Ambush (Seeking Monthly Votes~)

Bang!

Bang, bang!

Following two massive explosions, Shane immediately snapped his eyes open.

He hurriedly scanned his surroundings, but there were no suspicious figures in sight, and the barrier showed no signs of being breached; it didn't seem like he was the one under attack...

He let out a slight sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was just some commotion caused by other adventurers nearby.

He rubbed his eyes and looked toward Frieren on the other side of the campfire, froze for five seconds, then wiped his face and let out a deep, weary breath.

Girl, your sleeping posture has shattered my fantasies about beautiful elven maidens into dust.

Taking advantage of the fact that Frieren hadn't woken up yet, Shane tidied himself up a bit and set off to catch some fish.

He figured the two from last night must have been the wrong choice; he could try smaller fish this time, and having some fish soup in the morning sounded like a decent option.

Arriving at the riverbank, he cupped some water to wash his face, but upon seeing his reflection in the water, he suddenly stood up and looked toward the sky.

Several bird-like magical beasts were flying from the direction of the forest toward Gostan City.

At the same time, two plumes of thick smoke were faintly rising from that direction.

Oh no!

Shane hurried back to wake Frieren.

"Frieren, stop sleeping! Something seems to have happened over at Gostan City!"

Frieren was roused from her slumber, her hair a frizzy mess, her eyes dazed and unable to fully open, looking like a person whose body had woken up while her soul remained tucked in the blankets.

"A whole flock of bird-like magical beasts is flying toward Gostan City, and I heard two explosions. I'm not sure if it was at the city gates."

Hearing Shane's words, Frieren looked up at the sky, where two bird-like magical beasts were just flying past in the distance.

Her expression turned serious:

"I remember when we entered the city, the guards mentioned there had been unexplained attacks recently. It seems likely that monsters or demons are behind this."

"We can't let them destroy the city; we have to go back and help."

Hearing Frieren's words, Shane wasn't surprised; he knew Frieren wouldn't stand by while humans were attacked by demons, and he agreed with returning to help.

However...

"It takes at least half a day to reach Gostan City from here. If you're carrying me, can your Flight Magic make it?"

"Flight Magic can only be sustained for half an hour at most. Carrying you would likely shorten that time, so we definitely wouldn't make it. Besides, I can't overuse Flight Magic; exhausting my mana prematurely would put us at a disadvantage if we encounter a powerful demon."

Shane nodded.

That brought them to the problem: how could they get back as fast as possible?

Frieren was also pondering this question.

Her gaze drifted past Shane to the distance, where some Terror Birds were foraging in the bushes, and a bold idea formed in her mind.

Shane followed her gaze, his eyes widening in horror as alarm bells rang in his head.

"No, don't even think about it, that's impossible... I refuse!"

Fifteen minutes later.

Shane was clutching the neck of a Terror Bird, speeding down the road.

"Frieren, if I fall and die because of this, you're taking full responsibility—!"

His angry roar was swallowed by the whistling wind.

Frieren rode her own Terror Bird with an intrigued expression, watching Shane swerving and crashing ahead, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint smile.

The journey that would have taken half a day on foot took only an hour with the help of the Terror Birds.

Not far from the city gates, the two dismounted and chose to proceed on foot.

The situation was far worse than they had imagined.

A massive hole had been blown into the city gate, with weapons scattered about and bloodstains on the ground. A large section of the wall not far from the gate had also been breached, with half of the rampart collapsed.

Shane guessed that the two explosions he had heard must have originated here.

The two stepped through the gate; the district closest to the entrance had been completely devastated. Shane could see at a glance the tailor shop where they had once taken shelter—the second floor had been sheared off entirely, nearly leveled to the ground.

The other buildings hadn't fared much better.

There was rubble everywhere, along with sporadic fires, but fortunately, they didn't see any injured or deceased residents.

"Who goes there!"

Just then, two soldiers suddenly lunged out from a blind spot, their sharp spears pointed mercilessly at the pair.

Shane hurriedly raised the Adventurer Guild quest scroll, "Don't misunderstand, we are adventurers returning to the city to turn in a quest. May I ask what happened? Do you need any help?"

Upon hearing this, the two soldiers exchanged a glance. One of them took the scroll to inspect it, then nodded at the other.

"The city has been raided by demons. The injured civilians have already been moved to the City Hall for shelter. You two should head there quickly as well. The search and rescue operations are being handled entirely by the guards, so you don't need to worry. Please make your way to the shelter immediately."

"Where are the demons you mentioned?" Frieren asked.

"We don't know either. After the demons raided the city gate and caused a commotion, they vanished. General Glucks suspects they have already infiltrated the city amidst the chaos and is currently leading his men in a full-scale search. Don't wander around; please head to the City Hall as soon as possible."

Having said that, the two soldiers did not delay any further and continued to check the damaged houses one by one, ensuring that no civilians were left behind.

Shane and Frieren exchanged a look, both harboring the same grim suspicion.

Demons are adept at disguising themselves as humans; if they had already infiltrated and were hiding among the crowd, that would be disastrous.

Fortunately, the main gate of the City Hall was equipped with [Magic that can identify demons], which they had seen before.

In this light, General Glucks having the civilians take shelter there was not only for their safety but also to narrow down the search area and flush out the demons as quickly as possible.

Boom!

Just as he was thinking this, an explosion rang out from the northwest corner of the city.

Boom!

Another explosion followed, with an identical sound coming from the southwest corner of the city.

Boom!

Yet another explosion erupted, this time from the southeast corner of the city.

The successive explosions proved that the demons had not been flushed out and were continuing to incite chaos!

Frieren grabbed Shane and used [Flight Magic] to soar into the air with him.

Thick smoke billowed from the three locations where the sounds originated, making it impossible to see the specific situation.

However, they could still see large groups of soldiers rushing toward the streets connecting these areas.

"The demons are deliberately causing chaos; they must have some goal..." Shane speculated with a furrowed brow.

Hearing his words, Frieren nodded.

"Creating disturbances in different directions to scatter the guards and pick them off one by one—it seems the enemy has a clever commander. Going to such great lengths is not their usual style; there must be something here they desperately want to obtain."

"Frieren, let's go check the northeast side."

"The northeast side? There haven't been any explosions there. Why go there?"

"Because it's a diversion."

Hearing the words "luring the tiger away from the mountain," Frieren's expression turned serious. After a moment of thought, she agreed with Shane's assessment.

These demons were never ones to shy away from showing off their power; when they slaughtered cities or wiped out clans, they always did so in the most flamboyant way possible. Yet this time, they were being sneaky and evasive, clearly avoiding a direct confrontation.

What were they afraid of?

Afraid of losing? Then they wouldn't have launched the raid in the first place.

Since they weren't afraid of losing, there was only one other possibility: they were afraid of being delayed or obstructed.

To avoid being obstructed.

Wherever there was no chaos, that must be their true destination.

Just as Frieren thought, Shane believed the same.

Furthermore, he recalled the adventurer map he had seen earlier, which featured a blood-red skull icon that had left a deep impression on him.

The un-cleared dungeon, the [Inverted Land], was located in the northeast corner of the city.