Chapter 54 - Corcas Mountains Punitive Expedition 1 (2/2)

Woohyuk nodded to himself as he watched the Guard unit begin to erect tents.

‘It’s a good choice.’

It was unclear whether they could actually reach the summit before sunset. The higher they climbed, the more likely they were to encounter monsters.

If they were to march through the night and have to face monsters on this steep terrain, they would suffer many more casualties.

“Boss, where should we set up?”

“Follow me.”

It was best to avoid the outer edges, since they were the most vulnerable to any night attacks.

As Woohyuk picked out an ideal spot, his subordinates moved quickly to set it up.

“There are fewer monsters than I expected. I thought this place would be infested with monsters which was why they had to invade the plains.”

“I guess it is about that time.”

Monsters gathering as a group of different races would usually only be for a specific purpose. One such reason was to hunt humans.

If ever they became riled up and bloodthirsty, the Elite monsters among them could act as their leader and build an army to invade.

The very fact that they had encountered so few of them so far, meant that they had already gathered in a different part of the mountain range.

“Will they be attacking us soon then?”

“Maybe.”

Monster hordes would gather in the northern parts of the Corcas mountains, and then make their way down all the way to even the steps of Doria Castle.

So if they went in too deep, it was easy to be surrounded by them. Even if you faced them head on, it was hard to come out on top since you were always outnumbered and fighting on awkward terrain.

“What will we do after we set up camp?”

“Let’s go scout the surrounding area.”

This was absolutely necessary because there might still be monsters nearby that could ambush them when they least expected it.

He also wanted to explore a bit, in hopes of discovering the Arachne Temple.

Woohyuk left their camp accompanied only by a few elites.

“You're going out to have a look, Woohyuk?”

Tenon asked, as he was currently posted at the entrance to oversee the supplies coming in.

This Lieutenant was always keeping busy, even going so far as to help manage the logistics for the mercenaries.

“I’ll be back before sunset.”

“Be careful out there, the monsters in the Corcas Mountains are more cunning than you think.”

Actually it wasn’t that the monsters were more intelligent here, but rather due to them being under the command of boss monsters. For that reason, the key to a successful punitive expedition was to quickly cut the head of the snake.

‘I’m not sure if Gaius will be able to achieve that though.’

As he pushed his perception to the max, Woohyuk stepped into the forest. It shouldn’t be possible for monsters to catch them off guard, because Woohyuk’s senses were very sharp.

“Boss, what kind of monsters do you think live here?”

Jung Sanghoon whispered as he followed from behind.

He was a former special forces soldier, so his physique was better than other mercenaries.

Despite the arduous climb, he hadn’t shown signs of tiring.

“Goblins, Orcs, Trolls, Ogres….”

Other than the beast type monsters that they had encountered so far, there were also many humanoid monsters in the continent as well.

A common one where the Orcs.

They had green skin, the same as Goblins and Trolls, but were only about as big as a full grown man. They were also known for their hideous appearance and their ability to breed like rabbits.

Their population was much higher than that of Trolls or Ogres.

Hearing his explanation, Jung Sanghoon’s expression hardened.

“Humanoid monster... they won’t be easy to deal with.”

“Sometime they can ambush you when you least expect it.”

In the past, they had managed to defeat the Kingdom's army on several occasions.

Of course this was largely due to the Demons’ influence from behind the scenes.

As Woohyuk was thinking about what had occurred in the past, the sound of metal clashing rang out across the forest.

Chaeng Chaeng Chaeng

The first sign of monsters, but because they were still far off, it was hard to guess how large their force was.

As they rushed to the source of the commotion, they arrived at a scene of a squad of mercenaries being besieged by a horde of Orcs.

“There are too many!”

“Break out!”

They had been caught unawares, not knowing where the monsters had come from.

Woohyuk took the troops he had brought along and went to the aid of the mercenaries that had been trapped.

Chawaak!

The Orcs’ burgundy blood splashed all over the ground, staining the area’s plant life.

It was a battle that they had the advantage in despite being outnumbered, because of the difference in skill.

Naturally he could have made it much easier by relying on his Necromancer or Asura abilities, but Woohyuk decided against it.

It could lead to trouble if his abilities became revealed so early on.

“It’s hard in a place like this.”

He was planning to use his Banshee’s Veil or Jester’s Mask to settle the task Aiden had given him. However if he revealed his abilities before so many soldiers, it would all be for naught.

In a large scale battle it would be possible to summon undead because they might be mistaken for monsters, but anything more would be risky.

“Kueeek!”

As their numbers continued to fall, the Orcs slowly began to retreat little by little.

Clearly they had begun to notice that the battle was not going well for them.

Instead of pursuing, Woohyuk went to meet up with the mercenaries that had been encircled.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Yes, all thanks to you, sir.”

A middle aged man with brown hair, bowed his head to him. He was Daryl, the leader of the 3rd Mercenary squad.

He was very skilled with the sword, and was a rather well known figure among mercenaries in the Rhine Kingdom.

“Where’s Rick?”

“He climbed a bit higher.”

There were a total of 3 commanders for the mercenary squads, including Rick.

Although they led similar sized squads, Woohyuk’s rank was highest. That was because he was the leader of the 1st squad. It was normal for Daryl to use honorifics when addressing him.

“Go back and request support from Aiden.”

“Okay.”

As Daryl led his remaining men back to camp, Woohyuk turned to the direction that the Orc horde had disappeared in.

‘They were hidden somewhere ’

Based on the tracks found on the ground, it seemed that they had a hideout nearby.

Woohyuk’s eyes gleamed as he studied the Orcs’ tracks that led in a single direction.

*TLN : Raws read the monsters as Aken, but I have no idea what they are and they were described exactly as an Orc would be, so I went with that.