Chapter 37

While being wary of the surroundings, which were eerily silent, Rio drew his sword, shielding Shiraha behind his back.

"I understand the situation is dangerous. Is the master of the hidden village a monkey demon?"

"Given the circumstances, that's the most likely scenario. We shouldn't be able to enter unless we come from a specific angle, but we must have been unlucky."

With a bitter expression, Karil stood up.

"They've already noticed us. We need to leave this place and head for the village before we're surrounded."

"Will we be leading a group of monkeys into the village?"

"It's better than us dying here and the village not knowing about the hidden village. There are knights in the village now."

"Got it. I'll take the rear, and you lead the way."

Rio urged Karil, reasoning that with the most muscular Karil leading, it would be easier for Shiraha and himself to follow.

Karil grimaced at the thought of Rio taking the dangerous rear position, but he knew it was the most efficient formation.

"If only Rakudoi were here. Let's go! Don't stop running even if magic comes flying at you!"

Karil kicked off from the roots of a tree and dashed forward.

Shiraha, pushed from behind by Rio, followed, and Rio started running while keeping an eye on the rear.

For a moment, the scenery around them distorted. They must have left the area where the concealment magic was cast.

Immediately after, Rio spotted a mud ball speeding towards him from the corner of his eye. He drew his sword from its sheath and knocked the mud ball away.

Without breaking his stride, Rio confirmed the direction the mud ball had come from while chasing after Karil and Shiraha.

A giant ape was running alongside them.

When their eyes met, the ape bared its teeth in a threatening manner and let out a high-pitched screech. The sound was the same high-pitched noise he had heard before the ambush.

"Karil! Watch out for the ambush!"

"I'm already on it!"

Even as Karil responded, the ape continued to screech.

Somewhere, a bird took off in a panic.

Shiraha, looking anxious, glanced back at Rio.

"...The sound is getting closer."

As Shiraha said, the high-pitched screeches were coming from all over the mountain, getting closer. They didn't intend to let the intruders of the hidden village leave alive.

However, with all this commotion, someone in the village should hear it.

Karil turned to Shiraha.

"Cast a flashy spell into the sky. It should alert the village."

"...Okay."

Following Karil's instructions, Shiraha began chanting while running.

Noticing Shiraha's chanting, the apes changed their target from Rio to Shiraha and threw stones.

Rio stepped strongly to Shiraha's side and easily knocked the stones away with his sword's sheath. The light orbs Shiraha usually threw in training were much faster. This was manageable.

However, that was only if one stone was coming at a time.

With the apes joining forces, Rio had to use both his sheath and sword to deal with the stones, and he had to take the hits that he couldn't deflect.

"---!"

Dull pain lingered in his arms and legs, but he convinced himself it wasn't a fatal injury.

Shiraha, having completed his chanting, launched a red light orb into the sky. The red light, large enough for Rio to fit inside, soared high and exploded with a loud noise, scattering in all directions.

Rio, who had attended Oggen's lectures, knew this was a performance magic used during festivals.

The apes roared in anger.

Finding it strange, Rio noticed the apes were still not closing the distance.

There were only three of them, while the apes had already increased to seven.

A melee battle could start at any moment.

"They're wary of the magic," Karil spat, observing the running apes.

The apes seemed to be waiting to gather enough numbers before attacking Shiraha's magic.

The question was whether the apes would gather enough numbers or if they would reach the village first.

They ran through the mountain slope as if jumping over it. They had entered an area where the villagers had cleared the underbrush, reducing obstacles and increasing their speed.

At the same time, with fewer obstacles, the visibility improved, and Karil noticed an anomaly in their path.

"An ambush!"

The apes were waiting in two rows.

They must have communicated and sent a detachment ahead.

"Copying formations, huh? Did they learn from the village attack?"

Breaking through a single row would be manageable, but two rows were difficult. Seeing the apes throwing stones from the left, Karil decided to take the right path.

This change in direction was perpendicular to the village, and Karil made a bitter face.

"This is bad. We're being cornered."

The apes, seeing Karil's movement, started running alongside them, not attacking but blocking the path to the village.

They had figured out their objective and were trying to split them up.

Rio recalled the geography and predicted the apes' intentions.

"Karil, if we keep going, we'll reach the site of the flash flood. It's open, and we'll be overwhelmed by their numbers!"

"I know!"

While responding to Rio, Karil glanced at the two rows of apes running alongside them.

"Shiraha, hit the apes with magic at the next step. I'll charge in right after. Rio, protect Shiraha from the rear and follow me."

Shiraha immediately began chanting.

Rio checked his position and took a deep breath to steel himself.

The number of stones underfoot increased, a sign they were approaching the step.

The apes seemed to know about the step ahead. Anticipating a change in speed, they had widened their spacing.

A step about knee-high was approaching. The villagers had cut down trees around the step to make it safer, providing better visibility.

In other words, the line of sight was clear.

"Do it, Shiraha!"

Karil shouted and turned sharply towards the apes as Shiraha cast a spell to create sharp, thin stone disks.

As the leading group of apes jumped down the step, the disks sliced through three apes, cutting them in half.

Ignoring the surprised leading group, Karil charged into the gap in the two rows, turning to face the following group and widening the gap.

With a low stance, Karil slid along the ground, swinging his sword at the apes' feet, causing them to retreat in confusion.

Shiraha ran through the gap Karil had created, and Rio followed, deflecting stones from the rear.

"Karil! The leading apes are coming back!"

"Hurry up!"

Karil killed an ape with a single thrust to the heart, kicking the corpse at the following apes, and followed Rio.

Successfully breaking through the encirclement, Rio took the lead, pulling Shiraha ahead, with Karil taking the rear.

If they could run to the village, they could regroup.

Just as he was re-energizing, Rio saw something flying towards them from the direction they were heading.

Realizing it was a stone shaped like a turtle's shell, Rio raised his sheath.

"---!?"

The sheath shattered. The stone, deflected, grazed Rio's shoulder and embedded itself in the trunk of a nearby tree. He instinctively looked at the stone.

It had the same shape as the pebbles that had grazed his hand just before the flash flood last year.

The connection between the shell-shaped stone and the flash flood flashed through his mind. Suppressing the instinct to deny it, Rio shouted.

"Flash flood magic from the front!"

Rio turned around, grabbed Shiraha's arm, and pulled him forcefully to the side, using all his strength to jump.

At the same time, Karil also took evasive action. Though he looked skeptical, his experience as an adventurer must have guided him.

Their judgment and actions were correct.

A flash flood swept up the mountain slope, knocking down trees.

With a width and height sufficient to engulf a person, the flood ascended the slope at a speed comparable to a galloping horse and suddenly disappeared just before the group of apes.

Beyond the felled trees stood a single ape.

Among the brownish-black apes, this one stood out with a hard, glossy black-iron-like fur. Its build was smaller than the others, about the same size as Rio, but it held a meticulously crafted iron sword.

Unlike the other apes, which bared their teeth in a feral manner, this one had an intelligent gaze that appraised Rio and the others.

The chilling atmosphere, as if ice had been pressed against his heart, was familiar to Rio.

"...A demon beast."