The Divine Hunter Chapter 8: The calamity of Soden Mountain

Kailak, a small country between Hydaris and Verdon.

Lights came on late that night in the bedroom on the second floor of former royal magic advisor Rita Nied's villa.

The flames of the fireplace and the moonlight falling outside the window enveloped the figures of a man and a woman.

Rita Nied placed the goblet on the table, and the sound of the glass hitting the table attracted the man's attention.

"What brought the famous snake school demon hunter and little villain Roy to this humble home? This makes me curious." She turned her head, her red hair swayed, and a look of inquiry flashed on her pretty face.

"This is the first time you have taken the initiative to come to my place as a guest. Is it possible that there is something important and important?"

"I haven't seen you for more than a month, so I came to see you." Roy replied without changing his expression and without conscience, "Last time you mentioned that the consultant's work was not going well. Has the trouble been solved?"

Dark gold pupils swept across the woman's cheek.

The warm pink rouge made her pointed cheekbones look much softer, but it could not completely hide them. The coral lipstick outlines her lips so dreamily, even a little too perfect.

Her red hair is natural and pure, slightly rusty, reminiscent of summer and fox fur.

Such red hair is usually accompanied by freckles. Generally speaking, there will be a lot of freckles. But Rita's face showed none of it.

As smooth as jade, you can feel the temperature and elasticity.

Roy felt agitated in his heart, and some symptoms that had been suppressed and sleeping suddenly woke up.

"It's a pleasant surprise to see you so attentive for the first time. I can handle my work by myself. But the little rascal..." Coral propped her chin with one hand, her nails painted with purple cardamom and her delicate skin shining brightly. , she smiled and said, "You came here at night, must you have other ulterior motives?"

Her body was closer to the witcher, and the fragrant scent of roses hit her face.

Roy took a deep breath and glanced at her face involuntarily. She was wearing a simple white dress without any accessories.

Well, this dress.

The simple design allowed him to admire her charming figure and the pearl necklace around her neck without interruption.

The one he gave away last time.

The sorceress is also satisfied with the other party's performance.

This is an outfit she carefully selected.

The witcher wears black, she wears white.

It is exactly in line with the occult principle of intertwining black and white.

"Don't tell me?" Seeing his delay in answering, the sorceress stood up with a sweet smile, "Then come with me first and visit my laboratory."

"Then let me see if the warlock's experimental equipment is as professional as the legend says."

……

Rita Nied's alchemy room was not far away. After walking along the corridor of the villa for half a minute, she opened a mahogany door and came to a dark and spacious room.

The room is filled with a warm and intoxicating aroma that tickles the nose, and bundles of herbs and plant roots are stacked on the storage shelves on all sides.

Countless glassware, pottery and porcelain bottles are neatly stacked on several exquisite and sturdy rectangular tables.

Rita Nied waved her hand and snapped her fingers, and a charcoal fire was immediately lit in a strange cylindrical stove that looked like a bloated hourglass, and the weak firelight provided illumination for the room.

The stove is surrounded by a spider web of glittering glass jars of various sizes, bent into arcs and spirals. There was a wooden barrel placed under one of the glass jars, and some kind of liquid was dripping into the barrel.

Roy looked at the stove and clicked his tongue,

"A genuine brewing furnace, connected to a still, equipped with a distillation column and a condenser tube, exquisite alchemy equipment. Unfortunately, it is a bit old. It has been used for more than fifty years, right?"

"Have you seen newer equipment elsewhere?"

"Nuo City, the alchemy room of the demon hunter, happens to have a better one. You are always welcome to be a guest."

"Let's wait until we host the Green Grass Trial for that kitten."

Roy nodded, reached out to catch a drop of liquid dripping from the end of the pipe, and licked his fingers, with a trace of confusion on his face.

"Is there alcohol in this?"

"The distillate of mandrake... Maybe you have heard that women who study magic like to use mandrake to make a 'charm ointment', and apply it to make themselves extra beautiful and charming." The sorceress casually picked up a measuring cup, carefully scooped up the liquid from the bucket, and handed it to the witcher, looking at him with watery eyes, "But it can also be taken internally to make people feel as happy as drinking. Have a drink?" ”

Roy hesitated.

"What's the matter, are you worried that I'm poisoning you?" Coral showed a mysterious smile, "The mandrake has been dried and properly processed, and the distillate has been filtered. The toxicity has been completely eliminated and there are no side effects. Do you believe it? Me?"

The witcher was noncommittal. If he remembered correctly, mandrake was also a herb that disrupted willpower and brought together lovers.

For what purpose did you let me drink this stuff in the middle of the night?

Roy quickly took the cup and took a sip. After the wine fermented in his mouth for a while, he drank it all in one gulp. An exciting warmth spread in his stomach, but then rushed up to his nose. A tear dropped uncontrollably from the corner of his eye.

"Uh...this distillate is really strong...even more powerful than vodka with White Seagull added in it."

Coral also drank a glass of mandrake filtrate, wiped the wine stains from the corners of her mouth, and a touching blush appeared on the sides of her cheeks.

"Okay, little rascal, after visiting the laboratory and tasting the wine, if you don't reveal your true purpose..." Coral breathed at him the fragrant breath of mandrake, and the breeze made her temples red. His hair blew into the demon hunter's face, his slender fingertips pushed **** his chest, and his purple-painted nails were about to dig into his flesh, "Don't even think about leaving today!"

…

Two figures smelling of alcohol sat side by side at the floor-to-ceiling window next to the laboratory.

There is a giant telescope on a tripod next to the window sill. Through it, you can clearly see the ships in Kairak Port in the night.

"Do you remember the warning I gave you when we were rowing last time?"

Roy looked through the hazy night, and saw the gorgeous domed buildings in Kairak City, like giants standing still under the moonlight.

"Don't go to Soden Mountain, is your life in danger?" Coral was touched and funny, and twisted her coral lips, "Little villain, I didn't expect that you would even worry about my safety in your dreams."

"But dreams and reality are often the opposite...you just care too much!"

"No, Coral, listen to my explanation. To be precise, it was not an illusory dream, but a strong intuition, a premonition obtained after the grass tested and mutated." Roy turned his head and looked at her With a smooth pretty face and a serious expression, "The scene in the premonition highly overlaps with some scenes that have happened in the past and will even happen in the future... There are many real-life examples that have verified my intuition——"

“I found the long-lost blueprint of the school, escaped from fatal danger again and again, contacted the demon hunters of the Wolf Faction and the Cat Faction, and reached an alliance with them.”

The sorceress’s eyes sparkled.

A month ago, it was she who opened the portal to the Blue Mountain for the Snake Faction, so she naturally knew that Roy had gone to Kaer Morhen.

But she didn't expect that the conservative and stubborn wolf school would be convinced.

"The Wolf Faction has arrived in Novigrad?"

"The Witcher Brotherhood is always waiting for your visit."

The Witcher Brotherhood?

Rita Nieder turned around in surprise.

The witcher pretended not to notice the exquisite, gorgeous and colorful angel fish tattoo between the hem of her skirt.

"I really can't imagine that an ordinary demon hunter will have the talent of a prophet, and he doesn't even need to use magic tools to divine through the stars. That's amazing. Maybe you just convinced the Wolf Faction with your good eloquence... Yes Yes, you are a glib little bad guy."

Coral closed her hair and still expressed doubts, "This intuition is an illusion formed every time you succeed, and there is no reason for me to go to Sodden Mountain, let alone die there."

"Actually, the information in my mind is more specific... like the images and sounds transmitted instantly by a telescope." Roy retorted,

"How specific is it?"

"The reason why you went to Soden Mountain was because of a cruel war," Roy looked into Rita Nied's blue eyes and added weight, "and you, because of the adviser to the king of the north and the warlock As a member of the Brotherhood, I was forced to get involved."

"Wait, a war broke out near Soden Mountain?" Rita Nied lowered her head. As an advisor to King Veraxus of the Kingdom of Kairak, she was very sensitive to politics, but she couldn't imagine that the one being The Yaruga River across the north divides Soden into upper and lower parts. What is the significance of such a war?

"Upper Soden is a vassal state of Cintra, and Lower Soden belongs to Temeria, so who started the war? Which country is the opponent?"

"Not in the north." Roy shook his head, "It was the Nilfgaard Empire from the south that invaded the north."

Coral's delicate brows furrowed even tighter, then she narrowed her eyes and grabbed his arm as if she wanted to eat him, "Little rascal, are you trying to make fun of me?"

"Is the southern emperor crazy? He treats King Foltest as if he is nothing? How dare he openly invade the northern behemoth!" Coral analyzed, "I have also heard rumors that the Nilfgaardian army is in Stationed at the foot of Amer Mountain, I do have some ideas about the countries in the north."

“As long as the emperor of Nilfgaard still has some sense, he must first choose the Kingdom of Cintra, which is closer, weaker, and located on the seaside, instead of ignoring Cintra and directly crossing the Yaruga River to invade. Temeria!"

"You guessed it Coral..." Roy said expressionlessly.

A gust of cold wind blew from the depths of the night. Rita Nieder's thin white dress did not have any effect on keeping out the cold. She shivered all over and got close to the witcher.

Share a little warmth.

She whispered to herself,

"Nilfgaard dared to attack Temeria, which means that before that, Cintra had been..."

Roy nodded, "Coral, whether you believe it or not, the strength of the Southern Imperial Army exceeds your imagination. And the new emperor of the South, Emhyr Emres, passed by the white flames flying on the enemy's grave. After years of hard work, the only goal is to expand territory and conquer the entire world."

"He will never give up until he completely occupies the north!"

"A Cintra failed to cause much trouble to Nilfgaard's northward march, let alone satisfy Emhyr's appetite."

……

"Nilfgaard dares to invade Cintra, and its vassal states Verden and Brugg will never sit idly by!" Rita Nied said, "As long as the three countries unite, they can stop it for a period of time. The Northern Kingdom will definitely send support!"

"They are all small countries... they have no power to fight back in front of Nilfgaard." Roy shook his head,

"And the most powerful countries in the north: Vizmir II of Redania and Foltest of Temeria, are busy restraining each other with tariffs and trade laws."

"The struggle between Demavi of Aedirn and Henselt of Kaedwen never ceases."

"The alliance between the Tisser families of Covill and Powis and the Henforth family of Cangongyun is at odds with each other."

"They never thought of aiding Cintra, let alone how powerful Nilfgaard was."

Every word of the witcher is irrefutable.

The northern kingdom is constantly fighting among themselves, and they want to unite to fight against the enemy, unless the war burns home.

Rita Nied quietly retracted her long legs hanging under the window sill, put her chin on her knees, and her eyes flickered.

"Until Nilfgaard conquered Cintra with lightning speed, and continued to send troops to attack Soden, tearing up a shortcut to the north."

"At that time, the kings realized that the situation was critical and sent allied forces to stop it. The Warlock Brotherhood, which was deeply connected with the royal families of the northern countries, also sent members to support."

"And you are in it."

The sorceress no longer had the intention to question his words, she quietly leaned her head on the witcher's shoulder, closed her eyes and listened quietly.

Roy took a deep breath, and through the deep night, his dark gold pupils seemed to see the firelight intertwined in the distance and in the torrent of time and space.

He said loudly,

"I heard loud shouts of killing near Lower Soden on the north bank of the Yaruga River."

"Countless soldiers gathered in the north-south corridors. Nilfgaardian cavalry wearing black cloaks and flying-wing helmets surrounded them from the flanks. The infantry faced each other in the center. The steel blades cut through the armor and blood flowed like a river. The battlefield is like a never-ending millstone of flesh and blood, tens of thousands of people were strangled until they were seriously injured or died!"

"In the small castle on the top of Soden Mountain, the formerly pampered warlocks...were forced into the huge machine of war." Roy continued, his voice became heavy and his face was as cold as ice, "The spellcasters from the north and the south , more than forty warlocks fought against each other from a distance."

"There are noisy flames, burning arrows and exploding fireballs, screams and collisions, fires soaring into the sky, mountains shaking and the earth shaking, from fireballs to Azulel's thunderbolt... all kinds of large-scale spells are everywhere. Poor!"

"At the end of the battle, most of the spellcasters bled from their seven orifices due to excessive use of magic."

"Some warlocks caught fire because they accumulated too much chaotic energy in their bodies."

"What about me?" Coral suddenly interrupted and asked in a low voice, "How did I die?"

Roy said nothing, and suddenly tightened his grip on the sorceress's cold catkin. "Don't worry, with me here, you will definitely be able to live well."

"I will take you away from this land of right and wrong. This is a witcher's promise!"

In fact, during the Battle of Souden, Rita Nieder suffered a lot of torture before she died - lying in a pool of blood, losing her limbs, and screaming horribly...

She and a dozen other victims were known as the Sodden Fourteeners.

His heroic image in fighting against the southern invaders will be remembered forever.

But death is death.

"When was the Battle of Sodden Mountain?"

"Just next year..."

"You mean, if I don't make changes, I only have more than a year to live?"

……

The blue eyes and dark gold pupils looked at each other for a moment.

Coral suddenly stood up on the windowsill, covering her red lips and giggling. She laughed so hard that white flowers trembled under her pearl chain. "Little rascal, this story is very exciting. Why don't you become a bard?" It’s really a waste of talent.”

The witcher lowered his head and sighed, "You don't believe me?"

"On the contrary..." The sorceress jumped off the window sill, suddenly wrapped her arms around the witcher from behind, placed her chin on his shoulder, and brought her red lips to his ear to exhale hot breath, "I thought about it carefully again. Now, at first glance, the Battle of Souden looks like a shocking hoax."

"But every one of your points, the power of Cintra and its allies, the relationship between the northern kingdoms, and the ambitions and trends of the southern empire, are all logical and impeccable."

The sorceress’s expression suddenly changed~IndoMTL.com~ Her heart was fluctuating.

No one can remain calm after hearing about such a war that concerns the future fate of everyone.

She even had the illusion that she was in a dream.

"This is definitely not fabricated. I don't care where your premonition comes from. How did a demon hunter know so many twists and turns."

Roy breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, so much breath was not wasted.

"The problem is, when the moment of the decisive battle arrives and Nilfgaard invades Sodden Mountain, as you said, I have no choice but to take orders."

The sorceress used her palms gently to turn the witcher's face towards her, and then she leaned forward, her nose touching his and her eyes meeting his.

Cute and pitiful appearance.

"Little villain, great prophet, how do you plan to save me?"