Chereads / The Blade of the Hunter / Chapter 4 - Wild animal

Chapter 4 - Wild animal

"I say," said Etienne, drawing out his voice, "Valen, you do not want to contend with the poor little apprentice."

"It was Julius's magic necklace, not his." Warren had a rough voice.

"But it's not yours. Why should you take it?" Etienne rose slowly.

"Because I am wiser than you, younger than you, and stronger than you." Warren scoffed. "I get what I want."

"Demon hunters don't do their job well, but they know how to fight." Etienne shot back, "There's a blade demon roaming not far away. Fight it, please."

"Give me that necklace." Valentic overstepped Etienne and gave direct orders to Charles.

Shire stared at the necklace they were struggling over. It was the most delicate and expensive thing he had ever seen. It was made of solid gold, its links interlocking, heavy and heavy, and at the end hung an emerald pendant in a diamond shape, delicately cut. As Shire gazed at it, he could hear the faint sound of magic flowing, as if it were a magic item, but he did not know what effect it had.

Wizards often inject their spells into items to give them a powerful effect that only highly skilled wizards can do, and at great cost, so each spell item is quite expensive.

"There's no need to break it. Put it down." Etienne said.

Warren first let go, Shire also slowly put the necklace back to the remains. The bones are still warm, and people are already fighting over the relics.

"What does this necklace do?" 'he asked Etienne.

"Julius's shield necklace resists the effects of other spells." The old hunter looked at the necklace in Shire's hand, "This necklace has saved him many times, but unfortunately..."

Char looked up at Warren.

Valen was taller, more mature, more fierce, and more experienced in battle, both against demons and men, than Charles. Etienne has just been wounded. He's over fifty, and if he's really desperate, the old hunter and the young apprentice will be left here.

I know the situation is bad, but... To give the treasure to a man like Warren? I can't do that. Shire thought to himself.

"Stay out of the way." Warren urged.

"No." Shire did not speak much, preferring to defend his decision with action, "... He should be buried with Mr. Julius."

"Stupid, mindless fool, is there any reason to bury treasures deep in the ground?" Warren was furious, "Take it, we have a better chance against the devil." Not only does it stop spells, but it also interferes with demonic sorcery."

Will you fight the devil? Shire was deeply suspicious.

"If you die, do you want us to bury your things properly with you, or do you want us to fight over your things?" Etienne was not impressed by Valen's attitude, "Of course, I fully agree that the inheritance is best left to the living." Warren, you go and bury Julius."

"Bury the fool? I need a shovel first!" Warren cursed.

"Then, Charles, take Julius's bones and bury them. The necklace will be his funeral expenses." Etienne simply ordered.

"Well, come on, I'll see what you dig the grave with." Warren sneered.

Shire did not say a word. He picked up his sword, which had been bent by the fallen blade into an unsightly curve that could be used for digging. With this somewhat distorted sword, he dug silently in the ground.

"With that kind of stuff, see how far you dig, that's stupid." Warren first ridicule, with a look at the attitude of the shire action, and soon fell into silence.

Because Char really dug a decent grave.

He dug for an hour, tired, but managed to dig a hole more than a meter wide and three fingers deep.

Charles, with unprecedented courage and courage, picked up the charred and festering remains of Julius, the whole body was warm, the face burned horribly, the body was riddled with holes cut by the demon blade, and the spine was missing in large numbers.

"Disgusting." Warren looked at it with a frown.

Such was the body that Charles dared to touch with both hands. He put the bulk of the bones in the pit, and after the fire Julius's body had shrunk enough to be buried in the shallow, small pit.

Char patiently collected the rest of the burnt ashes in the palm of his hand, and slowly scattered them into the pit until only black traces of human form remained where the fire had originally been.

When this was done, he pushed the earth he had dug back into the pit to form a tiny bump, thus burying a demon hunter who had been killed fighting in the twilight forest. It may not be an honorable ending, but it's still peaceful.

You've given everything in life to fight ghosts from other worlds, and you can't rest well after death?

The blade of the Fall, although made of Julius's backbone, except for the bones, the other parts are depraved demonic qualities, and can not be casually buried in the earth, otherwise it will cause disaster.

If he had the chance, he wanted to bury him in Denver... Poor Denver, my good friend, was so forgotten under the tree that Char felt depressed.

He rose and paid homage to Julius' body. Next to the big tree is still burning, the trunk is tough, I am afraid to burn on the night, the hot air around the rolling, steamed Shire was sweating.

After seeing the Shire's action, Warren said nothing more, but ate on his own.

"Put that necklace on, Julius will be pleased." Etienne said.

"Hypocrisy." Warren whispered, "Master and apprentice, birds of a feather. What a thick skin to steal from a dead man."

Char picked up the necklace of green jewels and placed it solemnly around his neck.

Etienne patted him on the shoulder.

"I hope you make a good demon hunter."

I just want to survive. Char thought uneasily. It was dark and quiet, and I didn't know where the blade demon was hiding.

"What are you worried about?" Etienne noticed Charles's lack of mood.

"The devil." Char seemed to be the only one of them still thinking about the devil. "Where will it hide?"

"Everywhere, it's looking for a host." Etienne stroked his sparse chin and said, "If the demon is real, it will feel pain all the time, because the world hates it." So it must seek out a creature of this world, hide within it, and use the body of that creature to resist the pressures of the world."

"Are animals okay?"

"It cannot be a beast, an insect, or anything like that, because after the demon has possessed itself, it can only think in the mind of the host, and if the target is a stupid creature, the demon will also become stupid." At the same time, the possessed target should not be too weak, if we kill its possessed body, it will fall into a period of weakness, and it will easily be banished or captured by us. So it tries to find a strong shell."

Shire remembered that there were demons in their Hunter's sanctuary, and that hunters could keep them in the real world long enough that they could not return to hell.

"So it has to be human." Shire thought for a moment, "Demons must live on human beings."

"Not necessarily, demons can also live in the minds of dragons, higher dragons are much smarter than us, they are determined, so they will become particularly paranoid after being contaminated by demons... And elves and dwarves. There are also records of possessed dwarves attempting to forge demonic craft. Although elves do not ask the world, it is theoretically possible to be tempted by demons... There was also an attempt to have demons attached to apes, which is a very human-like animal that we don't have here, but I've seen in the south... But, Shire, if you come across sorcerers and wizards who try to 'experiment' with demons, and you destroy one by one, some knowledge is taboo, and exploration can lead to disaster."

"But if we don't study them, we'll never understand how they got there." Char could not help saying.

"Sure, but only if they become so." Etienne pointed to Charles's bag, which contained the deactivated demon blade, "This kind of thing is the demon's family, the vitality is limited, as long as they delay, they will sooner or later fall, and the demon power that supports their action will eventually dissipate, so that it becomes dead... Such things, which still have some demonic qualities, can be studied slowly."

"Have you studied it?"

"I was involved a long time ago." Etienne recalls the past, "when I had 'friends' who studied these things to explore knowledge and develop their own ideas." Deadwood Kings, blade demons, and brass princes like to create tangible evils. The horned Maharaja, the minotaur Demon stream will create various demons large and small to invade the world, which is also a category that we can fight and hunt... Ah, Char, the scariest of all are those demons who are abstract in nature and have no concrete existence... I don't know what you're going to do with that one day."

"What am I going to do?"

"To fight a demon like that is more dangerous than words can describe. Then you will find that your spells, swords and crossbows are ineffective, and that all your trusted companions have turned against you. As demon hunters, all we have left to rely on is ourselves, which is why we go alone, away from civilization, because we know they can't be trusted, so we have to develop the ability to fight alone... Strong, very strong, so that you can overcome everything, find out where they really are, go to them alone, cut them out of their hiding shells, and send them back with the curse of exile."

"You haven't taught me Banishment yet." Shire has some expectations.

"I'll teach you when it's safe out of the forest." Etienne shook his head.

Etienne seemed tired and sat down to rest.

So the three demon hunters sat by the burning tree and looked at the burning trunk.

Can we really defeat the Blade demon? Char thought about this over and over again. Can the rest of us win? We agreed to meet at a place called Campstone Ruins in the Twilight Forest, and we should be able to get there tomorrow morning... Will I survive? As a hunter recruit...

"How old are you?" Warren turned to Charles and suddenly spoke, interrupting Charles's meditation.

"Seventeen." 'said Shire.

"Why be a demon hunter?"

Char froze for a moment, why did this guy ask this.

"There is no choice." He answered the truth.

"Would you risk your life to fight the devil?"

"Yes." Char was confused. Wouldn't any demon hunter be?

"Don't." Warren shook his head, "Life is the first, if later, you face life and death choices... Being alive is always the most important thing. Climb into the grave and ask Julius. If you do it again, he'll stay far enough away to take part in the action."

"..."

"You think I'm too greedy? Violent?"

"No." Shire spoke against his will, and in fact, he felt that men like Warren were almost a stain on the demon hunter.

"Look at Etienne. In all the time you've been with him, have you ever seen him smile or get angry?" Warren scoffed coldly.

Charles turned to the old hunter next to him. Etienne looked dull, his eyes closed, asleep, his face thick with white beard and deep wrinkles, old and silent in the firelight.

"Man is a beast driven by desire. You think you're acting noble? You have to understand, it's you who are abnormal..." Warren smiled unsightly.