“When the situation becomes dangerous, run away as quickly as possible!”
Such was the simple plan that Jeremy had instructed all his men to do some time before. Although fairly simple, it seems that the plan will go smoothly. Seen, each of them was in the edge row after the outermost layer of the formation. A safe and supportive position to escape when a dangerous situation occurs. Somehow they managed to do it without anyone suspecting anything.
Everyone seemed to be paying close attention to their surroundings, afraid of any surprise attack. Everyone's footsteps matched, just enough to reduce noise and there was an opening to hear the surroundings clearly.
The formation that was being used was a fairly common formation. That was, because this formation was good enough for all hunters of all specialists to use.
The investigators accompanying several hunters who specialized in reconnaissance would spread around and monitor from above. Several superpowers also came along and became the guards of the hunters who specialized in long-range attacks and healing experts.
The formation layers that were in the outer three layers were those who were experts in melee attacks. Of course, in some corners of the outer layer were also stationed hunters who were experts in defense. Then, there was a hunter who was skilled at making large-scale defensive magic. He worked earlier than the others and always drained his chaotic energy the fastest. It was quite a coincidence that he was on the team for this expedition.
They really looked as safe as they should have been, whereas the scouts were vulnerable to surprise attacks. But, there's nothing to worry about. The scouts were used to surprise attacks and seemed to have mastered the battlefield. Of course, they wouldn't be surprised by the surprise attacks that were their forte either.
Except, those surprise attacks were on a different level. Or, they were harmed by the quantity of their attackers when they received their surprise attacks, such as three consecutive attacks coming in different directions. They would not survive unless luck was on their side.
Quite a distance to walk, the territory within this Monster Gate was quite wide. In fact, they had walked for about an hour and it was mentally draining enough for them to feel like they would have walked for a day long without their watch. So far, there had been no sign of an expected attack.
“Hoam...”
Well, there had been some people who are nodding off because they are bored with this situation. That's when the unexpected happened.
The magic shield that always protected everyone in the formation seemed to be under attack from the outside in succession. However, there wasn't a single monster in sight. Everyone was still in a state of being able to just watch and at a loss as to what to do. Monsters cannot be seen clearly. Even striking out of the magic barrier would only cost lives.
"Didn't it’s said a normal wolf?"
"Yeah..."
"But, why can't their movements be seen clearly?"
Hunters who were in the safest position chatted while observing the situation. Their chatter could be overheard by all the hunters in formation. And it's quite helpful to represent the uniqueness of those who don't have time to do that.
The longer they take an attack, the more clearly it becomes clear what monsters are attacking them. But with this, the hunter skilled in large-scale protection had reached the limit. The magic shield finally opened, and the invading monster was finally able to attack the hunters.
Supposedly, the scouts were everyone's back eyes. However, this is not the case at the moment. Apparently, they were also busy defending themselves.
“They really are ordinary wolves!?” someone shouted resuscitating some of the people who were quite panicked after the magic barrier shattered. That way, they all finally felt confident that they could conquer this Monster Gate. After all, the number of hunters joining the expedition this time was very large. Even the attacking monsters actually reached thousands, but the level of strength was very far apart.
"Be careful! We turned out to be under the influence of illusion magic!” exclaimed a hunter who specialized in magic chanting and had confirmed with several people specializing in him that there was such an illusion magic that deceived anyone in the illusion field.
“Illusory magic?”
"Does this mean, the monsters aren't just wolves?"
All hunters now no longer underestimate it. Even though they had previously underestimated it, no one had received any injuries or vice versa. The corpses of the wolves had accumulated quite a bit around the formation and the smell was quite strong. It, disturbs everyone's sense of smell.
“Really, the wolf attacks are endless!”
They cannot move freely. The illusion was still active and allowed them to only defend the formation without being able to counterattack.
"Ah!"
“Argh!!!”
"Help-"
From the tree branches covered by thick leaves, the scouts seemed to be under attack. Evidently after the sound was heard, there was the sound of a body falling after. It happened so fast. Like, they were attacked simultaneously by each of the mysterious monsters.
"Is it the end?" Someone started speculating about it. Of course it was none other than that, it meant the boss monster guarding the Monster Gate. Their strength usually exceeds five times the strength of a platoon of monsters within the same Monster Gate.
“Something dangerous is coming soon...”
“It's bad, our stamina will continue to be drained if we while defending against the relentless attacks of these wolf monsters!!”
“Everyone, please calm down! We just have to maintain this formation and hope that things will be over quickly!” Commander Dadan finally spoke after seeing the situation getting chaotic. And evidently, everyone refocused on maintaining the formation by trying to believe Dadan's words. 'Damn! The scouts have fallen. Does this mean, they couldn't snoop properly from the start? Remembering, after ten minutes had passed since the sign of them disappeared. The illusion is getting stronger!’
"There, look!"
Someone shouted loudly for everyone to hear. She pointed at a creature walking on its two feet.
His height is estimated to exceed Jeremy's height slightly. The black eyes that blazed with gold could be seen by all and it was truly terrifying. Moreover, the chaotic energy it emitted was extremely powerful. Even Jeremy who was an S rank hunter alone couldn't be compared to him.
Everyone was shaking, of course, including Jeremy himself. His face was clearly pale, a sign that he too was feeling scared and suppressed by the chaotic energy radiating from the monster.
Then, a surprising thing happened.
“Do you guys know a handsome man with dark red eyes? Or just look him around here?”
What was on everyone's mind after seeing the monster was a werewolf who could speak. Some people immediately relate it to a story often told as a child by their parents just before bedtime. A scary creature, but also a creature who likes to save people from disaster.
“Is that an aul mythical creature?!”
"I-I also counted it as..." someone allowed him.
Before that, Commander Dadan immediately walked towards the monster that was said to be the aul bravely. That's not really the case. He just felt like he had to face him to answer the question the aul was asking. While people seem to forget to answer it or no one has the courage to do so. He who has good intuition in observing the situation, of course, feels it would be dangerous to ignore his question.
“Introducing, I'm Dadan...”