The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

Lann accepted the new mission without hesitation. On the treacherous surface of the delta, this ship was his only hope for survival. Additionally, fighting these insect-like creatures on the transport ship can lead to other unexpected benefits.

Lann looked around and shouted loudly: "Everyone, I am Lann Lannister, the Lion of Cintra, Hereditary Earl and Knight of the Lady of the Lake! These are my soldiers, forty fully armed warriors of Cintra."

The passengers on the ship, merchants, poets, scholars, and relatives of nobles, were astonished to hear this, having already noticed the armed soldiers on the deck.

"The monsters in the water killed the soldiers of Redania, but we will not let them harm them! The soldiers of Cintra will protect them!"

“Please also maintain order and return below deck as soon as possible so that our soldiers can fight without distractions.”

Regardless of whether the passengers heard him or not, he immediately ordered the soldiers to organize the evacuation of the passengers.

The passengers gratefully obeyed and quickly left the deck. In a few seconds, the deck was clear.

Only a few scholars, painters, and bards remained, watching the action. After confirming that they would not leave, Lann let them stay.

Meanwhile, the Redania soldiers who had jumped into the water were dead. The creatures, half satiated, continued to prowl around the ship.

The sailors threw some harpoons into the water and Milva shot some arrows, making the creatures scream in pain, but without causing them significant damage, only making them angrier.

Lann tied a rope around his waist and secured it to the mast to prevent him from falling into the water due to the rocking of the ship.

"My lord, the enemies are underwater. The arrows do not have enough power and the sailors cannot hit the targets with the harpoons. What shall we do?"

Lann looked around. Even the sailors of Skellige would have problems with these aquatic creatures.

Lann thought for a moment and said: "The Aeschna is not a magical creature but a creature of natural origin with the most basic biological instincts."

"We don't need to kill all four of them. As long as we kill two or even one of them, they will leave."

After finishing speaking, Lann turned his palm and took out a blue-colored glass and metal container from the [Inventory].

[Northern Wind]: Alchemy bomb, which can freeze enemies after explosion. Attacks against frozen enemies will have additional damage and a certain chance of instant death.

"We need to lure an Aeschna out of the water. I'll freeze her and then everyone will attack her at once. It's that simple."

House nodded, and then asked: "Then where should we find bait to lure them? There is no bait here..."

House stopped suddenly, realizing something. Everyone turned their gaze towards the Redania squad leader.

The soldier was so frightened that he cried on the spot: "No, no, my lord, I am still useful, I know a lot of information, please!"

Lann's face was expressionless. He turned his head and looked at those people still on the deck. Except for his own group, the merchants, poets and scholars all turned their heads very sensibly.

Those who ventured into these dangerous times and had the courage to stay on deck were no fools. And they knew that what Lann was doing was to save everyone, including them.

The soldier wanted to say something else, but suddenly a hand radiating a white light appeared before him.

[Axii Sign]

"Who sent you to find me? What else did he say?"

"A sorcerer named Rience was looking for information about you. He paid us to capture you if we found you on this ship."

"Is that all? Is there no more information?"

The leader of the Redania soldiers nodded.

Lann sneered. "And this is what you call 'a lot of information'?"

With a loud splash, the squad leader was thrown into the water. The cold, stinking liquid woke him up instantly. Desperate, he began to swim frantically, feeling the water around him stir violently.

The monsters were already circling around him!

Lann turned to the bards and merchants and said: "This soldier of Redania, filled with grief at the loss of his companions, has decided to sacrifice himself to give us a chance. He has no name. Simply call him Soldier of Redania."

The bards and merchants nodded silently. The scholars, although arrogant and disdainful, said nothing.

“What a heroic soldier.” Said the captain, who already felt deep contempt for these greedy villains protected by the government, but at that moment he took off his hat as a sign of respect.

Zoltan smacked his lips and looked at what looked like a rotten log emerging from the water. "I really hope he can swim faster."

The surface of the water suddenly burst, and the strange many-limbed insect held the soldier in its mouth and stretched its upper body out of the water. As the Aeschna closed its jaws, the soldier let out a short cry.

The passengers watched in horror, some scholars turned their heads, but curiosity made them look again.

The warriors, armed with longbows and harpoons, were ready.

Lann, taking advantage of the moment when the creature emerged from the water, launched his alchemical bomb [Northern Wind]. The icy blue bomb flew through the air and exploded three feet from the creature.

An icy wind, as if coming from the extreme north, swept through the place. The temperature dropped sharply, and everyone felt a chill, even though they were far away.

Half of the Aeschna's body was instantly frozen, turning into an ice sculpture, along with a small portion of the water surface.

“Fire the arrow!”

Forty Cintra soldiers released their arrows in unison. The air was filled with the sounds of bows drawn and projectiles flying.

With a bang, the Aeschna's ice sculpture shattered into large chunks, which fell into the water, breaking the thin layer of ice and slowly sinking.

As everyone breathed a sigh of relief, another Aeschna emerged from the water. This time, it jumped higher and stronger than the previous ones, surpassing the deck with the intention of attacking.

And its direct target was Lann.

“My Lord the Earl!” House screamed in horror.

Lann reacted much faster than the others on deck. He didn't have time to draw his sword or raise his hand, but he did have time to make an instinctive gesture with his fingers.

A yellow flash enveloped Lann as he activated the [Quen Sign]. Considering the size of the creature, Lann used more magic power than usual.

The wind generated by the creature's launch violently ruffled Lann's hair. In the blink of an eye, the monster collided with him.

With a bang, the [Quen Sign] exploded, releasing a current of air that stopped the creature's advance. It fell heavily on the deck, almost breaking it with the impact.

[Exploding Shield]

Lann was thrown backwards by the force of the impact but suffered no damage. He rolled twice on the ground and got up immediately.

"I'm fine." Lann shouted, stopping his servants and soldiers who were rushing towards him. He pointed to the creature on the deck. "Attack!"

The creature, with its ten short, wide, flat legs, was perfect for swimming, but useless on land.

Lann shook his head and then led the charge. It was not convenient to use fire on the ship, so he cast his third [Axii Sign] of the day.

The previously roaring Aeschna suddenly fell silent. A hail of harpoons and swords rained down on his head, and the attackers quickly retreated.

The Aeschna, with half its head shattered, was still fighting fiercely, tearing through the deck with its fan-shaped tail. After five minutes of agony, he finally became still. Lann looked around and saw that the other two Aeschna had already disappeared.

[Quest - Pleasurable Journey - Completed]

...

The rest of the trip passed without further incident. The group sailed without problems until reaching Oxenfurt.

Lann put the Aeschna's corpse in his inventory, planning to dissect it upon arriving in Oxenfurt. Although Lann found no mutagens in the body, the insect's chitinous exoskeleton and various glands were useful materials for alchemical experiments.

At first, Lann's assistants wanted to rescue the frozen fragments of the Aeschna that had sunk to the bottom of the delta, considering them the count's property. However, Lann, compassionate towards his subordinates, stopped them. It was unnecessary. The water was full of dead animals and human waste, it's really not a place where people should stay.

Furthermore, the first Aeschna, after being frozen by the [Northern Wind] and disintegrating, was contaminated by dirty water, leaving few useful materials.

Shani showed great interest in dissecting the Aeschna, causing Lann to wonder if she was diverting the little medical student girl into another field.

The transport ship slowly docked, and the people who had survived the disaster rushed into the port cheering, which attracted the attention of the people around them. Why did they seem so excited, like sailors after months at sea?

Then something caught their attention even more. A group of fully armed warriors got off the transport ship, with five or six dwarves among them. The leader was a knight with dazzling blond hair.

The onlookers had a lot of questions today, or it could be said that there was something wrong with the ship.

Soon, they realized that it was none of their business, as another group of Redania soldiers, equally armed, were already waiting on the shore, in equal numbers.

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