In the fog, a rabbit man quietly appeared.
"...I can't believe you guys are really the Bunnymen? Are the rumors about you being the weakest false?"
"It's not fake, it all depends on whether we do it or not. If we don't fight and just hide, we'll inevitably be criticized as the weakest. But on the other hand, if we can survive in this forest without fighting, it means we have the potential to survive here."
Cam paused for a beat, then said with a smug smile:
"If the battlefield is confined to this forest, no race is more adept at fighting than the Bunnymen. Indeed, as long as we are determined to fight, the strongest race in the Hartrina Forest is us—the Bunnymen."
"You're so arrogant, actually calling yourself the strongest."
Dabaros scoffed, while Cam shrugged helplessly.
"Our boss deserves the title of the strongest... but there's no point in telling you. Anyway, my people have already defeated all your monsters one by one. The rest is just a matter of time. At the very least, they won't come to rescue you. Only one of your proud subordinates remains, and he's dying. Let me ask you—do you wish to fight me, the leader of the Hauriya tribe, one on one?"
Hearing this question, Dabaros opened his eyes wide in surprise.
Seeing Cam's smug smile, he judged that Cam was too arrogant because he was in an advantageous position.
(If we take this guy hostage, we might be able to threaten the other Bunnymen. It would be shameful to return to our homeland if the mission failed, but we must at least bring back information about these guys.)
Dabalos made a judgment in an instant, stood up, and faced the enemy sideways.
"It seems there are some brave men among the beasts. I challenge you to a one-on-one duel! Let's see who wins!"
"Well, really? Then let's fight."
Kam drew out his katana, lowered his waist, and prepared to charge forward at any moment.
(Just use elementary magic, focusing on speed. I'll skip the chanting and just call out the spell name, taking away his mobility first!)
Dabalos prepared to cast his fastest magic in an attempt to interrupt Cam's attack. He wanted to shoot the opponent's feet with magic the moment Cam took the first step.
Like a gunfight in a western, the tension gradually rises.
Then, Cam's feet...pushed hard!
“—《Wind Strike》!”
The wind bullet flew out, hitting Cam's step forward—
"What!"
But it failed.
Cam simply ran backwards and disappeared into the fog.
He clearly exuded a murderous aura that even surprised Dabaros, but he ended up running away at full speed. Even the battle-hardened soldier was stunned for a moment.
Then, the Haolia sniper team that had surrounded this place while they were talking just now would certainly not miss this gap.
“Wow!?”
Contrary to his original intention, Dabalos was hit in the foot by several arrows and fell to his knees.
Then he was hit in the face by a small cloth bag shot from a slingshot.
That was Hauria's special tear gas, made from ground seeds grown in the sea of trees and used as a super spicy seasoning. Difficulty breathing is a fatal injury to magicians.
Dabalos coughed uncontrollably as the enemy's blade approached from behind.
"!"
Dabalos quickly turned to dodge, but the moment he sensed the presence of the sword, he knew it was a trap. With a "puff," the katana pierced from behind, the tip of the blade piercing Dabalos' chest.
"You! Didn't we agree on a one-on-one duel?!"
Daballos asked angrily despite his labored breathing.
Kam, holding a katana, pretended to be stupid.
"I just asked you, 'Do you want to duel?'"
What he meant was, "You want a one-on-one fight, right? I understand, but I won't do it."
"You despicable person!"
"I wouldn't be happy if I were praised by anyone other than the boss."
After saying this, the second katana chopped off Dabalos's head.
As his consciousness gradually sank into darkness, Dabalos not only prayed to God, but also shouted to His Majesty and the General in his heart - there was a group of beasts in the sea of trees that seemed like an anomaly, they were actually evil demons.
"That's how we defeated the demon, but unfortunately, the damage to Feyalbergen—hmm? What's wrong, Boss? You look like you've eaten bitter herbs, you look very uncomfortable. It's like the pet I trained in the past has grown beyond my expectations, and I don't know what to do."
"Are you asking this even though you already know the answer?"
Having been completely corrected by Palu, Hajime glared at him and said.
Palu tilted his head in confusion, seemingly not understanding what Hajime was talking about. The same thing happened to Lana and the other Hauriyas. Their eyes widened, as if to say, "What's wrong with the boss?"
When Palu's report first began, everyone on the bridge was saddened by the fate of the demihumans, but now they sympathized with the demons, and the atmosphere was like a night vigil.
Liliana and the other people in the kingdom had heavy expressions on their faces... They had never imagined that there would be a day when they would observe a moment of silence in mourning for their mortal enemy, the demon.
Kouki and the others recalled how, back in the Orcus Labyrinth, Hajime had said to the demon girl, "Do you have any last words before you die? Even if you do, I won't listen. Go to hell!" He then shot her dead. When Freed invaded the capital, he had said, "The residents of the capital? My classmates? I don't care about them. Go to hell!" He then unleashed a beam of light to annihilate the enemy army. Though they didn't say it out loud, their expressions and eyes seemed to be mocking, "Like master, like disciple!"
Incidentally, Shia held her head in her hands mid-sentence and looked at Hajime coldly.
"Mr. Hajime, how are you going to take responsibility? My family has grown so much, but it's also become even crazier! It was you who added fuel to the fire when you said those words when we left the forest."
"...Don't you realize it? You're no different from them."
Shia clenched her fists and repeatedly punched Hajime, muttering, "Don't compare me to my family." Her comments about her own family were rather harsh.
Hajime didn't particularly resist Shia's blows, but let her go. Then he turned to Palu again and said with admiration:
"Having said that, you did a truly excellent job. You were fully aware that your abilities weren't simply enhanced. You relied on thorough intelligence gathering, exploiting your racial characteristics to the utmost, employing tactics like disruption and sabotage, surprise attacks, sneak attacks, stealth attacks, and feints, even resorting to underhanded tactics like deception... You achieved a brilliant strategic victory. It's a world away from your earlier, reckless actions. Your progress has truly surpassed my imagination."
"Boss, boss, boss praised us!"
Tears suddenly welled up in Palu's eyes and his rabbit ears stretched straight up.
"Ahh, this is such an honor!"
"Surviving the hellish training finally paid off."
"Boss, I, I don't care even if I die!"
"Lana Infilina, what are you talking about?! We're only starting now! Isn't this what we've been working so hard for? Ugh!"
"Hehe, Menasteria, this is the first time I've seen you moved to tears. Woohoo, I want to cry too."
A total of twelve rabbit ears shook wildly, expressing joy.
No one could hold back their tears like they did just now, and tears flowed like a fountain.
“…Hajime, don’t praise them so easily.”
"yes……"
Yue offered Hajime some advice, looking at them as if they were troublemakers. Shia, standing nearby, bent her rabbit ears and said, "I'm sorry, my family disturbed everyone again!" She bowed to apologize.
Tio, who was standing next to Shia, looked at Hajime with envy, as if to say, "What a perfect training..." Kaori couldn't help but take a step away from her.
Hajime cleared his throat, regained his composure, and urged Palu to continue.
"And then? What you just said was just the beginning of the current situation, right?"
Palu and the others opened their eyes wide and tried to stop crying. Liliana and Guanghui's group couldn't help but take a step back when they saw this.
"Yes, we repelled the demons, but we hunted so many monsters that we almost ran out of traps and consumable weapons. In order to reorganize the village's defenses and avoid further trouble from Feyalbergen's men, we retreated to the village."
Of course, [Feyabergen] was in a state of severe combat damage. He had to treat and bandage the wounded, and call back his fellow tribesmen who had evacuated in advance; including repairing the damaged gate, he also had to rebuild the defense line. It could be said that there was a lot of work to be done.
Just at this time--
It had only been about three days since the demon's attack.
"As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. This time, it's the Empire invading, and they can't overcome the characteristics of the sea of trees, so they resort to a very brutal assault."
"A violent attack?"
Hajime was puzzled, and Liliana, who had asked the question earlier, also leaned forward and listened attentively.
"Yes, Boss. They figured that since the sea of trees would cause disorientation, they set it on fire until they could see Feabergen."
"What! Did they set the sea of trees on fire!?"
Liliana couldn't help but ask loudly.
Palu glanced at Liliana and nodded in affirmation:
"In the past, when the Empire abducted the inhabitants of the Sea of Trees, they always forced them into slavery to lead the way. This time, the situation was completely unexpected."
Of course, given the opportunity, the subhuman slaves would retaliate. After all, their compatriots might suffer the same fate as their own because of their guidance, so of course they would resist.
Therefore, although slaves could be forced to lead the way in abducting people, the act of invading the forest itself was quite risky, so it did not happen so frequently.
After all, no one could have expected that the Empire would take such an unprecedented approach to enter the Sea of Trees right after the demons invaded.
"The purpose of the empire is not to invade, but to abduct people."
"Kidnapping? They're setting the sea of trees on fire. Their purpose isn't invasion, but just kidnapping the demihumans, just like before?"
"Yes, we realized it too late. By the time we arrived... Feyalbergen didn't even have the energy to resist."
"...What happened to the Empire?"
Palu nodded in affirmation.
"We captured several Imperial soldiers from the rearguard and interrogated them. We heard that a powerful, unknown monster has also appeared in the Empire, causing considerable damage to the Imperial Capital. They even claimed that they needed to capture people to replenish the dwindling labor force."
Palu said this in a disdainful tone. Everyone gasped when they heard it.
Liliana, in particular, was deeply shaken. But that was only natural. She had just been on her way to the Empire to discuss assistance, only to discover they had also been attacked, forced to take desperate measures to secure labor.
Hajime roughly grasped the situation, sighed and said:
"I see... They claim they're trying to secure labor, but they're actually pursuing their own base desires. Since you're taking action, that means many of the Bunnymen, who aren't considered much of a labor force, have also been captured, right?"
"Yeah, it's infuriating just thinking about it."
The rabbit people are treated as pet slaves, so it goes without saying what kind of fate they will face in the empire.
Even though the Hauriya people do not care about the life or death of [Feyaberugen], they cannot sit idly by and watch the tragic fate of their fellow people.
Kam left most of his men in the forest on guard, and selected a few elite men to lead the team to the imperial capital.
However, after arriving at the imperial capital and invading the city, Kamu and his companions lost contact. The messenger arrived at the agreed meeting place, but no one from the army showed up.
Something happened to Cam and the others.
With this thought in mind, the Haolia tribe could no longer remain idle and once again selected personnel to be sent to the imperial capital.
One of these units was the Barudo Ferudo Squad led by Palu.
"If we invaded unprepared, it would have been disastrous for us to be captured. So, we focused on gathering intelligence, investigating the capital's security and the connections between those entering and leaving. However, we discovered that a transport carrying a large number of slaves was leaving for another town. So, we attempted to hijack it, and by the way, gain internal intelligence."
At this time, they happened to meet Hajime and his group heading to the empire.
Then, as we have just seen, the Killing Rabbit starts a bloody feast.
"Come to think of it, the demons are really hardworking. Their main target must be the kingdom... but it's really annoying."
Hajime scratched his head in annoyance. Everywhere he went, he encountered demons plotting evil. Kouki, Liliana, and the others who had nearly lost their lives and faced the crisis of extinction of their country were also feeling troubled.
Palu tilted his rabbit ears and asked:
"Looks like... Boss, could it be that the demons are causing trouble elsewhere as well?"
"Yes, they were sabotaging everywhere, but they were unlucky enough to run into me, and I foiled all their plots."
Looking back, Hajime was probably the scourge of the demons. He clearly had no hostility towards them, but whenever they started a rebellion, Hajime happened to be there, and based on the simple reason that he found them annoying, he defeated them to pieces.
Hajime wasn't present at the Hartrina Sea of Trees incident, but his influence had led to this outcome. Palu used the phrase "misfortunes never come alone," but perhaps the unlucky one was the demon.
"I roughly understand what's going on. Anyway, you guys are going to continue gathering intelligence on Kamu and the others in the Imperial Capital, right?"
"Yes, and besides, although I'm sorry to offend you, Boss..."
"I understand. Since it's on my way, I'll take the captured person back to the Sea of Trees."
"Thank you, Boss!"
Palu and others bowed and thanked him.
Xia looked at Palu and the others and seemed to have something to say, but she just drooped her rabbit ears and said nothing.
You'll Also Like
-
An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest
Chapter 860 37 minute ago -
Equipment Printing School Mage
Chapter 478 37 minute ago -
1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll
Chapter 711 37 minute ago -
Ikari Shinji's Harem Comedy Daily Life
Chapter 122 37 minute ago -
Connect to Yuan Tiejue's chat group
Chapter 69 37 minute ago -
As a commander, I will never meet a heavy female ship girl
Chapter 290 37 minute ago -
Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?
Chapter 189 37 minute ago -
This second dimension is too immortal
Chapter 580 37 minute ago -
Terra Succubus Development System, but calm office workers
Chapter 101 37 minute ago -
I'm collecting in the Pokémon world
Chapter 377 37 minute ago