Volume 5, Chapter 34 – Encounter

Camilla’s command made the four, who were used to coordinating, turn serious and assume their battle stances. Mary stood at the forefront, with Refina protecting her flank a half-step behind. Following them were Camilla and Tiffany as the rearguard. Yisi, Andrea, and Edith were excluded from the formation.

“Hoh, their coordination is not bad.”

“If you don’t use your special pureblood magic, even you probably couldn’t beat them, Pepe.”

For once, Edith did not retort, merely summoning Gungnir from her storage magic.

“You’re not joining?” she asked.

“If I make a move, it’ll defeat the purpose of the hunt. Besides, I still have to protect Andrea.”

“Hmph, you’re right.” Pouting for no clear reason, Edith took a step forward, moving along the periphery of the group. This way, she wouldn’t interfere with the coordination of Camilla’s team, nor would she be reduced to a mere spectator.

“Lady Yisi, I-I can protect myself. I won’t hold you back.”

As if in protest, Andrea took out a jet-black staff made entirely of magic crystal from her storage magic. Although Yisi wasn’t using her Third Form and couldn’t see the flow of the elements, she could roughly sense the dark element in the air gathering toward Andrea. This staff was definitely something that would cost thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins—as expected of royalty.

Yisi forcibly pushed down Andrea’s head as she was about to move forward to help. “These are not undead. Your time to act will come later, Andrea.”

“Who’s there!?”

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The party of adventurers hidden on the other side of the fog heard the voices of Yisi’s group and quickly halted, staring at them with wary expressions. After noticing their noble attire, the leader’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

There were four adventurers in total, all male. Their clothes were torn and bloodstained, and they were also splattered with a disgusting dark green liquid. Their exposed skin and faces were covered in burn marks. Some of them had even lost their shoes somewhere and were stepping on the muddy ground with bare feet. Only one of the four still held a weapon, but the blade of his longsword was clearly chipped, a clear sign that they had been through a bitter fight and had ultimately fled in disarray.

“My noble ladies, we have no intention of clashing with you. There’s a swarm of Swamp Poison Spiders behind us. Please leave this place quickly.”

Mary looked back at Camilla, who took the initiative to ask, “A swarm of Swamp Poison Spiders? This is still the outer edge of the forest. Why would they appear here?”

“We don’t know either!” Seeming very anxious, one of the adventurers in the party roared, “They have no intention of fighting us at all! They’re being chased by something even more terrifying! Don’t waste any more time!”

“Onee-sama…” Camilla’s face showed hesitation. There was no problem in making way for the adventurers, but the problem was that there was no guarantee they wouldn’t attack as they passed.

“Let them pass.”

Yisi’s words made Camilla’s group move to the side of the path. With a speed that was practically an escape for their lives, the four adventurers rushed past without a look back and ran toward the outside of the fog.

“There’s something ahead chasing the Swamp Poison Spiders. What could it be?”

“It’s the undead,” Yisi replied.

Her answer made Edith look puzzled. “How do you know?”

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“A guess.”

Although she looked relaxed, Yisi was not slacking off internally. If Edith could see the dots on the [Omniscient Map], she would definitely have given the order to retreat—following closely behind that group of adventurers were not only nearly twenty Swamp Poison Spiders, but also a dense swarm of almost two hundred undead rushing toward them.

If her companions were to be surrounded, they would inevitably be caught in a bitter fight. Yisi made some small preparations for them. First, she used space magic to create an invisible, semi-circular wall behind the group to avoid the predicament of being surrounded from the rear. Then, she had Tiffany cast [Poison Immunity – Low Rank] and [Defense Buff – Low Rank] on her companions in advance.

“Camilla, be mindful of conserving your magic. There are a lot of enemies.”

“Understood, Onee-sama.”

“They’re here!”

With Refina’s shout as the battle cry, the first Swamp Poison Spider appeared before them. Its massive body, over a meter high and three meters long, was reminiscent of a large mammal. However, upon seeing Yisi’s group, the spider’s first reaction was not to attack, but to try and go around them. Just as the adventurers had said, these Swamp Poison Spiders were afraid of something, their only thought to escape with their lives.

Camilla, who had been chanting an attack spell, changed her mind at the last minute. “□□□—[Shield of Arcus].”

A magical light landed on Mary, who was at the forefront. Immediately after, as if drawn by a magnet, the Swamp Poison Spider that had intended to go around them had its eyes turn red, and it charged straight at Mary.

Screech.

The distance of less than ten meters was covered in an instant. Before pouncing on Mary, the Swamp Poison Spider even had the intelligence to first spit a stream of dark green venom at her.

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“□□—[Magic Shield].”

A translucent shield, just large enough to cover Mary, appeared in front of the venom. When the venom made contact with the shield, it immediately emitted a sizzling sound like water droplets on a red-hot iron plate. The shield even gave off visible white smoke. In just a few seconds, Tiffany’s [Magic Shield] was dissolved by the venom.

But in turn, the venom also lost its momentum and fell powerlessly to the ground.

And then—

CLANG!

A tremendous sound, almost deafening, as if a speeding truck had suddenly slammed into an iron plate. The pouncing Swamp Poison Spider was blocked by the large shield Mary held at an angle. But even Mary, holding a shield made of pure metal, was irresistibly pushed back two steps by the immense force.

However, the rest of them would not give the spider a chance for a second attack. Even if this spider was over Level 15, a single one was no match for Mary’s group, who had gone through machine-like, repetitive training.

“一[One-Hit Kill].”

Bypassing Mary from the side, Refina leaped into the air. Seizing the brief moment before the spider could recover its momentum, she struck its head with all her might.

Crack.

The sound of the exoskeleton shattering and a noise like a watermelon being smashed.

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Pale yellow blood gushed out, which was also blocked by Tiffany’s [Magic Shield].

“First one.” Having accomplished something in front of Edith that she couldn’t have before, Refina looked back at her with a joyful and excited expression, but the joy on her face quickly vanished.

A corpse of a Swamp Poison Spider already lay in front of Edith, who was now thrusting Gungnir into the eye of a second one. Against Swamp Poison Spiders, Gungnir was much more convenient than a short weapon.

“Miss Refina, the second one is coming!” Mary’s shout brought Refina back to her senses.

At the same time, Camilla, who was overseeing the whole situation from the rear, gave an order to Mary and Tiffany. “We can’t lose to Edith, or you’ll forfeit your dinner tonight.”

“That’s so mean, Miss Camilla.”

“Agreed. Bullying Pepe, not allowed,” Tiffany nodded, but Mary’s next words made her freeze.

“But I’ll do my best for dinner!”

“Mary, betrayal.”

“A battle for Mr. Bread is not a betrayal!” As she spoke, Mary threw her shield.

一[Shield Bash]