"Then explain this plan of yours well," said Mark after some time.

  At his cue, Alexander began to explain.

  The more he explained, the crazier—and yet more disturbingly logical—the plan sounded.

  "Do you really think it will work?" asked Stella. "The beginning might very well not go as planned."

  "Our chances are high," assured Alexander. "Even if my plan fails, just run."

  "We can't abandon you," said Diana, finally speaking.

  "Thank you for your concern, but I have my own means," said Alexander. "It will be much easier to escape without you nearby."

  He was telling the truth.

  If everything went wrong, he could activate his transformation, use |Poisonous Mist| to drive enemies away, and escape mounted on Ocean.

  His companions simply didn't know this.

  "Let's hurry—or we'll miss the chance," said Alexander, pointing to the "tag" group—which was clearly getting tired.

  With no time to argue, the group could only move forward and hope for the best.

  Once he reached his position, Alexander just had to wait. The "troupe" had a well-defined "stage of action".

  This was due to the fox being slower than the boar in open ground, yet more agile than the attacking group whenever it could use the terrain to its advantage.

  In other words, it couldn't risk fleeing into a more open area, and they couldn't catch it due to the many obstacles it used in its favor.

  While waiting, Alexander began debating with himself what would be the best course of action when the time came: "A slashing strike shouldn't cause much damage—especially if I have to adjust the blow when he tries to dodge."

  "A |Thrust| would cause good damage… But the strike would have to be direct—which makes it very difficult to hit the target in this scenario."

  "I guess the good old blunt blow will have to do…"

  As soon as the "troupe" was about to pass the point marked by him for the ambush, Alexander activated |Sneak| and |Ambush|. He camouflaged himself in the foliage right on the edge of where they would pass.

  As soon as all the actors arrived at their places, Alexander shouted to the blue creature on the boar: "Hey, boss."

  However, the words that came out of his mouth weren't in |World Language|, but in |Goblin Language|. Thanks to the |Appraise| skill, he knew it was a {Hobgoblin Rider}.

  The hobgoblin acted as expected and slowed down the {Iron Tusk} a bit to look in the direction the voice calling him came from.

  Even with his sharp gaze, all he could see was vegetation.

  The fox, who had nothing to do with this, sped up and tried to flee upon perceiving this "great opportunity."

  Unfortunately for it, what awaited wasn't its much-desired freedom.

  As soon as the fox approached the dense vegetation in front of it, Ocean, who was already there waiting for it using |Ambush|, bit it and pinned it to the ground with one of her front paws.

  The fox howled loudly in pain. However, as it could do nothing against Ocean's overwhelming strength, it was soon subdued.

  She only survived because Ocean—who wasn’t interested in killing her—merely threw her against a tree before attacking the {Iron Tusk}.

  The appearance of Ocean, a 2nd evolution creature, snapped the hobgoblin out of his confusion and he bravely advanced towards her to recover his prey. That was exactly what Alexander was waiting for.

  As soon as the hobgoblin charged at Ocean, Alexander energized his spear and jumped at him—delivering a blow with the spear's counterweight.

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  The hobgoblin was surprised, to say the least, when he saw Alexander emerge from where there should be nothing to attack him.

  Even in such a situation, his instincts spoke louder and he tried to dodge.

  Knowing how sharp the instinct of a 2nd evolution monster was, Alexander was already prepared to correct the strike's trajectory.

  With a few small trajectory adjustments, he hit the hobgoblin's head squarely.

  Alexander's blow was so strong that the hobgoblin was torn from his mount and his head emitted a nauseating crack. "Crack!"

  Feeling his master's fall, the large boar wanted to turn back to help him, but couldn't.

  Besides not being particularly adept at changing direction, it was still on a collision course with one of its natural predators.

  Seeing he had already done his part, Alexander was ready to leave the rest to the other team members when he noticed the hobgoblin had dropped his spear due to the fall.

  He seized the weapon, knowing it would make the fight easier for his companions.

  With the weapon in his possession, Alexander decided to take a short break to see what was happening around him.

  Just a few glances were enough for him to know everything should end well.

  Ocean—who normally should have some difficulty against thick-skinned enemies and/or with layers of fat—was doing very well.

  This didn't surprise Alexander much. After all, boars are natural prey for wolves, and Ocean was above the {Iron Tusk} in evolution.

  What really surprised him was seeing that his companions had got the fight's timing right.

  "They shouldn't have problems dealing with the hobgoblin now that he's disarmed and Mark can use {Iron Will}," concluded Alexander in his thoughts before entering the dense vegetation and disappearing into it.

  As soon as Alexander disappeared into the vegetation, the hobgoblin was already on his feet and ready to receive Mark's attack—albeit clumsily.

  Shortly before the collision between them, Mark raised his shield and began accumulating energy to transform it into a charge attack.

  "|Charge|!" shouted Mark before his speed increased.

  The charge surprised the hobgoblin, who was pushed well back. Mark took advantage of this opening to hit him with a few sword strikes.

  However, his attacks were interrupted by a large wall of fire that appeared without any warning around the hobgoblin.

  The hobgoblin groaned in pain from the flames, yet he wasn't the only one.

  The hand with which Mark held his sword was also caught by the fire.

  Not even his {Iron Will} was able to protect it completely from the flames.

  The pain and the smell of his own burning flesh were anything but pleasant.

  It didn't take a genius to know where the fire came from, but that wasn't the problem.

  The problem was that Mark couldn't stand holding the sword due to the heat and was forced to drop it.

  The hobgoblin—who was covered in burns and completely furious—didn't let the opportunity pass and began his counterattack.

  Before the sword cooled enough to use it again, it charged at Mark and gave him a strong punch to the stomach—which pushed him back.

  The hobgoblin tried to pursue Mark to continue his counterattack, but he was intercepted by a large water sphere at high speed that exploded and threw him far away.

  The group was a bit lost until a hoarse, muffled, and somewhat forced, yet strangely familiar, voice scolded them: "You were only tasked with defeating the {Hobgoblin Rider} because he lost most of his combat power when he was torn from his mount. Yet you're losing to a dismounted and disarmed rider."

  Upon hearing the scolding, the group was sure it was Alexander who repelled the hobgoblin, but none of them could see him.

  "What are you waiting for, Mark?" asked Alexander, exasperated. "Cool your sword with the water from my spell."

  These words seemed to click in Mark's head and he plunged his sword into the puddle of water that formed when the water sphere exploded.

  Alexander didn't stop there and shifted his focus to Diana: "Diana, cancel any regeneration spell you're using on Mark and focus on other spells. When you need to heal him, use |Cure| and avoid his hands."

  Diana didn't fully understand Alexander's reasons, but she trusted him enough to obey his command.

  Last but not least, Alexander left one last phrase without a recipient. But everyone knew who it was for. "Only do what the situation allows—or the desire to prove yourselves will end up killing all of you."

  This blunt phrase obviously stung Stella, but she had no way to argue.

  Her mistake really could have cost Mark his life if the situation weren't so favorable.

  Feeling his intervention was no longer necessary, Alexander didn't speak anymore. Making it clear this wasn't his task.

  Without Alexander as a leadership reference, the group ended up becoming a bit chaotic.

  This made collaboration between them require more effort to compensate for the loss of efficiency.

  Feeling this leadership vacuum—and possibly fearing being hit by another spell—Mark assumed this position to decide for himself the best time to receive magical support.

  Mark's leadership ability left something to be desired compared to Alexander's—who also wasn't perfect.

  However, for his first time, he did well—especially in a newly formed group.

  Enveloped by his {Iron Will}, and receiving different types of magical support, Mark managed to push the {Hobgoblin Rider} further and further back.

  When their victory was almost certain—like every sentient creature that feared death—the hobgoblin tried to turn and flee.

  As soon as he did, a large figure jumped from the vegetation with great dexterity and bit his neck.

  The animal's momentum made both roll a bit on the ground.

  At no point did the figure let go of the hobgoblin, who continued struggling and writhing nonstop.

  The figure was obviously Ocean. But the way she twisted in the air to adjust her jaw in the best possible way seemed more feline than canine.

  When the momentum of Ocean's jump ended, the {Hobgoblin Rider}'s body was already limp and lifeless in her mouth.

  The strong compression of her jaw crushed his neck to pieces.