Chapter 225: Retreat
Yutaka couldn’t close his mouth as he watched the blind guy drag someone that was dressed entirely in black towards them. Obviously, he was a type of combat Magus himself, but he was weak. Even then, he didn’t see him move at all.
Yutaka swallowed as a theory formed in his mind. ...the blind guy must have a powerful enchanted object or artifact!...
"Well? Do you know him?"
Lady Slave removed the cloth covering the man’s face, showing them what he looked like.
Yutaka studied the average face and frowned a little. "This is a scout from the Mistwalker group. He’s a second circle Magus and his scouting powers are impressive. You... we are going to get into trouble for killing him."
Lady Slave looked at Red Eyes Slave and he shrugged. "They already target us. If we leave the nest alive, they are going to come after us anyway. Either way, we are still going to clash with the Mistwalker."
Lady Slave groaned and her eyes darkened. "Right. Might as well start. I’m getting tired of this place."
Yutaka swallowed. He didn’t know what to think because the two hunters seemed to have run mad. He raised his hand and a warm yellow light appeared. "Alright. Let’s go."
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Lane stared at the small mirror he was holding and shifted in his seat, a small frown on his face. Just moments before, the mirror was glowing softly and displaying light patterns that held the message from the scout he sent over.
But now, the mirror was still and cold.
"Something is wrong," he murmured. The last message he received was that the bait was at the entrance of the nest, and there wasn’t supposed to be any danger there. So how come his scout wasn’t sending anything back?
And the scout he sent was a strong Magus and a highly disciplined one who knew to send messages even if he was fighting for his life. Besides, the message artifact was connected to his very life.
"My scout is dead? But... there’s no other danger there, so what could kill him that fast and so quickly? Unless there’s a monster wandering the tunnels or another group trying to fight us?"
Lane stood up from his seat.
He was a tall and lean man with green eyes and a calm face. "Maybe the money I spent on the bait would be a waste. How can I know the monster’s current power if I can’t see them? And no other scout can do the job.
"I just hope to find their dead bodies before they are swallowed. Or at the very least, their belongings. I’ll see what I can loot from them to compensate myself."
He then held up the mirror and it glowed with another flash of light. He brought it closer to his face. "Mistwalkers! We move!"
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"How are we even going to get the monster bodies out of here? We are not going to have to drag them back to the entrance, right?" Vacuse asked.
"Normally, the hunter’s team usually has a group that does that. It’s their job to find the loot and haul them out, even when the fighting is intense.
"But I don’t think we have to worry about something like that anyway. We can just haul the one or two you kill back," Yutaka said.
Vacuse didn’t reply.
The nest of the Longleg Spiders resembled a maze made of stones and cobwebs. And Vacuse was starting to believe that without a guide, there was no way they would really get around. Yutaka had done a remarkable job so far, telling them to freeze when monsters that were above their power passed, and where to go to avoid things they absolutely wanted to avoid.
The spiders were not the only monsters in the place after all. And even though Vacuse hadn’t sensed anything that posed a serious threat to him, he followed the guide’s instructions obediently.
Besides, he’d given it serious thought and believed keeping things low would be the best option. Their objective was to pass through the mountains to Umbracrypt, not to be hunters. And they had to do that while trying their best not to draw attention to themselves.
It irked him that he might have to leave the Mistwalker alone. Two hunters fighting a whole hunting team was the sort of attention he didn’t want.
So he agreed with Yutaka. They would just kill two spiders and be done with it... or kill seven and get the hell out of Gloomspire territory.
But one thing Vacuse hadn’t figured out was how he was going to stop the Mistwalker from coming after them. He knew they were going to do it. How was he supposed to avoid attention if they came for him themselves?
Yutaka breathed a sigh of relief when they passed through one of his tricky spots without any issues. He spoke in whispers. "So far, so good. We haven’t fallen into trouble. If we keep this up, I can lead you to the spot where you can find spiders that are apart from the..."
Suddenly, Yutaka froze.
He wasn’t the only one. Vacuse and Lady Slave also frowned and raised their heads.
In the distance toward where they came from, a blinding bright light had suddenly taken shape, followed by a rolling thunderclap that shook the ground.
Vacuse snorted. "So much for keeping things down. What is going on?"
Yutaka trembled. "That’s the Mistwalker! It must be them!"
"What will happen now?" Vacuse asked.
Yutaka shivered. "Now, either the Mother Queen sends out generals or one of the queens."
"What’s the difference?" Lady Slave frowned.
"General controls at least thirty to fifty warriors, and a queen controls at least seven to ten generals! This is exactly why they want to use us as bait, to know what type would be sent out and if they should hunt!"
Vacuse blinked. Even for him, he would have trouble fighting that much. "Let’s retreat."