Iya Continent: Card God

A little earlier...

With her keen senses, the elven girl Shia could still find the forest by the faint scent even though the air was damp from the rain.

Of course, the grove of trees in front of us can't be considered a forest.

A good warhorse can run a lap around the woods in less than fifteen minutes. This means that if you are hiding inside and discovered by the enemy, it is impossible to evade pursuit by using the woods.

"That's it? Huh?" The bearded dwarf Jingon Copperhammer uttered a sound of surprise and mockery.

The implication was that this elf had found some terrible place. Choosing to hide here was no different from courting death or walking into a trap.

Linta stared at the bear-man Pine Cone with a deep gaze.

Kloff looked around and said in a deep voice, "This should be the largest forest in the area. If we don't hide here, it will be easier for Bruno to find us. Besides, we don't have time to choose a second place."

The elven girl, Shia, said coldly, "We'll ambush him here. If he dares to enter, we'll kill him."

"Huh?" The dwarf Gingon was astonished, his expression one of disbelief. "Did I hear that right? Ambush them? The enemy is the impenetrable Bruno. In our current state, we're barely able to escape, how are we supposed to fight back?"

"I'm so uncomfortable being bound," Jin Gong complained.

For him, without weapons and without agility, facing Bruno Flynn would be suicide.

Shia's expression didn't change; she remained as resolute and certain as ever, "I can kill them just the same way."

Jin Gong was speechless and didn't want to argue with the girl.

“If we have the chance, running away isn’t the solution. We need to take them down to be safe,” Linta said.

Jingong sighed and looked at Linta, "What chance do we have now, in this state?"

Linta said, "This rope can be untied!"

Jin Gong's spirits lifted. "Can you untie it? Can you untie it?"

“I can’t, but pine cones can,” Linta said with a smile.

His gaze was fixed on a corner of the rope binding Jin Gong, where there was a small scratch from the pinecone's sharp teeth. Just now, during their escape in the water, when the pinecone was biting him, the lower jaw teeth had accidentally grazed him.

Kluff said, "This is a common-grade rope. While ordinary swords can cut it, it would be extremely difficult. But the bear-man's pine cone's teeth are comparable to ordinary-grade weapons, so breaking this rope is not difficult."

"Quack quack quack!" the fishman cried out happily.

Pinecone grinned, revealing its menacing teeth. "Is that so?"

Linta chuckled softly, finding it somewhat amusing.

The enemy must have been capturing the bear-man for the first time, so they didn't expect that the bear-man's sharp teeth could bite through the ropes.

However, Pinecone himself hadn't expected this. Of course, it wasn't his fault, because his upper body was tightly bound, and he couldn't even bite the rope around his neck.

As for helping others?

Who would dare ask a bear-man capable of biting off an adult's head with a single bite? Besides, such an obvious act would be immediately noticed and stopped by the escorting soldiers. And even if he could bite through the ropes, so what? The magic-suppressing ring would still be on, and he'd still be imprisoned in the cage.

It wasn't that the enemy was inconsiderate; rather, this situation had never occurred before, and they had never even considered it.

……

"Bah—!"

The pine cone, its mouth agape, remained motionless.

At this moment, Linta used his sharp teeth to rub the back of the rope back and forth. With a slight friction sound, Linta could feel the rope breaking.

Linta, being the first to be untied, chose to use the other party's sharp teeth to rub against him, after all, Linta was also a little terrified to have the pine cone's bloody mouth bite him.

As the arms stretched out comfortably, the ordinary-grade hemp rope finally snapped.

"Wow~!"

Linta twisted his shoulders and arms with a sigh, feeling as if he had come back to life. The discomfort of being bound was indescribable. Sometimes he felt itchy, but with his arms completely tied, he couldn't scratch his face, and the feeling was almost unbearable.

Once a person's rope is untied, there's no need to use your teeth as blades anymore. Simply find the knot and slowly untie it.

Kluff said, "Luckily it's a regular rope. If it were a magical rope, don't expect to untie it with any magic."

There are many ways to capture and bind enemies in this world. Besides ordinary objects, there are also the bindings created by magicians using magic as ropes. This makes it absolutely impossible for an enemy to break free of the magic-suppressing ring.

Of course, those at the Bronze level don't deserve this treatment.

Jingon said, "Stop talking nonsense. Bruno is about to catch up. How are we going to deal with him? He can use magic. We can't even withstand one hit like this."

At this moment, everyone was without any protective gear and unable to use magic. Like fruits, they were struck by Bruno's magic-infused attack, a blow that, even if fatal, would leave them severely injured.

Shia coldly replied, "He will become slow when he enters this forest, and inside the forest, I am all-powerful."

Jin Gong said, "So what? You don't even have a knife, how do you plan to hurt him? With your skinny arms and legs?"

“You can try,” Shia said coldly, looking down at him.

Kim Gong rolled up his sleeves and said defiantly, "Bring it on. My sliding tackle can even knock down an elephant. Don't let me hit you."

"Garararar!" the little fish-man said in a language that was incomprehensible, and a smooth slime seeped from its surface.

Pinecone said gently, "I have a lot of strength now."

Kloff said in a deep voice, "Give me a knife, and I can tackle that guy and slit his throat."

As Linta listened to everyone's free-flowing words, his thoughts began to stir, and he gradually pieced together what each person had said and what they could do.

At this moment, his mental strength is slowly recovering. If the opponent doesn't arrive too quickly, he should be able to use "Swift Wind" again.

"Gentlemen, I have a plan," Linta said earnestly.

……

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Bruno, a high-ranking bronze knight, was defeated by several bronze-level warriors who had been silenced.

The one who delivered the final, devastating blow was not even a bronze-level being.

"Haha! Now you know how powerful I am!" The dwarf Jingon arrogantly stretched out his leg and stepped on the unconscious Bruno.

Kloff crouched down beside him, searching for something.

Before long, he took out a leather bag, which was quite heavy.

The metallic clanging sound inside told Linta immediately: money!

Jingong's eyes lit up immediately. "Haha, this money is ours now, and your weapon and armor are mine too." As he spoke, he picked up the greatsword that was almost as tall as himself.

Kloff opened the money bag, which contained brown coins and a few silver coins.

"Is this guy really that poor?" Jin Gong looked at the money in the bag and expressed his dissatisfaction.

After he was captured, those bastards ransacked his body, taking far more money than the Bronze Knight had ever had.

Linta looked on curiously and asked, "How much is this?"

There were a total of 5 silver coins and more than 300 copper coins in the money bag.

In the continent of Iya, copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins were used for trading.

1000 copper coins equal 1 silver coin, and 100 silver coins equal 1 gold coin.

克鲁夫道：“希亚、松果、呱嘎嘎、我分别1银币50铜币。金贡你50铜币。林塔你拿2银币和剩下的50多铜币吧。”

"Huh?" Linta was taken aback. Shouldn't it be one silver coin per person? Why did she take two?

Jingong Copper Hammer retorted angrily, "Why don't I have any silver coins? The wealth they plundered from me is more than just this one!"

Kruf said, "Didn't you want his weapon and armor? That greatsword and armor must cost more than a silver coin."

Kim Gon looked at the sword in his hand, blew on his beard, and said, "That works too."

Soon, the group divided up Bruno's possessions in the iron barrel. The armor was too bulky and troublesome, so they decided against taking it; doing so would only hinder their escape.

As for the fallen warhorse, no one wanted it, not only because it was injured, but also because taming an old enemy horse was simply not suitable for the current situation.

Linta accepted the 2 silver coins and 50 copper coins, but he didn't feel much joy; instead, he felt more confused about what was to come.

"Everyone, what are your plans?"

Linta asked curiously.