He was stuck here, while our Miss Roman behind him finally couldn't hold back any longer.
She raised her delicate eyebrows, poking Brando's back with her finger, calling out in what she thought was a very quiet voice. Of course, for a Miss Merchant, what she thought was quiet was usually far from it.
Everyone present was scared out of their wits by the sudden sound.
In fact, Roman's voice wasn't that loud, just slightly more urgent than normal. But in this silent night, it was still quite abrupt in the otherwise noiseless forest.
Brando quickly covered the mouth of the nerve-wracked young lady, then turned around to see Redi stopping, looking around alertly.
At that moment, Brando was almost ready to strangle this troublesome girl, though, of course, he wouldn't actually do it, because he couldn't bear to.
Luckily, Redi seemed to relax after being tense for a moment and turned back to continue talking with his companion, allowing Brando to breathe a sigh of relief. He then turned back and gave Roman a sharp glare, thinking of something else.
But Miss Merchant shook her head stubbornly, continuing to utter muffled sounds, clearly very displeased with Brando's actions.
Brando was initially on the brink of losing his temper but quickly sensed something was off.
Though Roman was somewhat reckless and fearless, seemingly indifferent on the surface, he knew this girl who often laughed like a little fox was actually very shrewd.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have come this far unscathed.
Just as this thought occurred to him, a rough hand grabbed his, startling him further, as it was highly unusual for his summoning soldiers, the Rubis Mercenaries, to take initiative.
He looked up to see the cautious eye of that seasoned mercenary.
Brando's grip loosened, and Roman also fell silent.
Not just them, but even Redi stopped again, the white-haired young man turning back to look in their direction.
The forest seemed to fall into a sudden quiet—
Not only did the people freeze, but even the wind ceased to blow.
"What did you hear?" Brando instinctively asked, knowing Roman's perception far exceeded that of normal people.
Miss Merchant glared at him, and then nodded.
Brando flared his nostrils, his heart skipping a beat—there was a strange smell in the air. It was somewhat sharp, but more so a pungent stench, reminiscent of the boiling water from erupting volcanic springs.
The stench of sulfur.
As soon as the concept crossed Brando's mind, his hand instinctively drew his longsword with a crisp 'clang.' He didn't even have to think; it was an almost automatic reaction.
"Those damned Blackfire cultists! Damn the bastard who wrote the strategy guide for misleading me. If I had known Blackfire cultists were here, I'd never have gotten into this mess even if it killed me!"
In his mind, a string of curses exploded. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel⟡fire.net
The Blackfire cultists were under Mayade, the 'Lord of Gu Worms' among the Twelve Shepherds of the Shepherd Tree Man. However, unlike those 'Gu Mages' who played with insects, these human scum collaborated with those bastards by the sulfurous river of flames!
They generally referred to those below as bastards!
They were the Demon Lords beneath Jogen Digan's underground—
Brando couldn't help but slap his forehead in frustration. He should have guessed it earlier - the southern territories of Erune, near the barbaric forest, had long been a traditional territory for the Blackfire cultists. Yet his attention had been focused on the Sage Stone Tablet and the strange actions of the 'Grey Wolf' Mercenary Group. He didn't consider this common knowledge.
This must be what they call missing the obvious?
Brando's aversion to these guys wasn't due to their fighting prowess but to their insane fanaticism. They were even crazier than the fanatic monks of the Light Holy Temple, likely charging into battle shouting that they were invulnerable to blades and bullets.
Furthermore, the Blackfire cultists shackled various demons—they cooperated but also had their own agendas. One would think this would severely impact their combat effectiveness, but the creatures from the underground of Jogen Digan possessed an array of bizarre abilities, making them hard to defend against.
Additionally, higher-level believers could absorb the demon's power, merging with the demons they had chained. Just imagining the grotesque scene made Brando want to throw up.
Facing such monsters, one or two might be manageable, but in greater numbers, even God couldn't handle it.
Brando instinctively wanted to flee immediately. But just as the thought crossed his mind, a whooshing sound arose in the darkness.
As a Level 130 warrior, Brando was very familiar with that sound. He instinctively ducked, and sure enough, a spiked chain ball flew out of the dark depths of the forest, black chain rattling with spiked balls on both ends.
"There's a Thorny Chain Lord." Brando saw the spiked chain ball 'swish' through the trees as thick as a bowl and flew past Redi and the young man next to him. Though it didn't cause any harm, it clearly scared them witless.
Brando, however, only felt a sour sensation in his teeth.
In Jogen Digan's Purgatory, the Thorny Chain Lords outranked Hellhounds, being 29-level demon creatures. Back when he was a Level 30 training in the molten lava pool area, he often suffered at the hands of these creatures. He never thought his 'childhood' terror would resurface today.
But the rapid turn of events left him no time to fret over his teeth.
He saw Redi and the young man turning to flee—
"Brainless fools!" Brando almost jumped in panic. A 29-level Thorny Chain Lord missing its throw? Clearly testing the waters, he knew too well how cunning these visitors from below were. He could almost be certain that they were facing a reconnaissance team.
But Redi's escape would likely lead the main force of the Blackfire cultists right to them.
It didn't matter whether that guy lived or died; the issue was that now they all were in this direction.
Brando immediately slapped 'Hu Que' on the shoulder, almost hoarsely shouting, "Get those two brats back here! Drag them back!"
(PS. A little bit of support here would be appreciated, anything at all, folks, the results are really disheartening. It's quite lonely to be ignored.)(To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com for more chapters, support the author, and read the legitimate version!)