Chapter 528 The optimal solution to the hostage problem (10,000-word chapter, please subscribe)
As a traditional military fortress used in the Amn region to curb the intrusion of monsters and bandits, as well as to control surrounding lands and villages, the area of ​​​​D'Arnisburg is not large.
At least it is much smaller than the lake castle that Bernard originally gave to Zuo Si, probably only about one-tenth of the latter.
On weekdays, only Sir De Arnis himself, his widowed sister Desia Kane, the only female heiress Nalia, and his adopted son Isiah live here.
In addition, there is a housekeeper, a guard captain, about a dozen relatively strong soldiers and an equal number of male and female servants. The total number may be less than forty people.
There are also several fierce dogs specially used for hunting and early warning in the courtyard within the castle wall.
This is obviously different from the Lake Castle owned by Zuo Si, which often has a permanent army of 200 troops, and can easily form a militia of thousands of people by combining with the surrounding estates.
However, this is also the most common scale of castles and fortresses built in rural areas with families as the core in Amn and even the entire continent of Faerûn.
After all, the soldiers and servants living in the castle need to be supported by the owner of the castle, that is, the lord of the nearby land.
In a non-war situation, the lords can naturally save as much as they can and retain the most basic protective capabilities of the castle. There is no need to spend too much money to feed so many soldiers.
With the help of the strong walls of the castle, the narrow and intricate passages inside, and various deadly traps, a dozen soldiers can easily withstand the siege of hundreds of orcs, half-orcs, goblins, gnolls and other monsters.
What's more, Sir De Anis also participated in adventures when he was young. With his warrior strength and magical weapons and equipment, he could rush into the midst of dozens or twenty monsters and wield the flail of time to kill each other one after another.
smashed into pulp.
Unfortunately, he clearly misjudged the situation this time.
Due to the presence of Isiah as a mole, Deanis's internal structure, weaknesses and traps have long been clearly understood by the enemy.
In addition, the mind flayers are not ordinary monsters. Their powerful psychic powers and charm abilities can easily control the thinking and will of anyone in the castle. It only took them a very short time to break down the resistance of the defending soldiers.<
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The trusted captain of the guard was directly charmed and became a glorious leader.
Currently, deep underground in the castle leading to the second floor, six mind flayers are surrounding a circular pond shaped by magic. They are constantly opening the skulls of the monster slaves under their control one by one and removing the tender inside.
Pour all the brains and brain matter in.
In the blink of an eye, the huge brain tissue floating in the center of the pond quickly extended its tentacles, sucking out the brain with the most concentrated neurons in the brain and the most nutritious part for the mind flayer through the weird fluff-like tissue on it.
Gray matter.
Although its size can be considered huge compared to the brains of ordinary people, it is much smaller than other mind flayer master brains that have existed for decades or even centuries. It is obvious that it has only recently been successfully transformed.
Completed.
When a dozen brains were completely absorbed, the new mastermind immediately issued orders to several other mind flayers through psychic abilities.
"I sensed new intruders in the castle and immediately went to catch them.
Several of these people have very well developed brains, which can be used to replenish the spiritual energy I lost during the transformation process.
Compared to eating these nutritious orc and troll brains, I prefer the brains of humans, elves, dwarves and halflings.
Especially the brains of mages, not only are they delicious, but they can also provide you with a lot of arcane magic knowledge."
"As you wish, great mastermind."
One of the mind flayers bent down and bowed, then turned around and disappeared with three others of his kind at the end of the spiral staircase leading to the surface.
Not long after they left, the mastermind turned his attention to Sir De Arnis, who was tied to a pillar and captured.
At this moment, this noble-born warrior no longer had the stern toughness he had before, but was replaced by pain, despair and deep sadness.
Because not far away, his adopted son Isiah was standing unequivocally on the side of the monsters. He was telling a mind flayer the situation of Naria's escape in the chaos, hoping that the other party could help catch him.
Come back.
It is best to just put on a permanent slave collar and completely turn it into a puppet at your own mercy.
In this way, Isiah can not only easily annex the property and land of the De Arnis family, but also play with the long-coveted eldest daughter of the De Arnis family.
If there was another chance, Sir De Arnis vowed that he would not be too compassionate and would bring this devil's son back to raise him.
Instead, they will allow the vengeful wild elf tribes to kill the Ronoll family who captured and traded slaves.
Unfortunately, it's too late now.
Witnessing the tragedy of all the servants and soldiers in the entire castle being captured by the Mind Flayer, and then prying open the skulls and devouring the brains one by one, Sir De Arniss' mental state and heart were already close to collapse, and he fell into crazy hatred.
Unable to extricate myself.
Whenever there is the slightest chance, he will not hesitate to pounce on the opponent and bite the opponent's throat with his teeth to avenge the tragic death of the soldiers and servants.
But what Sir De Arnis can't understand is that the Mind Flayer has obviously eaten almost all the soldiers and servants in the castle, but why hasn't it eaten his and his sister's brains yet?
Is it because he and Deshia Kane are looked down upon by each other because their intelligence is too low?
Or are these guys planning to use their identities to plan some unknown conspiracy?
Just when Sir De Arnis was puzzled, the voice of the mastermind suddenly echoed in his mind.
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"I think you must be wondering now why you are still alive and not eaten, right?"
"What do you want to say, monster?"
Sir De Arnis gritted his teeth and asked.
"I just want to tell you an answer before you die.
The reason why I didn't eat you and your sister right away was so that your daughter could recruit more adventurers to carry out the so-called rescue plan.
And the smartest mages among these adventurers will become the most important food for me in my infancy after I get rid of becoming the mastermind.
Now, your daughter has successfully completed this task.
So neither you nor your stupid sister has any use value now.
The next time I feel hungry, it will be the moment you enter death."
The mind flayer mastermind didn't hide anything and bluntly stated his plan.
Obviously, the soldier who ran back to deliver the message was actually let go intentionally by it.
In the eyes of this terrifying creature, except for the other mind flayers who follow him, all other humans and monsters can be directly equated with words such as slaves and food.
But poor Isiah doesn't know anything about this. He thinks that he is a partner and ally, and he is still trying to bargain with the mind flayer.
Just a second later, the impatient latter directly waved his tentacles and grabbed the idiot's head, then opened the skull with a click, opened his mouth and sucked the brain and brain matter inside without mercy.
The horrific scene is enough to make any normal person feel numb and have nightmares for weeks after seeing it.
After the mind flayer had eaten and drank enough and pushed the empty head away, Isiah's body fell to the ground with a plop, his hands and feet still twitching slightly under the control of the central nervous system in his spine.
From the shock, fear and despair remaining in his eyes, it is easy to tell that he never understood what he had done wrong until his death.
"Drag this useless body to feed the trolls!"
The mind flayer gave the order directly to the charmed monster next to him.
Without saying a word, the orc dragged the body toward the dungeon where the trolls gathered outside.
Not long after, creepy sounds of tearing and chewing came from the dark dungeon.
It has to be said that Isiah's sudden and tragic exit made Sir De Arnis, who had been betrayed and deceived, feel a little relieved, but at the same time he also showed unprecedented nervousness and anxiety about his daughter's arrival.
After all, he has personally experienced how powerful these mind flayers and the monsters they control are.
Especially the mastermind in front of him, who can deprive himself of his will and all ability to resist with just one thought.
What's even worse is that the soldier who was deliberately sent back to report for help had no idea what happened next.
Sir De Arnis is worried that his daughter and the adventurers will be captured by the mind flayer and the mastermind like himself, and eventually become each other's food.
But what he didn't know was that the adventurers Nalia had found were not ordinary people. There were three Sons of Baal who contained terrifying killing divinity and divine power in their bodies. At this moment, they had sneaked in along the secret passage in the cellar.
Lobby on the first floor.
More than thirty heavily armed orcs, trolls and gnolls were all killed in a surprise attack without even a splash.
Especially Aberdare, who has mastered martial arts, his performance is getting worse every time when dealing with powerful spellcasters such as legendary lich and demilich.
But when you do the job of abusing vegetables, you are like a god coming down from the earth.
Often a "super powerful slash" can split the enemy's weapons, armor and body, causing blood and internal organs to fly everywhere.
To be continued...