A Story of Evil

Chapter 176: The High Wall

There were three monster nests in total which the group needed to clear. The first were a group of crows and goblins. A weird combination where the goblins have learned to tame monster crows. Low level creatures which are nevertheless useful for scouting. Because of this same feature, the goblins were alarmed of the coming of the humans and were thus able to prepare.

But even this preparation proved to be lacking since Alice' [Danger Sense] allowed her to sense the traps made by the monsters. As for the ambush of these same monsters, the group was quick to respond to their attacks. With Sol binding them down using gravity as his allies killed them one by one.

Sol took interest in the technique used by the goblins. He looked at the crows and thought of how, having a summoner on his team which focused on surveillance and scouting type units would be useful for future operations. But he also left this thought at the back of his head because, his team needed finish off the goblins.

Clearing out the nest of goblins was made even easier by the fact that, they were already used to fighting monsters such as these already. With all their experience outside the domains, they have encountered goblins time and time again since these are both weak and the one of the most common among all monster types.

Thus with ten more minutes, the team was able to finish these monsters. A new record which the group set on themselves and, one which they wanted to surpass should they encounter another horde of goblins...which they did.

The next set of monsters they encountered were once again goblins. These creatures made use of long range weapons. Bows and arrows, as well as slingshots and pebbles. Sol utilized his space wall for this fight. Preventing the first furry of shots from reaching him and his allies. Keeping them safe as they went into formation. With Cain taking care of the fight as he loaded his machine gun and fired on the goblins until all of them were eliminated.

"Aren't we fighting too many goblins already?" Cinder commented.

"Yeah what's up with that? I don't mind fighting these ugly bastards but, we've never fought two consecutive nests of these before right?" Nathan reaffirmed.

Everyone found it odd of course. But if there was one person who could link the events together, it was Sol. A person they all looked to for clairvoyance.

"First of all, I suggest that you guys don't think too much of what happened. The second nest is probably just an extension of the first."

"So we're not in for some kind of trouble again?"

"If we fight another set of goblins after this, then there's definitely something going on. But even with my [Analysis], no information is showing up on the connection of the two nests."

"That's good. I thought we're falling into some kind of trap." Nathan suggested.

"Well there's none. So let's proceed to the last nest shall we?" Sol invited.

"Understood." Was the unanimous response of his allies.

The combination of the travel time and the fighting time was enough to drain most of the group's time. In fact there was only three more hours left before the sun goes down and, just getting to the third nest would consume a whole hour.

That's why the group didn't waste any time. They only placed small intervals for rests. Ensuring that they maximized every minute, just like they did in that moment.

Even with Nathan and Hendrickson still talking about the previous nests, they were nevertheless advancing forward. Just like them, Sol was also thinking about it. As much as he wanted to relive that it was simply a coincidence, he also knew that goblins had a tendency to form bigger packs instead of separating.

He wanted to go back to the first nest. To use his [Analysis] on a goblin corpse there just to make sure. But they were already far from the location and, going back would force them to set up their camp on that same spot since it would be near dark after they arrive there.

Sol didn't like the idea of getting delayed because of his doubts. It wasn't on a threatening level so he simply brushed this aside even though his head was clearly screaming at him. Wanting to know the truth of the matter.

The only time these doubts were cast aside was when the group finally reached the third nest. It was situated far enough from the wall for the group to not get noticed. And fortunately, the monsters weren't goblins. It was direwolves. Common ones nonetheless which relieved the group despite the fact that these were stronger creatures.

"I really thought we were in for another goblin party." Hendrickson commented.

"Yeah same here. Seeing direwolves to kill is actually refreshing." Nathan said, making his own mount whimper.

"Not you buddy. I'd never harm you." He added, stroking the head of the animal which stuck its tongue out in enjoyment.

The group was still far from the direwolves. And unlike the goblins, Sol didn't want them to charge head on. These are strong monsters. Once which are dangerous if not faced after proper precautions and preparations are made. Hence he formulated a plan, as always, which the group was more than willing to follow.

The first to charge in were Alice and Cinder who were mounted on the same direwolf. The monsters quickly reacted to this, howling as they began to run towards the two. However, one of them immediately got taken by none other than Cain who was already in position and snipping the wolves down.

Jade also assisted in the long range assault, snapping his fingers over and over again and, creating explosive green flames which stunned ad burned the monsters. Sol, Hendrickson, and Nathan were in charge of attacking in melee, providing support for their decoys which were the two girls.

The tides of battle flowed in the favor of the humans who caught the monsters by surprise. Even Cinder assisted in this as she spread her flames at the direwolves positioned at the back. Preventing them from staying in place as the soles of their paws got burnt. 

Meanwhile Cain continued taking out one wolf after the other. Focusing only on the ones which were in a pouncing stance. Killing these wolves before they could even launch their quick surprise attack. Everyone was contributing just as much to the fight and, Sol in particular had five direwolves targeting him. Running after his mount after they realized that he was the leader of the pack.

"Need any help?" Jade asked through the communication bracelet.

"I'm good." Was all that Sol said in reply as he jumped off of his mount. 

Five direwolves spread equally on the field. These were the prey which Sol had at that moment.

Three of these pounced at him forcefully. Thinking of catching him off guard as he was defenseless in mid air. But this assumption proved to be their downfall as he stabbed he placed his sword on his left hand and paced it on a reverse grip. Stabbing it on the head of one wolf although his back was turned on them.

Gripping on the hilt of his sword, he forced his body on top of the already dead wolf. Making the claws of the two direwolves miss. As soon as they did, he jumped off the dead direwolf and swung his sword on the head of the one on the right. The direwolf tried reacting but, just like Sol, their movements were limited mid air. Making it impossible for the large beast to make a counter nor to defend as the paladin's Void Sword cut cleanly through its neck.

But this was all the air time which Sol had. As soon as he and the two corpses dropped, the remaining direwolves all pounced at him. Any normal human would've died in that moment. But Sol only had a smile on his face as he said:

"Your movements are too obvious."

The male paladin ran towards one of these wolves without hesitation. He parried the attack of the monster's claws with his blade and got close to its fangs which tried biting him. But as soon as the wolf nabbed, it felt nothing but air. Sol was already below its jaw and has shifted the weight of his blade. Stabbing right through the mouth of the wolf as he half knelt. With his sword cleanly slicing through half of the direwolf's body that was still caught in the motion path of its pounce.

Just as this dropped, the remaining direwolves tried locating their enemy but, it was too late. Sol already moved to the blind spot of the monsters. Making his final set of attacks and, killing them effortlessly.

"THAT'S MY KING!" Hendrickson shouted.

"You can complement him later dumbass we still have monsters to kill!" Cain shouted.

"HAHAHA I WILL! WATCH ME MY KING!" Hendrickson shouted as he brazenly charged in to three direwolves.

"Honestly that guy's as loud as ever." Was Alice's comment after killing two more direwolves herself.

"Yeah but, I don't want to lag too far behind." Nathan added. Strangling another wolf to death.

"Same here." Cinder added.

The fighting on the last nest continued on for a few more minutes. But within the whole duration of this fight, nobody from Sol's team got injured. And the one sided domination only continued until the nest was finally wiped of all the monsters inside it. Giving Sol's team two things.

A camping ground for the night and, a place to observe the wall looming in a distance.