Another thunderous roar reverberated through the surroundings, shaking the ground below.
However, it was much louder than the first one they had heard.
This happened not even a minute after they had heard the first roar.
Initially, the adventurers hadn't been too worried about the unknown beast's roar.
The first one hadn't even been strong enough to topple them while they were fighting.
However, the second roar was completely different and fear-inducing.
It caused everyone including Felix and the injured Blood Nasga at the Krysal stage to halt in their tracks.
Despite knowing what had caused the roar, the Nasgas were astonished to hear it.
Their terrified faces bore identical expressions of distinct fear that could be seen within their eyes.
This meant that not even the Nasgas wanted to face the enraged beast whose roar shook the entire area, making the ground and every living being on it tremble.
Witnessing the Nasgas scamper to safety made even the confident adventurers do the same.
Their survival instincts told them to leave as quickly as possible, and if necessary leave behind everyone else.
Their life was more important to them than the shame of being expelled from the system for abandoning their team, and leaving an extremely important mission!
After the brief moment of being shaken by fear had passed, everyone gave a startled cry.
The battle that had momentarily suddenly resumed.
Without further delay the adventurers continued to fight and defeated the opponent they were facing, only to flee afterward.
Unfortunately, this caused everyone to fight with their life on the line.
Each adventurer fought using every single means possible to defeat their opponent.
Meanwhile, Gaby had instinctively reacted after she had heard the roar of the second beast.
She had jumped on top of the largest hut nearby before shooting towards the steel gates she could see.
Contrary to the report, there was an entire district filled with steel prisons that held the Lohars captive., This made everything much more difficult than initially hoped.
Fortunately enough, the first arrow Gaby had shot, hit the lock, throwing it open.
Afterward, one of the young Lohar stretched his hand out to reach for the arrow that was lying nearby.
It took him a minute but he finally picked it up.
Using the pointed tip, he began hacking through the ropes that tightly bound him.
He struggled a little but had successfully freed himself after some time.
Repeating the process, he freed the other Lohars around him.
In a matter of a few minutes, they had helped untie each other.
Gaby was glad when she saw this because it meant that the Lohars hadn't given up on their lives.
This was extremely reassuring and made her aim at the second steel door's lock to achieve a similar result.
Unfortunately, this was not the case and her arrow missed the mark.
As she shook her head and debated wasting more arrows, she saw Kyle and Selene running past her.
Abandoning her previous attempt, she jumped down to follow them.
They were using every ounce of strength in their body to run as fast as possible while rescuing the imprisoned Lohars.
Only now did they realize that their number seemed to be a thousand, if not more!
"My archery skills are useless, they're tied together. I managed to only unlock one of the steel cages and a small child used his presence of mind to act quickly. I'll go ahead!"
Saying so, Gaby rushed past the group of four. Seeing the chaos surrounding him made the brown furred Lohar curse under his breath.
"Fuck this shit!"
Only a moment later he rushed ahead and followed Gaby.
It astonished the other three who had not expected such a reaction.
The brown furred Lohar had only been trying to talk to Selene all this while.
Apart from that, he didn't really show much emotion before, only to act like this out of a sudden.
However, they were happy to receive all the help they could receive.
It was better that way because he could help Gaby free everyone, before Kyle, Selene and Johana would arrive.
The commotion all around them had turned the tribe's settlement into a bloody battlefield.
It had quieted down for a while, only to erupt again, turning even louder than it had been before.
Meanwhile, on their right, the earth was trembling violently.
It shook the smaller huts that were collapsing like a house of cards.
They barely left behind debris and a cloud of smoke which caused Kyle to grit his teeth.
He was already using his highest possible speed with the help of the Swift Steps technique.
Additionally, he also used his soul force to circulate through his body.
Nevertheless, he was still too slow, and it took them almost two minutes to reach the space that was filled with dozens of steel gates.
Less than half of them had already been opened. Gaby was opening the gates with her brute force.
Meanwhile, the brown furred Lohar was using a small dagger to cut open the ties that restricted the Lohars from escaping.
The ropes absorbed the surrounding primordial energy, depriving the imprisoned Lohars from their strength as their annexed primordial energy was not excluded from the suctioning force.
After the ties were untied or cut through, some Lohars started to help each other while others were running.
When Kyle saw the Lohars running away, he frowned as he looked at Selene, who was panting heavily.
"It's time for you to show how good of an actress you are!"
The brown furred Lohar had explained that Selene only needed to insert both mana and primordial energy into the golden seal of chivalry.
Doing so would activate it, releasing a specific frequency only Lohars could hear.
Said frequency was supposed to make every Lohar understand that a noble of their race was nearby.
This was exactly what Selene was trying to do right now.
She did as instructed and inserted both the energies into the small piece of metal.
Soon, the golden seal of chivalry began to glow in a faint light as she muttered "Ouch!"
The tiola daggers were already sheathed and Selene's hands instinctively held one of her long black furred ears.
She bit her tongue as she felt the light prick on her skin, only to notice that every single Lohar was staring at her utterly dumbfounded.
It was as if they were wondering what a noble was doing in a place like the Sadorla forest.
Being stared at by more than a thousand Lohars who had suddenly stopped in their tracks made her freeze on spot.
The little courage she had gathered vanished into thin air as she staggered back a little.
She felt Kyle's hand on her back as he mumbled.
"You can do it! But hurry up please, we don't want the earthworm to kill all of us, right?"
Smiling lightly, Kyle patted Selene's head.
With him by her side, she regained some of her lost courage. Clearing her throat, she used mana to amplify her voice and spoke in a serious voice.
"Everyone help each other untie the ropes and escape the steel cages. Those that are injured, weak, young, or too old, should be protected by those that are strong enough!
Afterward, follow the instructions of the Aldras, they're here to help us!!"
Her shaky voice resounded through the surroundings and reached every Lohar.
It made them act instinctively, following the orders they had been given.
Even the otherwise cowardly Lohars wouldn't dare betray the nobility of their race.
Doing so would mean risking getting banished by the other Lohars.
The fear of being exiled made them turn around and help once again.
In only a short amount of time every single Lohar was untied, and a total of more than 3000 Lohars had been released from captivity.
Following the commands of the Aldras that had helped them was uncomfortable for the Lohars.
It was even more so after they had seen the ten Aldras shouting commands at the Nasgas to do certain things.
As such, the abducted Lohars knew that the Aldras were the reason for their grief, agony and losses.
Sadly, they were the very people who had rescued them as well.
This was not only confusing but also frustrating.
Yet, because there was a noble ordering them, they reluctantly obeyed her.
Once they were out of the steel cages, the stronger Lohars were tasked with protecting the weak, young and old just as Selene had instructed.
Meanwhile, Gaby and the brown furred Lohar returned to Kyle, Selene, and Johana, who were assessing the whole situation.
And they were in grave danger to put it simply.
After all, there were multiple earthworms that woke up from their slumber behind them and on their right.
The sight was harrowing, to say the least. As they watched terror-struck, the first one crawled out of one of the several holes.
Its hideous appearance was unveiled followed by the ginormous size that was longer than that of a train.
It had yet to attack anyone, but the largest crowd of beings in front of it were certainly the Lohars.
This turned them into an ideal target.
As such, they had to leave quickly, but the way they had entered the settlement was unsuitable, while their right side was a death zone.
"We have to advance through the battlefield of the adventurers and Nasgas, there is no other way!"
Hearing Gaby's confident statement made Kyle give her a blank stare.
He couldn't understand why they couldn't make a detour by leaving the large Nasga tribe and continuing to advance ahead.
However, before he could even ask, Kyle saw several huts far ahead of him being hurled into the air.
It looked like the huts weighed no more than feathers that collapsed on the unstable ground.
'Another heavy armored earthworm?' He wondered. But then he shook his head, thinking that this was not important.
In fact, the only important thing they had to pay attention to was to figure out the best way to rescue as many Lohars as possible.
As such, Kyle approved of Gaby's suggestion.
Even he believed that it was best to advance straight through the battlefield.
Though it was a tad bit risky, taking the shortest route with the fewest opponents was a viable route.
There were more than enough Lohars to overwhelm the Nasgas that were left alive.
In fact, most of those that had survived were injured.
This drastically decreased their morale as well as combat prowess.
Unfortunately, there were only a few Adventurers left because most of them had abandoned the mission.
Chickening out at the sight of the earthworms, they rescued themselves on priority.
Their confidence was shaken after they heard the multitude of terrifying noises.
And it went for a toss when they perceived the upsurge of energy fluctuations caused by the heavy armored earthworm.
Even Kyle felt like running away, but that was now too late, to begin with.
And, he was not someone who did things half-heartedly.
For him, it was either giving his all or not doing anything.
Hence, as long as there was no proper reason for him to do certain things differently, he wouldn't shy away from danger.
And right now, Kyle wanted to give it his all.
Not only did he want to gain more benefits in the future, but also to help Selene overcome her traumatic past.
And, in the end, he couldn't find a better way than facing it head-on, even if the circumstances were not in his favor.