Chapter 127: Chapter 109: Convergence_1
For Midheim, the early mornings of deep winter were not a comfortable time.
A group of mercenaries stood at the crossroads, looking at Midheim not far away, their eyebrows revealing a degree of dissatisfaction. Among them, a hot-tempered man was even waving his great sword, roaring loudly.
“What’s going on? Do we have to keep waiting? Just how long are we going to wait?”
“Please be patient, my dear friend.”
Smiling, Kevin soothed the warrior before him.
“I believe they are just slightly delayed. It’s not yet the agreed time.”
“So, we’re just fools waiting here in the cold wind? This damn snow is getting into my boots.”
The warrior stamped his foot, visibly upset.
“This is not what I want to see. I swear, when that guy arrives, I will…”
However, the warrior’s words were stopped abruptly midway. With an astonished look, he scanned the road ahead, his hands tightly gripping the giant sword. His hands slightly trembling. Seeing the warriors’ actions, the others turned their heads towards what he saw and got a big surprise – in the faint sunlight of the winter day, a colossal figure emerged from the snowstorm. The figure, donned in a fearsome and peculiar armor, resembled a demon. Red glows emitted from the eyes within the helmet.
“Damn it! What is that?! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Seeing the warriors around him nock their arrows, Kevin urgently raised his hand to indicate them not to act rashly, then turned to face the newcomer.
“You finally arrived, thank God. I was worried that something had happened to you.”
“Nothing happened, it’s just that a certain princess overslept.”
Duanmu Huai glanced back at Ann, who quickly swallowed the bread in her mouth and gave an embarrassed smile to the crowd. She had stayed up late the previous night, too excited and thrilled by the adventures in the Isekai, and had trouble falling asleep. If Duanmu Huai hadn’t forced open her door, the princess would likely still be sound asleep in bed.
“We didn’t get here late, did we?”
“Of course, you are just on time.”
Kevin laughed and turned to lead Duanmu Huai and the others to the rest of the mercenaries.
“Gentlemen, these are our companions. I am sure that with their strength, any obstacle or danger before us can be eliminated.”
“………I wouldn’t dispute that.”
Facing Duanmu Huai, the warrior silently lowered his dual-handled sword. He was the leader of the mercenary group, and should’ve had something to say. However, when he saw this gigantic figure, he felt as if he were facing a towering mountain showing no emotions. Even though the situation was such, the warrior was not foolish enough to vent his anger out on it. But there was a doubt in his heart that needed to be resolved.
“Forgive my bluntness, Mr. Kevin, but are you sure he is a human, not a mutant or a beastman?”
It was normal for the warrior to have such worries. Never mind anything else, just based on his size, one might think he had been ousted from the human race. If he took off his helmet and there was a Tauren or Mouse Troll face underneath, it wouldn’t be surprising. Especially here in Midheim, where there were numerous mutants who infiltrated the city in disguise to gather information…
Um, yeah, that’s not going to happen.
Looking at the figure before him, the warrior moved his mouth, but couldn’t say anything.
He’d definitely be the worst spy, then.
“Hahaha, of course, I can understand your concerns.”
Faced with the warrior’s rebuttal, Kevin chuckled and looked at Duanmu Huai.
“May I ask you to remove your helmet, my friend? I don’t want any unnecessary suspicions to arise during our journey.”
Duanmu Huai extended his hand and quietly removed his helmet.
At the same time, the warrior saw his face. In that instant, he was as stunned as if he had seen a thunderbolt, remaining where he stood.
What a fierce face that was!
Merely gazing at that face, the warrior felt as if he were in a hell of blood and corpses, and all the endless bodies around him were his spoils of war. Just being looked at by the eyes under those thick brows, the warrior felt weak all over. It was the same feeling he had when he first faced the Polar Great Bear as a child, faced with the raging beast’s gaping maw, a sense of dread beyond fear completely overcame the warrior. It felt like his whole body’s blood seemed to congeal at this moment, his heartbeat also started to slow down, even the view before the warrior began to gradually blacken, as if the whole world was leaving him behind…
A truck came from not far away, but the horse pulling the truck upon seeing Duanmu Huai, let out a loud neigh and turned its head to flee. At this moment, Duanmu Huai also put his helmet back on.
When the heavy, terrifying helmet blocked his gaze, the people returned to their senses as if they had narrowly escaped death. They took deep breaths, looking at each other in confusion. They didn’t do anything, but they were already soaked in cold sweat. For a moment, they felt death was within reach, as if they had been pulled back from the edge of a cliff.
“Well, at least we know he’s not a beastman.”
Feeling the gaze of his subordinates, the warrior swallowed, then began to speak. Then he looked at Duanmu Huai, as if to wipe away his previous dismay, he extended his hand.
“Hello, mighty and robust warrior, we are the ‘Frost Giant Bear’ battle team, and I am their leader, Cliff.”
At this time, Kevin also interjected on the side.
“The Frost Giant Bear Battle Group is one of the most famous battle groups in the Northern Land. They are very familiar with this place. If we want to track down our target, I think it would be best to cooperate with them.”
“Hello, Frost Giant Bear.”
Duanmu Huai extended his hand and shook the warrior’s hand.
“We are the Pink Bunny Battle Team.”
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s reply, the warrior froze.
“… I’m sorry, what is the name of your battle team?”
Duanmu Huai stared at the warrior and repeated, while behind him, Ann covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh.
Even with the warrior’s extensive experience, he didn’t know what to say in the face of this scene. In fact, as he looked at Duanmu Huai, his mind was in chaos.
“WHY would you name it that?”
“Because the name is cute, isn’t it? Is something wrong?”
Seeing the warrior’s expression, Duanmu Huai showed a satisfied smile. In the game, the names of player’s battle teams were diverse and absurd, like “Dear Dad” or “Black Silk Beautiful O Support Club”, their names were so strange that one would suspect all the players were members of Chaos.
In the end, it even got to the point where many of the team names had to be censored for live broadcasts during the first official Star Ocean competition. The commentators would refer to them as “Mosaic Team 1” or “Mosaic Team 2″…
Of course, after that, there really were players who named their teams after that.
After all, for many players, it was too fun to watch the NPCs solemnly declare things like “Great Hand-eating Team, you bring hope” and so forth.
Ultimately, it was Kevin who broke the somewhat weird and awkward atmosphere.
“We should set off, after all, our enemies will not wait for us.”
Hearing Kevin’s words, the warrior finally withdrew his hand, then looked at Duanmu Huai one more time, then turned around.
“Let’s go, after all, time is of the essence.”
Having said that, the warrior strode forward.
As to whether he was chasing or escaping, only he would know.