Chapter 167: Capra Demon

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Imps...short and stocky demons.

They have pitch-black and cracked skin with glowing red eyes. They used pitchforks as weapons and had tiny bat wings. They are small, most of them barely even reach a foot tall, the tallest being 3-foot maximum.

On their own, they are weak. Even a Tier 3 could defeat a single imp on their own. But see, Imps never travel alone. They hunt in packs, like wolves. A pack of Imps is a dozen. A few walk above ground to serve as bait while the rest either fly up or burrow underground to ambush unsuspecting victims.

The Squad #1 braced for impact. They are about to encounter their first fight outside of the walls. Through Cedric's orders, they waited for them to come.

Swoosh!

A two-foot-tall Imp running towards them suddenly threw its pitchfork at them. In response, a squad member stepped forward and raised his shield to catch the attack.

It was blocked squarely, the defender wasn't even forced back an inch.

"Careful, the ones underground are coming!" One of the scanners warned.

As soon as his words came out, the imps underground burst above with their pitchforks aimed at the humans. Thanks to the warning of their teammate, they readily received the attack. The ones behind the defenders threw attacks of their own, killing most of the imps who attacked.

The scanners were keeping an eye out for the ones above ground who were still running/flying towards them.

As much as the scanners did their jobs the best they could, their senses weren't as broad as Cedric's. They failed to sense the big one, the pack leader of the imps, since it was hiding deeper underground.

Well, Cedric couldn't blame them for this so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

He grabbed his standard-issued pistol and gathered his Ki into it. He aimed and shot the pack leader despite it being underground. He used enough energy to give the shot sufficient oomph to penetrate the murky and corrupted ground and blast the 3-foot-tall Imp's head, killing it in a single shot.

Due to the heat of the battle, some of his squadmates didn't even see what he did. They were busy handling the imps harassing them. They didn't do horrible. They culled the pack as swiftly as they could, eliminating them with extreme prejudice as Cedric ordered.

Five minutes later, no imps could be seen around. The squad relaxed and the scanners reported:

"I don't see any hostiles. How about you guys?"

The other scanners replied saying that they don't see any either.

"Wait! We haven't seen the pack leader! I think its—"

"Dead." Cedric interrupted. "Shot it earlier when you were busy. Pack's dead. Good work, team. Do the pulse, y'all are dirty."

Boom!

Not even a minute after they hid, an explosion occurred right in front of them, causing the majority of the squad to flinch.

'Hold. Breathe through your nose and out to your mouth. Try to not make any sounds. If you can't handle it, don't look. I'll keep an eye out for you. Just be ready to move when I tell you to.

Otherwise, stay completely still.'

Cedric's flat yet strangely comforting voice echoed in their ears. It was enough to keep the team grounded despite the hulking menace trying to sniff them out.

Yes, a demon was hunting them.

It was a ten-foot-tall demon with a goat head, humanoid torso, and large hooves for feet. It is holding two large cleavers on both hands, made from the bones of its own kind.

Its upper body was covered in fur but the tough sinews beneath that were still noticeable. There was no doubt that this was a very strong and dangerous demon. It released an aura that could compete with Tier 9s easily so there's no doubt that the squad would be demolished if they were to fight this.

'A Capra Demon...I wasn't aware that they roam this near to the walls.' Cedric muttered inwardly.

What really made Capra Demons scary was its combat instinct. It's flexible and agile. It's capable of recognizing patterns and even imitating them. Fight them long enough and they might just surpass their targets in the skills they copied.

Within the squad, only a few could look at the Capra Demon properly, and even if they could, they couldn't suppress the fear they felt.

Thankfully, Cedric warned them earlier. Had they the caught completely off-guard by this thing, it would've been over for them.

But as the team relaxed and remained completely still to hide from the Capra Demon, they didn't notice the clouded expression dawning on Cedric's face.

The reason for this is because, in his field of senses, he saw another Capra Demon roaming around. Not just that, there's also a Taurus Demon, a Hellfire Demon, and Nightmare Worm slithering underground.

All of these demons aren't weaker than Tier 9s. To make it worse, Cedric was sure that that Nightmare Worm was a Planar Traveller!

'What the hell is going on here?'

Cedric was sweating. Isn't this a little too much? How are they supposed to survive this? Is the army aware of this?

Too many questions emerged on his mind but they remain unanswered. The best he could do right now was to stay alert and be prepared if things go south.

'I better let Captain Silverwing know this. Thankfully, the traces of these demons are scattered everywhere, I can forge a report that would hide my capabilities without lessening my credibility.'

And just so you know, their shift hasn't even gone for an hour yet.