The sky was still dark, and the stars and moon were faint, but torches were already alight in Connor Village. It was only four in the morning.
After her first two expeditions, the troupe Adda led already understood what kind of schedule the degenerated vodyanoi were running on.
They would sleep between three after midnight and six in the morning. Four was when they were deepest in their sleep, and when their defenses were the weakest.
Under Adda’s command, the knights all quickly made one last check on their gear. Other than their usual weapons and equipment, each squad had also brought along a black, wooden barrel giving off some strange smell.
And as the villagers watched, the horses carried dozens of knights, and the soldiers headed north. In less than a kilometer, they had already reached the end of the swamp.
“Your Highness, we’ve discovered no signs of the vodyanoi.”
Adda nodded at the scout and with a wave of his hand, everyone behind her rushed towards the lakeside.
The mist was floating on the lake in the cold, morning air. A dark shadow could be seen if one were to stand at the edge of the lake and look carefully, and behind that shadow were the dazzling lights from Vizima City.
Meanwhile, dozens of wooden boats hid in the reeds by the shore, waiting shoulder to shoulder like hungry beasts in the night.
Four knights shared a single boat. While one of them took care of a wooden barrel, two of them quietly rowed using a paddle towards the dark island in the middle of the lake.
Each boat was about thirty feet away from each other, and they looked like a large fishing net being hurled towards the island in the middle of the lake.
The wind howled, causing the lake to be wavy. The sounds of the rolling waves covered the sounds of the paddles rowing.
Their actions became even more stealthy.
Princess Adda’s boat was located in the middle of them all. She was standing at the bow of the boat with her whip in hand as she looked at the island some distance away. Her eyes were filled with determination as her lips pressed into a line.
She had prepared one whole month for today.
She had also endured for one whole month.
While the vodyanoi and degenerated vodyanoi were both simply humanoids with low intelligence, their blood was still far more satisfying than lowly livestock’s. They were enough to fulfill her desire.
Even if five years had passed since she had regained her human mind and her red hair had slowly turned white, some things didn’t change. She still retained one of her primal eating disorders… her bloodlust, her hematophagy.
To her, human blood was something even more delicious than high-grade wines.
But she no longer wanted to be called a monster by her own people. And so, she had no choice but to take a step back and satisfy herself with animals. Next, it was the vodyanoi.
But that wasn’t the reason she had to attack the degenerated vodyanoi.
After she had returned to her human form five years ago, she had learned to enjoy something that was much more transcendent than the taste of blood thanks to the love showered on her by a guilt-ridden King Foltest.
She enjoyed how soldiers would obey and charge towards her enemies or siege their cities with a simple order.
She enjoyed being the center of everyone’s attention, the way everyone would bow humbly before her.
The vodyanoi were only her first prey!
She cracked a smile, revealing her white teeth arrogantly. She narrowed her eyes as her white hair was carried by the wind as she stood on the boat’s bow.
Roy and the other witcher watched the high-spirited woman in front of them as they rowed the boat rhythmically, Roy’s ears raised high.
The cold mist from the two sides of the boat had obscured his vision, and he began to have a suspicious feeling. The boats had only departed for ten minutes. They had only completed one-third of the journey before they could reach the island in the middle of the lake.
Roy was still rowing with the paddle as he quietly closed his eyes and used his witcher senses on the dark and deep lake.
He removed the sounds of water and wind like peeling off an onion, and he could quickly and clearly sense a strange bubbling sound.
He could also sense the sound of something moving at high speeds in the waters.
His sight turned to the water to his right. Under the cover of darkness, he could only see the water that was as black as ink, as well as the waves caused by the paddling and the naturally formed ones.
However, in those waves, he could sense something strange and roundish floating.
It swam very close to the boat and changed its position repeatedly. Eventually, it quietly showed itself.
A fish head that was long and flat appeared out of the water. It was larger than the head of a normal human with its forehead sloping downward. A pair of eyes like pearls were continuously shifting just above its fish-like mouth filled with sharp, uneven teeth as it observed the boat.
And there was intense murderous intent in those eyes. And at that moment, its eyes and Roy’s met.
Both noticed each other.
After letting out a strange howl, the vodyanoy’s head plunged back into the water.
“Our target has been alerted. Your orders, Princess Adda,” Roy roared at the woman in front of him.
Adda said nothing as she simply raised a burnt torch into the air.
The light immediately dispelled the darkness around them. Like a signal, sounds of objects being dumped into the water could be heard from the boats. All the knights immediately opened the barrels they had prepared and began to reach inside. They threw, piece after piece, black objects into the lake, even as they were among the fishy stenches.
Objects covered with fishy stench began to rain into the lake. The “objects” were in fact coagulated pieces of crushed fish and prawns that had been left to rot for days, and its smell was extremely strong.
The knights began to cough and vomit as they couldn’t stand it.
Even Roy and Letho, two witchers who were used to such strong scents, couldn’t help but block their nose.
“It’s even worse than the mouth of a nekker. These things are definitely biohazards.”
While these were disgusting for humans, for the degenerated vodyanoi, they were an unimaginable delight.
The surface of the lake began to roll as countless shadows began to tear into the rotten fish and prawns.
And then numerous fish lips began to appear on the water. Hundreds of degenerated vodyanoi surfaced from the depths, the stench throwing them into a frenzy as they fought, swallowed, and chomped mindlessly. Some of them even began to bite into their own people…
As the water began to ripple, the boats began to rock.
Blood darker than the night began to float onto the surface of the lake.
One of the boats was, unfortunately, being dragged into the vodyanoi’s struggle as it began to rock uncontrollably. One of the knights wasn’t able to balance himself and accidentally fell into the water.
He only managed to scream for less than ten seconds before there was nothing left but bones as he was surrounded by the sound of grinding teeth.
They could only watch in shock.
“Are they piranhas?!”
No matter who fell into the water, nothing would be left of them.
One of the knights noticed something abnormal.
“The vodyanoi are normally asleep at this time. How is it possible that such a large group of them managed to get close to us? It looks like they’re preparing to ambush us.”
“Luckily, we have our secret weapon!”
Preparing supper for the vodyanoi and to draw their attention away? Of course not. Being absorbed by them was a paralysis poison prepared by the witchers from the Viper School.
But they still didn’t know if the poison would work.
After a while, all the “food” in the barrels had been depleted, and the vodyanoi were almost done with their supper.
The water was becoming calm again.
In less than five minutes, the vodyanoy that was patrolling in the lake slowly floated up, unmoving.
Only at this time did everyone manage to see what they truly looked like. Their light blue skin was covered with scales and black tattoos, as if they had suffered from radiation burns. They had the head of a fish, but the body of a human. Some of them had much stronger limbs and they had thick scales like that of a crocodile. They even had webs in between their fingers.
“What are you still waiting for, my brethren?!”
Adda scooped a handful of the water from the lake that was dyed with the color of blood and gave it a lick as her body began to tremble excitedly. “Kill them all!”
It was at that moment that the knights on the boat unsheathed their swords, carried their crossbow, and began to attack their targets that still remained in the water.
Roy also took out Gabriel and began to fire rapidly.
“Degenerated Vodyanoy killed. Experience +20…”
“Degenerated Vodyanoy killed. Experience +20…”
Witcher Level 5 (1400/2500)
His experience points increased at a rate that was observable.
Adda tapped his shoulder warmly. There was praise on that excited face of hers.
“As can be expected from a professional. Thanks to your idea, we have killed hundreds of degenerated vodyanoi in one fell swoop. Once we return victorious, I will reward you handsomely!”
Fifteen minutes later, the one-sided slaughter stopped and they lit their surroundings with a torch.
The boats were surrounded by the corpses of degenerated vodyanoi as they floated in the lake. Even the water had been painted reddish-brown.
Meanwhile, the “expedition” led by Princess Adda was completely unharmed, other than two unfortunate souls who had been dragged down into the wards when they were feeding them.
However, the two witchers didn’t show any sign of relaxing.
“There were already at least 200 vodyanoi that had appeared here. What else is waiting for us on the island?”