Whoosh-!
Rushing up the side of the mountain with the large number of mountain bouncing slimes rapidly approaching her from the side, Scaly glanced back towards the mountain gnolls who were escaping back into the forest every now and then. Trying to see if the leading mountain bouncing slime would be going after her or if it would go after the mountain gnolls like she expected it to.
Boing~
In the end, after a few painful seconds of escaping up the side of the mountain, the mountain bouncing slime that seemed to be lost in its thoughts not knowing who to chase after ultimately decided to make a move on the mountain gnolls, causing the massive number of mountain bouncing slimes behind it to turn along with it as they all began moving towards the mountain gnolls while ignoring her.
Growl!?
Seeing this, the mountain gnolls who were still not at the forest could not help panicking, as they understood that they were far too slow to escape from the mountain bouncing slimes in time. Especially considering that the mountain bouncing slimes seemed to pick up more speed as they rolled down the mountain.
Boing~
Splat~!
GROOOWL!?
And not long after, the first of the mountain gnolls was caught by the mountain bouncing slimes, as he was soon overwhelmed and swallowed hole by the large number of mountain bouncing slimes. Leaving behind nothing more than a few half-devoured bones after they passed over him, causing Scaly who had momentarily stopped to observe the situation after seeing that she wasn’t being targeted to once again continue rushing up the side of the mountain.
Although she wasn’t the target of the mountain bouncing slimes any longer, she was certain that when the mountain gnolls escaped into the forest below, they would undoubtedly turn their attention towards her if she was still around.
So, with that in mind, she had to at least get to a place where the mountain bouncing slimes couldn’t see her before they finished their hunt of the mountain gnolls.
Unfortunately, the only way for her to do this was to continue moving up the mountain, as most larger rocks and stones at the side of the mountain seemed to have been ground down by the mountain bouncing slimes passing over them for an extended period of time.
Any holes or cave openings in the side of the mountain had been similarly destroyed by these mountain bouncing slimes. Leaving no place for her to hide in at the current part of the mountain.
I hope there isn’t any powerful monsters further up the mountain...
Only able to think this to herself as she continued up the mountain, Scaly looked back towards the struggling mountain gnolls one last time before she focused her full attention on climbing up the mountain. Ignoring the painful screams of the mountain gnolls that could be heard whenever one of them was caught and devoured by the mountain bouncing slimes.
Like this, a little over five minutes flew by with Scaly climbing her way up the increasingly steep mountain side before she finally found a cave that she could hide inside of to recover her strength. Not just that, but after looking through the cave and finding out that it was rather large compared to the entrance itself and seemed to lead deeper inside the mountain, she decided to go in and explore the deeper parts of the cave after recovering her strength.
Not just because she was curious about what kind of monsters might be hiding inside the cave and what kind of danger might be lurking in the place, but also because she had found the cave to be a good location to go through her next evolution if she could ensure that there were no other monsters around.
After all, outside of there being more than enough small rocks around for her to block the entrance with relative ease, the mountain bouncing slimes patrolling the area only a short distance below the location of the cave would provide her with a kind protective barrier against any other monster who might want to try and climb the mountain.
Of course, before going through her next evolution, she decided to first explore the inside of the cave itself. After all, before anything, she first had to confirm that there weren’t any other monsters living inside the cave that might attack her while she was unguarded and in the process of going through her next evolution.
But, before that, she first had to recover her strength from the most recent chase she had gone through.
...
At the same time that Scaly was busy recovering her strength inside one of the tallest mountains in the mountain range of the fourth floor of the dungeon. Back at the third floor of the dungeon, the guild leader in charge of the Howling Caverns Dungeon and the Crimson Flame Knight who had scared every monster inside the mountain range only a few days early sat down face to face inside the branch guild of the dungeon town that had its guardian barrier activated by the ancient dire wolves not too long ago.
"Hmph, to think that person was actually from that place... I really have no idea how he could have infiltrated the Adventure’s Guild without us finding out. Even managing to get the position of a branch guild leader...
Although we have no idea what he was up to, it looks like we will have to inform the higher ups about this situation and have them send over someone better suited for investigating this kind of matter. At least you managed to deal with him before anything more could happen."
"Indeed, it would be fine for lower ranked adventures, but someone at the level of a branch guild leader... I have no idea how he managed to pass the guilds screening process and get the position..."
Of course, at this moment, the ancient dire wolves were the least of their concern, as the two were far more focused on the person who had managed to achieve the position of branch guild leader.
Lower ranked adventurers were normally not screened, nor did they get any real background check from the adventure’s guild. Even some higher ranked adventurers were similar, but those who became guild leaders and essentially became a core part of the guild were always put through an intense screening and investigation by the guild beforehand. Specifically, to prevent any outside force influencing the guild or taking advantage of it.
"Haaa... Not only is he from one of those three places, but it’s also the most extreme of them..."
"Yeah, those fanatics from the Holy Flower Sect are both known for their powerful poison and their fanatic belief in the Holy Flower. Haaa... I really hope this fellow was just a straggler and not part of a larger plan by those insane people..."
"Hehe, indeed, it could be quite troublesome if it was a larger plan and not just a single one. After all, we are far from capable enough to handle those people by ourselves. For now, I will rush back up to the surface and inform the seniors in the capital about the situation, I trust that you can deal with the situation down here while I do so?"
"Of course, just a small B Rank monster, nothing difficult to deal with... And even if those fanatics show up, I’m not that easy to take down. Especially since the strength of my poison resistance increased not too long ago."
"Good, then I won’t waste any more time and will get going."
Whoosh-!
As the conversation between the Guild Leader of the Howling Caverns Dungeon and the Crimson Flame Knight came to an end, the guild leader didn’t waste any time as he rushed out of the guild building before making his way towards the closest staircase. Intending to leave the dungeon as fast as possible to get the information about what had happened out.
"Hm... Looks like I have a few wolves to hunt down...!"
Watching as the guild leader disappeared into the distance, the crimson flame knight briefly narrowed his eyes as he turned to look in the direction of the forest that the ancient dire wolves had first emerged from in the past.
Swoosh~
And not wasting any time staying around the dungeon town, the crimson flame knight set off to hunt down the ancient dire wolves while leaving the B Rank Adventurers who had come down together with the guild leader to defend the town in case the ancient dire wolves appeared while he was gone and out hunting for them.
Although these B Rank Adventures wouldn’t be able to kill the ancient dire wolves on their own, with the assistance of the adventurers still inside the town, they would at least be able to hold it off and buy enough time for him to rush back.
Of course, these adventures were also there in case another fanatic from the Holy Flower Sect appeared.