CH 128

“Kuhaha! It seems like Baron half-orc is very angry.”

“He should’ve known better than to crawl into the woods and move separately from the others. How stupid. It seems that even a swordmaster’s army is no big deal.”

About a dozen beowulf warriors chuckled all together. They had just stormed through the rear of Baron Riwad’s army and killed heaps of mercenaries before making their escape, and now they were situated on treetops located hundreds of meters from the enemies.

“Anyway, thanks to the armor that the dark lord gave me, I’m not injured at all. What about the rest of you?”

“This is definitely something, all right. It feels a bit clunky when I move, but it deflected all the spears, swords, and axes.”

“You allowed yourself to be hit by those weaklings? You mutt, I would cut off my tail in shame if I were you.”

“Oh, that’s too much.”

“Hey, don’t you suddenly have a craving for meat?”

“That’s true. It must be because of how vigorously I was moving. I do feel hungry… Ugh!”

Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!

“Kugh?!”

The beowulf warriors took off their helmets and rubbed their eyes as the conversation started to veer off topic. They began hurriedly looking around with astonished expressions.

“He said that we would get water in our eyes if we messed around. It looks like he wasn’t lying.”

“Can the dark lord use magic as well?”

“The little fangs have natural talent in magic, right?”

The beowulfs expressed their astonishment after discovering another interesting fact about Eugene. However, they had never imagined that the ‘water magic’ was in fact the water spirit’s sputum. The beowulfs started climbing down from the trees.

“Hmm? Looks like something’s happening at the front of the army.”

“Perfect timing. Kuhaha!”

The beowulf warriors revealed their fangs and laughed as the wind carried over human screams from afar.

This was a forest, and a forest was an optimal battleground for beowulfs and vampires, who possessed superior senses compared to humans. It might have been a different story if hundreds of humans were moving as a group, but long lines of soldiers standing in dozens could never hope to best vampires or beowulfs in a forest. Moreover, it was even easier for ambushes to succeed when the enemies were without their knights.

“Now, everyone! Follow me and keep your senses sharp. We will attack once the knights get far enough.”

“Got it. The same thing as last time?”

“That’s right. As fast and as furious as possible.”

Krrrrrrrr!

The beowulfs growled softly before silently dashing through the forest.

***

‘Here they come!’

Eugene felt the approach of figures exuding a Fear that was distinctly different from the beowulfs. He pulled out his claws from the chest of a mercenary before shouting. “Break!”

Kwoooo!

The beowulf warriors began running in all directions after successfully ripping apart more than fifty mercenaries in less than a minute. Eugene also chose a direction and charged into the forest like a beast. He was without his plate armor and weapons, and was only equipped with Black Scales and his claws.

“Over there!”

“A beast! No, a monster!”

Several enemies roared after spotting Eugene and some of the beowulfs retreating into the forest. However, none of the enemies were on horseback except the knights, and Eugene possessed the ability to camouflage as well as incredible speed. As such, they were unable to keep up with Eugene and the beowulfs.

Eugene widened the distance between himself and the enemies to more than a few hundred meters, then climbed up a tall tree like a squirrel. His skin had perfectly assimilated with the bark of the tree, so it would be impossible for the mercenaries to discover his presence.

Mirian flew toward Eugene’s tree with labored flaps of her small wings.

“Kieee~ Kieeeee~ Oh, I’m so tired. This is exhausting. Sir~!” Mirian shouted.

“What about the warriors at the rear?” Eugene asked.

“They were starting to spout nonsense again, so I spat on them a few times to keep them focused,” Mirian answered.

“I see. Good work,” Eugene said.

“Kihehehe!” The spirit’s mouth widened into a smile. Eugene turned his gaze away from her and focused on his five senses.

‘They are finally gathering together.’

He smacked his lips with regret. The remaining forces of Baron Riwad’s army were gathering together. Although a forest was a very advantageous terrain for vampires and beowulfs, it would be difficult to attack when hundreds of enemies gathered into a single group. However, the operation could still be considered a great success since more than 100 people had been eliminated from the ambushes. Now, it was about time to retreat.

‘But there’s fewer troops than I was expecting. Hmm… Huh?!’

Eugene’s eyes filled with shock as he reviewed the battles until now. He came to a realization that all of the humans he had encountered in the forest had been ‘armed.’ Not a single one had been unarmed.

‘The depot merchants aren’t here? I didn’t see any of their supplies either.’

It made no sense that hundreds of troops had made it thus far without the accompaniment of any supplies. In other words, the army’s supply corps or depot merchants must be moving separately from Baron Riwad’s main army.

Papat!

Eugene leaped off the tree and ran toward the rendezvous.

“Kieh?! Sir! Wait for me~!” Mirian shouted.

***

“Dammit…” Baron Riwad’s breath condensed in the cold night air. Hundreds of torches drove the darkness away, and the sound of the troops marching cluttered the quiet forest. Baron Riwad’s army was currently crossing Baylin Forest. It had been over three hours since the last attack, and they had been marching without rest or food.

The attacks had stopped, but their pace decreased significantly after they gathered into one large group to prevent further ambushes. They didn’t have to worry about getting lost at night thanks to mercenaries with good eyes and knowledge of the constellations, but at this pace, they wouldn’t exit the forest until sunrise tomorrow.

“Excuse me, my lord. With all due respect, the troops are exhausted. Why don’t we take a small break and allow them to eat?” one of Baron Riwad’s knights spoke.

“Hmm.” Baron Riwad fell into contemplation with a frown before nodding.

“Thirty minutes. No more, no less. Have them eat the dried jerkies to take care of their hunger.”

“Yes.”

Baron Riwad’s orders were quickly delivered to each unit, and the troops dropped flat on their spots. However, none of them were able to rest comfortably. The fear and the shock from the ambushes earlier in the day still lingered in their minds and hearts. As such, they continued to be wary of the forest’s seemingly endless darkness.

“Uagh?!”

“E-enemies?!”

Even a small rustle forced them to stand up and prepare for battle. They were resting, but it was exhausting.

However, it wasn’t as if they could set up camp. The forest wasn’t suitable for a camp, and there was always the possibility of an enemy ambush.

“Master, please have some water.”

“Hmm.” Baron Riwad soothed his bitter heart by quenching his thirst from the pouch handed over to him by his aide.

“Keugh! I can’t believe that Crawlmarine hired beowulfs,” Baron Riwad muttered while gritting his teeth. After hearing the testimonies of the survivors and the witnesses, it became clear to Baron Riwad that the attackers had been the Perseus Beowulfs, who had ties to the Crawlmarine territory.

“It’s definitely strange. How could they have afforded them? There were at least ten of them. It must have cost at least 100,000 cellings to hire them all,” one of the knights responded.

“That’s true. Moreover, the beowulfs had a falling out with the Crawlmarine territory after a huge incident last year, right? This is quite strange.” Another knight chimed in.

“That’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is that even now, they must be watching us from somewhere.”

“But if they dare to show themselves again, they won’t be able to escape.”

“It’s a good thing we brought the silver arrows and the weapons we seized from the continental knights.”

The knights spoke with confidence, and the basis of their confidence was exactly why the beowulfs were reluctant to face the knights of the Riwad territory. The knights were armed with the weapons they had seized from the continental knights during the crusade, and as native Brantians, they were knowledgeable in ways to effectively fight against other races.

The beowulfs would have the advantage in small-scale skirmishes, but faced with a group of hundreds, they would become surrounded and annihilated.

“If I knew this would happen, I should have asked Master Pythamoras to accompany us,” Baron Riwad said.

As the Sage of Mount Robtimo, Pythamoras was a druid with talent in controlling animals. Moreover, he knew how to use magic to see through the darkness to track down beings with mana stones. Most importantly, he had the ability to curse any living beings, including humans. Even if it lasted for only a short time, Pythamoras could transform a regular human into a mouse or toad.

“Things would have gone differently if Master Pythamoras had been with us. However, someone had to escort the supply depot.”

“That’s right. As a respected druid, Master Pythamoras is the only other figure capable of managing the uncivilized mercenaries besides yourself, my lord,” the knights commented.

“Phew. It is as you say, sirs. We will exit the forest by tomorrow morning and meet with the supply… Heuk?!” Baron Riwad sprang to his feet and gasped.

“...?”

“What’s wrong, my lord?” The knights became puzzled.

Baron Riwad gritted his teeth and raised his voice. “Dammit!”

“M-my lord?” One of the knights called out.

“Get up! Get everyone ready to resume marching right now! We must exit this fucking forest as fast as possible! Get ready to run! Fuck the formation!” The baron roared, and the knights and mercenaries came rushing over with surprise.

“My lord! They haven’t even rested for ten minutes yet!”

“What about the beowulfs? If we don’t maintain proper formation at night, they could…”

The knights and mercenary captains shouted.

“Do you have goblin dicks for brains, you fucking bastards?!” Baron Riwad roared while unleashing his Fear.

“Hiek?!”

He continued to shout. “Don’t you see why those bastards aren’t attacking us anymore?! They’re already out of the forest! They must have realized that the merchants and the supply corps are moving separately from us!”

“What?!”

“W-we must hurry!”

Chaos ensued in an instant, and the soldiers were forced into a race for their lives.

***

“Is there a bastard talking shit about me? Why are my ears so itchy?” One of the beowulf warriors following behind Silion muttered while scratching his ears with his sharp nails.

“It might be because we haven’t had meat in a while,” one of the other beowulfs commented.

“Is it?”

“Ah! I could kill for some meat right now.”

The warriors exited the dim, moonlit forest while naturally returning to conversations about meat. Although they were similar to horses in speed, the beowulfs possessed better endurance. There was no possibility that Baron Riwad’s army could catch up with them any time soon.

“Keep it up. We will arrive in just a few more hours,” Eugene said after looking back.

“Got it!” The beowulfs answered vigorously.

As Baron Riwad suspected, Eugene had exited the forest immediately after their last attack and started heading toward Patos. To be exact, they were on their way to meet up with the other beowulf warriors who had been stationed at the detour.

‘I instructed them to figure out the enemy’s route and not to rush into an attack, but I have a bad feeling about this.’

Having proper escorts for supply units was the basics of military tactics. Considering that Baron Riwad was fairly well known in Brantia for his might and strategies, there was no way that he would leave the supply units unguarded. But obviously, the guards would number less than the main force. Eugene was worried that the beowulfs would have attacked hastily to achieve glory.

“Huh? Dark Lord, over there!” one of the warriors shouted. Eugene’s gaze penetrated into the darkness of a small forest located hundreds of meters away. The grove was located only a few dozen meters from the road, making it the perfect place to plan an ambush. Even Eugene would have chosen to hide there to observe the enemy’s movements.

“It smells like blood!”

“Blood of our brothers and sisters!”

The warriors shouted and shot past Silion as they neared the small forest. After a short while, Eugene also arrived in front of the forest. He frowned. There weren’t any bodies, but blood, flesh, and fur were scattered all over the meadow. Anyone could see that a fierce battle had taken place.

“There’s no one in the forest!”

“Dammit!”

The beowulfs searched the forest before returning. They could not hide their anxiety and worries.

“Did our brothers and sisters die?”

“Wolfgan, you bastard! At least leave your nails behind if you’re going to die.”

“Incompetent pieces of shit.”

Eugene dismounted from Silion and carefully examined the scene of battle. Mirian flew over and exclaimed, “Sir, sir! I can smell mana!”

“Smell mana?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right! The smell of magic! It’s a little different from our raccoon, but it smells very similar!” Mirian shouted.

Eugene finally understood. The beowulf warriors were strong enough to easily defeat a dozen mercenaries alone, but they were nowhere to be seen.

The wizards of Brantia were famous for using mysterious magic unique from the continental wizards. They were known as druids.

“It appears that Baron Riwad hired a druid,” Eugene muttered.

Things wouldn’t always work out perfectly.