The combined caravan departing from Mentor Town had been traveling continuously for several days.
Along the way, they passed through a few towns and post stations,
and many passengers in the caravan had come and gone.
In the beast cart Hulim Heyerar was riding, the young woman from the first day had gotten off at one of the towns midway.
Later, a new young woman boarded. She was even younger—around fifteen or sixteen—dressed simply in a thick gray robe that covered her completely. Like Hulim, she also carried a magic wand.
The new passenger had a cold demeanor. Even when the elderly lady tried to strike up a conversation, she responded with indifference.
Gradually, the elderly lady gave up trying to talk to her, and the cart fell much quieter.
For Hulim, this was quite a relief.
“Strange... Where exactly is the caravan heading?”
Staring at the dense, lightless forest on both sides of the road, a trace of confusion arose in Hulim’s mind......
Meanwhile, the caravan’s guards were gathered to discuss.
“Everyone, you must have heard that as the Demon King’s return draws near, demonic beasts everywhere have become more active, right?”
Alec spoke first.
The other adventurers nodded in agreement.
“Heard? We’ve experienced it firsthand! The frequency of encountering demonic beasts on missions has skyrocketed lately......”
“Frequency is one thing—but we’re terrified of running into something too strong. A friend’s team ran into an Earth Giant Bear while on a mission a few months ago. They barely made it back alive!”
“Yeah, I had a close call too. If our scout hadn’t spotted the threat early, we would’ve been done for. And because of that, we failed the commission......”
The adventurers exchanged stories of recent experiences, and it was clear from their words just how serious the surge in demonic beast activity had become.
“Cough, everyone—we can chat about that tonight. Let’s get down to business first.”
Alec interrupted their discussion, his tone turning serious.
“Before we set out, I received intelligence: demonic beast sightings have been frequent along the next stretch of road, and there have been multiple attacks already.”
“So the road ahead will most likely be unstable. Everyone must stay on high alert—twelve times more vigilant than usual!”
Upon hearing this, the adventurers’ expressions turned solemn.
“Understood!”
“Good. Let’s rearrange the patrol and sentry duties......”
As the adventurers heightened their vigilance, the four guards riding Swift-Footed Beasts increased their patrol frequency drastically.
Though the passengers weren’t explicitly told about the threat, they could sense the subtle tension emanating from the adventurers. Their voices unconsciously softened, and the entire caravan continued forward quietly along the forest path......
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Before long, the caravan reached an uphill stretch.
Looking at the long, not-too-steep slope ahead, Alec couldn’t help frowning.
This was a dangerous spot for an ambush.
The caravan wouldn’t be able to accelerate to escape, and turning around such a large group would be extremely difficult.
“Stein!”
“What is it?”
Stein, still masked, approached.
“Can you find a high spot to scout the surrounding area?”
“A high spot......”
Stein glanced around, then nodded slightly.
“Got it.”
With that, he turned and walked into the nearby forest......
At the same time, halfway up the mountain not far ahead of the caravan,
in the dark depths of the jungle, pairs of greedy eyes slowly emerged. They fixed their gaze on the approaching caravan, their cruel instincts barely contained......
“......Hmm, this tree will do.”
Stein patted a large tree in the forest, then climbed up to the top in a few quick moves.
He gripped a branch with one hand and shaded his eyes to look into the distance with the other.
“Hmm?”
When he looked in a certain direction, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he leaned forward to get a better view.
In the next second,
his eyes widened abruptly.
“Danger——!”
......
Inside the caravan cart,
Hulim, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly tensed. Her eyes sharpened, she gripped her magic wand tightly, and stood up.
The other passengers in the cart hadn’t the slightest idea why she’d reacted so suddenly,
when a sharp whistling sound cut through the air outside the cart......
“Ambush——!!!”
In an instant, the once-orderly caravan descended into chaos.
“Moo——!!!”
The Giant Pack Beast paced restlessly on the spot, with more than a dozen arrows stuck in its body. More arrows continued to rain down from the jungle. The drivers trying to control it struggled desperately, but to no avail.
“Adventurers, form a perimeter! Everyone get off the carts immediately!”
“Drivers, gather the carts together in a circle! Those without combat experience, stay in the center......”
“......Hurry and get the Giant Pack Beast under control!”
“We can’t! It’s completely spooked!”
“Then calm it down!”
“......Move fast!”
Inside the caravan, Alec and the other adventurer leaders quickly organized a response to the attack.
“Alec——!”
At that moment, Stein came running back from the forest, gasping for breath.
“Goblins! Hundreds of them!”
“What——!?”
Alec was shocked, his expression growing grave.
Goblins weren’t hard to defeat individually, but they always attacked in massive numbers. Once the fight broke out, it would inevitably turn into a melee—and the weaker members of the group would be impossible to protect.
“Damn it!”
“Hunting Fangs, follow me——!”
The members of the Hunting Fangs didn’t hesitate. They immediately followed Alec, preparing to launch a preemptive strike.
But just then, the arrow attack suddenly stopped.
“The ranged attacks stopped? No good—the goblin melee troops are about to charge!”
As soon as Alec spoke, dense cries erupted from the jungle on both sides of the road.
“Gaki!”“Ga!”“Garu!”“Ga......”
In the next second, hordes of green-skinned goblins wielding crude weapons—mixed in with some larger Big Goblins—burst out of the jungle, charging toward the caravan from all directions.
“Everyone with a weapon, grab it and prepare to fight——! Haven’t the drivers gathered the carts yet!?”
“We can’t! This road is too narrow to turn around!”
A driver shouted anxiously.
“Tch! Damn it!”
Alec clicked his tongue, then raised his sword and charged straight at the goblins.
“All adventurers, buy us time!”
“We’ve got this!”
“You monsters—get the hell back where you came from!”
The adventurers launched a frontal assault, blocking the goblin charge and buying time for the caravan to set up a defensive position.
A cold flash of sword light swept across, cutting down two goblins instantly.
“Two down——”
Alec’s eyes glinted with calm killing intent as he stared coldly at the goblins behind.
