Chapter 95 Gray Ghost
During the Arcane Catastrophe, an earthquake left a great rift valley two hundred feet deep and five hundred feet wide in the royal city of Aldus, named: Ladugue Deep Trench .
The bottom of the rift valley is rugged and rugged, and the rugged gravel stretches up a quarter of a mile along the cliff.
In order to make use of this valley, the gray dwarves carved out a series of pedestrian stairs and wide slopes for driving on the cliffs on both sides.
On the cliff is the metal processing factory of the Sadwal clan, which forges special products like the magic flame lance used by the Saron spearmen.
Its forging process produced a large amount of strong gas, and the discharged gas poured down the cliff and finally lingered at the bottom of the valley unable to dissipate.
The Rift Valley itself is the main residential area of the city. The various residences of the gray dwarves are built on the tops of the north and south cliffs, and these areas are usually prohibited to outsiders.
Outside the gates at the east and west ends of the Rift, there are exiled derro dwarves.
The West Rift is where the derro dwarves lived as slaves, and it is still a dark and dangerous slum.
The East Rift Area is a newly developed settlement after the liberation of the Derro Dwarves, but it is only slightly better than the West Rift Area.
Brian, wearing a black cloak that blended in with the shadows, led Hesiah quietly through the gray dwarf settlement and arrived near the west gate of Ladug Deep Trench.
He saw a row of guardhouses built on the edge of the rift valley as far as the eye could see. Looking down from a high position, they looked more like buildings to monitor the living conditions of the derro dwarves.
Because five hundred years ago, the Derro dwarves launched a 'union war' against the King of the Deep, the final result was naturally that they were quickly suppressed.
Those derro dwarves who survived were reduced to second-class citizens and slaves in King Aldus City, and could only live in the slums at the east and west ends of the Rift Valley.
The lowest level of Aldus King City are almost all lower-class derro dwarves.
Although they have been liberated from gray dwarf slavery for centuries, they still cannot obtain decent jobs, and their human rights are not recognized by the gray dwarves. Sometimes their status is even worse than that of slaves.
The derro were driven away like vermin, and eventually settled in the East and West Rift areas at both ends of Ladug's Deep Chasm.
The purpose of building these guardhouses is to quietly observe the activities of the derro dwarves to prevent them from doing anything out of the ordinary.
After all, derro dwarves are humanoid creatures that have degenerated in the underdark. They look like smaller dwarves.
Because they are the product of the mind flayer's cruel experiments on the dwarf race, the derro dwarves are crazy and cruel. They like to find pleasure in torturing others, especially humans, and sometimes even torture One's own people.
The most important thing is that the life span of derro dwarves is about 150 years. Their 10-year-old is equivalent to the human development age of 20 years, and the gestation period can last about 5 months at most.
As a result, its population is always growing rapidly.
When the leader of the derro dwarves feels that the number of the group is starting to get out of control, he will lead all the derro dwarves to launch a war against other races.
They quickly formed a chaotic tribe and rushed to the front line, and continued to fight until the population dropped back to an acceptable size.
This terrible purge, in addition to controlling the population, also eliminated the weak among the derro dwarves, and was even nicknamed the 'Union War'.
The gray dwarves in Aldus King City regard the derro dwarves as parasites and slaves and suppress them. They support the obedient derro dwarf leaders and carry out internal cruel rule to suppress any resistance they may have.
So, while the commoners of the derro can only make a living by begging in dirty neighborhoods, their leaders can only live a wealthy life in secret.
The cave where Aldus King City is located is traversed by the Ladugue Deep Groove, and a crack is torn into the cave wall leading to the distance.
The gray dwarves built a lot of construction on the rift passage, using various fences and platforms to build strong city gates to prevent the gray dwarves living in the East and West Rift Valley from rioting.
Bryan led Hesiah to the city gate. After a brief interrogation by the gray dwarf guards, they walked through the gate and arrived at the slums where the derro dwarves lived.
The moment they stepped into this area, the two of them clearly felt that the smell in the air had changed.
The pungent metallic smell turned into a nauseating stench, and the urban landscape changed from a hot industrial area to a poor slum.
Brian looked around warily.
As the derro population grew, they continued to dig tunnels into the distance, the scale of which even exceeded the duergar's expectations.
And he also knew that the derro dwarves often made trouble and even had small-scale riots. Fortunately, due to their inherent lack of organizational discipline, they did not cause too big problems.
The houses here are usually just caves dug into the stone walls, or simple buildings built randomly together, mainly rough-carved rock piles or broken stone caves.
The streets in the city are dirty and the houses are messy. There is no urban planning at all.
"Brian, did you hear any strange noises?" Hesiah came closer to him and deliberately lowered her voice to him.
Walking on this unplanned street, she seemed to hear hundreds of derro dwarves whispering or screaming, which made her a little restless.
Fortunately, she had already experienced a more terrifying environment than this in the mushroom palace of the Fungus Queen, so she quickly regained her composure.
Brian knew that as a fourth-level sword mage, Hesiah's perception was naturally sharper than his.
Although he only vaguely heard the sound, as he walked and felt the atmosphere of the slums, he could tell from the inexplicable hatred burning in the eyes of the two Derlo civilians who occasionally passed by. came to a conclusion.
The derro dwarves here are basically immersed in their own madness.
"Stay vigilant and don't worry about these." He didn't explain too much, but just reminded Hesiah not to be affected by these noises.
The purpose of their coming here is not only to eradicate the hidden demon cultists and find the red dragon eggs, but also to destroy the broken spire that emits evil energy.
Only in this way will the entire city of Aldus be temporarily free from the influence of demons.
"There is something hidden here. We need to come here to find it." Hesiah followed Brian's footsteps and did not choose to speak, but used magic to communicate with him.
"The vortex stone tunnel hides the temple 'Holy Law Hall' built by the derro dwarves for their patron saint."
Brian replied through telepathy: "The location It has been found by Copper Block, and we will join him immediately."
In fact, the 'Holy Law Auditorium' is just a cover for the Demon Altar, because the Derro dwarves here have never believed in their guardianship. god.
Of course, there is an exception.
That is the Derro dwarf priest Jip who came to King Aldus City with them.
"Don't be anxious, we'll be there soon." He added while looking at the luminous fungi gradually appearing in front of him.
"I'm afraid it's too late." Hesiah's hand unconsciously touched the hilt of the sword hanging on her slender waist, and she used magic transmission to signal Brian to look forward.
When the sword mage reminded him, Brian had already noticed something strange in front of him.
He saw four derro dwarves wearing gray clothes and furs walking out of an alley, walking straight towards the two of them.
Then, four more derro dwarves came out of the same alley, but they did not approach, they just lined up and guarded the entrance of the alley.
They all held poisoned light crossbows in their hands, and daggers and short swords hung on their waists.
Brian looked around, moved his shoulders, and took out the rune staff obtained in the red dragon's lair from the dimensional bag.
In the silent confrontation, a short and skinny derro dwarf walked out from behind the man in gray.
He was wearing a black tight-fitting jacket and a fancy coat. The gold chain hanging around his neck swayed with his steps, shining with a faint magical aura.
"The thieves of the gray ghost." Brian narrowed his eyes and looked at this group of thieves who came with bad intentions.
The Gray Ghost is the only true thieves guild in Aldus King City.
Its members are mainly exiled gray dwarves and derro dwarves, plus some scattered slaves who escaped.
The former leader of the Gray Ghosts was captured by the Flame Keepers and executed for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of a stolen red dragon egg.
The Flame Keepers' relentless vengeance has forced the Gray Ghost thieves into hiding and restricted guild activities.
Now that so many thieves appeared all at once, Brian realized that things might not be as simple as he thought.
He saw eight thieves slowly and silently approaching him and Hesiah as the leader appeared.
The leader of this group of thieves walked towards the two of them with firm steps. Eight men in black spread out behind him, blocking every direction of escape.
Just when the thieves leader was about to touch Brian's spell attack range, he suddenly stopped vigilantly and began to look at them carefully.
The unusually cold eyes of the leader of thieves reflected the metallic color, his forehead was abnormally covered with sweat, he looked sickly pale, and there were mottled red spots on his cheeks. "Surface people." The leader of the thieves said coldly, with his hands behind his back, "This is not the place you should come to."
As he spoke, he put his hands behind his back. His hands made a series of gestures that were very familiar to all thieves.
Immediately afterwards, eight derro dwarves holding light crossbows appeared strangely from various commanding points in the tunnel. The derro dwarves approaching behind the leader of the thieves also raised their poison-quenching crossbow bolts. Everything is locked on the two uninvited guests, Brian and Hesiah.
——"Explosive Blade!"
Hesiah took the lead in attacking, and the blade suddenly burst out with force field energy condensed from arcane runes.
As she swept the blade in a circle, her rune sword shattered into dozens of force field blades in the blink of an eye, stabbing the thieves in front of her like a gust of wind.
In an instant, the four thieves who could not escape were pierced by the broken blade and died on the spot.
The leader of the thieves looked shocked, drew out his dagger, jumped into the shadows and disappeared.
——"Double Thunder Flash!"
Hesiah whispered without hesitation, and danced a sword light with a dazzling technique. Her graceful figure enveloped the electric light and turned into an afterimage. She rushed in front of the remaining thieves and released the dancing lightning.
A stream of blood splattered.
Every time the sword mage's rune sword paused in front of the four thieves, one of them dropped the weapon, clutched his neck and fell to the ground dead.
In the end, only the missing thief leader survived.
——“Blazing flames chase shadows!”
Unaware of the disappearing thief leader, Hesiah immediately recited a binding spell.
The scorching flames covered the body of her rune sword, and the thief hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity, immediately had a continuous burning flame appear under his feet.
The leader of the thieves was startled and ran away quickly.
But to his disbelief, as he ran quickly, the bright path of flames under his feet clearly exposed his traces.
Hisaya's expression turned cold, and he quickly followed the path and chased after him with his sword in hand.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
From the moment the sword mage took the lead in attacking, the eight thieves standing on the commanding heights of the tunnel on the other side all pulled the triggers and shot towards the man standing alone. Brian poured out poisoned crossbow bolts.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
When the speeding crossbow arrow approached about half a meter from Brian, it either deflected directly and flew in another direction, or it was consumed. Using all his strength, he landed at his feet.
The moment the thieves on the commanding heights finished shooting the crossbow bolts, they did not waste any time. They all pulled out their weapons, jumped up, and rushed towards Brian, whose protective field was dim.
The moment the four derro dwarves jumped down, they were hit by two consecutive "Arcane Missiles" from Brian. They either died miserably or fell to the ground wailing in pain.
The two derro dwarves who had reached the second level of strength and approached him first with "Shadow Assault" were enveloped by the "Colorful Jet" he had been waiting for for a long time, and fell to the ground unconscious.
——"First-level spell: Crugul Flame Arrow!"
After taking down the six thieves, Brian quickly whispered two spells, and the arcane runes on the staff in his hand Hot red light surged out.
The two short crossbow arrows in his palms, carrying the flame energy with tiny crackling sounds, quickly passed through the air and accurately hit the chests of the last two thieves.
"Boom!"
With the sound of explosions, the flaming arrows exploded in the chests of the derro dwarves, blowing their remains into pieces.
Brian released several fire arrows again, killing the thieves who had lost their fighting ability.
At the end of the battle, he looked at the explosion damage caused by the flaming arrows and nodded with satisfaction.
In fact, this simple and ordinary first-level spell is not as powerful as imagined.
But he obtained this excellent staff in the red dragon's lair, which can comprehensively increase the damage and release speed of fire-attribute spells.
With the additional damage and explosion characteristics, the spell was also strengthened by his battle mage characteristics. When released, it was comparable to a weakened small fireball.
The most important thing is that the spell is released very quickly. He can release two flame arrows in succession in almost one second.
If the spell is not released for too long, you must pause to relieve mental fatigue.
He only needs to rely on flame arrows, which is enough to make most professionals with similar strength to him unable to do anything.
As the battle here ended, Hesiah rushed over with his own rune sword.
Brian could tell from the smiling expression she looked at him that the escaping thief leader had been killed.
He no longer hesitated, and immediately took the sword mage with him, ignoring the crazy and hateful eyes of the Derro dwarf civilians looking at them in the dark, and walked straight forward.
“This is the vortex stone tunnel, and the derro dwarves’ ‘Sacred Law Hall’ is hidden inside.”
Brian glanced at Hesiah and pointed to a path on the stone wall. Ragged fabrics, faded canvas sheets and moldy trunks hid the cracks.
The crack was just big enough for a medium-sized human to squeeze through.
They no longer hesitated and entered the tunnel cautiously.
The Whirlpool Tunnel is a group of caves connected to each other at the bottom of King Aldus City.
It cleverly avoids the mines and streets of the city, because the derro who first discovered it did not announce its existence to the outside world.
To this day, only the Council of Scholars formed by the derro dwarves and a few people among the gray ghosts truly know of its existence.
The tunnels here have gentle curves but are deep and long, and their tunnel dimensions are relatively uniform and smooth.
Rare rock formations and rich natural fungi are also distributed in the tunnel, and its depths are also filled with radiation from ley lines.
According to the information from Goblin Copper Block's reconnaissance, he knew that there were currently two independent organizations operating in the tunnel for different purposes.
The Gray Ghost built an alchemy laboratory and a fungus cultivation garden here to replenish the organization's poison supply.
Another demonic cult formed by the Derro Council of Scholars is using the energy radiated by the ley lines to spread chaos and madness throughout the city through evil rituals, using a broken spire as a medium.
Apparently, these derro were trying to weaken the city through these means, so that they could overthrow the duergar.
When the two walked out of the tunnel and came to a relatively open fungus forest, the figure of the goblin copper block appeared in front of them.
"Taimo La, you are finally here." Copper jumped down from a mushroom umbrella, walked happily to them on his short legs.
His sudden appearance scared Hesaya to the point of almost drawing his sword.
"Bronze, you continue to follow Jeep. I suspect that he is trying to summon the soul of a crazy killer through bloody sacrifices. If you can stop it, stop it. If you can't stop it, just leave." Brian After seeing the figure clearly, he immediately said to the goblin without any nonsense:
"Hesiah and I went to the 'Holy Law Auditorium' to deal with the people of the Council of Scholars. The task is completed, you can leave on your own, and don't go any further."
"Okay." Copper Block was silent. For a moment, he looked at Brian, shrugged indifferently, and was about to turn around and leave.
"Wait a minute." Brian stopped him, took out two scrolls from his dimensional bag and threw them to him, "One is a fireball scroll, and the other is a protection scroll. Keep it for yourself. "
"You are really extravagant, giving me such a precious thing." Copper Block put the scroll away in surprise, "If it is not used, I will not return it to you. "
"It already belongs to you. You can do whatever you want with it. In fact, with your strength as a ghost walker, you can achieve wealth and freedom if you are willing. There is nothing to envy." Brian. Smiling and teasing him.
"Tch, let's forget it." Tongnuan'er curled his lips disdainfully, turned around and left them with a back view, waved his hand coolly, and said:
"I am a principled and kind-hearted goblin. First, be kind to others, second, don’t steal or rob, third, be kind and make money, fourth, help those in need, and fifth, forget it, I’ll tell you when I remember it next time.”
Brian looked at the disappearing figure of the goblin, smiled, and then led Hesiah towards the Derro Dwarf's 'Holy Law Auditorium'.
Thanks to the boss: Heath Ice Tea for the reward, thank you for your support! ! !
(End of this chapter)