The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

From the outside, the Drowners look like corpses picked up from the bottom of a pond. Mucus and mud will ooze from the pores on their bodies, exuding a sour smell of decay. Humans often mistakenly believe that Drowners are born from lost travelers who fell into the mire, children who swam too far from the shore, or drunken farmers who fell into the swamp and drowned.

 

Of course this is not the case. Like most rumors about monsters, humans’ understanding of Drowners is completely wrong. Most of human beings’ understanding of the world is wrong, but they are not aware of it.

 

Today, however, the Drowners seemed to realize their mistake about the world. They had always thought that food was obtained from water, land or two-legged animals that roamed the roads. But today, food was falling from the sky.

 

Two sheep, bleating in the air, fell with a crash to the bottom of the valley, turning into a puddle of flesh.

 

The Drowners who were playing carefree on the river bank rejoiced upon seeing this, like piranhas smelling blood, they rushed without caution towards the meat on the ground. Even some Drowners emerged from the depths of the river to join the feast.

 

Thanks to nature for its gifts!

 

Lann and his party were lying on the top of the cliff, from where they had thrown the sheep.

 

From that distance, a normal person can only see small finger-sized blue-green things rushing towards a pile of red things and then turning red.

 

With the help of magic props, Lann and Geralt could clearly see the Drowners devouring flesh and blood, gnawing on sheep horns, and even devouring wool.

 

Lann looked away and covered his mouth, he had just witnessed some Drowners fighting over an intestine still with material and enjoying it.

 

Geralt poured a bottle of potion into his mouth, watching the scene for a while as his pupils turned black and black veins appeared around his eye sockets. He then turned to look at Lann and said: "Most of the Drowners have emerged from the water, but there are still quite a few who haven't. This way we can't dive in and explore the ruins yet."

 

Lann drank some water to suppress his nausea: "But at least it shows that this method is effective, right?"

 

Geralt nodded.

 

"Well, let's camp here today. We may have to stay for a few days." Lann ordered over his shoulder, taking another sip of water. "Besides, there is no need to prepare my lunch today."

 

The soldiers were already prepared for a protracted war before they came out, and they had already brought camping tools with them.

 

People like witchers and druids who are used to sleeping in the open air have no problem with camping.

 

A group of people gathered around the campfire to maintain their equipment and rest their minds. Swade took over House's job to feed Black Wind, but Black Wind seemed to want to come over and let Lann feed him.

 

Geralt seems to have something to talk to the Druid, and it happens that the Druid is very interested in Geralt.

 

The day passes quickly.

 

On the second day, Lann and his party threw three sheep from the cliff. The Drowners seem to have their own communication system. The Drowners who had a feast yesterday spread the news of the feast, so today all the Drowners from the bottom of the river came out.

 

They jumped around, covered in blood, around the pile of red earth: the bounty of nature had become even greater!

 

They were so densely packed that they looked like a swarm of ants, which made everyone on the cliff feel numb.

 

The Druid was sitting on the cliff to meditate. He had to transport all the cattle, sheep and livestock from distant villages. He sighed helplessly: "This is my first time opening a portal to do such a thing."

 

Lann asked with some worry: "Are you...averse to us using cattle and sheep as bait or killing Drowners? Do you think they are too pitiful? I can understand if you don't want to participate."

 

The druid glanced at Lann strangely: "When has the misunderstanding towards druids intensified?"

 

"Not to mention that these sacrifices are livestock raised by humans and those Drowners are foreign species summoned by sorcerers. Our actions are in tune with the teachings of nature."

 

"Even the most extreme kind of druid is just obsessed with those monsters that are about to become extinct. The Drowners is just too..."

 

The druid had a look of disgust on his face.

 

Lann nodded thoughtfully.

 

On the third day, four cows were thrown from the cliff. The herdsman selling cattle and sheep at the house the druid visited was beaming.

 

Today, the Drowners gathered in advance in the valley, surrounding the blood-stained spot from the previous day, waiting for the food that would fall from the sky. In a sense, this is also a kind of wisdom.

 

Lann put down the crystal bird skull and handed it to Geralt who was standing aside: "Are they all out?"

 

Geralt squinted his eyes to observe the shadows in the river through the eyes of the skull and affirmed: "They are all out."

 

Lann nodded, that's about it. On the fourth day, no cattle or sheep were thrown down.

 

The Drowners danced under the valley for a whole day, feeling dazed and hungry for a whole day.

 

The plan was successful, but Lann was a little confused. He asked Geralt: "These Drowners... Will they not seek to hunt or feed on their own? Will they stay motionless for a whole day if we don't throw something at them?"

 

Geralt was silent for a while and said: "It may take two more days of starvation to react. To be honest, this is the first time I have seen such stupid Drowners."

 

The druid on the side added: "They are probably raised by mages in underground rivers or somewhere with more food. They have been reproduced for several generations or even more than ten generations."

 

"They have no knowledge of the outside world at all. It is normal to be stupid."

 

The Drowners were starved for a whole day, so stupid that most people would feel guilty. Fortunately, Lann is not an ordinary person.

 

On the fifth day, Lann and his party bought four cows and three sheep.

 

They first roasted one of the cows and ate it to fill their bellies.

 

They then gutted the other animals and took out their internal organs, then stuffed a large amount of leaves and hay into the bodies of these cattle as shock absorbers, stuffing them to the brim. After that they took out the Dragon's Dream Bombs and the Dancing Star Bombs from their alchemical backpacks.

 

So, six cattle and sheep livestock turned into six flesh and blood bombs.

 

Lann dispersed the team, leaving only two people on the cliff to throw cattle and sheep down. The others slowly walked down the valley and hid in the bushes on both sides.

 

If there are Drowners running into the river, they will come out to stop them and annihilate them, making sure not to leave any one behind.

 

At this time, the Drowners who had been hungry all day were not very clear-headed and still gathered at the place where cattle and sheep had fallen from the sky two days ago, but there was no dancing today.

 

[Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!]

 

Six impact sounds echoed on the ground, flesh and blood splashed, and the Drowners pounced.

 

Today's food was a little strange to them, but they didn't reject it, after all, Drowners were quite dumb creatures who would try to chew even the horns of sheep and cows.

 

Some Drowners dug into the stomachs of cattle and sheep, took out leaves and hay, stuffed them into their mouths, chewed them twice, and spit them out. Others, with more luck, found the alchemical bombs, took a couple of bites, cut their mouths and threw them away.

 

The gas of [Dragon's Dream Bomb] gradually spread, and the fuel of [Dancing Star Bomb] flowed from the corners of the mouths of some Drowners. None of the alchemical bombs exploded, since in this era, bombs needed the fuse to be lit in order to detonate.

 

If you want to see fireworks, you first need a spark. What kind of things are suitable for sparks? The Grapeshot Bomb is a very good option

 

A clay pot with a lit wick was thrown from the top of the cliff. The witcher calculated the time, and when the bomb hit the ground, the fuse had completely burned out.

 

There was a Drowner who saw something falling from the sky and opened his mouth to catch it.

 

Meanwhile, from his hiding place below, Lann saw the bomb and quickly covered his ears.

 

[Boom!]

 

The scattered fragments cut off half of the head of the open-mouthed water ghost, and sporadic sparks flew everywhere. The Grapeshot Bomb only caused minor fire damage, but it was enough.

 

Immediately afterwards...

 

[Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!]

 

A series of explosions echoed as if a hundred-meter giant was rampaging through the place, a storm of fire and shockwaves covered the entire area under the cliff. All the Drowners who were enjoying their feast were engulfed before they could react.

 

The Drowners who were in the most central area were destroyed before they could react, those who were a little further away were burned by the flames. Only a few that were furthest from the feast, the weakest and slowest, were barely completely lit, screaming as they ran everywhere trying to put out the fire in the river.

 

Lann could feel the huge heat flow. He peeked towards the explosion point and saw four Drowners covered in flames falling from the sky. Like fireworks, they drew bright tracks in the air and crashed into the water. These were the ones that were thrown by the explosion.

 

He scanned the scene and saw that there were less than ten Drowners left standing. She then looked at the experience bar of his system, but there were no increases.

 

Lann's eyes turned red instantly: "Charge!" This is not an ordinary human soldier, but a monster. So much wasted experience!

 

The druid on the cliff looked at the two soldiers who were left here and were sweating coldly. He was full of admiration: "Are the nobles of Cintra...all so brave?"

 

But this time it was not Lann who was at the forefront. Geralt had already blocked the Drowners who were trying to enter the river to put out the fire.

 

At this moment, Geralt faced two enemies at the same time. The Drowners, although burned and sore, were fiercely aggressive, but the witcher showed no fear at all. He made a mysterious gesture with his left hand, and a hot fire spurted out from the palm of his hand in a fan shape.

 

[Igni Sign]: A gush of flames that wounds opponents. It can also be used to detonate flammable gases emitted by some bombs.

 

The Drowners, who had already been badly wounded by the bomb fire, were quickly killed by the Sign's flames.

 

On the other side, three Drowners rushed towards Lann with their backs full of flames.

 

Lann advanced among the Drowners, taking advantage of the toughness of his armor to resist their attacks, and then, he turned his body along with his longsword.

 

[Whirl-Pseudo]

 

As he spun, he continually adjusted his stance and the movement of his sword to adapt to his constantly changing center of gravity.

 

In the first whirl of the sword, Lann cut the bodies of two of the three Drowners into two sections.

 

On the second whirl, the swordlight flashed through the air again and Lann sliced the last of the missing Drowners in half with a diagonal slash from the bottom left to the top right.

 

Then Lann used the third whirl to stabilize his body, since he no longer had any enemies in front of him.

 

Below the cliff, the fully armed soldiers approached the dying Drowners who were still struggling to survive. But they weren't as exaggerated as Geralt and Lann; Instead, they drew their bows and fired a volley of arrows at those trying to escape. The Drowners, already weakened by the explosions, had lost their jumping speed, and were massacred with virtually no ability to resist.

 

This strategy, which took several days to implement, only took a dozen breaths from start to finish. Lann and the others rushed out as if they were cleaning the battlefield.

 

The soldiers carefully used their spears to touch up the Drowners on the ground one by one. After checking, Swade reported to Lann: "Most of the Drowners we saw have died here, Lord Earl. We just don't know how many were thrown into the river by the explosion..."

 

Geralt suddenly interrupted: "They are no longer a problem."

 

The witcher pointed at the river. Three burnt black corpses floated out of the water with their backs upward, like pieces of charred wood.

 

"Only three were blown up due to the explosion, so there are no Drowners left in this area."

 

Lann is in a good mood. If it were in the game, maybe they would receive a notification to destroy the monster nest. Unfortunately, the reality system seemed to have no such function.

 

Lann called the few people who were staying on the cliff to come down. The Druid praised Lan: “This is the first time I have seen a noble leader who takes the lead like you, and it is also the first time I have seen such creative tactics.”

 

Geralt said from the side: "For the money spent on killing these Drowners, I might have to kill dozens of griffins to make back the money."

 

After the battle, it was naturally time to collect the spoils of war, but when faced with the charred corpses of the Drowners, no one had any idea of skinning them to get the materials. The armored soldiers helped each other take it off, preparing to dive into the river.

 

Geralt took out a short knife, then took out several bottles and flasks from his alchemy backpack and began to carefully dissect the Drowners.

 

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