Chapter 126

Ding——

The bell ringing when the trap was triggered was sharp and urgent, and a few unknown birds and beasts flapped their wings in panic and flew up from the treetops.

Immediately following, there were several short, exasperated guttural sounds coming from the dense forest.

No longer hiding his figure or covering the movement, accompanied by the noise of breaking branches, dense and rapid footsteps sounded suddenly.

"Prepare!"

After waking up from the nightmare, Adeline, who had not slept, roared immediately.

Both hands were already carrying her two heavy iron hammers.

Beside her, Berg, who had been uneasy because of "Iron Hand" George's corpse, now felt as if his "hanging heart had finally died," and the originally anxious expression dissipated.

Holding a longbow, while retreating rapidly, his eyes keenly observed whether there were ambushes in other directions of the camp.

Showing some professional qualities of an old-school adventurer.

Abi was called awake from his deep sleep by Adeline's roar, sleepy-eyed, but seeing the posture of everyone on the field, he didn't need much explanation and reacted quickly.

Fortunately, he was in the wild, and he was required to wear undergarments and armor when resting, which saved him a lot of time.

Hurriedly lifting the blanket covering his body, rubbing his eyes, he brought the weapon placed at his feet to his hand, took two steps forward, and stood in front of everyone with a shield.

As for Xia Nan, it goes without saying.

The highly concentrated perception and attention during the practice of 【Gravity Solidification】 made him the first person in the entire squad to notice the danger.

When Abi was squinting his eyes, while tidying his clothes, and walking to his side in a hurried pace.

Xia Nan had already gripped the decapitation longsword tightly, his body tense, ready for battle.

None of them moved.

Except for Berg, who took the initiative to pull away the distance due to his positioning as a long-range shooter, the other members of the "Green Blood" squad did not move after standing in their respective positions.

The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, and they are in the Mist Forest at night. Rashly retreating will only disrupt the formation and put the team in an unfavorable situation.

At least... they must find out the true identity of the enemy, whether it is as they inferred based on the residual traces of the corpse, before making plans.

"Rustle..."

The bushes and grass shrouded in shadows shook violently, and one could vaguely see several blurred silhouettes approaching at high speed.

Xia Nan's heart beat violently, his pitch-black eyes reflecting the firelight, his expression calm.

And just as the dense footsteps became clearer, and one could even see the fur shaking in the black shadows of the attackers.

First to break away from the bushes and come into everyone's sight was a cold, chilling light reflecting the campfire.

"Whoosh!"

Sharp arrows tore through the mist, carrying broken leaves and grass seeds, whistling out.

Very fast!

Xia Nan only felt a stinging cold wind surge in front of him, and the longsword in his hand was subconsciously raised to protect his front.

"Clang!!"

Sparks splashed.

Metal friction, sparks leaping on the surface of the sword.

In an instant, a sense of stagnation came from the longsword in his hand, and the cold wind brushed past his ear.

The next second, the arrow that was shooting straight at his chest was blocked by his longsword, its trajectory shifted, and it embedded into an oak tree trunk behind him under the residual force.

"So accurate?"

A chill rose behind his head, and there was no time to think more. The enemy who had exposed their whereabouts because of the traps they had set in advance had already rushed out of the forest.

"Eek!"

Carrying a thick fishy smell and dirty stench, a sharp and strange excited whistling sound came from the air.

Viscous yellowish saliva dripped from the tongue with barbs hanging by the mouth; the edges of the black nose that turned outward were moist, and hot airflow was sprayed out during the expansion and contraction of breathing.

The deformed skull, which looked like a combination of a hyena and a human, had a twisted and sunken forehead, and then bulged violently toward the back of the head; the beast eyes, which refracted a sickly ghostly green light in the night, were bloodshot, and the gaze was full of violence and ferocity.

Those were five lean and ferocious Gnolls!

And among them, the individual at the very front of the team, whose figure was clearly a circle larger than its peers, was undoubtedly the dangerous monster that had fled from the western wasteland to the vicinity of the Mist Forest, had already attacked several human villages, and was heavily rewarded by the Adventurer Association—

Gnoll Flesh Eater!

Xia Nan focused, the upcoming battle making his hand gripping the sword hilt turn slightly white from excessive force.

His gaze stared tightly at the few Gnolls running on all fours like hyenas, their expressions fanatical.

In his heart, however, he couldn't help but feel a bit strange.

First, the number of these Gnolls did not reach the level of a "tribe" mentioned on the Association mission board at all, and they had no ability to attack villages.

"Did they split a part to ambush in other directions of the camp, or have they died in battles with other adventurers?"

Secondly, the few Gnolls in front of him, although they were all wearing a few ill-fitting armor equipment—clearly stripped from the bodies of dead adventurers, at the same time, various wounds could be seen all over their bodies.

The marks left by sword cuts and spear stabs were only a small part, and what was truly obvious were the pitch-black scorch marks that looked as if they had been burned by a big fire, covering all parts of their bodies.

Even the "Flesh Eater" who looked like a leader was no exception.

In his mind, he couldn't help but recall the bloody corpse of "Iron Hand" George.

"Did their squad do it?"

Messy thoughts emerged, and were cleared by the whistling sound echoing in the air.

Before the battle started, as the leader of the "Green Blood" squad and also the person with the richest adventure experience among them.

Adeline!

Made a decisive decision!

Tying the iron hammer in her left hand back to her waist, she asked for a wooden shield from Abi beside her.

Leaving behind a short and crisp command.

Facing the "Gnoll Flesh Eater" in front, she rushed up fiercely.

"I'll hold it back, Xia Nan, leave the others to you!"

Within a few seconds of the Gnolls appearing, she had already made a decision.

She would hold back the "Flesh Eater," the most powerful enemy who also had the ability to cause huge casualties to squad members in a short period of time.

Thereby buying time for Xia Nan, who possessed the strongest mobility in the entire team, to take the opportunity to solve the other few ordinary Gnolls.

To be honest, although they had completed many missions together and also showed strength far beyond ordinary adventurers in the battle with "Scar."

But for whether Xia Nan could use the short few minutes before she completely couldn't hold on to solve the Gnolls on the field other than the "Flesh Eater," Adeline was not sure.

But right now, facing such a dangerous situation.

She could only pin her hopes on this young and reliable teammate whose background was mysterious.

Xia Nan did not know what the other party was thinking at this moment.

As soon as the words fell, his body rushed out directly.

But the direction was slightly different from Adeline's.

His pitch-black eyes stared at the dense bushes at the edge of the camp where the arrow had been shot before.

——When fighting in a group, you must cut the back row first.

(End of chapter)