Chapter 89: Monster
In the dense forest on the border of Fire Claw Territory, Mo Tan, with his hands and feet tied to a wooden pole, had a blank expression and a wide-open mouth, clearly in a state of extreme shock.
This made the two Orc warriors, who were carrying him (no mistake there) one in front and one behind, almost wonder if something was wrong with the kid.
This group, numbering around thirty, was on their way to the largest nearby encampment.
Their capture of Mo Tan was undoubtedly an accident, a very unpleasant one.
The warrior who had snuck out to use the restroom during their break was in a very low mood.
He felt his integrity had shattered into pieces and was also worried that this beanpole of a Human Priest might fall in love with him.
Mo Tan was also in a very low mood, because this group consisted of elite warriors under Karon, the Orc warlord from before.
They had witnessed the entire process of Bannai helping Fenrir Squad escape.
That somewhat deranged Assassin had not only killed Karon's adjutant but also slaughtered many ordinary warriors and even severely wounded the warlord.
Although the warlord ultimately survived, these reasons alone were enough for Mo Tan, who was considered an 'accomplice,' to die seventy or eighty times over.
Part of it was also because the mosaic the system had put over his eyes stung, even though he hadn't actually seen anything (thankfully).
But the image of that warrior, pulling up his pants while swinging his fist at him, was still utterly terrible.
Mo Tan didn't even bother to cast a shield on himself at the time, thinking it would be quite nice to just be knocked out by a single punch.
Unfortunately, he didn't pass out…
Fortunately, after that warrior knocked out 30% of Mo Tan's health with one punch, he did pull up his pants.
Then, dozens of burly men suddenly appeared from nearby, swarming Mo Tan and tying him up completely.
Just as they were about to slash him a few times before interrogating him properly, Mo Tan took the initiative and started babbling at his fastest speed!
One of the squad leaders pondered for a long time and decided to ask him to slow down and babble again.
So Mo Tan babbled again, this time more detailed, briefly telling them about Fenrir Squad's previous encounters and Ned's true identity.
He also stated that he and another companion had come to deliver a message to Fire Claw Territory, and that the important information Ned had obtained should be in Shuang Ye's hands, which likely contained detailed intelligence about the Marshall Family's slave trade.
Although Orcs generally have a rough demeanor and tend to solve problems with force in most situations, they are not fools.
Even though they all found the suspicious individual in front of them not very credible, after Mo Tan's words, these warriors still decided to take him back to their encampment.
Not only was the severely injured Karon warlord there, but several respected High-Rank individuals had also arrived two days ago…
It was better to let them decide how to deal with this kid.
So Mo Tan was tied up by this squad, who decided to return early, and carried on a wooden pole in an easy, labor-saving, yet rather embarrassing manner to where the important figures were.
Looking on the bright side, at least he didn't have to worry about getting lost for now…
However, after being carried for just over half an hour, Yu Cheng's friend message came through…
It was packed with information!
He forced himself to calm down, then quickly asked Yu Cheng: 'Can you elaborate a bit? I'm quite interested.'
Then the girl told him the entire story…
The situation was this: from the game's launch until two days ago, Yu Cheng had been staying in Light Capital, located at the center of the Holy Domain.
Every day, she would just idle in the Dawn Cathedral, praying with the Holy Maiden, who was twenty years older than her, and learning to sing hymns and praises.
The rest of the time was mostly spent on side quests like 【Clean the Second Floor of the Cathedral】 or 【Bless Pious Believers】, which was quite relaxed and pleasant.
However, two days ago, news came from somewhere in the Southwest of the Holy Domain about a monster appearing.
Then Yu Cheng, along with a squad of elite Holy Knights, was dispatched to the South to investigate the situation…
Of course, the seriousness of the matter was not great.
It should be noted that the 'monster' mentioned in the intelligence had only severely injured a dozen civilians and destroyed many houses and residences.
Not to mention a squad of Holy Knights, even two or three would have been more than enough to handle it.
The main purpose of this operation was actually only one: to gild a certain God-blessed one little girl.
Yes, gilding.
This kind of thing exists in any era.
Yu Cheng herself didn't mind and didn't think too much.
The main reasons she readily accepted this arrangement were, first, because she wanted to leave Light Capital for some fresh air, and second, because she wanted to help the Holy Knights as much as possible.
Although she was only an apprentice Holy Maiden, her healing abilities were still stronger than those of the knights, who focused more on combat.
So the girl set off with a certain Holy Knight squad from the Dawn Sect, changing direction several times along the way based on continuously updated intelligence.
Finally, yesterday evening, near Saint Pre Town, they encountered that 'monster'.
At that time, 'it' was attacking a group of believers who wanted to make a pilgrimage to Light Capital…
It was a humanoid creature, or basically, one could say it was a 'person', but calling it a monster also seemed to be no problem.
Messy hair, pitch-black eyes without pupils, a large amount of black mist swirling around its body, a destructive desire to attack, and completely chaotic thoughts that made communication impossible…
Holy Knight Tairo swore he had never seen such a crazy creature.
Its sole purpose seemed to be to destroy everything it could see in its field of vision!
Fortunately, that monster was not very strong.
Although it possessed powerful strength and agile movements, its uncoordinated attacks could not cause much damage to the Holy Knights, especially since there was also a little Holy Maiden present, whose leveling speed was incredibly fast due to the Goddess's favor.
Finally, at the cost of two Holy Knights being lightly injured, the group successfully subdued the monster and escorted it to the Saint Pre Cathedral, which was closest to them at the time.
At Yu Cheng's strong request, the Holy Knights and the High-Rank clerics did not choose to 'purify' the monster immediately.
Of course, this was also reasonable, as although the latter had caused considerable damage in the area, no one had lost their life because of it.
And the most severely injured among the pilgrims had also recovered to optimal condition with the gentle comfort and Dawn divine magic of a certain apprentice Holy Maiden.
Tairo and the others discussed it briefly and found that there was indeed no reason to kill the monster.
At the same time, they became even more devoted to this magnanimous and benevolent Holy Maiden.
It should be known that when that monster suddenly pushed aside two Holy Knights and rushed towards Yu Cheng, the young girl was almost injured…
It was at that moment that she clearly saw the 'monster's' face.
'It looks so much like you! Although it feels very different, that guy's appearance really resembles you a lot (⊙﹏⊙)!' The girl's message was very serious.
Although she still couldn't quite understand, her tone didn't sound like she was lying at all, and such a lie was really unnecessary.
After all, even if the girl had a crush on him, she would at most use a reason like 'I feel like you look familiar' to strike up a conversation, and definitely not use content like 'I saw a monster that looks exactly like you' to start a topic…
And Mo Tan didn't doubt that the other party was playing a trick on him.
In fact, he was even more certain than Yu Cheng!
He remembered a message he had seen on the forum earlier while chatting with Yi Dong…
“A humanoid creature, suspected to be a rare elite monster, is appearing in the Northwest Continent!
It attacks everyone it sees, has extremely high combat power, and is mentally unstable.
Are there any High-Rank players who want to join me to hunt it down?
Preferably ladies, single, rich, with free time, open to online relationships, preferably between 16 and 26 years old, strong, family-oriented, clingy, cute, tsundere, and good at acting cute.
Please contact me urgently, phone number: 1373XXXXXX2!”
This was not valuable intelligence, but it was the only gain Mo Tan had made since he started scouring the forums recently.
For some reason, he attached great importance to this intelligence, even asking Jun Wu to help collect information through Wanderer's Inn's channels.
Although 99% of it might just be a terrible result, he was absolutely unwilling to let go of that 1%…
At least in some matters, whether he was Black Vatican now, or Tan Mo, or Mo… his thoughts were the same!
Yu Cheng brought a sudden surprise, and what Mo Tan had to do now was to first confirm a few crucial things…
'I'm a bit confused, is that monster still being held by you all?' He replied cautiously after pondering for a moment.
Of course, he wasn't confused at all right now; in fact, he couldn't be clearer.
Yu Cheng's message came quickly: 'Well… you could say that.
It's been locked in the cathedral's basement since yesterday evening (．．)~'
Mo Tan's heart immediately sank, but before he could speak, Yu Cheng's second message popped up.
'But it's a bit strange Σ(っ°Д°；)っ… when I just went to see it, the guy who looked so much like you had turned into a small ball of mist, completely unrecognizable, and I don't know why.'
Just now? Turned into mist? Unrecognizable?
Mo Tan frowned slightly and replied: 'Then when was he in human form? Do you remember?'
This time, Yu Cheng, who usually messaged very quickly, didn't reply immediately, but after several seconds, she sent a very uncertain message: 'It should have been from evening until dark yesterday.
The pilgrims who were attacked said the monster suddenly appeared nearby and attacked them, with no warning beforehand.
But after we locked him up, we left, so I don't know when he turned into what he looked like just now (=ェ=)'
【From yesterday evening until dark, he was in human form… Innocent World should be in winter now, so yesterday's in-game evening to night should be…】
Mo Tan's eyes suddenly widened: “It matches!”
“What are you muttering about?” The Orc warrior in front turned around and glared at him with an unfriendly expression: “Behave yourself!
We'll be there soon, and if we find out you're lying… Hmph!”
Mo Tan smiled bitterly and sighed, then reopened his friend message and said to Yu Cheng: 'Very interesting.
I wonder how much he looks like me.
You should take a closer look next time~'
'Okay <(ˉ^ˉ)>~' The girl replied quickly, then sent another message: 'I seem to have something going on here!
Talk to you later (＾＾●)!'
Mo Tan readily agreed, then fell into deep thought, though his posture was not very graceful…
At the same time, Saint Pre Cathedral
“Holy… Holy Maiden!” Yu Cheng, flushed, rushed out of the room and softly asked the beautiful woman with flaxen short hair in front of her: “Why are you here?”
This elegant lady, dressed in a silver gown, with pointed ears and carrying a star-gold cross, was Xia Lian Zhuye, the High Priestess and Holy Maiden of the Dawn Sect.
She was also a God-blessed one and had always served as Yu Cheng's mentor.
“Seeing you, I feel relieved, Wang Yu.” Holy Maiden Xia Lian chuckled and stroked Yu Cheng's hair, then playfully winked at her: “Don't you want to invite me in for a seat?”
This Elven Holy Maiden, only three hundred and twenty years old, was clearly not a rigid person.
She enjoyed teasing her disciple, who would get shy after saying just a few extra words.
“Ah!” Yu Cheng quickly turned around and pushed open the door, stammering: “I… I'm sorry! I forgot!”
Xia Lian reached out and pinched the latter's soft cheek, then waved to Tairo, who had personally come to deliver the message earlier, indicating that he could go back to his duties.
Then she walked into the room, casually took off the slender, long cross from her back, and bent down to gently place it on the ground…
Boom!!
Then the floor caved in, and a bunch of cracks appeared around it.
“Uh!” Holy Maiden Xia Lian was stunned for a moment, then gave an embarrassed smile to the startled girl beside her: “I forgot this place hadn't been blessed yet.”
With that, she quickly picked up her cross, then lifted her small foot and, whistling, stomped the sunken part of the floor solid.
How much force must that have taken…
“Hmm, I heard that the 'monster' you caught is a bit special?” The Holy Maiden walked around the room for a long time, evenly stomping every floor tile down by two centimeters, then asked Yu Cheng as if nothing had happened: “You weren't hurt, were you?”
Yu Cheng glanced at the suddenly lower floor around her and shook her head blankly: “No~”
“Be a good girl, Wang Yu, go back and say you were hurt.” Xia Lian leaned down and whispered in her ear: “Then ask for some time off or something, and I'll take you out to play!”
“Uh…” Yu Cheng was stunned for a moment: “Okay.”
Xia Lian nodded with satisfaction, then sighed softly: “But we have to go on a business trip before we can go back…”
“Hmm?” Yu Cheng tilted her head curiously: “Business trip?”
“Yes, to the South… a Plague has broken out, a Great Plague.”
…
Fire Claw Territory, outside Fell Axe City
Mo Tan, deep in thought, was suddenly thrown to the ground, then saw a pair of small boots appear in his field of vision, and a teasing voice came from above and to his side…
“Not bad~ Why didn't I notice you were such a masochist before? You're so happy you don't even want to reply to messages~ Is bondage play fun? Want to be tied up a bit longer?”
Chapter 86: End