Night watch, reinforcements, ambush

Chapter 14: Night watch × Reinforcements × Ambush

By the time they reached their campsite, darkness had fallen completely, and the temperature in the forest was slowly dropping.

Joey's clothes were soaked with sweat, and a gust of cold wind left him chilled all over.

But now that they knew strange insects lurked in the forest, none of them wanted to light a fire.

Ponzu kept trying to contact any nearby teams through her bees, while Pokkle divided the other four into two groups to stand watch through the night.

Joey was assigned the second half of the night, probably because Pokkle had noticed how poorly he was holding up.

Joey didn't object. He was genuinely exhausted after all that running.

So after nodding his agreement, he found a large tree, sat down with his back against its trunk, and drifted groggily into a light sleep.

The constant tension in his mind kept Joey from relaxing. The slightest rustle would jolt him awake, so he didn't sleep well.

He feared both a surprise attack by the Chimera Ants and being abandoned by Pokkle and the others.

Fortunately, neither happened. The Wallet also kept feeding him aura, leaving him noticeably more alert when it was time to take over the watch.

Neither Ponzu nor Pokkle seemed to have rested, but their efforts had yielded nothing.

The bees hadn't brought back any useful information, as though every team that had slipped into NGL had been attacked and wiped out.

Both Pokkle and Ponzu looked grim about it, but the sight of them leaning against each other left Joey feeling rather stuffed with their lovey-dovey display.

Alone off to one side, he took out his phone, shielding it so no light escaped, then carefully checked the time.

It was already half past midnight. Judging by when the sun had set, it might rise sometime after four, bringing a little light and warmth to the dense forest.

He put his phone away and took out a flatbread. With no water on hand, Joey could only swallow it bit by bit with the help of his saliva.

Joey pulled his damp clothes tighter around himself and shivered.

Replenishing his energy was essential under the circumstances, even if he didn't feel particularly hungry.

Meanwhile, his hand quietly found the Wallet, and he carefully shifted it, little by little, into the bundle on his back.

The Nen emanating from the Wallet was already very faint. Another hour or so of absorption might drain it completely.

Joey didn't want to find out what would happen once the Nen vanished, so he put it away ahead of time instead of keeping it against his body.

But perhaps because he was still carrying the cloth bundle, it wasn't long before Joey faintly felt the Wallet reconnect with him.

Perhaps because of the greater distance, though, the aura flowed much more slowly this time.

After a moment's thought, Joey untied the cloth bundle and set it on the grass beside him. Only then did the connection break completely.

Sometime after two, Pokkle woke the tagalongs. Ponzu's bees had finally brought back useful information: a team several kilometers north of them had responded and sent a distress signal. They were clearly in danger.

Though it wasn't good news, Joey saw a measure of excitement and relief on both their faces.

Apparently, being unable to contact anyone at all had been the real source of pressure for them!

After discussing it, Pokkle and Ponzu decided to go help.

Joey had no way to talk them out of it. He could only pick up his cloth bundle, tie it securely, and follow the others.

A few kilometers wasn't far at their pace, but in the dark, dense forest, it still took the five of them more than half an hour to follow the bees to the source of the message.

All that remained there were the mangled corpses of humans and insects.

Most of the human bodies showed signs of bites and mutilation, while every insect corpse had been severed into several pieces. The team's leader had clearly been a capable fighter.

Judging by the number of bodies nearby, Pokkle concluded that some members of the team should still be alive, though their whereabouts were unknown.

Pokkle nodded to the two tagalongs, and they spread out to demonstrate their special skill: tracking.

The man with gray eyebrows was particularly good at examining nearby traces, quickly distinguishing between them even in the moonlight.

Joey followed beside him and picked up quite a few practical tips from his muttering.

The fellow with ash-gray hair seemed to have an exceptionally keen nose, quickly detecting anything unusual even amid the heavy stench of blood.

Near a large tree, he seemed to discover an important clue and turned to tell Pokkle.

But as he turned, he suddenly heard a strange rustling overhead.

At the same time, he saw the others staring at him with what seemed to be shock, mixed with tension and helpless frustration.

Why?

The thought had barely formed before a foul stink filled the ash-haired man's nostrils, and his vision plunged into a darkness lined with sharp teeth.

Thud!

His headless corpse toppled to the ground. An orange arrow sliced through the air and struck the monster that had swallowed his head in one bite, its pink head resembling a split-mouthed insect.

Green fluid spurted from the wound the arrow had opened, mingled with red and white matter. Pokkle shouted in a strained voice, "Run!"

But it was already too late. Cracking sounds rang out in the surrounding woods, followed by one bizarre-looking Chimera Ant after another emerging from the trees.

With a quick glance, Joey counted no fewer than five monsters.

Clearly, these things had been lying in wait for some time.

Killer Queen instantly appeared beside Joey, and Sheer Heart Attack detached from the back of his hand and dropped to the ground.

Without warning, automatic rifle fire rattled from the weapons in Joey's and the gray-browed tagalong's hands.

The Chimera Ants seemed to know how dangerous firearms were. The instant the rifles spat flame, they ducked behind nearby trees.

Orange light flashed repeatedly between Pokkle's hands, his barrage of arrows piercing the bodies of Chimera Ants that hadn't managed to take cover, faster than bullets.

In that first exchange alone, three of the emerging Chimera Ants died outright, without anyone even bothering to take in or remember what they looked like.

But just then, something whistled through the air, and several fist-sized stones shot out of the forest.

Killer Queen stood beside Joey. As a close-range Stand, he had been keeping watch over their surroundings while waiting for the Chimera Ants to approach.

He spotted the stones immediately and raised his fists to punch them.

The gray-browed tagalong didn't have Joey's protection. A stone struck him squarely, sending him flying backward into a large tree.

Behind that tree waited a Chimera Ant with the pointed horn of a rhinoceros beetle. Before the gray-browed man could get up, the horn pierced his chest with a wet stab.

But the gray-browed man also used the opportunity to shove his rifle against the Chimera Ant's head. As it prepared to pull away, he pulled the trigger with a savage expression.

Amid the repeated bursts, the rhinoceros beetle's body gradually lost the ability to resist, finally collapsing onto the gray-browed man as the light faded from his eyes.

But the gray-browed man never got the chance to push the Chimera Ant's corpse off himself.

Elsewhere, Pokkle sidestepped a stone and pulled Ponzu out of the way. Orange light flashed in his hand, and an arrow shot toward the stone thrower faster than the stones had flown.

But a moment later, a thick, pale arm covered in fine scales caught the arrow in its hand.

Then a figure somewhat taller than an ordinary Chimera Ant stepped out from behind a large tree. It had a crocodile-like face, and curiosity flickered in its cold eyes as it studied the arrow in its hand.

"What is this?"

The sound of that rather gruff voice chilled Pokkle to the bone.

But just then, an even louder roar rang out beside the crocodile Chimera Ant: "The roast chicken's almost gone!"

As the crocodile Chimera Ant crushed the arrow in its hand and turned toward the voice, a thunderous explosion and a blaze of fire swallowed it in an instant.