The Ambushed Squad

“Little Rosal, watch out!” Aila shouted, sensing something was wrong.

Just as Rosal was about to approach the injured, bizarre lizard, the creature—which should have been severely wounded—suddenly leaped high off the ground and spat a glob of viscous liquid at her from its mouth.

Rosal, being the closest, could not react in time. It looked as though the liquid was about to drench her head-on.

At that moment, Midir’s large hand abruptly manifested from the air behind her. He grabbed her back collar and yanked her backward with great force.

Rosal felt a brief moment of dizziness before finding herself standing beside him. The viscous liquid, having lost its target, splashed onto the ground, corroding the riverbed pebbles into shallow pits.

Aila quickly drew a longsword from her Arms Crafter and cleanly severed the lizard’s head. To her surprise, even with its head and body separated, the strange black lizard did not die; it continued to writhe incessantly.

It wasn't until Midir waved his hand and summoned a fireball to strike it that the creature finally turned to charcoal amidst the flames.

Watching the monster gradually turn to ash, Midir did not relax. He could sense that the faint black aura rising from the creature’s body had not completely vanished; instead, it drifted southward as if summoned by something.

Squinting at the direction where the black aura disappeared, Midir spoke seriously to the two women. “Let’s skip the rest. We need to catch up with Blake and the others immediately!”

The three exchanged glances and quickly packed their things. Without staying a moment longer, they mounted Kiteclaw and left the riverside.

For the next leg of the journey, Aila had Kiteclaw fly at a low altitude of about ten meters. She used her goggles to carefully scout the surroundings along the way. Two full hours passed without any abnormalities, and the black lizard monsters did not appear again.

Just as Aila relaxed slightly and lifted her goggles to rub her tired eyes, Rosal, sitting at the very front, cried out.

On the main road ahead, several black corpses torn apart by sharp blades were scattered. Upon closer inspection, there wasn't just the lizard-shaped monster, but several other strange creatures of various forms. The common trait among them all was their pitch-black bodies and the bright red fleshy lump on their heads.

Seeing this scene, the three landed by the roadside again to cautiously observe the surroundings.

The battle on the road had clearly ended some time ago. Even with the monsters' tenacious vitality, it was impossible for them to survive after their bodies were shredded. Midir carefully kicked aside the corpse of a spider-like monster, only feeling relieved once he confirmed the remains were truly dead.

Meanwhile, Aila discovered something not far away and waved for the two to come over.

“Look, this blood is clearly human. Judging by the lizard monster we encountered at noon, these creatures aren't very strong aside from their tenacity and surprise venom. Even Blake should be able to handle several of them at once. Yet, someone was still injured, which means the number of monsters must have been much higher than what we see here,” Aila said, pointing to several patches of blood on the roadside that had already turned dark.

“Could this be the magic calamity mentioned in the reports? But... we shouldn't have reached the territory of the Azure City-State yet, right?” Rosal asked as she opened the map in her pocket to confirm.

“Whatever it is, the safety of Blake and his group is definitely not guaranteed. Judging by the battle traces on the ground, they probably left only an hour or two ago. Let's hurry and catch up.” Midir nodded and turned to release several bursts of flame, incinerating the scattered monster remains on the road.

Finally, after another hour of travel, the three saw the team led by Blake far off on the horizon.

Just as Midir had suspected, the situation for this team was indeed grim. They were surrounded in the middle of the road by hundreds of black monsters of various shapes.

“Tighten the defense on both flanks! Don't get bogged down in combat! These monsters are too tenacious. Use a combined combat technique to break through from the front!”

Blake looked valiant as he rode a majestic Bicornes at the core of the formation. His sharp gaze scanned the surrounding battlefield, his mind highly focused and ready to respond to any sudden situation.

This cavalry unit of over a hundred people had been attacked by these unknown black monsters several hours ago.

Although the individual strength of the monsters wasn't high, their abnormally tenacious vitality and fearless, suicidal frenzy were constantly grinding down the stamina and mental state of the team members. They had gone from handling things with ease at the start to being physically and mentally exhausted now.

Furthermore, the number of these monsters had gradually increased from a dozen at the beginning to a scale of hundreds now.

As the commander, Blake knew they couldn't afford to be held back. They had to enter the controlled range of the Azure City-State before dark; otherwise, they would be swallowed up by the increasing number of monsters.

The guards in the middle and front of the team used a combined combat technique again. Battle Qi of various colors condensed in front of the unit into a massive, multicolored spear, which violently pierced through dozens of monsters on the road ahead, tearing a gap in their path.

“Quickly! Charge out now! Use the Bicornes' mobility to lose them!” Seeing that the attack had produced good results, Blake felt a surge of joy and commanded the team to urge their horses toward the opening.

Just as the team was about to escape the encirclement, a guard at Blake’s side was snared across his chest plate by a sticky silk thread spat from a spider-type monster. The powerful stickiness made it impossible for him to maintain his balance, and he was pulled off his horse by the monster.

“Luc! Dammit! Go back and get him out!” Seeing the guard named Luc about to be killed within the monster's encirclement, Blake grit his teeth and commanded the team to charge back in.

Receiving the order, the cavalry unit turned around again, plunging into the monsters like a sharp blade and clearing a space around Luc.

Blake leaped off his horse and used his sword to cut the link on the side of Luc's chest plate, which was wrapped in sticky silk, pulling him out of the restraint.

Although they successfully rescued their teammate, this decision caused their small squad to be surrounded once again by the surging black figures.

As the ever-increasing number of monsters squeezed their operating space, the cavalry squad could no longer utilize their mobility. Left with no choice, Blake ordered everyone to dismount and fight, keeping the horses protected at the center of the formation.

“Master Blake, you shouldn't have come back for me!” Luc said in pain as he watched the black monsters continue their frantic assault.

“Shut up! Since you're one of my men, I’m going to bring you back in one piece!”

Blake gripped his longsword and slashed at a mouse-type monster that was charging at him. The strike cleanly severed the monster's two front legs and knocked it to the ground, yet it continued to struggle, dragging itself forward with its remaining hind legs.

Looking at the writhing monster on the ground, Blake could only step forward and deliver another thrust to its head. But just as he was about to turn back to support the others, a wriggling movement came from the ground beneath his feet. A black tentacle as thick as a wrist emerged from the earth, coiling around his lower leg like a snake.

The black tentacle secreted a significant amount of corrosive liquid, which instantly caused the armor and boot on Blake’s lower leg to hiss and sizzle.

Startled, Blake swung his sword at the tentacle emerging from the ground. It took three consecutive slashes to sever it. By the time he pulled his leg out, his thick leather boot had been completely eaten through, and he could feel a burning pain radiating from his skin.

Before he could feel relieved that he was wearing full protective gear for riding, Blake noticed the surrounding ground beginning to bulge slightly as it surged toward the others. Clearly, there was more than just one tentacle.

“Everyone, watch your feet! There’s something underground!” Blake shouted anxiously. Only then did the guards, who were busy fighting the monsters, notice the slightly wriggling ground beneath them.

Dozens of black tentacles similar to the previous one emerged from the earth again, coiling around over a dozen guards who didn't have time to dodge. The previously balanced situation was instantly thrown into chaos.

The tide-like black monsters immediately broke through the squad's defensive circle. Just as it looked like the squad was about to suffer casualties, a massive shadow swept over their heads.

“Aila, Rosal, you go save the people. I’ll deal with the things underground!” Midir’s voice came from above as the three of them leaped down from Kiteclaw as it skimmed the ground.

As Rosal descended, she had already combined Thunderwing into its greatsword form. The blade’s edge, carrying her sharp Metal-type Battle Qi, sliced a lizard monster behind Blake in half, giving him a chance to catch his breath.

Aila, meanwhile, turned into a red whirlwind that swept across the outer perimeter of the battlefield. Wherever she went, the black monsters were sent flying, their bodies hacked into pieces by flashes of sword light before they even hit the ground.

Midir, landing in the very center of the battlefield, pressed both hands to the ground. A terrifying surge of mana erupted from him, and in an instant, he froze the entire battlefield's surface along with the ground beneath into solid ice.

The black tentacles coiled around the guards were also instantly covered in white frost, rendered immobile, while the guards fighting them remained completely unharmed.

After freezing the entire area, Midir simply stomped his foot lightly. The soft earth beneath him was compressed by his mana into hard stone, causing the ground within dozens of meters to sink more than half a meter deep. Under the pressure of that immense force, the frozen tentacles were crushed into a field of ice shards.

Midir stood up gracefully and lightly brushed the dust from his hands. His gaze swept across the circular pit formed around him, feeling quite satisfied with the result.