Chapter 317: The Foggy Battlefield — Beast Chess and the Excluded Bandits

A large number of bandits, clutching thin tree trunks over ten meters long, charged straight into the mist. They shouted and roared, summoning their courage, cursing their target—the Magic Beast hiding within the massive white mist—with the most vicious words they knew.

As the bandits charged blindly, the massive Magic Beast could not dodge these bandits who were charging side-by-side while clutching trees within the mist that obscured its form.

Thud, thud, thud.

One by one, the tree trunks slammed into the Magic Beast.

But aside from causing the bandits who were clutching the trees to roll onto the ground, it seemed to have no other effect.

In truth, that was not the case; the Magic Beast was also startled by the actions of these Humans. The places where it was struck throbbed with pain beneath its carapace, and one tree trunk even poked straight into its mouth by chance.

Its massive mouth, not as hard as the rest of its body, was poked raw, causing the Magic Beast to feel intense pain. It grew enraged, stopped the work of the belly sac behind it, and crawled directly forward, crushing the few Humans who had struck its mouth into the ground.

The Magic Beast circulated the Magic Power within its body, once again releasing a rapidly expanding white mist.

The bandits outside were waiting anxiously for the bandits inside to succeed in their battle, but the suddenly expanding white mist took everyone by surprise.

They could see nothing at all.

The previously open field of vision was suddenly reduced to only about a meter around them, and the environment, which had been noisy with human voices, suddenly fell silent, terrifying many of the fearful bandits.

"Don't panic! Don't panic! Everyone gather together, don't run around!" The bandits could only hear the faint shouts of the Bandit Leaders; though they were usually loud-mouthed, they now sounded like the weak voices only a dying wounded man could emit.

Lao Kesilusi was also startled; he had not expected the Magic Beast in the white mist to react so strongly. The suddenly expanding white mist had enveloped all one hundred or so of them; people could not distinguish one another, and upon hearing sounds, everyone became panicked and disoriented.

He roared loudly, telling those around him to close in on his position. Fortunately, there were few of them to begin with, and their formation was relatively tight, so even though this strange white mist dampened sound, the surrounding bandits spontaneously listened to his voice and gathered around.

Only then did he realize why the previous bandits who had entered the white mist had lost all trace and could not make a sound; it turned out this white mist had muffled their voices.

But the Magic Beast's white mist was not large, so why didn't they come out? Unless they had all been attacked by the Magic Beast.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly directed the bandits who had gathered around to prepare for battle, and tried to light the firewood they had prepared to see if the flames could disperse the surrounding white mist or drive away the Magic Beast.

While Lao Kesilusi waited anxiously for the fire to rise, the other two Bandit Groups were being subjected to a massive attack by the Magic Beast.

Having eaten its fill, the Magic Beast no longer devoured Humans, but its legs and feet were merciless. It had originally wanted to rest and digest the food in its belly during the time the Knight was not attacking it.

But these ungrateful Humans had actually launched an active attack against it and even hurt it.

Therefore, the Magic Beast used two of its legs to push itself hard across the snow, while freeing up the other two legs to sweep through and impale those human bandits who were at a loss in the mist.

Many bandits lost their lives in a daze during the Magic Beast's sneak attacks. But their screams before death still caused the other bandits to enter a combat state.

They quickly lit fires, luckily dispersing some of the surrounding mist, and launched attacks toward the places where the Magic Beast made huge vibrations as it crawled; they threw whatever they had on hand, barely forcing back the Magic Beast's probing attacks several times.

Xiao Kesilusi led a group of his subordinates to rush over, and during one of the Magic Beast's probes, he led his men to throw a batch of projectiles together, wounding the careless Magic Beast in several places on its front.

But Xiao Kesilusi felt no joy; he still remembered the long, massive black limb that looked like a meat whip that had quickly extended from the white mist not long ago. That thing was lightning fast and possessed great weight; if it swept across their group, a single strike would be enough to kill or injure most of them.

Just at this moment, Lao Kesilusi was gathered with the other two Bandit Leaders, whispering about a retreat.

They could not afford not to retreat; although it seemed the Magic Beast feared fire, and using projectiles could temporarily force that monster back.

But this was merely a false appearance; a cruel fact was that they, as a group, basically had no combat ability to harm that Magic Beast.

The few valiant bandits from their respective groups who personally stepped forward to engage the Magic Beast's slender limbs as they burst out of the mist were killed by the Magic Beast within a few rounds, their corpses then impaled and dragged into the depths of the white mist.

This caused many bandits to be so terrified that they could not even grip their weapons tightly, and at any moment, a bandit who had been scared out of their wits might turn and attempt to run out of the range of this suddenly expanding white mist.

But Lao Kesilusi did not believe they could just run out like that.

If the white mist released by the Magic Beast was something it created itself, then even if they ran away, as long as the Magic Beast followed alongside their large group, they would never be able to escape the range of the Magic Beast's mist.

They would only be picked off and killed by that monster bit by bit.

But the other two Bandit Leaders did not care about that; they were determined to have the three Bandit Groups split up and retreat in different directions. That Magic Beast was only one entity, and while it would certainly cause heavy casualties to one group, the other two groups would definitely be able to retreat out of the area covered by this white mist.

Lao Kesilusi gripped the belt at his waist, his face showing anger, his mouth accusing these fellows of cowardice and timidity, saying they were not fit to be bandits who held the power of life and death over others.

But in his heart, other thoughts were turning; he considered his own group's strength to be not bad, and having previously driven away a Magic Beast that had entrenched itself here, it was impossible that there was no way to deal with this one.

When the white mist suddenly expanded, Jier pulled on the horses and walked toward the direction of the wooden hut from before.

Although he could see nothing, the footprints in the accumulated snow back and forth could show him the path he should take. As he approached the vicinity of the wooden hut, he kept a lookout on his surroundings while loudly telling the people inside the hut that it was him, not a bandit, nor the Magic Beast.

"Jier! Come in quickly." After an old Hunter saw clearly that the person approaching was Jier, he beckoned him into the wooden hut. But then he saw the two horses Jier was leading and was troubled.

The inside of the wooden hut was already very crowded; the rescued women, and the young and old Hunters were all squeezed into a small wooden hut, and there was already almost no place to stand, let alone letting Jier stuff these two horses into the wooden hut as well.

Taking a look at the situation inside the wooden hut, Jier pointed in a direction, even though nothing could be seen there now, only a sheet of white mist: "I think we still need to evacuate here quickly, and first arrange for everyone to go to the complex environment of the Forest, where it can be a bit safer. Without the mist, it would be fine for us to hide in the wooden hut, but now there is white mist all around; what if the Magic Beast leaves those damn bandits alone and comes to trouble us directly? We could be crushed to death by the Magic Beast collapsing the wooden hut from above at any time, and then we would all be dead."

"You are very right, that's correct, that's correct. Did the Knight say anything just now?" The old Hunter called over the other old Hunters who were also guarding the door to discuss the current situation with Jier.

Although Jier was a young man they had only just met, he was not bad; at least he was much more experienced than those young people in their group. Those few young people in this room were currently ignoring the gravity of the situation, hugging the terrified women and comforting them.

The old guys were furious, but they had no time to lecture them; after all, they couldn't let those terrified women keep screaming, could they?

What if it attracted the Magic Beast?

"Uh, Knight Lanisha didn't say anything, she just had me bring this back; it looks quite valuable." Jier took the Golden Dagger sheath tucked into his belt and handed it to the old Hunter closest to him.

Things made of gold, even if the shape only made crude bandits think it looked good, had the value of the precious metal itself and were worth quite a few coins.

This was not something Jier had obtained by defeating an enemy himself, but something the Knight had obtained, so he did not think about hiding it for himself. He had a bit of money recently, so he wouldn't go as far as to annoy the newly joined group for this ugly, tacky thing.

"No matter what, we must transfer quickly; it's not safe here. Even if there is a battle, if we are still here, we will only provide a hidden hindrance to Knight Lanisha." Since things had reached this point, the old Hunters still decided to evacuate quickly; although the other young Hunter had not returned yet, they had to evacuate.

Fortunately, just as the Hunters were having the rescued women ride two to a horse, the other young Hunter who had been cleaning up corpses with Jier also came along the footprints left by the horses Jier was leading.

As it happened, he was also leading a horse, and the six women in the room were just right for two to a horse, greatly speeding up the pace of movement.

They first went along the position of another house before it was covered by the white mist, and found the extremely nervous other young Hunters, as well as two new women in the house.

With no one to remind them, these two had to wrap themselves completely in animal skins, and were carried by two strong Hunters to follow the team's retreat.

Crossing a large open space from the middle of the Bandit Yingdi all the way to the Forest that they would inevitably encounter if they moved in a straight line, they were not sneak-attacked by the Magic Beast in the middle, which was considered quite lucky.

Jier wondered if the Magic Beast had been blocked halfway by the female Knight.

After entering the Forest, the mist here quickly weakened. It was not that the mist was receding, but entirely because they had walked out of the maximum range of the Magic Beast that was still releasing and maintaining the mist.

In a small pit, the team stopped. The old Hunters hurriedly arranged for people to cut branches and light multiple fires, so that even if the Magic Beast came to attack them with a large sheet of mist, they could use the fires to resist for a while.

Jier looked up at the large sheet of mist they had just retreated from and discovered that this mist was different from the mist he had seen earlier that looked like an inverted wooden bowl. They had been inside the mist before, so they could not know what the situation of this mist was, or how large it actually was.

At this moment, after walking out of the mist, only from outside the mist could one catch a glimpse of how large the range and shape of the mist released by this Magic Beast was.

The mist was actually not high, only about five meters high, clinging to the ground; for ordinary Humans, it was naturally helpless. But what if it were like this?

Jier opened his faceplate and climbed up a nearby tree that was slightly thicker and easier to scale, using both hands and feet; once he reached the top, he finally saw the full extent of the Mist released by the Magic Beast.

Beyond Jier's imagination, this patch of Mist had expanded into a circular area with a radius of at least two to three hundred meters, centered on the Mist that clung tightly to the Magic Beast's body, which stood out from the Mist elsewhere.

Although the weather was overcast, one could still clearly see that a large area of the ground ahead was blocked by white Mist, and even the snowflakes falling from the sky were magically obstructed by the Mist, rolling over the top of the five-meter-high Mist, sliding rapidly toward the outer edge, and landing at the very periphery.

Judging the distance, Jier tried to determine where the Magic Beast was currently located by observing how the Mist around the beast's body was higher than the Mist elsewhere.

Roughly calculating the position of the Forest in the distance, Jier discovered that the Magic Beast was still where those Bandits had gathered earlier and was not attempting to attack them or take the opportunity to flee.

He called for the other Hunters to come up and look, and he told the old Hunter who had climbed up about his discovery.

"You're right; it seems those damned Bandits are indeed food that a wounded Magic Beast cannot give up. But didn't the Knight try to stop that Magic Beast?" a Hunter asked, puzzled.

Jier voiced his opinion: "Although it's not good to let the Magic Beast eat those Bandits who suddenly appeared, as it makes our previous fighting go to waste, if we deal with the Magic Beast first, how much stamina will Knight Lanisha, who has been fighting on the front line the whole time, have left to deal with those numerous Bandits once the Magic Beast is resolved?"

"You are underestimating the Knight's strength; never mind, you haven't seen just how powerful she is," a young Hunter retorted, his words receiving unanimous agreement from the other Hunters.

Jier pursed his lips, sat on a thick branch, and crossed his arms: "Fine, even if the Knight still has plenty of stamina after dealing with the Magic Beast, she is only one person after all. Think about it, what if those Bandits turn to attack us instead? Don't tell me that after we finish dealing with the Magic Beast, we will still be as full of stamina as the Knight? By then, wouldn't we just be captured by the Bandits who have been watching us, becoming a Chip to manipulate the Knight?"

"I will fight to the death and not let those damned guys capture me!"

"Me too!"

The young Hunters said in unison; they were all loyal and simple people, and it was impossible for them to let Knight Lanisha's honor be tarnished.

Jier curled his lip and looked at the few old Hunters; they were all standing on the branches next to the trunk, one hand supporting the trunk and the other on their hips: "What about you?"

"It's not that there isn't such a possibility. So, has this become a simple game of beast chess?" said an old Hunter who had watched city folk play chess in his spare time.

Jier, who had also watched the old men in the residential area of Kendall City play chess, snapped his fingers: "Exactly, us—I mean Knight Lanisha and you Hunters, and of course, plus me. We can handle the Magic Beast that has been beaten and chased all the way here."

"And the Magic Beast, as you can see, has slaughtered all the people in two Bandit Camps without much resistance, as it did to several other Bandit Groups with quite a few people earlier. Presumably, these hundred or so Bandits will not be its match."

Speaking of this, Jier glanced again at the location of the large patch of Mist, watching the protruding part of the Magic Beast's clinging Mist swaying back and forth in the center, knowing that the thing was still wandering in place and should not have finished off those Bandits yet.

"Finally, the several Bandit Groups, which are numerous and of uneven skill, completely overwhelm us in numbers. If we fight, the Knight will be entangled, and we will be killed or captured by the Bandits, who outnumber us more than tenfold. No matter how we think about it, the best situation right now is to let the Magic Beast eliminate the Bandits, and then we deal with the Magic Beast."

The Hunters looked at each other, and they finally all agreed on this point.

"But what if the Magic Beast recovers its physical condition after devouring a large number of Humans?"

Jier smiled: "Then we won't give it that chance! Allow it to kill the Bandits, but don't give it time to devour and digest them. Once the Bandits are eliminated one by one, and it hasn't had enough time for its body to recover, that will be our best moment!"

"Not bad, this is indeed the most favorable timing now."

"So, what should we do then?"

Jier pointed to the center of the Mist ahead, where the Magic Beast was located: "Knight Lanisha won't fail to understand the current situation; she will definitely summon us when she feels the time is right. For example, by jumping out of the ground covered by the Mist and whistling in the air? Or shouting out loud?"

"However, even so, if we enter the Mist, we still cannot get close to that Magic Beast; once inside, it is difficult to confirm our orientation. It would be fine if the Magic Beast stayed in one place, but once it moves—it doesn't have to move much, just from one side of the original camp clearing to the other—we in the Mist would never be able to find the Magic Beast's tracks. Unless the Magic Beast cancels this large-scale Mist."

A Hunter spoke up to question: "But didn't the Magic Beast also release a patch of Mist before that wasn't as big, but of a similarly significant scale? That patch of Mist dissipated very quickly at the time. Maybe this Mist will be gone in a while?"

Jier considered it; this possibility was not non-existent, but the previous situation was different from the current one.

"The timing wasn't good before, but now the Magic Beast's old wounds haven't healed, and it has devoured a large number of Bandits in a short time; it is at its weakest. Once it relies on the devoured Humans to recover from its injuries, can we still chase and crusade against it all the way? We cannot think about the best-case scenario for the situation ahead; we must consider the worst-case scenario."

Jier pondered, feeling that if he were the Magic Beast, he wouldn't run away, because once he ran, he would likely be chased and obstructed by the Knight, and the advantageous Mist wouldn't be able to cover the surroundings or hinder the auxiliary helpers like Jier and the others.

If he kept the Mist maintained, he could keep them out, and by only having to deal with the Knight in a defensive, stalling skirmish, he could achieve a situation that became increasingly favorable to himself.

Jier told his conclusion to the other Hunters; some of the other Hunters felt that the Magic Beast couldn't be that smart, but some cautious Hunters, relying on their experience, felt that the situation would likely turn out as Jier said.

Compared to the Magic Beast, Knight Lanisha indeed possessed a great advantage in agility, but her stamina was naturally not as good as the huge Magic Beast's; if it dragged on for a long time, Knight Lanisha would definitely run out of stamina and be defeated.

And they, unable to help, would only meet a dead end in the Mist created by the Magic Beast.

"So? What should we do?" one person asked.

Jier jumped down from the tree; he grabbed the branch first to let his body drop, and when his hands were holding the branch he had just brought, his feet were hanging in the air, just over two meters away from the snow-covered ground.

Moreover, the ground was still covered in thick snow that could provide cushioning.

Releasing his fingers, he landed in the snow and quickly rolled to his feet.

"I have fought it before in the Mist created by the Magic Beast, and I can guarantee that I won't be hurt by it. I should be able to help the Knight deal with it. As long as I entangle the Magic Beast at the appropriate time I mentioned earlier and keep the Magic Beast's attention on me, it will give Knight Lanisha another chance to severely wound the Magic Beast."

Patting the snow off his body, Jier continued: "Presumably by then, this Magic Beast won't have the energy to release large-scale Mist anymore, right?"

Checking his weapons and equipment, Jier felt that the effect of the Red-eye Mushroom Sugar Pill he had taken was not as high as the effect of eating a whole Mushroom the first time, and the duration seemed to be much shorter as well.

He felt that he had to eat another one before the upcoming fight. Sure enough, after making them into a larger quantity of Sugar Pills, whether it was the magical effect of the Mushroom or the duration of use, it was not as effective as eating the dried Mushroom directly.

Of course, even though the effect was reduced at this moment, he didn't feel as uncomfortable as before, likely because the side effects had weakened.

"I'm going into the Mist to lend the Knight a hand. Everyone, seize the opportunity later and come over quickly to provide support!" Jier waved to the Hunters, bid them farewell, and walked toward the location where he had dropped his Backpack before fighting the Bandits in this camp.

Of course, he bypassed the Mist and advanced outside of it.