Episode 103 Mountain Escape (1)
Four days after Harley and his party entered the Northern Mountains.
Another battle ended, and Harley brought the magic stone he had just obtained to his mouth.
Destroy everything, tear them apart, let's kill them all!
Crunch! Munch, munch—
He diligently chewed and swallowed it, ignoring the urge of madness echoing in his head as usual.
He had been steadily consuming magic stones, and now he was seeing some significant results.
His metabolism had become more active, and his physical abilities had increased accordingly.
Side effects, such as bloodshot eyes and excessively bulging blood vessels, tried to manifest physically…
But such things were nothing to Harley, who could control his entire body with "Physical Transformation".
If it hadn't been for this ability, he would probably be showing the same symptoms as the monsters scattered throughout the mountains.
"Damn it, they're not giving us a break. How many times has it been in a row?"
"Hahaha! Sorry to interrupt your complaining, but another group is approaching! It doesn't seem like they've spotted us thanks to the concealment barrier, but if we stay here, we'll run into them soon."
"…We don't even have time to rest anymore."
The deeper they went, the higher the probability of encountering monsters, and their level also increased, making it increasingly difficult to move forward.
The party once again hurriedly moved, only removing the bloodstains on their bodies with the cleansing magic tool.
The Ranger from the Iron Fortress, Charlton, was doing his best to erase the traces of their movement from the rear, but it was a very dangerous act…
The moment the magic was lifted, they would be surrounded by monsters swarming from all directions, so it couldn't be helped.
The best course of action was to leave the area as quickly as possible to avoid endless battles.
"There seem to be quite a few in that direction too. The distance is…"
"…Then it's better to go this way. Everyone, follow me carefully."
They wouldn't have even made it this far if it hadn't been for Harley's detection ability and the guide Marcus's skillful guidance.
"Mr. Marcus, are we still far from our destination? You said we were almost there, but the sun is setting."
Fabiella, the mage, complained in a weary voice, his face pale from the continuous forced march.
No matter how much he trained, he was still a mage and had weaker stamina than the others, and he was starting to run out of magic power from frequent spellcasting, so it was understandable.
Marcus, who had been silently guiding them, took out a pocket watch-like magic tool, examined it, and then looked at the group with a slightly brighter expression.
"It's around here. We're almost there."
"Whew… We can finally see that precious face. Seriously, to think so many people would be mobilized just to rescue one artisan, even if he's a Dwarf."
Mikel whispered softly, raising her crossbow and guarding the surroundings.
As she said, even though only a small number of people were mobilized due to the nature of the mission, the price of those here wasn't cheap.
They were all top-notch talents in Tarak's mercenary world.
And they were even offered various additional bonuses, and a knight from the territory was even mobilized.
'Well, they did say Robin is a commoner.'
The group, who had become close to him while overcoming hardships together, was able to have various conversations while camping.
He didn't go into detail, but they were able to grasp the general situation…
'He said he's the chief artisan of the territory, who had a connection with the previous lord. Well, if he's in that position, this much of a reward is nothing.'
After all, the price of weapons increased exponentially as their grade went up.
In that sense, he was a precious individual, incomparable to a mere sum of money or a commoner knight.
There would have been a larger rescue operation if the monster issue wasn't more urgent.
It was because of that mess that the Dwarf was isolated in the first place.
"We're here. This is the place."
And finally, they arrived at the location indicated by the magic tool's signal.
"Hmm…"
A brief silence followed.
The group cautiously tapped the ground, guarding the surroundings.
"…There's no cave or anything, where is he hiding? We need to find the entrance…"
At that moment,
Rustle, rustle—
The ground around the roots of a tree growing on one side started to shake, and then…
Burst!
"Oh! You're here already! You're earlier than I thought."
The ground opened, and a hairy face popped out.
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"I came here for mineral exploration, and then this mess happened! I've been in and out of the mountains several times, but this time, it was impossible to escape on my own!"
The group, who entered the hole following the Dwarf, couldn't help but be surprised by the cozy underground space they encountered.
'I heard it's only been about a week since he was isolated.'
The spacious space, more than enough to accommodate them all, was neatly trimmed, and there were even several breathing holes in the ceiling where tree roots were intertwined.
And there were dirt beds, a workbench, and all sorts of miscellaneous items on one side.
"Ah, this? I had nothing to do while waiting, so I started working on this and that! It's a good thing I expanded it in advance! Hahaha—!"
The Dwarf, Zaonic Steelstone, burst into laughter, seeing their surprised expressions.
The interior was already protected by a high-level barrier using the magic tools he had brought, so there was no need to worry about the monsters outside hearing them.
'They must be expensive, considering they even fooled my senses.'
Even Harley, who knew he was hiding nearby, only felt a slight sense of dissonance and couldn't pinpoint his exact location right away.
He might have been able to notice it if he had more time, but the monsters, who didn't know anything, wouldn't even notice and just pass by.
"By the way, are you okay? I didn't expect someone this big to come, so I didn't do much with the entrance passage."
"Hmm— My skin isn't that weak to get scratched just from rubbing against dirt walls. Don't worry! Hahaha—!"
Zaonic spoke worriedly, looking at Harley, but it was really nothing to him to have squeezed through a narrow passage.
Rather, the tightly packed passage was heavily damaged from being scraped by his body.
"Ah! Bordo, Hans. You're both alive!"
At that moment, the Ranger Charlton, who had been quietly following the group, brightened up and headed towards the dirt beds.
Naturally, Zaonic hadn't entered the mountains alone.
Two other Rangers from the Iron Fortress were in this space with him.
"Ah! Senior Charlton, you're here!"
"Senior…"
But one of them wasn't in good shape…
Unlike the one who cheerfully greeted Charlton, the bandaged Ranger just struggled to get up from the bed.
"Tsk— He was injured in the shoulder while reacting and responding first when the anomaly suddenly occurred."
The Dwarf Zaonic explained the situation, scratching the back of his head as the group looked at the Rangers.
"He's not in a serious condition because we gave him the potion he had and treated him immediately. He'll be able to recover without any aftereffects after a few months of rest."
But that was assuming this was a safe place.
It was impossible in this Northern Mountains, the epicenter of the monster frenzy.
An injury that made it difficult to move in this situation was a serious threat to his life.
"Hans! Are you okay? Can you move?"
"Yes, I didn't injure my legs. I have no problem climbing mountains. Don't worry."
The Ranger Hans nodded seriously with a determined expression, as if promising not to be a burden.
And Harley… crossed his arms and fell into thought with a serious expression.
'Hans…'
Well, he knew it was a common name.
He had actually encountered it several times during his life in Auterica.
He looked at 'Extremely Ordinary Soldier 1', Hans, who was sitting on the bed.
'…This won't do.'
And he was convinced once again.
The name of the Immortal King, who would be recorded in history, couldn't be Hans!
He had already met over ten Hanses, including the village youth, the village head, the carpenter, the blacksmith, and the farmer.
Except for Immortal King Hans, who could be considered the best outcome among them, Ranger Hans, who was currently injured, was the most extraordinary.
'It wouldn't be bad for him to become the best Hans among all the Hanses, but it lacks impact.'
As Harley was lost in serious thought, looking at the Rangers, Zaonic, perhaps misunderstanding his gaze, patted him on the back with his arm raised high.
"Well, Hans can move around, and he's a member of the elite Rangers. And with these great warriors here to help, we'll be fine, right? Hahaha—!"
"Hmm? Ah! Right. If he's a Hans, he should at least be able to overcome this much hardship! Hahaha—!"
"Hahaha… Huh?"
"Hahaha—!"
After a brief, slightly off-topic conversation and laughter, the group agreed to rest here for a day and leave the next day, and each prepared for bed.
Since it was an underground dugout protected by all sorts of high-level barriers, unlike their usual camping, they only needed one person on watch duty.
'Even if there's a barrier, we don't know what might happen, so a lookout is essential.'
Still, it was a much better situation than when they had three shifts with two people per shift, excluding the mage Fabiella, so no one complained.
And so, the peaceful night passed.
And the day of the great escape dawned.
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Bright ducal family's mansion in the Talia Kingdom.
Heinz the Second was examining the documents that had arrived from various places, grasping the situation on the continent.
He had added a new information acquisition route by obtaining Banshee Queen Olivia, but that didn't mean his work had decreased.
In the first place, lower-ranking undead ghosts, who couldn't think at a high level, could only follow orders and couldn't obtain complex information.
Olivia's ability to process the fragmented facts gathered by her subordinate ghosts into high-level information was impressive, but there was still a limit.
She was unparalleled in obtaining real-time information from the battlefield, movements of military units, and activities of forces in the shadows, but it was much easier to use the Brokoslack Clan's power when it came to national affairs and political situations.
'Well, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. My job is to gather all the information and make judgments.'
Cross-referencing facts from various sources to ensure the reliability of information was basic.
As he was organizing the newly acquired information,
"Heinz."
Mulo Brokoslack's voice was heard along with a knock.
"Come in. What is it?"
Heinz took his eyes off the documents and looked up, and Mulo, who had entered the office, bowed respectfully and opened his mouth.
"We just received a report that the monsters have started to become active."
"Hmm… So it's finally happening."
Mulo was in charge of commanding the vampires scattered throughout the various regions with blood magic, and he was also in charge of relaying urgent information from them.
This time, it seemed like he had received a report from those dispatched to the monster forest.
"Two True Bloods went there, so it shouldn't be that dangerous. Tell them not to push themselves and only intervene to the extent that the army guarding the outside of the forest isn't too damaged."
"Yes, I understand. But it's not just there…"
"Hmm?"
Mulo continued in a calm voice, despite Heinz's questioning gaze.
"They say the monsters in the northern mountains have also started to move south in earnest."
It was the beginning of the predicted chaos.