Chapter 572: Chapter 196: Hell Flying Dragon
Leonard Churchill narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the group from Ironforge City approach from the other end of the canyon.
Seeing the old man who had just used him as bait and sold him out, he didn’t have a good impression of him at all.
However, Leonard also didn’t intend to hold a grudge against a few NPCs. Encountering these fellows here meant that some hidden storylines were likely about to be triggered.
Noah Wright and the mysterious archer, along with the few likely from the Lionheart Family’s private army, also looked forward with anticipation in their eyes to this group of newcomers.
The “clank” and “clank” of metal armor rubbing against each other conveyed an unusually stable feeling.
Merely from the quality of the armor, it was clear these were not ordinary soldiers.
The soldiers from Ironforge City seemed slightly surprised as they looked at the mountain of demon corpses piled up in the canyon.
They were clearly incredulous at the combat power of these “Falcon Hunter Legion” recon soldiers from the kingdom.
Ordinarily, ten times the number of Demon Vanguard would have been sufficient to annihilate these reconnaissance soldiers, but the outcome had unexpectedly turned out the opposite.
However, the Spatial Will patched up the unnecessary logic holes; the NPCs did not dwell on the details of the battle.
The group approached, and Gandalf in the middle directly lifted his cloak, revealing a pure white mage robe.
That aged face exuded a faint Holy Light, giving the impression of a kind and wise elder.
Leonard looked at him, a playful glint in his eyes.
Gandalf began, “Kingdom’s warriors, your bravery is witnessed by all, your contributions will be recorded in the annals of history…”
Listening to this opening, Leonard couldn’t help but scoff internally.
He himself had been used as bait by this old man with the phrase “Kingdom’s brave demon-slaying warrior.”
This speech-craft sure was the trick of those in high places.
Too bad that everyone here were outsiders and adventurers.
After a spiel of brainwashing rhetoric, the old fellow got to the point: “By command of His Majesty the King, I am on a top-secret mission. I need your bravery…”
In Gandalf’s eyes, the ones before him who had fought with demons were elite soldiers of the kingdom.
Since he had encountered them, they were a force to be utilized.
He recruited them on the spot.
No sooner had he finished than the Enlightenment appeared: “Triggered an A-level quest: White Mage Gandalf is on a top-secret mission, you need to follow the arrangements and complete the escort. Contribution points +10000.”
“An A-level quest?”
Leonard glanced over the mission details, his eyebrow slightly raised.
Where exactly was the Holy Grail?
Although he had guessed that this group was heading to “Twin Tower Cliff,” the difficulty was A-level, which obviously lacked something substantial.
With that thought, he scrutinized the NPC members of the party more closely.
After all, Leonard suspected that Ironforge City might have another, perhaps even more important “dignitary” than Gandalf.
If this known strongest combat power among white robed mages had left the city, that dignitary should have also left.
…
Those who had survived didn’t leave; naturally, they were all after the Holy Grail.
After Gandalf issued the escort mission, they all set out, heading southeast.
Perhaps because the bait tactic had been successful, the nearly hundred-person convoy moved through the forest smoothly and soon approached the direction marked as “Twin Tower Cliff” on the map.
No skirmishes with demons arose, likely because the Demon Vanguard had been largely wiped out by Vivian White’s forces.
Gambillo probably never expected these “reconnaissance soldiers” to be so formidable.
What was supposed to be a diversionary tactic turned into annihilation.
But Leonard also pondered, since this escort scenario was A-level difficulty, there must be aspects that matched its level of challenge.
Where exactly was the difficulty?
Soon enough, at the end of the forest, the party had arrived at a cliff.
“Discovered ‘Twin Tower Cliff,’ exploration +15%”
On the edge of the cliff stood two towering, broken stone towers, like abandoned Beacon Towers or perhaps windmill granaries.
There were also some stone walls covered with glowing moss.
It appeared to be an ancient village abandoned for a hundred years.
Leonard recalled the military map and the intelligence marked on it: below the cliff ran a Dark River, and the towering mountain range opposite was the Holy Spirit Mountain Range, beyond which lay the Ghost Wind Cavern.
Leonard frowned, thinking: “But… surely they’re not planning to cross the mountains, right?”
Seeing the great mountain range before him, he dismissed some of his previous thoughts.
Even a military map, with its hand-drawn precision, was not very accurate.
Without precise intelligence, locating a small Holy Grail in this range of overlapping ridges would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
At this thought, Leonard’s gaze shifted to two temporary allies nearby.
Noah Wright still looked utterly bored, propping his cheeks and staring at the mountains.
The distant archer remained mysterious and silent.
Originally, Leonard wanted to share intelligence with them, but thinking it over since they weren’t very familiar, he saw no need.
He figured his own judgment should be correct.
As long as he kept them nearby, he would always be able to discern something.
Leonard turned his attention back to the white-robed mage; this old man was the key.
Sentries had been placed, and individuals were setting up various colored Magic Cores around the area.
The old man was now holding his magic wand, casting a spell that illuminated a huge Hexagram Array beneath his feet, seemingly preparing for something else.
But the entire forsaken village seemed shrouded in a strange magical glow.
This action also attracted the attention of all adventurers.