Mountain Escape (1)
It’s been four days since Harley’s group entered the Northern Mountains.
After another battle, Harley took the magic stone she had just obtained into her mouth.
– Destroy them all, tear them apart, kill them all!
hard! bluntly—
And, as usual, he ignored the impulse of madness echoing in his head, and chewed it diligently and swallowed it.
I’ve been consuming Manastones consistently, and now I’m seeing some meaningful results.
The metabolism became more active, and the physical ability also increased that much.
As a side effect, changes were attempted externally, such as bloodshot eyes and excessive swelling of blood vessels.
For Harley, who could control her entire body with “Body Transformation”, it was nothing like that.
If it hadn’t been for this ability, he would have been exhibiting the same symptoms as the monsters in the mountains by now.
“Damn, you really don’t give me a break. How many times in a row is this?”
“Kah hahaha! Sorry for the complaints, but another group is approaching! I don’t think we found this place thanks to the veil of shielding, but if you stay still, we’ll see you soon.”
“…I really don’t have time for maintenance anymore.”
The deeper you go, the higher the probability of encountering a monster, and the higher the level, the harder it is to move forward.
This time, the party had no choice but to remove only the incense of blood on their body with the cleaning magic tool, and then moved quickly.
Ranger Charlton, belonging to the Fortress of Steel, is trying to erase as much as possible the traces of their movement from the rear, but this was quite a risky move…
As soon as the magic is lifted, you will be surrounded by monsters from all directions, so it was unavoidable.
The best way to avoid endless fighting is to leave your seat as quickly as possible.
“I think there are quite a few in that direction as well. The distance…”
“…then you’d better go back this way. Everyone, please follow carefully.”
However, I would not have come this far without Harley’s sensing ability and the skillful guidance of my guide Marcus.
“Marcus, are you still far from your destination? I think you said you were almost there earlier, but now the day is slowly going down.”
Fabiela screams of death with a pale face in the continuous forced march.
No matter how much he trained, he, as a wizard, had to have weaker stamina than others, and it was not unreasonable because he began to run out of mana due to frequent use of magic.
Then Marcus, who was quietly guiding the way, took out a magic tool that looked like a pocket watch, looked inside, and looked around the party with a slightly brighter expression.
“This is the neighborhood. It’s really short now.”
“Whoa… I can finally see that handsome face. Oh my God, no matter how much a Dwarf, there are enough people like this to be mobilized to rescue a craftsman.”
Mikel raised his crossbow and looked around, whispering softly.
As she said, no matter how few were mobilized due to the nature of the mission, the ransom price of those here was by no means cheap.
Even if they were all the best talents in the Tarak mercenary world, they were not lacking.
But at that price, he offered all kinds of additional allowances, and in addition to that, the knights of the territory were also mobilized.
‘Well, even though it was said that Robin came from commoners.’
They went through adversity together and became friends with him, who was a client, and they were able to talk about various things while camping.
He didn’t even go into details, but thanks to him, I was able to grasp the general circumstances…
‘Did you say that he was the chief craftsman of Yeongji, whom he had a relationship with since the previous lord? Well, in such a location, the commission fee would be nothing like this.’
The original weapon is not an item whose price rises sharply as the grade goes up.
In that respect, he was a precious body that could not be compared with any amount of money or a knight from commoners.
Perhaps, if the problem of blocking the monsters was not more urgent, there would have been a more extensive rescue operation.
In the first place, the Dwarf was isolated because of the uproar.
“Arrived. This is it.”
And finally, they were able to reach the place indicated by the magic tool’s signal.
“Well···.”
A brief silence that follows.
The group looked around and tapped the floor.
“…a cave, nothing or anything, where are you hiding? Once you find the entrance…”
That moment.
hilarious—
I thought that the root of the tree growing on one side was shaking.
Bump!
“Five! I’m already here! You came earlier than expected.”
The floor opened, revealing a shaggy face.
***
“I came here for mineral exploration and all of a sudden there was an uproar! I also went in and out of the mountain range several times during that time, but this time it was impossible to get out on my own!”
Following the Dwarf into the cave, the party was surprised to find a cozy underground space than expected.
‘I think I heard that you’ve only been in isolation for about a week.’
The free space left after they had all entered was neatly trimmed, and there were even several pores in the ceiling where tree roots were intertwined.
In addition, mud beds and workbenches on one side, and all sorts of miscellaneous things.
“Ah, this? There was nothing to do while I was waiting, so I touched this and that and this is what happened! Also, it was good to expand in advance! Whoa-!”
The dwarf, Zhaonic Steelstone, bursts into laughter as he sees their surprised expressions.
The interior was already lined with high-grade barriers with the magic tools he had brought, so he didn’t have to worry about being caught by monsters outside if he made some noise.
‘It must be quite expensive because it deceives even my senses.’
Even Harley, knowing that he was hiding nearby, only sensed a slight sense of alienation, but could not immediately pinpoint the exact location.
Perhaps he would have noticed if he had been given more time, but the monsters who didn’t know anything would just pass by without even realizing it.
“Are you okay by the way? I did not know that such a large friend would come, and the entrance passage was not touched very much.”
“Um— my skin isn’t so weak that it barely scratched the dirt wall. never mind! Ha ha ha—!”
Zhaonic looked at Harley worriedly, but it was nothing more than forcing her to squeeze through the narrow passageway.
Rather, the hardened passageway was only dug up with scratches on his body.
“ah! Bordeaux, Hans. Both are alive!”
At that time, Ranger Charlton, who had been quietly following the party, went to the place where the mud bed was.
Naturally, Zhaonic did not enter the mountain range alone.
Two more rangers from the Fortress of Steel who accompanied him were seated together in this space.
“ah! Charlton, you are here!”
“Seniors···.”
But one of them wasn’t very virtuous…
Unlike the one who welcomed Charlton, the Ranger with bandages around his body only struggled to get himself out of bed.
“Soo-eup— I was the first to react and react when something unexpected happened, and I injured my shoulder.”
As the party looked towards the Rangers, the Dwarf Zhaonic scratched the back of the head and explained the situation.
“I eat the potion I have and take action right away, so it’s not that serious. After a few months of recuperation, I can get up without any side effects.”
But that was assuming this place was a safe place.
In this northern mountain range, which can be said to be the center of the monster mineralization crisis, it was impossible.
In the current situation, an injury to the extent that it was difficult to move was a serious factor that could threaten life.
“Hans! are you okay? Can you move?”
“Yeah, I didn’t hurt my leg. There’s nothing wrong with climbing a mountain. Don’t worry.”
Ranger, Hans, nodding his head seriously with a determined expression that he will never become a burden.
And Harley, who looked at them, fell into trouble with her arms crossed and a calm expression.
‘Hansra….’
No, I knew it was a common name.
In fact, we met several times while living in Auterica.
He looked at ‘Extremely Ordinary Soldier 1’, Hans, who was sitting on the bed again.
‘···I can’t do that either.’
And I was convinced again.
The name of the immortal king that will be recorded in history must not be Hans!
Only the village young man, the village chief, the carpenter, the blacksmith, the farmer, etc., were the only Hans I knew so far in double digits.
Except for Hans, the Immortal King, who is said to be the best out of all of them, the injured Ranger Hans now is the most extraordinary situation.
‘It’s not bad to be the best Hans out of the Hans, but it’s also not too impactful.’
While Harley was in serious anguish as he looked at the Rangers, Zhaonic reached high and tapped his waist, figuring out how he interpreted his gaze.
“Well, Hans is able to move, and he is a member of an elite ranger. In addition to that, since these great warriors came to help, wouldn’t it be okay? Whoa-!”
“Well? Ahh! right. If your name is Hans, you should be able to overcome this kind of hardship! Pahahaha—!”
“Huhahaha… huh?”
“hahaha—!”
For a while, for the conversation and laughter that were slightly out of focus, the party took a day off here, exchanged opinions to leave the next day, and each prepared bed.
It was an underground crypt protected by all kinds of high-level barriers, so unlike the usual camps, only one person could stand in the vigil.
‘Even if there is a barrier, you never know what will happen, so a vigil is essential.’
Still, it was a much better situation than when a pair of two with the exception of the wizard Fabiela stood on a three-shift non-visit, so no one complained.
After such a peaceful night.
Finally, the day of the great escape dawned.
***
The Duke of Bright, the Kingdom of Thalia.
Heinz II was also looking at the documents uploaded from various places today and was grasping the situation on the continent.
This time, Hans acquired the Banshee Queen, Olivia, and added a new source of information, but that didn’t mean Heinz’s job was diminished.
In the first place, the lower undead ghosts, who were unable to think of a higher level, only moved as they were ordered, and could not obtain complex information.
Olivia’s ability to process high-level information based on the fragmentary facts gathered by the ghosts under her control is great, but it is true that there are limits.
She was perfectly capable of grasping real-time information on the battlefield, movement of military units, and movements of shadow forces, but it was much easier to borrow the power of the Brokoslak Clan for the national or political situation.
‘Well, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. It is my job to put all the information together and make a judgment.’
Because cross-validation of facts from various sources for reliability of information was one of the basics.
It was around the time he was organizing the newly acquired information.
“Mr Heinz.”
Along with the knock came Brokoslac’s voice as a mule.
“Come in. What’s going on?”
As Heinz took his eyes off the papers and lifted his head, he entered the office and opened his mouth, bowing politely.
“It’s a report that the monsters started moving around a while ago.”
“Hmm… did that happen in the end?”
Mullo led the vampires scattered all over the place with blood magic, and was also responsible for distributing urgent information from them.
This time, it seems that they have received relevant information from those dispatched to the Monster Forest.
“Since two of Jinhyeol went, it wouldn’t be that dangerous. Tell him not to overdo it and only intervene enough that the army guarding outside the forest is not too badly hurt.”
“Yes, I understand. But not only there…”
“Well?”
Even in Heinz’s puzzled gaze, he still spoke in a calm tone.
“It is said that even in the northern mountains, the monsters began to descend in earnest.”
It was the beginning of a planned chaos.
