388. Chapter 386 – Death Town in the Filthy Swamp 385

Chapter 386 385. the town of death in the filthy swamps
It was the first time that Hogg and his own brute soldiers had boldly approached the swamp town before them, but they hadn’t just discovered it.

In fact, two days after Murphy had asked Hogg to send scouts into the swamp, Chief Bloodclaw had already gotten an information report about this town.

It is located in the filthy swamp near Transylvania near a mud puddle, just stuck in the road to the dark baron’s territory, in the east of it is the only depression to the filthy swamp depths of the fearful “forbidden land”, this terrain perfectly pinched from Transylvania through the swamp to the dark mountain range of the road.

It was enough to make one wonder if these jackal warlocks had planned all this.

And this “Plague Town” is not a small stronghold, just from the appearance, this gloomy place is one-fifth of the size of the former Cadman City.

Most of the buildings in the town were made of wooden tents built on stone ruins, making the place look like a patchwork of hammocks or bamboo huts, and there were also vines derived from low trees in the swamp twisted with psychic energy to serve as bridges connecting the buildings to each other, like a poorly-designed three-dimensional swamp labyrinth.

In addition, the Plague Warlocks have put some curse spells formed by filthy spiritual energy here, so that the gray and black smoke shrouds the town’s surroundings and the sky to form a layer of “fog of war” that prevents eavesdropping and detection.

In the shadows, the town looks like a strange and sickly thing formed by a tangled mess of hemp from afar.

If there is a small player here, he will definitely cry out, this is not a dark swamp version of the “Treasure Bay”?

It’s hard to imagine how much effort the Jackal Plague Warlocks put into creating such a monstrous structure in this hellhole, but considering Bella the necromancer’s confession, the swamp town was already there when he was awakened three years ago.

This would suggest that the Jackal Warlocks of the Dark Mountains have been in the Tainted Swamp for much longer than it seems.

They have been searching here for the secret treasures of the King of Biting Bones for years without progress, even desperate enough to venture into the lairs of the most dangerous legendary creatures in the Tainted Swamp.

From this point of view, these Jackal Warlocks are actually bitter and hard-pressed laborers, given a task that is simply impossible to accomplish by their shameless superiors.

What’s worse is that in the other world, if they don’t do a good job, their wages will be deducted at most, but if they can’t find the lost treasure here, even if these jackal warlocks can escape back to the Dark Mountain Range, with the overly “wild” cultural style of the jackal people, they definitely won’t have a very good ending.

Based on these reasons, when Hogg approached the plague town with a few of his trusted brigands, what he saw was a large number of skeletons and corpses strengthened by evil voodoo arching around the town.

The defense was so tight that Hogg wasn’t even able to get close to the first post before being spotted by a necromancer.

Hundreds of skeletons rushed out from their hiding places hidden by the Dark Boundary in a tremor of cold psychic energy, almost instantly surrounding Hogg and his guards.

Faced with the chilling bone spears and knives around them, as well as the corrosive rays and bright bone arrows in the hands of the necromancers in front of them, the big chief who could bend and bend did not intend to show his valor.

It is almost the first time to raise both paws with the dark mountain range accent of the jackals native language screamed “surrender”, beside the Nash also followed the example of wailing.

This guy also kicked the jackal barbarians who were holding their weapons in preparation for self-defense, telling these pugnacious guys to have the good sense to drop their weapons quickly so as not to provoke these overly powerful and arrogant compatriots in front of them.

As a result, Hogg’s response to this “crisp and clear” action to the opposite side of the necromancer will not be a whole.

It has seen a jackal that can surrender.

But this is the first time it has seen a guy who surrenders in such a silky smooth way, and look at the humiliating way he is holding his hands up and looking at him like a thief!
Hey, are you really a jackal and not a dog-headed man?

“I surrender! We mean no harm! We are loyal subordinates of High King Kenport, bringing first-hand reports of the war in Transylvania to the local Plague Warlock Lords!
You guys!

Quickly let us pass.”

Hogg shouted, his ugly face full of awe and anxiety, portraying the image of a lapdog in trouble and in desperate need of help.

But necromancers weren’t so rich in mood swings.

It just looked indifferently at the jackal in front of it, and didn’t tell the vicious skeletons that surrounded them to back off.

However the ghostly blue spirit fire that pulsed beneath its hood represented that it was relaying what was happening here to the town’s jackal warlock.

Seeing that the other party did not attack immediately made Hogg feel relieved in his heart, but it also verified one of its guesses that the jackals here must be related to Kenport.

At least they knew each other.

The fact that he had just called out Ken Porter’s name was equivalent to saying a “safe word” that would allow him not to be attacked.

The necromancer was slow to move, and the encircled Hogg didn’t dare to make a move lest it lead to some bad consequences, but he still looked around with his eyes, trying to get a better understanding of the plague town’s defenses in this way.

In order not to expose his “identity”, before coming here, Hogg and his lieutenant Nash hid the arithmetic pearl.

That thing is a psionic item, probably can’t fool the sharp senses of the jackal warlock.

If Hogg had learned anything from Kenport’s defeat, it was that you must be careful when it came to matters of life and death.

In Lord Murphy’s words, it wasn’t wimping out!
It was simply taking responsibility for a life you only had once, and only a fool would choose to gamble on luck when his life was at stake.

During the unbearable wait, Hogg reluctantly memorized the routes of several skeleton armies patrolling the front of the town; their unique construction allowed them to walk through the swamp as if they were on the ground, and the size of each patrol of as many as fifty men made them large enough to face any kind of surprise attack.

The number of necromancers in charge of commanding them was also quite large, and Hogg also noticed that the ones leading these skeleton armies were some tall Hades knights in heavy black armor riding skeletal warhorses.

From these visible parts alone, one can see how strong the defense of this swamp town is, and Hogg can be sure that the Jackal Warlocks must have also arranged some means that it cannot see.

These guys have almost established a “hidden kingdom” in the swamp, they can drive corpses, and stationed in the filthy swamp that has experienced countless bitter battles in the past history, which means they have almost endless perfect manpower that they will never complain about to use.

“Not a good fight.”

Hogg was secretly alarmed in his mind.

Even though there was no doubt about the belligerence and bravery of Lord Murphy’s warriors, yet these in front of him seemed to be a bit too tricky even for immortal warriors.

What did he need to do if he was the one commanding this raid?

The Bloodclaw Chief’s mind raced with this question, thinking of it as a brainstorming session while he waited in boredom.

Professor Malcolm, who taught it history, had said that the brain was something that had to be used often, and the more you used it, the better it got, or else even the best initial intelligence would quickly regress due to excessive fatigue.

Hogg was very stoic.

But the few barbarian guards beside it were a bit impatient.

Especially after the withering wait stretched to twenty minutes, a few grumpy guys had begun to whisper and stare at the wooden necromancer in front of them with unkind gazes, as if they were considering from what place to cut in order to make this disgusting guy die a painful death?

No, that’s the wrong way to put it.

The necromancers were already dead, so they couldn’t die again, and even if they did cut them down, it would just be a boring pastime for them.

While Hogg was wandering around, his second-in-command, Nash, was also looking around.

However, unlike Hogg who was thinking about how to take this town with his people, Nash was thinking about a very realistic problem. In case their true identities were recognized by the Jackal Warlocks, which path should they take to escape the fastest? As well as if that were to happen, could they really escape?

Although Nash knew that his own chief must have some secret relationship with the newly promoted King of Transylvania, it didn’t have an intuitive understanding of the players’ combat power after all, and it didn’t feel that Transylvania’s vampires had any advantage to speak of in front of the fortress-like swamp town in front of them.

“Chief, there are people coming from the front!”

After waiting for a few more minutes, Nash carefully nudged Hogg, startling it out of its thoughts.

The Chief tilted his head to see that a jackal guard on a seated wolf was speeding out of town.

It was dressed in a full suit of chainmail that was very luxurious by Jackal standards, and also wore a battle helmet on its head that protected its eyes, and carried a mighty decapitating greatsword that looked like an elite.

Hogg keenly noticed that the pattern of bones and leather armor adorning this guy’s seated wolf was exactly the same as Kenport’s seated wolf’s decorations, and it realized that this one was also a vanguard from the Bone Biting Clan, and as the guy approached, Hogg decided to place a pint of betting with a twinkle in his eye.

He lunged with a wail, startling the jackal’s mount across the street, who subconsciously gripped the yoke in his mount’s pocket.

As a result, it then saw the skinny jackal-man in front of it pounce to the ground, screaming at the top of his broken voice:
“My lord! Lord Kenport died a horrible death, and its head is still hanging from the gatehouse of the Scarlet Fortress, where those savage vampires regarded it as a majestic trophy.

You must avenge the wise and valiant Great King Kenport!”

“You get up first! Shame on you.”

How had the Jackal Vanguard Captain riding on the Seat Wolf ever seen such a gesture? It wasn’t how they did things in the Dark Mountains, but such a humiliating gesture looked like a Transylvanian coward!

Sure enough, the rumors in the clan were true!

The great Bone Biting King brought the bloodline of the jackals to all parts of the continent, but the other jackals were far from the holy land, so they were far from being able to compete with the orthodox jackals of the Dark Mountain Range, both in terms of physical strength and will.

Look at this humiliating gesture!
Look at this weak wail!
Pah, I was ashamed to be in the company of such a fellow, their existence simply tainted the name of jackals, which should be full of power.

However, this guy is not without its merits.

The Bone Biting Vanguard Captain stared down at Hogg with contempt, and it thought to itself:

“Daring to risk being torn apart by the skeleton army to report and ask for help, it seems that this weak little guy’s loyalty is still there, that arrogant fool Ken Potter did a good job in Transylvania, even though he lost his army due to carelessness, he actually managed to train such a loyal servant!
I had underestimated that bastard before.”

“Get up!”

The vanguard captain chided in the raspy tone of a jackal:

“Come in with me, Lord Torn Meat wants to see you and ask you something. You must report truthfully, Lord Torn Flesh is a close friend of Inspector Kenport, and you must tell it all the details of Kenport’s death.”

“Ow, okay! I am ready to report all the stories of that night to Lord Torn Flesh.”

As soon as he heard that he could enter the town, Hogg was instantly delighted.

It hastily got up and hunched over to follow the jackal vanguard leader, who was allowed to take a servant with him, so the resourceful Nash was picked to follow.

Hogg signaled with his eyes for it to see and listen as much as possible, and Nash hastily nodded and shrunk his head again.

They followed the vanguard leader into the town, after passing through the strange gray and black fog, the true face of the plague town was completely exposed in front of Hogg’s eyes, and he was shocked to find that there were also two “mage towers” hidden in the fog.

That is a very classic human building, five-story high, the outer wall has been covered with moss and creeper-like plants, so that this faded tower is full of the heavy sense of time.

But something like this certainly wasn’t built by jackal warlocks, which meant that the two towers had been here originally, and the jackals had found them and built the town with the two abandoned mage towers as its centerpiece.

Hogg looked around, he soon found that the tower on the left hand side was constantly being fed with skeletons wrapped in muck, and there were also “new factory” skeletons lined up to come out of it, while a layer of shimmering light in the color of green phosphorus fire wrapped around the tower, filling it with a cold, strange and ominous power.

“That’s the Tectonic Tower, a place where warlocks and priests specialize in creating skeleton armies and resurrecting the dead, and our barracks here.”

The jackal vanguard leading the way noticed Hogg’s and Nash’s curious eyes, and with a sense of teasing and cruelty, he intimidated the two “bumpkins”:

“If you dare to steal or break the rules in the town again, that’s where you’ll end up.”

“I don’t dare, I don’t dare, how can we Transylvanians have the guts to do that.”

Hogg returned with a smile, but the vanguard captain just grunted and didn’t respond, that arrogant stance and Ken Potter were practically carved out of the same mold.

Blood claw chief felt in front of this guy has a way to take death, but it did not act recklessly but chose to this revenge secretly remember, at the same time will be constructed tower location in mind and in the vanguard of the urging to follow it into another tower.

This should be the place where the jackal warlocks live.

They dressed up this place in a “clan style”, using skull-embellished spells to divide the area into different areas for different Jackal Warlocks.

This is also the first time that Hogg has seen the true meaning of “jackal warlocks”, their dress is not much different from those human cultists, all of them use full-coverage black hoods to cover their entire body, only revealing a sinister face.

But even if Hogg is not proficient in spiritual energy, in these silent guys can also feel very obvious spiritual energy fluctuations, the most important thing is because most of the spiritual energy used by the jackals is divided into the field of “evil magic”, resulting in the long-term use of such wild spells will always leave these warlocks with this and that kind of injuries.

Hogg even saw a guy with only one-third of his face left, the rest of his face was all dried up.

That dog even smiled at it, obviously intentionally trying to scare it.

Hogg wasn’t intimidated.

But Nash was so scared that his tail went straight and his whole mane blew up rather comically.

There were quite a lot of warlocks here, and Hogg climbed all the way up to the highest level, seeing at least forty jackal warlocks and twice their number of servant necromancers on the way, but on the highest level of this mage tower, the area where Lord Torn Flesh, the leader of this warlock clan, was located was spacious.

It was the only occupant of the vast top floor, where its laboratory, dissecting table, prayer room, and monitoring orbs were kept . Wait a minute! A monitoring spell ball?
Hogg was creeped out!
How could he recognize the Surveillance Orb? One had clearly never seen or even heard of such a thing! What’s wrong with his brain?

Could it be that he had awakened some extraordinary ability?
That said, it seems like I’m acting strange today, I didn’t realize it just now, but now that I recall it, I’ve been thinking particularly actively since I entered the swamp, as if I’ve thrown away my old brain and regrown a new, better-used one back into the world?
“Didn’t realize it until now? You’re still a slowpoke.”

Murphy’s voice ghostly sounded in Hogg’s mind in the next second, startling it so much that it almost jumped up, but hardened its horror by relying on its mind that had seen great storms.

It then heard Murphy say to it:

“Don’t be afraid, this ‘Eye of Detection’ spell is maintained by Archduke Tris herself, as long as this Jackal Warlock in front of you isn’t a Psychic Master, you don’t have to worry about being exposed.

Your eyes are my eyes, Hoggle.

Now, go ahead and finish this reconnaissance, my ‘Eyes of Insight’ Excellency, and I will reward you!”

(End of chapter)