Whispering Verse

After bidding farewell to the enthusiastic Sheriff, Shade rode around Lake Luther, hoping to find the mysterious lake.

He still remembered the tips given by the professor, so he tried his best to forget the purpose of this trip, but the more he thought about it, the more various thoughts about the "Lady of the Lake" kept echoing in his mind.

This also led to Shade not to mention the "Lady of the Lake" this afternoon, not even the talking black snake, rabbit and raven. However, when the sun was sinking to the west and the sunset was already appearing on the horizon, Shade was riding his horse, wondering whether he should return to the city now, but soon he noticed that a pack of wolves that hunted in early winter had appeared behind him. He wanted to kill Shade and the maroon horse as a reserve food.

Shade, who was already in a bad mood, would certainly not let them go easily. Therefore, after calming the frightened mount, he dismounted and rushed towards the wolves with the [Night Watch] in hand.

So, under the strong sunset beside Lake Luther, the knight holding the sword started fighting with the wolves.

This was not a big wolf pack, there were only eight or nine wild wolves in total. They originally boldly attacked Shade, but as Shade swung his sword, he chopped the wolves that were coming from both sides into two pieces, and then raised his feet to attack him from the front. The leading wolf that came was kicked to death. Finally, he lifted up the tailless wolf that rushed from behind, threw it to the ground and smashed it into mud. The remaining wild wolves immediately fled in all directions.

"Why do these wolves still dare to attack me even though I'm holding a sword and a gun?"

Shade was puzzled.

[Maybe they were too far away from you, and you took action before you could get closer to observe. 】

While "she" gave the answer softly in the wind, Shade had already chased the scattered wolves into the dead forest with only branches left by the lake, with the idea of ​​​​eliminating local pests.

There is a local forest farm nearby, but in this season it looks more like a wasteland. The wild wolves being chased by Shade fled into the forest in panic, but as several rays of silver moonlight behind them swept across the ground through the gaps in the dead trees, the last wild wolves were also split into two pieces, leaving only the fleeing ones. The fastest one went deeper into the forest:

"Why are you messing with me?"

Shade, who was holding the sword, looked back at the horse eating grass by the lake, and then chased the wolf that escaped, vowing to kill it before returning home.

Generally speaking, a four-legged wolf can run faster than a two-legged person, especially in a forest with lots of branches. But for Shade, it doesn't matter how fast the opponent runs. He doesn't even need to use the power of thaumaturgy and incantation. He only relies on his strong physical fitness and the silver sword in his hand that can cut almost everything. A path was cut through the forest and he caught up with the wolf.

The latter was frightened by the movement behind it. After the moonlight flying from behind split the big tree in front of it, the back half of its body was pinned down by the big tree. Then it howled and watched helplessly as the humans behind it walked away. Come:

"Really, why do you want to mess with me?"

Shade asked again. If it weren't for the late hour, he would have wanted to go home early. He even wanted to put the [Fish Training Ring] on the opponent's paw and ask why he was targeted.

He ignored the wild wolf and swung his sword to kill him. But after thinking about it, he took two steps back, and then took out the revolver from his waist, which was the one equipped by MI6.

Speaking of which, Shade probably fired less than five times since he got the gun. Seeing that the wolf could no longer resist, he took out his gun and prepared to test his accuracy. Anyway, the bullets were expendable——

Bang~

The sound of a gunshot frightened countless birds into the forest and flew towards the sunset. But the wolf was still alive, but holes had been blasted out of the wood on which it was pinned, bark and wood fibers flying from the dryness of the trees.

Before the wolf that managed to survive to the end could wake up from the fear, a second gunshot rang out in the early winter sunset, successfully hitting its head.

"My marksmanship is still very accurate."

Satisfied, Shade blew on the muzzle of the gun, then put the gun back into the holster and hung it on his waist. He took out the cloth from his pocket and wanted to turn the wolf corpses into toys and take them back to Tobesk as a souvenir. However, after walking two steps on the mud on the ground, he suddenly stopped.

He actually didn't go too far into the forest, and the dead trees on the edge of the forest farm were unusually sparse due to autumn logging. There are no leaves on the branches, so the setting sun can shine directly on the ground. When you look up, you can see most of the sky and clouds dyed red.

But at this time, Shade actually felt that the visibility around him was gradually declining, and the already biting wind through the forest became even colder. The [Night Watch] in his hand suddenly vibrated rapidly at this moment, and it sensed the evil earlier than Shade.

"What's approaching?"

He no longer paid attention to the wolf corpse crushed under the tree, but stood in the forest with his sword in hand and looked around.

[Outlander, you have come into contact with whispers. 】

"Whisper?"

If you listen carefully, you will hear tiny whispers in your ears that are difficult to detect at some point. The sunset dyed Shade's shoulders red, but the murmur of the woman's wailing, crying and screaming made Shade feel cold.

The sunset this evening is so strong, but the atmosphere at this time is incompatible with that sunset. Looking at the light around him, he felt dizzy due to the appearance of high-level relics. Shade tried hard to maintain his energy and carefully turned around to observe every detail around him. When he turned half a circle, he turned his head and saw a pale-faced woman with disheveled hair standing not far away. The head poked out from behind the trunk of the dead tree and looked at her with black eyes.

Shade was shocked. This was the woman he saw in Professor Drake's cursed photo:

"Sage-level relic [Swamp Witch]? She actually appears so close to the city?"

The humanoid relic poked out its head and equally pale shoulders, as if it had been hiding behind the tree and peering at the man in front of it from just now.

Shade just glanced at her and saw countless evil spirits with tragic death figures emerging from behind the dense trees and rushing towards him in the forest that was illuminated by the setting sun.

[Hallucination, don’t move. 】

The sound in his ears made Shade's consciousness clearer. He gritted his teeth and stood on the spot. As expected, the evil spirit passed through his body like a phantom, and then disappeared into the light of the setting sun.

But then, the dark shadows of the dead trees standing in the sunset began to squirm like tentacles. Then, the black shadow crawled along the ground toward Shade like a snake. This was probably a scene that would only appear in horror stories.

[It’s still an illusion, don’t move. 】

Shade believed "her" judgment and still did not move. Sure enough, after reaching Shade's feet, the squirming shadow disappeared in the light of the setting sun.

But the abnormal phenomena around him still did not disappear. Shade heard the rustling sound behind him, but now he was paying full attention to the movements of the woman who was peeking out from behind the tree, and he did not dare to move at all. Fortunately, "her" vision is not affected by her eyes:

[The wolf you shot and killed emerged from under the tree. 】

"Is it also an illusion?"

[No, it’s true this time. 】

Shade was startled and blinked subconsciously. The blinking time was no more than half a second, but as soon as the eyes were closed and opened, it was as if the picture in front of him was taken away and replaced with another one. The woman sticking her head out from behind the tree actually disappeared:

"What?"

He immediately turned around and looked behind him, and sure enough he saw the already dead wolf emerging from under the tree, lamely staring at Shade, but instead of attacking him, he turned around and walked deeper into the forest.

"Has there been a change in the nearby whispering elements?"

[That wolf has the strongest elements. 】

"It is indeed a living corpse controlled by the [Swamp Witch]... But how did the [Swamp Witch] body leave? Isn't it full of malice toward any male?"

The lame wolf walked a certain distance deep into the forest, then suddenly stopped and turned to look at Shade. Shade looked around and behind him suspiciously, somewhat unbelievable:

"You want me to go with it? I'm crazy to go with it."

Although he thought so, Shade did not turn around and leave immediately, but recalled the characteristics of the sage-level relic [Swamp Witch]:

"It will guide the way out for good-hearted women who are lost in the swamp, and may even protect them. But for impure-hearted women and any men, it will impose a soul-corrupting curse."

Shade was very sure that he was not cursed, and the wolf really seemed to be guiding him in a certain direction.

But the problem is that Shade is not a "kind-hearted woman", and if he wants to leave the woods, the direction he takes is not the direction the wolf is walking at this moment.

"It's really strange. Instead of meeting a talking animal, we encountered such a strange thing."

The body of [Swamp Witch] has undoubtedly left, but since the wolf controlled by the other party still exists, it means that the terrifying humanoid relic is still watching Shade.

The living corpse wolf that stopped there and looked at Shade didn't wait all the time, and soon continued walking deeper into the forest farm. Shade thought for a while and said to the wolf:

"Please wait for me. I will bring my horse over and then follow you."

In order to prevent the relic and the wolf from not understanding it, the Kasonrik language was also used specially.

After saying that, he returned to the path by the lake without looking back and found the horse that was eating grass with its head down. The latter meekly followed Shade, who was holding the reins, back to the forest. After passing the corpses of the wild wolves, he once again saw the big tree chopped down by the "Moonlight Slash" and the wolf waiting not far away. .

"I originally thought that if you didn't wait for me, I would leave here and go home for dinner. But since you are still here..."

There was no hesitation this time, Shade led the horse and followed. The wolf, which was squatting like a dog, also stood up and slowly walked deeper into the forest.

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