Chapter 16.1 - The Treasure Hunting Record in Needham Plain’s Ruins Part 1 (1/2)
Ximengsi Continent’s southern part, Steinbeck Fief’s border area, Lawrence River
In Kruft Kingdom’s military camp, Prince Gruz, or more specifically, the soldiers beneath his command had repaired the floating bridge and begun packing up their camp to prepare for advancing toward Stanley City, the center of Steinbeck Fief. They planned to take advantage of this time while the other empires had not yet moved to capture Witch Ista by taking the initiative.
“Natalie finally left! This time, all the contribution will be mine. All personnel, set out! We must grab her before the other empires make a move.”
“Your Highness Gruz, something is wrong here! There is a blood mist!”
“What blood mist? In broad daylight? How can that be…”
Without examining it further, Prince Gruz casually gave instructions to the soldiers under his command. However, upon glancing at where his officer was pointing, the scene frightened him so much that he paled, and his soul nearly flew away. Fortunately, the imperial guards around the prince timely supported him, and the embarrassing scene of him falling to the ground in fear didn’t materialize.
Not far away from Kruft Kingdom’s military camp, a wide expanse of blood-red mist rapidly drifted over. In the midst of that blood mist, Prince Gruz observed cawing blood bats filling the sky and a large group of demonic wolves with blood-red eyes charging forward on the ground. Normally, Bloodkin familiars feared sunlight and wouldn’t be active during the daytime, but these Bloodkins summoned by Lucifer could completely ignore the effects of sunlight because the blood mist’s protection, allowing them to freely move about in the daytime.
The soldiers standing in the front were the first group to suffer disaster. Too pressed for time to turn around and retreat, they could only watch in horror as their comrades fell around them. The blood wolves systematically knocked them to the ground and bit their throats, instantly killing them. Combined with the shrieking blood bats that swooped down to attack soldiers from above and latch onto their necks, the joint attacks by these two Bloodkin species quickly suppressed Kruft Kingdom’s army. In addition, within the blood mist, these Bloodkin familiars were practically undying existences. Without dispelling the mist, physical attacks were not enough to kill them.
Even if a sword cut them in two halves, these blood bats and blood wolves would automatically be healed as if nothing had happened. Thus, the soldiers facing their attacks were too unlucky; with resistance futile, they were unable to last long and quickly killed in action. Facing the joint attacks of over ten thousand Bloodkin familiars without magicians to assist them, Kruft Kingdom’s expeditionary army collapsed at the first encounter. The Bloodkin familiars surrounded and crazily crazily massacred.
Even Kruft Kingdom’s elite troops, the Berserkers, didn’t have much of an advantage in front of these Bloodkin familiars. They relied on quenching their entire bodies in mad qi to block the attacks of the blood bats and wolves with great difficulty. Nevertheless, in front of undying opponents, these measures were tantamount to useless. Eventually their qi would run out, and they too would fall one by one. As if to make matters worse, these Bloodkin familiars seemed to have a high-leveled Bloodkin commanding them from behind the scenes because the familiars strategically divided into two groups. One group held up the Berserkers, and the other group crazily attacked those ordinary soldiers, reducing their numbers. If this went on, only the elite Berserker troops of Kruft Kingdom would remain.
“Quickly withdraw! Withdraw to the borderline.”
“But Princess Natalie is over there…”
“No matter what happens to that fool, she is not the successor to the throne! All soldiers, withdraw!”
Prince Gruz was already so frightened that he had completely lost the courage to put up a fight. He immediately commanded his army to quickly retreat to the opposite bank of Lawrence River, planning to abandon Princess Natalie and her several hundred soldiers in order to protect himself. After withdrawing to the Kruft Kingdom, he could decide on a new plan. After returning to the kingdom, he could escape blame by claiming that Princess Natalie had died in battle when the King questioned him.