The location of Backhill Village is not actually at the base of the mountain, but inside Skybreaker Peak.
As mentioned before, Skybreaker Peak does not only tower into the clouds but the entire mountain is made up of cliffs, giving it a sharp appearance. However, at the base of Broken Mountain Peak, there is a huge crack which splits the steep cliff walls in two from bottom to top, and Backhill Village is situated within this crack.
The village in the rift is surrounded by mountains on three sides with only one entrance and exit, which essentially serves as a natural barrier. Furthermore, they built a high wall at the crack in the cliff, making it feel as if the crack had been patched up.
As a result, Backhill Village became a settlement completely hidden within Skybreaker Peak. Unless the demons could break through the high walls at the entrance, they wouldn’t be able to harm the villagers.
This natural terrain allowed Backhill Village to exist for over a hundred years. The village was not only there before the demon invasion but also survived the hundred years after demons occupied the land.
So, when Lin Feng arrived at the entrance of the village with Rocky and the others, they saw a high wall over ten meters tall made of stone, flanked by two tower structures, manned by villagers.
As they approached the wall, Lin Feng shouted to the people above, “Open the gate! The Thunderhawk Mercenary Group has arrived!”
Following his call, the gates in the high wall slowly opened, and Rocky and his party finally entered Backhill Village.
Walking into the village, Rocky immediately noticed rows and rows of simple houses. These modest dwellings were all no more than two stories tall. The better ones were made of stone, but most were wooden structures—not only plain but also seemingly very frail.
“These houses were built a few months ago.”
Noticing Rocky’s gaze and sensing his confusion, Lin Feng explained, “Despite being surrounded by mountains and having high walls for defense, we often suffer demon attacks. That’s why we use wood to build our houses—they can be quickly reconstructed even if destroyed.”
“Oh…”
Lin Feng’s explanation made Rocky nod, and he couldn’t help but look back at the high wall they had passed, indeed noticing that the colors of the stones on the wall were different, clearly the result of multiple repairs.
This meant that even with its natural terrain and fortifications akin to a small fortress, Backhill Village still could not hold back the demons’ onslaught. No wonder they spent money to hire a mercenary group for assistance in defense.
“Come, I’ll take you to meet the village elder, then take your people to the camp so we can discuss defense strategies.”
After saying this, Lin Feng strode forward, and Rocky told Liliya and the others to wait in the village while he followed Lin Feng alone.
The village elder’s residence was in the very center of the village, yet it was nothing special and seemed no different from the other villagers’ homes.
As for the elder himself, he was quite old, looking to be around seventy or eighty with wrinkles on his face that told of the many hardships he had endured.
“Commander, I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Upon meeting Rocky, the village elder was extremely cordial, even personally pouring him a glass of water.
“You are too kind, village elder. Please, just call me Rocky,” Rocky said as he took the glass of water from the elder and sat down with him and Lin Feng.
“Commander Rocky, no need for formalities with me, just call me Old Jack,” the elder said with a smile, waving his hand at Rocky after a brief self-introduction, and then asking, “May I ask how many people you’ve brought with you this time?”
Old Jack went straight to the point without much small talk.
“Ten floating battleships, one hundred and eighty warriors, with an average level of Second Level among the warriors. This includes one Third-Level Warrior and one Fifth-Level Warrior, plus myself,” Rocky replied without any concealment, aware that Old Jack was confirming whether his force met their requirements for verification with the Mercenary Guild.
Sure enough, after hearing Rocky’s words, Old Jack glanced at Lin Feng, and upon seeing Lin Feng’s slight nod, he broke into a smile.
“If that’s the case, Commander Rocky completely meets our requirements, I’ll confirm with the Mercenary Guild right now.”
After Lin Feng confirmed that Rocky wasn’t lying, Old Jack made the confirmation with the Mercenary Guild right in front of him.
And as Old Jack finished confirming with the Mercenary Guild, it also signified that Rocky’s mission had officially begun!
“Lin Feng, you take Commander Rocky to the encampment,” Old Jack said after confirming the task, then he turned to Rocky, “Commander Rocky, your team members will be staying at the encampment these days, then discuss with Lin Feng as soon as possible on how to defend.”
“Okay.”
Having agreed, Rocky left Old Jack’s residence with Lin Feng and promptly led everyone to the encampment within the village.
Actually, calling it an encampment was a bit of a stretch; it was really just an open space. There was a row of crude tents on the open ground, clearly prepared as accommodations for Rocky and his team.
For such a simple living arrangement, Rocky naturally wouldn’t mind, as he could see that Backhill Village had very limited conditions, and being able to arrange such a place for them was already very good. Besides, they weren’t here to stay for long; they could endure it for a month. Stay updated via M-V-L
Upon arriving at the encampment, Rocky gave some instructions to the guards, and once everything was mostly settled, he took Liliya and Monte with Lin Feng to his home to discuss the details of the mission.
Rocky’s main task this time was to coordinate with the villagers of Backhill Village in their defense—defense against what? Naturally, it was to protect against the attacks of demons.
According to Lin Feng, the main source of income for Backhill Village was mining. There was a vein inside Skybreaker Peak, and every quarter the villagers would delve into the vein to mine.
It was precisely because of the need to mine that Backhill Village required Rocky and others to assist in defense.
The number of demons around Skybreaker Peak wasn’t very high, and also due to the location where Backhill Village itself was situated, it was generally safe. However, troubles arose every time the villagers began mining, because there was a type of demon around Broken Mountain Peak that always attacked Backhill Village during the villagers’ mining activities.
“Is it the Black-eyed Demon?”
At Lin Feng’s home, after Lin Feng briefly explained the mission from start to finish, when he mentioned that demons attacked each time the villagers began mining, Monte interjected from the side.
“Exactly, it’s the Black-eyed Demon.”
Looking at Monte with slight surprise, Lin Feng nodded, indicating that what Monte said was completely accurate.
“The Black-eyed Demon is a kind of low-level demon, named for its entirely black eyes. However, these demons actually lack vision. They perceive the outside world entirely through vibrations, especially vibrations from the ground. These demons can even detect through these vibrations if someone has walked dozens of miles away.”
“That powerful?”
Monte’s explanation made Rocky widen his eyes in disbelief.
“Captain Monte hasn’t exaggerated in the slightest,”
Lin Feng then spoke up, “The terrifying aspect of the Black-eyed Demons lies in their sensory abilities. Thus, while we may not feel the noise of mining, to the Black-eyed Demons, it’s like thunder, which is why mining always attracts these demons.”
“So that’s the case… Then how strong are the Black-eyed Demons?”
Since their main target this time was the Black-eyed Demons, the strength of these demons naturally became a focal point.
“This…”
But upon hearing Rocky’s question, Lin Feng hesitated for a moment before finally providing an answer, “Well, in terms of strength, the Black-eyed Demons are relatively weak among the low-level demons, but…”
“These demons are gregarious…”