My Players Are So Fierce

1637: 549.

Damn!

Mice!

All mice!

Ah, I’m gonna die!

1637: 549.

Damn!

Mice!

All mice!

Ah, I’m gonna die!

Ratmen, the enigmatic creatures that often appear in many fantasy tales.

Typically described as having the ability to walk upright, they look like enlarged, oversized rats, often residing in dark corners, peering into the world under the sun with sinister eyes, endowed with greedy appetites.

They generally appear as antagonists, and unfortunately, on this land brimming with Spiritual Energy, the ratmen seem to have inherited their “fine tradition.”

Murphy didn’t know if these humanoid creatures resembling large rats were a “specialty” of the Dark Mountain Range, but he knew he would likely never get a definite answer from others because there were simply too many creatures within the Dark Mountains!

Even the Blood Covenant Knight Order patrolling around could hardly claim to have mastered all the biological information in the Dark Mountain Range Area.

This mysterious region is filled with various bizarre terrains and has been largely isolated for a thousand years.

Coupled with the presence of Corrupt Energy, the emergence of any type of creature within is understandable.

However, while the chaos of other races is one element, ratmen are an entirely different concept.

“They swarm from all directions, act only at night seemingly fearing sunlight, but as the fog of war continues to spread making it hard for light to penetrate, these vermin have begun brazenly attacking us from tunnels even at dusk.”

Bloody Captain Pablo strolled over to Murphy with half a bottle of liquor, the wild vampire middle-aged man commented with extreme distaste:

“I once thought the Wave Fishmen of the sea were the most disgusting things in the world, but it turns out you land dwellers don’t have it easy either.

If this is what you’ve been fending off over the years, even I, a pirate, would pray for your poor souls.

These bastards…

They eat everything!

A few of my crew were dragged underground by them and gnawed alive for days…

it’s a nightmare of an experience.”

“Did they die, then?”

Murphy asked.

Bloody Captain shrugged, took a swig, and said in a ghost-story-like tone:

“They didn’t die; we managed to pull them back, but this is the worst part of the story.

Though they survived, they went mad.

I’m sure they were scared mad.

Can you imagine?

The most ferocious vampire rogues of the Misty Sea, those scoundrels who kill and plunder like it’s nothing, driven mad by a troop of upright rats.

But think about it; if you two were dragged into the underground sewers, besieged by thousands of rats daily, dying would actually be a relief.

But since we’re vampires,

simple gnawing can’t take our lives.

Yet, that’s not a good thing either.

Last night I saw one of the rescued guys skin himself alive…”

“Could you spare us the uncomfortable details?”

Count Bai of White Mountain frowned and retorted:

“Let’s stick to the point, focus on these ratmen!

I can assure you there’s no mention of them in the Thorn Clan’s records, at least our Night Walkers stationed at the Dark Mountains have never encountered such creatures, otherwise our clan would not lack any record of them.”

“Oh, it seems someone’s been scared by a ghost story.”

Pablo laughed mockingly:

“You’d better not tell other old sea dogs you’re scared of this, or those bastards will definitely throw rats on your bed while you’re asleep.

A tender-skinned guy like you will get bullied hard on the ship.

Alright, alright, let’s get serious.

About these rats!

I’m certain they were lured here by those Twilight believers, as I clearly remember these creatures didn’t appear during the first day of defense, but after the fog of war was released to a certain degree, they took advantage of the night to launch an attack on us.

They showed up less than a day after that damn mummy thief ran off screaming.

I’m now strongly suspicious that the mummy girl from the Origin Land is some sort of a prophet.

She ran off shrieking ‘disaster is approaching,’ and my people couldn’t stop her as they were resting at the time.

Too bad the girl’s mind is waterlogged, driving her mad; otherwise, I’d have kept her as my navigator.

These days, meeting a true prophet isn’t easy.”

Murphy stayed silent.

He kept pondering these mysterious “ratmen” before him.

He was sure Triss, who’d traveled the world, never mentioned anything about them, meaning Triss likely hadn’t seen them either.

Have the Dark Mountains birthed unfamiliar species?

Especially as the Black Disaster is about to erupt fully; could there be a link between the two?

Hiss, this is truly terrifying upon deeper thought.

“But you have a Golden One!”

Count Bai glanced at Deputy Claire, who had just changed clothes and was strapping a pair of pirate swords to her waist, and said to Captain Pablo, who was drinking:

“If Deputy Claire wanted to fight, she could clear the entire valley on her own without getting hurt; why are your losses so great?”

“Because that’s not a Golden One, Andre.”