The Divine Hunter Chapter 16: Respective battlefields

Tretog, the capital of Redania.

A huge city built on elven ruins. There are neither the bustling lights of Novigrad that go out day and night, nor the intellectual and elegant academic island architecture of Oxenfurt.

The palace of King Vizmir II of Redania is located here.

The cold wind from the North blew through the crowned silver eagle flags lined with magnificent palaces, blew through the long marble streets crowded with citizens, and swirled open the low door of the "Night Cat" tavern.

Under the dim light, two demon hunters with two swords on their backs sat next to each other at the wine table in the corner. Several plates of greasy barbecue and dozens of glasses of various drinks shone with an intoxicating hazy sheen: Vizima Stout. , datura wine, cherry wine, acorn wine, dwarf spirits...

More have been drunk and empty.

"Duang——"

Two huge transparent glasses collided fiercely, pale wine foam splashed, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of hops and malt.

With the sound of "gulu gulu" swallowing, the two dusty and unkempt men drank a large glass of wine in one go.

At the same time, he burped.

"Man... I haven't seen you for half a year. He's a good drinker. He can compete with me... Tell me honestly. Did you go into seclusion and conduct targeted training? Are you ready to give me a showdown?!" Mountain-shaped hairline The man wiped the sweat from his forehead, raised the corners of his mouth, and glanced at his friend's slightly red cheeks with amber pupils.

" /

"Come on, Lambert, you have a **** drunken capacity... Last time, who got so drunk alone in downtown Lynch, that he climbed over the city wall in the middle of the night and ran to the cattle pen of a farmer's house in the suburbs? It made the scalpers moo... It was so late at night, people thought vampires were coming."

"I splashed a lot of garlic water on you...the smell that hit my nose has been bothering you for a whole week. I also lost all the rewards for that commission!" Aiden squinted his eyes and squinted. He glanced at him and said, "After you get drunk tonight, what kind of poor animal are you going to extend your hands to?"

"Man, you can't slander someone's reputation." Lambert's face immediately darkened, "I just hugged the old cow with a shovel and slept! I used it as a warm blanket. In winter, this is a survival instinct, do you understand?"

"I'm so angry when I talk about this... You guys are clearly awake, but you just don't help me settle down, and yet you're hiding around and watching my jokes." Lambert's tone was cold, and he said again He looked Aiden up and down and said, "You, Cat Sect Demon Hunter Aiden, are just a beast! Yes, you specialize in stabbing people in the back!"

Aiden tilted his chin,

“It’s better to be a beast than an old-fashioned, hopeless corner-picker!”

Suddenly, two pairs of beasts glared, and sparks flashed in the air.

Under the light, the two men pointed at each other's noses, spittle flew, exposed each other's shortcomings, and scolded each other for a long time.

When you are hungry, you eat meat; when you are thirsty, you drink wine.

Finally, when more than twenty glasses of various drinks were all wiped out.

The two arms slapped each other crisply in mid-air.

They laughed in unison and sighed with contentment, not a drop of the negative emotions that had been accumulated in their hearts for a long time were left.

"Okay, Lambert, enough of the scolding. Just one more curse word and sew your mouth shut." Aiden crossed his arms over his chest, wrinkles appeared on his forehead, his pupils shrank, and his cheeks were reddened by alcohol. With a serious expression, he said, "Back to the topic, you left Kaer Morhen early this time, came to Tritog to wait for me, and delayed a commission from a ghoul. What's the problem?"

"If you need help from your brothers, just ask."

"I've been waiting for your words, but man, it's not me who needs help, but you." Lambert looked at Aiden quietly, with undisguised concern on his face.

Aiden shook his head in confusion, "Lambert, how can you imitate the bard's trick of pretending to be sophisticated? Just be direct!"

"According to the advice of an absolutely trustworthy... um... colleague who gained the ability to predict after a mutation... you, Aiden of the Cat School, will encounter a fatal crisis in the next few years." Lambert shrugged Shrugging his shoulders, "You have a good brother named Lambert. He couldn't bear to see you die in vain. This time, he spent a lot of time and traveled thousands of miles to Tritog to save your life!"

"Precognitive ability? Colleague...Demon hunter..." Aiden's cheek muscles twitched, and he glanced at his friend with a strange expression, as if he was looking at a madman.

"Let me give you some advice." Lambert immediately told the whole story about what Roy had told him about the prophecy - the Duke, the daughter, the aristocrat who was entrusted by the ogre, manipulated political intrigues, and hated the cat-sect witchers. …

Aiden was careless at first, thinking that his friend was having a serious illness and was joking with him, but as he listened, his expression changed and his face became more serious. After listening, he held his chin with his hands and remained silent for a long time.

"It's described in a decent way," Aiden said. "With your straight brain, you definitely wouldn't be able to make up such a roundabout story."

"I told you this is the truth!"

"Okay, let me assume that you are telling the truth...I can assure you that I will not accept any commissions involving ogres in the future." Aiden took a deep breath, and he and Lambert met each other. They had a big quarrel. In fact, they were brothers and trusted each other. "Can you tell me the name of the prophet? Eskar, Geralt, Vesemir?"

"Man, he is a new honorary member of the Wolf Faction," Lambert said with a flash of regret, then a light of admiration, "Another young genius of the Snake Faction, Roy, the Snake Faction is reviving The hope! No, more precisely, the hope for the revival of the entire witcher!"

"Under his guidance, we united the Wolf Faction and the Cat Faction, settled in the Novigradian family, and established the Demon Hunter Brotherhood!" Lambert noticed the horror in the other person's eyes, and the pride on his face, and pushed Open a bar stool and walk around the empty pub hall with your head held high,

Aiden's brain seemed to have lost its command ability, and his expression was frozen in place.

He simply did not believe that demon hunters from different schools could get together peacefully.

It's like forcing a lion and a tiger into a cage.

"You heard it right, the Demon Hunter Brotherhood has established an orphanage in Nuo City and has begun to train apprentices! But currently, there are only nine professional Demon Hunters including me, and we still need a lot of The manpower..." Lambert looked at his friend with deep meaning in his eyes.

"And you are a good choice... We will help you resolve future crises, would you consider it..."

"Wait a minute, slow down, who are there from the Snake Faction, Cat Faction...?"

"Letho, Oaks, Seret, and Roy from the Snake faction, Kian and Furius from the Cat faction...how about it, have you heard of it?"

Aiden wiggled his hips restlessly.

Snake sect demon hunters have been haunting the south, and he has no memory of them.

But the Cat Faction...these two guys were seniors who belonged to the Rational Faction decades ago.

Kiayan has been missing for many years and suddenly joins the Brotherhood unexpectedly.

The cat vulture has always been very active.

"Lambert, let me ask you formally, three different schools of thought have established the so-called Brotherhood of Demon Hunters in Nuo City? How is this possible, with different philosophies and even opposite temperaments and personalities!" Ai Den began to twist his neck.

Lambert knows very well that when he makes such an action, he means to be serious about it.

Absolutely no joke.

"But we have a common goal!" Lambert said firmly, "I swear on our friendship...if there is a lie, I will automatically get out of here and never bother you again!"

The more he spoke, the more exaggerated he became,

"At the beginning, I had doubts like you, that the Witcher Alliance is absolutely nonsense!"

"But when I saw that boy, Roy from the snake sect, he was a miracle worker... His mouth seemed to be plated with gold, and his pupils seemed to have solidified the art of persuasion."

"He changed my mind... As for why he didn't come to see you in person?"

"Every member of the Demon Hunter Brotherhood lives together as an equal and performs his or her own duties... He is currently recruiting a warlock to find a resident mage for the Brotherhood!"

"Besides, that sorceress has an affair with him, it's basically a certainty!"

Aiden rubbed his face and took two glasses from the wine table, trying to moisten his dry mouth and tongue, but they were empty.

His chest felt hot.

……

"You are older than me, Aiden, and you have heard of the tragedy that happened at the Demon Hunter Tournament." Lambert continued almost indignantly, "Those in power regard the Demon Hunter as a threat... to provoke To alienate people, in an attempt to completely eliminate the so-called 'mutants'!"

"Long ago, warlocks with ulterior motives coveted mutation formulas and magical tomes, and also destroyed Kaer Morhen and Kaer Siren."

"In the future, those old-school demon hunters who wander alone and are stubborn will become extinct——"

“Because we are weak and weak, we can’t stand alone! But after the Wolf Faction, Snake Faction, and Cat Faction unite, we get the respect we deserve in Nuo City, and no one dares to give us a blank look or contempt anymore!”

"No one dares to look down on us anymore, and no one can hurt us!"

"Aiden, my brother, come to Nuo City with me. I will not force you to join the Brotherhood." Sincerity flashed in Lambert's amber eyes, and he stretched out his hand towards his close friend, "You can do it Consider it a wonderful visit and trip to inspect our orphanage, pharmacy, and laboratory."

"Friendly exchanges with eight similar people."

"Witness the miracles I say before making the final decision!"

Aiden’s expression changed and he was quiet for a while,

"Damn it, who calls you a brother!"

Suddenly, two hands clenched in mid-air!

……

At the same time.

South of Tritog, in a wilderness surrounding Oxenfurt.

Shadowed by lush willow trees and raised boulders, stand the remains of an ancient palace.

The tall pillars form a circle, and the mottled rock walls baptized by the vicissitudes of life are covered with green geraniums and southern snake vines.

In the palace, the uneven gravel formed a downward staircase, leading to a deep and dark corridor - the main body of the palace that had long been buried deep underground.

The fierce sound of breaking through the air shattered the silence.

Three figures fight in the passage.

Scarlet vertical pupils and amber cat pupils flickered in the darkness.

Geralt and Kyaan held silver swords and circled crazily around a humanoid creature in the center of the clearing.

The surrounded creature has an ugly head like a bat, a flat and disgusting face, and a mouth full of jagged fangs. Its blood-red eyes are full of violence and madness, and there are a pair of backward-curving claws growing on both sides of its head. Pocket horns.

The bare and wart-covered body is covered with gray-black hard horniness, as if wearing a strong cowhide armor. The dark nails on the limbs are not long, but are as hard as steel, and can easily tear apart the flesh and blood body. To pieces!

"Bang!"

The demon hunter who was spinning in a circle suddenly stopped and stood facing each other with the monster in the middle.

Geralt drew a blue triangular talisman with the five fingers of his left hand, and launched an Alder towards the chest of the bat-winged demon!

The monster was accumulating power with its recurved legs, jumped in the air, and rushed towards him from five meters away. Unexpectedly, the strong airflow driven by magic power exploded in its chest.

The whole body was suddenly thrown backward.

It staggered when it landed, dust flew from the damaged floor, and a white line was drawn out of the soil by its claws.

Red light swims in the darkness.

Kayyan, whose face is full of black veins, appears like a ghost behind it.

"Shua——"

The bright silver sword drew a straight line like lightning and accurately stabbed the bat-winged demon in the back of the neck.

"Pfft..."

Blood splashed onto the demon hunter and was bounced off by the light yellow Quen shield.

Kiayan drew his sword and retreated without hesitation, leaning against the dark wall.

"Roar!"

The bat-winged demon roared angrily, its blood-filled mouth stretched almost to the base of its ears, and its maroon tongue danced in its mouth.

It abandoned Geralt, turned around quickly, pressed its two recurved thighs tightly to the ground, and jumped into the air.

A ferocious black shadow flew through the air, making a strange whistling sound of wind, carrying a fishy smell, and lunged at Kiyaen with its teeth bared.

The cat-sect demon hunter who retreated to the cave wall was already prepared to meet him, and he rolled to the ground with incredible speed.

It jumped into the air, its strong body crashed into the wall, and it continued to vent as if it was out of control, crackling and scratching.

The powerful impact and sharp claws of the arms actually dug a big hole in the wall, and the broken stones rolled to the ground.

"Bang!"

Alder struck the bat-winged demon's curved back mercilessly.

It is built into the wall.

Exposing the weakness behind him, he struggled to hold on to the stone, trying to escape.

“Whoa——” The sword light in Geralt’s hand quickly drew a semicircle in the air.

Punching through his fingertips, half of the silver sword pierced the back of the bat-winged demon's head.

The cat vulture followed closely, and the cold blade was sent to the same position.

"Pfft..."

The black blood turned around in mid-air like a fountain, staining the ground with a heavy splashing sound.

The bat-winged demon fell heavily backwards to the ground with the two "long horns" on its head, its scarlet pupils expanded, and its mouth full of densely broken teeth opened and closed nervously.

"Click, click..."

"Huh...man, you're pretty good!"

"You're not bad either!"

Geralt breathed a sigh of relief, gave Kian a high-five, squatted down and began to skillfully dissect.

"Perhaps that kid Karl can use the mutants of the bat-winged demon!"

"Don't spare the internal organs and skin. It's time. Make some premedicine and prepare it for those children in advance." Keyan took off the short blade on his belt and cut open the bat-winged demon's tough belly. .

After the sound of "rustling" cutting.

After a while, leaving the mutilated body that was half missing, the two cleaned up the blood, lit torches, and continued deeper into the tunnel.

After walking straight for less than a minute, they found a white skeleton outside a broken portal, and found the blueprint of the Cat Pie Silver Sword, the target item of this trip, and a gift "Xigsmon Grog" Professor's Notes".

Kiayan held the mottled notebook, and his expression on his scarred face suddenly became depressed and self-blaming.

He handed the notebook to Geralt, as if he was waiting for harsh punishment.

"Man, what's wrong with you?" Geralt asked. After being together for more than a month, he rarely saw this determined brother who had survived thirty years of "prison life". He was gentle and approachable in the eyes of children. The red-eyed teacher showed this weak posture.

Kiayan shook his head and glanced at the notebook, "You will know after reading this that I was greedy for profit and made a big mistake."

White Wolf stopped talking. After spending some time, he finally read the entire diary and figured out the whole story.

The owner of this corpse is a member of the Oxenfurt archaeological team. Decades ago, under the sponsorship of Prince Adrian, the last heir of the Sea Cat Dynasty, they came to the Etaye'e ruins to inspect. Search for King McGlor's legendary treasure.

Kiayan, the demon hunter of the Cat Faction, is the bodyguard hired by the prince for them. In fact, he is responsible for the secret mission assigned by the prince - to collect and bring back equipment blueprints.

During the archaeological process, the scholars of Oxenfurt made a major discovery and found the blueprint of the Cat School in the elven arsenal. Keyan asked them to hand over the blueprint in accordance with the prince's instructions.

The archaeological team collectively rejected this request and insisted that all results should be shared with Oxenfurt University.

Then, in order to fulfill Prince Adrian's instructions, Keyan ruthlessly killed most of the members of the archaeological team and took away the drawings.

Strictly abiding by the consistent style of most members of the Cat Faction - killing people and completing commissions, as a matter of course.

In the dark secret room, the man spoke to himself in a hoarse voice.

"There is no doubt that I made a huge mistake," Kyaen squatted down and looked at the yellowed bones, his face blank, "I was locked up in the laboratory under the temple island and suffered cruel torture. God's punishment. I reflected in the dark for a long, long time... Later, all my enemies were dead, and I thought I had given up."

"But seeing this innocent person who died because of me...I realized that I owe them a debt."

Geralt modeled for a long time, then suddenly pushed his shoulder and interrupted, "Brother, regret is very normal, especially for us demon hunters. But as the old saying goes, debts are too great to be overwhelmed. Body."

"Everyone makes mistakes and owes debts...but some mistakes cannot be made up for and some debts cannot be repaid."

The white wolf's pupils flashed with memories.

"Since fate keeps us alive, let's live well and look forward!"

"In the past, you were covered in blood and killed innocent people by mistake. You feel guilty."

"Then save more innocent people now, such as the group of street children in Gawain's House, raise them well and teach them, if doing so can make you feel better."

"Then focus on it and don't worry about other guilt!"

Kiayan closed his eyes and was quiet for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief and held the skeleton in his arms.

"You are right~IndoMTL.com~Look forward..."

"Leave your unsolved guilt to fate!"

"I'm sorry for the dead, but I shouldn't let down the living, otherwise I will only regret more and more!" Keyan shook his head, a trace of determination flashed across his scarlet pupils,

"Let's go, Geralt, it's time to go to the next stop. Go to the abandoned Drasi Castle to find the last steel sword blueprint. By the way, see if Prince Adrian is still there."

……

In another place, outside the gate of Oxenfurt City, an old man wearing a black tall hat, riding on a gray gelding, carrying two swords on his back, faced an elegant man wearing a black silk dress and veil. The surviving woman blew a kiss.

Under her reluctant eyes, the old man rode away from this academic city where he had stayed for a month. The wind blew open the cloth of the saddle bag, revealing a corner of armor and weapons.

He galloped toward Novigrad with a radiant face!

……