Chapter 107: The Noisy One and the Elixir of Life
"Hiccup...let me pass!"
Although the leading drunk was obviously not sober, he was not stupid. He stood in the middle of the bridge, looked at both ends, and shouted while burping to his men to make way.
The drunkards on the bridge were obedient and gradually made way for the bridge.
The Lord simply stood at the end of the bridge and said, "Are you their leader? Come over and have a chat. You will definitely not be able to cross the bridge anyway."
The big man looked at the lord and slowly moved two steps forward with the chain.
This is a burly, bearded man, and the smell of alcohol on him is so irritating that it is eye-irritating even from more than ten meters away.
There were still some bloodstains on the rusty armor, and the loose orange-yellow robe on the outside made his body look even larger.
"I'm Alaric! You should have heard of my name... Buddy, do you have any wine? We're out of it. You know, how can you march into battle without beer?"
The drunk leader did not seem to be fully sober, but he seemed to be able to communicate.
Leon had indeed heard of this name, both in the game in his previous life and in the days when he first arrived in Firdsvain.
Alaric the Noisy
Some people say that he is a veteran who made great contributions but was forced to leave the battlefield, a victim of the power of the nobles;
Some people also say that he is just a drunkard who is good at boasting, an old rogue who likes to act crazy when drunk;
Some people also said that he was the son of prophecy, the legendary hero, and the savior of the people - this was said by a few drunkards.
But no matter what, all the rumors about him have basically the same beginning and end.
All the rumors say that he brought a group of drunkards out of the tavern in Guangxiao Bay a year ago, and then called himself the "New King of Pendor", and launched a "holy war" to "conquer the continent" against the soldiers in the city...
Logically speaking, this was just a group of drunks making trouble, and a beginning like this would usually end with a group of people hanging over and countless people cursing the next morning.
But for some reason, Alaric's 'holy war' did not end.
They set out from Guangxiao Bay and headed eastward in a noisy manner, launching an "epic eastward expedition" - this is also what those drunkards said.
These drunkards attacked villages and farms during the day and drank and partied at night, starting their never-ending "mobile beer festival" like locusts.
The reputation of the "Drunkard Gang" quickly spread throughout the western part of the continent, and even strangely formed a fanaticism that was almost like a religious belief.
Many of the rabble left their original positions with weapons and armor and joined in the noisy farce.
Soon, there were hundreds of drunkards in Alaric's army, and new ones were constantly added.
The drunken 'crusade' continued, the drinking never stopped, and Alaric's 'reputation' grew.
It is said that the entire Short Howl Village was engulfed and demolished by this army, even the wooden boards on the roof were not spared.
Strangely, the lords of the Firdsvain and Sarleon kingdoms seem to be turning a blind eye to this growing threat - or perhaps they are powerless to do anything about it.
All the rumors ended with the same ending - the last lord who tried to defeat Alaric was Bjorn the Far Traveler from Firdsvain. At the end of the battle, Bjorn was helplessly holding up half of his shield and was overwhelmed by a large number of drunkards.
It is said that Alaric at that time held a mace in one hand and a blood-stained fan-shaped shield in the other, with a crazy look in his eyes.
But since then, no one seems to have seen Alaric the Rowdy and his gang of drunks again.
The Lord actually didn't expect that he would meet him in Kwen Village. After all, according to rumors, the last place this drunkard army appeared was Short Howl Village on the western border of the Kingdom of Sarleon.
And now it seems that this guy's eyes are not crazy, just drunk.
"Sir Alaric, I'm Leon Griffin, can we talk?"
The lord still hopes to resolve the issue peacefully. After all, in the current situation, even if he guards the bridge till the end of time, he probably won't get any spoils.
"Ha, a noble... Look at this guy's flag, he's a baron... The Baron actually said he wanted to talk to me... Hahahaha!"
Alaric smiled sarcastically and ignored Leon. Instead, he turned around and yelled at his troops.
The drunkards across the street burst into loud and strange laughter once again.
It seems that this "noisy person" probably has some class conflicts with some nobles...
"Alaric, when you raised the bull flag, I was just a commoner hanging out in the Mist City Arena."
Li Ang jumped off his horse, hung his lance on the hook of the saddle, clapped his hands to indicate that he had no ill intentions, and tried to narrow the gap between the classes...
Alaric turned his head to look at the lord, then looked at the griffin flag and smiled strangely.
"Baron Leon...are you the lord here?"
Alaric asked, patting his head as if he was thinking about something.
"I'm just passing through, but I've heard about what your troops did to other villages... so don't even think about coming over here."
The lord shook his head and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He saw danger in Alaric's eyes - his eyes gradually became dull and his vision was distracted.
"You can't stop us!"
Alaric suddenly rushed over, shouting. Although his steps were a little shaky on the bridge, his attitude became firm: "I'm going to kill you!"
This guy is clearly not in his right mind. It seems that a completely peaceful solution is unlikely.
Li Ang jumped on his horse and drove it away from the bridge. Then he took off his lance and asked Alice to speed up and turn around.
Turning back and speeding up, Alaric just ran to the bridge head, and the lord rushed forward with a gun.
Alaric also stood still on the river bank, tilted his shield a bit, and actually charged forward to face the lance!
“Bang!”
Wood chips flew everywhere, and the lance broke on Alaric's shield. The drunken big man retreated several steps to the side because of the blow, but he stood shakily on the edge of the cliff.
This heavy shot was actually completely caught by Alaric!
Yes, a human being, while standing on the ground with his footing unstable, was able to use a fan-shaped shield to block the lance thrust of a knight charging at full speed, without even falling down!
Tilting the shield can slide the forward force of the lance to the side of the body, but facing a lance charging at full force, it is not something that can be steady with just one hand!
The shield had also been broken and was thrown casually by Alaric at the front cavalry behind Leon.
The cavalryman used his shield to block the flying shield fragments, but the spear in his hand failed to hit Alaric, and he rolled off the edge of the cliff and escaped.
Then, this guy clenched the thick nail hammer in his hand and ran straight towards Leon. His heavy footsteps raised a trail of dust and he ran very fast.
This strength is indeed terrifying. You know, the armor under his bull robe should be a double layer of plate chain mail, which is very heavy.
But this guy can still run like he's not wearing anything.
"You guys seal the bridge, I'll take care of this guy!"
Seeing that the enemy on the other side was about to rush across the bridge again, the lord shouted and then went to meet Alaric.
This is probably the strongest enemy that the Lord has faced since coming to this continent.
This is not to say that Alaric's martial arts skills are superb - in fact, his technical level may not be as good as Klose's.
However, this guy's power is too terrifying.
Alaric wielded the mace, and every swing brought out a whistling sound of breaking wind. The thick mace was almost as big as his head, and looked to weigh at least thirty pounds!
What does a thirty-pound warhammer mean? The two-handed greatswords of the Mettenheim people are already quite large two-handed weapons, but they weigh less than ten pounds.
Weapons weighing more than ten pounds can only be used for fitness in most cases, because most people will exhaust their physical strength after swinging them a few times.
Even a strong man like Klose only used a sword weighing more than eight pounds.
A thirty-pound hammer, when swung, will basically break whatever it hits, and no shield or armor can block it.
This kind of heavy weapon is usually used to smash walls or knock down city gates...
Alaric fought more crazily - he kept swinging the huge mace and chasing the lord, as if he wanted to smash both the man and the horse.
My Lord, you definitely can't take it head-on.
However, there is actually no need to take it head-on. It is actually very easy to deal with this kind of tough guy who fights on foot and does not have long-range weapons.
If he wasn't sure he could deal with him, why would the lord let him cross the bridge...
Li Ang took off the Eagle Strike Bow on his back, drove his horse forward a few steps, turned around and shot an arrow.
The arrow was aimed at Alaric's arm - this guy was wearing heavy plate and chain armor all over his body, only his arm was covered with a single layer of chain mail.
But the wind was too strong on the river cliff, and the lord's horse archery skills were not good enough. Even though the distance was only thirty meters, the arrow still deviated from the intended trajectory - it hit Alaric's chest.
The bull armor seemed to have strong defensive power. The arrow pierced it, but it did not affect his movements at all.
It seems that this is a laborious job...
Li Ang pulled out another arrow.
The moment he saw the lord draw his bow, Alaric accelerated his pursuit. He probably wasn't very clear-headed. In any case, most people wouldn't chase a horse like this...
His speed was not much slower than that of a horse.
Moreover, this guy's strength and endurance are so great that the lord even feels that he is not a human being. How can a human run so fast while carrying hundreds of pounds of weight?
The chase lasted for several minutes. Leon kept looking back to fly the kite. He shot more than ten arrows, and finally one arrow pierced Alaric's right arm.
Alaric's body was already prickly like a hedgehog...
The guy finally stopped, looked at the arrow on his arm, dropped the hammer in his hand, wiped the blood, and sat down on the ground.
"I'm actually fighting? I'm on the bridge... Is there any wine, man? Give me a drink!"
Well, it seems that he finally sobered up after being shot by an arrow, and there was even some begging in his tone.
The lord looked at Alaric and took out a can of wine from his saddle bag - it was a gift from the Countess.
"If you just want to have a drink, that's fine. You can wait by the bridge and you'll have some drinks soon. But if you want to go into the village, I'm sorry."
After saying that, Leon threw the can of wine over.
Alaric grabbed the jar, bit out the cork impatiently, and took a deep sniff.
"Ha, this wine is really good!"
Then he tilted his head back and drank half the can in one gulp. The wine and saliva flowed down his neck and into his armor.
"Your name is Baron Leon, right? You only have a few dozen people, why are you blocking us?"
Perhaps it was because high sugar levels could really soothe people's moods. After drinking the wine, Alaric's attitude seemed a lot kinder.
"Everyone knows what your troops did in Short Howl Village... I can't just stand by and watch you harm the villagers."
The lord said it very directly. He felt that this guy was not a scheming person, but he just seemed to be not sober most of the time.
"It seems that you are a good lord... You just said that we can get some wine as long as we wait here. You didn't lie to me, did you? As long as there is wine, I will take them away from here."
Alaric hit his head again and looked at the jar of wine, but did not drink any more.
"Ask the Countess to send over a few carts of wine... but you can't drink it for free, you have to pay for it."
Leon gave the order in front of Alaric, and a cavalryman took the order and left.
"Guys! Get back! Get back and wait!"
Seeing that Leon had someone bring wine, Alaric walked a few steps toward the bridgehead and shouted loudly for his troops to retreat to the other side.
Then he turned around and saw that the lord really had no intention of taking action, so he sat down against the large wooden stake connected to the iron chain at the end of the bridge.
With his back to his troops.
"I just want to drink now. I don't want to bring disaster to the village... It was an accident... I didn't want it. But now, apart from alcohol, nothing can control me... Similarly, only alcohol can control them."
The guy's voice became very soft, as if he didn't want the troops on the other side of the bridge to hear.
This was unexpected. The lord did not expect that this guy's temperament would change drastically after he came to his senses.
"Then why did you make such a big fuss in the first place?"
Li Ang was a little curious about him.
"I once helped the Sarleon Kingdom fight against the D'Shar army... But after repelling the D'Shar, my hometown was destroyed by a group of nobles... My wife and my children are all gone!"
"Oh, I helped those nobles defeat the enemies they feared and protected their hometown, but they destroyed my home!"
"Then I went to the Fierdsvain, and at that time Sarleon and the Fierdsvain were at war..."
"I helped the Fierdsvain win the war, and took the opportunity to kill a few of the noble scums... But I didn't expect that after the war, the Fierdsvain and the Kingdom of Sarleon formed an alliance!"
"I was betrayed by Captain Bjorn the Farstrider to the nobles of Sarleon. He gained the support of the nobles of Sarleon, but I was imprisoned."
"I lost everything... but the cell couldn't hold someone like me. I escaped and went to Guangxiao Bay."
"I originally wanted to kill that bastard Bjorn, but when I got there I found out that he had become a great lord with hundreds of soldiers and had his own castle. He was no longer in Guangxiao Bay..."
"I am disheartened and pray to the gods to give me the strength to kill my enemies, or the devil!"
"But unexpectedly, I really received a gift from the gods! In the tavern... I met a mysterious man."
"I don't know whether it was God or the devil, but I got power from him, real power - I think you saw it just now?"
"I was probably drunk at the time. I only remember saying that Pendor needed a new king to lead the people out of suffering... But the next day, I found that there was an army of hundreds of people following me!"
"I led them all the way east, looking for the enemies who killed my wife... But I didn't expect that from then on, they called me the new king of Pendor and said I was the son of prophecy... My team also grew larger and larger..."
"Hahaha... I finally killed Bjorn the Far Traveler... But without my enemy, I feel like my life has lost its meaning..."
"I just want to drink. Only by drinking more can I see my wife and children..."
"You are a good lord. Few nobles care about the villagers... Actually, my troops will only deal with the nobles' manors now. I don't want to harm the civilians..."
Alaric sniffed the jar of wine again and brought it to his lips, but in the end he did not drink it. Instead, he put the cork back in.
"I haven't been this awake for a long time..."
The lord could generally understand his mentality. Alaric had lost his goal in life and he just wanted to reminisce about the good old days in his drunken hallucinations.
But judging from his appearance, he probably doesn't often stay so clear-headed.
Looking at Alaric, the lord suddenly thought of another person - King Ulric's father, the mad king mentioned by Lady Philina.
The same alcoholism, the same madness, the same being unconscious most of the time, the same leading a group of drunkards to cause trouble everywhere.
It’s just that the two men had different identities and powers, and the consequences they caused were quite different - one brought disaster to the country, and the other brought disaster to the village.
"Alaric, you said a god or demon gave you your powers? What's going on?"
While this guy is still awake, Li Ang decides to get to the bottom of it.
"It was a mysterious man I met in the tavern... I can't remember what he looked like. He gave me a bottle of medicine... Ha, that bottle of medicine gave me unparalleled power!"
Alaric looked at the jar in his hands, but gritted his teeth at the mention of power.
Li Ang was somewhat puzzled: "After gaining such power, why do you still look unwilling?"
"Because, ever since I drank that bottle of medicine, I have rarely been sober. I don't even know what I have done... and I have a headache all the time... There is always a crazy voice in my head telling me to kill..."
Alaric knocked his head again: "Although I like to drink, I rarely got drunk before. But now, if I don't get drunk, I'm afraid I will do a lot of terrible things..."
The Lord sighed: "Power obtained so easily will naturally have side effects..."
Alaric smiled bitterly: "That person said that I drank the elixir of life... But now that I think about it, it might be the blood of the devil! If I don't get drunk, it will be difficult for me to control myself..."
"I will go on a killing spree... Only when I'm drunk will I stop hurting more people!"
