor, and there was a streak of blood on the breastplate of one of them, as if he had just been in a battle.

As a warrior, Rodrian was very sensitive to these things, and his eyes naturally fell on it. Fortunately, he was a man, so he didn't have to worry about causing misunderstandings.

"We just encountered a group of underground beasts. It's not a big problem and we've solved it." The man with blood on his breastplate seemed to know what Rodrian was thinking, so he explained and showed goodwill to him.

The other man and woman seemed much more indifferent. They didn't speak immediately after entering. After the man spoke, the woman slowly said, "I heard from them that you are their leader?"

"I am their leader." Rodrian said. The woman who asked the question had a pair of obvious pointed ears.

A female elf, appearing in a place like the Badlands... No matter what, the things involved behind this would probably be very troublesome, and Rodrian felt a little nervous.

"They have already told you something, right? I am the commander of the Seven Cities Fortress, and now your people are heading to the fortress with us to seek refuge... You should already know this."

"Now, on behalf of the fortress, I need to confirm one thing with you: What is your purpose in coming to the dark land?" asked the female elf.

Of course, Al would not tell these mercenaries the real mission, as that would be meaningless, so the commission received by the Veteran Mercenary Group was ostensibly "to find a lost relic, while exploring the roads along the way to determine whether it can be used to attack the greenskins."

In private, Kael'thas met with Roderion as El requested, and reminded the latter that "everything along the way is unknown, and both the road and the goal may be very dangerous, so I hope you are prepared."

"Didn't my companion tell you?" Rodrion asked, his eyes sweeping across the faces of Potter and Biers imperceptibly.

As old comrades-in-arms for many years, they had a tacit understanding between them and gave clear hints one after another.

"They insist that you wake up before they can call the shots."

A hint of annoyance appeared on the female elf's face, as if she was dissatisfied with this.

The man who spoke first took advantage of the opportunity to interrupt and said, "The Dark Land is a place that the living stay away from. You have ventured deep into it, so you must have an important mission. We have shown goodwill by helping you, but we need to confirm what your purpose is."

"After all, in a place like this, trust comes at a price. We have shown our sincerity, and now it's your turn."

The man didn't say what to do if Rodrian and the others' goals conflicted with theirs, but they were right.

The "Seven Shields" have already shown their goodwill, otherwise they could have just sat there and watched the veteran mercenary group being torn apart by the beasts in the canyon.

As a mercenary for many years, Rodrian knew this very well:

If you want to negotiate a commission, you must at least show your employer that you have enough strength.

The other party was right, their sincerity had been shown, and now it was Rodrian's turn.

"We were commissioned by the King of the Alliance to come to the Badlands to try to explore a reliable road, looking for the possibility of attacking the greenskins in the Endless Mountains to the east, and at the same time looking for several ruins." He changed the order of his team's commissions, turning the secondary attack on the greenskins into the primary one, and at the same time blurred the general goal, saying several places instead of one.

"Your king is too naive. The Dark Land has always been full of endless threats. There is no such thing as 'reliable'." The man who had been silent suddenly spoke up with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, but Rodion did not refute the second half of his sentence. Instead, he nodded and said, "I have indeed seen the dangers here."

The bloody man was somewhat curious about the information revealed in Rodrian's conversation, and asked: "What alliance? Aren't you from the Empire? I see there are many southerners in your team."

"Um, yes, I am from Rick, but my companions come from all over the world, Stephanie, Kislev; Potter, Manannia; Bills, the Border Prince Territory..."

"As for the southerners in the team, it's mainly because our regiment has been active in the south in recent years, the Alliance... Don't you really know anything about the outside world?" Rodrian answered the other party's question, but he couldn't help but feel a little curious.

The other party acted as if he really knew nothing about the outside world in recent times. If Al were here, he would probably chant: "I don't know about the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties..."

Combined with what Stephanie said before, either these people are acting, trying to deceive them, or they are really as they said - they have been staying in the bad land for hundreds of years? Isolated from the world?!

However, Rodrian couldn't understand why the Seven Shields concealed this point. If they intended to deceive the Seven Shields, they could take advantage of the fact that they "didn't know about the outside world" to gain an advantage.

Facing Rodion's question, the man smiled softly, "I'm 24 years old. Apart from you, I have only seen two people from outside since I was born. One was my mother, a Tyrell, and a mercenary. She followed the team into the badlands and encountered ghouls. Luckily, she met the team my father was in and was rescued."

"The second time was when I was nineteen. We rescued a man from outside. He was from the Border Princes. He said that Tyrell was still at war at the time. Later, he insisted on leaving even if he was alone, so we let him go. I don't know what happened to him now."

After he finished speaking, he saw Rodrian's thoughtful look and laughed, "My situation is already rare. Most of the people in the Seven Shields may have never seen an outsider in their entire lives, let alone you who have seen hundreds of outsiders at a time."

Rodrian couldn't help but sigh: "How many hundreds of years have you been here? Several generations?" It's not that he didn't believe it, but this fact was really unbelievable. He found it hard to imagine how these people could survive and reproduce in a ghost place like the Badlands, generation after generation, and it seemed that they had strong military power, otherwise there would be no way to save them.

The man wanted to say something, but the female elf was already a little impatient. She interrupted him and said, "Since there are so many of you, according to tradition, we will accept those who are willing to stay and join us after investigation. Those who want to leave can return the same way or take the road we provide. You can choose one."

"After you arrive at the fortress, you will have half a month to rest. After that, you must choose whether to go or stay. Make your decision early."

After saying that, the female elf took the taciturn man away without even revealing her name from beginning to end. She behaved a little arrogantly, but Rodrian didn't think there was anything wrong with it. It would be abnormal to be friendly in such a bad place. It was normal to be wary of strangers.

But the easy-going man stayed. After the female elf left, he gave Rodrian an apologetic smile, spread his hands, pulled a box over in the tent and sat down, his movements very natural.

"The people of the Sixth Fortress are like this. The elves are rather arrogant, but very reliable." He explained for his companion, showing the kindness that Rodrian couldn't help but doubt.

Although he had many thoughts in his mind, Rodrian still said, "No, it's nothing. Thank you very much for saving us."

"Haha, I'm not the one who gave the order." The man laughed heartily and supported his knees with his hands. "My name is Claude, and I'm from the Fifth Fortress of the Seven Shields Alliance." He introduced himself.

"My name is Rodion, Rodion Kalundborg." Rodion also responded politely.

"On my own behalf, may I take the liberty of asking you for some information?"

He frankly stated the reason why he stayed.