Chapter 379: Lessons
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When the hell-like heat waves were gone and everything went back to normal, the druids and swordsmen had all turned into charcoal. Anfey slowly put the Fire sword back into the sheath. He suddenly frowned, grabbed the sword, spun, and tossed the sword out backhanded. He yelled at the same time, "Move."
The sword flew towards Ye with a whooshing sound. Ye’s reaction was fast. He lowered his body as he moved to the side. The sword pass against his side. He could feel the wind hitting his body and face, which gave him a kind of needle-like pinching pain.
The elf had stood up while Ye blocked Anfey’s view of the elf with his body. She quietly pulled the bowstring, but Anfey’s last punch hurt her organ pretty bad, so she was a little slower than usual. Before she fully pulled the bow, Anfey’s sword had shot at her throat with great accuracy.
That elf flipped backwards with lightning speed as the sword pierced her throat. The sword passed through her neck and went deep into the ground. The elf had been kneeling on the ground when she pulled her bow. She never had the chance to even straighten her legs. Now her neck was nailed on the ground, with her body in a weird arch shape. Not only the wound on her throat was painful, but also the way she arched. The elf made moaned weakly in pain. She moved her body to try to stretch herself away from the arch position, but her life was approaching the end fast.
"Master, I was not careful." Ye felt bad for the mistake he had made.
Anfey did not respond to Ye. He slowly walked to Saidy, who was still unconscious. He quietly watched Saidy. If it had been Blavi or others, Anfey definitely would have said something. However, Ye was different. He was careful by nature, so Anfey did not have to say anything to him. Ye would remember this lesson on his own.
"Master, we actually made a small fortune today." Ye changed the topic. He said with a smile, "The magic armor on that elf should have some history in it. It is definitely not regular armor. I think we can save it for Ms. Suzanna. She will like it." He gave a look to a few large mercenaries before Anfey nodded. The mercenaries strode over. They pulled the elf’s body up, as her body was not completely rigid yet, without feeling bad for her. They rudely took their trophy from this battle.
Cruelty had to be viewed from both sides. When mercenaries hunted magic beasts in the forest, they were even more cruel. They would peel off the magic beasts’ fur and dig out the magic crystals in their bodies. They left only a pile of bloody and swollen flesh. If they did not peel their fur and take the magic crystal, many people in the Country of Mercenaries would starve to death. To take their own trophies after battles was a tradition on Pan Continent. Not only mercenaries, but also soldiers and generals on the battlefield would do the same thing. They would not be gentle to the defeated parties. Even a general who had everything when he was alive could turn into someone’s trophy when he lost the battle. He would be tossed naked together with other soldiers into a pit to rot.
Even the famous Princess Victoria was treated the same way after she was killed during negotiations. It was said that she had nothing on her but a piece of cloth when her coffin was carried back to her empire. This made the people in Shansa Empire angry. They believed Maho Empire offended their most respected princess. However, civilians on Pan Continent were the most realistic people. Their anger came and went very quickly. For some time, under the threat of Roaring Dead Legion mercenary group’s victories, they started to fight against Maho Empire because they were asked to pay for the losses in battle. Everyone was pay an equal share. The nobility would never pay for anything. When the civilians did not have enough food to feed themselves, they would spare no time to hate or to remember anyone.
"Wake him up," Anfey said quietly.
A mercenary stepped forward. He pulled his sword out and patted Saidy’s face with the sword. Seeing Saidy had no reaction, he took out his water sack and poured it out on Saidy’s face and body.
With a breeze, Saidy felt cold and slowly opened his eyes, moaning. He saw Anfey right at his face. He rolled over and wanted to run away, but Anfey held his chest down with his foot. Saidy had used his combat power, but combat power could not counter everything. Saidy grunted as he fell backwards. He tried to jump back but got kicked back again. This was repeated a few times before Saidy finally lost his courage to fight back. He lay there as he looked at Anfey with some terror.
If he could go back to Blackwater City right now, he could give Anfey a fair evaluation of his fighting ability. He saw Anfey kicking at his chest, so he held his hands out to block it, but then Anfey kicked him in the stomach. The next time he saw Anfey kicking at his stomach, his chest actually got kicked. The next time when he tried to block both his chest and stomach, Anfey kicked him in the face. His nose and mouth were bleeding. Anfey’s kick was powerful and fast. In addition, he did not kick from regular angles, so it was hard for Saidy to see where the kicks were coming from and made it difficult for Saidy to block them, even though his fighting ability was not great anyway. Anfey was standing while Saidy was laying down on the ground. This position put him at a disadvantage. Saidy was an intermediate swordsman, so he had never really been hit this bad. Saidy felt the huge difference between him and Anfey in fighting abilities.
Seeing that Saidy had stopped fighting back, Anfey asked, "Tell me how many druids are there. You should have sent a lot of Tiger of Tawau mercenaries there, right?"
Saidy kept quiet. As the child of Mourtta and Hotchbini, he knew he could fail but could not sell his peers out.
"To be frank with you, your mother made a huge mistake by allowing you to come after me," Anfey sneered. "Do you think I would not be able to get the information I need if you keep your mouth shut?"
Saidy bit his lips and thought to himself, Fools wanted to come here! The situation in Blackwater City was bad, but still better than living in the wild. He had to pull though. After living in depression, he saw his brothers accomplish something during this time, which woke him up. He could not give himself up by failing, so he asked to take his team to come after Anfey. His mother did not agree with him at the beginning, but he was so determined that he argued, begged, and even swore. His mother finally agreed and gave him this opportunity. He never thought he would end up like this.
"Ye, do you have experience interrogating criminals?" Anfey turned around to look at Ye. In fact, Anfey had a systematic way to do interrogation, but he could not do everything himself as a leader. In addition, Ye had just made a mistake, so Anfey wanted to give him a chance to make up for it.
"Yes, master!" Ye was appreciating the magic armor when Anfey called him out. Ye immediately handed the armor to a mercenary and walked over to Saidy. He took a close look at Saidy and suddenly laughed. "This guy has such smooth skin. He looked like he never experienced any hardship. I can promise you he will open his mouth soon."
Anfey nodded with a smile. Saidy gasped and yelled, "What are you going to do to me? Anfey, do you really want to be Tiger of Tawau mercenary group’s enemy? I am telling you if I do not get back in time, my father would know what happened here. He will find you sooner or later!"
"Ye, you are right. He never experienced any hardship." Anfey chuckled. "I cannot believe you still think someone could save you at this moment. I am telling you that I will find Mourtta and Hotchbini myself, even if he is not looking for me. None of you will live long. You will just die earlier than them."
Saidy laughed wildly. "Do you really think you can beat Tiger of Tawau mercenary group?"
"Yes, I can, but you will not be able to see that day." Anfey raised his chin.
Ye laughed so hard that he squatted and slapped Saidy. "Kid, I am doing you a favor right now. You’d better tell me everything I am asking. If you do not tell me now, you will tell me later. Why are you trying to torture yourself? In fact, people should make decisions quickly when they are alive. They should not be caught alive by their enemies. I hope you can remember this lesson in hell."
Saidy angrily spitted on the ground. "You will be the hell!"
"Master, I am going to do the interrogation now." Ye had a sympathetic look on his face.
"You got it." Anfey waved his hand and walked out. He heard Saidy’s loud screaming from behind as he walked only a few steps away. Saidy was hurt, but did not lose all his fighting ability. That was why he screamed with such force. He even sat up and randomly punched at Ye. Maybe it was because he was in such pain that Saidy was attacking Ye out of instinct and forgot to use his combat power.
Unfortunately, Saidy’s struggles stopped there. Ye pulled his sword out backhanded. After Ye swung the sword twice in an x-motion, Saidy’s two hands were cut off. Mercenaries in Ye’s group rushed over. They were not afraid of Saidy’s struggles, but afraid of him loosing too much blood and dying too soon. They tied Saidy’s arms tightly.
Waves of screaming got louder and louder. Anfey did not care even to look back at it. There was a black line appearing on the horizon. Ozzic and Orsie had lead thousands of mercenaries over. Their shiny swords reflected the light from the other swords. They looked like they were ready for battle. However, they realized the battle was already over as they got close to Anfey.
"Master, that guy looks familiar." Ozzic looked around in curiosity. "Wow! Elf? What a pity!"
"Why?" Anfey smiled. He knew Ozzic always acted like he was Anfey’s favorite, so Anfey tried to give him opportunities to show off. At that moment, he was joking with Ozzic.
"She is an elf!" Ozzic walked to Anfey with a smile.
"Do you want an elf? Why didn’t you tell me if you wanted an elf. If you do not tell me, how do I know you want an elf?" Anfey was repeating a classic line from a movie, just without "Monkey King" at the beginning of the line.
"Ah…" Ozzic did not get it, but looked even more shocked.
"Do not worry. You will have a chance to get one in the future," Anfey said quietly.
"Master, are we going to fight with Elf Empire?" Ozzic asked.
"You got it half right," Anfey said.
Ozzic scratched his head and had a bitter smile on his face. He really did not get what Anfey said. Fighting was fighting and peace was peace. Why did he only get it half right.
"Master, I do think I know him." Shinbella stepped out from the crowd. The mercenaries did not have anything else to do so they crowded around the "Interrogation Room". Most mercenaries were contradictory themselves. They were warm and cold blooded at the same time. They looked cold-blooded when they thought it was fun to watch Ye interrogating Saidy. However they could face danger with strong will and fight for their lives. If their peers died in front of them, they would not shed tears. They did not care to cry. They would rather go after the person who killed their peers.
"You are right that you know him," Anfey said casually. "He is the third child of Hotchbini. His name is Saidy."
"F*ck! Is Tiger of Tawau mercenary group setting us up?" Ozzic yelled with anger.
If this had happened previously, Ozzic would not dare think of fighting back against Tiger of Tawau mercenary group, not even behind their backs. Now the League of Mercenaries had about two thousand mercenaries, no less than what Tiger of Tawau mercenary group had. In addition, the League of Mercenaries had two senior swordswomen, Suzanna and Shinbella, the number 1 master swordsman, Ernest, and Anfey. Ozzic no longer thought Tiger of Tawau mercenary group was such a strong enemy.
Ozzic could become more arrogant when he got better. Anfey recruited Ozzic because Ozzic was very loyal, or at least completely honest with Anfey. There were no perfect people in this world. Anfey never asked too much of others. On the other hand, if Ozzic was perfect, that is, powerful, capable, charismatic and had good vision, Anfey would not have recruited him. Anfey probably would have killed him when he had the chance.
If two men rode a horse, one must ride behind. This was the cruel reality everyone had to face. Alice could have a peaceful life because she did not have her own group. As smart as she was, she had been showing her weakness and her dependency on purpose. If Alice had the same fighting ability as Suzanna and accepted Kumaraghosha’s loyalty, there could have been a bloody fight between Alice and Anfey. Anfey could not stand it when people betrayed him. Both Anfey and Alice were decisive. The difference was that Anfey was decisive in protecting his interests while Alice was decisive in subjecting herself to Anfey.
"Master, why did Tiger of Tawau mercenary group want to set us up?" Shinbella asked, even more curious than Ozzic.
Anfey shook his head. "I have not figured it out yet. But it is not important anymore. They are going to die anyway."
"Master," Shinbella hesitated a little bit before she continued. "I think we should not have conflict with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group on our own. There are other mercenary groups out there, Glory mercenary group and Storm mercenary group. We should avoid any unnecessary losses at this time."
"Shinbella, what do you mean? Are you scared?" Ozzic asked in anger.
Shinbella could not help smiling bitterly. She did not like Ozzic or his subordinates. Three people could make a crowd. Not only did Ozzic like to brag, so did his subordinates. Hearing them talk too much, Shinbella thought Ozzic was Anfey’s favorite among all six units. It was not good for Shinbella to have some conflict with Ozzic.
"Ozzic, you did not understand what Shinbella meant." Anfey waved his hand. "Shinbella meant we should not get into conflicts on our own."
"Yes," Shinbella said immediately. "Master Christian is the supervisor of Shield of Light legion. With his help, no matter how powerful Tiger of Tawau mercenary group is, they could not be a match with the legion."
"In addition to Shield of Light legion, we could have Glory and Storm mercenary groups on our side in the fight against Mourtta." Anfey gave a Shinbella a long look. Shinbella rarely talked, so Anfey had no chance to know her personality. As time went by, Shinbella gradually came out of her shell.
Ozzic laughed. "I knew Commander Shinbella would not be a coward."
"We need to have courage, but not too much, otherwise it would be arrogance." Anfey hinted to Ozzic. He did not know if Ozzic got it or not, but he had no control over it.
With Anfey’s support, Shinbella got quieter instead. She stepped back and was afraid she would offend Ozzic if she said anything more. Shibella and Ozzic had different intentions. Ozzic believed in Anfey’s ability and chose to work for Anfey while Shinbella, with Anfey’s help, had killed her ex, who showed no affection towards her and hurt her very badly. Shinbella thought Anfey was her life-saver. She did not think she was his subordinate. Compared to Ozzic, she had much more loyalty towards Anfey.
"Master, I am done." Ye slowly walked over.
"Really?" Anfey asked.
"The set up was about 40 miles to the northwest. There are over 30 elf shooters and over 100 mercenaries hidden there, waiting for us," Ye said.
"Are you sure the information is correct?" Anfey asked.
"It should be right." Ye smiled. "After Saidy agreed to speak up, I asked him a few questions, then asked him other questions for a while. I even asked him when he first had sex before I came back to that question. Saidy answered it quickly, and same as before."
"Master, Ye is professional in this area," Ozzic said. He seemed to be asking for a compliment from Ye. Of course, if Ye did it for the legion, his supervisor, Ozzic, seemed to contribute to the legion as well. "If there are only 30 elf shooters and 100 mercenaries, we could easily beat them."
"Ask everyone to sleep early. We have to leave tomorrow morning," Anfey said, nodding.
"Ok." Ozzic looked excited as he rubbed his hands.