Chapter 95 - Gnawing

“Uncle Klay, where did you hire these four stubborn fools from?Do you really have the heart to drag them to their grave with us?” Gaven sighed again.

It was rare to see such sincere mercenaries; it would be a pity to see them fall here.

“You just heard them, they’ve already taken the money,” Klay said, knowing full well they wouldn’t escape fate.

Naturally, he wouldn’t kindly reveal their true origins to Gaven.

Hmph, even if he were to die, he’d still dig a pitfall for that arrogant man.

Did he really think the Rocklands were his backyard, to do with as he pleased?

There will come a day when he’ll encounter arms and legs too thick to chop through.

The fleeting, mischievous smile on Klay’s face set off alarms in Gaven’s mind, causing him to take another look at the four armored guards, ultimately landing on the badge on their chests.

He couldn’t help but gasp.

It was a blazing red crow, wings outspread in flight.

Almost fooled by Klay, if Gaven really took out these four guards now, he’d be in big trouble—at least counterproductive to his early efforts of pioneering the Rocklands.

In the vicinity of the Rocklands, there was only one mercenary group that used this badge—the Red Crow Mercenary Brigade.

This brigade wasn’t too famous elsewhere, but they were very well-known in the northeastern parts of the Komeer Kingdom and the western areas of the Valley.

Their most notable deed was signing a contract with the Komeer Royal Family to clear the Rocklands.

Their leader, Rayana Ross, was driven by the goal of conquering Rocklands and receiving the Baron title from the Komeer Royal Family as a reward.

This was Gaven’s goal as well, but their approaches were different.

Rayana relied on mercenaries.

Gaven intended to use monsters against monsters.

In all seriousness, Gaven’s plan to use such a strategy owed some credit to Rayana.

Because in his past life, he knew of this brigade’s existence.

They never managed to conquer the Rocklands, which helped him rule out the possibility of conquering it from the outside.

After all, in terms of the military, he couldn’t possibly organize an army on par with the Komeer Kingdom’s Purple Dragon Legion in a short time.

And in terms of mercenaries, he couldn’t compete with the Red Crow Mercenary Brigade, which had been established in this area for decades.

If possible, Gaven didn’t want to get entangled in a hostile competition with the Red Crow Mercenary Brigade.

Cooperation would be best.

After all, he only intended to use the Rocklands as his starting point and had no plans to nest there for life.

He was destined to venture out eventually.

With countless thoughts swirling in his mind, Gaven kept a stoic expression as if he hadn’t recognized their identity.

Not recognizing their identity was one thing when taking action.

But recognizing it and then acting, that was another matter altogether.

“Alright, I respect your dedication to duty.

Today, I will accommodate you.

Attack,” commanded Gaven.

The four Erdes, led by Captain Bark, all gripped their Psychic Stones tightly.

As their mental focus reached its peak, the transparent Psychic Stones began to flicker with a deep blue light.

The four armored guards stood on high alert, knowing well that a spell was being cast but incapable of intervening.

The spreading vines significantly restricted their mobility, preventing any hope of launching an assault or dodging.

Moreover, with the four Erdes suspended in mid-air, even under normal circumstances, they would be helpless against them.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Three of the armored guards fell on the spot.

The one who didn’t fall was not because he was strong enough to withstand the barrage of Psychic Bullets.

It was because the Erde targeting him had failed in his spellcasting.

Spellcasting is not always successful, especially for beginners like them who use Psychic Stones.

The success rate was even lower.

A success rate of three out of four was already quite astonishing.

Before the remaining guard could wonder what had happened, he grunted and fell.

Gaven, having already activated the Jump Spell, took the opportunity to finish him off.

Just two jumps were all it took for him to appear in front of Klay, slashing down with a longsword he had picked up.

Klay composed himself and raised his sword to block, refusing to surrender despite knowing it was the end.

There was no sound of blades clashing.

As Klay just lifted his sword, the tip of another blade appeared from his chest.

Gaven’s slash was a feint; the real killing blow came from behind.

Cangya emerged from the mist of concealment.

The slash turned into a sweep, decapitating Klay.

Gaven ordered the surrounding Gnolls, “Do not harm these four, strip them of their gear, tie them up, clean up the battlefield, remove all equipment from the bodies, bury them on the spot, and take all the goods with you.”

Gaven walked back to the Dog Demon lying like a dead dog, smoothly pulling the longsword from its throat.

The icy sharp edge of the blade created a piercing sensation as it slid through the neck, making the Dog Demon’s hair stand on end with terror, yet it dared not twitch even slightly, for fear the sword would slice through its major artery. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt

Gaven didn’t bother speaking to the Dog Demon, even though he knew it was highly intelligent and could understand the common tongue.

He simply dragged it by a hind leg and walked away.

A powerful sense of humiliation flooded the Dog Demon’s mind, making it long to turn around and bite off the head of this Half-Elf male.

Such indignity, he was an Otherworldly Creature with high intelligence after all.

Compared to this fury, the agony of its severed limbs grinding against the ground felt like nothing.

But he dared not; he had just witnessed the young man’s decisiveness in killing.