Witch Monastery

What he was most anxious about now was another thing, which was where was Monport's team now? How much time was left before they attacked the headquarters of the Mountain Cleaners Alliance?

However, objective things cannot be changed by people's subjective will. Sometimes what one fears will happen.

On the second day after the hobgoblins' mercenary group arrived at the headquarters of the Mountain Cleaners Alliance, even though the snow that had fallen in the previous few days had not melted yet, the Mountain Cleaners Alliance, the mercenary group, the Black Rod Tower and Hawthorne's team, the four forces could not wait to have a concentrated training.

The enemy may attack at any time, and they don't have much time to get used to each other.

It was during this training that Hawthorne finally gained some confidence in the strength of this hobgoblin warlord named Kramer.

This guy actually has a dimensional cave, and there are several crossbows and catapults in the dimensional cave.

In this way, although they look like a group of rabble, with the support of equipment, they can always exert a certain combat effectiveness no matter how poor their strength is.

After the training camp was over, Hawthorne returned to his account office to study the map. However, before he could calm down, he heard a commotion outside and a familiar female voice scolding.

He rushed out hastily and saw in an open space not far away, a Storm Sister who had taken off her plate armor and was wearing a black dress with simple blue dragon stripes had just knocked a goblin to the ground and was now stepping on his face, angrily cursing the latter for seeking death.

The latter's expression was twisted into a ball, and it was impossible to tell whether it was pain or enjoyment.

More and more people gathered around, gradually forming a large group. Hawthorne gradually guessed what was going on. He knew the nature of the goblins better than anyone else.

Then, he frowned, walked through the crowd, came to the center, and asked, "What's going on? Winnie, why are you beating our allies?"

The Storm Sister immediately raised her head, her face full of anger: "This guy's hands are not well behaved, he dares to touch anything! According to our rules, his entire hand must be chopped off!"

really.

Hawthorne understood, but he was in no hurry to speak. He looked around. Because the training had just ended not long ago, the others had not gone far. Soon, he saw Torun, Luger, Danqi and several leaders of the hobgoblin mercenaries turning around and walking towards him.

There was no sign of Kramer, the red-skinned, black-haired earth elf. It seemed that he was used to this kind of thing and simply ignored it.

The one who showed up this time was a goblin with a long white beard. He squeezed into the crowd and was shocked when he saw this scene. Then he hurriedly explained sincerely: "Oh, misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding! Duo Luo is a good boy and never steals things from others. He must have accidentally bumped into him just now!"

Sister Storm raised an eyebrow, "He also grabbed my butt. Did he raise his hand that high by accident?"

The white-bearded goblin smiled apologetically: "He's still a child, so let him go this time?"

Sister Storm said nothing and turned to look at Hawthorne beside her. Hawthorne also turned to look at Toren and the others: "Toren, and all the brothers, I don't know the rules of the mountain people. How do you usually deal with a situation like this where someone steals and molests a woman, and is caught in the act?"

Danqi immediately said, "Usually it is handed over to the woman to deal with. As long as she is not beaten to death, she can do whatever she wants."

Hawthorne turned his head and looked at Sister Storm, who immediately showed a cruel smile: "Then castrate him and see if he will do this kind of thing again in the future!"

The white-bearded goblin was immediately frightened out of his wits: "No, this is too serious! He didn't steal anything, and he just touched it. You didn't lose a piece of meat..."

Sister Storm bared her teeth and said, "Then chop off his hand and I'll keep it as a talisman!"

The two of them argued again, and Hawthorne weighed in his mind: Although these goblins were recruited by the Black Rod Tower, it was obvious that they regarded the Mountain Cleaners as their own people, and the latter also regarded them as their own people;

So instead of calling the Black Rod Tower's contact person over and putting ourselves in a difficult position, it would be better to kick the ball away...

With this thought in mind, he then looked at Toren: "Brother Toren, what do you think?"

Come, be fair, and see whether a goblin weighs more in your heart, or the dwarves weigh more.

Hearing this, Toren knew that he had to stand up and express his stance.

"Cut off his little finger," he said, "so that it will be a permanent mark, so that everyone will know that this guy is a thief who stole things and got his little finger chopped off."

As he spoke, he untied a scimitar from his waist and handed it to the Storm Sister: "How about you do it yourself?"

The nun immediately laughed, took the knife, leaned over, and chopped off the goblin's little finger in front of his horrified eyes.

That's the end of it.

The old goblin with white beard took the goblin whose little finger was chopped off back to bandage it. The Storm Sister also returned to her camp to rest with a satisfied look on her face.

The crowd of onlookers also dispersed. Hawthorne was about to go back and continue studying the map, but he heard Toren calling out to him, "Brother Hawthorne, wait a moment."

Hawthorne stopped and turned to look at him, his eyes full of confusion. Then he saw Toren approaching him, looking hesitant, and said, "Brother, I don't know, uh, are you satisfied with how this matter was handled today?"

Hawthorne smiled immediately: "Of course I am satisfied. This punishment is not too severe, but it is enough to teach him a lesson and satisfy my nuns."

Cutting off the little finger is only a minor injury, not a critical one, and will not really affect the goblin's future use of that hand.

But this left him with a permanent mark, and unless he worked hard to wash it off, he would have to live in shame for the rest of his life.

Hawthorne and Sister Storm were both very satisfied with this punishment.

Hearing that he was satisfied, Toren seemed to be relieved. Then, he asked tentatively in a flattering tone: "Then, can you do me a small favor? You have seen today's joint training. There is no shortage of warriors in our tribe, but these brave warriors are

Lack of fine steel for the use of iron weapons..."

This is to allow me to make use of my identity and go to the dwarves to help the Tauren purchase weapons.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile secretly in his heart.

Haha, it seems that the previous measures to build closer relations were very effective. Now these guys are trying to please me so much and think that I am willing to help them speak to the dwarves.

Tsk, there’s a fairy tale about a fox borrowing the power of the tiger. It must be referring to people like me who rely on the authority of the dwarves.

However, Toren, I still think it would be more appropriate to send you to meet a dwarf friend in person and let you explain it to him in person...

Hawthorne thought so, and then patted his chest, not hesitating to make a promise to the dead: "No problem, I will contact them right away and help you order a few hundred steel axes!"

Toren's face lit up when he heard this: "Thank you, brother Hawthorne."

……

After chatting with Toren, Hawthorne returned to his own accounting office. But before he had looked at the map for two minutes, the door curtain of the accounting office was suddenly lifted, and then he saw Anno rushing in.

"Hawthorne!" she shouted anxiously, "Something bad has happened. Monport's large force has been heading in our direction over the past few days!"

Immediately, his expression changed drastically: "Go and inform Madam Willow, we will hold a meeting immediately!"

Chapter 376 The Devil is Coming

"That's the way it is."

That night, in the huge tent room where the Mountain Cleaners Alliance held meetings, under the dim light of a fire, Annuo placed a map that was carefully marked and outlined with red and blue pencils in the middle of the table for everyone to see: "This is the route of the Monport army. Based on the information from the past seven days, there is a high probability that their next target will be here."

"We can't fight them head-on, so my suggestion is to evacuate!"

Across the table, the four male senior executives of the Mountain Cleaners leaned over, frowned, and looked at the information above in silence.

After hearing Anno's proposal, it was the hobgoblin warlord named Kramer who spoke first, and his words were full of dissatisfaction: "We just got here, and you want us to leave again?"

"Ms. Anno, we came here because your organization promised to provide a warm camp and enough supplies for the winter. But if you ask us to leave now, you will break your promise."

His skin was red and his face was full of wrinkles. He still wore plate armor even indoors. His black hair was braided into dreadlocks, giving him the image of an ascetic warrior.

These words were obviously meant to take advantage of the situation. This guy's heart was far from being as pure as his appearance.

On the other side of the negotiation table, Annuo was patient. She had naturally heard about the incident between the goblin and the nun, so she had no good feelings towards the earth elf who could not control his subordinates. "But we cannot predict the direction of the demon army. Now the situation is stronger than people. If your army wants to stay here and fight against the demon lord's army alone, I will not stop you."

The earth elf snorted twice and said no more.

However, not only him, but also several high-ranking officials in the Mountain Cleansers Alliance were very unhappy. This time, it was Danqi who spoke first and expressed his opinion: "We have worked hard to build so many houses. If we give up again, we will not be able to survive this winter."

Toren nodded again and again: "That's true. If we leave here, where can we go? We won't have so much time to build houses. If it snows heavily one day and we abandon this place, all of us will die!"

This is true. It snowed two days ago and now is the time when the snow is melting. It is the coldest time and not suitable for migration at all.

Torun said this because they were tauren and were relatively cold-resistant. In fact, it didn't take much snow to abandon their homes and migrate in such cold weather, and many people from other tribes would freeze to death on the way.

Annuo was about to suggest that they could go to the dwarf's mine for the time being, but then he remembered that this group of people had just offended the dwarves before, and this approach would not work at all, so he had to swallow this plan back.

Unable to think of a suitable solution, her voice suddenly became extremely urgent: "But if we stay here and face Monbot's army, we will be doomed!"

"Everyone, please send out your own scouts to the back of the mountain two hundred miles to the west to see how large the demons under Monbot's command are. With our military strength, it is impossible to stop them!"

She gave advice from the bottom of her heart, and although it sounded a bit like a devil's will that would destroy her own prestige, it was all the truth.

Danqi frowned. He naturally knew how powerful the demons were. Now the two paths before them, to go or to stay, both seemed to be dead ends.

The bearman Luger seemed to have adapted to Hawthorne's sight, and said at this time: "Let's find out first, we are not in a hurry to leave. If the opponent's scale is not large, we will stay and fight, let the demons know how powerful we are!"

"If the number is really exaggerated, it won't be too late for us to consider relocation."

Torun nodded, indicating his agreement. Anno turned his head and looked at Archdruid Ilarod, hoping that the elder could be more far-sighted and express some different opinions.

However, Ilarod also sighed: "Everyone, after experiencing the previous disaster, it rained again a few days ago.

The snow has fallen, and the mountain people can no longer bear the hassle of migration. If they continue to migrate, they will almost certainly die. "

An Nuo sighed softly, and Willow looked helpless, indicating that this was indeed the reality they were facing.

Hawthorne scratched his hair. He really didn't expect that these guys were still facing such difficulties.

"And fighting may still give us a glimmer of hope," Ilarod said suddenly, "Protecting our homeland can prevent large-scale casualties."

"That's right!" Toren led the applause. "We fought for vitality and hope!"

The remaining leaders followed suit and applauded: "That's right, the great mountain people will not be frightened by demons. We must fight them and protect our homeland!"

The atmosphere in the conference room was very excited, and Annuo's blood pressure suddenly rose to the highest level.

It is undoubtedly a foolish thing to confront the demon army led by a demon lord head-on. Under the leadership of the demon lord, the demons will no longer kill each other, but will do their best to fight the enemy!

Considering the exaggerated number of demons, even if this is the material world, Monpot has probably summoned more than seven digits of demons.

Although these demons were scattered, according to investigation, the total number of those surrounding Monbot was in the six digits. It was wishful thinking to defeat them head-on!

Therefore, the best solution to eliminate these demons is always to behead their commanders, especially the demon lords!

Without a strong leader, no matter how many demons there are, more than 90% of them will be consumed in the infighting. The remaining ones will be scattered into small groups of only a dozen or so, and no more than a hundred at most. Ordinary teams of adventurers can easily wipe them out!

Staying here and fighting the demons to the death would definitely be the stupidest decision.

But unfortunately, it was obvious that the mountain people, who did not have much experience in fighting against demons, were reluctant to leave their newly built houses. They were even very confident in their abilities and insisted on testing how powerful the demon lord's army was.

In response, Annuo was so angry that he slammed the table, but he could do nothing about the mountain people's decision.

The meeting ended unhappily. After leaving the venue, she huddled in Hawthorne's arms, muttering non-stop: "Why do these people seem to not understand what I'm saying? I told them how dangerous this matter was, but none of them listened. Some even stayed. They are really ignorant and arrogant."

Hawthorne had no choice but to sigh.

"There's nothing we can do. We can't persuade them." He shook his head. "You just heard it. Because it snowed a few days ago, they think many people will freeze to death in the migration camp now."

"These guys won't cry until they see the coffin. They will never move their camp in the middle of winter unless the devil is right in front of them."

"Let's change our thinking. How can we delay the attack by the demons for a longer time, so that more elderly, weak, women and children can evacuate?"

An Nuo looked confused: "But, at this moment, is there any army strong enough to come here in an instant and stop the demon?"

"If I must say, there are some," Hawthorne said, "For example, the dwarf griffon knights."

……

In order to find out the information about the demons that An Nuo provided, the Mountain Cleansers Alliance sent out several waves of scouts in the direction she mentioned. However, after a whole day, when the scheduled reporting time came, no scout sent back any information!

This shows that all these teams, without exception, suffered a fatal surprise attack, so that they were wiped out without even sending out warnings or messages asking for help!

A cloud of uneasiness hung over everyone's heart. The decision-makers immediately began to adjust their work guidelines, stopping all house construction work and sending people to build various fortresses, walls, and heavy weapons such as catapults, preparing to fight a solid defensive battle and positional war.

The sudden change in work content immediately caused panic from the decision-makers down. Even though the decision-makers kept the actual situation secret, the ordinary mountain people were also panicked and anxiously guessed what terrible thing would happen next.

Hawthorne took the opportunity to secretly conduct a survey to investigate the real attitudes of the mountain people and whether they were willing to abandon the camp and migrate if a huge danger was approaching.

However, the results of the investigation disappointed him. Compared with the danger brought by the demons, the mountain people seemed to suffer from more serious PTSD from the wind and snow, and they would never migrate after it snowed. Almost everyone arrogantly believed that there was still a glimmer of hope if they fought the demons, but migrating rashly would only lead to death.

Hawthorne felt a little desperate about this, but he had no way to change the common consensus of tens of thousands of residents in a short period of time - after all, this was the life experience they had accumulated and passed down for dozens or even hundreds of years, and it was the common memory of their tribe and nation. How could it be changed so easily?

He had to make up his own mind. When the situation became the worst, he took Annuo, the nuns and the soldiers of the Black Rod Tower and ran away, leaving no one behind.

After all, it is your own choice to stay and fight the demons. If you want to die, go by yourself, don't drag us along!

Chapter 377 The Devil Has Not Arrived Yet, but the Earthquake Has Come First

A few days passed quietly.

A few days ago

The snow was almost melted, and the temperature was about to reach its coldest. Facing the severe cold, the mountain people, with the help of druid spells, built several earthen fortresses, as well as countless traps, trenches, earth walls and knife gates to guard against possible sudden attacks from demons.

Looking from a distance, these fortifications give people an aura of an iron wall, as if even if thousands of troops attacked, they could completely block it!

"call……"

Standing on a high platform in the camp, Toren, who had just finished his hard work, let out a long breath, then pointed at the countless fortifications in front of him and laughed softly, "Brother Hawthorne, look, these are all our achievements!"

Next to him, Ruger also laughed: "No matter how many demons come, we will kill them all!"

The two of them were so confident that they seemed to not take the demons seriously at all. But Hawthorne knew that this blind confidence was actually a proof of their deep fear: these two guys definitely had some foresight, knowing how powerful the demons were, but they couldn't give up this place.

Therefore, in response to the two people's words, Hawthorne just forced a smile and perfunctorily said, "Yes, in history, there have been so many Abyss Lords who invaded the material world, weren't they all exiled back by those legendary figures?"

"This time, it's our turn to accomplish this great feat!"