Dongyang turned around and could not help taking a deep breath.
Dense ranks of ratmen began appearing in the surrounding woods. Most resembled the one from earlier, but a few wore leather armor and carried enormous cleavers.
Dongyang even spotted a two-headed ratman dragging an iron hammer that looked incredibly heavy.
"Yes..."
"Yes, yes..."
The dense murmurs reached the players' ears, carrying an indescribable eeriness.
"What do we do?! There are too many...!"
Doghead Gold cried anxiously.
Dongyang frowned deeply. Looking around, he realized they were already surrounded. Breaking out would probably be extremely difficult.
"We can't retreat. We barely have any sanity left anyway, so we might as well go all out and kill as many monsters as possible..."
Polaris spoke calmly.
He loaded a fresh Fuel Block into his Mechanical Glove and flexed his fingers.
"They're all experience points, and they'll drop transcendent materials too... At the very least, we need to make up for the losses from dying twice, and clear some obstacles for our next respawn while we're at it!"
With that, he hurled a searing fireball at the nearest ratman.
Boom!!
The ratman tried to leap away with its wooden club, but it was a moment too late. The exploding flames caught it, setting half its body ablaze.
Squeak, squeak-!
A burnt smell wafted over as the ratman screamed in pain, collapsed, and rolled frantically on the ground.
Rumble...
The ratmen surged toward the players, repeating the words "yes" as they raised their weapons, their faces bloodthirsty.
The players raised their guns and shot down one gray-robed ratman after another. But those behind trampled over their companions' bodies and charged forward.
Before the players could reload their flintlocks, the ratmen were already upon them!
Whoosh-thud!
A wooden club studded with nails slammed into Doghead Gold's