167 The Storm After The Calm!

He knew that the chance of Arvedar betraying or stabbing him in the back was low because Arvedar and his friends were bounded by a contract. Thus, Pedro could narrow down the possible situations related to in-game circumstances.

Either Arvedar encountered a really strong opponent--requiring him to fight at his full attention, or he could be monitoring other players, making him unable to revert back to his human form to avoid alerting the enemies at any cost. After all, he had a transformation that could also fly high up in the sky. Something that was perfect for scouting, spying, tracking, and such.

However, before he could think any further, he felt a strong force pulling him deeper into the ground. This, in turn, had also awakened the asleep Sabrina, whose eyes went bloodshot whilst glancing around--looking for the origin of the unexplainable pressure. 

On the other hand, Antonio and Aks rushed out of the Village Chief's office out of fear--like someone who was inside a building when the ground suddenly shook. Then, they ran towards Pedro whilst wearing a pale look as if it was the end of the world.

Their advance was slow because their feet were buried several centimeters deeper into the ground with each step they make. At the same time, it felt like blocks of rocks were being placed on top of them--making their legs shiver as the weight it carries increases exponentially each second that passes. 

"What is happening, young adventurer?" Village Chief Antonio cried.

Unfortunately, Pedro simply stared to their south--ignoring the middle-aged man's question. Even Sabrina, who stood beside Pedro, furrowed her brows and stared towards the dark starry sky to their south full of murderous intent. This, in turn, had made Sabrina's eyes became all red in color as Four Pen-Knives flew around her.

"Should I--" Sabrina seemingly wanted to ask Pedro's go signal to engage the hostile entity. 

However, Pedro raised his hand--interrupting Sabrina, and simply shook his head. Then, he sighed as the lines on his forehead straightened.

"Relax!" Pedro said, smirking. "He's on our side."

Soon, they saw a black crow flying towards them. At the same time, the increasing pressure that they felt above them had suddenly vanished as if nothing had happened. This, in turn, made Antonio and Aks sat on the ground to relax the stressed muscles on their thigh and legs. 

In the next second, the crow landed on the ground and transformed into a human. Pedro and Sabrina knew who it was ever since they saw the black crow. It was Arvedar.

Only when Arvedar was meters away from them was the campfire able to reveal his pale looking face--as if he was sick. His eyes were being forced open as he exerted the last ounce of his strength to approach Pedro and Sabrina--wanting to get near them as soon as he can.

"T-Thousands of monsters... are on their way!" Arvedar said. "I-I could... only... hold them off! S-Sorry!"

Arvedar collapsed into the ground before he could even reach Pedro and Sabrina. Pedro rushed towards him as he took out several bottles of potion on his inventory bag. At the same time, Pedro nodded towards Sabrina, who nodded in response.

In the next second, she transformed into his eagle form and shot up into the sky with her four pen-knives. Then, she flew towards the direction where Arvedar came from and was able to barely spot thousands of charging monsters.

"Kwiiiiyaaaaak!" Sabrina cried, signaling to Pedro that they are under attack. 

That said, Sabrina did not wait for Pedro's orders and launched her pen-knives like a missile to the monsters charging from their south--coming from the western forest. Anything that was illuminated by the stars and the small moon was instantly pierced through by Sabrina's pen-knives.

However, because of the trees and the dark night, almost half of the monsters leading the charge were able to avoid her detection and was able to survive the onslaught of her pen-knives. Unfortunately, due to the seemingly endless amount of enemies, she decided to leave the surviving monsters to Pedro's hands and simply navigate her pen-knives forward--piercing every single monster she was able to spot. 

The charge of the surviving monsters was able to shook the ground--making Pedro flick his tongue whilst frantically pouring potions into Arvedar's mouth. On the other hand, the two NPCs could only remain seating on the ground as they watch Pedro do his best to save Arvedar. 

"Don't die! Don't die! Don't die! Don't die!" Pedro cried repeatedly while simultaneously pouring potion after potion to Arvedar's mouth and staring at his player interface--watching closely Arvedar's character avatar and name on his friend list.

If the green line around Arvedar's character avatar disappears, it means that he had logged off the game--whether it was forced by the system or not. So, if a green line was around his character avatar, then, he is still online in the game--indicating that he was still alive conscious or not.

On the other hand, if the black font of Arvedar's in-game name had turned into gray, then it only means that his character had already perished. And... This was the thing that Pedro wanted to avoid at any cost.

At this moment, he can't help but feel guilty deep inside. He thought that Arvedar betrayed him when, in fact, he was doing all his best to hold off a monster wave coming from the south. On top of it, Pedro and everyone else even had the time to rest and relax while their comrade was fighting.

"I even promised to become a better leader!" Pedro grumbled. His teeth gritted as the veins in his forehead seemed like it was about to pop out.

After almost a minute, he stopped pouring potions into Arvedar's mouth because was assured that Arvedar was still alive since he was still online in the game--just unconscious. Then, he glared towards the two NPCs, and said, "Forgive me, sires! But we have to leave the village now! As you have heard, thousands of monsters are charging towards us!"

"But... What about the--" Antonio tried to argue to Pedro, but Pedro interrupted him.

"JUST! Just tell me if you are going or not! A monster wave at night is not something that a desolated village could stop! Even if I helped! Even if all of my troops helped! I cannot assure you that there wouldn't be a monster that would be able to reach the village! YES, WE HAD A REST! BUT THAT'S BARELY ENOUGH... CONSIDERING THE FIGHT WE HAD EARLIER! AND WITH THAT SAID! I CANNOT RISK THE SAFETY OF MY COMRADE BY LEAVING HIM DEFENSELESS IN THIS VILLAGE! SO... DECIDE! Come with me and evacuate to a safe place, or... Stay in this village and die with it!"

Pedro was filled with anger. That said, he was still able to restrain it--hindering his eyes from turning into black. He knew that deciding about it was not easy. But... Time was not on their side. Hence, he had no other choice but to be blunt to the two NPCs.

He needed to bring Arvedar to a safe place as soon as possible so that he would be able to help Sabrina in fighting the monsters. That said, he did not want to force the two NPCs to follow him as it may result in making an enemy out of the two NPCs instead.

On the other hand, It was really unfortunate for the two NPCs. At this moment, they had only two choices to choose from. Either they stay and die with the village that they created, or they follow Pedro and live, giving them a chance to help other people but in a completely different way from what they dreamed of. 

That said, Pedro and the two NPCs knew how brutal the monster waves are at night. Unlike humans, most of the carnivorous monsters use their noses to locate their targets. Thus, the monsters are advantageous against humans at night.

As for Pedro, it would just remain a stalemate if he simply remained at the center of Kagat Village. It was not, in any way, efficient in fending off the monsters. They would just simply spill more blood and further attract all the monsters in that area. 

Can Pedro stay awake for several days???

Even inside the game???

No!

There was still a limit to what he can do. And it was the same for his troops.

Because at the end of the day... They were still humans!