Chapter 95: Preparations Before the Battle for the Trait
"Father William, everything you asked for is ready." Skoll pointed to the ground nearby.
There were many iron cages placed there, containing three different types of animals, with at least ten of each type.
William nodded: "According to the previous plan, each Allard clansman will be assigned three."
Skoll turned around: "Did you all hear that?"
Behind him, more than a dozen young men began to move upon hearing this.
These were the core members of the Allard family, and every one of them was very loyal.
"Father, I'll go watch them first, just in case some boys get lazy."
Skoll bowed slightly, then looked at his daughter.
"Sadie, you must listen to Father William carefully and try your best to meet any requests."
"I understand, Father." Sadie nodded.
Before leaving, Skoll secretly gave his daughter a look, signaling her to have more contact with the priest beside her.
Now, he was full of trust in William.
Skoll didn't expect that a single move by the other party would make Saint Frian thoroughly "lively."
To investigate the poisoner, the Demon Hunter Association almost turned the entire town upside down.
Several families suspected of possessing a [Trait], the interior of the Demon Hunter Association, and other newly risen families in the town...
Originally, there were "small circles" and alliances among these forces.
But after this turmoil, several emerging families that were in a cooperative relationship even started fighting openly.
Even the Cooper family contacted Skoll, wanting to temporarily put aside family grievances to deal with the turbulent situation.
To this, Skoll did not give a clear attitude, only saying he would wait and see.
Thinking of the angry tone of that old guy Torne Cooper, Skoll felt that the moonlight tonight was much more beautiful.
Usually, the Allards were the weaker side.
This made him admire William even more, and he tried his best to meet his requests.
For example, at this moment, this priest wanted to come to the Plague Zone to make some preparations for the subsequent [Trait] competition.
Skoll naturally agreed and brought out the elites of the family.
He even put down his identity as the manor owner and accompanied them personally.
Skoll understood very well that as long as they could obtain a [Trait], everything would be worth it.
And William was the person who could help them.
With Skoll's command, those young guys quickly got ready.
William distributed a pile of holy artifacts to them respectively and asked them to tie them to the animals as required.
This was to test the restraining effect of holy artifacts on the poison fog in the Plague Zone.
Although he promised to help, William wouldn't just rush in blindly.
If even the highest-year holy artifacts couldn't resist the poison fog, there would be no need for William to go in.
He picked up a monocular and observed the situation near the entrance.
From the outside, the entrance to the Plague Zone was a small path entering a wetland forest, not a cave.
At the same time, the periphery was connected to many lakes.
Scattered evil auras could be detected underwater; William guessed those should be water monsters.
On the ground, a certain line served as a boundary, separating the wetland forest from the outside world.
The poison fog inside could not spread outward after reaching the boundary, so a poison fog "wall" spanning dozens of kilometers could be seen.
There was no one else around at this time.
After all, visibility was too poor at night, and few demon hunters would enter the Plague Zone at this time.
William put away the monocular; he already had a plan.
"Group one, stop ten meters after entering the Plague Zone."
"Group two, thirty meters."
"Group three..."
He directed the Allard clansmen.
The latter put ropes on the animals and then sent them in according to the order.
This was a simple control experiment.
William could make an objective assessment of the danger of the Plague Zone through the consumption of holy artifacts and the survival status of the animals.
Aside, Sadie had already picked up pen and paper.
As a girl who grew up in the town, she had always been in contact with firearms and daggers, so this matter was very interesting to her.
On the other side.
William picked up the telescope again to observe the situation inside.
Those animals showed different reactions as soon as they entered the Plague Zone.
Those without any holy artifacts showed abnormalities within thirty seconds of contacting the poison fog.
The specific conditions were—irritability, rapid decline in mobility, and some even began to mutate.
While the part of the animals carrying holy artifacts were still jumping around in the eyes of Skoll and others.
This also amazed the Allard clansmen present.
They had been instilled with the terror of the Plague Zone since childhood, and the high death rate of demon hunters also proved that this was not false.
But at this time, these animals could resist the invasion of poison fog with just a small crucifix.
This obviously subverted their cognition somewhat.
But William saw more.
At this time, from his perspective, the holy artifacts indeed protected those animals, but the Holy Power within them was also being consumed constantly.
Holy artifacts of different years had different consumption speeds.
This was a simple math problem, and William quickly calculated the answer on paper.
Based on the speed of Holy Power consumption, it can be divided into the following situations:
1-Year Holy Artifact: Can resist for about one day, similar to the effect of the Heart of Blackwater.
5-Year Holy Artifact: Can last for three months.
10-Year Holy Artifact: The Holy Power inside can maintain for at least half a year.
20-Year Holy Artifact: William also tested one. It can last for at least three years!
These results were all based on areas with dense poison fog as a reference.
William stared at the numbers on the paper, then looked at the pile of 10-year holy artifacts and dozens of 20-year ones in his bag.
He felt he had a 50% chance of success for this trip.
This was not him being modest.
One must know that there are many monsters in the Plague Zone, and there might be other dangers at the location of the [Trait].
Plus the competition among various forces.
This 50% assurance was not an exaggeration.
However, now that the restraining effect of holy artifacts on poison fog had been clarified, the next phase of the plan could naturally begin.
Time quickly passed, and two days arrived.
During this period, various forces maintained high vigilance.
They gathered their manpower from outside back to their territories as much as possible, fearing that the tavern incident would happen to them.
After all, this would directly affect the competition for the [Trait].
Therefore, Saint Frian spent a peaceful two days.
And the Demon Hunter Association ultimately did not find the poisoner.
That guy was very cautious and left no traces. Therefore, the Association could only swallow this loss and distribute hatred equally among every force.
Finally, the day to enter the Plague Zone arrived.
Most teams from various sides had arrived at the entrance long ago and kept a considerable distance from each other.
Most of them were in groups of three, only Lance Pope Beneke stood alone.
According to past rules, these teams would enter the Plague Zone in batches.
This was to prevent them from killing each other right at the start, thereby reducing the probability of obtaining the [Trait].
If it were in the past, everyone wouldn't care about this rule.
After all, having been neighbors in Saint Frian for so many years, they could still observe this bit of etiquette.
But today all teams were very tacit, waiting for the arrangement of the Tribal Priest.
Soon, they sorted out the order of entering the Plague Zone.
The Cooper and Stuart families were not among them.
These two parties appeared only after everyone entered every time, and this time was the same.
But everyone quickly discovered that one family seemed to be missing today.
"Where is the Allard family?"
At the same time, in the dense forest on the periphery of the Plague Zone.
Raph held a Heart of Blackwater in his hand and was constantly looking at a map.
Both items were sent to his home by Sadie last night.
Accompanying the items was a sentence—Requesting Raph to arrive at the location on the map before sunrise.
Precious items, a designated location...
Raph's heart beat fast; these things reminded him of one thing—a date!
And a journey full of danger!
Sadie thought of me when facing danger! What great trust this is!
Raph's eyes were moist; he felt that waiting for so many years was not in vain.
He was so excited that he didn't sleep all night and set off early.
Following the direction indicated by the map, Raph quickly saw the figure of his beloved!
But why is that damn priest there too!
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