Now Is the Time to Move
"Now is the time to move!"
"I'm telling you, we have to keep attacking right here, right now! If we just leave them alone, those things are going to call in every Abyss in the area!"
Lee Sena's voice rang out, sharp with agitation.
But the majority of the other hunter guild masters saw things differently.
"That is not the case! Under ordinary circumstances, perhaps — but these ones feel entirely different!"
"There has never been a single recorded instance of Abysses in a frenzy turning and fleeing!"
"The fact that they are behaving this abnormally means something is almost certainly going on. For now, we should reorganize our formation and rest."
"Our casualties aren't severe, but everyone is exhausted."
"More than anything, this is excellent defensive terrain. Abandoning it to chase the enemy into the mountains would be reckless!"
Lee Sena was a guild master like the rest of them — but as the designated core combat asset of the auxiliary force, she held the greatest speaking authority in the room.
Even so, every voice rose against her order to pursue.
It was common knowledge that Abysses, when wounded and driven off, would summon still more of their kind. In that sense, Sena's argument carried a certain logic.
And yet… the Abysses' movements had been strange in ways that set them apart from everything the hunters had seen before, and a deep wariness had settled over the group.
On top of that, all of them were tired. The vanguard, in particular, was no longer fit for combat. Pushing any further, they concluded, would be pure folly.
But Sena faced them down with a voice that brooked no argument.
"I've already factored that in. Even I can see that dragging the vanguard into another fight would be insane. But that's exactly why the rest of us have to attack now. What happens if even more Abysses pour in on top of us? Then it won't just be the vanguard — we'll all be in danger! It's far better to hit them hard while they're turning tail and running. Cut off their retreat and deal a decisive blow."
"Hmm…"
She wasn't entirely wrong. If they took another assault on that scale or larger, their position would become genuinely precarious. Eliminating the retreating Abysses now could at least prevent a second wave.
The darkness was inconvenient, true — but with the hunters' superior night vision and a few illumination flares, combat wouldn't be seriously impaired. With a little luck, they might even walk away with a major achievement.
And yet…
Even so, the cautious deputies held firm against Sena's proposal.
"Even granting that, deliberately leaving this position to chase them into the mountains is too dangerous."
"Their behavior is already suspicious. There is no need to drag exhausted allies into something this reckless."
Even if they could still fight, there was no reason to accept that kind of risk when they had no idea what the enemy was planning. If a second attack truly came, it would be far wiser to dig in here with the main force and hold ground that favored the defender. That was their judgment.
Sena's reply was ice-cold and absolute.
"Hey. Do you think I'm saying this for fun? Our main force has done nothing but trail behind the vanguard this entire operation. We haven't fought a single real battle. Are you seriously planning to let the vanguard walk off with every scrap of credit and end this mission empty-handed?"
"Hmm…"
"Th-that's…"
She had put her finger on the quiet resentment they had all been nursing. None of them could muster a strong rebuttal — and Sena seized the opening at once.
"And you keep going on about how tired the allies are. That's the vanguard. People like us? We're nowhere near that worn out. Honestly, aside from the little scrap just now, all we've done is stroll up here like we were on a picnic!"
At her words, several of the guild masters began glancing sideways at one another.
Unlike the nearly spent vanguard, their own fatigue was only the product of the march and the late hour. For hunters, it was well within tolerable limits — nothing that would stop them from fighting if they chose to.
And more than that, Sena was right: they had not scored a single clear achievement on the way here. If the operation ended as things stood, they risked becoming nothing more than forgotten footnotes. The thought that they needed to claim some kind of merit was already simmering in the back of every mind.
Watching that hesitation take root, Sena pressed on, her tone unyielding.
"I'm not forcing anyone. Given the nature of our assignment, my voice just carries a little more weight — I'm not your commanding officer. But with the operation nearly finished, if we want to leave behind any real accomplishments… I believe we have to move now."
There was sense in what she said. The previous engagement had been dangerous enough, but with the objective so close, the odds of running into another Abyss force of that size were genuinely low.
"Their movements look suspicious? Fine — at a glance, maybe. But remember this: our enemies aren't thinking human beings. They're Abysses. Beasts. You're telling me those things can draw up a plan and lure us into a trap? Common sense says that's impossible!"
At her words, several guild masters found themselves nodding almost automatically.
Yes, the retreat had been strange. But deep down, the image of Abysses as creatures of pure instinct still held firm in their minds. They had been taught that Abysses could not formulate strategy — and until the incident just now, every encounter had confirmed it.
By that standard, what they had just witnessed was nothing more than chance. There was no scheme to fear. If anything, they might be letting a fluke make them so timid that they were about to throw away a decisive chance at glory.
She's right… maybe we really are overreacting…
If we just sit here, the operation will end before we achieve a single thing. If we want any mark of contribution at all, this might truly be our only shot…
Though none of them showed it openly, most of the hunters in the main force were far from pleased that the vanguard had monopolized every achievement. Now that the vanguard was combat-ineffective and the operation was entering its final stretch, the hunger for merit was only natural.
In the end, a considerable number of them began to fall under the spell of that hunger — and the main force split cleanly in two: those who still urged caution, and those who insisted this was their chance to claim glory of their own.
"It may be a little dangerous, but war always carries risk."
"If we keep going like this, we'll limp home empty-handed. We want to fight with everything we have, at least once."
"Even so, I oppose it. If you insist, why not contact headquarters and request approval?"
"There's no time for that. If we don't leave this instant, the fleeing Abysses will be gone."
"Besides, we are currently in the middle of an active operation. There is no need to report and ask permission for every action that falls within our standing rules of engagement."
"I still oppose it. I will not put my subordinates in danger over a hasty decision."
As the arguments flew back and forth, Sena finally lost patience. Her voice cut through the noise like a blade.
"I'm not going to stand here waiting forever. As I said — we don't have much time. My hunters from the 28th Guild and I are going after them. If you want to leave a clear mark of achievement on this operation, then follow me!"
With that, she turned on her heel and strode away, her guild members falling in behind her.
Faced with that uncompromising resolve, roughly forty percent of the main force quietly peeled off and began to trail after her. The remaining sixty percent — and the utterly spent vanguard, who had been watching the entire exchange in silence — could only look on with uneasy faces.