Chapter 437 Elemental Marks and Phase Hounds

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Based on the knowledge of Blood Drinking Mountain that Matthew learned.

The city area in front was divided into the Magic District during the era of the Troll Empire.

The so-called magic area is of course not just for magicians.

In fact.

During its heyday, the troll empire's performance and entertainment industries were quite developed, and magic was one of the most representative industries.

It is said that the royal family of the Troll Empire has reached an insane level of enthusiasm for magic.

A certain generation of troll kings were very traditional magical fundamentalists.

He even issued a special decree——

The legal content is that magicians are strictly prohibited from pretending to be magicians!

It can be seen that the status of magicians in the Troll Kingdom has reached an incredible level.

When Matthew looked through the many works that recorded the customs and customs of the Troll Empire era, he could not help but see some introductions about the magicians of that era.

in this case.

The Magic District is obviously more vast and prosperous than other urban areas.

Look at it from the map.

The original frame of the Magic District was a relatively square rectangle, not much different from the nearby urban areas.

But in terms of actual construction, there is a huge difference.

According to the detection of the magicians.

The Magic District continues to expand outwards, and is actually an oval that includes the original city.

Such a huge urban area.

It is obvious that little Ingram and the elemental beings under him cannot completely occupy it.

Therefore, Matthew and others easily found another entrance to the Magic Zone.

But after arriving at the Magic Zone.

They didn't take action immediately.

Instead, he found a commanding height and observed the eastern part of the Magic Zone from a distance——

That is what those group of elemental beings are doing.

"They sealed off the East District. Little Ingram and Ordesia were not seen for the time being, nor was Dawn Star Leon. They may have gone to do other important things."

"As for the elemental beings patrolling the streets, their actions may seem chaotic, but there are actually traces to follow."

"The two elemental beings, fire element and water element, are responsible for patrolling and tracking under the leadership of their respective elders."

"Their purpose is to exclude outsiders. Once they find the enemy, they will attack without hesitation - you have to thank me for my agility. If I hadn't just discovered them early, it would have been an ordinary thief to explore the way. If so, I'm afraid they are already being hunted by them right now..."

Sen'er walked down from the observation deck, talking about taking credit for himself, and continued:

"But the other two elemental beings are doing more significant work."

"I found that those earth elements and air elements were patrolling the buildings in the eastern part of the Magic District as quickly as possible. They would spray their own elemental marks on every building that resembled the troll god's dick. This is obviously a kind of An action to check out the spots in advance..."

Matthew nodded slightly:

"Initial screening."

"Little Ingram made good use of the specialties of elemental life."

Sener smiled:

"Indeed, as summoned creatures, elemental life forms are obviously more intelligent than the walking dead."

"They can patrol, search, and mark according to the clear instructions given by the summoner."

"What's more important is that not everyone can identify the elemental marks left by the air element and the earth element. For mages or summoners other than Little Ingram, it takes a lot of effort to identify these marks on a large area. A lot of mana and focus, which means we can't take advantage of them."

Speaking of which.

Sen'er couldn't help but complain:

"It's all Terraste's fault!"

"This guy thought his plan was perfect, but he didn't know that confidentiality was a mess. People who come to Blood Drinking Mountain know how to recruit troops and bring a large group of people with them."

"We are still wary of each other, thinking that the eleven people who entered together are our biggest opponents. It's really funny..."

Although the others didn't say it directly.

But I still quite agree with Sen Er’s words.

Especially since there has been no news from Terraste so far.

The situation of the group of people became very passive.

"It's not that difficult to identify elemental markers."

Matthew said leisurely.

The others looked at him.

Matthew spread his hands:

"I have a little trick. I should be able to find all the buildings marked with elements."

"So the question we have now is, which strategy should we use to deal with Ingram Jr. and Ordesia?"

Claire asked:

“What are the strategies?”

Before Matthew could answer, Mo Song, the traveler god, already smiled and replied:

"What else?"

"There are just two kinds——

tail row.

Or force it! "

Jia Siliwen chuckled:

"Do you have the capital to do it?"

Mo Song was about to answer, but he seemed to think there was something in her words, so he just pursed his lips and did not answer in detail.

"It would be irrational to confront them head-on now."

Hayek said solemnly:

"Not to mention that the enemy's strength and number are far greater than ours..."

"We have encountered fishmen and trolls along the way. Who knows how many other forces are lurking in the dark."

"Once you cause obvious movement, you will become a target for other hunters, which is not cost-effective!"

Matthew nodded slightly.

This time he agreed with the point of view of the deputy leader of the Hades Cult.

In fact.

If we really want to fight head-on, once Matthew uses his full firepower, he may not be the opponent of Ingram Jr. and his group.

The number of the other side is greater.

But Matthew's legendary quality is stronger and there are more masters.

The key is.

One of his three undead heroes has yet to appear.

In the special area with various restrictions in the ancient city of Krafa, Philoleus' combat effectiveness and the advantages brought by his size will be multiplied.

If you really want to take action.

Matthew thinks he still has a pretty high chance of winning.

But now he feels that it is not yet time for a head-on confrontation with Ingram Jr.——

What Hayek said is one thing.

Blood Drinking Mountain was originally said to be a small copy that was inaccessible, but now it has been woven into a sieve, giving Matthew the feeling that there are familiar people everywhere.

Although Margaret said that there are seven forces in total.

But firstly, the weapon master's information may not be accurate, and secondly, after he and Margaret meet, there may be people who enter the Blood Drinking Mountain and the ancient city of Krafa.

Start fighting here.

You must always be on guard against the possibility of someone taking advantage of you.

Before finding Terraste.

Matthew is not willing to go all out with others——

Abuse of food is another matter, of course.

On the other hand, the proportion in Matthew's heart is actually more important.

That means there are too many paddlers in our team!

He took stock.

The only ones who can really fight are myself, Claire, and Sener, and Sener is probably an actor as well.

How the hell do you fight this?

Let’s choose a roundabout strategy.

"The last line is good."

"I like the tail row the best."

Sener said with a smile:

"However, there are two strategies for tailgating. One is to strike completely late, that is, wait for Little Ingram and the others to explore all the pillars in the Magic District that are suspected of hiding the Lost Paradise, and then suddenly attack when they find the Lost Paradise. "

"The advantage of doing this is that it has a high safety factor and a greater chance of being the last oriole."

"The disadvantage is that it is a little passive. If someone finds something and runs away immediately, we can only stand there and stare."

"Another method is to cut them off halfway. Although we don't know what they are doing now, we can first collect information on those targets that have been initially screened, and then use our method to screen them. If we find a target with high confidence, , you can try to take the initiative to see if there is a lost paradise hidden inside."

"This requires a higher level of initiative, but the disadvantage also exists, that is, who knows if Little Ingram and the others are hiding and secretly observing our actions."

"At the same time, we have to be careful: Little Ingram is not a fool. He also knows that there may be us, murlocs and trolls near the Magic Zone. To him, these are enemies. If those angry Are the elements and earth elements spraying graffiti for us to distract us from?"

"Maybe there is a terrible trap buried under any suspected target. These must be taken into consideration."

Matthew was convinced.

He observed the expressions of the others and found that no one had any mood swings because of Sen'er's words.

This shows that almost everyone thinks so.

really.

Sometimes it is easier to act with these experienced old foxes.

Even if your thinking is one-sided, someone will point out your omissions for you.

"It would be nice if these guys wouldn't paddle so much when they fight."

Matthew sighed inwardly.

"So I suggest sticking to the old rules."

Mo Song spoke calmly.

"Or are we divided into two groups?"

Jia Siliwen asked.

"No, it's a three-way."

Mo Song cleared his throat:

"Matthew led people to collect the targets initially selected by the elemental beings."

"Sen'er led the team to investigate the traces of Little Ingram, Ordesia and Dawn Star Li Ang."

"I went to inspect the situation around the Magic Zone to see if any other forces have entered here, so that I can respond in advance."

"All three parties must remember one strategy - try not to fight."

"Remember, we are here to find Lost Paradise, not to kill. Of course, if you can clear the place as quickly as Matthew just did, I will raise three hands to welcome your performance!"

For the distribution of Moson.

No one had any opinions.

The only thing that is a bit ironic is that during the final accurate grouping, Matthew and Sener became a separate team out of voluntariness.

The surrounding inspection team led by Mo Song inserted three people, Jia Siliwen, Hayek and Claire.

The reason Claire gave was that she would not be invisible and would be a drag no matter who she followed, which was indeed reasonable.

But the other two and Mozon himself were unabashedly paddling.

Despite all expectations of this.

Matthew still despised these old fritters in his heart.

Then everyone parted ways again.

They made an appointment to meet at a large leaning tower on the western edge of the Magic Zone before night——

Based on the information provided by Margaret.

There is a safe house in the great leaning tower that the artificers opened during their early exploration, which can help them survive the dangerous nights in the ancient city of Krafa.

Everyone separated.

To be on the safe side, Matthew drank a bottle of invisibility potion, opened the invisibility ball, and put the invisibility ring on his hand, ready to be activated at any time.

And A Bing and Peggy naturally don't need him to worry.

The stealth skills of these two are truly special. Unless there is an accident, it is impossible for them to be seen through by elemental beings.

This is true even for legendary elemental elders.

The three of them kept a certain distance from each other and moved slowly along the main road.

The reason why it is not fast.

It's because Matthew has to turn on "Balanced Perception" the whole time.

This ability can help him perceive the imprint left by elemental marks from an elemental level.

certainly.

Matthew would not completely blindly follow the traces left by the elemental beings. As Sener said, maybe these elemental beings were digging holes for others.

Therefore, Matthew just extracted the information of those buildings with elemental marks.

More often than not.

He still searches for possible objects hidden in Paradise Lost in his own way.

"It's a pity that neither the Crown of Sin nor the Holy Grail of Sin was conquered by me..."

Matthew felt a little regretful.

These two items, which are said to be derived from the physical body of the god Pur, would have completely obeyed his orders.

Then finding Paradise Lost might be a little simpler.

that's all.

He walked steadily through the streets patrolled by fire elements.

At the same time, sixteen buildings with earth element marks were also found.

"In the city of trolls, there are too many things that look like dicks!"

Matthew couldn't help complaining in his heart.

This is just one street, and the elemental beings have already excluded some similar buildings during the inspection.

According to this density, there are estimated to be hundreds of suspicious targets in the entire Magic Zone.

It takes a long time to open these targets one by one!

But other than that, there was nothing he could do.

We can only continue to collect information patiently.

unconsciously.

More than three hours passed.

Matthew has already walked through nearly half of the eastern part of the Magic Zone with trepidation, and the number of elemental tokens harvested in his hand has reached 67.

With continuous deepening.

His efficiency in gathering intelligence has slowed.

no way.

There are too many elemental beings around here.

Especially the two elders of fire element and water element who were patrolling the nearby streets.

Their perception is still a bit exaggerated.

Matthew was almost noticed by them several times. Fortunately, he got lucky in the end and saved the day every time.

"The mark in front seems a bit strange..."

Passing by a "Y"-shaped intersection.

Matthew suddenly discovered that there was a building on the edge of the intersection that looked like a street lamp. The shape of this thing was also somewhat similar to the dick of the troll god.

the difference is.

Matthew found that both the elements of earth and air were marked on it.

This was the first time that Matthew saw the signs of two elemental beings appearing on the same building.

This made him a little curious.

So he unconsciously took a few steps forward.

But at that moment.

A creepy feeling came over my heart——

Matthew's stepped out feet were hanging in the air.

He neither stepped over nor pulled back, but it was as if time had stood still!

Not that Matthew wanted to pose.

But he has already noticed something is wrong——

Just after Matthew paused for thirty seconds, suddenly, fifteen meters to the left of the building that looked like a street lamp, there was a slight distortion in the air.

An ugly hound with a naked body and sharp horns on its head slowly appeared.

The terrier's tail is very short, like a pom-pom tucked behind the buttocks.

Its eyes are small, but they give people an extremely dangerous feeling!

"Phase Hound"!

Matthew's heart was awe-inspiring.

Then he looked at the "street lamp" and immediately realized that this thing was used by Little Ingram and his friends for fishing!

If it weren't for his extremely keen perception.

I'm afraid it has been exposed by now.

But even if Matthew stayed still, the phase hound seemed to have noticed something.

He was not only looking around in the same place.

He also howled a few times.

Not long after.

Two more hounds appeared at the entrance of the alley.

They were probably called by their companions and wanted to find a suspicious target.

Matthew's heart suddenly rose to his throat.

Fortunately, he was prepared.

After a few seconds.

A fat mouse suddenly scurried across the street.

The three hounds were immediately attracted to the mouse, and they chased it madly.

The mouse got into the alley.

The hounds were in hot pursuit.

It didn't take long.

One of the hounds walked out of it holding a mouse in its mouth.

The other two hounds followed behind him, pushing and fighting with each other with their front hooves raised.

Several elemental beings were seen not far away.

There was just a hint of contempt in his eyes.

Didn't notice anything.

And in the alley on the opposite corner.

Matthew, who had a narrow escape, secretly wiped a cold sweat.

He is well aware of the consequences once discovered by hounds——

It’s just that the nearby elemental life forms will swarm forward.

In case they are surrounded by Ordesia and others again.

I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to escape without handing over some trump cards.

"There are also phase hounds, so insidious..."

Matthew was indignant.

He realized that he could no longer put himself at risk.

There are many ways to collect intelligence, although collecting it yourself is the most efficient and effective.

But at this critical moment.

Preserving one's own combat effectiveness is more important than anything else!

Then Matthew found an abandoned cellar and set up a secret barrier and a protective barrier here.

Then he took out a glowing bamboo tube.

After opening it.

A dozen mice crawled out of it.

This bamboo tube was given to him by Kaisha, the daughter of plague.

When making the Death Plague Ball before, Matthew thought that the mice in the bamboo tube were consumables and would be gone after they were used up.

Later he found out.

Whether it was the giant tree Solinka in the poisonous world or Kaisha, the daughter of plague, the containers they gave to Matthew to hold the four poisons and the four plagues could slowly produce poisons and plagues after they were used up.

What's even better is.

Matthew can control these little things through the Death Plague Ball.

When he was scouting the area before, he put some mice nearby to attract the attention of the inspectors, but he didn't expect that they would really come in handy.

And now.

He planned to collect data remotely through monitoring spells and these little things.

This is actually more efficient.

However, without the verification of balanced perception, the quality of the collected information would be discounted.

"Never mind, let's explore the entire magic area first..."

With this idea.

Matthew used monitoring spells, combined with the connection between the Death Plague Ball and the rats, to send out more than 20 rats in one go to find nearby targets.

With his current strong concentration.

In fact, he could send out more.

But Matthew still cherishes these little things. They can not only make powerful props such as the Death Plague Ball, but also play a role in reconnaissance and infection.

The life of the rat is also life.

As a pragmatist who advocates frugality.

Matthew will try to ensure that every rat can come back safely.

And this requires him to provide more concentration for micro-management.

For a while.

The cellar was quiet.

The rats took action in the city.

This process was not new to Matthew. Soon, he mastered a good reconnaissance rhythm.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Another two hours passed.

All the elemental marks in the eastern part of the magic zone have been recorded by Matthew.

There are a total of 149 marks.

According to Matthew's observation.

The elemental life forms are moving towards the west.

Along with this trend.

More and more buildings are marked with elemental marks.

In order to identify these marks.

Matthew can be said to have spent a lot of time and effort.

This is indeed a huge project.

But the effort is not without reward.

At least he got the information he wanted without conflicting with Little Ingram and others.

In addition.

He also accidentally found some valuable things-

In a basement two streets away, there are two small wooden boxes with a lot of gold in them;

In another house similar to a warehouse.

Matthew found more than a dozen sets of heavy armor that have not been corrupted by time. From the metallic luster reflected on the armor alone, it can be determined that these heavy armors are of high value.

In addition, there are some other relics left by the residents of the ancient city.

Some small things can be brought back by mice.

Matthew had to go and get more of them himself.

He silently memorized the locations of these treasures in his mind, and this process made him feel satisfied.

The only thing that puzzled Matthew was.

From beginning to end.

He had never seen the figures of Little Ingram or the Black Dragon Mother Aldessia on the streets of the Magic District.

They seemed to have disappeared.

But Matthew was not fooled by this appearance.

Since the four elemental elders were all nearby.

Then Little Ingram, the summoner himself, must be there.

Maybe the other party was hiding in a basement like himself.

Waiting for the fish to take the bait.

"It's almost time to go to the Leaning Tower to meet them."

"I wonder if Sener has found their traces."

Matthew got up slowly.

He rubbed his temples, gave himself a bottle of energy potion, and then put all the mice that came back into the bamboo tube.

"It seems that one is missing..."

Matthew calmed down.

He locked the location of the last mouse through the Death Plague Ball -

It seemed to be in the corner of a small room.

There was a window on the wall of the room.

The sunlight shone in from outside, and it seemed a bit dazzling in the dark space.

Matthew instinctively realized that something was wrong.

The next second.

A big hand suddenly grabbed from the side, and the mouse struggled violently, but how could it escape?

Matthew's breath was choked.

He saw an extremely arrogant face from the view shared by the mouse!

"I caught you!"

"Little mouse!"

The man sneered.

Snap!

Then he ruthlessly crushed the mouse's head. The moment before the spell effect disappeared, Matthew felt the mouse's eyeballs spinning on the ground. It was at that moment that he saw the whole picture of the room -

The arrogant young man was dressed as a hunter, and the boots on his feet, the close-fitting leather armor and the belt were shining with a strange luster, which was probably a masterpiece from the dragon's body.

He carries three bows on his back, four quivers on his waist, and a dozen bare phase hounds at his feet!

"It's him?!"

"The archer who blocked me outside the city!"

"Is it called Dawn Star Li Ang?"

In the basement.

Matthew's face looked a little ugly.

He quickly packed up his things and prepared to run away.

at the same time.

There was also a hint of anger in his heart.

Not only did you shoot me, but you also killed my rats...

"Is being a necromancer really a benevolent profession?"

Matthew left the place silently.

…

The middle of the Magic Zone.

Li Ang led the phase hounds from the small side room to the main hall of the building.

"Didn't I tell you not to show up?"

"What did you go to do?"

From the shadows of the hall, little Ingram's displeased voice came.

Li Ang said casually:

"boring."

"I crushed a mouse to death. Do you want to punish me for it?"

Little Ingram was silent for a moment.

His tone became softer:

"I don't mean to punish you."

"And we are companions, not superiors and subordinates. I am not qualified to punish you."

"I just want to remind you that it is important to stay calm at this time..."

His words were interrupted by Li Ang:

"I found the necromancer."

Little Ingram was slightly startled, and then said coldly:

"Then what?"

Li Ang said in surprise:

"He is hiding near us, don't you want to take revenge?"

"If I remember correctly, you kowtowed to him a few times, right?"

Little Ingram walked out of the shadows, his face a little unhappy:

"so what?"

"To me, those are all trivial things. Finding Paradise Lost is the real big deal."

Li Ang laughed strangely:

"You are really flexible and flexible."

Little Ingram said coldly:

"It's just a matter of weighing the pros and cons. Any reasonable adult would make the same choice as I did."

"When I get Lost Paradise and finish what I want to do, it won't be too late to deal with the Necromancer. Believe me, I will dig out his kneecaps and skull, leaving him unable to survive. I can’t die!”

"As for now, it's still the same sentence. It won't be until we show up, do you understand?"

However, Li Ang yawned:

"Feel sorry."

"I have no interest in the scenario you created to make the enemy unable to survive or die."

"I prefer practical actions to long-term fantasies——

Please tell Ordesia that I have found her staff. At most, her things will be returned to their original owners before the sun goes down tomorrow..."

As he spoke, he lazily walked outside.

Little Ingram looked livid with anger:

"In order to please Ordesia, do you plan to act alone?"

Li Ang said without looking back:

"Need some appetizers before dinner."

"There is no need for you to be jealous, little Ingram. I just want to use the purification staff to exchange for some black dragon babies from Ordesia."

"But having said that, I haven't been to Black Dragon yet..."

"The mother of the black dragon seems good, too?"

"Hahaha……"

Li Ang's voice gradually faded away.

The angry expression on young Ingram's face disappeared instantly.

He just spat in the direction Li Ang left:

"idiot!"

next moment.

In the shadow where he was standing before, a holy white light suddenly lit up.

Several figures flew past in the white light.

Their posture...

Looks like a famous angel!

…