Cthulhu Gonfalon

“We have arrived at the safety line.” The scout of the team, Reid, used his spear to pry open some of the stones on the roadside, looked at some inconspicuous markings on the corners, and said quietly, “If we go further, there is no telling what we will see.”

The so-called safety line referred to the boundary that was explored and cleared by the soldiers. For this cave, it was the dividing line between ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ areas.

The cave they explored was located on the western side of the Barren Mountains, adjacent to Rye Town. In order to guard against potentially dangerous things in the cave, soldiers in Rye Town would come here to explore and clean up once every three months, avoiding the proliferation of monsters such as gnomes, and avoiding dangerous creatures.

The safety line was the sign that they left behind before they left, after each exploration and cleanup.

Adventurers with cave exploration experience knew that the main enemy was getting lost before reaching the safety line. After arriving at the safety line, the most important enemy became a variety of monsters that might appear at any time underground.

After all, the adventurers acted in teams. One team was comprised of between three and five people, or as many as 10 people. Compared with armies of 50, the combat effectiveness was much worse. When confronted with monsters that only the army could cope with, they often could only flee, or sometimes couldn’t even escape.

In the four northwestern towns, Rye Town was the only town with an ‘elite force.’ Because this area was rich in food, it was also the most important trading port for the four northwestern towns and the Commonwealth of Gold Coins; so business was also very developed. Therefore, the various organizations that jointly ruled the town could have enough income to support the elite army of 50 people.

Every soldier in this army had armed forces comparable to regular adventurers. He could skillfully use at least two of the most commonly used weapons, including spears, swords, shields, bows, and axes, and could ride horses if necessary. They usually concentrated on training or patrolling the town. When a dangerous monster appeared near the town. When they needed an expedition to clean up the surroundings, they would be fully armed, and they would all wear strong armor. They would be helped by pastors and mages to eliminate all the things that threatened Rye Town.

They often came to explore and clean this cave, named The Great Black Hole. More than once they wiped out the monsters who lived there. Among them, on the fiercest journey, they brought back close to 300 left ears from gnomes, and more than 20 body organs from other monsters, as well as the bodies of two companions.

Their deaths were caused by a horrible monster. It had a cow’s head and a human body. It sat taller than a normal person. The hard body was like dried old wood. Arrows shot at it only penetrated it a little. It had four arms, each of which was thicker than an average person’s thighs. It was a horrific storm that waved four Tomahawks when fighting!

If it weren’t for the caster, who dealt with it properly, that battle would have been deadly. And even with the help of the casters, the soldiers had lost a scout and a warrior.

Not only that, but after that battle, at least 10 soldiers chose to quit. Some of them used the money they saved in those years to do a little business, and some went to safer areas of the confederation to buy land as peasant farmers. The shadow the scary monster left on them made most of the soldiers put down their weapons forever, and never dare to enter the battlefield again.

Some of them later broke through the shadow on their hearts, such as the captain of the expedition team that Palin was in, ‘Ground Bear’ Divor.

Divor was a very sturdy warrior, and over 6 feet tall. He made great efforts in battle by using an axe to cut off the horrible monster’s left ankle and letting it fall to the ground, which could be described as the key to their victory. However, he himself was seriously injured during the monster’s counterattack. He broke four ribs, which nearly killed him.

After he retired, he went underground for some time. But eventually, he stood up again and took his winning trophy, one of the monster’s four battle axes, back into the battlefield. He did not serve as a soldier, but as an adventurer.

At the time, his nickname was ‘Bull-Head Axe.’ Later, as he ventured on and accumulated his talent, his nickname was replaced by ‘Ground Bear.’

This nickname was proof of his qualifications. He particularly liked to venture into underground caverns, and was also like a symbol among the adventurers in Rye Town. So when Palin recruited people, the attendant of the Association of Adventurers recommended him.

Among the other companions, the ranger and the priest were recommended by him, and both of them were frequent participants of cave exploration.

Reid, an experienced ranger, was nicknamed ‘Three Arrows’ because while the average ranger could only shoot two arrows in a row, he could shoot three.

‘Fire Hammer’ Morton was a believer of the human’s chief, the God of Glory. He was a pastor with good fighting skills and excellent magic. He was only second to Divor on this team.

The thief on this team was called Laver, and was recommended by Rhode. He was a very powerful thief, and especially good at fighting. Compared to those peers who liked to pickpocket or sneak into homes, he was good at sneaking behind monsters and poking them with his long-beloved dagger. This gave him a title of ‘Backstabber.’ For thieves good at combat, he who could turn the thieves’ best skill into his own nickname was powerful.

However, relatively speaking, Laver was not as proficient in the theft, reconnaissance, and trap dismantling that thieves were usually good at. So he didn’t have a good status with the thieves, and most of the time he worked part-time as a soldier. He believed in the God of Thieves and insisted that thieves were not killers, so he was unwilling to sell his skills for money. But a backstabbing expert who refused to be a killer apparently wouldn’t have much money.

Rhode recommended him to Palin because he was very reliable, and also because Rhode hoped to do him a favor. If he could have a good relationship with the Void Mask Church due to this thing, then in the future, as desolate as he might be, at least he could live.

Of course, Laver knew what to do, and could see Rhode’s concern. He had been very active in these two days by firmly and loyally standing by Palin’s side.

So at that moment, he spoke before Palin spoke. “I received the deposit. If you want to keep moving forward, I’ll definitely be with you!”

Reid reluctantly rolled his eyes, and there was some resentment in his heart.

To be honest, although the mage Palin was very straightforward when he paid money, if there were any other choice, he really did not want to move into the depths of the cave.

This cave was very deep. Until now, nobody had completely verified its situation. It was better that way. If one went deeper into it, what would happen? He remembered that adventurers who had escaped the caves claimed that they had seen dragons in their depths!

Of course, he absolutely did not believe that there would be a dragon in this cave; the establishment of Rye Town happened hundreds of years ago, but no one had seen the trail of a dragon. Could the dragon have started sleeping deep in the cave hundreds of years ago, and never woken up?

However, the body of a terrifying four-armed bull-headed man was seen by many in the town. He told himself that if they encountered such a monster again, their squad certainly could not defeat it. In a hurry, nobody could guarantee that they would not suffer accidents and stay alive.

Divor was much more straightforward than him. The veteran adventurer did not take going deeper into the ground seriously. He looked at Palin and gave his advice. “It’s not dangerous to go forward. According to our speed, it would take at least two more days to exceed the maximum distance I have ever explored.”

Palin turned to Morton again to seek the opinion of the priest. The silent Morton did not speak, but looked at Divor and smiled.

Obviously, he chose to believe the captain’s vision.

“If so, then go ahead.” Palin also made up his mind.

Although His Majesty also said that the most important thing in this trip was to look at the situation on the side of Frost and Graupel, he was only an aid. But even as an aid, if I don’t do my best, I am not worthy of his care!

He took out a lollipop and put it into his mouth. He gave Reid, who had been spotting in the front of the team, a spell that could protect him from a long-distance attack. Then the team moved on again.

“Why do you always like to eat sugar?” Divor asked curiously. “I’ve seen you eating two or three lollipops every day for two days. Is this sugar delicious?”

Palin smiled and took one out, and handed it to him. Then he thought for a moment, and gave everyone one lollipop.

Few people hated sweets. Although the adventurers having a strange candy in their mouths were less majestic, no other people was here, and Palin took the lead. Therefore, nobody refused to eat the lollipops.

“Hey!” Morton first discovered the intrinsic connotation of the lollipop and couldn’t help but exclaimed. He took out the candy and looked at it carefully.

“Is there any problem with this candy?” Divor was a bit puzzled, “It tastes good, sweet, and it feels like my body has become warm all of a sudden.”

“Vitality!” Morton said. “It can add vitality.”

Reid, who was still savoring it, quickly took the lollipop out of his mouth, wrapped it in oil paper again, and put it into his parcel.

What was the concept of ‘supplement vitality?’ This meant that it could treat injuries, weaknesses, and tiredness. It could even save lives in critical moments!

He couldn’t help but regret that he had eaten a bit of the candy.

Laver looked at Palin. “Boss, isn’t it a waste?”

Palin smiled. “I’m in bad health. I must eat this regularly, otherwise, I become very tired and dizzy.”

“That’s not as simple as having ‘bad health’!” Divor looked at him worriedly. “You need to eat this regularly to supplement your vitality. Do you instead need to recover for some time?”

“No, no need.” Palin smiled a few times and stepped forward again.

He had no soul, and this matter had not been concealed from him by Sui Xiong, but he would never tell anyone else.

His teammates were all experienced. Seeing that he didn’t want to say anything, they no longer asked. They just silently put back their own candies, and protected him in the middle.

This poor young man, who was weak enough to rely on this medicine to maintain his strength, was still working hard…