135 - Close Call! The Beasts of the Great Plains? Nope, Monsters.
Monsters were swarming toward the forest where we'd been camping. Luckily, Elinne's magic detection range was wide enough to give us plenty of time to prepare. Elinne, who'd been trembling beneath me moments ago, had already slipped into her battle robes and was channeling mana.
Here they come.
"This is different from daytime! Get your heads in the game, or you'll end up getting fucked by goblins! They're coming!!!!"
"Waaaaaah!!!!!!!"
The mercenaries roared in response behind Kelly. With the monsters clearly heading straight for us, there was no need to hold back our noise. Everyone gripped their weapons tight and braced against the charging horde.
"These aren't your average shits! Pull out every last drop of strength you had sucking on your mom's tits!"
Kelly was right. The monsters we'd seen during the day were ones even I could've taken down easily. But some of these attackers felt like... magical beasts.
These were the ones. Monsters modified by the demonkin!
"Fuck. Hiding in the forest was a bad call, huh?"
We'd only entered the woods to conceal ourselves. Even if monsters showed up, I figured weaklings like the daytime ones would be no problem. But those ferocious bastards swinging axes had shredded leaves and trees alike. The dense forest didn't hinder them much at all. If anything, it hampered us—the side vulnerable in close-quarters brawls.
I stuck close to Ray as I fought, slashing at the monsters. Elinne could always fly away with magic if things got dicey, and Seira or Kelly wouldn't go down easily. The hero couple would handle themselves, and Lilith... well, if she wanted to live, she'd figure it out.
"Daron! You okay?"
"Huff... huff... Thanks."
Ray healed me as I barely felled a few demonkin-modified monsters—and dozens of regular ones along the way. They were trying to overwhelm us with numbers. This had to be a preemptive strike meant to crush us for real. At this rate, our elite squad meant nothing.
Ray layered more enhancement spells on me. As a saintess's magic, it felt several times stronger than usual. But there were just too damn many. They'd end eventually, but who knew how long we could hold out.
"Lady Natasha!"
"Fiz! Don't stray from me!"
"Understood!"
Oh, right—those two needed protecting too. Figure it out yourselves.
That's when it hit.
"Fuck! What the hell are those bastards doing?!"
Kelly's booming voice drew my eyes around. A brilliant glow lit up over there. No way—fire? Even monsters wouldn't go that far, would they?
Demonkin. Yeah. With monsters already buffed by them, this had to be a full-on assault to wipe us out.
"We gotta get out of the forest! The fire's too big!"
It had spread too far for magic to handle easily. Even if Elinne doused it, no guarantee the demonkin wouldn't just light up elsewhere. At Elinne's call, Charlotte nodded, slicing a buffed monster clean in half with one stroke. Kelly ordered her mercs to break for the exit too.
"The humans are running!!!!"
"Female! Female! Female!"
"That handsome sword guy is mine!!!"
The male monsters targeted the beauties, while the females zeroed in on Jed especially. I got some attention too, but Kelly cleaved them instead. I spotted Lilith dodging frantically amid the chaos. She'd taken my cock, but she had skills—hiding her demon mana and evading like a pro without fully engaging.
"Lilith. Look after Seira. If she gets even a scratch? You're dead."
"G-got it!"
"You hoping I die here?"
"...No?"
"Then keep Seira safe!"
"Tch. Fine!"
If I had time, I'd discipline that cheeky attitude, but not now. We scattered toward the forest's edge, breaking out as fast as we could. All that training paid off—carrying Ray on my back felt like nothing. She poured holy power into me from behind.
"Fiz! Faster, drive her harder!"
"Y-yes... yes!"
Over there, two women galloped on horseback toward the forest's edge. Natasha was the only one who'd used horses on the way here, pulling her carriage with a pair. Annoying how they zipped away comfy-like, but better than tumbling off and begging for rescue.
"Kyaaak!"
"Kekeke! Female, female!"
"Nooooo!!!!!"
A fleeing female merc got pinned by monsters. Goblins started stripping her. Letting her go like that would be awkward. Guess I still had some humanity left.
"Kieek!"
"Keuk!!"
I dropped one, two, several in quick succession.
"Th-thank you. Sniff..."
"No time for thanks—hike that ass up and run!"
Smack!!
"Haht. Y-yes, ma'am!"
The merc bolted out of the forest. Ray, slung on my back, yanked my hair.
"Did you have to send her off like that?"
"Better than a goblin gangbang."
"Felt like you had ulterior motives."
"Still beats getting railed by goblins. Ow. More coming."
Monsters and flames closed in fiercer. Textbook was fleeing downwind, but the demonkin had lit the fire upwind, so it bore down on us. Didn't those monster fucks value their lives?
"Chwiik! Humans!!!!"
"Piss off!"
Regular monsters fell to my blade in one swing now. Even buffed ones went down easier while retreating—the sword flowed naturally. I'd gotten stronger for sure. No tricks, just raw power carving through them felt goddamn refreshing. I bulldozed ahead, toppling whatever crossed my path.
Breaking from the forest... the open plains stretched out.
"D-Daron."
"Knew it."
Hunters sometimes herded beasts into a kill zone. That's exactly us now. If I were demonkin? I'd have forces waiting outside the forest too. Hundreds—no, over a thousand monsters loomed. They'd prepped hard knowing the hero was here.
Hero, Kelly, and the superhumans could escape, but casualties would skyrocket. Over half might die. Even Charlotte and Kelly, who'd broken out early, narrowed their eyes in thought. What call would they make?
Then, several demonkin radiating vicious auras strode forward from the monster ranks. At their center, a handsome demonkin male stepped out.
"Heh heh heh. Humans. What a sweetly bloody night."
"Who the hell are you?"
Charlotte sensed the threat, assuming a proper stance for the first time.
"My name is Ketin."
Holy shit.
"One of the demonkin's Four Heavenly Kings."
Dark-suited demonkin. Sharp jaw, nose, eyes—like staring at a snake.
"I knew you'd come. The summons planted in the duke's household tell me everything."
Demonkin had prepared too. Can't be just me working hard. Maybe my future knowledge bred complacency—I hadn't foreseen this. Hindsight, sure...
"You think you can beat me?"
"How could I best the hero? But... even a hero can't protect everyone."
Ketin unleashed massive mana. Black blades crept up from his long nails. Soon, razor-sharp mana claws gleamed on each one.
"I hear there's a saintess."
"Eek."
Ray ducked behind me. But that holy aura? No hiding it. Saintesses detected demonkin better, and vice versa. Ketin locked eyes on us.
"And a red dragon? Heard there's a mercenary captain too. Already marked her a threat, so might as well kill her now."
"You think you can take me, punk?"
"Are you the captain? Impressively strong. But... can you fend off this horde and our elites?"
Yeah... we were fucked. Burning forest behind, monsters ahead. Four Heavenly King Ketin and his crew front and center. Winnable?
"Tonight... at least the saintess, or your whole merc band, hits the dirt."
Daron. Think, Daron.
"Whoa!! We're out!"
"Chawotte, hewp!!"
Two women shattered the tension—Seira and Lilith, straight from the forest.
"Lilith? Why are you..."
"Eh."
Right—her direct boss was Four Heavenly King Ketin.
"K-Ketin, sir."
"Get over here!"
What the? Lilith popping up on our side, but Ketin acted like no betrayal. His ever-calm face cracked...
"Attention!!!"
"Hiiik!"
"Lilith!"
I yanked Lilith close, blade to her throat.
"From now on, I'm running this show!!!"