117: Porcupine extermination

Crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of the second-floor banquet hall cast dappled light onto the long table.

Above the twenty-meter-long solid wood dining table, a massive dynamic map of Gorebest, maintained by me with salt grains, floated.

The Lord of Kedas held his Oak Staff level with his head, while Inferno Fist Commander Kovenreid turned his sword blade sideways, letting the unsharpened spine lightly touch the staff.

Both of them turned to look at me.

I couldn't help but inwardly grumble: Why hold it so high? Are you bullying me for being short?!

Then, I conjured a Red Tassel Spear out of thin air, twirled the shaft in my hand, performed a spear flourish, took two steps forward, and rested the spear tip on the intersection of their weapons.

“I, Cedas Ohmri, represent Gorebest!”

“I, Kovenreid, represent the Inferno Fist Mercenary Group!”

“I, Lion Black, represent the Lord of Gorebest's Southern City District and the Lord of the Cloud Mist Mountain Northern Foothills territory!”

“We declare the official formation of the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces!” We three simultaneously announced loudly in front of all the attendees.

The Allied Forces, which I had desperately sought two days prior, were now established under circumstances I never anticipated.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces was the Lord of Kedas, with Kovenreid and I serving as Deputy Commanders.

According to the intelligence provided by the captives—

The Duke's Mansion currently has over 200 private soldiers;

There are still about 10 Baal Believers remaining;

Two Bane's Believers and dozens of incited fanatical rioters;

The Thieves' Guild has over forty members, usually dispersed throughout the city.

Next, we plan to divide our forces into four routes.

The first route: Inferno Fist will dispatch 100 soldiers, disguised in plain clothes, to secretly surround the Duke's Mansion;

The second route: Another 100-plus Inferno Fist members will surround and eliminate the Bane's Believers' stronghold, while simultaneously suppressing the fanatical rioters;

The third route: The Lord will lead people to encircle and eliminate the Baal Believers' stronghold and purify the filth.

The fourth route: I will send Mara and Han Ting to the Porcupine Thieves Guild's lair, claiming to have found my whereabouts, to make them gather their forces, and then I will lead people to encircle and eliminate them.

As for the Baron's Mansion, others are unaware of it, so there's no need to expend effort on it for now.

Once we have swiftly dealt with these smaller enemy groups, we will combine our forces to attack the Duke's Mansion.

Half an hour later, Mara and Han Ting's black carriage stopped in front of an old, small building in the slum.

Ten minutes after Mara and Han Ting went inside, several people dressed as thieves came out and walked in different directions.

I had several newly recruited adventurers follow them from a distance, instructing them not to interfere unless these people tried to escape.

Half an hour later, dozens of people returned from various directions and entered the old building.

“That’s enough,” I told Randall from a window on the second floor of a residential building, “They might have other exits, so have the Rangers, Druids, and Strikers patrol the perimeter; we’re closing the net.”

“Don’t wait any longer?” the Holy Knight asked.

“No more waiting, the core members are all inside,” I said, “Move out!”

Minutes later, the old building was surrounded by our people.

Only then did the people inside realize they were surrounded.

“Break down the door!”

The moment my command rang out, the muscles beneath the barbarian Taloke's shoulder armor bulged like a volcanic eruption.

As he charged forward, two fine steel battleaxes crisscrossed, cleaving out crescent-shaped trajectories, and the wooden door burst into flying wedge-shaped fragments.

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…”

Five poisoned arrows whizzed through the air, and Taloke, with a sneer, rotated his axe blades, precisely intercepting the arrows' flight paths.

The metallic clanging sounded like sudden rain striking an anvil, and the broken arrowheads formed a semicircle of poisonous barbs at his feet.

Water Sprite Vera's silver-bell-like incantations had already echoed through the alley before the barbarian's charge.

Now, the final chapter of the spell materialized; clear streams oozed from the floor cracks inside, coiling and converging like living snakes, instantly solidifying into a massive spirit glowing with a faint blue ripple.

The two-meter-tall Water Elemental swung its giant palms, forming a perfect pincer attack with Taloke's battleaxes, cornering five crossbowmen.

The Sword Saint of the First Adventure Team surged in as a silver afterimage, his Level Seven Gale Sword Art carving a spiderweb of sword marks into the wall; Level Four Warrior Hal's chain hammer, meanwhile, slammed into the weapon rack like a meteor hammer, the spraying metal fragments forcing the enemies to scurry away, clutching their heads.

Bard Cyril's lute burst forth with stirring sound waves, each note plating a glow of courage onto the warriors' armor.

When Holy Knight Randall's heavy armor and my cloak were only three inches apart, four Inferno Fist Guards had already constructed a mobile fortress with their kite shields.

The moment we stepped in, the last crossbowman was being pressed into a puddle he himself had created by the Water Elemental—his scream swallowed by the surging waves into bubbles.

Only then did I see that the interior was a labyrinth, connecting several residential buildings that had been broken through.

Fortunately, most of my Inferno Fist and two teams of adventurers were guarding outside, so these people couldn't escape.

Most enemies were easily defeated, but there were a few skilled individuals who were clearly superior to our people.

Randall directed multiple people to surround one, and with the level gap not being significant, the enemy experts were quickly subdued.

Upstairs, we encountered Scar Ear.

He was being held by three longswords against a scratch-marked oak wine barrel.

“We meet again,” I said to "Scarface".

The man, who had three pieces of cartilage missing from his left ear, his pupils constricting to pinpricks: “Ly… Lord Lion?”

“You don’t recognize me? Who ambushed me yesterday?”

“It was… it was the Porcupine leader,” "Scarface" replied.

“Oh, lay down your weapons, surrender and live.” Before I could finish speaking, Scar Ear threw his short sword to the ground.

“Traitor!”

A low shout suddenly rang out behind me, and a murderous aura stabbed towards my neck.

“Pop!”

The moment the assassin's short sword pierced “my” neck, the air rippled—the illusion created by the Qiankun Ring shattered like a broken prism.

Before entering the building, I had used the energy from the Qiankun Ring to project my image beside me, while I myself remained in a double-stealth state.

Randall's greatsword instantly cleaved towards the figure behind me.

It was Porcupine, with strands of copper wire woven into his mousy-gray hair; I had seen him this morning.

“Clang!” Randall's greatsword and Porcupine's serrated dagger sparked orange flames.

This assassin, with thirty-seven copper wire braids, actually forced the Holy Knight back three times within five moves.

“Everyone, attack together!” I shouted to the crowd.

As my Hunter's Mark glowed a crimson totem on his nape, Taloke's battleaxe had already severed three of his braids.

“Pfft!” I shot an arrow into his shoulder, and bright red blood beads arced through the air.

Though not a fatal wound, it greatly reduced his strength.

The cunning shadow dancer suddenly spun, kicking Randall's sword guard, and using the recoil to smash through the window.

Amidst the flying fragments, he curled into a hedgehog ball and plummeted into the alley.