Northern Mountains (2)
The undead unrest in the four kingdoms of the western continent was slowly subsiding.
Of course, it wasn’t because they handled it well, it was because of the unexpected turn of events.
Immediately after the Immortal King openly revealed his momentum and sent a signal, the undead, who moved freely according to the leader’s inclinations, such as attacking humans or hiding in the backcountry, showed the same movement all at once.
The immortal army, who knew each other’s location through the reply, avoided fighting as much as possible according to the king’s orders, and began to group together.
‘Of course, there were people who collided with humans or were subjugated at all.’
The army that succeeded in gathering to a certain extent was able to grow in size to the point where it was burdensome to deal with only the troops of one territory.
In response, the kingdoms were keenly aware of the movement of the undead, and they showed a bustling movement, such as convening an army…
At some point, they disappeared without a trace.
The Immortal King Hans personally visited them, retrieved them all, and disappeared.
So the human side could not be relieved even if it escaped the threat of the undead.
It was not completely defeated by subjugation, but rather, the enemy gathered the scattered troops and retreated.
You don’t know when and where such a large army will be targeting them, so how can you put your mind at ease?
‘In such a situation, this time even the monsters started to cause trouble.’
It is also a state in which tribulation on a continental scale was foretold, not an ordinary riot.
Among them, the Tulk Kingdom was facing the northern mountain range, which is even called the paradise of monsters, so it was inevitable that his head would hurt more.
We must do our best to defend the northern part, but we have no choice but to prepare for the incursion of the Immortal King.
This was the reason for borrowing their power by promising the best possible rewards to the mercenaries in Tarak.
‘Hans has no intention of aiming at the back of the head… They don’t know that.’
Meanwhile, Harley, who was going to the Fortress of Steel, received a separate appointment request.
So now he had come to Tarak’s central office to meet the client.
Of course, the lord’s name was burdensome, but he did not succumb to power and had to accept it.
Read at noblemtl.com
Just to the information provided briefly first….
‘It was the same because the commissioned area was the Northern Mountains.’
Like others, there was a high probability that he would take on a more dangerous mission rather than simply stopping the monster, but he did not know the danger.
‘In the end, the destination is the same, the rewards are much larger, and there is no need to hate the ruler of this area, so it would be better to accept it. I wonder what’s going on in this situation.’
After arriving at the government office and waiting for a while, Harley was finally able to face the client.
Of course, it was not Yeongju himself.
I put the name of the lord to emphasize the importance of the request, but how could someone in such a position personally meet a mercenary and entrust him with the task?
“I’ve heard the story quite well. Very, very big.”
The client he faced was a 30-year-old knight with a blunt impression.
“More than anything···. Very individual.”
After all, he too could not help but say a word when he saw Harley’s appearance, and he gave such an impression with a shaky face.
‘Well, that kind of reaction is everyday.’
He has a muscular body over 2 meters tall, his upper body is bare, his head is covered with a beast’s head, his body is full of tattoos, and one of his eyes is an odd-eyed green.
The knight was at a loss for words at the sight that he would never forget once he saw it, but then continued with a slight cough.
“Hmm, yes. Are you that Harley? Are you a very famous mercenary?”
“Ahahaha! This is so embarrassing! Well, it’s true that I’m famous!”
As someone who came out for a quest in this city full of mercenaries, he didn’t really care about Harley’s usual rude words and actions.
“Let’s move on to work. The reason I have named you is because I need someone who knows the northern mountains well.”
“Hmmm… I’m not very good at finding a way. There’s nothing you can’t do to decide, but if you need a guide, you’d better find someone else.”
Rather than deliberately entering the mountain while examining the mountain road, he was closer to returning from hunting where his feet went, tearing apart the monsters that stood in his way with his relentless mobility and force.
He was able to get directions in the forest, but he was not at the level of being hired as a guide while accepting nomination quests like this.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Not only you, but the other mercenaries have also been sent a request. We’ve already hired one of the best guides in Tarak.”
“Ohh! If so… But in that case, I don’t really need it, do I? Would they be enough?”
“He is strong enough to not only go home in the Northern Mountains, but also frequently defeat high-grade quests that require going deep, and deal with high-ranking monsters that are difficult even in a party unit alone.”
Hearing Harley’s thoughtful words, the knight continued his speech slowly and then looked at him silently.
“Are there any more qualified people in Tarak?”
“Indeed, I am the only one! Ha ha ha—!”
Harley smiled happily, but as if he had gotten used to it, the knight continued to say what he had to say without changing his expression.
“It was a long talk. This is the main point. The location is inside the Northern Mountains, the deadline is as fast as possible, the type is to rescue the factor, the target is Zhaonic Steelstone.”
“Zhaonic Steelstone?”
‘Who is that?’
Perhaps his feelings were conveyed, the knight paused for a moment and then slowly opened his mouth.
“As a special feature, he is a blacksmith belonging to the territory. The race is… Dwarves.”
***
As much as the client who came directly from Youngji, the work proceeded smoothly.
All the things necessary for the mission were already prepared, and colleagues to go with them began to gather one by one.
It is said that the rescue target was not an ordinary person, and as soon as it detected an abnormality, they dug a hole and hid, and then sent a communication to the magic tool to request rescue.
There is enough emergency food, so it’s not an emergency right now, but it’s impossible to know when and what will happen in the dangerous area.
So Harley made her way into the Northern Mountains with a group of six who would go on a mission together as soon as she was ready.
So about a day has passed.
“Kaak— Whoa! Damn it, he must have climbed the mountain in this kind of situation.”
“Well, back then, I didn’t know it was going to be like this. It doesn’t take a day or two for a Dwarf to like rare minerals.”
Immediately after another round of battle.
When Mikel, a female mercenary armed with a crossbow, spit on the floor, was annoyed, a middle-aged man guiding the mountain trail at the front of the group hit her.
“But it certainly looks like something big is going on. I’ve been going here for over ten years and this is the first time this has happened. All of the monster boundaries and habitat information that I have collected so far have become garbage.”
Marcus, a middle-aged mercenary who laments a little while leading the party again.
Even after only a day had passed since they entered the mountain range, they were keenly realizing the ideals of monsters.
Until now, the ecosystem had been maintained with its own rules, but now there is no trace of it.
Also, in order to hide the body odor, he applied an unknown juice all over his body, avoiding combat as much as possible, and when it was unavoidable, he dealt with it as secretly and quickly as possible, but now it was slowly reaching its limit.
“Wait, I’m coming again.”
At that moment, all of the party held their breath at Harley’s slurred words.
“some?”
“…a little too much? Thirty seems to be enough… Oh man, I’m coming this way with a will. It must have sensed traces of the previous battle.”
Everyone frowned at his words.
Even though I was so careful, it seems that it wasn’t enough to deceive those who have developed more sense when something strange happened.
“Do you know what kind it is?”
“Hmm, about the size of an orc.”
Harley’s sensitivity, which everyone was suspicious of at first, was now trusted by everyone.
that’s the only thing that can’t be done.
It had already been repeated several times during the day, and it was natural because his warning had never been wrong.
sulleung—
“I can’t help it. We have no choice but to deal with it as soon as possible and leave.”
Robin, a knight in leather armor, slowly drew his sword, and opened his mouth with a blunt face as if delivering a request.
‘By the way, that yangban is also great. I thought I would just pass on the quest, but I’m sure I’ll participate in the operation myself.’
Of course, another veteran ranger from the Fortress of Steel also joined the party, but I didn’t know that a knight as many as one would even wear leather armor and join the party.
It is also such a dangerous operation.
Maddened monsters are extremely warlike and do not die easily, and this is their home in the Northern Mountains.
So far, we have been dealing with them as quickly as possible and avoiding their seats…
As the density of monsters increased as they entered the mountain range, the limit was bound to come.
“We will spread a curtain of shielding around us. Once they’re fully inside, get rid of them as soon as possible.”
As if the frequent use of magic began to put pressure on his magic, the mercenary wizard Fabiela frowned.
Although he was a magician, he had trained his body to a considerable level, and he was quite famous in Tarak.
“···come!”
Another warning from Harley.
But this time, everyone knew without his words.
Doo doo doo-!
“Koowoak—!”
“Keek!”
With the vibration that shook the ground without even trying to hide the sound, the cry of monsters who lost their reason could be heard.
As the orcs drenched in madness entered the realm of the veil of shielding, the fight began immediately.
Shhhh- Puffok!
It started with bolts and arrows flying from behind.
And Harley, who stands on the vanguard with the knight Robin and the reticent swordsman Flora, as usual…
“Huhahaha—! Let’s play somewhere!”
Aww!
He burst into laughter that he had been holding back, kicked off the ground, and ran towards the front of them with his bare hands.
The explosive power emanating from the glowing engravings and the muscles wriggling over and over, in an instant, brought his body in front of the mad orcs…
Whoops!
Dump!
Its brute strength was enough to tear them apart.
As he continues to fight while avoiding the weapons of the orcs who are rushing like crazy, he carefully cuts his head one by one, to the extent that it could be seen as a scene of sacred labor…
“Khahaha!”
The act of the vicious savage smiling wildly was merely a scene of one-sided violence.
“…I don’t know who the monster is. Is that possible?”
“Even after seeing it a few times, I still can’t get used to it.”
Even his co-workers who were fighting with him looked tired of seeing him.
Harley was showing with her whole body why she was an ‘one that should never be touched’ in the Tarak mercenary world.
At first, it was a fighting method that was started to avoid the smell of blood as much as possible, but when it blended in with Harley’s monstrous body, it was no less than fighting with a weapon.
The orcs who were beaten by him and whose neck joint range of motion was out of bounds.
But he wasn’t just fighting without thinking.
‘I mean, it’s weird. For some time now, whenever I fight a monster, I feel something tickling.’
Even if he strengthened his senses with biometric auras and engravings, he was not concerned about the feeling of something that was not detectable even by the wildness engraved on his instincts, scratching him gently.
Whoops—!
“Keek!”
As Harley continued to think, she continued to bang the orc in the head, kick her in the stomach, and return her chin with her elbow.
Then at some point.
Could it be that I was too busy?
Whoops—!
His fingertips, which were momentarily sharpened, dug into the heart of an orc.
“ah.”
I was fighting with my bare hands to prevent blood from splattering, but it was instinctively the most lethal attack, probably because of the “wildness” that was activated unconsciously.
Fortunately, there was minimal reason left, only the tip of the fingernail was slightly sharpened, so the “physical transformation” was not noticed around, but blood spattered on his arm in spite of the efforts he had made.
“Twitter—.”
Harley tapped her tongue lightly and pulled out her hand.
In his hand, a manastone that had been embedded in the orc’s heart was in his hand.
‘I can’t help what I’ve already done. It’s a matter of wiping the blood.’
Rather, the energy was about to go down little by little.
Now that you have it in your hand, you should use it to your advantage.
Harley poured the magic stone into her mouth without thinking.
hard!
That moment.
pounding—!
heart beating violently.
Blood flow throughout the body began to flow wildly.
The aura I had been tickling for so long was felt more vividly the moment I consumed the orc manastone.
‘What suddenly?’
As my senses expanded like that, I was able to learn things I had never known before.
‘···no way? This···.’
What spreads out into the world and covers the sky, what melts into the air and wraps around them, and what dwells in the orcs who rush at them with their eyes reddened.
And… now it’s starting to sprout in Harley’s body.
yes it is.
It was ‘crazy’.
