Chapter 338 - An Impenetrable Defense Zone (1/2)

Chapter 338: An Impenetrable Defense Zone Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Hengduan Mountain Range

Based on the fragmented recounts of the Yabba musketeer while Link was treating her, Link could more or less figure out the details of the Yabba situation.

The Yabba population was about two million strong, and they had nine great cities. As of now, three had been defeated, including the sky city Pollol.

Currently, the Dark Army was besieging Lariel.

Their ship was an assault airship that had flown out from Lariel along with five other ships. Ten battle airships engaged the main force of the Dark army in order to create a distraction for them. However, the Dark Army relentlessly pursued the assault force without care for their own lives.

By the time the high-speed assault ships reached here, they had all been destroyed. Their mission to get help from the outside was a failure.

Among the musketeers, the male who lost the most amount of blood breathed his last breath. Seeing this, the female musketeer couldn’t hold herself back anymore. Tears were streaming down her face.

“Go on, cry it all out.” Link softly patted the musketeer’s head. At the same time, he cast a soundproof barrier around them.

The musketeer hugged onto Link’s leg and burst into tears. Much later, when her face was completely covered in grime and tears, she finally calmed herself down. Wiping her face, she said, “I’m sorry, your clothes are dirty. Thank you, my lord.”

Seeing that she had recovered herself, Link took out a clean handkerchief to clean her face. She didn’t move, allowing Link to do so. This made Link feel like he was taking care of a child.

After he was done, he asked, “What about Elin? Do you know of her situation?”

Elin had left a few days before him. Although she said that she was escorting the people to the islands, her return would have her cross the path of the Dark Army’s advance. He was worried about her.

“Lady Fortuna? She’s now in Lariel. She was the one who advised us to send out people for help. She also said to break out of the blockade and abandon the city because Lariel was doomed to fall… I’m not sure how true her words will be, but all her predictions so far have been true, so nobody would dare to take her words lightly.”

Link let out a sigh of relief. At least Elin was safe.

At this point, Skinorse returned. He seemed calm, but his eyes were still red. “My lord, the situation is not good. The demons are doing a sweeping operation to hunt for survivors. I just saw a squad of them walk past.”

It was indeed bad news.

Link thought for a moment, then said to Nana, “Please carry Melinda.”

Melinda was the name of the female musketeer. Nana was just a little shorter than Melinda by less than three feet. Yet, although Nana was almost the height of a human child, she effortlessly carried Melinda onto her back.

“Let’s go, we’ll continue rushing to Orida Fortress and bring them news of Lariel as well.” Link again cast a Traceless Spell.

Since the Yabba city could manage to get people out of the blockade to send for help, it showed that they could hold on for some time. If Link could get their news to Orida Fortress, they could gather troops to head north in aid of the Yabbas. The Dark Army would then have to face a pincer attack from two sides, and this would lessen the pressure on the Yabbas.

Link actually respected Aymons.

Under the limited time condition of the Dark Serpent, he managed to seize the opportunity to pull so many tricks. Only Aymons could have done this.

Damn it! It was a mistake not to have just killed him the last time!

The group continued to rush onwards. The wolves were too conspicuous, and so they decided not to use them but continue traveling on foot. When they encountered areas that were difficult to traverse, Link used the Level-0 spell Levitation, Lightweight, and some other basic sells to assist them. Sometimes, he would also have Nana carry him over. They were able to maintain a relatively fast pace.

After proceeding for another six miles, Skinorse, who was in the lead, raised his hand and signaled for them to stop. He ducked behind a tree and got Link and Nana to do the same. Then, he slowly pointed to foliage up ahead, mouthing with his lips, “Watch that foliage.”

Link squinted his eyes, staring.

Up ahead was a hazelnut forest. Amidst the dense branches of the forest, in the crown of one of the trees, there was a monkey-like figure sitting there, not moving.

This “monkey” was about three feet tall and had two fleshy wings with sharp tips. Its skin was a dark red, and there were two horns growing from its head. At this moment, its wings were wrapped in itself as it nested in the tree crown. The only thing visible was a pair of black eyes that were unnoticeable unless you looked really carefully.

Skinorse continued mouthing as he explained, “In the Black Forest, this creature is everywhere. The Magicians say it is a low-level demon, but I call them “Red Monkeys.” Its battle prowess is average, about the same as a level-4 scout. However, there are many of them in the black forest. They’re very astute and will usually notice us first. When they do, they let out a sharp call that can be heard from less than a mile away. After that, other red monkeys will continue transmitting that call. Very soon, the high-level demons will come. Even if we kill it before it calls, high-level demons will still come, because they have a signal that they call out every ten minutes…. Listen.”

Skinorse motioned his hand to his ear to signal for them to listen. One second later, Link heard a sharp Jiiiiii sound, something like that of a bat. The sound traveled out, and moments later, the forest was filled with jiiiii jiiiii sounds responding to the first one.

“Based on the sound, it seems that the red monkeys have locked down the whole of this forest. How annoying! We’ve got to be really careful from now on.”

Link finally understood how Aymons managed to achieve a complete information lockdown. With the eyesight of these red monkeys and the battle prowess of the high-level demons and ghouls patrolling around, there was no way for anyone to escape or hide. Human scouts would just meet an early end once they entered.

Skinorse was among the best among the humans already. If even he had no way to deal with this, then no one would.