Carapace

Wood was highly professional.

Whether as a "Guard" or an "adventurer," he was the most experienced member of the entire party.

Even during a brief, impromptu rest along the way, he would carefully set up thorough warning traps around the area.

But often, perhaps because he was too professional, the traps he set were overly meticulous and rigorous.

When Xia Nan and the others heard the warning and tensely prepared for battle, they would ultimately discover that the trigger had merely been a few harmless little forest animals.

Although Xia Nan sometimes found this mentally exhausting, he did not truly resent it. Nor did he relax his guard because of the frequent warnings, as the fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" from his Previous Life described.

Being a little more tired was better than dying silently beneath the claws of some Monster.

The sight of the Gnome Elki's skull bursting beneath a Goblin ambush was still vivid in his mind.

Snap... jingle-jingle!

At dusk, a branch suddenly snapped within the dense bushes shrouded in the Thin Mist Forest's fog, followed by a rapid, loud peal of metal bells.

The trap had been triggered!

Xia Nan sprang to his feet, gripping the Beheading Longsword tightly with both hands. His eyes remained fixed on the direction of the sound, while he stayed alert to the area around him, afraid that something might circle behind his back.

He did not let his guard down in the slightest.

The Half-Elf and his Guard were the same.

The instant the bells rang, Hai An picked up the wooden Longbow beside his feet, nocked an arrow, and aimed its sharp tip at the swaying grass in the distance.

Wood's figure, which had been fairly obvious in Xia Nan's sight, suddenly dimmed, as though shrouded by a vague shadow. His sense of presence plummeted in an instant.

By comparison, Larry and Doris reacted half a beat slower.

After all, one was overweight and born a wealthy young master, while the other was frail and had been repeatedly frightened.

After walking through the Thin Mist Forest all day, they were already exhausted and running out of strength.

Fortunately, at the very least, their attitude was serious enough.

Even though they knew the trap had most likely been triggered by another rabbit or deer, they still grabbed their weapons, rose to their feet, and assumed fighting stances.

Crackle.

The campfire flickered.

The only sound left in the air seemed to be the faint crackle of burning firewood.

Night was drawing near, and the spreading fog seemed to grow thicker with it, making the dim twilight scattered through it appear especially weary and feeble.

Visibility was far worse than during the day.

With the terrain so complicated, no one in the party rashly stepped forward. They simply stood where they were, on guard.

Tap... tap...

Xia Nan leaned against a large tree, his expression taut.

The outline of the distant shrubs and grass reflected in his black pupils, while his nostrils flared slightly with each breath.

This time, something seemed different.

When the traps had gone off before, those naturally timid herbivores would usually be startled by the bells and flee in panic.

From the camp, they would hear brief Footsteps gradually fading away, sometimes accompanied by a sharp, frightened cry.

But the current situation was the complete opposite.

After the bells were triggered, the movement in the grass paused for only an instant before resuming.

It even seemed to have located the party because of the sound and was approaching them directly.

The crisp snaps of branches and grass stems being crushed, the strange Footsteps like sharp objects striking the ground, and even the unbearable screech of some rough object rubbing against something...

Like the increasingly intense and piercing background music before an "exciting" scene in a horror movie, Xia Nan watched the swaying bushes ahead as his heart pounded faster and faster.

Finally, accompanied by a shrill insect-like screech that seemed capable of rupturing their eardrums,

four crawling, Savage figures appeared before them.

Wave-shaped Carapaces, rough and thick as rock, wrapped around their entire bodies. Four powerful clawed limbs extended from either side, their joints covered in sharp spikes.

Bean-sized compound eyes reflected the faint light. Their split mouthparts opened and closed slightly amid their screeches, and through their pale, glinting fangs, one could vaguely see their contracting throats and viscous saliva.

Most eye-catching of all were the feather-like plumose antennae rising from the sides of their heads, as well as their fin-like long tails that forked at the ends like Swimming Fish.

"Rust Monsters!"

Wood's startled growl sounded beside them.

"Damn it, why are they here...?"

"Prepare for battle!"

The words had barely fallen when a Wooden Arrow adorned with a white Tail Feather ripped through the air, spinning through the mist.

As an Archer, Hai An had already completed his aim the moment after the warning bells sounded.

Once Wood confirmed the battle, he launched the party's first attack.

Yet the overly dim and hazy surroundings caused the Half-Elf's shot to go slightly wide.

Though he had deliberately aimed for the Rust Monster's tiny eyes hidden beneath its thick Carapace, he still failed to hit them accurately.

Clang!

The Metal Arrowhead collided violently with the yellowish-brown Chitin Carapace, scattering a few sparks in the twilight.

It scraped, then bounced away.

It left only a dark brown scratch on the Monster's rough Carapace.

Battle erupted in an instant!

Four Rust Monsters, each around five feet tall, charged toward the party amid piercing screeches.

The first to face them was Larry, who stood closest.

Whether it was courage granted by the Blonde Girl behind him, or embarrassment over his pathetic performance against the swarm of insects earlier that day, no one knew.

At this moment, the wealthy young master displayed courage far beyond the ordinary.

He raised the One-handed Hammer in his hand and, ignoring the pale flab exposed between the gaps in his tight short outfit, rushed forward in a single stride.

The Iron Hammer, gleaming with metallic light, smashed down viciously toward the Rust Monster's short, narrow head.

Bang... Aah!

A sharp crash of hard objects colliding suddenly burst through the forest.

It was immediately followed by a miserable cry filled with pain.

Faced with that hard iron weapon, the crystallization of human wisdom and craftsmanship, the Rust Monster's yellowish-brown Chitin Carapace was ringed with fine cracks almost the instant it made contact with the hammer.

But... that was all.

Because in the next second, the violent recoil traveling through the hammer ran from Larry's fingertips to his arm and even his chest, numbing the entire right side of his body as though he had lost all sensation in an instant.

The Iron Hammer slipped from his hand and landed in the grass. Pain twisted Larry's face as he staggered backward in a miserable retreat.

But how could two legs outrun four clawed feet?

Screech—

The grating insect cry nearly sent invisible ripples through the air. Its sharp mouthparts opened and closed, and the scent of death grew thicker.

Yet at that critical moment, Doris, who had been hiding behind Larry all along, unexpectedly gathered all her strength and hurled the other One-handed Hammer at it!

Clang!

By Chance, the hammer struck the Rust Monster's fragile mouthparts directly, making its entire body freeze for a moment.

Larry scrambled backward on all fours, seizing the chance to retreat.

Dark green saliva dripped from the Rust Monster's smashed-open mouthparts and splattered onto the Iron Hammer.

Sizzle...

Accompanied by pungent smoke, the metal hammer face that could crack a Bug Beast's Carapace seemed to have encountered a natural nemesis, instantly softening and charring.

"Watch out! Rust Monster venom can corrode metal!"

Wood, who had long vanished from sight, shouted an urgent warning.

"Ah!?"

Xia Nan, gripping his polished Beheading Longsword and about to rush forward to support them, abruptly slowed his steps.