All of the nearby trees in the area had already exploded and the beasts that had come out from them had been dealt with as well. Lying in the grass and other areas were the beast bodies, some of them were starting to pile up on each other.
As the fight went on, the vampires were learning of better ways to deal with the beasts and thanks to Anton reorganising the group, they were able to create somewhat of a circle where they could cover each other's backs.
What was strange though, was it seemed almost as if the beasts were endless, because they were coming from far off in the distance and heading straight toward the group.
Their only guesses were that the beasts were coming from further away, further than their eyes could see.
However, there were three people that seemed completely unaffected by all of this, and that was the guards.
"Look at this, I told you that Quinn would be our good luck charm!" Ronkin smiled and patted his friend on his back. "The beasts are completely ignoring us and just going ahead to attack the others."
It certainly was strange but after what Nell had seen before, it was starting to make sense.
'Is it an ability perhaps? One that allows one to communicate with animals? The fifth family has that type of ability, but to be able to control it to this degree, it would have to be as strong as the leader's power itself."
"Haha, what luck is this!" Ronkin kept smiling as he saw another beast run completely past them. "Are you a Fortuna, this luck is amazing?"
In the end, the number of beasts were starting to dwindle, and soon they were no more. The vampires were victorious over what could only be described as a wave of beasts.
They were tired, worn out and had used a lot of their aura, and many of them had cuts and broken bones. The good news was, that none of them had perished in the end.
"Good work everyone, we shall rest for the rest of the day. You all did well and you should take the experience and use that for the next battle ahead of us."
The vampires continued to trek through the vine-like area looking for some type of cover. A cave, or something, where they could rest and not get attacked. That's when the group had come across a gigantic tree.
It was so large that looking up, one was unable to see the top, due to the other leaves that were covering it. The trunk was incredibly thick and going around the whole tree would take a good while to walk around.
What was most surprising, was that there was an opening in the trunk, almost like an entrance or a tunnel similar to a cave. The vampires had scouted the planet before, and they knew that there was no civilization or other life other than that of the beasts, insects and so on.
Still, there were humanoid beasts and nest crystals which had high levels of intelligence. A trap, a set up, and getting beasts to work together were a trait of these things.
Which was why Anton had sent the fastest vampire in the group, to go through the tree opening and see if there was anything. A few moments later, the vampire had returned.
"The place is completely empty inside. Its large area, and there are two other openings around the entire tree that both lead to the same large open area." The vampire reported.
Anton thought about it for a while, and for now it was the most ideal location since they could place three guards at the opening of each entrance, taking turns while the group rested
Worst case, if it was some type of trap, the vampires would use their flasks to power themselves up and defeat the main cause of the problem in one go.
The vampires entered the large empty tree, and they were able to set up sleeping beds, get some normal blood and other supplies that the guards had carried with them.
Everyone was treating their wounds or focusing on their recovery, but one of the vampires named Stin who had teased the guards before had noticed something.
"You three look awfully well." Stin commented. "Did the three of you just run off and hide until the fighting was over? Useless vampires."
"What!" Ronkin shouted. "I was almost killed."
"Killed, yes the few markings on all of your bodies show how much danger you were in." Stin stated and the other vampires laughed, but from the look on their faces one could see that they were annoyed.
Gritting his teeth, Ronkin wanted to say something but Nell had stepped forward instead.
"I can assure you, the three of us were by your side at all times. We didn't fight as many beasts as your group and we were lucky in that regard. Shouldn't we just be happy that no one else was injured in this case."
"The man is right!" Anton said. "Although the guards are not originally part of the hunting group. They are standing by our side during these dangerous times, so it's best that we all see this as one group rather than splitting it into them and us. Who knows, you might be relying on one of these to help you out in the future."
Despite all of this, the guards could tell that they weren't welcome so they had set up a base for themselves, a little away from all the others.
"They treat us like crap even though we're carrying all their stuff, I should throw it all in the woods!" Ronkin complained.
Nell was trying his best to calm Ronkin down, while Quinn laid on the floor relaxing peacefully, that was until he suddenly lifted his body up from the ground. His ears had heard something off in the distance.
'It's… not my place to get involved.' Quinn thought for a second.
"Ah!" The sound of a scream for a brief second was heard from outside.
Ronkin and the others were quickly on alert as they turned to where the sound was coming from, and they could see through the entrance they had come in from that a giant owl-like head had fitted through. Its eyes were completely black and something looking like some type of blood was dripping down onto its white ghost like fur.
"Why have you come here!" The owl beast stated.
[Inspect]
[Demon tier beast]
'A demon tier beast… in a place like this… the vampires… they won't be able to deal with this.' Quinn thought.
The good thing was, Anton hadn't told the others to attack yet.
"We made sure never to attack where you have lived, so why have you come out here!" Under the Owl's head everytime it spoke part of its neck would slightly move up and down.
"Our vampires." Anton replied. "They were hurt by beasts. We are here to find out what hurt them, and to stop the attacks close to our settlement."
Since the beast had a level of intelligence, Anton was hoping they could come to a resolution, because he could tell immediately that this was a high level beast. One that their group was unable to deal with.
They would at least have to gather with the others or ask for help from the castles.
'Is this why Edvard told me to come here? Because he knew there was a demon tier beast here, but if I help out, then everyone will know what I'm capable of. I thought we had a deal!' Quinn thought.
The Owl kept turning its head a few times, and eventually spoke again.
"Why don't you answer me, why have you come here, what have we done to anger you." The Owl asked.
Anton was beyond confused, he had just answered the Owl, did it not hear him?
"Was it you who attacked the scout group!" Anton shouted. "Is there maybe a deal that we can come to."
Of course Anton didn't have any power to make any type of deal with the beast, and a vampire submitting to these creatures would never happen, but he just needed to buy time, or get the Owl to leave somehow.
"There has been no answer, in advance, I apologise for ignoring you." The Owl started to move its head and soon it was completely out of the large tree.
The vampires had collapsed, their legs buckled under the pressure. There was an immense amount of power that was coming off the beast that could be felt by them all.
Thankfully, they had survived, and needed to know what they would do next.
The group decided to still stay in the tree, but not for long, and while they were sitting down Nell had something on his mind, and he just had to ask.
"That Owl… I feel like it wasn't talking to us. Was it talking to you?" Nell asked, looking at Quinn.
*****
****
For updates for MVS and future works please remember to follow me on my social media below.
Instagram: Jksmanga
P.a.t.r.e.o.n jksmanga
When news of MVS, MWS or any other series comes out, you will be able to see it there first, and you can reach out to me. If I'm not too busy, I tend to reply back.