The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 34 The Alarm Bell of Death

The wolf's force was so fierce that inertia became his price.

As he gripped the greatsword, the force still lingering, the only remaining short sword in front of him was drawn from his waist and was about to stab him in the abdomen.

"[Flame Arrow]!"

A scorching flame pierced through the wolf's shoulder and into the goblin's eye.

It cried out in pain, but before it could do anything else, the wolf, having regained its footing, chopped off its head with a single sword strike.

Beyond the dense forest, more goblins roared and howled, attempting to swarm forward.

The mercenary group behind them took the lead, rushed into the woods, and stood at the edge of the camp, engaging in fierce combat with them.

Tang Qi, who was watching the battle, stood up slightly from the truck and peeked out.

Because the three prisoners were not assigned to the camp, but were instead caught in the hail of arrows:

"It seems like it's only a matter of time before we wipe out these goblins."

"Judging from your tone, you don't really expect them to fall into the hands of goblins, do you?"

Black Snake may have been sharp-tongued, but deep down he couldn't help but look down on Tang Qi.

If it weren't for the poet's advance warning and his limbs being restrained, he might have been hit by the indiscriminate rain of arrows.

But he didn't seem to have 'discovered' the rain of arrows.

That appearance clearly resembled...

Foreknowledge?

Tang Qi was still uneasy, and huddled under the overturned truck, pondering:

"Scattered goblins are naturally destined to be besieged and wiped out."

But these scattered creatures shouldn't even have attacked this camp—

Don't underestimate goblins; even kobolds know how to gang up on the few.

"Rua?"

Because the sentences were too long and the speech was too fast, Kuru couldn't catch all the words.

But I still feel like I'm being scolded...

The black snake smacked its lips and agreed:
"Let them worry about it. That guy called Exploding Wolf is quite capable. I remember his mercenary group seems to have participated in the defense against the orcs in the south."

How do I compare to you?

"What makes him think he can compare to me?"

"No wonder he came from the desert."

As Tang Qi spoke, he quickly picked up the backpack that had fallen to the ground when the oxcart overturned.

The black snake hesitated and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'll unlock it for you, so if anything happens, you can take the lead."

"You can't expect a thug to follow the rules, can you?"

"No. But I know you can't leave the forest on your own—you definitely can't see through the illusion of the mist."

"You talk as if you can do it yourself."

"uh-huh?"

"You really can?"

Tang Qi's ambiguous attitude made Black Snake hesitate.

As the other person took the chisel out of their backpack and first used it to chisel at the shackles binding their legs—

With a "bang," sparks flew.

The shackles were intact.

Black Snake couldn't help but say, "Don't make me laugh."

Tang Qi felt ashamed, but his expression remained unchanged:
"Are you mistaken about asking a bard to do manual labor?"

"Then you might as well save your energy. Otherwise, by the time you've painstakingly broken the shackles, the goblins over there will have been dealt with too—"

"Then give me a more secure suit, and sue me for escaping from prison. Guess how many years I'll have to serve that Merad?"

Tang Qi couldn't help but say:

"What if it's not just a few goblins? What if it's an entire race..."

The black snake flatly denied it:
"How could there be a single ethnic group?"
The presence of fog meant that this woodland was not suitable as a settlement.

In the Dusk Forest, undead and ghosts are more common than goblins—

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of wind rose again in his ears.

Tang Qi felt a chill run down his spine, and his alertness compelled him to shift a step to the side.

As he turned to the side, a barbed arrow suddenly flew from behind him through his shoulder, heading straight for the black snake's forehead!
"Screw you!"

This gave Black Snake almost no chance to react, so that he could only forcefully twist his waist while leaning against the truck.

"boom!"

The arrow pierced the long shackles binding his hands, just an inch from his left ear.

Black Snake nearly burst into a tirade of curses.

But then he realized that this arrow's trajectory was completely different from the previous barrage of arrows—it clearly came from right in front of him!
"Dong, dong, dong——"

A huge shadow emerged from the white mist.

From a distance, the gait appeared unsteady, but even walking on the muddy ground sent a strong tremor through the black snake in the distance.

"Get out of your mouth, you jinx! What good things can possibly come out of that mouth of yours?"

Arrows flew in from afar again. Tang Qi grabbed the bewildered Kulu, tossed its small body to the other side of the truck with one hand, and used the momentum to flip over.

"Since when has reasonable analysis become a jinx?"

The black snake had nowhere to go, but fortunately it was agile enough to use its long yoke as a shield to block the arrows, making it look just like a hedgehog.

But he knew there was no time to worry about his image right now.

"Roar!!!"

A rough, angry roar echoed through the forest.

Immediately following, two similar roars rang out from the direction of the camp.

Before the mercenary group—

Two giants, each seven feet tall and with thick necks adorned with steel collars, broke through the overflowing mist and raced toward the camp.

They smashed everything in their path, including thick trees and goblins that had been accidentally trampled.

The flesh and blood of their companions splattered on their thick calves, which were entwined like tree roots.

His enormous belly was covered with scars and sores, and he exhaled mist from his long, pointed nose. He slammed his slightly bent spiked club down right in front of the mercenary group!
"Boom!!!"

Amidst the deafening roar came the agonizing scream of a young mercenary who was caught off guard.

He was a new recruit who had only recently joined the mercenary group.

This means he has little experience.

It has also become a deadly poison in the present moment—

The blow knocked his helmet off, shattering his skull and sending crimson blood splattering everywhere.

"【The Art of Grease】!"

The situation suddenly became urgent, and Nova had no choice but to chant a mysterious incantation, forcibly twisting the feet of another troll that had come to the scene, causing a pool of dark mud to gush out from the damp ground.

The mud was particularly slippery, covering an area of ​​ten feet in diameter.

As a result, the second troll lost its footing and fell to the ground with a loud crash.

It tried to struggle, but instead, the slippery grease covered its entire body, making it extremely difficult to even get up.

Once the wolf could catch its breath, it quickly retreated to the mercenary's side and roared:
"It's a troll! Everyone, form ranks!"

Explosive Wolf didn't understand.

These hideous giants, consumed by hunger, should never roam the Dawn Forest, a place where the dead outnumber the living.

They couldn't stomach those rotting corpses.

But that's exactly what happened?

"If I had known we would encounter so much trouble along the way, I would have preferred to have refused from the start!"

Now he has to consider asking Lord Mel, who hosted the ball at his mansion, for an extra reward after returning to Dragongold City.

Meanwhile, the third troll was attempting to flank the camp from the other side.

Right in front of the three prisoners!
It even has two identical heads.

Without giving Black Snake a chance to hurl insults, he stumbled and charged at Black Snake, his spiked club crashing down with a deafening roar.

"boom!"

The flour sacks on the truck were smashed to pieces, and the exploding powder and white mist almost mingled together.

Tang Qi's "alertness" allowed him to foresee the future, forcing him to grab the violin Catherine had lent him and his own backpack, and then lie down in front of him.

The situation changed so quickly that he could hardly remember how many times [Awareness] had saved him.

But only now does he realize that this expertise has brought him more than just the gift of foresight.

And there's an inescapable fear—

[Alertness] made him extremely sensitive to danger.

But the tingling, needle-like itching and palpitations that he felt all over his body have stayed with him ever since.

It made his body tremble uncontrollably!
His hands were trembling so badly he could barely hold onto the things in them...

Even when lying on the ground, he was somewhat unable to move!

This was a completely different experience from what I had felt in the kobold cave.

He understood that this was a signal from his sense of vigilance.

A well-trained goblin army.

Three voracious troll 'slaves'...

This being, which shouldn't have appeared in the Dawn Forest, brings fear with this crisis.

For him, it was like the sounding of a death alarm!

(End of this chapter)