Chapter 211: The Battle of the Brood

The thirteenth. (《》lvex.)

Rod put away his long sword and looked at the parasitic beast in front of him that was turning into a pile of dust, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He secretly compared the number of Emerald Tears mercenary groups with the parasitic beasts he had eliminated so far, and the conclusion he came to was not so disappointing.

About two-thirds of them.

"Rest in place."

With a wave of his hand, the mercenaries sat down in place, and he was glad to see that these guys were no longer as exhausted as they had been before, and would have forced themselves back to their companions and friends, even if they were exhausted, instead of chatting and drinking with the people they had fought with before. This sense of community, while commendable, is less pleasing in one's own team.

Rhodes knew very well that it was useless to say that these mercenaries, so he adopted a harsher method - under strong pressure, people were able to quickly get closer to each other. So he ruthlessly squeezed these mercenaries, even if they were exhausted, Rhodes never let them stop, even if they were too tired to wield weapons, Rhodes still pointed forward, forcing them to set off one foot deeper and one foot shallow, until they felt that their spirit and body were about to collapse under the huge double pressure, Rod would stop in time and temporarily give them a way to live.

Under this torture, the mercenaries really stopped thinking about the simple and boring group problems, and they sat on the ground gasping for breath, complaining to every mercenary around them about the damn tunnels, the damn battles, the disgusting bugs, and Rod's cruel and inhuman orders. Their companions will always have an approving attitude towards one or two of them, and once they find that they have something in common, contact will naturally arise.

Rhodes doesn't expect everyone in his mercenary group to love each other like brothers and sisters, but he doesn't allow potential threats to appear on his team. But now it looks like he's doing well, and everyone's attitude towards him is mostly respect mixed with fear, which is no stranger to Rhodes and he is enjoying his current position. The leader of a team can't be too approachable, and he remembers that there were countless players on the Internet who chose to leave because they couldn't stand him and posted on the forums complaining that Rhodes was not close enough to them, in their opinion, everyone is a player, and Rhodes has no reason to show such a high level of indifference and superiority on the Internet. But Rhodes knows very well that this is what a leader should do, and being approachable may bring popularity, but when your potential enemies find that you are no different from everyone else, your good days will come to an end. They will endlessly challenge you, trying to hit you and gain the same status or even higher than you. The greed and evil of the player will always be magnified in the virtual world to the point that even the evil monsters in the game cannot stand it. But conversely, a certain degree of arrogance and apathy can keep those with malicious intentions away.

Of course, it's also a double-edged sword.

It's a shame he's a good guy.

Cavers sat beside him, and he looked at Rhodes—a young brunette man sitting quietly in a corner, the flickering light of the fire shining on his slightly thin and thin body, as if it were merging with the black shadow. The other mercenaries were more or less far away from him, not materially, but spiritually. Also as a mercenary leader, Caworth knew what Rods was doing for him, because his younger brother Dellett was like that, and when he came back from demobilization to form a mercenary group, Caworth didn't think that his taciturn brother could do such a thing. He is not as eloquent as himself, and can appease the troubles in the mercenary group. Nor is he as cheerful and enthusiastic as Obertan, and his personal charisma can make those dishonest guys obedient. But Dellett did, and although he was not popular with them at first, he eventually gained the recognition of the mercenaries for his meticulous and serious attitude that is characteristic of soldiers. But Kavus knew very well that Rhodes was not such a man, and the experienced thief was keenly aware of the emotions he showed from time to time——— pride, pride, and unwavering faith, and you could not easily influence his opinion on any matter, and the face that barely changed its expression buried all the emotions of the bearer. Only in front of the girl with the same face will there be a smile. …,

You know, Cavos couldn't help but be stunned for a moment when he saw Rod and Christie for the first time, especially the smile on the former's face made him look like a beautiful girl rather than a man, and he even had to close his eyes to remind himself how much the man in front of him hated others to treat him as a woman, and even took the example of the Emerald Tears as a danger to finally not let himself embark on the same dangerous and rugged journey.

Luckily, Rod doesn't often appear in front of everyone with Christie.

It's almost the end.

Rhodes calculated the itinerary, they had been walking in the Black Stone Abyss for five days, fortunately Rhodes had long known that this would be the case, so he had his subordinates prepare enough supplies early in the morning, but although Rhodes had no last resort, casualties were still inevitable, two mercenaries paid with their lives because of their stupidity and negligence, and five or six mercenaries were infected by parasites. Luckily, the presence of Lijie and Celia helped them save their lives, but it's hard to say whether Celia's merciless method of digging up bugs from their bodies will cause these mercenaries to have a psychological shadow.

At this time, most of the mercenaries had recovered from exhaustion, and they whispered some curiosity, looking at Rhodes with each other, and there was no lack of worry in their eyes. Some observant mercenaries have discovered that the amount of time Rhodes lets them rest is directly proportional to the strength of the enemy in front of them. If the enemy is strong, let them rest a little longer, but if the enemy is not a threat, then they will even be driven on the road like the donkeys under the merchant's whip, before they even have their butts hot. After a few days they had become accustomed to Rhodes' orders, and now they had clearly crossed the limits of their rest, especially considering that they had only woken up from sleep for less than five hours.

More and more people began to wonder, they said something cautiously, but no one went to ask Rod, only some mercenaries set their eyes on the few girls sitting on the other side, they were the only small circle that Rhodes allowed to be self-contained, and it was not that there were no mercenaries who did not think of trying to get close to them, after all, in this kind of closed space, several girls with sweet and beautiful looks and different charms were indeed like lights in the night. But the reckless fellows soon discovered that the combination of the young ladies didn't have to be safe for those horrible bugs. Anne's enthusiasm and cheerfulness stirred the hearts of the mercenaries, and under the girl's seemingly simple and undisguised enthusiasm, these over-lusted fellows in some ways were eager to teach Anne what was the most delicious and the most able to dispel the joy of loneliness.

But Marlene's sharp and serious gaze is like a sharp sword hovering around the neck, so those fools have to restrain their stupid thoughts, the momentum of the high position for many years has made Marlene show a powerful aura in front of those mercenaries, and she even needs to snort coldly, which is enough to make those guys with boiling flames in their hearts stop their steps, and seriously think about whether it is worth it to do this, and they are not willing to suffer any mental blows and pain for such a game............ Although that was almost inevitable. (Templar lvex.)

Perhaps a gentle spirit master can soothe their wounded hearts, and she won't really get angry even if these guys pretend to be injured and take advantage of them. But under Celia's expressionless gaze, even the most daring fanatics could only choose to withdraw their hands, and they didn't want to be cut in half by angels like many legendary villains who committed adulterous crimes, which was definitely not a good ending. All in all, the combination of these four women feels like thorny roses, beautiful and dangerous, when you want to hug them, you will be stopped by the sharp thorns, but when you try to retreat away, the dazzling beauty has been tempting you to rush forward.

It's hard to keep a balance between that.

Some people may envy these mercenaries for being able to be with beautiful maidens in such deep darkness and underground, but they prefer to call this ——— torture.

Only Rhodes didn't need to enjoy this torture, but frankly, when the mercenaries saw him with the four young ladies, they were unusually jealous at all——— of course, they refused to tell the reason, because it would only bring disaster to themselves.

"Alright." Under the gaze of everyone, Rhodes stood up, he clapped his hands, heard this voice, the mercenaries also quickly stood up, after a few days, they have become accustomed to Rode's action, the leader seems to be extremely cautious, he has to remind something before the start of each battle, but I have to admit that compared to those neurotic guys' so-called "you have to be careful" and "pay attention to the back" This kind of general statement, Rode's reminder is very clear and targeted, and it is also very useful.

"We're going to be busy, so I hope you're prepared, and I've given you plenty of time, because the next battle will be difficult. How difficult will it be? I can assure you that you add up what you've been through along the way. ”

Hearing Rod's words, the mercenaries' faces couldn't help but turn pale, after a few days of getting along, they no longer wondered the young man's strange words, and every time he admonished them, it sounded as if he had been here and fought with these things. And Rhodes himself didn't explain much about this, anyway, the angels who followed him were also very consistent with these mercenaries to speculate and associate themselves in a certain direction. It's just that what he said now still makes these mercenaries feel a little frightened. Of course, they know what they have encountered along the way, countless insects, all kinds of insects, they can fly, they can crawl, they can walk, some are like humans, and some are completely different from humans.

And they don't have much of a reserve left.

Thinking of this, many mercenaries touched their waists, and each of them did not have a bottle or two of fire potion left over, and there was still a surplus of healing potions, but they now knew that these things might be useful against swords and poisoned dagger arrows, but they didn't mean anything to those damn bugs who only crawled around.

"Marlene."

Rhodes made a gesture, and the girl quickly stood up, came to the mercenaries, and took out scrolls from the small ones beside her and placed them in their hands. To Marlene's displeasure, the collection of scrolls did not go well, although she did collect some, but most of the flame-based scrolls were told that they had been purchased, forcing Marlene to choose to sit back at her desk and start drawing the circles and shapes containing elemental power——— Holy Soul, and by the time she was thirteen years old, a girl no longer did the kind of work that only a goddamn magic apprentice would do.

Luckily, the passage of time hadn't stiffened the girl's movements, and she still remembered how to draw and shape them——— but it still upset Marlene.

"You'll need these magic scrolls for the rest of the battle."

After making sure everyone had gotten the scroll, Rod continued.

"It's very easy to use, just tear off the seal on it and throw it out. But I hope you don't use these things randomly, they have to do their part when they are most useful. So I hope that all of you must follow my orders and never use it unless absolutely necessary......... Kavos, I'll leave it to you to be responsible, this time the defensive circle will be very large, we can't handle everything around us, there may be some mistakes, you have to be prepared. "...," Yes, Captain. ”

Caworth nodded.

"Marlene."

Rhodes looked at Marlene, who was standing next to him.

"You know how to fight, I won't say much, but you have to be aware of the threat on the ground, you have to be very careful underground, if you sense a subtle vibration on the ground, then you must get out of there immediately———— the rest of you are the same, Anne, if something happens, you must protect Marlene first, and then the others. Lijie, this time you need to use your own strength. ”

"Yes, Mr. Rod, I know."

The girl who was named stood up and replied in a low and serious voice, in the days of the Phantom Space, everyone had grown and improved enough, and of course Lijie was the same. Even if she was standing here now, thinking back to the skills she had mastered, the girl couldn't help but wonder if it was a dream or something, because of Rod's admonition, Lijie had always positioned herself in the position of healer and assistant, and now she finally had the opportunity to show her strength in actual combat.

"Very well, let's go."

There was no impassioned pre-war mobilization, and it was as calm as an ordinary encounter on an adventurous journey, Rod uttered these words.

But when he led them to the Great Hollow in the depths of the earth, they began to regret that they hadn't expected Rhodes to say something exciting and uplifting to cheer them up———— at least, at least in this case, they were desperate to have enough courage to face it.

In the depths of the earth, the bright light still lures the prey like a predator in the deep sea, and the strong smell of blood and fishy smell spreads to fill every corner. The rancid soil was almost gone, and Marlene found Rod's reminder unnecessary, for it felt like it was a carpet of rotting pieces of flesh when she stepped on the ground, and it was still trembling slightly, as if it had life.

Walking in such a place, Marlene can be sure that she will never feel at ease.

But what is even more striking is the front.

With the light above them, which looked like a Christmas tree lamp, everyone could easily see the crimson skin and the rancid flesh, countless tentacles slid quickly across it, and not far from it, there were traces of those parasitic beasts everywhere. They are larger and more threatening than the same kind that the mercenaries have encountered before, and these once human mercenaries have now been completely transformed into unbiased monsters under the influence of the bugs.

But the most surprising thing was the white that was embedded in the middle of the huge piece of meat.

"The Holy Soul is above!"

Lijie clasped her hands and stared at it with wide eyes. Marlene, on the other hand, frowned, and on the surface it didn't seem to fluctuate, but the white knuckles of her clenched staff were also very good at showing the mage's emotions. And Anne's performance was also not very good, she even screamed a little exaggeratedly, and then avoided it from a distance. Only the Angel Maiden raised her sword as always ———— as always, no different from every time she desperately wanted to fight evil.

And what caused the four young ladies to react so violently was the body that was fused into the red flesh.

The naked half-elf girl has been completely devoured in the flesh at this moment, her eyes are round, but there is only a blank inside, and she can't see the slightest emotion and soul, a tentacle is stuffed into her mouth, constantly moving, as if she is pouring something into the girl's body. In stark contrast to the slender figure of the half-elf girl, her high, bulging abdomen, something in it was throbbing and throbbing, and those tentacles reached between the girl's legs from time to time, as if doing something. Then, the girl's body jerked, an instinctive reaction that almost all living beings would make, and then everyone saw a pile of white, small, viscous eggs falling from between the girl's legs, and they fused into the rancid flesh on the ground, and the blood vessels and membranes fused with each other, and soon formed a new channel for supplying nutrients. And at that moment, the tentacles went deep into the girl's body once more, restarting their work.

"It's evil, it's terrible, it's unforgivable."

Everyone shuddered, but the four women had a deeper sense of the dislike of the male mercenaries, and they seemed to be completely sympathetic to the pain of the half-elf girl in front of them, and even Anne was absolutely unwilling to try such a terrible and terrifying act.

"There's no time to be stunned!"

Rod's voice brought back the people who had been in a momentary trance, and at this moment, they heard the squeak, which was not unfamiliar———— and soon, hundreds of bugs like puppies appeared from the darkness in all directions and ......ran towards them.